A method of calibrating an automated placement machine having a robotic arm for picking up parts from a parts tray and a drawer for holding the parts tray therein. The method includes the acts of: positioning a calibration jig so that it is juxtapositioned at a corner of the drawer of the placement machine; positioning the robotic arm of the placement machine such that a portion of the robotic arm engages a portion of the calibration jig; determining a first set of spatial coordinates of the robotic arm when it is engaged with the calibration jig; and setting an origin point for the robotic arm such that the first set of spatial coordinates serves as the origin point from which movements of the robotic arm may be gauged.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the automatic placement of components onto circuit boards. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for calibrating an automated placement machine which retrieves parts from a parts tray and places them onto desired locations of an assembly such as a printed circuit board (PCB).
2. Description of the Related Art
In the electronics industry, high speed automated placement machines are often used to place electronic parts or components onto bare PCBs. These automated placement machines typically include a robotic arm which has a vacuum nozzle for lifting an electronic component, carrying the component to a designated location, and placing the component onto a PCB at a designated location on the PCB. With the use of some automated placement machines, after the part is picked up by the robotic arm, the part is placed onto a part shuttle which transports the part within the vicinity of a second robotic arm of the automated placement machine. The second robotic arm also includes a vacuum nozzle that picks up the part from the parts shuttle and places the part at a designated location on the PCB. In order to expedite this process, components are typically extracted directly out of the packaging medium in which they are shipped by a manufacturer, or distributor, of the components.
One commonly used packaging medium is known as a parts tray. Typically, parts trays contain a number of cavities, each capable of containing a component therein. The physical dimensions of each cavity within a particular parts tray are typically the same for each cavity and the cavities are usually arranged in a uniform matrix pattern. Therefore, by knowing the dimensions of each cavity and also taking into account the particular matrix configuration of the cavities for a particular parts tray, it is possible to calculate the relative spatial coordinates (i.e., positions) of each of the components contained within these cavities with respect to a common point of reference. After the coordinate positions of each of the components have been determined, the robotic arm may be programmed to successively move to each coordinate position corresponding to the location of the components in order to retrieve each of the components from it's respective cavity.
In one prior art method, multiple parts trays may be accessed by an automated placement machine by providing a multi-tray unit, as it is commonly known in the industry. The multi-tray unit includes multiple drawers, each capable of holding one or more parts trays therein. The multiple drawers are typically stacked one on top of another. When a robotic arm is programmed to access a parts tray in one of the drawers, the multi-tray unit will move select drawers in the stack so as to create a space above the designated drawer containing the desired parts tray. The robotic arm can then move in this space above the designated drawer in order to retrieve components from the designated parts tray.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical multi-tray unit 100 is illustrated. The multi-tray unit 100 includes a base 101 and a tray tower 103 attached to and extending upwardly from the base 101.
Multiple drawers 105 are coupled to the tray tower 103. Each drawer 105 is typically movably attached to the tray tower 103 by means of a lead screw assembly 107, driven by a lead screw assembly motor 108, which can move a select group of the drawers 105. Each drawer 105 includes a cavity 106 for receiving and holding a parts tray (not shown) therein. The multi-tray unit 100 of FIG. 1, as well as various other types of multi-tray units, which perform similar functions to those described above, are well-known in the art. In one embodiment, the multi-tray unit 100 is a Fuji Multi-tray unit manufactured by Fuji, Inc. which is available with the Fuji-IP2 or IP3 automated placement machines.
When an automated placement machine (not shown) is programmed to retrieve a particular component from a designated parts tray, a robotic arm 109 of the automated placement machine will move to a particular spatial coordinate which has been programmed into a database of the automated placement machine. As shown in FIG. 1, the robotic arm 109 has a vacuum nozzle 111 attached thereto for picking up components from a parts tray. A designated parts tray is made accessible to the vacuum nozzle 111 of the robotic arm 109 by the tray tower 103 which moves selected drawers 105 such that a space is provided above a designated drawer 105a containing the designated parts tray. The robotic arm 109 can then move in this space above the designated drawer 105a in order to pick up selected components with its vacuum nozzle 111.
One method of providing a space above the designated drawer 105a is to move all the drawers 105 above the designated drawer 105a upwardly and away from the designated drawer 105a. Another method of making the designated drawer 105a accessible is to move the designated drawer 105a and all the drawers 105 beneath it, downwardly and away from the drawers 105 above the designed drawer 105a. In order to move the trays in this fashion, the lead screw assembly motor 108 rotates either clockwise or counter-clockwise, depending on which way the trays are to be moved, and drives the lead screw assembly 107 housed within the tray tower 103. The lead screw assembly 107 includes a threaded shaft (not shown) which has relatively large threads in the center portion of the shaft when compared to the threads at the upper and lower portions of the shaft. The larger, more coarse, threads at the center portion of the shaft causes the trays to move more quickly through the center portion of the shaft while the smaller, finer, threads at the upper and lower portions of the shaft cause the trays to move much slower so that they do not crash into the upper or lower ends of the tower assembly 103. By moving the robotic arm 109 near the area of the center portion of the shaft, the robotic arm 109 may be positioned in the space between two trays so as to be underneath one tray and above another. In this position, the robotic arm 109 can retrieve components from the parts tray immediately below the robotic arm 109.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the multi-tray unit 100 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the robotic arm 109 is positioned above the designated drawer 105a such that the vacuum nozzle 111 may pick up a component (not shown) contained within a parts tray (not shown) which is in turn contained within the designated drawer 105a.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a typical parts tray 200 having multiple cavities, or pockets 201, arranged in a 3.times.4 matrix. Within each cavity 201 is a component 203. The parts tray 200 is a common packaging medium in which components, particularly integrated circuits (ICs), are shipped. In order to secure each of the components 203 in their respective cavities 201, the top of the parts tray 200 is typically covered with an electrostatically safe film or cover sheet (not shown). When the components 203 are ready to be assembled onto a PCB, the cover sheet on the parts tray 200 is removed and the parts tray 200 is typically inserted into a drawer 105 of a multi-tray unit 100 (FIGS. 1 and 2). As discussed above, with reference to FIG. 1, the components 203 may then by extracted from the parts tray 200 by a robotic arm 109 (FIG. 1) of an automated placement machine.
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the parts tray 200 of FIG. 3 contained within a drawer 105 having a cavity 106 for holding the parts tray 200 therein. The parts tray 200 includes twelve cavities 201 arranged in a 3.times.4 matrix, each cavity 201 containing a component 203 therein. As shown in FIG. 4, a reference point 300 is selected at a point where an inside corner of the cavity 106 is located, for example. With respect to the reference point 300, the coordinates of each of the components 203 may be calculated (as explained in further detail below) such that an automated placement machine may be programmed to move a robotic arm (not shown) to the coordinates of each component 203 in order to pick up the component 203. The coordinates of a first component 203a, for example, are calculated by measuring the distances X1 and Y1. The distance X1 represents the distance along an x-axis of a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system between a center point 205 of the body of the first component 203a and the reference point 300. Similarly, the distance Y1 represents the distance along a y-axis of the two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system-between the center point 205 of the body of the component 203a and the reference point 300.
After the first component 203a has been retrieved and placed at a desired location, any one of the remaining components 203 may be retrieved by the robotic arm. The distance X2 represents the component pitch, or distance between adjacent components 203, in the x-direction. The distance Y2 represents the component pitch, or distance between adjacent components 203, in the y-direction. By measuring and recording the distances X1, Y1, X2 and Y2, with respect to the reference point 300, the spatial coordinates of each component 203 in the parts tray 200 may be calculated. Once calculated, these coordinates can then be entered into a software program stored in a database of an automated placement machine, such as the Fuji IP2 or IP3 placement machine. The placement machine can then move a robotic arm to the locations which correspond to these coordinates in order to retrieve components. In one embodiment, the distances XI, Y1, X2 and Y2 are manually measured by a system operator and entered as inputs to a software program stored in a database of the automated placement machine. The software program executes the protocol for moving the robotic arm to desired locations in accordance with entered data. Alternatively, the distances X1, X2, Y1 and Y2 may be automatically measured by a machine such as the vision system of an automated placement machine, for example.
Typically, a placement machine gauges the distance moved by a robotic arm by counting "motor pulses" of a motor which drives the motion of the robotic arm. A motor tick may be a specified number of rotations of a sprocket, drive wheel, or the movement of any other mechanism which has a relatively constant magnitude of motion with respect to a specified distance traveled by the robotic arm. Therefore, if the distances X1 and Y1 have been measured to be 3 and 4 inches, respectively, an automatic placement machine may first move a robotic arm, starting from a home position corresponding to the reference point 300, in the x-direction until it counts a number of motor pulses that corresponds to 3 inches. The automatic placement machine may then move the robotic arm in the y-direction until it counts a number of motor pulses that correspond to four inches.
After the robotic arm has retrieved the first component 203a and placed the component 203a onto a designated location on a PCB, the robotic arm may then retrieve a second component, typically either 203b or 203c. For example, if the robotic arm is programmed to retrieve the component 203b next, the robotic arm will first be positioned at its home position. Starting from the home position, the robotic arm may first be moved in the x-direction until the automated placement machine counts a number of motor pulses corresponding to the distance X1+X2. The robotic arm is then moved in the y-direction until a number of motor pulses corresponding to the distance Y1 are counted. After the robotic arm has been moved in this fashion, it should be at a position directly above the component 203b such that the vacuum nozzle of the robotic arm is centered above the pick-up point 205 of the component 203b.
However, the method described above is not accurate if an origin, or home position, of the robotic arm is not accurately calibrated to match the reference point 300 of FIG. 4. In prior art methods, the process of calibrating a robotic arm is performed manually by moving the robotic arm to the designated reference point. The system operator then tries to visually align a vacuum nozzle of the robotic arm such that it is centered above the reference point 300 of FIG. 4. This process requires careful judgment, and sometimes guesswork, by the system operator. Additionally, this process is tedious and unnecessarily time consuming. Accordingly, it can be appreciated that if the calibration of the home position of the robotic arm is not accurately performed, all subsequent movements of the robotic arm will be in error by an amount proportional to the error in calibration. Often times, if the operator is in error by merely a fraction of an inch in calibrating the origin position of the robotic arm, all subsequent movements of the robotic arm will be in error, leading to subsequent problems during the retrieval and placement of the components by the robotic arm. As used herein, the terms "home position," "origin," "origin point," and "origin position" are synonymous and interchangeable, and refer to a position or location of a robotic arm from which all movements of the robotic arm may be measured or gauged. As used herein, the term "calibration" and any conjugation thereof refers to the determination and setting of the home position of the robotic arm.
If the home position of the robotic arm is inaccurately calibrated, the robotic arm will either pick up each component off-center from its intended pick-up point or not be able to pick up the component at all. If the robotic arm picks up the component off-center from its intended pick-up point, it must compensate for the deviation in order to properly place the component onto the PCB. Often, if the misalignment of a component is too great, the automated placement machine can not compensate for this deviation. In this situation, the component is either placed improperly, or not placed at all.
In the electronics manufacturing industry, components such as integrated circuit (IC) chips are relatively small and must be placed onto a specified location of a PCB within millimeters of the intended location, such that the leads of the component are properly matched with specified pads on the PCB. If each lead of an IC, for example, is not properly matched with each pad of the PCB, the PCB is defective and must be reworked. Therefore, what is needed is a uniform and accurate method of consistently establishing a home position, or origin, from which the motion of the robotic arm of an automated placement machine may be gauged. By accurately calibrating the robotic arm, an automated placement machine may be programmed to automatically retrieve components from a parts tray and place them onto a PCB with a desired degree of precision.

Method of calibrating an automated placement machine


The present invention provides an electrostatic discharge protector capable of taking measures for electrostatic discharge against electronic wiring boards having various designs freely, simply and easily, having excellent accuracy of regulating an operating voltage and capable of being downsized and decreased on its cost, and also provides a resin composition for a discharge gap capable of preparing the electrostatic discharge protector. The resin composition for filling a discharge gap of an electrostatic discharge protector comprises a resin having a urethane structure represented by the formula (1):

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is one of destructive and unavoidable phenomena that electric systems and integrated circuits are attacked. From the electric view, ESD is a transitional high current phenomenon such that a peak current of several amperes continues for a period of time from 10 n sec to 300 n sec. Therefore, when ESD is generated, an integrated circuit is damaged so that it is hardly repaired, or its volume breaks down or deteriorates so that it does not work normally unless a current of several amperes is conducted outside the integrated circuit within several nano sec. Furthermore, the lightening, thinning and downsizing for electronic parts or electronic apparatuses advance rapidly in recent years. With the rapid progress, the degree of integration in semiconductors and the density of electronic parts mounted on printed wiring boards are increased remarkably with the result that integration is minute, or electronic elements or signal conductors mounted are present very closely each other. Under these circumstances, high frequency radiation noise is easily caused together with the accelerating of the signal-processing rate.
Conventionally, as an element for protecting from static electricity, which protects IC etc. in circuits from ESD, JP-A-2005-353845 discloses an element having a bulk structure, which comprises a sintered matter of a metal oxide etc. This element is a laminated chip varistor made from the sintered matter and is equipped with a laminate and one pair of external electrodes. The varistor has a property such that when the applied voltage reaches a certain value, the current, which has not been flown until now, begins to flow suddenly, and also has excellent blocking force to electrostatic discharge. However, in the production of the laminated chip varistor, which is a sintered matter, a complicated production process including sheet molding, internal electrode printing, sheet lamination, etc. is inevitable and the production also has a problem that delamination and other wrong conditions are easily caused during mounting.
As an electrostatic discharge element for protecting IC and the like in a circuit from ESD, there is a discharge type element. The discharge type element has merits that a leak current is small, the principle thereof is simple and breakdown is hardly caused. Furthermore, in the discharge type element, the discharge voltage can be regulated by the distance of a discharge gap. When the element has a sealing structure, the discharge voltage can be determined by the gas pressure or the gas kind. As a commercially available element, there is an element prepared by forming a cylindrical ceramic surface conductive coating film, providing a discharge gap on the coating film by means of leaser and glass sealing the gap. This glass sealing tube type discharge gap element has excellent properties, but has a limitation on downsizing as a surface-mounting element because of having its complicated form and also has a difficulty in decreasing the cost.
The method of forming a discharge gap on a wiring directly, and regulating the discharge voltage by the distance of the discharge gap is disclosed in the following documents. For example, JP-A-H3 (1991)-89588 discloses that the distance of the discharge gap is 4 mm, and JP-A-H5 (1993)-67851 discloses that the distance of the discharge gap is 0.15 mm. In the smallest gaps according to the conventional techniques, the discharge voltage between the parallel electrodes is about 1 kV or higher. In the protrudent electrodes, the discharge voltage is decreased by about 10 to 20 percents, but this discharge voltage is too high for protecting IC or LSI having a low power supply voltage.
Moreover, when the discharge gap part is not protected, it is presumed that the surface of a conductor is contaminated by humidity or gases in the environment and the discharge voltage is changed. For protecting the discharge gap, it is unpractical to fill the discharge gap with a conventional resist directly because the discharge voltage is vastly increased. When the narrow discharge gap having a distance of about 1 to 2 μm or smaller is filled with a conventional resist, the discharge voltage can be decreased, but the resist filled suffers slight deterioration to cause problems such that the insulating resistance is lowered or continuity occasionally occurs.
The distance of a discharge gap and the optimization of the discharge voltage are disclosed in JP-A-H10 (1998)-27668. It discloses that the discharge gap is preferably 5 to 60 μm for protecting general electronic elements, and the discharge gap is preferably 1 to 30 μm for protecting IC or LSI, which is more sensitive to static electricity and particularly, the discharge gap can be increased to about 150 μm for the use that only a large pulse voltage portion is removed.
With respect to a relationship of the product of the distance of a discharge gap and pressure with discharge voltage, there is a Paschen's law. In the Paschen's law, when the distance of a discharge gap is 7 μmin the air (1 bar, 20° C.), the discharge voltage is determined to 350 V.
As described above, when a discharge gap having a distance of several μm to 50 μm is filled with an insulating resin, the discharge voltage correlating to the distance can be obtained in principle. However, when the application of 8 kV is carried out to human body charged model (HBM) according to IEC61340-3-1 in practical, the insulating resistance is lowered according to the kind of a resin or continuity occurs to cause a problem that it is not endurable to practical use.
Specifically, the resin filled in a discharge gap is preferably a material having high flame resistance and low deterioration by discharging. Examples of such heat resistant resin are fluorine resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene copolymer and tetrafluoroethylene/perfluoroalkoxyethylene copolymer; epoxy compounds such as polyimide resin, alicyclic epoxy resin and novolak type epoxy resin; polyquinoxaline, polyquinoline, polybenzoimidazole, polybenzothiazole, polybenzoxazole, benzimidazobenzo phenanthroline type ladder polymer, poly-4-hydroxy benzoate, silicon resin etc. In a wiring board that a flexible substrate comprises polyimide as a base and the discharge gap between electrodes is 15 μm when to the discharge gap obtainable by filling with a heat resistant resin and curing, a pulse voltage of 8 kV in HBM model is applied, the insulating properties are changed and the electric resistance value is apt to be lowered. Namely, it is turn out that when the insulating resin for protecting a discharge gap merely has heat resistance, the polyimide as a base suffers deterioration to induce short circuit. Furthermore, it is turn out that the resin has limitation on a solvent used for dissolution and has some other problems for practical use thereof.

Resin composition for filling discharge gap and electrostatic discharge protector

Abstract: wherein plural R's are each independently an alkylene group of 1 to 18 carbon atoms, X is a bivalent organic group and m and n are each independently an integer of 1 to 20.

Abstract: The electrostatic discharge protector is obtainable by filling the discharge gap with the resin composition. The discharge gap has a width of 2 to 10 μm.


A synchronous hydraulic pump for dishwashers and washing machines comprising a synchronous motor (1), an impeller (2) coaxial to said synchronous motor (1) and a hydraulic body (3), said impeller (2) being housed in said hydraulic body (3) and the hydraulic body (3) having an inlet pipe (4) and an outlet pipe (5). The pump also comprises at least one piece (8) adjacent to the impeller (2), said piece (8) having a projection (9) pointing at the outlet pipe (5), in such a way that said projection (9) acts as a guider directing the flow circulating inside the hydraulic body (3) towards the outlet pipe (5).

The present invention relates to hydraulic pumps for dishwashers and washing machines, and more specifically to synchronous hydraulic pumps.
Synchronous hydraulic pumps for dishwashers and washing machines are already known. Said pumps comprise a synchronous motor, an impeller coaxial to said synchronous motor and a hydraulic body, said impeller being housed in said hydraulic body. The hydraulic body has an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe, the incoming water being evacuated from the former to the latter pipe by means of the rotation of the impeller.
Pumps of this type usually have priming problems due to the air that builds up together with the water inside the hydraulic body. One solution so that the least possible amount of air collects inside the hydraulic body is to reduce the space inside said hydraulic body (and therefore the place where air could be housed) to a minimum. This is often not feasible due to the hydraulic or dimensional requirements of the housing where the pump is installed.
Another solution is to force out the air that collects inside the hydraulic pump adding a third pipe to the hydraulic body at the top, via which the air is evacuated to the exterior, being forced out to the washing chamber. The existence of said third pipe for air recirculation nevertheless brings about a loss of output flow, a loss that will be greater the larger the diameter of the third pipe is. Therefore, so that the flow loss may be as little as possible, small diameters are used in relation to the diameter of the outlet pipe. This means that, during the lifetime of the appliance, said third pipe becomes blocked and requires the intervention of the technical service. In addition, dirty water recirculates through said third pipe to the washing chamber, thereby reducing the washing quality of the appliance.
On the other hand, it is important to increase the output flow of the pump as much as possible. One way to do so is to increase the impeller""s dimensions, but this entails higher power consumption along with noisier pump operation.
The main object of the invention is to provide a synchronous hydraulic pump that overcomes the priming problem without the need to incorporate a third pipe for air recirculation.
The hydraulic pump of the invention comprises a synchronous motor, an impeller coaxial to said synchronous motor and a hydraulic body, said impeller being housed in said hydraulic body and the hydraulic body having an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe. Said pump also comprises at least one piece adjacent to the impeller which has a projection pointing towards the outlet pipe, in such a way that said projection acts as a guider directing the flow circulating inside the hydraulic body towards said outlet pipe.
In this way, a good proportion of the mass of water is prevented from circulating permanently xe2x80x9cintegralxe2x80x9d with the impeller together with the accumulated air. Thus, the air that would otherwise build up inside the hydraulic body is forced out via the outlet pipe, along with the mass of water, so that the priming problem is resolved. Furthermore, besides overcoming the priming problem, directing the flow also increases output delivery considerably.
Therefore, the invention has the following advantages:
the priming problem is solved without the use of a third pipe for air recirculation, whereby the drawbacks stemming from the use of this third pipe are avoided, and
a considerable output flow is obtained without having to increase the dimensions of the impeller, whereby the increased power consumption that would be involved is avoided, and also the increased noise level entailed.
The piece that acts as a guider directs the flow towards the outlet pipe irrespective of the direction of rotation of the impeller.


A system and method for creating a platform independent enhancement file for television employs a web based editor with local functions for repositioning and sizing of displayable elements. Elements comprise text, graphics, images, or imported HTML files. Trigger information associated with elements controls the time and actions performed when rendering the displayable elements. A database comprises data representing elements, element attributes, trigger information and project information. A file generation process queries the database and produces a platform independent XML compatible script file. The script file may be parsed and the resultant HTML/Javascript file may be previewed employing a web browser. The script file may be parsed with other tools to provide HTML files for specific platforms without modification of the script file.

a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to interactive and enhanced television and, more particularly, to a method and system of creating enhancement content that may be displayed in conjunction with a television program.
b. Description of the Background
A television program may be accompanied by additional information employed to enhance the program or to provide viewer interaction. Enhancements have historically included closed captioning and multilingual support. Advances in networking, computer systems, and video production have increased the number and types of enhancements that may be provided with a program or advertisement . Enhancements may include stock updates, news stories, Internet links, weather forecasts, bulletins, statistics, trivia, and other information. For example, a football game may include icons allowing viewing of team players, statistics, trivia and other information such as upcoming games. Further, the advent of set-top-boxes, as may be used in cable and satellite television systems, allows enhancement information to be presented in new ways, such as screen overlays and in windows, for example.
Enhanced television content may employ a combination of HTML (hypertext markup language), JavaScript, Java and other formats common to Internet page display. An enhanced display may comprise text, icons, graphics and images placed at locations on or in proximity to the television image. To produce an enhanced display, an author must create a file identifying each displayed element (such as text, icons, graphics and images), the location where each element is displayed, and the starting time a duration for which an element or group of elements is displayed. Previous methods employed to enter parameters required to generate and position the elements comprising the layout of enhanced pages have involved manually entry. The resultant application program may require compilation and execution in order to view the resultant image or images. This may be an iterative process, requiring multiple compilations before a desired result is obtained. Such iterative processes may be costly and time consuming.
Additionally, due to the numerous differences between presentation platforms, such as set top boxes, satellite receivers, computers, or interactive televisions, content providers have historically been required to target a specific platform in the development of an application. In order to provide support for each additional platform, the interactive content provider must introduce potentially significant modifications to the existing application, resulting in the ongoing maintenance of multiple code bases and adding to the time and cost required to produce enhanced page layouts for multiple platforms. Further, web page design tools, such as FrontPage(trademark), DreamWeaver(trademark), and others, do not support administrative capabilities nor do they support databases. Therefore a new method of creating enhanced content that allows utilization across multiple platforms and provides an accurate preview of enhancements is needed.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art by providing an interactive television enhancement authoring method and system allowing simple development of text, graphics, and image display, emulation of the enhancements, and production of a platform independent enhancement file, called iTVML, that may be parsed, using a publisher tool (such as iTV Publisher from Intellocity), to create interactive television enhanced content files specific to a particular platform such as WEBTV(trademark), AOLTV(trademark) or other platforms. An authoring program communicates with a web browser such that the present invention may be utilized locally or across a network.
The invention may therefore comprise a method for creating a television presentation enhancement comprising: defining a window in a graphical user interface; placing a displayable element at a position in the window; defining a time when the displayable element may be rendered; employing a database to store information describing the displayable element and the time; creating a platform independent television enhancement file containing information related to the displayable element and the time; parsing the platform independent television enhancement file to produce an HTML file; and viewing the HTML file.
Software downloaded to the browser provides xe2x80x98drag and dropxe2x80x99 and resizing editing functions at the user""s browser, eliminating delays that may be incurred due network latencies and server workload if these functions were implemented at the server. The invention comprises a number of user screens that may be accessed through URLs that provide administrative, project, page, layout, trigger, emulation, and iTVML export. Administrative functions provide user accounts, login, and tutorials. The project and page screens provide access to projects and specific enhancement pages with the projects. The layout page provides an easy to use, user-friendly graphical editing environment where elements such as text, graphics, images, and executable routines may be placed on a video display area (canvas) and may be moved and sized. The trigger functions provide synchronization of the presentation of enhancements to a specified event, such as frame time or presentation duration, for example. The emulation function generates an iTVML file and parses the file for web browser presentation, providing an accurate representation of the enhancement if viewed on a television. The iTVML export function provides generation and saving of an iTVML file.
The invention may therefore further comprise a system for creating television enhancements comprising: a graphical user interface implemented in a web browser environment; a rectangular area defined in the browser environment; a user interface that places a displayable element in the rectangular area; a user interface that specifies a time at which the displayable element may be rendered; a database that stores information associated with the displayable element and information associated with the time; a pointing device; and a user interface that initiates generation of an XML file containing tags for the information associated with the displayable element and the information associated with the time.
Advantageously, the present invention provides an efficient, easy to use system and method for creating television enhancements that produces a platform independent enhancement file. The enhancement file may be emulated using the invention to preview the appearance of the enhancements. The enhancement file may be parsed by other tools to produce platform dependent enhancement files without re-editing, resulting in lower costs to support a range of presentation platforms, and uniformity in the content of the enhancements provided.

System and method for web based enhanced interactive television content page layout


A device for discriminating metal in an object is provided including a sense coil and related circuitry, with variations in the self inductance of the sense coil being measured as the object is passed substantially through the center of the coil.

I. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to a metal discriminator, and specifically to a discriminating circuit including a sense coil and means for measuring a change in the self inductance of the coil caused by a metallic object placed substantially in the center of the coil.
II. RELATED ART
Previous discriminator systems based on the principle of applying pulsed signals into a sense coil and measuring the loss in voltage potential across the coil versus time that occurs in the coil after the pulse is applied are known. However, these systems tend to be very sensitive to external noise sources and are subject to temperature sensitivity and physical parameters such as cable length.

Sensor system method and apparatus for discrimination of metallic objects based on a variation in self inductance


A basket pullout system for a blind corner cabinet with an orientation bracket and stabilizer for installation of a blind corner pullout with adjustable shelves. The orientation bracket allows for easy installation of a base assembly irrelevant of which side the door opens or whether the cabinet has a face frame. The vertical stanchion assembly also allows for easy adjustment of slide positions to transition between a cabinet with the door on the right to the door on the left, and vice versa.

Modern kitchens place a premium on storage space. Storage space is often not effectively utilized in "blind corner" cabinets because the portion of the cabinet behind the cabinet wall adjacent the door is inaccessible.
Pullout mechanisms for blind corner cabinets are generally difficult to install. They are heavy and require a great deal of space and positioning when installed due to the dead space behind the cabinet wall adjacent the cabinet door. As a result, precision installation of prior art mechanisms is time consuming and expensive and error prone.
Blind corner kitchen cabinets present further problems with respect to orientation. Blind corner cabinets may be either "right-hand" or "left-hand" oriented dependent on the relative positions of the cabinet door. Furthermore, blind corner cabinets also present issues because they may either "framed" or "unframed".
The different variations and orientations of kitchen cabinets require prior art pullout mechanisms to be made in dedicated and specific configurations in order to accommodate the different variations of cabinets. Hence, the prior art lacks a fully adaptable design.
The prior art has attempted many solutions to the problems presented by blind corner cabinets. But none of them is optimal.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,279 to Stadler discloses a right angled corner cabinet draw and push mechanism which positions a drawer behind the dead space in the cabinet. However, the mechanism is limited to right-hand oriented cabinets. Further, due to the complexity of the draw and push mechanism, precise measurement and placement within the cabinet is required, for installation thereby making installation complicated.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,462,884 to Hunter discloses a system of drawers for use in a corner cabinet. A pullout system is disclosed which comprises separate sets of heavy duty runner systems at opposed 90° angles. The system allows the drawers to move laterally and longitudinally within the cabinet carcass. However, lateral movement of one drawer is dependent on the lateral movement of the other drawer. More importantly, the runner systems are dedicated to either right-hand or left-hand oriented cabinet frames and are not interchangeable.
In a similar way, U.S. Publication No. 2006/0181183 to Galloway discloses a multi-directional drawer system designed to be fitted in a corner under a cabinet to maximize storage space. A multi-direction track is provided which generally includes a platform and a tray. However, the system requires that the tracks be coupled to each other via the trays and the platform so that the drawer has a continuous track along which to move. The tray, the tracks and the platform each must be precisely aligned in either a right-hand or left-hand fashion which limits the mechanism to use in one orientation and requires complicated installation to function properly.


Some embodiments of the invention provide a system for monitoring liquid consumption at one or more establishments. At each establishment, the system includes one or more spouts and a local computer. Each spout is mounted on a liquid container. Also, each spout generates data regarding the amount of liquid poured from the spout's container. The local computer at each establishment collects data generated by the spouts at the establishment. In some embodiments, a wireless network links the local computer and the spouts at each establishment. The system also includes an external computer that gathers the data collected by the local computers of the establishments monitored by the system. In some embodiments, the external computer is located outside of all the establishments, while in other embodiments this computer is located within one of the establishments. Some embodiments of the invention provide a free-pour spout. This spout mounts on an open orifice of a liquid container and measures the amount of liquid poured from the liquid container. This spout has a housing and a passageway defined within the housing. It also has a detection circuit that detects fluid flow through the passageway. In addition, this spout has a measuring circuit that generates data relating to fluid flow when the detection circuit detects fluid flow through the passageway.

The amount of liquids dispensed from liquid containers need to be monitored for many endeavors today. For instance, the management of establishments such as bars and taverns have long found it necessary to carefully monitor the relationship between liquor dispensed and receipts by controlling the quantity of liquor dispensed from a specific bottle and recording the sale.
A few systems have been proposed to date for measuring and recording the amount of liquid dispensed from liquid containers. One such system includes a spout that is configured to attach to an opening of a liquid container. This spout also uses a portion-control mechanism to control the desired amount of liquid poured from the liquid container. The spout includes a radio transmitter for emitting signals containing activity information. A receiver receives the transmitted signals, and provides these signals to a computer at the establishment that processes the signals into text for viewing.
Some establishments have resisted using monitoring systems that utilize portion-control mechanisms since some consumers find such mechanism to be obtrusive. Also, portion-control devices require manual activation and are at times bulky. Hence, there is a need for a compact free-pour apparatus that measures the amount of dispensed liquid in an unobtrusive fashion without requiring manual activation.
There is also a need for a remote monitoring system that allows an administrator to monitor liquid consumption for multiple sites. Ideally, this monitoring system would allow the administrator to monitor liquid consumption from a variety of remote locations. Also, this system ideally would require minimal technical oversight for the hardware and software that collects the data at each establishment.

Spout for dispensing liquid from a liquid container


A retention device (2) for positioning a heat sink (3) includes a base (21), a lever (22) and a pressing tab (23), the pressing tab (23) includes a first pushing portion (233) and a second pushing portion (232) for pressing the heat sink (3), the first pushing portion (233) includes an upper surface (2330) and a lower surface opposite (2331) to the upper surface (2330), the second pushing portion (232) includes a top surface (2320) and a bottom surface (2321) opposite to the top surface (2320), the distance between the upper surface (2330) and the lower surface (2331) is smaller than the distance between the top surface (2320) and the bottom surface (2321).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retention device and an electrical connector assembly used thereof for connecting with an IC package, and more particularly to a retention device for positioning a heat sink securely.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional electrical connector for connecting an IC package to a substrate is usually assembled with a heat sink to dissipate the heat generated by the IC package during working. U.S. Pat. No. 6,826,052 issued to Ma on Nov. 30, 2004 discloses a conventional electrical connector for electrically connecting an IC package with a substrate. The electrical connector includes a retention device for fixing a heat sink. The retention device includes a fixing seat and a pair of spring members. The fixing seat is configured to a frame shape and includes four sidewalls extending upwardly. A pair of opposite sidewalls defines a number of holes. Each of the spring members defines a pair of hooks. The hooks receive in the holes and interlocked with the fixing seat, thus the spring members fix the heat sink on the IC package securely. But, it is hard to assemble the spring members to the fixing seat due to it need enough force to do so. At the same time, when use some times, the spring members will has no enough spring, thus the spring members has no enough force exert on the heat sink.
Hence, it is desirable to provide an improved electrical connector to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

Retention device and electrical connector assembly used thereof


A biologically pure culture of Saccharomyces cervisiae GP-01, and a method for producing Saccharomyces Cervisiae GP-01 which is ethanol-resistant and obtained by protoplast fusing Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (KCTC 7904) and Candida Ethanolica (KCTC 7181). Further, the present invention provides yeast containing the high content of organic bio-germanium (the yeast Ge-32K) and a method for producing the yeast Ge-32K, comprising adding the yeast GP-01 into a solution of sodium metagermanate (Na2GeO3) at the volume ratio of 1:0.5˜2; adding 0.1˜0.4 wt % of surfactant, instead of germanium dioxide as used in the prior arts; and cultivating an obtained broth. The obtained yeast Ge-32K contains the higher content of the organic bio-germanium than the conventional yeast as produced by using germanium dioxide.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to yeast which is ethanol resistant and contains the high content of organic bio-germanium, and the method for producing the yeast. More specifically, the method comprises producing a mutated Saccharomyces cervisiae, i.e., yeast GP-01 by protoplast fusion of Saccharomyces cervisiae (KCTC7904) and candida ethanolica (KCTC7181), the yeast being resistant against the high concentrate ethanol; cultivating the yeast GP-01 with sodium metagermanate (Na2GeO3) for germanium to be inoculated into the yeast GP-01 by the biotransformation; and finally obtaining a mutated yeast being ethanol-resistant and containing the high content of organic bio-germanium (hereinafter referred to as the yeast Ge-32K).
2. Background Art
Germanium is classified with organic and inorganic germanium (GeO2). It is known the inorganic germanium accumulated in the human organs over the long time leads to the strong toxicity.
Organic germanium is naturally contained in microorganisms, mineral water and medicinal herbs. Further, it can be bio-synthesized in the fungal body or chemically synthesized. The organic germanium is organically bound to the proteins in the cell, peptides, etc. and the therapeutic benefits of the organic germanium for enhancing immunity; suppressing the origination and spread of the tumor cells (metastasis), treating and preventing various chronic diseases, etc. are established by numerous papers and scientific journals (Kor. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 2007. 35(2):118-127; J. Kor. Soc. Food Sci. Nutr. 2006. 35(6):683-689; J. Kor. Soc. Appl. Biol. Chem. 2005.48(3):246-251; Immune Network. 2006. 6(2):86-92). In addition, the organic germanium is well-known for anticancer activities by oxygen supply to cells (J. Orthomol. Medicin., 1986. 1:145-148), purification of blood (Medicin. Hyphothesis., 1988. 26:207-215), reinforcement of immunity by activation of NK cell and macrophage (Microbiol. Immunol., 1985. 29:65-74; Kor. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 2007. 35(2):118-127); inducement of interferon production (Gantokagakutyoho, 9:1976-1980); suppression of generating and spreading the cancer cell (Cancer and Chemotheraphy. 1985. 12(12):2345-2351); suppression of arthritis (Autonomic & Autacoid Pharmacol. 2005. 25:129-134); prevention and treatment of various diseases such as neuralgia (Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem., 1986. 8:379-386), osteoporosis (Germanium; The health and life enhancer. 1988); mitigation of high blood pressure (hypertension) and hyperlipidemia cholesterol (Pharmacol., 1990. 41:286-291); alleviation of liver toxin (J. Kor. Soc. Food. Nutr., 1994. 23(4): 581-586); and so forth. Due to the well-known therapeutic benefits, many researches on organic germanium have been widely undertaken for decades in an attempt to apply it for treatment of various obstinate diseases such as cancer and cardiopathy, etc. in U.S.A., Japan, Europe and Korea (Anticancer Res., 1985. 5(5):479-483).
The organic germanium can be obtained by extracting from medicinal herbs like ginseng, ganoderma, etc., but such a method is difficult to be commercialized due to high cost and low productivity. Further, the organic germanium can be obtained by a chemical synthesis which includes a reaction of germanium dioxide (GeO2) with organic acids, but the product obtained from the chemical synthesis comprises the inorganic germanium and thus the use for the foods or medical supplies is limited due to the un-established safety (Import Alert by US FDA, 1988).
In fact, the yeast is importantly used in baking, confectionery and brewery industry for thousands of years. Further, the yeast itself is useful as a source of nutrition for human being and attractive as a next generation protein source, a single cell protein (SCP) which is ideally comprised of protein, vitamin, mineral, etc. and characterized in the high protein and low fat.
Furthermore, the yeast is the best source of Vitamin B among the single cells and comprising lots of enzymes etc., which are mainly served in vivo metabolism. In this respect, the yeast is used as the health supplementary product. Recently, a large number of researches and developments on the health supplement products have been made so that the physiological and pharmaceutical benefits by the yeast are obtained. In order to achieve the said object, the development for the yeast containing the high contents of organic bio-germanium is highly required.
In the conventional methods, the yeast containing the organic bio-germanium is produced by cultivating the yeast in the medium including inorganic germanium (GeO2). Due to the drawback that the growth of yeast is suppressed in the condition of the medium where the high content of the inorganic germanium is contained, it is difficult in the conventional methods to produce the yeast containing the appropriate amount of organic bio-germanium in aspect of the cost-effective and scale.
To remedy the above drawback, a method separately executing the process of producing the yeast in the form of a pellet and the process of inoculating germanium dioxide (GeO2) in the obtained yeast is tried. However, in the above method, the yield of the palletized yeast is too low to be commercialized due to the ethanol generated during the cultivation of yeast and the content of germanium dioxide (GeO2) inoculated into the yeast is extremely low.
Also it has been known that the solubility of germanium dioxide (GeO2) used in the above method is 5.2 g/L at 25° C., which is served as the suppresser of the growth of yeast (J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 1989. 4(4):299-306).    1. Therefore, it is highly required to invent the method to produce the ethanol resistant yeast containing the high content of organic bio-germanium by using the inorganic germanium which has higher solubility but much lower toxicity than germanium dioxide (GeO2).


A fuel injection amount control system corrects the amount of fuel injected from each fuel injection valve in a feedback manner, based on an output value of an upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, so that the air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas flowing into a three-way catalyst coincides with a target air-fuel ratio. Also, the control system performs a high-pass filtering operation on the output value of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, so as to obtain a post-high-pass-filtering output value by removing a component that varies with variations in the center air-fuel ratio of the engine, from the output value of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor. Then, the control system acquires an air-fuel ratio imbalance index value that increases as the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among cylinders is larger, based on the post-high-pass-filtering output value.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fuel injection amount control system and a fuel injection amount control device for a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, an air-fuel ratio control system including a three-way catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine and an upstream air-fuel ratio sensor located upstream of the three-way catalyst has been widely known.
The air-fuel ratio control system is configured to calculate an air-fuel ratio feedback amount (main feedback amount) based on an output value of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, so that the air-fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture supplied to the internal combustion engine (the air-fuel ratio of the engine, accordingly, the air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas) coincides with a target air-fuel ratio, and performs feedback control on the air-fuel ratio of the engine, using the main feedback amount. The feedback amount is a controlled variable common to all of the cylinders. The target air-fuel ratio is set to a given reference air-fuel ratio within the window of the three-way catalyst. Generally, the reference air-fuel ratio is the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. The reference air-fuel ratio may be changed to a value in the vicinity of the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, according to the intake air amount of the engine, the degree of degradation of the three-way catalyst, and so forth.
Generally, the air-fuel ratio control system as described above is applied to an internal combustion engine that employs an electronically controlled fuel injection system. The internal combustion engine has at least one fuel injection valve for each cylinder or an intake port that communicates with each cylinder. With this arrangement, if a fuel injection valve of a particular cylinder turns to "a characteristic that it injects fuel in an amount excessively larger than a designated fuel injection amount", only the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture supplied to the particular cylinder (the air-fuel ratio of the particular cylinder) changes largely into a richer (smaller) value. Namely, the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among cylinders (variations in the air-fuel ratio among cylinders, cylinder-to-cylinder air-fuel ratio imbalance proportion) becomes larger. In other words, significant imbalances appear among "the air-fuel ratios of the individual cylinders" as the air-fuel ratios of air-fuel mixtures supplied to the respective cylinders. Then, the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among cylinders becomes larger.
In the following description, the cylinder corresponding to "the fuel injection valve having a characteristic of injecting fuel in an amount excessively larger or excessively smaller than the designated fuel injection amount" will be called "imbalance cylinder", and the remaining cylinders (cylinders corresponding to "fuel injection valves that inject fuel in the designated fuel injection amount") will be called "non-imbalance cylinders (or normal cylinders)".
If the fuel injection valve of a certain particular cylinder turns to "a characteristic that it injects fuel in an amount excessively larger than the designated fuel injection amount", the average of the air-fuel ratios of air-fuel mixtures supplied to the engine as a whole becomes a richer air-fuel ratio than the target air-fuel ratio set to the reference air-fuel ratio. Accordingly, with the feedback amount of the air-fuel ratio common to all the cylinders, the air-fuel ratio of the particular cylinder is changed to a leaner (or larger) value so as to be closer to the reference air-fuel ratio, and at the same time, the air-fuel ratio of the other cylinders is changed to a leaner (or larger) value, deviate further from the reference air-fuel ratio. As a result, the average of the air-fuel ratios of the mixtures supplied to the engine as a whole (the average air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas) becomes equal to an air-fuel ratio in the vicinity of the reference air-fuel ratio.
However, the air-fuel ratio of the above-indicated particular cylinder is still a richer air-fuel ratio than the reference air-fuel ratio, and the air-fuel ratio of the remaining cylinders becomes a leaner air-fuel ratio than the reference air-fuel ratio. As a result, the amount of emissions discharged from each cylinder (the amount of unburned substances and/or the amount of nitrogen oxides) is increased, as compared with the case where the air-fuel ratio of each cylinder is equal to the reference air-fuel ratio. Therefore, even when the average of the air-fuel ratios of the mixtures supplied to the engine is equal to the reference air-fuel ratio, the increased emissions cannot be completely cleaned by the three-way catalyst, which may result in deterioration of the emissions.
In order to prevent emissions from being deteriorated, therefore, it is important to detect excessively large ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the individual cylinders (namely, the occurrence of air-fuel ratio imbalances among the cylinders), and take some measure against the imbalance condition. The air-fuel ratio imbalances among cylinders also occur, for example, when the fuel injection valve of a particular cylinder turns to "a characteristic that it injects fuel in an amount that is excessively smaller than the designated fuel injection amount".
One example of fuel injection amount control system according to the related art obtains a trace length of an output value (output signal) of an electromotive force type oxygen concentration sensor located upstream of a three-way catalyst. The control system compares the trace length with "a reference value that varies according to the engine speed", and determines whether an air-fuel ratio imbalance condition among cylinders has occurred based on the result of comparison (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,594).
In the meantime, the exhaust gases emitted from the respective cylinders reach the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor in the order in which the ignition takes place in the cylinder (which is the same as the order in which exhaust gas is discharged from the cylinder). If there is no difference in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders (i.e., if no imbalance in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders occurs), the air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas emitted from each cylinder and reaching the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor is substantially equal. Accordingly, when there is no difference in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders, the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor varies as indicated by the broken line C1 in FIG. 3B, for example. Namely, if there is no imbalance or ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders, the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor assumes a generally flat waveform pattern. Therefore, the trace length of the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor is short. Also, the absolute value of the differential value d(Vabyfs)/dt (rate of change ΔAF) of the output value Vabyfs is small, as indicated by the broken line C3 in FIG. 3C.
On the other hand, if "the fuel injection valve that injects fuel into a particular cylinder (e.g., first cylinder)" is provided with "a characteristic that it injects a larger amount of fuel than the designated fuel injection amount", a difference in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders becomes large. Namely, there arises a large difference between the air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas of the particular cylinder (the air-fuel ratio of the imbalance cylinder), and the air-fuel ratio of exhaust gases of the cylinders other than the particular cylinder (the air-fuel ratio of the non-imbalance cylinders).
Accordingly, when the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders becomes large, the output value Vabyfs largely fluctuates in a cycle of a unit combustion cycle period, as indicated by the solid line C2 in FIG. 3B, for example. Therefore, the trace length of the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor is increased. Also, when the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders becomes large, the absolute value of the differential value d(Vabyfs)/dt (the change rate ΔAF) becomes large, as indicated by the solid line C4 in FIG. 3C. In this connection, the unit combustion cycle period is a period it takes the engine to rotate by a crank angle required for all of the cylinders from which exhaust gases reaching the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor are emitted, to complete one combustion cycle of each cylinder.
Furthermore, the above-indicated trace length increases and the absolute value |ΔAF| of the change rate ΔAF fluctuates by a larger degree, as the air-fuel ratio of the imbalance cylinder deviates further (by a larger degree) from the air-fuel ratio of the non-imbalance cylinders. For example, if the output value Vabyfs varies as indicated by the solid line C2 in FIG. 3B when a difference between the air-fuel ratio of the imbalance cylinder and the air-fuel ratio of the non-imbalance cylinders is a first value, the output value Vabyfs varies as indicated by the one-dot chain line C2a in FIG. 3B when a difference between the air-fuel ratio of the imbalance cylinder and the air-fuel ratio of the non-imbalance cylinders is "a second value that is larger than the first value".
As is understood from the above description, the fluctuations in the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor become larger as the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders is larger; therefore, an air-fuel ratio imbalance index value representing the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders can be acquired based on the output value Vabyfs.
In the meantime, when the engine 10 is in a transient operating condition, such as an accelerating condition or a decelerating condition, for example, the center of the air-fuel ratio (center air-fuel ratio) of the engine may largely vary at a relatively low frequency (see the broken line L1 of FIG. 4). Such variations in the center air-fuel ratio appear in the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor. Accordingly, the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor is in the form of a signal (see the solid line L3 of FIG. 5) obtained by superimposing a signal (see the solid line L2 of FIG. 4) indicative of fluctuations in the air-fuel ratio due to the ununiformity (or imbalance) in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders, on a signal (see the broke line L1 of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5) indicative of fluctuations in the center air-fuel ratio of the engine.
In this case, the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor fluctuates largely even if the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders is small. For example, when the air-fuel ratio imbalance index value is calculated based on the differential value d(Vabyfs)/dt (the rate of change ΔAF, or slope) of the output value Vabyfs, the slope obtained when the center air-fuel ratio of the engine does not fluctuate is θ1 as shown in FIG. 4, whereas the slope obtained when the center air-fuel ratio of the engine fluctuates is θ2 (θ2>θ1) as shown in FIG. 5 even with the same degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders. Consequently, if an air-fuel ratio imbalance index value is obtained based on the output value Vabyfs of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, the obtained air-fuel ratio imbalance index value may not accurately represent the degree of ununiformity in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders.
Therefore, if it is determined based on the air-fuel ratio imbalance index value obtained as described above whether an imbalance condition in the air-fuel ratio among the cylinders occurs, an erroneous determination may be made. If "fuel amount increasing control for compensating for erroneous lean correction which will be described later" is performed based on the air-fuel ratio imbalance index value as described above, the air-fuel ratio of the engine may not be controlled to an appropriate air-fuel ratio.

Fuel injection amount control system and fuel injection amount control device for multi-cylinder internal combustion engine


Azadirachta indica cell suspension culture is used to metabolize dianabol to yield potent anticarcinogenic 17β-hydroxy-17α-methyl-5α-androst-1-en-3-one, which can also be synthesized.

Azadirachta indica cell suspension culture can be used for the biotransformation of dianabol (Compound 1) to yield metabolites including 17β-hydroxy-17α-methyl-5α-androst-1-en-3-one (Compound 2), and 17β-hydroxy-17α-methyl-5α-androstan-3-one (Compound 3); these can be alternately synthesized chemically. The structures of these compounds were deduced on the basis of various spectroscopic techniques.
Compound 2 exhibited a significant immunomodulatory inhibitory activity and strongly suppressed the PHA-activated T-cell proliferation (IC50: <10.33 μM) comparable to control drug prednisolone, after 72 hours incubation, and was further found to interfere with the IL-2 production (IC50: 16.89±1.32) (FIG. 2A). Compound 2 also exhibited anticancer activity against lung cancer cell line; NCI-H460, it moderately inhibited the growth of cancer cells (22.5±4.15 μM).
Compound 3 exerted a moderate inhibitory activity on both tests as compared to Compound 2. On the other hand, the Compound 1 did not show any significant effect on the tested system.
Molecular docking studies were also performed to speculate possible interaction among IL-2 protein, and biotransformed products; studies exhibited a good correlation between the predicted binding energies of the compounds acquired by the FlexX program and the experimental affinities. For docking studies, crystal structure of human IL-2 complexed with Compound 4 [(R)—N-[2-[1-(aminoiminomethyl)-3-piperidinyl]-1-oxoethyl]-4-(phenylethynyl)-L-phenylalanine methyl ester] was downloaded from Protein data bank (pdb id: 1M48).


A semiconductor memory device is provided with a plurality of bit lines, a plurality of word lines, a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells each coupled to one bit line and one word line, and a varying part for varying a capacitance of at least a selected one of the bit lines in response to a predetermined signal which indicates a test mode in which an operation of the semiconductor memory device is tested.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor memory devices and methods of testing the same, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory device having a testing function and a method of testing such a semiconductor memory device.
As the integration density of semiconductor memory devices improve, the time required to test the produced memory chips increases considerably. The main reason for the considerable increase in the testing time is due to the fact that the operating speed of the memory has not been improved considerably relative to the increase in the number of bits. The testing time can be determined from "the operating time per bit".times."the number of bits".times."the coefficient which is determined by the test pattern"/"number of bits tested simultaneously in parallel". As a result, the cost involved in testing the memory chip makes up a large percentage of the cost of the memory chip.
The test is used to detect and exclude the bits which are clearly defective. But the test is also used to detect and exclude bits which are unstable and become defective depending on the conditions. The testing time required to detect the latter type of bits is considerably long. However, because the test must be completed within a limited time, it is difficult in actual practice to take a sufficiently long time to test each bit.
Conventionally, there is a method of testing unstable bits of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) by reducing the charge of the memory cell by some means, so as to forcibly reduce the output voltage of the memory cell from the regular value. By forcibly reducing the output voltage of the memory cell, the DRAM is put into a state where an error is more likely to occur so that it becomes possible to correctly detect a defect which would otherwise be considered normal during a normal test cycle. Such an error is more likely to occur in a memory cell which has a small capacitance due to some abnormal cause, a memory cell in which the pn junction and the transistor easily leak thereby causing a quick decrease in the charge, and a sense amplifier which has a poor sensitivity due to some abnormality. Particularly, the output voltage of the memory cell can be forcibly reduced by setting the voltage of a cell plate (counter electrode of the stacked capacitor) of the DRAM cell to different values for the write and read operations, so as to modulate the charge stored in the DRAM cell.
For example, when writing a data "1" into the memory cell and thereafter reading out this data, the apparent stored charge is reduced if the cell plate voltage is reduced during the read operation when compared to that during the write operation. In this manner, it is possible to forcibly reduce the output voltage of this data "1". Particularly, when the write operation is made by setting the cell plate voltage V.sub.CP to 2.5 V and the bit line voltage V.sub.BL to 5 V, the cell voltage V.sub.C becomes V.sub.C =V.sub.BL -V.sub.CP =2.5 V and the charge Q stored in the memory cell is a product of this cell voltage V.sub.C and the capacitance C of the memory cell. When the read operation is made by setting the cell plate voltage V.sub.CP to V.sub.CP =1.5 V, the bit line voltage V.sub.BL becomes V.sub.BL =V.sub.CP +V.sub.C =4 V which is 1 V lower than the bit line voltage of 5 V which is used when making the normal read operation at V.sub.CP =2.5.
The charge within the memory cell having a poor charge holding characteristic decreases after the level "1" is written therein, and according to the above described method, the decrease of this level "1" is made more conspicuous by forcibly reducing the output voltage of the memory cell, thereby making it possible to detect the unstable memory cell as a defective memory cell.
The method of reducing the cell plate voltage during the read operation can detect the memory cell which has an unstable level "1". However, in order to detect the memory cell which has an unstable level "0", it is necessary to increase the cell plate voltage during the read operation compared to that during the write operation. Generally, when the cause of the defective memory cell is due to the pn junction leak within the memory cell, only the decrease of the level "1" occurs and there is no modulation of the level "0". For this reason, it is sufficient to simply reduce the cell plate voltage when detecting the defective memory cell if only the storage electrode and the capacitor are taken into consideration. However, in the case of a memory cell such that the bit line and the word line are becoming short-circuited, the defective bit is caused by the modulation of the level "0". In other words, if the selected memory cell holds the level "0" and the word line and the bit line are short-circuited when reading from this selected memory cell, the bit line voltage is pulled towards the high level via the word line, and the defect is detected because the read data appears as if the level "1" were read.
Therefore, in order to guarantee no leak of the memory cell for both the level "1" and the level "0", the modulation of the cell plate voltage must be made for the level "1" and for the level "0" and the test must be carried out twice. The above leak of the memory cell refers to a failure other than an evident short-circuit which can be simply detected, such that a current leak occurs via a high resistance thereby causing an unstable operation of the memory cell. If the test is not carried out twice, it becomes necessary to employ a production process which guarantees that no leak will occur between the bit line and the word line. But such a production process generally requires the memory cells to have a relatively large size in order to facilitate the production, and as a result, the chip size becomes large and the production cost increases. On the other hand, the cost of the test increases if the test is carried out twice.
According to the conventional method of detecting the bits with the unstable operation (hereinafter referred to as "screening"), the cell plate voltage must be varied to detect the instability (leak relates to the storage electrode and the capacitor) with respect to the data "1" and to detect the instability (leak between the bit line and the word line) with respect to the data "0" for each cycle in the case of a data pattern such as "marching" which is used when the special operation of reducing the output voltage of the memory cell is made during read and write operations which are carried out alternatively. However, in actual practice, the cell plate voltage cannot be varied at a sufficiently high speed which follows the minimum operation cycle because of the relatively large cell plate capacitance. For this reason, there is a problem in that the required testing time is long.

Semiconductor memory device having a testing function and method of testing the same


A data processing system having a first processor, a second processor, a local memory of the second processor, and a built-in self-test (BIST) controller of the second processor which can be randomly enabled to perform memory accesses on the local memory of the second processor and which includes a random value generator is provided. The system can perform a method including executing a secure code sequence by the first processor and performing, by the BIST controller of the second processor, BIST memory accesses to the local memory of the second processor in response to the random value generator. Performing the BIST memory accesses is performed concurrently with executing the secure code sequence.

Computing systems often require operations to be carried out in a secure manner. For embedded computing devices and for pervasive systems, security of operation is often desirable. To ensure operations and communications are secure, such systems employ cryptographic methods.
The implementation of such a cryptographic method must itself be secure. However, cryptographic methods are subject to attacks. One type of non-invasive attack on computing devices implementing cryptographic methods is known as a side-channel attack. A side channel attack is any attack on the computing device based on information gained from the physical implementation of the computing system, rather than using a brute force attack or exploiting a theoretical weakness in the cryptographic algorithms. For example, timing information, power consumption, electromagnetic leaks, and sound can be used to as sources of information that can be used to break a system.
A power consumption attack, for example, involves the monitoring of the power consumption of one or more components of a device while the device executes a cryptographic method. One example of a power consumption attack is a differential power analysis. The data derived from monitoring power consumption of the device, combined with some knowledge of the operations being carried out by the device, can be used to derive the secret information that is part of the cryptographic method.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Random timeslot controller for enabling built-in self test module


An auto-provision method, system and computer programs for FTTH backhaul, midhaul or fronthaul for mobile base stations based on SDN. The method comprises detecting, by OLT when an ONU is connected to an optical termination point and responsive to said detection said OLT notifying a SDN controller. The SDN controller then provides connectivity to a base station connected to the ONU to a first restricted network providing access to a web site with limited connectivity. Then, said web site receives credential information identifying a technician of the base station and, once the technician is connected therein, further receives configuration information specifying which FTTH services the base station requires subscription. The SDN controller then disconnects the base station from the web site and reconnects it to a second network configured to provide access to a core network and to the subscribed FTTH services to the base station.

US-B2-9287982 introduces provision automatization by storing in the optical network unit (ONU) subscriber recognition information. This data has been previously provided by the network operator and it is introduced in the ONU by the subscriber. The ONU uses this information to connect to the network.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,774,629 is similar to the previous patent as it is based on the ONU capability to authenticate itself to the network. It is also quite similar to the mechanism currently implemented to connect FTTH customers, as ONU and optical liner terminal (OLT) ports are "paired".
US20070274720 proposes a mechanism to "lock" an ONU to an OLT port by using an identification mechanism based on a code that it is provided by the fiber technician.
US20120294613 introduces a mobile device that can register the information of the ONU (e.g. using RFID) and upload it to the provision system, which will register the ONU with the corresponding OLT port.
EP2887566A1 uses RFID tags to acquire the information required to connect the ONU to the network, streamlining the provision process.
Previously described references provide means to streamline the registration of the ONU with a given OLT port. However, they do not authenticate the user, but the ONU device itself. Additionally, existing registration procedures are limited and do not provide enhanced interactions with the user, such as enabling the customer/users to activate and deactivate FTTH service on-line or the modification of the service in real time.
All previous references authenticate the ONU in the network, but none of them authenticate the customer/user, thus requiring a registration of the equipment both the first time the service is activated and whenever the ONU is changed. On the contrary, present invention authenticates the user, so (s)he can activate the service and change or replace the ONU which was originally used to provision the service just by authenticating herself/himself in the subscriber portal, as the proposed method will automatically register the ONU used by the user when he connected to the subscriber portal (this way, the ONU can be discovered during the process and included in the inventory systems once provisioning is successfully completed).
None of the prior art solutions provides connectivity until the FTTH service is fully provisioned and active. Therefore, the user requires an alternative connection (e.g. mobile) or visiting a store to subscribe to the services. Instead, the proposed solution uses the already available FTTH network terminal connection to enable access to a walled garden where customers or non-customers can subscribe or activate services.
Furthermore, the user would be able to take its ONU to a different location with FTTH services and be recognized by the BSS/OSS and their configuration be recovered and instantiated at the new location.

Auto-provision method, a system and computer program products for FTTH backhaul, midhaul or fronthaul for mobile base stations based on SDN


A soldering method capable of alleviating positional displacement between substrates even though a step of removing flux can be omitted is provided.

Techniques for manufacturing a bonding structure by bonding multiple bonded members with solder or bonding multiple bonded members with eutectic-bonding, with solder such as solder bumps or solder sheet or a eutectic-bonding insert metal interposed therebetween are widely used in semiconductor implementation steps. For example, in a semiconductor implementation step, a technique for bonding an organic substrate and a semiconductor substrate with solder with solder bumps interposed therebetween and a technique for bonding a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor chip with solder with solder bumps interposed therebetween are employed.
For example, when semiconductor substrates (semiconductor chips) are bonded with solder, it is necessary to remove an oxide film on the surface of the solder bump in order to melt the solder bump and bond multiple substrates with solder. In order to do this, multiple substrates are stacked and heated while a rosin-based reducing organic agent, which is called "flux", is applied to the surface of the substrate. As a result, preferable solder bonding is made while the oxide film on the surface of the solder bump is reduced and removed by the flux. After the solder bonding is made, the flux is removed by cleaning treatment such as solution cleaning and ion etching.
However, in recent years, the decrease in the size of the solder bump structure makes it difficult to remove the flux. In particular, when the pitch interval between adjacent solder bumps or the diameter of the solder bump becomes several dozens of μm or less, it is difficult to sufficiently remove the flux. The flux that could not be removed makes flux residue. Due to the effect of chlorine included in the flux, the flux residue may cause insulation failure, which is called migration, between adjacent electrode structures (solder bumps). In a step of finally filling an underfill resin between substrates, the flux residue makes it impossible to sufficiently fill the underfill resin, which makes clearance that is called void.
On the other hand, a method for omitting cleaning treatment using flux-less solder bonding (cleaning-less method) is actually used as a method for eliminating the effect of the flux residue. More specifically, carboxylic acid vapor such as formic acid is introduced into a chamber, and the oxide film on the surface of the solder bump is reduced by this carboxylic acid, so that this makes it possible to make solder bonding without using any flux (Cited documents 1, 2).
However, flux-less solder bonding raises a new problem in that it is likely to cause positional displacement between substrates. More specifically, as described above, when the flux is used, retaining force (stack force) occurs due to the flux residing between the multiple substrates, and this retaining force prevents the positional displacement of the substrates from one another. In contrast, with the flux-less solder bonding, there is no flux between the substrates, and the retaining force (stack force) cannot be given between the substrates. For this reason, in the cleaning-less method based on the flux-less solder bonding, it is likely to cause positional displacement between substrates, and this imposes limitation on cases where the cleaning-less method can be applied. In particular, when the substrates are bonded with solder with the solder bumps on the substrates, a positioning accuracy may be required to be about 1 to 2 μm, and therefore, it is difficult to apply the cleaning-less method, which is likely to cause positional displacement. Similar problems may occur with eutectic-bonding.
Further, the positional displacement causes the problem not only when the substrates are bonded but also when a solder material is fixed onto a substrate and solder bumps are formed, for example.

Bonding structure manufacturing method, heating and melting treatment method, and system therefor

Abstract: A temporary bonding agent 55 is applied onto multiple substrates 50a, 50b, and a heater 33 heats the substrates while the substrates are temporarily bonded with the temporary bonding agent 55 interposed therebetween, and before the solder 54 is melted or while the solder 54 is melted, the temporary bonding agent 55 is evaporated, and the substrates 50a, 50b are bonded with solder with the melted solder 54 interposed therebetween.


The disclosure relates to an electrical connection between a bonding pad on a semiconductor chip and a wire wherein the bonding pad is formed of copper doped aluminum and the wire is formed of copper doped gold. The wire has from about 100 to about 10,000 parts per million copper and the pad has from about 5000 to about 50,000 parts per million copper.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connection between copper doped wire and copper doped aluminum bonding pads forming a part of a semiconductor circuit.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to utilize doped metallization in semiconductor devices. A first doped aluminum metallization including the bonding pads are required to obtain certain desired metallurgical characteristics on semiconductor devices. When alloyed with a second metal, e.g., copper, significantly increased hardness and toughness of the aluminum metallization is achieved. These characteristics are fundamental to an integrated circuits's ability to withstand the thermal stress, induced in the active circuitry of the device by the expansion and contraction of plastic encapsulant. The ability of a plastic encapsulated semiconductor device to withstand stress induced during temperature cycling between -66 degrees C. and 150 degrees C. is a requirement outlined in mil-standards and by most major commercial users. As the bonding pad becomes harder, the standard gold wire (a third metal) becomes less apt to properly bond thereto as compared to the undoped bonding pad wherein the gold is relatively soft compared with the doped bonding pad. It is known that wires generally should be harder than the bonding pad material. The wire of choice presently used in semiconductor applications is a gold wire. Gold wire doped with a fourth metal, beryllium for use in semiconductor applications is discussed in an article entitled Metallurgical Behavior of Gold Wire In Thermal Compression Bonding, T. H. Ramsey, Solid State Technology, October 1973, pages 43 to 47, which is incorporated herein by reference.
However, a problem exists with the current technology of thermosonic ball bonding of standard beryllium doped gold wire to copper doped aluminum metallization in the form of bonding pads due to the increased hardness and toughness in that standard gold wire of the type described hereinabove is of insufficient hardness to cause the level of plastic flow of the integrated circuit metallization as was achieved with standard aluminum integrated circuit metallization. It is therefore necessary to provide wire for bonding to copper doped aluminum pads which is of sufficient hardness to overcome the problems noted hereinabove and provide a reliable bond to the pad.

Semiconductor integrated circuit chip interconnections and methods


A battery device may include a battery frame, and a battery module disposed on the battery frame. The battery frame may include a base member, a slide base being disposed on an upper surface of the base member and being formed in a rectangular shape defined by a pair of first sides extending in a first direction and a pair of second sides extending in a second direction in a plan view, a plurality of metal springs being mounted on an upper surface of the slide base at intervals along the first direction of the slide base, and being extensible in a vertical direction, and a support plate being connected to upper sides of the plurality of springs and supporting the battery module on an upper surface of the support plate.

Battery packs such as NaS batteries, Li-ion batteries, and Ni—H2 batteries configure a battery module by arranging a closely-bundled plurality of individual batteries inside a casing. International Publication No. WO 2012/026224 A1 discloses a rack for battery packs for housing such a battery module. A transportation rack for battery packs disclosed in International Publication No. WO 2012/026224 A1 can be used also as an installation rack, and as such, installation of battery modules can be performed easily.

Battery device, battery unit, and method of installing battery device


An exemplary embodiment of the present invention described and shown in the specification and drawings is a system including an optical resonator and an optical element having a periodic structure for coupling of light into the optical resonator.

Optical resonators are exemplary electro-optical devices that are often small in size, having diameters on the order of millimeters, and may be used in many optical system applications, including optical sensors for biological and chemical compounds, electro-optical oscillators and modulators, and tunable optical filters. The optical resonators are curved optical waveguides, for example, a cylinder, a sphere, or a toroid within which light is internally reflected at the inner surface of the optical resonator. Optical resonators can support resonator modes of light called whispering-gallery modes ("WGMs"), and thus, are often referred to as whispering-gallery mode resonators. WGMs occur when light having an evanescent wave component travels via internal reflection around the periphery of the optical resonator. The WGMs of optical resonators reside close to the surface of the optical resonator, and undergo total internal reflection. The evanescent waves extend beyond the optical resonator's outer surface and may be coupled into an adjacent optical coupler as long as the optical coupler is located within the extent of the evanescent wave, typically on the order of the light's wavelength.
Many optical resonators which propagate WGMs of light have extremely low transmission loses, and as a result, have a very high quality factor ("Q"). High Q optical resonators are desirable because the higher the Q, the longer the amount of time the internally reflected light will remain within the optical resonator. The ultimate intrinsic Q of the optical resonator (Q0) is limited by the optical losses of the resonator material. Optical resonators having radiuses of 10 to a few hundred micrometers have been produced with Q's in excess of 1×109 (see V. B. Braginsky, M. L. Gorodetsky, V. S. Ilchenko, Phys. Lett. A37, 393 (1989); L. Collot, V. Lefevre-Seguin, M. Brune, J. M. Raimond, S. Haroche, Europhys. Lett. 23, 327 (1993)). In particular, a Q in excess of 1×1010 was demonstrated for optical resonators, and a Q of 1011 is expected for glass microsphere optical resonators with a resonant wavelength of light at 1550 nanometers, where the intrinsic loss of glass is a minimum.
Coupling to WGMs of the optical resonator can be accomplished through an evanescent wave from an adjacent optical element, i.e., an optical coupler. If light from the optical coupler is over-coupled to the optical resonator, there will be broadening in the WGM output peak due to increased losses at the interface between the optical coupler and the optical resonator. If light from the optical coupler is under-coupled to the optical resonator, there will be less efficient energy transfer from the optical coupler to the optical resonator. Critical coupling occurs when enough energy is coupled from the optical coupler into the optical resonator to compensate for the roundtrip losses of the light propagating through the optical resonator. Coupling losses between the optical coupler and the optical resonator are exponentially dependent upon the distance d between the surface of the optical coupler and the optical resonator ˜exp(−d/r*), where r* is the effective scale length of evanescent field of the resonator for the excited WGM as expressed in the following equation:r*=λ/√{square root over ((4π(nres/nout)2−1))}
where:                λ is the wavelength of light evanescently coupled between the optical coupler and the optical resonator;        nres is the index of refraction of the optical resonator; and        nout is the index of refraction outside the surface of the optical resonator.
If the optical coupler contacts the optical resonator, too much of the light is evanescently coupled out from the optical resonator resulting in a low Q. Also, if the optical coupler is positioned far, more than three wavelengths, from the optical resonator, coupling of light between the optical resonator and the optical coupler becomes difficult. Thus, accurate positioning of the optical coupler relative to the optical resonator is critical to the efficiency of the optical system.
Optical couplers can be configured in various forms including those shown by example in FIGS. 1 and 2 which include cross-sectional views, not shown to scale, of two different types of optical couplers 10 and 12. In FIGS. 1 and 2, each optical coupler is positioned adjacent to and spaced away from a cylindrical or spherical optical resonator 16 and 18 by a distance "d", which in practice is roughly on the order of the wavelength of the light to be evanescently coupled into or out from the optical resonator. Typically, d ranges in value from approximately 0.1 to 3 times the wavelength of the light. While not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical resonator also may be toroidal in shape.
FIG. 1 shows an optical fiber coupler 10 that includes a core 22 and a cladding layer 24. The end of the optical fiber coupler closest to the optical resonator 16 has a flat polished surface 26 through which light is evanescently coupled into and out from the optical resonator. Similarly, FIG. 2 shows a prism coupler 12, which is the traditional method of coupling light into an optical resonator, having a flat surface 28 through which light is evanescently coupled into and out from the optical resonator 18. In FIGS. 1 and 2, incident light travels through the optical coupler as indicated by the straight arrows 30 and 32, respectively, and internally reflected light travels around the periphery of the optical resonator as shown by the curved arrows 34 and 36, respectively.
Because the optical resonator and optical coupler are small in size they may be integrated within small housings or devices that can be incorporated into various optical or electro-optical systems. However, for many applications, especially where on-chip integration is desired, coupling with a prism 12 and the associated lenses (not shown) are not practical, and coupling directly from a waveguide, for example an optical fiber 10, to the optical resonator is desired as shown in FIG. 1 (see V. S. Iltchenko, X. S. Yao, and L. Maleki, Opt. Lett. 24, 723 (1999)).
The basis for optical coupling using a waveguide is in phase matching of the field of the waveguide to the field in the optical resonator's WGM which is accomplished by cutting the waveguide at the angle Φ as shown in FIG. 1. In order to satisfy the phase matching requirement Φ=arc sin(nres/nwg), where nres is the effective index of refraction for azimuthal propagation of the WGMs as closed waves circulating in a microsphere optical resonator, and nwg is the effective index of refraction for the light guided by the waveguide.
Even though the use of a waveguide to couple light into an optical resonator is advantageous in that it eliminates the need for columnating and focusing optics that is commonly required for prism couplers, the precision cut of the waveguide to create the required angle is difficult to implement. This is especially true in the case of semiconductor waveguides where efficient growth and the cleave angle relate to the orientation of the waveguide material. In addition, the above mentioned angle phase matching scheme is not suitable for cases in which the indices of refraction of the waveguide and the optical resonator are significantly different, for example, when the waveguide is a silicon optical fiber having a core index of refraction of 1.46 and the optical resonator is made of lithium niobate having an index of refraction of 2.06.
Therefore, there is a need for an optical coupler for coupling evanescent waves into and out of optical resonators that does not require the precise angle cut of the waveguide. Also, there is a need for an optical coupler that can couple evanescent waves even though the indices of refraction of the waveguide and the optical resonator are significantly different.

Evanescently coupling light between waveguides and whispering-gallery mode optical resonators