A radial illumination system is for projecting a light pattern radially. A light source generates a light output to an optical fiber. A ferrule is provided around the end of the optical fiber, and a reflector is mounted over or in the ferrule or integral with the ferrule, for redirecting the light to form generally radial light. In this way, a simple design with low component count is able to perform the optical alignment and optical reflecting functions.

An example of a radial imaging system is a system for collecting images of the interior wall of a passageway.
One use of such an arrangement is part of a catheter camera, in which the cross section of a passageway in which the catheter is located is to be inspected.
A catheter camera for example comprises a radial imaging system. A radial illumination system generates an annular line of illumination which is projected onto the interior wall. A reflecting cone redirects light which, after reflection (and scattering) at the interior wall, is received (mainly) radially inwardly. The light is redirected towards an essentially axial direction, for collection by an axially aligned camera. The cross section of a passageway in which the catheter is located is to be imaged by the camera.
An example of the use of such a catheter camera is for analysis of the upper airway, for determining the causes of obstructive sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common kind of sleep apnea, affecting up to one in eighteen people, and is characterized by the occurrence of pauses in breathing, or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing, during sleep. It is caused by blockage or obstruction of the oral cavity or upper airway, often due to loss of muscular tone induced by the onset of old age, or (temporary) by abuse of drugs or alcohol.
A range of therapies exist for treatment of OSA, the most common of which is positive airway pressure (PAP), in which a ventilator is used to deliver a stream of air through the airway at a controlled pressure, in order to hold open the airway. PAP is needed in more severe cases, where patients exhibit an apnea hypopnea index (AHI)>30. OSA patients may also suffer from daytime sleepiness and require therapy to prevent the development of comorbidities over the longer term. Mild-moderate OSA patients often have more difficulty adhering to PAP therapy because the disease burden is not as strong as in severe patients, and are therefore reluctant to submit to so invasive a therapy. In these cases, various alternative treatments exist, such as positional therapy, mandibular advancement (oral appliances), upper airway surgery and implantable devices.
In each of these therapies, however, it is important to understand which part(s) of the upper airway in particular is (are) causing obstruction, such that the therapy can be directed most effectively. This explains the interest in dynamic examinations of the upper airway preferably in a non-invasive way. One approach is to perform an examination of the airway non-invasively using acoustic reflectometry techniques. In such techniques, acoustic waves are propagated along the airway of the patient, by an emitter, via the mouth or nose, and reflections are listened for using a microphone adjacent to the emitter. It is possible, through algorithmic analysis of the detected reflections (see for example: Hoffstein, V., and J. J. Fredberg. "The acoustic reflection technique for non-invasive assessment of upper airway area." European Respiratory Journal 4.5 (1991): 602-611.), to determine an estimate of the cross-sectional area of the examined airway as a function of distance from the emitter. From this, narrowing of the airway at particular locations can be identified, and the specific positions therefore of airway obstructions ascertained.
Reflectometry techniques however suffer the disadvantage that the accuracy of cross-sectional area estimations is limited and certainly declines with distance from the emitter. This is amongst others compounded by acoustic leakage and also patient movements during the measurement process, which both act to further compromise the accuracy of the obtained results. Furthermore, since the first obstruction encountered by a wave propagating along the airway causes reflection of much of the wave's initial intensity, reflections from subsequent portions of the airway are typically too weak in intensity to derive any accurate measurements. Hence it is typically only possible to accurately determine the location of the upper-most airway obstruction using these techniques. The technique cannot provide shape information of the cross section.
It is known instead to use endoscopic procedures, in particular procedures for inspecting or investigating the patency of the human upper airway. Using a standard flexible endoscope for airway examination, specific sites in the upper airway can be inspected for some time to see whether temporary obstructions occur. This however requires the endoscope to be moved from one spot to the other during an examination which is time-consuming and inconvenient for the patient. For this reason endoscopic examination during natural sleep did not become part of common practice. An alternative version which has acquired some acceptation in current practice involves bringing the patient to artificial sleep by means of sedative drugs. This is believed to cause collapses at sites that also participate in real sleep apneas and hypopneas. Also the sedation relieves the discomfort of endoscope travel.
To inspect the upper airway at some discrete critical sites, it is also possible to use a catheter with multiple image sensors; once the catheter has been inserted it can remain in the same position during a longer period without additional discomfort for the patient.
Image sensors can be used to obtain a measure of radial distance, for example if the image sensor is combined with an illumination element that projects a structured illumination pattern (e.g. a ring) on the inside of the airway, the captured image sensor information in respect of the ring image can be analyzed to derive distance information (e.g. by triangulation), and thereby enable the shape of the internal airway passage to be derived.
For example, an endoscope may have one or more light generating means capable of producing an outwardly directed ring (or radial plane) of light, such that when inserted into a tube-like airway, cross sectional contours of the airway may be illuminated for inspection by a camera.
One known means of providing such a light pattern is to direct collimated laser light from an optical fiber toward a deflecting cone whose angle is such as to deflect the incident light radially, for example at 90 degrees, from its surface in all directions around it. The effect is to create a 'ring' pattern of light projecting outwards from the cone, which may then be used to illuminate a circumferential section of an airway. In particular, there are two variations of this concept. In a first, the cone has a reflective outer surface, and is arranged with its tip facing in the direction of the oncoming light, such that light is reflected directly out from its surface. In a second, the cone is arranged with its base facing toward the oncoming light and the cone tip angle selected such that light incident from the optical fiber on the internal walls of the cone is reflected by total internal reflection in the direction of the opposing wall, through which it is transmitted, deflecting due to refraction as it does so into a path which is at 90 degrees to the initial incident light.
The reflected light is then captured by a camera. This may be achieved by positioning the camera with the inner wall being examined within the field of view, or else another reflecting cone may be used to redirect the reflected light back to an almost axial direction for capture by an axially aligned camera.
It is possible to create multiple ring patterns of light, at a series of spaced points along the airway. This can for example be achieved by means of providing multiple illumination units along the catheter, each with its own laser, optical fiber (optionally a GRIN lens) and cone.
One issue with known designs of this type is that the illumination unit contains many different components that need to be carefully aligned during assembly. Therefore it is extremely difficult to miniaturize the unit and to reduce manufacturing cost. The known approach makes use of a laser fiber, a collimating element, a deflecting element and a transparent housing. In principle the collimation and deflection function can be integrated into a single piece with a well-designed (concave) reflective cone surface. However, the alignment of the laser fiber and this cone is extremely critical and requires a transparent housing of excellent optical quality. It is also possible to use a non-transparent housing for alignment and assembly in combination with a total internal reflection element. This only works for a collimated laser beam, so still requires a separate collimator.
There is therefore a need for a design which simplifies the optical components between the light source and the radial light pattern that is to be projected.


A method, system and apparatus for efficient storage of small files in a segment-based deduplication scheme by allocating multiple small files to a single data segment is provided. A mechanism for distinguishing between large files (e.g., files that are on the order of the size of a segment or larger) and smaller files, and starting a new segment at the beginning of a large file is also provided. A file attribute-based system for determining an identity of a small file at which to begin a new segment and then allocating subsequent small files to that segment and contiguous segments until a next small file having an appropriate attribute subsequently is encountered to begin a new segment is further provided. In one aspect of the present invention a filename hash is used for file attribute analysis to determine when a new segment should begin. Using such a mechanism, multiple small files can be allocated to a data segment and at the same time continue to provide for efficient storage of large files within separate data segments. The file attribute analysis further provides for an increase in deduplication rate for subsequently provided copies of the small files (e.g., in a backup) since segment boundaries remain constant in spite of file additions or deletions.

An ever-increasing reliance on information and computing systems that produce, process, distribute, and maintain such information in its various forms, continues to put great demands on techniques for providing data storage and access to that data storage. Business organizations can produce and retain large amounts of data. While data growth is not new, the pace of data growth has become more rapid, the location of data more dispersed, and linkages between data sets more complex. Data deduplication offers business organizations an opportunity to dramatically reduce an amount of storage required for data backups and other forms of data storage and to more efficiently communicate backup data to one or more backup storages sites.
Generally, a data deduplication system provides a mechanism for storing a piece of information only one time. Thus, in a backup scenario, if a piece of information is stored in multiple locations within an enterprise, that piece of information will only be stored one time in a deduplicated backup storage area. Or if the piece of information does not change between a first backup and a second backup, then that piece of information will not be stored during the second backup as long as that piece of information continues to be stored in the deduplicated backup storage area. Data deduplication can also be employed outside of the backup context thereby reducing the amount of active storage occupied by duplicated files.
In order to provide for effective data deduplication, data is divided in a manner that provides a reasonable likelihood of finding duplicated instances of the data. For example, data can be examined on a file-by-file basis, and thus duplicated files (e.g., operating system files and application files and the like) would be analyzed and if the entire file had a duplicate version previously stored, then deduplication would not occur. A drawback of a file-by-file deduplication is that if a small section of a file is modified, then a new version of the entire file would be stored, including a potentially large amount of data that remains the same between file versions. A more efficient method of dividing and analyzing data, therefore, is to divide file data into consistently-sized segments and to analyze those segments for duplication in the deduplicated data store. Thus, if only a portion of a large file is modified, then only the segment of data corresponding to that portion of the file need be stored in the deduplicated data storage and the remainder of the segments will not be duplicated.
A drawback of such a segment-based deduplication scheme is that there may be a significant number of files that are smaller than a chosen data segment size. In such a scenario, if each file begins at the beginning of a segment, there may be significant unused storage space in segments containing files smaller than the segment size. In addition, there can be overhead and management issues associated with a large number of segments each containing only one file. Or, if segments are made the same size as a file, there still can be overhead and management issues with a large number of segments. It is therefore desirable to have a mechanism that provides for efficient use of data storage in a segment-based deduplication scheme that takes into consideration the presence of files that are smaller than a chosen data segment size. It is further desirable that such a mechanism for addressing issues presented by smaller files also provide for a reduction in management of file metadata associated with files being stored in a deduplicated storage area.

Method and system for efficiently handling small files in a single instance storage data store


A window treatment roll-up device has: a support base, a rotation base, at least two power springs, a braking member and a control wheel. The support base comprises a first shaft, a second shaft, a third shaft and a fourth shaft, the third shaft and the fourth shaft are engaged with each other, a controlling rope wrapped around the second shaft, the rotation base is jacketed onto the second shaft. The control wheel is disposed on the fourth shaft and configured to be wrapped by a rolling rope. The braking member has a first end and a second end, the first end is tapered such that the braking member is cone-shaped; a spiral slot connecting between the first end and the second end is disposed on a surface of the braking member. The first end of the braking member and the power spring both jacket onto the third shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a window treatment roll-up device, and more particularly to a window treatment roll-up device for securing window treatments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, typical window treatment roll-up device 60, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, comprises a pair of casings 61, a first shaft 611 disposed between the casings 61, two second shafts 612 respectively disposed at two sides of the first shaft 611, the first shaft 611 and the two second shafts 612 are configured to be jacketed by a rotation base 62 and two power springs 63, one end of the power spring 63 is attached onto a rolling surface 621 of the rotation base 62, such that the rotation base 62 and the two power springs 63 are capable of interacting with each other. The rotation base 62 further has a rolling wheel 622 with a V-shaped slot. The rolling wheel 622 is configured for being wrapped with a pulling rope 64, the pulling rope 64 passes guiding wheel 71, wraps around a control rod 72 of a support beam 70 and is attached onto a pulling rope 73.
The power spring 63 controls the rotation base 62, the rotation base 62 pulls out the power spring 63 to be wrapped around rolling surface 621.
However, the above mentioned structure has following drawback: The window treatment roll-up device 60 utilizes a ratio between the weight of the power spring 63 and the weight of the window treatment to control the height of the window treatment. But the rolled up window treatment might drop down by accident or have dramatic movements very often.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a window treatment roll-up device to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.


Switching times of a thyristor-based semiconductor device are improved by enhancing carrier drainage from a buried thyristor-emitter region. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a conductive contact extends to a doped well region buried in a substrate and is adapted to drain carriers therefrom. The device includes a thyristor body having at least one doped emitter region buried in the doped well region. A conductive thyristor control port is adapted to capacitively couple to the thyristor body and to control current flow therein. With this approach, the thyristor can be rapidly switched between resistance states, which has been found to be particularly useful in high-speed data latching implementations including but not limited to memory cell applications.

The present invention is directed to semiconductor devices and, more specifically, to semiconductor devices having thyristor-based devices.
Recent technological advances in the semiconductor industry have permitted dramatic increases in integrated circuit density and complexity, and equally dramatic decreases in power consumption and package sizes. Presently, single-die microprocessors are being manufactured with many millions of transistors, operating at speeds of hundreds of millions of instructions per second and being packaged in relatively small, air-cooled semiconductor device packages. The improvements in such devices have led to a dramatic increase in their use in a variety of applications. As the use of these devices has become more prevalent, the demand for reliable and affordable semiconductor devices has also increased. Accordingly, the need to manufacture such devices in an efficient and reliable manner has become increasingly important.
An important part in the design, construction, and manufacture of semiconductor devices concerns semiconductor memory and other circuitry used to store information. Conventional random access memory devices include a variety of circuits, such as SRAM and DRAM circuits. The construction and formation of such memory circuitry typically involves forming at least one storage element and circuitry designed to access the stored information. DRAM is very common due to its high density (e.g., high density 0has benefits including low price), with DRAM cell size being typically between 6 F2 and 8 F2, where F is the minimum feature size. However, with typical DRAM access times of approximately 50 nSec, DRAM is relatively slow compared to typical microprocessor speeds and requires refresh. SRAM is another common semiconductor memory that is much faster than DRAM and, in some instances, is of an order of magnitude faster than DRAM. Also, unlike DRAM, SRAM does not require refresh. SRAM cells are typically constructed using 4 transistors and 2 resistors or 6 transistors, which result in much lower density and is typically between about 60 F2 and 100 F2.
Various SRAM cell designs based on a NDR (Negative Differential Resistance) construction have been introduced, ranging from a simple bipolar transistor to complicated quantum-effect devices. These cell designs usually consist of at least two active elements, including an NDR device. In view of size considerations, the construction of the NDR device is important to the overall performance of this type of SRAM cell. One advantage of the NDR-based cell is the potential of having a cell area smaller than four-transistor and six-transistor SRAM cells because of the smaller number of active devices and interconnections.
Conventional NDR-based SRAM cells, however, have many problems that have prohibited their use in commercial SRAM products. These problems include, among others: high standby power consumption due to the large current needed in one or both of the stable states of the cell; excessively high or excessively low voltage levels needed for cell operation; stable states that are too sensitive to manufacturing variations and provide poor noise-margins; limitations in access speed due to slow switching from one state to the other; limitations in operability due to temperature, noise, voltage and/or light stability; and manufacturability and yield issues due to complicated fabrication processing.
A thin capacitively-coupled thyristor-type NDR device can be effective in overcoming many previously unresolved problems for thyristor-based applications. An important consideration in the design of the thin capacitively-coupled thyristor device involves designing the body of the thyristor sufficiently thin, so that the capacitive coupling between the control port and the thyristor base region can substantially modulate the potential of the base region. Another important consideration in semiconductor device design, including those employing thin capacitively-coupled thyristor-type devices, includes forming devices in an arrangement that realizes high density and fast switching attributes. Because of these high-density and speed-related constraints, the thin capacitively-coupled thyristor is a unique type of NDR device that presents many challenges (e.g., versus a power thyristor).
In microprocessor implementations running at relatively fast clock speeds (e.g., speeds in excess of 1 GHz that result in a memory cycle time of about 1 nanosecond), a thin capacitively-coupled thyristor for memory implementations would advantageously have a write cycle time that is on the same order as the microprocessor. However, thyristors typically switch from a low resistance state to a blocking state over a period that is greater than about 1 microsecond. In connection with the present invention, it has been discovered that this relatively slow switching time is related to the time it takes for minority carriers in an emitter region of the thyristor to recombine. In addition, the thyristor will not switch into or stay in its blocking state if the minority charge carriers are not recombined, and uncombined charge carriers can migrate to other devices and adversely affect the operation thereof. Long access times that can result from slow thyristor switching have typically not been an issue in power applications; however, overcoming these timing challenges can benefit a wide variety of thyristor-based applications, including high-speed memory applications and power applications.
These and other considerations have presented challenges to the implementation of such a thin capacitively-coupled thyristor with bulk substrate applications, and in particular with highly-dense applications having an emitter region of the thyristor buried in a doped well region of the substrate.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the above-mentioned challenges and others related to the types of devices and applications discussed above and in other memory cells. The present invention is exemplified in a number of implementations and applications, some of which are summarized below.
According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a thyristor-based semiconductor device includes a carrier coupler that drains carriers that accumulate in a well region adjacent to a buried emitter region of a thyristor as a result of carrier drainage from the buried emitter region. The carrier drainage reduces the lifetime of carriers in the buried emitter region, which in turn increases the speed at which the thyristor can switch between blocking and conducting states. In addition, the carrier coupler drains carriers that may otherwise migrate to other circuitry adjacent to the thyristor and cause problems therein. With this approach, challenges to the implementation of such devices, including those discussed above, can be addressed.
In another example embodiment of the present invention, a thyristor-based memory cell includes a carrier coupler, such as the one discussed above, which drains carriers from a well region adjacent to an emitter region of the thyristor. The memory cell includes a substrate with a thyristor body having a first doped emitter region buried in a doped well region of the substrate. The first doped emitter region and the well region are of opposite polarity, and the doped well region is susceptible to carrier accumulation via carrier drainage from the doped emitter region. A first base region is coupled between the first doped emitter region and a second base region, and the second base region is coupled between the first base region and a second doped emitter region. The first doped emitter region is electrically coupled to a reference voltage signal. A pass device (e.g., a transistor) is electrically coupled between a bit line and the second doped emitter region and electrically couples the bit line to the second doped emitter region in response to a signal applied thereto. A control port is disposed adjacent to the second base region and is adapted to capacitively couple as signal thereto for controlling current in the thyristor body. A carrier coupler is electrically coupled to the doped well region and drains carriers that accumulate therein from the first doped emitter region.
In another example embodiment of the present invention, a thyristor-based semiconductor device having a substrate and a thyristor body region therein is manufactured with a carrier coupler adapted to drain carriers from an emitter region of the thyristor. A trench is etched in the substrate adjacent to a thyristor body region and a first dopant is implanted in both a portion of the thyristor body region and a first portion of the substrate via the bottom of the trench. The first dopant is implanted at a first implant energy and forms a first doped well region and a first base region of the thyristor body region. The first doped well region is annealed, and a first thyristor emitter region is implanted in the first doped well region. The first thyristor emitter region is contiguously adjacent to the first base region and is of a polarity that is opposite the polarity of the first doped well region. Remaining portions of the thyristor are formed, including a first and second base region and a second emitter region, with the first base region being coupled between the first emitter region and the second base region and with the second base region being coupled between the first base region and the second emitter region. The carrier coupler is formed extending to the first doped well region for draining carriers that accumulate in the first emitter region during operation of the thyristor. A control port is formed in the trench and adapted to capacitively couple to the second base region for controlling current flow between the first and second emitter regions.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. The figures and detailed description that follow more particularly exemplify these embodiments.

Carrier coupler for thyristor-based semiconductor device


A method for coating flat structural parts (2), in particular furniture fronts, with a film (3), wherein the parts lie in a pallet (1) which is turned by about 180° in a rotator after the coating process, so that the coated parts (2) joined by a common film (3) can fall out of the pallet (1) and be separated. The essential point is that a pallet (1) which can be filled on two sides is used and that the previous turning back of the pallet after the part has been removed can be omitted.

The invention relates to a method and a device for preferably three-dimensional coating of parts, in particular furniture fronts, with a film, whereby the structural parts lie in a pallet which is turned by about 180° in a rotator after the coating process, so that the coated structural parts joined by their common film can fall out of the pallet and be separated.
The coating usually takes place in a press where the structural parts, optionally pretreated with an adhesive, are connected with the film under the effect of pressure and heat. To make it possible to convey several workpieces simultaneously to the press, coat them there and subsequently drive them out, the workpieces lie in a common pallet. They do not only have to be removed from said pallet after the coating process, but must also primarily be cut out of the common film connecting them.
To cut the coated structural parts out, the pallett drives into a rotator in which a vertically adjustable conveyor belt is located. This conveyor belt travels up to the structural parts from the top and clamps them in the pallet. This is followed by a 180° turning, so that the structural parts then lie with their film downward on the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is then lowered, as a result of which the joined structural parts fall out of the pallet. They are then driven longitudinally or diagonally out of the rotator and cut out of the film on a cut-out table.
As soon as the charge has fallen out of the pallet, the empty pallet is turned back again and moved back into a loading station where it is again filled with the structural parts to be coated. To this end, it is necessary to either lower the pallet downward and drive it back through under the press or to convey it laterally about the press. Thus, a loading station is required on the input side of the press, a rotator on the output side and a cut-out table. As a result, the entire coating system requires a relatively great deal of space, the equipment required is also quite expensive.

Method and device for coating structural parts


A wind-hydro power generation system and its power generation method which use both wind power and hydraulic power. Increasing the size of a hydraulic turbine for the hydraulic power generation may result in the decreased rotation power of the hydraulic turbine caused by the resistance of the wind when blades on the hydraulic turbine come out of the water. A blade rotation system on the blades of the hydraulic turbine is provided so that the blades may rotate according to the direction of the wind. As a result, wind resistance is not effected to the rotation of the hydraulic turbine even when the blades on the hydraulic turbine are out of water, but enhances the rotation power of the hydraulic turbine, which enables the use of wind power and hydraulic power at the same time.

A hydraulic power generation system which includes a hydraulic turbine comprising a caterpillar track; a rotatable body which includes several of blade holders connected to the caterpillar; and blades installed on the blade holder of the rotatable body, and a generator installed on the hydraulic turbine is already known from Korean Patent No. 534546 which is invented by the inventor of the present invention.
The blades which are installed on the blade holder rotate along the track by the force of the water and when they come out of the water the blades are resisted by the wind especially when a strong wind blows. The above hydraulic power generation system requires an increase of the size of the wind blade, which results in significant resistance force from the wind blowing from the opposite direction or lateral direction when the direction of the wind is different from the rotation direction along with the track.
A wind power generation system is also already known. See Korean Patent No. 455087 which is invented by the inventor of the present invention, such wind power generation system rotates the blades according to the direction of the wind by a blade rotating system. However, such wind power generation system cannot be used as a hydraulic power generation system so that the wind power generation system and hydraulic power generation system are used separately.

Wind-hydro power generating system and method


This invention relates to the preparation of a cis 1,4-polyisoprene rubber-rich rubber composition containing precipitated silica which has been pre-treated with a fatty alcohol and/or epoxidized soybean oil together with an organosilane containing polysulfide coupling agent and to tires having at least one component comprised of such rubber composition. The invention particularly relates to a process of (a) preparing a natural rubber-rich rubber composition comprised of pre-treating precipitated silica aggregates prior to blending with, or in the presence of, dry natural rubber with a fatty alcohol and/or epoxidized soybean oil to the exclusion of sulfur curative for the natural rubber, mixing an organalkoxysiloxane based polysulfide coupling agent with said dry natural rubber coincidentally with or subsequent to said precipitated silica aggregate fatty alcohol and/or epoxidized soybean oil pre-treatment to form a composite thereof, to the exclusion of sulfur curative, followed by (b) mixing the resulting rubber mixture with sulfur curative and (c) curing the resulting rubber composition.

Cis 1,4-polyisoprene rubber-rich, particularly natural rubber-rich rubber compositions, may be prepared, for example, by blending cis 1,4-polyisoprene rubber (e.g. cis 1,4-polyisoprene natural rubber), silica reinforcement, particularly precipitated silica, together with a bifunctional organosiloxane polysulfide coupling agent.
However, it is known that a reduction in various physical properties of natural rubber may occur if the rubber mixture has a relatively high mixing viscosity (e.g. Mooney viscosity), with an accompanying relatively high internal heat generation of the rubber mixture as it is being mixed under high shear conditions, thereby resulting in a relatively rapid internal temperature build up of the rubber mixture.
The inclusion of an alkoxysilane-containing organopolysulfide coupling agent, for example a bis(ω-alkoxysilylalkyl) polysulfide which contains an average of from about 2 to about 4 connecting sulfur atoms in its polysulfidic bridge, in a rubber mixture which contains precipitated silica (with hydroxyl groups such as, for example, silanol groups) and diene-based elastomer-containing rubber mixture can significantly increase the viscosity of the rubber mixture as it is being mixed under high shear conditions in an internal rubber mixer via an interaction of sulfur groups from its polysulfide moiety with the diene-based elastomer(s), a well known effect to those having skill in such art.
Accordingly, it is desired to mix such rubber mixtures more efficiently under high shear conditions in an internal rubber mixer.
Further, the addition of such alkoxysilane-containing polysulfide coupling agents may also release an alcohol during its mixing with the natural rubber-rich rubber composition as it reacts with hydroxyl groups (e.g. silanol groups) contained on the precipitated silica aggregates, a phenomenon also well known to those having skill in such art, which may be objectionable where release of alcohols, particularly volatile alcohols, may not be desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,203 relates to a method for improving the abrasion resistance of a cured rubber composition for a tire tread by dispersing a C12-C36 alcohol and sulfur throughout a dry, isolated, sulfur vulcanizable rubber followed by curing the resulting rubber composition. The rubber composition may contain natural rubber. Suitable alcohols for such purpose are indicated to be primary, straight chain, saturated alcohols such as, for example, 1-octadecanol.
In the description of this invention, rubber compound, sulfur-cured rubber compound, rubber composition, rubber blend and compounded rubber terms may be used interchangeably to refer to rubber (e.g. elastomer) which has been mixed with rubber compounding ingredients, unless otherwise indicated. The terms "rubber", "elastomer" and "rubbery polymer" may be used interchangeably unless otherwise indicated. The terms "cured" and "vulcanized" may be used interchangeably unless otherwise indicated.
The term "phr" refers to parts by weight of an ingredient per 100 parts by weight of rubber in a rubber composition.
Such terms are well known to those having skill in such art.
The terms "dry" and "dry, isolated" conjugated diene rubber, including natural rubber (cis 1,4-polyisoprene natural rubber), relates to such rubber in its dry state instead of being in a solvent solution thereof or an aqueous latex thereof.

Preparation of silica reinforced polyisoprene-rich rubber composition and tire with component thereof


A laparoscopic suturing device includes a suturing needle and a driver for manipulating the needle. The suturing needle features a helically-wound front-end portion with a needle point at its proximal end for penetrating tissue and a rear-end portion connected to the driver. The slender design of the suturing device is ideally suited for minimally-invasive surgery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a medical suturing device ideally suited for use in minimally-invasive surgery, and more particularly to a laparoscopic suturing device for suturing incisions during laparoscopic surgery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The increasingly popular practice of minimally-invasive, or non-invasive, surgery utilizes medical instruments inserted through one or more cannulas in a patient's body and manipulated from outside of the body by a surgeon. The well-known benefits of using minimally-invasive surgery stem from the need to make only one or more relatively small puncture wounds in a patient and include a reduced risk of infection and faster recovery time.
In one example, intestinal surgery can be performed by inserting laparoscopic surgical instruments through cannulas placed in puncture wounds in the patient's abdominal wall. To conclude the surgery, a laparoscopic suturing device must be used to close the incisions inside the abdominal chamber.
One known suturing device for use in minimally invasive surgery is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,769 (Baber). In that patent, an arcuate needle is secured to a barrel and fed with one end of a suturing thread. The suturing thread extends through a bore in the needle and emerges through an opening proximal to the needle tip. A knot is tied at the end of the suturing thread so when the needle punctures a hole in the tissue, the knot will not be able to follow the needle tip through the hole in the tissue. An arc, or loop, of suturing thread is formed when the needle tip extends through the tissue and the suturing thread is pulled through the bore as the knot remains outside of the hole. The loop is then captured and held by a separate member. The needle tip is backed out of the hole in the tissue and threaded through the loop to form a chain stitch.
While the apparatus described in the Baber patent may have certain benefits, further improvements in laparoscopic suturing devices are desirable to simplify the process of suturing incisions, increase the speed and precision at which such sutures are made, and otherwise generally overcome shortcomings with conventional suturing devices.


On the basis of the physical principle that a capacitance value is inversely proportional to the distance between capacitive electrodes, the spatial structure of the surface of an object can be imaged by measuring a coupling capacitance between the surface of measured object and the electrode arrays on a surface of a sensor; for example, imaging may be performed to uneven spaces between ridge lines and valley lines of fingerprints. The present application provides a C-Q-T type capacitive fingerprint sensor. Firstly, coupling capacitance differences between the fingerprints and the electrodes of the sensor are converted into charge quantity differences, then the charge quantity differences are converted into time differences, and edge signals carrying the time differences are output. Fingerprint sensors are grouped into an array, reading and data combination may be performed to the edge signals, and imaging may be performed to fingerprints.

The technology of imaging fingerprints by measuring the differences between the coupling capacitance formed between ridgelines of fingerprints and planar sensing electrode array units and that formed between valley lines of the fingerprints and the planar sensing electrode array units is first seen in the patent application U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,056A (Siemens, 1980). Over the past 30 years, sensor technologies for imaging fingerprints based on the measurement of coupling capacitances are continuously developed. Famous enterprises involving this filed include Siemens, A T & T Bell, Philips, Toshiba, ST, NEC, Motorola, Sharp, Intel, Epson and countless venture capital companies.
Most of the capacitive fingerprint sensor technologies are developed based on macro-capacitive sensor circuit prototypes. However, the technical laws of sensors determine that capacitive sensors area combination of circuits and sensor equations, and the circuit scales and the implementation processes of circuits determine the value ranges and the tolerance ranges of various parameters in the sensor equations. When the technical solutions originally formed by macro-scale electronic components are formed by micro-scale electronic components instead, most of such technical solutions will deteriorate in sensitivity and performance in noise characteristics. Further, capacitive fingerprint sensors as array sensors are also sensitive to the mismatching among the units, which is more difficult to control for micro-scale electronic components with respect to macro-scale electronic components. Meanwhile, since a measurement circuit is often large in size, array sensors are generally designed for single-channel, and the respective units reuse the measurement circuit in a time division manner. In order to ensure a certain image frame rate, prolonging the sampling time, which is an important method for improving signal gain in the design of array sensors, is greatly limited, or even becomes unfeasible for a single-channel array sensor with a relatively large number of points.
Such technical restrictions determine that only a handful of technical routes have the potential to move towards commercialization, and such technical routes that do not meet objective technical laws will move towards extinction. By 2013, there are three types of capacitive fingerprint sensors with certain scale of application: a radio frequency response type, which measures the amplitude of a reflected RF signal, may be represented by a US company Authentec (U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,773A) acquired by Apple Inc. in 2012, and is mainly used in iPhone5S of Apple Inc.; a transient response type, which measures a transient coupling level, may be represented by a Swedish company Fingerprint Cards (US20080069413A1), and is mainly used in the teller systems of China's state-owned banks; and a charge transfer type, which may be represented by a China's Taiwanese company Egistec (U.S. Pat. No. 7,099,497B2), and is mainly used in ideaPad of Lenovo company. The former two types are called as active types in the industry, and the third type a passive type. The common feature of the three types is that a capacitance is converted into a voltage for measurements. From the view of classification of sensors, these three types are classified as "C-V" type sensors.
In recent years, in CMOS photosensors with millions of pixels, to meet the requirements for growing image point numbers, such photosensors develop from single-channel photosensors to multi-channel ones. The so-called multi-channel array sensor, in fact, is a plurality of independent single-channel array sensors combined spatially. Taking into account the limitations of the actual circuit layout, as the number of measurement circuits changes from one into a plurality, the sizes of the measurement circuits must be greatly reduced. A "V-T" ADC is a new analog-digital converter. Compared with a direct type ADC, a "V-T" ADC has the advantage of a greatly reduced circuit scale under the same resolution requirement, and has the disadvantage of longer sampling and holding time. Multi-channel CMOS sensors tend to adopt "V-T" converters, and balance among the number of channels, the sampling and holding time and the circuit size so as to determine the best design solution.
The invention patent application filed by Chengdu Microarray Electronic Co., Ltd. in 2012 with the title of "capacitive distance sensor" and the application number of CN201210403271.2 discloses a novel "C-V-T" type capacitive distance sensor. The method adopted by the above sensor is as below: fingerprints are placed on the surface of an object to be measured (equivalent to the target electrode); a measuring capacitance (equivalent to the target capacitance) is formed by coupling between the capacitance measuring plate (equivalent to the sensing electrode) and the surface of an object to be measured; the distances from the surface of the object to be measured (equivalent to the target electrode) to the capacitance measuring plates (equivalent to the sensing electrode) of different array units are different, and so do the measuring capacitances (equivalent to the target capacitance) formed by coupling; a capacitive coupling plate (equivalent to the driving electrode) is driven by a first programmable level generator (equivalent to the level driver) so that the potentials of the capacitance measuring plates (equivalent to the sensing electrode) increase, and the increase degrees of the potentials are different as the measuring capacitance (equivalent to the target capacitance) connected in parallel are different; a reference capacitor (equivalent to the integrating capacitor) is first fully charged, and then discharges to the capacitance measuring plates (equivalent to the sensing electrode) with increased levels; and the discharging degrees are different as the potentials of the capacitance measuring plates (equivalent to the sensing electrode) are different; discharging is repeated so that the potential of the reference capacitor (equivalent to the integrating capacitor) is continuously decreased; as the decrease rates are different, the time for generating a threshold level by a second level generator (equivalent to the reference level) is different, so that the comparator outputs flip at different timings; the number of discharging times corresponding to the time the comparator outputs the flip is an output of the capacitive distance sensor.
The measuring function of the sensor is deemed as "S-C-V-T". That is, a distance from the fingerprints to a sensing electrode is an independent variable, and the counted value in the time direction is the value of the function. The measuring function has the advantages of anti-shifting and linearity. By taking advantage of improved resolution and reduced thermal noise, the sensor has greatly improved performance. Tape-out verification results show that the technical level of the sensor is higher than the internationally advanced level in 2012 under the same process conditions, but lower than the internationally advanced level in 2013 or the technical level of Touch ID sensors installed in iPhone5S.
Due to active research, development and application of fingerprint sensor technologies by Apple Inc., the consumer electronics market has huge demand and higher requirements for fingerprint sensor technologies. The present application has improved the technical solution disclosed by the patent application CN201210403271.2 by establishing and analyzing equations for the sensitivity of sensors. The present application has introduced more items and corresponding circuits for increasing sensitivity, while proposing general models for some circuits and simplifying some circuits.


A semiconductor device in which a nonvolatile memory can normally operate and power saving can be performed with a P-state function, and a driving method of the semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device includes: a first circuit configured to control a state including a driving voltage and a clock frequency of a processor core; a first memory circuit and a second memory circuit which store state data; a second circuit generating a power supply voltage and a third circuit generating a clock which are electrically connected to the first circuit; and the processor core electrically connected to the second circuit and the third circuit through a switch. The processor cores includes: a volatile memory; and a nonvolatile memory transmitting and receiving data to/from the first memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a driving method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor device such as a processor includes a signal processing circuit having a variety of structures. A signal processing circuit generally includes a variety of memory devices such as a register and a cache memory. A register has a function of temporarily holding data for carrying out arithmetic processing, holding a program execution state, or the like. In addition, a cache memory is located between an arithmetic circuit and a low-speed main memory in order to reduce access to the main memory and speed up the arithmetic processing.
In a memory device such as a register or a cache memory, reading and writing of data needs to be performed at higher speed than in a main memory. Thus, in general, a flip-flop or the like is used as a register, and a static random access memory (SRAM) or the like is used as a cache memory. Such a register, a cache memory, and the like are volatile memory devices in which data is lost when supply of power supply potential is stopped.
In order to reduce power consumption, a method for temporarily stopping supply of power supply voltage to a signal processing circuit in a period during which data is not input or output has been suggested. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which data in a volatile memory device such as a register or a cache memory is stored in a nonvolatile memory device formed in the periphery of the volatile memory device so that data can be held also in a period during which supply of power supply potential is stopped.

Semiconductor device and driving method thereof

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A transport device includes a stopper which comes into contact with a target ahead of a guide surface of a guide member and regulates movement of the target and a slider which slides by contact of the target with the stopper. The stopper has a first regulation surface with which the target comes into contact ahead of the guide surface of the guide member, and a second regulation surface which regulates the movement of the target which moves along the first regulation surface. A damper mechanism is connected to the slider and has a damper force that weakens kinetic energy by the target that the stopper receives.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a transport device provided with a damper device, and a recording apparatus provided with the transport device.
2. Related Art
As one type of a recording apparatus which performs recording by attaching liquid (for example, ink) to a target (for example, paper), an ink jet type printer (hereinafter simply referred to as a "printer") provided with a recording section which records a given image (including characters, graphics, or the like) by ejecting ink from a liquid ejection section (for example, a recording head) onto paper is known. The printer is made so as to record an image on the paper by feeding one by one the papers to the recording section side by extracting the topmost paper from a paper feed cassette (hereinafter simply referred to as a "cassette") in which a plurality of papers are placed in a stacked state. For this reason, the printer is provided with a mounting section for mounting the cassette, in which a plurality of papers are placed in a stacked state, so as to be able to mount or remove the cassette by inserting or extracting the cassette along a direction perpendicular to the stacked direction of the paper, and a paper feed roller for extracting one by one the papers from the cassette which is in a state where it is mounted on the mounting section, thereby sequentially feeding the papers to the recording section side.
Further, in the printer, a guide surface having a rising slope for guiding the paper to the recording section while separating one by one the papers which are extracted and fed from the cassette side by the paper feed roller is formed at the deep inside of the mounting section on which the cassette is mounted, that is, at a site which faces the front end surface in an insertion direction of the cassette which is in a state where it is mounted on the mounting section. For this reason, in a case where the cassette is mounted on the mounting section by a user, when an insertion speed into the mounting section is fast or the like, there is a case where the papers in the stacked state move in the insertion direction from the inside of the cassette due to an inertial force thereof, thereby being laid on the guide surface having the rising slope. If so, since it is not possible to separate one by one the papers by the guide surface, so that a transport state called an overlap feed in which a plurality of papers are overlapped and fed occurs, there is concern that a phenomenon such as a paper jam may occur.
As means for avoiding the overlap feed, in JP-A-2005-8416, there is disclosed a mechanism which regulates the movement of an end portion (hereinafter referred to as a "paper leading end portion") on the downstream side in a paper feed direction of the paper in the insertion direction of the cassette. That is, there is disclosed a paper feed structure provided with a mechanism (a loading stopper) which is movable between a position where it protrudes into and blocks a paper movement pathway (a medium pathway) and a position where it does not protrude into and block the movement pathway.
Incidentally, as a structure which avoids the overlap feed, there is proposed, for example, a structure which has a regulation surface which regulates the movement of the paper leading end portion to the front side in the insertion direction of the cassette and also is provided with a movement regulation body which performs rotational motion so as to fall in the insertion direction. That is, there is proposed a damper device which rotates the movement regulation body in the insertion direction with a predetermined temporal difference such that after the momentum (speed) of the moving paper is restrained by regulating the movement of the paper leading end portion at the time of insertion of the cassette at the regulation surface, the regulation surface retreats from the guide surface to automatically release the regulation of the movement of the paper. Since such a damper device requires only an increase in space for a mechanism necessary for the rotational motion of the movement regulation body, a reduction in the size of the printer becomes possible.
However, if the movement regulation body which performs rotational motion so as to fall in the insertion direction has the same configuration as the movement regulation body (the loading stopper) in the paper feed structure disclosed in JP-A-2005-8416, when an insertion speed into the mounting section is fast or the like, there is a case where the paper leading end portion further moves upward along the surface of the movement regulation body, thereby being laid on the guide surface (separation pad). If so, it is not possible to separate one by one the papers by the guide surface, so that there is concern that it may not become possible to avoid the transport state called the overlap feed in which a plurality of papers are overlapped and fed.

Transport device and recording apparatus


The invention relates to a die-cut edge system, method and device capable of creating a continuous and congruent decorative design along the edge of a paper product. Furthermore, the invention relates to a die-cut edge system, method and device, wherein a corner punch and edge punch are aligned and correspond with one another so as to produce a continuous and congruent decorative design along the edge of a paper product.

A variety of edge punch devices are available in the art. These devices allow a user to create a decorative edge design along an item of paper, cardstock, poster material or the like (collectively referred to herein as "paper"). The devices generally operate through the use of a two-component die. An item of paper is slid into the punch device, and upon squeezing the handle of the device, the upper part of the die travels down towards and then through the paper, into the lower part of the die; thereby cutting the paper and creating the desired decorative edge. One limitation of commercially available edge punch devices is that their generally long horizontal shape creates storage challenges; that is, the devices take up a significant amount of room when stored, and storage space may be at a premium on, for instance, a crafts table, or arts and crafts box.
A variety of corner punch devices are also available in the art, and operate in a similar fashion. However, as the name suggests, corner punch devices are used to impart a decorative design to the corner of an item of paper. These devices also generally operate through the use of a two-component die. The corner of an item of paper is slid into the corner punch device, and upon squeezing the handle of the device, the upper part of the die travels down towards and then through the paper, into the lower part of the die; thereby cutting the corner of the paper and creating the desired decorative corner.
Edge and corner punches that impart complementary designs are available in the art, and are meant to allow a user to create a decorative edge along one or more sides of an item of paper, and to also create a complementary corner design on one or more corners of the same item of paper. For instance, one might use complimentary edge and corner punches that each impart a snowflake design along the edges and corners of an item of paper to create an item for a scrapbook, an invitation to a party, a gift card, or a variety of other items as will be readily appreciated by those of skill in the art.
A significant limitation of conventional edge and corner punch systems is that while they may offer complementary designs, they are not configured for use together in a manner that ensures the design imparted by the edge punch and that imparted by the corner punch align properly with one another and hence correspond with one another. In practice, it is generally the case that the design produced by the edge punch does not align with the design produced by the corner punch, leading to a misaligned decorative edge design. As the principal purpose of decorative edging is to impart a visually pleasing element to the paper product, the misaligned edging frustrates this overall purpose, producing a irregular visual impression.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a die-cut edge system, method and device capable of creating a continuous, corresponding and congruent decorative design along the edge of a paper product. Furthermore, there exists a need in the art for a die-cut edge system, method and device, wherein the corner punch and edge punch are easily aligned with one another so as to produce a continuous, corresponding and congruent decorative design along the edge of a paper product. In addition there exists a need in the art for a die-cut edge system and device that is compact and easy to store.


The apparatus of the invention includes: an acquisition unit 101 that acquires input information including resin properties and acquires, as output information, a specified value of a physical quantity related to a kneaded resin or a kneading machine; a storage unit 16 that stores a knowledge file 162 containing correlations among the input information, the physical quantity and a plurality of screw configurations; and a search unit 106 and a configuration generator unit 107 together that infers, on the basis of the input information and the knowledge file 162, such a screw configuration that is able to meet the specified value.

Extrusion molding machines (or extruders, hereinafter) are used for continuous production of resin pellets, plastic film, plastic sheet, and various other plastic products. In a resin extrusion process, it is critically important to ensure that the quality level of the extruded resin is equal to or higher than the desired level. Here, the "quality of resin" involves many requirements including: achieving well-mixed condition of the raw materials of the resin; non-existence of abnormal substances (such as degraded substances) in the resin which could be produced by over-kneading; non-existence of non-melted raw materials or agglomerates of any of raw materials in the extruded resin, which could be produced by under-kneading; non-existence of heat-degraded substances in the resin, which could be produced by excessive temperature rise: and others. All of these requirements have to be satisfied in order to manufacture selling plastic products. There are, however, many cases where the raw materials to be used for manufacturing a resin product are prescribed and cannot be changed, and in addition, any property modification cannot be effected to the raw materials. In such a case, it is critically important to optimize the screw configuration of the extruder and/or the operation conditions of the extruder, in order to satisfy the requirements.
As a related prior art technique, there is known a method of inferring operation conditions of an injection molding machine. The injection molding machine is provided with a plunger for injecting melted resin into the mold so as to mold a plastic product. Under a certain set of operation conditions for injecting melted plastic into the mold for molding a plastic product, the injection molding machine is operated to inject melted plastic into a measurement apparatus, and a flow length of the melted plastic within the measurement apparatus is measured at each of a plurality of extrusion positions of the plunger. Then, prior to the injection of melted plastic into the mold by an other injection molding machine to mold a plastic product, a set of operation conditions for that other injection molding machine are inferred such that: when that other injection molding machine is operated to inject melted plastic into the measurement apparatus, the same flow length of the melted plastic within the measurement apparatus can be achieved at each of a plurality of corresponding extrusion positions of that other injection molding machine (see Patent Document No. 1 listed below).

Apparatus, method and computer program product for screw configuration inference


Fiber optic modules for managing optical fibers and optical connections. In some examples, multiple modules are stackable. In some examples, the modules are configured to facilitate cable/fiber routing. Stacking elements can be used to serially stack multiple modules together. Components, such as lids and covers of the modules, can be substituted for components of different configurations. The modules and stacking elements are configured to reduce/minimize space taken up by stacking.

Fiber optic communication systems are becoming prevalent in part because service providers want to deliver high bandwidth communication capabilities (e.g., data and voice) to customers. Fiber optic communication systems employ a network of fiber optic cables to transmit large volumes of data and voice signals over relatively long distances. Optical fiber connectors and fiber optic enclosures are an important part of most fiber optic communication systems. Fiber optic connectors allow two optical fibers to be quickly optically connected without requiring a splice. Fiber optic connectors can be used to optically interconnect two lengths of optical fiber. Fiber optic connectors can also be used to interconnect lengths of optical fiber to passive and active equipment. Fiber optic enclosures are incorporated into fiber optic networks to facilitate providing access to optical fibers of fiber optic network cables. Fiber optic enclosures often house components such as splice trays, passive optical splitters, fiber optic adapters, fiber optic connectors, connector storage regions, indexing components, connection fields/panels, connectorized pigtails, wavelength divisional multi-plexers and other components.
Many fiber optic enclosures are designed to be installed in outside environments and are environmentally sealed. This type of enclosure can also include sealed connector ports for interfacing with connectorized drop cables. Optical fibers of the fiber optic network cable routed into the enclosure are often accessed within the enclosure and spliced to another cable such as a drop cable, directly connectorized or spliced to connectorized pigtails. When the fibers are connectorized, the connectorized ends can be plugged into inner ends of fiber optic adapters incorporated into the sealed connector ports. In the field, outer ends of the fiber optic adapters can be used to receive ruggedized fiber optic connectors corresponding to drop cables to provide optical connections between the drop cables and optical fibers of the fiber optic network cable without having to access an interior of the enclosure.


Systems, devices and methods are disclosed related to shapeable lead assemblies. Such lead assemblies can be configured to be shaped in a desired manner before and/or during a procedure, such as, for example, after the lead assembly has been at least partially placed within the anatomy of a subject. The shapeable lead assembly can be shaped during a neuroregenerative procedure to contact and/or otherwise interface with a targeted nerve.

Peripheral nerve injuries are severely debilitating, affecting otherwise healthy patients by limiting their ability to perform activities of daily living. Peripheral nerve injuries may result from various etiologies, from complex trauma to iatrogenic and compressive neuropathies. However, despite various etiologies the mainstay to repair peripheral nerve damage is surgical repair of transected nerve ends or surgical release of compressed nerves. Unfortunately, even the best surgical procedures usually leave patients with marked deficits. In addition, patients often have neuropathic pain associated with a nerve injury. Pain may be present at the site of injury or radiate along the injured nerve, or in cases of compression, pain may radiate downstream from the site of injury. Given the disability associated with nerve injuries, a need clearly exists to improve outcomes.
Currently, clinical treatment of injured peripheral nerves is primarily surgical, either releasing the source of nerve compression or reattaching the transected nerve directly or with grafting materials. Surgery permits nerve regrowth by re-establishing nerve continuity but functional recovery remains inadequate. Generally, nerves regenerate slowly (˜1 mm/day at their fastest) requiring long periods of time before reconnecting with denervated target muscle or sensory end-organs. The window of opportunity for nerve regeneration is short with the regenerative capacity of the injured neurons and the regenerative support of the distal nerve stump declining with time and distance. These factors together with the misdirection of regenerating nerves account for the frequent poor recovery. In addition to poor recovery, patients are often faced with pain resulting from the nerve injury. This pain may present clinically in the form of allodynia or hyperalgesia. This pain may be transient in nature, resolving when tissue becomes reinnervated or may become chronic if nerve regeneration results in a neuroma formation. Poor regeneration can lead to not only diminished functional motor outcomes, but chronic pain and an increase in residual sensory abnormalities. Enhancing nerve regeneration can result in better tissue reinnervation which not only improves functional outcomes but reduces the potential for developing chronic or other long-term pain. Chronic or long-term pain can also include pain that persists past a normal healing time (e.g., a normal time vis-à-vis a particular type of injury or other source of pain). As used herein, "chronic pain" or "long-term pain" can include, but is not limited to, pain that lasts twelve weeks or longer.

Electrode interface devices for delivery of neuroregenerative therapy


Electrically conductive nanowires incorporated within scaffolds enhance tissue growth, bridge the electrically resistant pore walls and markedly improve electrical communication between adjacent cardiac cell bundles. Integration of conducting nanowires within 3D scaffolds should improve the therapeutic value of cardiac patches. Examples demonstrate efficacy of gold nanowires in alginate matrices seeded with cardiomyocytes.

The urgent need to improve the viability, ultrastructural morphology and functionality of engineered cardiac tissue has been addressed by growing cell constructs in advanced bioreactors providing high mass transfer or exposing the tissues to electrical (Radisic, M., et al. Pro. Na. Acad. Sci. USA 101, 18129-18134 (2004)) and mechanical cues (Zimmermann, W. H., et al. Circ. Res. 90, 223-230 (2002); Dvir, et al. Tissue Eng. 13, 2185-2193 (2007)). Scaffold structural and mechanical properties can be improved by microfabrication processes that provide controllable stiffness and anisotropy (Engelmayr, G. C., et al. Nature Mat. 7, 1003-1010 (2008)).
Engineered cardiac patches to replace scar tissue after myocardial infarction can be produced by seeding cardiac cells within porous three dimensional ("3D") biomaterials, which provide mechanical support while cells organize into a functioning tissue. However, success can be jeopardized by a lack of electrical conductivity within the construct. Electrical signal propagation between cardiomyocytes in separate pores is impeded by biomaterial resistance, limiting the patch's potential to contract strongly as a unit.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide tissue engineering scaffolds which can provide electrical stimulation to cardiomyocytes seeded into or onto the scaffolds.

Nanowired three dimensional tissue scaffolds


The universal sphere mount provides a spherically mounted retro-reflector conical nest mount having a base, a body of lesser diameter than the base, and a precise nest in the body that receives a retro-reflector target. The body steps inwardly from the base or has bevel. The body has a lesser diameter than the base so the reflector achieves an orientation below a horizontal plane at any horizontal rotation upon the body. The nest receives a spherically mounted retro-reflector and positions it with high precision over the shank. The nest has at least three oblique clearance areas, equally spaced, that permit a maximum negative acceptance angle for incident light to a mounted spherically mounted retro-reflector without occlusion and at any angle of rotation upon the body. The universal sphere mount achieves tolerances, within 0.0005 inch of the centerline and of the height of a spherically mounted retro reflector placed therein.

The universal sphere mount relates generally to precision measuring systems that provide for critical detection of light and other radiation from a source, a laser powered tracking system among others, and more specifically to a spherically mounted retro-reflector three-point conical nest mount, having a negative acceptance angle at any rotation of a target upon the invention and the invention defines a target assembly that provides for area and location of the target to a tolerance within +/−0.0005 inch or less. The nest allows a target to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the nest.
Modern manufacturing technology, particularly that associated with the construction of large composite material structures, such as for aircraft parts machining and aircraft assembly, subjects the contours of components and tooling to accurate measurement and meticulous inspection for compliance with design models and specifications. One manner in which these structures are measured is with the aid of portable coordinate measuring machines such as laser trackers.
Laser trackers measure and inspect large components by illuminating one or more retro-reflecting targets mounted to the parts, tooling, or components in predetermined locations with a laser. The position of the laser tracker and of the positioning of the retro-reflector target is measured using the laser, and compared with design models or specifications, such as those stored on a computer.
Other examples of various measurement systems for reference are as follows. The Global Positioning System, or GPS, is used indoors as a method to precisely set various industrial devices and industrial equipment, including machinery and for close tolerance industrial surveying, as used in manufacturing and assembly operations. Laser projection systems emit a laser beam along a line that represents the position of an edge used in a step of manufacturing, such as the position of a composite lay up sheet.
For reference, retro-reflective photo targets have had countless design adaptations to enhance precision for the various settings and component features that are measured using close range industrial photogrammetry. These adaptations may include straight holes, threaded holes, surfaces, edges, slots and the like. The prior art frequently obtains tolerances as close as +/−0.0005 inch on the various targeting products.
Currently, most spherically mounted retro-reflectors receive incident light through an aperture, then reflect the light to the measuring system for a precise fix of the location of the spherically mounted retro-reflector. When the light source fires, it emits light which is then collected by a spherically mounted retro-reflector and returned for detection by the measuring system. The measuring system then determines the three-dimensional location of the spherically mounted retro-reflectors in the X, Y and Z axes.
To facilitate the use of laser trackers, retro-reflectors are centrally mounted in hollow steel spheres, commonly referred to as Spherically Mounted Retro-reflectors (SMR), which in turn are fitted to the target object in predetermined locations with the use of sphere mounts, such as is shown at in FIG. 1, along with previous designs of the Applicant. The hollow steel balls include a circular opening or aperture in an exterior surface, through which laser light enters the ball and is reflected back along an incident angle to the source by the internally mounted retro-reflector. Surrounding the circular opening or aperture may be a cylindrical hood, configured to reduce or eliminate unwanted glare and to protect the glass optical retro-reflector from breakage. Most sphere mounts are typically cylindrical or disc shaped, and includes a recessed conical nest in one surface which holds and locates the retro-reflector sphere, usually with the aid of a magnet. The opposite surface of the sphere mount is either flat, includes a base shank, or has other possible configurations, that allow for seating within a correspondingly sized bore, or other features, on the target object, permitting the sphere mount to be located at a known position on the target object. A sphere mount having a three-point conical nest, commonly referred to as a kinematic mount, may be utilized.
Conventional sphere mounts accommodate three standard sizes, such as 0.500 inch, 0.875 inch, and 1.500 inch′ and have a hemispherical mounted range of illumination acceptance, generally limited by the mechanical interaction between the edge of the circular opening or aperture in the retro-reflector sphere and the upper surface of a sphere mount. A retro-reflector ball in a conventional sphere mount may rotate through a vertical arc of 180 degrees and may rotate 360 degrees about the central axis within the conical nest of the sphere mount.
In some applications, the laser tracker or illumination source, or the sphere mount itself, may not be disposed within the hemispherical mounted range of illumination acceptance defined by the upper surface of the sphere mount, but rather, slightly below the lower boundary. For these applications, it is known to employ sphere mounts having an axially perpendicular recess between the base of the conical nest and the circumferential perimeter. A retro-reflector ball placed in such a modified sphere mount may rotate through a vertical arc angle greater than 180 degrees when radially aligned with the perpendicular recess by seating the cylindrical hood within the recess, providing an extending illumination acceptance range.
Vertical arc angles of illumination acceptance from 0 degrees to 180 degrees are considered "positive" angles while vertical arc angles of acceptance greater than 180 degrees, that is, below the horizon of the sphere base, are considered "negative" angles. However, a portion of the circular opening or aperture to the ball mounted retro-reflector is occluded by the modified sphere mount, reducing the effective size of the circular opening or aperture and rendering measurement readings more difficult to obtain.


Disclosed is an electronic magnetic contactor, the contactor including: an operation power supply unit inputting an operation power; an electronic switch driving unit receiving a power from the operation power supply unit to drive a power supply of a load; a switching unit switched by a pulse signal to drive the electronic switch driving unit; an operation state determination unit determining whether the electronic magnetic contactor is in an opened state or in a closed state; an input voltage sensing unit sensing an amplitude of an input voltage supplied from the operation power supply unit; and an input signal generation unit generating an input signal for determining whether the electronic magnetic contactor is inputted based on determined state by the operation state determination unit and the sensed amplitude by the input voltage sensing unit.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an electronic magnetic contactor, and more particularly to an electronic magnetic contactor having an operation state input.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Generally, an electronic magnetic contactor, as one of constituent parts forming a factory automation system, serves to supply a power to a load or interrupt the power to the load, and to prevent a motor load from being burnt. The electronic magnetic contactor includes electronic elements including a thermal relay and an electronic magnetic switch, and a frame for assembling the electronic elements in one package. Furthermore, the electronic magnetic contactor functions to supply a power to a load or interrupt the load to the load in response to magnetization of an electromagnetic coil that is one of constituent parts of a switch.
In order to activate the electronic magnetic contactor, an inrush current is initially applied to an electromagnetic coil to activate a moving coil. In a case the moving coil is contacted to a fixed core, and even if a very weak holding current over the inrush current is applied to the electromagnetic coil, an electronic control is performed inside to maintain an operation state.
However, there may occur a problem of generating an inrush failure due to a capacity deficiency phenomenon of an operation power at the contactor at a time when the inrush current is applied to the electromagnetic coil of the electron magnetic contactor, voltage fluctuation by a starting load, drop in instantaneous voltage due to lightning or input of an excessive voltage. This problem is caused by supply of an input signal by sensing only amplitude of an input voltage at an electronic control device, which can cause a tremendous damage to the automation system. The conventional electronic magnetic contactor however cannot solve the problem because only an electromagnetic coil (60) is installed therein.
It is, therefore, desirable to overcome the above problems and others by providing an improved electronic magnetic contactor.


Disclosed are interconnect structures and methods which utilize a bonding surface comprising copper nitride. The interconnect structures include a bonding surface comprising copper nitride which is effective at preventing oxidation and/or other unwanted corrosion of the underlying conductive material while providing the basis for a high conductivity bond. The copper nitride bonding surface provides a relatively non-conductive, corrosion-resistant bonding surface while at the same time being readily transformed into a conductive layer at or just prior to the time of bonding.

Interconnection technology is an important aspect of the fabrication of electronic components containing semiconductor devices. For example, in chip bonding, the back of a chip is mechanically attached to an appropriate medium, such as a ceramic substrate, a paddle of a metal lead frame or to a ball grid array (BGA). The upper level of wiring for the chip normally includes bond pads which are electrically attached, via the necessary connections, to the underlying circuit. The chip commonly has a protective overcoat (PO) layer, generally referred to as passivation, with holes providing access to the bond pads. The bond pads on the circuit side of the chip are electrically connected to the package leads by wires or other electrical conductors to permit utilization of the integrated circuit (IC). The type of interconnection scheme which is used can vary widely, depending on the desired characteristics of the packaging involved. For example, thin wires are typically used as part of the interconnection, and these may be ultrasonically bonded to the bond pad (sometimes referred to herein as "wire bonding") or by the formation of solder balls which make a direct connection between the bond pad on the chip and a substrate (as in the flip chip process). Other common methods for making IC interconnections, such as connecting the bond pads to the leads of the lead frame, or the conductors of other conductor support devices, include Tape Automated Bonding (TAB), Controlled Collapse Chip Connection (C4) or bump bonding, and through the use of conductive adhesives.
Aluminum has heretofore frequently been the material of choice for use in the formation of the interconnect elements, such as the metal traces of the semiconductor circuit, the bond pads and (for large pitch applications) wires. However, the desirability of using aluminum has recently been affected by the pressure in the IC industry to reduce the cost and size of IC devices and to increase the input/output capacity and speed of such devices. This pressure has increased the need for finer traces on the semiconductor and finer pitch interconnections, which frequently require thinner and sometimes longer wires. As a result, some of the deficiencies of aluminum and its alloys, such as relatively high resistance to current flow, reliability and electromigration have sparked a need for more reliable, and higher conductivity metals for use in the IC circuitry. Fine-pitch interconnections between semiconductor devices and a supporting substrate, such as a leadframe or BGA, are usually made using thin gold wires. The high cost of gold and the combination of higher speed and thinner wires have also created a need for a higher conductivity and lower cost metal for fine-pitch wire bonding.
To address these issues, a metal that has received increased attention is copper. While copper has a significantly lower resistivity than aluminum or gold, its use in interconnect devices posses a set of problems that are not present with the use of aluminum or gold. For example, the formation of an interconnect to copper bond pads will generally require that the copper is exposed to ambient air and humidity prior to formation of the connection to the bond pad, and to air, humidity and elevated temperatures near 200° C. during the process of forming the connection. This creates a significant problem because of the rapid formation of a tenacious nonconductive oxide on the surface of the metal, even at room temperature. The presence of these copper oxides generally prevents the formation of good wire bonds or solder ball connections to bare copper surfaces. Similarly, copper wire usually has a limited shelf life due to the formation of a thin layer of oxides on its surface even when stored under conditions of relatively low oxygen concentration and low humidity. This copper oxide layer will have an unacceptably negative impact on the conductivity of the connection.
In the case of copper metallization on semiconductors, one commonly used solution to this problem has been to deposit a thin layer of a more oxidation-resistant metal on the bond pad so as to protect it from oxidation. Typically, this second layer of metallization is formed from gold or aluminum, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,236. This is typically accomplished by vapor deposition of a layer of the metal onto the semiconductor wafer using a mask. However, this proposed solution creates several of its own problems. For example, another set of lithography steps is then required to pattern, mask and etch the metal, and thereby form bond pads which can be wire bonded. Such additional wafer processing steps add significantly to the cost of the devices. Furthermore, when aluminum or gold is bonded to the copper, thin intermediate barrier layers of other metals are usually required to prevent the interdiffusion of the copper into the gold or aluminum or vise versa.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,750 describes the use of titanium nitride (TiN), tungsten (W), tungsten nitride (WN), zirconium nitride (ZrN), titanium carbide (TiC), tungsten carbide (WC), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), or titanium tungsten (TiW) as barrier layers for copper. Many of these materials, however, also form nonconductive oxides, or have poor electrical or thermal conductivity, or a high thermal expansion.
Most recently, it has been proposed to utilize a frangible layer of a ceramic insulator, such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride, that have a thickness suitable for soldering without fluxing and that are sufficiently frangible during ball or wedge bonding to obtain metal to metal contact between the bonding surface and the wire to be bonded. Such a process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,743, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. While this process has several advantages and desirable characteristics, it can be problematic if the process steps are not precisely controlled. For example, if the ceramic layer is not sufficiently frangible, a substantial drop in conductivity can result, potentially in certain cases even preventing the formation of a connection.
For copper lead frames, the tip of the leads to which bond are made are usually coated with an oxidation resistant metal, usually silver. These approaches have the obvious disadvantage of increasing the costs and complexity and time of the manufacturing process. For solder-ball bumping, a flux would be required to remove the oxide during the reflow process.
Accordingly, there continues to be a need for an interconnect structure that will simplify the formation of high conductivity bonding. A copper bond pad with a suppressed oxide growth layer having good electrical conductivity, good thermal conductivity, and low thermal expansion is also needed, as well as a simple process for forming such copper bond pads.
The present invention meets these needs and offers additional advantages as discussed in the following summary and description of preferred embodiments.

Electrical interconnect structures for integrated circuits and methods of manufacturing the same


Methods for producing catalyst systems with increased productivity are disclosed. The methods may comprise providing a catalyst composition comprising a solvent and a single-site catalyst component, heating an inert gas to a temperature in a range of from about 100° C. to about 150° C., and spray drying the catalyst composition in the presence of the inert gas to form a spray-dried catalyst system. Additionally, the methods may comprise providing a catalyst composition comprising a solvent, an activator, a filler material, a metallocene catalyst, and a Group 15-containing catalyst; heating an inert gas to a temperature in a range of from about 100° C. to about 150° C.; and spray drying the catalyst composition in the presence of the inert gas to form a spray-dried catalyst system.

Advances in polymerization and catalysts have produced new polymers having improved physical and mechanical properties useful in a wide variety of products and applications. With the development of new catalysts, the choice of polymerization, such as solution, slurry, high pressure, or gas phase, for producing a particular polymer has been greatly expanded. Advances in polymerization technology have also provided more efficient, highly productive and economically enhanced processes.
Metallocene catalyst components have been widely used to produce polyolefins such as polyethylene polymers. They have provided efficient processes and a variety of new and improved polymers. In addition, catalyst systems have also been used that comprise more than one catalyst component, in effect, providing more than one active site to polymerize monomers during the polymerization process. Catalyst systems comprising two or more different catalyst components have been used, for example, to produce multimodal polymers. However, there is continued focus in the industry on developing new and improved catalyst systems. Some have focused on designing the catalyst system to produce new polymers, others on improved operability, and yet others on improving catalyst productivity. The productivity of a catalyst can be an important concern for polyolefin producers.
A number of methodologies used for delivering catalysts to reactors require the catalyst to be supported on an inert carrier such as silica. Impregnating a catalyst on a support has often been found to cause a significant decrease in catalyst activity. In addition, large particles (>25 micrometers) of the support material have frequently been found in the finished polymer product. These particles may adversely affect polymer properties. This has been observed in film applications where unexploded silica particles appear as defects or gels. Spray-drying techniques have been employed as an alternative to supported particles. Once a catalyst system has been spray dried, the spray-dried catalyst system may be added to a diluent to form a catalyst slurry and pumped to a polymerization reactor.

Methods for preparing catalyst systems with increased productivity


A tantalum thin film circuit which is formed on an insulator or semiconductor substrate through an adhesive layer, a part or the entire surface of said tantalum thin film circuit being coated with a metal selected from among palladium, gold, platinum and rhodium or an alloy thereof. In addition, a conductive film circuit is formed on the thus formed tantalum thin film circuit by forming an interlayer insulating film having an adhesive layer on each of the upper and lower sides thereof, and forming a circuit using a metal selected from among tantalum, palladium, gold, platinum and rhodium or an alloy thereof.

Metallic materials which are used to form a circuit pattern on an insulator substrate or a semiconductor substrate are required to have the following properties:
(1) Metallic materials used for the above-described purpose must be superior in corrosion resistance; (2) a metal which is used to form a pattern must have excellent adhesion to the surface of an insulator or semiconductor substrate; (3) metallic materials used must have an electrical conductivity which is substantially equal to or higher than that of conventional conducting materials; (4) the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between a substrate and a metal used must be small so that the metal is unlikely to peel off in a repeated cycle in which it is alternately subjected to high and low temperatures; and so forth.
As shown in FIG. 10, a metal 1b such as aluminum, copper, nickel or chromium has heretofore been employed as a metal used to form a circuit pattern on an insulator or semiconductor substrate 6.
However, when such a metal is employed as a wiring material, if portions of a circuit which have different potentials are shorted through water, dissolution of the higher-potential portion is unavoidable.
When in contact with water containing corrosive chemical species such as chlorine ions, sulfate ions, nitrate ions, ferric ions, etc., the electrode is, in many cases, dissolved.
To avoid the above-described problem of corrosion, it is conventional practice to coat the surface of a conductive film circuit with a protective film 7 for prevention of corrosion which is made of a glass, ceramic or plastic material to thereby prevent intrusion of water into the conducting portion of the circuit pattern, as shown in FIG. 10.
The conventional practice suffers, however, from the disadvantage that, even if the thickness of the coating film is increased (e.g., 50 .mu.m or more in the case of a resin material) in order to eliminate water permeability and defects such as pinholes from the coating film formed as described above, water penetration cannot be made zero.
In order to overcome these disadvantages of the prior art, the present inventors proposed an invention of forming a circuit pattern using a corrosion-resistant metal such as tantalum, titanium or niobium.
However, even in this case there has been the problem that oxidation of the surface of a thin film circuit made of a metal such as tantalum causes an increase in the surface resistance and hence a rise in the contact resistance with an external circuit. In addition, when a multilayer thin film circuit is formed, the resistance at a via hole may be increased.
In view of the above-described problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a conductive film circuit having high corrosion resistance and high reliability which is capable of normally performing semipermanently even if it is used in an environment that includes water content without coating the surface of the circuit and the electrode surface with an inorganic or organic protective film for prevention of corrosion and which is not subject to rise in the resistance at a terminal portion or in the resistance at a via hole which would otherwise occur due to oxidation of the surface of the conductive film circuit and the electrode surface and which has no problem of separation even if it is subjected to a temperature cycle over a wide temperature range.

Conductive film circuit and method of manufacturing the same


The invention relates to a selection of components of a disc brake, in particular for commercial vehicles, having a brake caliper having an installation opening for installing a brake shaft, a first brake shaft and a second brake shaft, wherein the two brake shafts are coordinated with the brake caliper in such a manner that they can be used to apply the brake. According to the invention, the first brake shaft, but not the second, fits through the installation opening. The further invention relates to a disc brake, in particular for commercial vehicles, having a brake shaft and a brake caliper having an installation opening for installing the brake shaft, wherein the brake shaft is coordinated with the brake caliper in such a manner that said brake shaft can be used to apply the brake. According to the invention, the brake caliper and the brake shaft each have a coding, which allows installation of the brake shaft through the installation opening only if the two codings match.

Selections of the above named type are known. Consequently, numerous brake manufacturers and distributors are offering brakes which are intended for different application fields and/or vehicle types. Whilst the calipers of these brakes are frequently identical, the brakes in the respective brake shafts inside the caliper are different. Brake shafts can consequently differ from each other, for example, in that they result in different transmission ratios when the brake is actuated. These different transmission ratios, but also other differences, are decisive whether the brake is suited for a specific field of application and/or for a specific type of vehicle. Because both brake shafts are suitable in terms of their design to interact with the specific caliper, i.e. they can theoretically both serve for applying the brake, it will not be conspicuous during the assembly of the brake if an incorrect brake shaft is installed for the intended field of application.
all in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

Selection of components of a disc brake and disc brake