An electrode for a high-pressure discharge lamp may include a shaft and a head mounted thereon, wherein at least a section of the head includes ceramic material, wherein the ceramic material is a boride or carbide.

An electrode made from LaB6 is known from patent application publication JP 1 086 439.
An electrode coated with LaB6 is known from patent application publication JP 63-019750.
Metal-based sinter electrodes as such are already known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,218,025.
Ceramic electrodes using nitridic or oxidic material are already known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,718 and EP 1265 264.
A ceramic electrode which is embodied as a layer and formed from LaB6 or CeB6 is known from PCT/EP2009/064961. A layer electrode of said type is produced by means of LTTC.

Ceramic electrode for a high-pressure discharge lamp


A system and method are disclosed for preventing a restricted individual from operating a motor vehicle. The system monitors a speed of the individual via a smart device associated with the individual. The system activates a monitoring function based on a detected speed of the device, which may evidence the individual riding in a motor vehicle. The system them verifies that the user of the device is the restricted individual through a variety of different identification methods. Once identified, the system accesses various data sources associated with one or more ride applications running on the smart device in order to determine whether the restricted individual has requested a ride from a third party during a relevant time period. After analyzing the data, a determination is made as to whether the individual is driving, or whether more information is needed.

Field
This disclosure relates to a system for allowing an offender to assist with a booking process in order to streamline the booking process, as well as to free up resources for officers to perform other more critical tasks.
Background
Former detainees, who have been convicted of certain intoxication-related crimes, may be prohibited from operating a motor vehicle. Previously, there was no way to determine whether such an individual was operating a motor vehicle, unless that individual was pulled over. Although the causes may vary for pulling over a motorist, there is a high likelihood that a former convict of an intoxication-related crime will be intoxicated again, and thus may already be intoxicated at the time of being stopped.
The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

System and method for monitoring a former convict of an intoxication-related offense


A semiconductor device includes a substrate of a first conductive type, and a well region of an opposite second conductive type is formed in the substrate. A first impurity region of the first conductive type extends to a first depth within the well region, and a second impurity region of the first conductive type is spaced from the first impurity region to define a channel region therebetween and extends to a second depth within the well region. Preferably, the second depth is greater than the first depth. A gate electrode is located over the channel region, and a silicide layer is formed at a third depth within the first impurity region. The third depth is less than the first depth, and a difference between the first depth and the third depth is less than or equal to a difference at which a leakage current from the silicide layer to the well region is sufficient to electrically bias the well region through the silicide layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and in particular, to a semiconductor device in which a source region silicide layer is used to bias an underlying substrate or well.
2. Description of the Related Art
As semiconductor devices develop toward high integration, high performance, and low voltage operation, a low-resistance gate material is required to reduce the gate length of a transistor and a memory cell through the formation of fine patterns and to improve the device""s characteristics. The thickness of a gate insulating layer must in turn become smaller to increase a channel current in a transistor and a memory cell for low voltage operation. Furthermore, in order to prevent short channel effects caused by the decrease in the gate length of a transistor and to ensure a margin against punch-through, the junction depth of the source/drain regions should be reduced and the parasitic resistance, that is, the surface resistance and the contact resistance of the source/drain regions should be reduced.
Under these circumstances, studies have been conducted on a self-aligned silicide (salicide) process to reduce the resistivity of a gate and the sheet and contact resistance of source/drain regions. This self-aligned silicide process operates by forming a silicide layer on the surfaces of the gate and the source/drain regions. The salicide process refers to the selective formation of a silicide layer such as a titanium silicide (TiSiX) layer on a gate electrode and source/drain regions.
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an N-channel MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transistor fabricated by a conventional salicide process. As shown in FIG. 1, a gate insulating layer 112 is grown by performing a thermal oxidation on the surface of a silicon substrate 110 that has an active region on it, defined by a field oxide film (not shown). A conductive layer such as a polysilicon is then deposited for use as a gate, on the gate insulating layer 112 by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition). The polysilicon layer is then doped to be of an N-type by ion implantation and is then patterned into a gate 114 by photolithography.
Subsequently, Nxe2x88x92 active regions 116 are formed as lightly doped drain (LDD) regions on the surface of the substrate 110 at opposite sides of the gate 114 by ion-implanting an N-type dopant. In particular, phosphorous (P) may be used at a low dose (e.g., at a dose of 1xc3x971013-9xc3x971014 ions/cm2) with the gate 114 being used as an ion-implanting mask.
Spacers 118 are then formed on the sidewalls of the gate 114 by depositing an insulating layer on the resultant structure, including the Nxe2x88x92 active regions 116, and then etching back the insulating layer by anisotropical etching such as RIE (Reactive Ion Etching). Here, the insulating layer is formed of a silicidation blocking material, such as a nitride or an oxide. Then, N+ active regions 120 are formed as high-concentration source/drain regions on the surface of the substrate 110 at opposite sides of the spacers 118 by ion-implanting an N-type dopant. In particular, arsenic (As) may be used at a high dose (e.g., at or above a dose of 1xc3x971015 ions/cm2) with the spacers 118 and the gate 114 being used as an ion-implanting mask.
Afterwards, a silicide forming metal material, such as titanium (Ti) is deposited on the resultant structure, including the N+ active regions 120, and the titanium is subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA) or thermal treatment using a furnace so that silicidation takes place in an area where the titanium contacts silicon. As a result, a titanium silicide (TiSi2) layer is formed on the surfaces of the exposed Nxe2x88x92 and N+ active regions 116 and 120 and on the gate 114. Then, an unreacted titanium layer is selectively removed, using an etchant which does not damage the silicide layer 122, the silicon substrate 110, or the gate insulating layer 112.
A problem with the conventional method is incomplete silicidation on the surface of a narrow active region (see xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d of FIG. 1). This is believed to be caused by the impurity concentration in the silicon substrate 110. In other words, with the ion-implantation on the silicon substrate 110 at or above a dose of 1xc3x971015 ions/cm2, impurities contained in the silicon in excess of their solid solubility limit are segregated or piled up at the titanium/silicon interface, thereby blocking the diffusion of silicon. This phenomenon is observed to be more serious with arsenic than with phosphorous.
As a result, the diffusion of silicon is more difficult in the narrow region A of FIG. 1 between gates 114, than in the remainder of the device. This can lead to incomplete silicidation as compared to a wide region or an increased sheet resistance. For example, when the source region of a transistor, coupled to a common source terminal (Vss) of memory cells, is narrow, silicon of a substrate is not sufficiently diffused in the narrow region during the step of forming a titanium silicide layer. As a result, the sheet resistance from the source region to a Vss pattern may increase. In a worse case situation, no suicide layer may be formed at all, thereby reducing a voltage margin in a low-voltage operation area of a device.
As a separate issue, a general problem with CMOS circuits is their propensity to xe2x80x9clatch-upxe2x80x9d. Latch-up arises from the presence of complementary parasitic bipolar transistor structures, which result from fabrication of complementary MOS devices in a CMOS structure. Because they are in close proximity to one another, the complementary bipolar structures can interact electrically to form device structures which behave like p-n-p-n diodes.
This is a phenomenon that establishes a very low-resistance path between the Vcc and Vss power lines, which in turn allows large currents to flow through the circuit. This can cause the circuit to malfunction or not function at all due to heat caused by high power dissipation. The latch-up phenomenon is triggered by a changing current incidental to the fluctuation of power supply voltage, a punch through current at a well boundary, etc. Such triggering currents may be and in practice are established in any one or more of a variety of ways, e.g., terminal overvoltage stress, transient displacement currents, ionizing radiation, or impact ionization by hot electrons.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an SRAM cell comprising a CMOS device having a p-channel transistor 210 formed in an n-well 212 diffused into a p-type substrate 213, and an n-channel transistor 211 formed directly in the substrate 213. As shown in FIG. 2, two bipolar transistors 214 and 215 are parasitically formed in the SRAM cell.
When a trigger current is generated in the p-well 212, current flows through a resistance Rs, and the voltage drop across the resistance Rs turns on the bipolar transistor 214. When the bipolar transistor 214 turns on, a collector current thereof flows through a resistance Rw and a bias power supply Vcc. As a consequence, the base-emitter of the bipolar transistor 215 is biased in the forward direction, and the bipolar transistor 215 also turns on. When the bipolar transistor 215 turns on, the collector current thereof flows through the resistance Rs, further increasing the base potential of the bipolar transistor 214 which has already been turned on. Consequently, the collector current of the bipolar transistor 214 is again increased, further driving the bipolar transistor 215. As a result, the bipolar transistors 214 and 215 become completely turned on, and a large current flows from the bias power supply Vcc to the bias voltage Vss.
The bias voltages Vss to the p-well and Vcc to the n-well can be used to set the potentials of the p-well and n-well so as to suppress the latch-up phenomenon, i.e., to avoid the forward bias condition between the emitter and base electrodes of bipolar transistor 214. However, as shown in FIG. 3, in the conventional SRAM cell array, there are a plurality of circuit cells aligned and connected to each other. The bias voltage Vcc is supplied to the common n-well region in which the p-channel MOS transistors of the cells are strapped. Similarly, Vss is supplied to the common p-well region in which the n-channel MOS transistors of cells are formed. The conductive contact for providing the bias voltage Vcc (or Vss) is located at only one portion of the common n-well (or common p-well). The increased resistance at areas distant from the biasing contacts causes undesirable power supply and ground noise. In this state, the latch-up phenomenon can still occur.
Another problem encountered with the SRAM CMOS device is xe2x80x9csoft errorxe2x80x9d. If energetic particles from the environment (e.g. alpha-particles) should happen to strike a junction (e.g., a drain junction) surrounded by a depletion region, electrons and holes will be generated within the underlying body of the semiconductor material and will collect along the boundary of the depletion region, and the voltage across the junction will be reduced by the charge perturbation. If the charge perturbation is sufficiently large, the stored logic state may be reversed. This is commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9csoft errorxe2x80x9d since the error is not due to a hardware defect and since the cell will operate normally thereafter. Like latch up, soft errors are also increased by the unstable potential of a well stand-by operation at reduced voltages.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a substrate of a first conductive type; a well region of a second conductive type formed in the substrate, wherein the second conductive type is opposite the first conductive type; a first impurity region of the first conductive type extending to a first depth within the well region; a second impurity region of the first conductive type spaced from the first impurity region to define a channel region therebetween and extending to a second depth within the well region; a gate electrode located over the channel region; a silicide layer formed at a third depth within the first impurity region, wherein the third depth is less than the first depth, and wherein a difference between the first depth and the third depth is less than or equal to a difference at which a leakage current from the silicide layer to the well region is sufficient to electrically bias the well region through the silicide layer. Preferably, the second depth is greater than the first depth.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a substrate of a first conductive type; a well region of a second conductive type formed in the substrate, wherein the second conductive type is opposite the first conductive type; a first impurity region of the first conductive type extending to a first depth within the well region; a second impurity region of the first conductive type spaced from the first impurity region to define a channel region therebetween and extending to a second depth within the well region; a gate electrode located over the channel region; and a silicide layer formed within the first impurity region and including protrusions extending downwardly from a bottom surface thereof and across a boundary between the first impurity region and the well region. Again, the second depth is preferably greater than the first depth.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a substrate of a first conductive type; a well region of a second conductive type formed in the substrate, wherein the second conductive type is opposite the first conductive type; first and second voltage nodes; a first transistor comprising (a) a first impurity region of the first conductive type extending to a first depth within the well region, (b) a second impurity region of the first conductive type spaced from the first impurity region to define a channel region therebetween and extending to a second depth within the well region, (c) a gate electrode located over the channel region, and (d) a silicide layer connected to the first voltage node and formed at a third depth within the first impurity region, wherein the third depth is less than the first depth, and wherein a difference between the first depth and the third depth is less than or equal to a difference at which a leakage current from the silicide layer to the well region is sufficient to electrically bias the well region through the silicide layer; and a second transistor comprising (a) a first impurity region of the second conductive type extending to a first depth within the substrate, (b) a second impurity region of the second conductive type spaced from the first impurity region to define a channel region therebetween and extending to a second depth within the substrate, (c) a gate electrode located over the channel region, and (d) a silicide layer connected to the second voltage node and formed at a third depth within the first impurity region, wherein the third depth is less than the first depth, and wherein a difference between the first depth and the third depth is less than or equal to a difference at which a leakage current from the silicide layer to the substrate is sufficient to electrically bias the substrate through the silicide layer.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a substrate of a first conductive type; a well region of a second conductive type formed in the substrate, wherein the second conductive type is opposite the first conductive type; first and second voltage nodes; a first transistor comprising (a) a first impurity region of the first conductive type extending to a first depth within the well region, (b) a second impurity region of the first conductive type spaced from the first impurity region to define a channel region therebetween and extending to a second depth within the well region, (c) a gate electrode located over the channel region, and (d) a silicide layer connected to the first voltage node and formed within the first impurity region and including protrusions extending downwardly from the bottom surface thereof and across a boundary between the first impurity region and the well region; and a second transistor comprising (a) a first impurity region of the second conductive type extending to a first depth within the substrate, (b) a second impurity region of the second conductive type spaced from the first impurity region to define a channel region therebetween and extending to a second depth within the substrate, (c) a gate electrode located over the channel region, and (d) a suicide layer connected to the second voltage node and formed within the first impurity region and including protrusions extending downwardly from the bottom surface thereof and across a boundary between the first impurity region and the substrate.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating a semiconductor device


An information processing apparatus comprises: a determination unit configured to determine whether a communication protocol corresponding to a print queue selected by a user can acquire information from an image forming apparatus when processing a print job; a switching unit configured, when the determination unit has determined that the communication protocol corresponding to the print queue cannot acquire the information from the image forming apparatus, to switch the print queue corresponding to the communication protocol of a determination target of the determination unit to a print queue corresponding to a communication protocol capable of acquiring the information from the image forming apparatus; and an execution unit configured to process the print job using the print queue switched by the switching unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a recording medium and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus capable of switching processing for a print job of an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An operating system (OS) installed in a host computer is generally provided with a printing system to support printing in an environment where a printer is connected to the host computer that outputs a print request. One known printing system is a CUPS® (Common UNIX Printing System) printing system that runs on Mac OS® X of Apple Computer in the U.S.A. The CUPS printing system is roughly divided into a scheduler, a filter, and a backend. The scheduler mainly manages print jobs. The filter mainly converts image data into data interpretable by a printer. A preprocessing unit called a prefilter can correct image data. More specifically, the preprocessing unit can perform automatic photo correction, noise removal of digital camera images, and the like. The backend mainly sends data interpretable by a printer to the printer.
When connecting a printer to a host computer on an OS or a printing system, the printer can be used with various connection interfaces (connection I/Fs). Examples are USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection, connection (to be referred to as a network connection hereinafter) by network communication using TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) or the like, and Bluetooth® connection. LPR (Line PRinter daemon protocol), IPP (Internet Printing Protocol), and the like are widely used as the communication protocol to perform printing using network connection and supported by various OSes. Some printer vendors implement printing by network connection using communication protocols unique to the vendors. In recent years, to enable printing by network connection from various hosts, the number of printers supporting the plurality of communication protocols is growing.
To make a printer usable on a host computer, generally, a printer driver is installed, and the printer is registered in the host computer. When the printer is registered, a print queue for sequentially processing print jobs using the printer driver is generated on the host computer. The print queue changes between the above-described connection I/Fs or communication protocols. A plurality of print queues can be generated for the same printer.
A technique of determining which connection I/F and communication protocol should be used to establish connection from a host computer to a printer is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-280572. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-280572, if a plurality of connection paths exist for a network supporting printer having a plurality of connection interface unit connected to a network, the fastest connection I/F and communication protocol are selected.
There exist connection I/Fs and communication protocols which support so-called bidirectional communication so as to not only write data in a printer but also acquire information from the printer and those which can only write data in a printer but cannot acquire information from the printer.
If a printer supports a plurality of connection I/Fs and communication protocols, the host computer detects printers for all connection I/Fs and communication protocols it supports. At the time of printer registration, the operator selects a printer to be registered in the host computer from the displayed printer list to generate a print queue.
For example, assume that a printer supports both a communication protocol A of OS standard and a communication protocol B unique to the printer vendor as the communication protocol of the network I/F. If the operator is going to register the printer connected to a network, both the printer using the communication protocol A and that using the communication protocol B are displayed in the registrable printer list. In this case, the operator may be unable to determine which communication protocol should be used to generate a print queue. Alternatively, the OS may display the registrable printer list that only includes the printer using the communication protocol A of OS standard by default, and the printer using the communication protocol B unique to the printer vendor may be excluded from the default list. In that case, the print queue using the communication protocol unique to the printer vendor is hard to generate.
If a print queue using a communication protocol incapable of bidirectional communication is generated in accordance with the selection of the operator, the print queue cannot provide a printer driver function that needs bidirectional communication.
For example, since the printer driver and the printing system cannot acquire the remaining ink amount information of the printer main body, information of the remaining ink amount or ink running out cannot be displayed on the host computer to notify the operator of it. In addition, when paper has run out during printing, the paper-out error cannot be displayed on the host computer to notify the operator of it.
When printing a CD label or the like, the operator needs to, for example, insert the CD tray at an appropriate timing. Hence, the printer driver displays an operation instruction corresponding to each state on the host computer while monitoring the change in the printer state using bidirectional communication.
However, if bidirectional communication is impossible, the printer driver cannot detect the change in the printer state and therefore cannot display an operation instruction corresponding to current printer information on the display unit of the host computer. For this reason, the operator cannot know the appropriate timing to set the tray with the CD placed thereon. As described above, the print queue incapable of bidirectional communication lowers the operability because the printer state cannot be acquired.

Information processing apparatus, control method and recording medium


The anatomical isotonic sock and method for knitting the sock provide enhanced protection and cushioning comfort to the foot of the wearer and is form-fitting and remains so after prolonged periods of use and numerous launderings. The sock has a knit foot and includes a relatively thick density of terry loops formed of at least three terry yarns in the ball and heel portions of the foot for supplementing and protecting the fatty pads so as to provide a therapeutic and preventative benefit to the foot of the wearer. A relatively thin density of terry loops formed of at least one terry yarn is knit in an arch portion and an instep portion of the foot and an intermediate density of terry loops formed of two terry yarns is knit in a toe portion. A stretchable body yarn is knit throughout the foot and cooperates with the terry loop yarn so as to maintain the terry loops in a substantially upstanding position thereby enhancing the cushioning characteristics of the terry loops in the sock over prolonged periods of use and numerous launderings.

Various proposed sock constructions disclose terry loops knit in portions of the foot of the sock to enhance cushioning, manage moisture, enhance blood circulation, and increase fabric density, particularly in the ball and heel portions thereof. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,144,563 by Davis entitled "Stocking" discloses a sock in which single terry loops are positioned beneath the foot. In the commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,249 by Thorneburg entitled "Jogging And Running Athletic Sock", the sock has double raised terry loops positioned in the heel and ball portions, and a single raised terry loop cushion in the arch. The commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,851 by Thorneburg entitled "Boot Sock", discloses a sock having double raised terry loops in the heel portion wherein single terry yarn is removed and cut at opposite sides of the heel portion.
Although the foregoing sock constructions disclose various socks with single and double raised terry loop construction, continued use of the sock and frequent launderings sometimes cause elongation of the sock and flattening of the terry loops so that the loops do not remain in an upstanding position substantially perpendicular to the body yarn of the sock. As a result, the density of the double raised terry loops is reduced, moisture control in the sock is minimized, greater shear forces are exerted between the wearer's foot and the sock, and the isotonic effect provided by enhanced cushioning pads is lessened. Thus, a wearer suffers because the sock cannot efficiently absorb impact, cannot effectively draw moisture away from the foot, and cannot effectively reduce the chance of foot ulcerations.

Anatomical isotonic sock and method of knitting the same


An improved urinary device for use by male incontinent persons of the type in which a collector bag is supported upon the leg of the user. In lieu of the conventional leg-engaging straps, the collector bag is supported in a pocket on the outer surface of the leg member of an undergarment. The undergarment is made of highly resilient material including a lycra spandex component. The pocket is formed of relatively non-stretchable woven material and includes a rear wall extending from the waistband of the undergarment to a point below the lower edge of the pant leg, and a front wall approximately half the length of the rear wall and congruent with the lower half of the rear wall. A laminar type collector bag is carried within the pocket which has a lower opening for drainage. The rear wall of the pocket is stitched at the entire upper edge and side edges thereof to the undergarment to distribute the weight of a filled bag over a substantial area of the undergarment. This construction thus eliminates the concentration of the weight on the exposed leg of the wearer caused by leg engaging straps at the upper and lower part of the bag, which straps are eliminated.

This invention relates generally to the field of male urinary appliances used by incontinent persons, and more particularly to an improved device for mounting a known-urine collecting bag upon the front surface of the thigh in an inconspicuous manner such that it can be periodically drained without disconnection from the patient. Devices of this general type are known in the art, and the invention lies in specific constructional details which permit improved comfort on the part of the user, as well as increased convenience in use.
At the present state of the art, there is a marked preference for a disposable bag formed from heat-sealed synthetic resinous material, such as polyethylene and the like, which can be used during the course of the working day, emptied periodically, and disposed of after a relatively short period of time without the necessity of restoring the same to sanitary condition. Such bags are fitted with a check valve at the upper edge thereof, and a drain tube at the lower edge which may be opened without disengaging the bag from the user.
The principal disadvantage of this type of construction is that it requires mounting means on the leg of the wearer in the form of upper and lower straps which are not only uncomfortable, but tend to inhibit circulation when the device is worn over a period of time. While the prior art has dealt with this problem to some degree, older constructions require the use of a specialized container which is not readily commercially available, and which is somewhat difficult to use.


The invention encompasses aripiprazole crystalline forms, methods of preparing the same, and pharmaceutical compositions having aripiprazole crystalline forms.

Schizophrenia is the most common type of psychosis caused by excessive neurotransmission activity of the dopaminergic nervous system in the central nervous system. A number of drugs which block the neurotransmission of dopaminergic receptor in the central nervous system have been developed for use in treating schizophrenia. Among the drugs developed are phenothiazine-type compounds such as chlorpromazine, butyrophenone-type compounds such as haloperidol, and benzamide-type compounds such as sulpiride. These drugs improve so-called positive symptoms in the acute period of schizophrenia such as hallucinations, delusions, and excitations. Many drugs for treating schizophrenia, however, are not effective for improving the so-called negative symptoms which are observed in the chronic period of schizophrenia such as apathy, emotional depression, and hypopsychosis. The drugs currently used produce undesirable side effects such as akathisia, dystonia, Parkinsonism dyskinesia, and late dyskinesia, by blocking the neurotransmission of dopaminergic receptor in the striate body. Drugs that improve both the negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia but diminish the undesirable side effect of schizophrenia are particularly desirable.
Aripiprazole is a pyschotropic drug that exhibits high affinity for dopamine D2 and D3, serotonin 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors; moderate affinity for dopamine D4, serotonin 5-HT2C and 5-HT7, α1-adrenergic and histamine H1 receptors; and moderate affinity for the serotonin reuptake site. Aripiprazole has no appreciable affinity for cholinergic muscarinic receptors. The mechanism of action of aripiprazole, as with other drugs having efficacy in schizophrenia, is unknown. It has been proposed, however, that the efficacy of aripiprazole is mediated through a combination of partial agonist activity at D2 and 5-HT1A receptors and antagonist activity at 5-HT2A receptors.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 02-191256 discloses that anhydride crystals of aripiprazole are typically manufactured by recrystallization of anhydride aripiprazole from ethanol or by heating aripiprazole hydrate at a temperature of 80° C. According to WO 03/26659, anhydride aripiprazole prepared by these methods is significantly hygroscopic.
The Proceedings of the 4th Japanese-Korean Symposium on Separation Technology (Oct. 6-8, 1996) disclosed that aripiprazole anhydride crystals may exist as Type-I and Type-II crystals. Type-I aripiprazole crystals can be prepared by recrystallizing aripiprazole from an ethanol solution or by heating aripiprazole hydrate at 80° C. Type-II aripiprazole crystals can be prepared by heating the Type-I crystals at 130° C. to 140° C. for 15 hours. This process is not easily applied to an industrial scale preparation of anhydride aripiprazole.
PCT publication WO 03/26659 discloses the preparation of anhydrous aripiprazole Type I and crystalline forms Form A, B, C, and D. Typically, the process for preparing the crystalline forms comprises heating crystalline anhydrous aripiprazole. The process, however, is cumbersome because it requires crystalline anhydrous aripiprazole as the starting material. The process in the PCT publication can only be carried out after the preparation, isolation, and purification of aripiprazole. Thus, only after performing the additional steps may one heat the crystalline anhydrous aripiprazole to obtain the desired crystalline forms of aripiprazole. Additionally, drying or heating may affect the distribution of crystalline forms and/or crystalline purity, if drying causes crystalline transformation from one crystalline form to another.
Alternate crystalline structures possessing the stability and manufacturing advantages of anhydrous aripiprazole are highly desired. Likewise, methods for making aripiprazole without additional steps and cost also are necessary.

Methods of preparing aripiprazole crystalline forms


A seal rubber 3 is placed in a first peripheral groove 2 formed in one main surface 1A of an approximately flat-plate-shaped metal body 1. A second peripheral groove 4 and multiple communicating holes 5 to communicate between the second peripheral groove 4 and the first peripheral groove 2 are formed in the other main surface 1B of the metal body 1. A retaining rubber 6 disposed in the second peripheral groove 4, the seal rubber 3, and a bridge rubber 7 disposed in the communicating hole 5 are integrated. The first peripheral groove 2 is made to be a dovetail groove, the second peripheral groove 4 is made to have an inner surface inclined to reduce the groove width from a groove opening side to a groove bottom surface side, and the groove width D4-2 of the groove bottom surface and the inner diameter D3 of the communicating hole 5 are made to be substantially the same. As a result, release or breakage of the seal rubber does not occur during opening or closing of the two members, stable seal performance is achieved, and even when a large seal is to be made, the seal rubber can be attached easily.

Conventionally, seals having a structure wherein an O-ring, which is a seal rubber, is mounted in a dovetail groove formed on a valve element are known for seal structures of chamber gate parts of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, liquid crystal manufacturing equipment and the like, namely, an open-close part (valve element and valve seat) of a chamber. This aims at preventing the O-ring from becoming loose or falling from the dovetail groove when a valve element and a valve seat are opened and a seal rubber (O-ring) is exposed, and preventing the O-ring from occupying an inappropriate position or place when the lid and the like are closed again (e.g., JP-A-2003-14126).
In recent years, however, along with the scaling up of liquid crystal panels, semiconductor wafers and the like, these kinds of seals have been also scaled up, and placing of seal rubbers in the dovetail grooves has become complicated. In addition, when the valve element and the valve seat are closed for a long time, the seal lip (protruding part of the tip) of the seal rubber is agglutinated with the matching valve seat, which problematically causes falling from the seal rubber from the dovetail groove upon opening.
The present inventor previously proposed a seal structure wherein a seal rubber is placed in a peripheral groove formed in the main surface of a metal body (JP-A-2-253063). This seal has a structure as shown in FIG. 7-FIG. 9, wherein a peripheral groove 11 having an approximately rectangular cross sectional shape is formed in one surface of a ring retainer (metal body) 10 having an approximately rectangular sectional shape, a seal rubber 12 is placed in the peripheral groove 11, counterbores 14 are formed at plural positions on the opposite surface 17, communicating holes 13 communicating each counterbore 14 and the peripheral groove 11 are formed, a retaining rubber 15 is set in each counterbore 14, and each retaining rubber 15 and seal rubber 12 are integrated by a bridge rubber 16 placed in the communicating hole 13, whereby the seal rubber 12 is fixed in the peripheral groove 11. This seal is used as a gasket, rather than being set on one side of two members capable of an open-close movement like the above-mentioned gate seal, and by physically pressing the seal against the matching member, leakage of the object liquid to be sealed is prevented.
The present inventor considered that the seal described in the aforementioned reference (JP-A-2-253063) had a structure that did not permit easy removal of the seal rubber from the groove of the metal body, and therefore, it could be applicable to a gate seal and tried the application. However, when the valve element and the valve seat in the gate seal were closed for a long time, and the seal lip (protruding part of the tip) of the seal rubber was agglutinated with the matching valve seat, a bridge rubber communicating the seal rubber and the retaining rubber problematically got broken upon opening, as mentioned above.
In view of the above-mentioned situation, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a seal which is attached to one member of combinedly openable-closable two members and hermetically seals the gap between the two members by a seal rubber thereof to be pressed to the other member when the two members are closed, wherein, even when the seal rubber is agglutinated with the matching member (the other member), the seal rubber is not removed from the dovetail groove and does not get broken by the opening motion, but can be separated from the matching member, stable seal performance can be obtained for a long time, and even when a large seal is to be formed, a seal rubber can be easily placed in a dovetail groove, particularly, to provide a seal preferable as a gate seal for a chamber gate of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, liquid crystal manufacturing equipment and the like.


A microscope includes: a light source configured to generate light for irradiating a specimen; a microscope main body which supports the light source and on which an accommodation unit that accommodates the specimen is placed; a plurality of optical units, each of which is detachably installed in the microscope main body, configured to arranged on an optical path of the light, and configured to change optical characteristics of the light incident thereon; an operation input unit that includes a plurality of input units configured to respectively receive inputs of drive signals for driving optical units to be controlled among the plurality of optical units; and a control unit configured to allocate optical units to be respectively driven with the drive signals by the plurality of input units according to the plurality of optical units installed in the microscope main body.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to microscope technology for observing a specimen placed on a stage, and particularly to a microscope suitable for micro insemination.
2. Related Art
In recent years, micro insemination in the field of advanced reproductive medicine has been known as one use of microscopes. Micro insemination is a method of fertilizing an egg with a sperm under a microscope and is generally performed by an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (hereinafter, referred to as "ICSI") method of piercing the egg fixed by a holding pipette with a sperm-containing micropipette to inject the sperm into the egg. In this ICSI, since a specimen is manipulated on a stage, an inverted microscope having a large working space above the stage is generally used.
Further, in the field of micro insemination, in order to improve egg fertilization rates, relief contrast microscopy (hereinafter, referred to as "RC microscopy") that allows stereoscopic observation of egg, differential interference contrast microscopy (hereinafter, referred to as "DIC microscopy") that is suitable for observation of sperms, and polarized light microscopy (hereafter, referred to as "PO microscopy") that allows observation of spindles of egg are known (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 51-29149).
Further, recently, a microscope, which is configured of a plurality of electrically driven units including an electrically driven focusing unit, an electrically driven optical element changeover unit, and the like, is known as such a microscope (see, for example, International Patent Publication No. WO 1996/18924). In this technique, functions of receiving inputs of instruction signals for driving the electrically driven units are respectively allocated to a plurality of buttons provided in an operating unit.


A make-up case configured to hold a variety of cosmetic items is disclosed. The make-up case comprises a plurality of internal compartments for the storage of various predetermined cosmetic items such as for example a full size lipstick, an eye liner pencil, a lip liner pencil, a pencil sharpener, etc. In addition, a pair of cosmetic cover assemblies are provided which accept a replaceable tray of cosmetic material such as face powder, blush and eyeliner make-up.

This invention relates to make-up cases for housing various cosmetics and more specifically relates to a multi-compartment make-up case that has provisions to hold a pair of replaceable and interchangeable cosmetic trays, a full size lip stick, a lip liner pencil, an eye liner pencil, a pencil sharpener, and a pair of battery powered lighted mirrors.
The majority of the make-up cases available in the market today are of single-layered structure in which the cosmetic items it holds are limited. Most of the cosmetic items have to be placed in other places, causing an inconvenience to search for them when they are needed. Although multi-layered cosmetic cases are available today, their capacities to hold the cosmetic items are still limited. Items such as lipstick, eye liner, eye shadow applicator, mascaras and brow brush have to be placed in a different case. Generally, most of the makeup items are placed into one case, making it hard to identify and pick out one of the particular items. It is also messy to put all the makeup items into a single case.
Examples of patented devices which may be related to the present invention include U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,971 to Chiang-Cheng; U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,286 to Gueret; U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,220 to Byun; U.S. Pat. Application No. 20040129599 to Yi-Hung; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,195 to Sussman.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, there is still a need for a lightweight, easy to use make-up case that provides a means to carry a multitude of cosmetics. Prior art make-up cases are bulky, complex and difficult to effectively utilize by the consumer.


A method of preparing a boneless ham substitute from whole fish comprises the steps of filleting a red or pink fleshed fish, preferably a chum or pink salmon, followed by removing the fat layer from the fillets and deboning, and before mixing the fillets in a mixer having blades or vacuum tumbling that breaks up the whole fish muscle, a mixture of ingredients are successively added and thoroughly mixed with the fish, including salt, a premix cure consisting of nitrite and salt, and brown sugar or an equivalent thereof. The thoroughly mixed batch is placed in a stuffing machine and preferably bagged into an edible collagen film, fibrous or plastic casing in predetermined amounts before being netted and subjected to natural smoking and cooking. The resulting products have the flavor, aroma, consistency and texture of ham.

As used in this specification, the term boneless "ham" or "ham product" refers to a pork product which has been cured by salting and smoking.
Ham and ham products are enjoyed by countless millions. Unfortunately, such pork products are relatively high in cholesterol and caloric content and therefore considered unhealthy for consumption by certain individuals having weight and/or heart disease related problems.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a boneless ham substitute having the same or substantially the same texture, flavor, aroma and consistency of ham or ham products but made from fish.
Another object of this invention is to provide a boneless ham substitute made from a red or pink fleshed fish.
Another object is to utilize a fish which constitutes an economically raw material such that its incorporation into a boneless ham substitute would add economic value to the fish.

Boneless ham substitutes made from whole fish fillets


Diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices and methods that include an elongate shaft, a balloon, a plurality of electrodes carried by the balloon, and electronics to electrically connect the electrodes to a proximal end of the shaft. The devices can include a visualization system within the balloon.

Therapeutic and/or diagnostic medical devices having one or more electrodes have been described. For example without limitation, catheters with electrodes carried by one or more expandable or deformable members have been described. Depending on the design and use, some previously described medical device with one or more electrodes may have some deficiencies or drawbacks. The disclosure herein describes examples of devices and methods of use that provide some advantages to those previously described.


A spring plate, especially for a MacPherson strut unit, having an axial support surface for the final turn of a helical spring. The helical spring is centered by radial centering surfaces in the area of the circumferential contour of the final turn. The centering surface is divided into individual, partial centering surfaces, which come to rest against the circumferential contour of the helical spring.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a spring plate for a strut unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
DE 42 03 658 C2 describes a spring plate especially for a MacPherson strut unit. This spring plate has a profile which accommodates the final turn of a helical spring and thus centers the spring radially and prevents it from rotating. The spring plate has an out-of-round circumferential area, against which the helical spring is radially supported. As can be seen in FIG. 4 of DE 42 03 658 C2, almost the entire inside diameter of the final turn of the helical spring rests against the spring plate.
This 3-dimensional design of a spring plate is highly favorable in theory, because the force of the helical spring is supported over a large area. In addition, because of the out-of-round profile of the contact surface for the spring, an anti-rotation function can also be provided. The problem, however, is that the dimensions of the final turn of a spring cannot be kept within the necessary tolerances without increasing manufacturing costs to an unacceptable level, which means that the combination of a helical spring with the spring plate described in the state of the art is very difficult to realize.
When the helical spring does not rest optimally on the spring plate, strong stresses develop in the spring plate. Under certain conditions, these elevated stresses might be absorbed by the use of materials with appropriate load-bearing capacities. Another major problem is the noise which is produced when the helical spring changes its length as a result of its elastic movement. The noise problem can be solved in many cases by the use of a shim of plastic between the helical spring and the spring plate. This solution, however, does not eliminate the cause of the noise, only the effects. In older vehicles, the shim can also wear out, so that the noise then becomes clearly audible again.


The present invention provides a water treatment system, such as a water softener, with a resin tank having a top distributor with a preliminary screen and second screen. The preliminary screen provides added protection by reducing the chance of larger particles from entering the various valves and screens. Prior to the regeneration cycle, an additional back wash and fast rinse cycle are added to rinse sediment to the drain and to clean the preliminary screen.

Domestic water softeners remove hardness from raw water by passing it through a tank containing a liquid treatment medium bed, typically formed of resin beads. A salt solution, that is brine, is passed through the resin bed to restore its softening capacity. The brine is formed in a container which is connected by a liquid flow passage to the tank containing the resin beads. The flow of liquid through the liquid flow passage is regulated by a control valve which is actuated by an electronic regeneration control circuit.
Salt, typically in the form of chunks or pellets, is placed in the container. Under the control of the electronic regeneration control circuit, the control valve allows a predetermined amount of water to enter the container. Provided enough salt is present, the water and salt form a saturated salt solution, or brine, which is the regenerant for the resin bed. Again, under the control of the electronic regeneration control circuit, the control valve is actuated to cause the brine to be withdrawn from the container and circulated through, and thereby regenerate, the resin in the tank.
The flow control valve for such apparatus must accurately control the volume and velocity of liquid flowing through the resin particles in the treatment tank and in the brining system during each of four or more cycles. The regeneration cycle preferably includes the following steps: (1) fill; (2) brine draw; (3) slow rinse; (4) backwash; and (5) fast rinse.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,136,032, 5,162,080 and 6,696,963 are directed to water treatment systems and are incorporated herein by reference. The patents disclose water treatment systems and water softeners. The prior art includes water softeners wherein the resin tank is located adjacent the salt storage or brine tank, and water softeners wherein the resin tank is located in the brine tank.
The prior art includes a top distributor located in the resin tank. While the water softener is in service, hard water enters the resin tank via the control valve and the top distributor. Any particulates or contaminants located in the hard water will ideally be trapped within the lower recess of the top distributor. The lower recess is often in an area between two walls having a spaced apart relation which narrows in the direction downward and towards the lower recess.

Apparatus and method of water treatment with preliminary screen


An integrated circuit (IC) includes a first kernel circuit implemented in programmable circuitry, a second kernel circuit implemented in programmable circuitry, and a stream traffic manager circuit coupled to the first kernel circuit and the second kernel circuit. The stream traffic manager circuit is configured to control data streams exchanged between the first kernel circuit and the second kernel circuit.

Hardware acceleration refers to implementing the functionality of a portion of program code in hardware or circuitry. The hardware accelerated program code is functionally equivalent to the original program code. Instead of executing a compiled version of the program code such as an executable binary using a processor, the program code is implemented as circuitry configured to provide the same functionality as the executable binary. The hardware accelerated version of the program code usually provides improved performance compared to executing the program code using some sort of processor. In some cases, the program code is compiled into a circuit design that is implemented within a programmable IC.

Streaming platform architecture for inter-kernel circuit communication for an integrated circuit


A vibration applying apparatus includes a bone conduction speaker, a pedestal to which the bone conduction speaker is fixed, and supporting units on which a stringed instrument is placed, and is designed to transmit natural vibrations emanating from the bone conduction speaker to one of the supporting units via the pedestal.

Aging devices for musical instruments made of wood have been known. For example, one of such devices is designed so that, in a structure that defines a box-shaped storage space and has a surrounding composite wall formed by sandwiching a thermal insulation filling material that has humidity buffering and sound insulation and absorption and that is cellulose insulation made from fiber and granular material or materials having equivalent properties thereto with air contained therein between an inner wall material having moisture permeability and a sound absorption coefficient that does not emphasize standing waves dependent on internal dimensions and an outer wall material that is a wood-based material with waterproof breathability and sound insulation or another material having equivalent properties thereto, and an openable and closeable door made of a wall material having equivalent properties to the composite wall, this device has a heater that keeps the temperature of the interior space higher than the outside, and plays music using an acoustic apparatus in the interior space to apply acoustic excitation while a wooden musical instrument, an object or product made of a natural plant or animal material, or the like is placed in the interior space.
Please see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-22546.
Historical Overview of Violins
It is a well-known fact that many violins and other stringed musical instruments made in Cremona, in the north of Italy, from the second half of the 17th century through the 18th century have been played by successive virtuosos and are still capturing the ears and hearts of modern people without fading away over more than 300 years. Specifically, violins made by Stradivari are called Stradivarius, and violins made by Guarneri are called Guarneri del Gesu. It is said that more exquisite instruments than the violins made by these two people would never, ever appear. Although Stradivari made about 2000 violins in his life, about 600 violins currently exist, and among them, about a hundred and several tens of violins are actually used in concerts. Then, how about the other four hundred and several tens of violins? They are exhibited in world-famous museums and memorial halls, kept in safes of public facilities, and owned as collections by the rich.
However, many instrumentalists reminisce that it took many years to tune violins that had been stored without being played at all for several hundred years, to sound as great as the original one. In view of this, nobody can say for certain that no problem would occur if exquisite instruments like Stradivarius and Guarneri del Gesu are stored only under controlled temperature and humidity.
Characteristic Structures of Violins
Many books about violins say "the violin is a musical instrument closest to the human voice" in common. The body of the violin is called a resonator and produces a unique resonance frequency through the f-hole in the front plate. With respect to full handmade violins, it is very difficult (impossible actually) to create exactly the same resonators. It means that, not only violins but also stringed instruments each have different characteristic sounds. The most unique structure of violins is a sound post, which is a pine pole of about 6 mm in diameter, between the front and back plates. The sound post has a function of amplifying vibrations of the front and back plates although it is not fixed using an adhesive agent. It is also known that a subtle difference in the location of the sound post totally differentiates sounds and vibrancy. The ideal location of the sound post in a violin is to be determined by the experiences of both a violin maker and an excellent violin player. Each component including a thin long strip called a bass bar, which is fitted to the back side of the front plate, and the front and back plates curved in arch shape does not have a complicated structure, but these components are so designed as to produce the best resonance, once assembled into a musical instrument like a violin.
Characteristics of Violins as Musical Instruments
A book, "Truth and Untruth of Stradivarius, SEKAIBUNKA PUBLISHING INC." written by Muneyuki Nakazawa, a world renowned violin repair technician, says that "a violin composed of about 55 components is a creature made of materials most of which are organic," on pages 56 to 57. Not only violin makers feel violins as creatures, but also many instrumentalists who play exquisite instruments for the first time feel such admiration unanimously. That is, it is not too much to say that violins, which are said to be exquisite instruments, are able to fulfill their lives as creatures by being played by virtuosos. However, looking around the world, hundreds of exquisite violins are just stored under controlled temperature and humidity in dark cases like coffins, as if they are almost dead. Therefore, there are in fact many instrumentalists who recall that if such a violin is lucky to be given to a virtuoso tens or hundreds years later, it would take a considerable amount of time for the exquisite instrument to get back the same sounds as when it was made.


The pyramidal tackle box apparatus provides a square base with hinged folding triangular panels secured thereto. All side panels can be selectively opened to provide a fully flattened apparatus as desired, thereby allowing full access to any item stored within or without. All triangular panels feature a magnetic coating on panel interiors. At least two of the panels provide external magnetic coating. Any metallic object is thereby positionable and retained. Two opposing panels are coated with a textile. One textile coated panel features a plurality of horizontal pockets for item storage. The opposing textile panel features removable pockets for object retention and transport. The base panel provides upwardly extended pegs for fishing line spools, with orifices in two of the triangular panels for fishing line exit. The internal cover removably fits atop the pegs, thereby providing an interior shelf for use as desired.

Tackle boxes are typically considered a necessity for fishermen. Fishing line, weights, tackle, pliers, knives, and a host of other items are typically contained within. Most tackle boxes are comprised of a hinged lid with a plurality of trays within the box, sometimes in multiple tiers. Most fishermen are faced with the fact that keeping hooks, lures, and other items effectively separated is impossible. Fishing line gets tangled. Lures catch on each other. Hooks and treble hooks can become very difficult to separate, especially without hooking oneself. Further, accessibility is hampered by typical box designs, with multiple hinged trays, lift out trays, and the plurality of fishing tackles contained therein, all further contributing to the above listed problems and more. The present apparatus provides a uniquely designed solution to these problems in a lightweight, easily transported package.


A fault-handling system for a 2-phase motor. When an electric motor is used for power assist in a steering system in a vehicle, malfunctions can cause loss of assist, and detectable vibration. The invention utilizes a 2-phase motor in such an application, and implements alternate modes of operation when certain malfunctions occur, thereby maintaining the assist function in situations wherein the function would otherwise be lost or reduced.

Modern electric motors, while extremely reliable, are nevertheless not perfect. They can experience malfunctions, particularly after they have been in service for extended periods of time, and especially if they have experienced abusive operation.
When an electric motor is used in a power steering system in a vehicle, a malfunction can cause loss of the power assist which the motor otherwise provides. The invention provides approaches to detecting malfunctions, and taking corrective action.

Fault-handling system for electric power steering system


Disclosed are a system, a method, and article of manufacture to configure information storage and retrieval systems. A configuration loader receives configuration commands from a configuration loader user interface. Upon receipt of configuration commands, the configuration loader transfers storage controller configurations from information storage and retrieval system configuration sources to target information storage and retrieval systems. Threading technology is used to apply a thread manager for managing threads to accomplish the configuration transfers. Multiple physical and/or logical configurations may be transferred simultaneously using the threading technology.

Data storage and retrieval systems are used to store information provided by one or more host computer systems. Such data storage and retrieval systems receive requests to write information to one or more secondary storage devices, and requests to retrieve information from those one or more secondary storage devices. Upon receipt of a write request, the system stores information received from a host computer in a data cache. In certain implementations, a copy of that information is also stored in a nonvolatile storage device. Upon receipt of a read request, the system recalls information from the one or more secondary storage devices and moves that information to the data cache. Thus, the system is continuously moving information to and from storage devices, and to and from the data cache.
In certain data processing applications, data is copied to multiple individual information storage and retrievals systems. Such copy service applications include, for example, peer-to-peer remote copy operations. In such applications, data is copied from an information storage and retrieval system source to a target information storage and retrieval system. Some of these copy service applications require both the source and target information storage and retrieval systems to have identical physical and logical configurations. In other data processing applications, it is advantageous to configure the source and target information storage and retrieval systems to be physically and logically similar to facilitate efficient transfer of data. Transferring configurations from a source to a target to accomplish the configuration of the target is often used to produce a target that is compatible with the source. Often a large number of logical objects must be configured at the target, resulting in a time consuming configuration process.
What is needed is an apparatus and method to quickly and efficiently configure the physical and/or logical configuration of a target information storage and retrieval system to be equivalent to an information storage and retrieval system source.

International Business Machines Corporation


An input/output register programming system that uses a set transmission value. The input/output register programming system includes an address decoder, a transmission setting register, a partitioning device, an internal address generator and a transmission space. The address decoder decodes the write address to determine the type of input command. If the input command is a transmission setting register write command, the input data is written down to be used as a set transmission value. The set transmission value determines the target region address of the input command. If the input command is an input/output register write command, the target region address is output. The partitioning device divides the input data into a secondary address and stored data. The internal address generator combines the secondary address with the target region address to produce an internal address. The stored data are transmitted to the registers specified by the internal address.

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 89107992, filed Apr. 27, 2000.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an input/output register programming system and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an input/output register programming system and method that use a set transmission value.
2. Description of Related Art
In most data input/output methods, data reading and writing is achieved through a corresponding input/output register. In fact, most inputs or outputs are carried out in a direct addressing mode. In other words, a fixed address is assigned to all input/output registers so that input/output operations are facilitated. However, when programming a group of input/output registers, the addresses of this group of input/output registers are not serially related to each other. When a non-contiguous register address is encountered during programming, a signal handshaking cycle must be executed. Hence, a lot of time is wasted in handling signal handshaking cycles when addresses of the registers are non-contiguous.
In executing multimedia function calls, since many programming parameters are needed, a large number of registers must be used. Because time needed to process these handshaking signals is correspondingly large, efficiency of multimedia function calls is likely to drop.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a first input/output register programming system that uses a set transmission value. The first input/output register programming system can be applied to any system that uses a write address and an input command for inputting data and a plurality of input/output registers. The first input/output register programming system includes an address decoder, a transmission setting register, a partitioning device, an internal address generator and a transmission space. The address decoder decodes write address to determine if the input command is an input/output register write command or a transmission setting register write command. According to whether the input command is an input/output register write command or a transmission setting register write command, an input/output register write enable signal or a transmission setting register write enable signal is issued. Input data written into the transmission setting register are to become set transmission values when the transmission setting register write enable signal is true. The set transmission value is used for representing the target region address of input command. When the transmission setting register write enable signal is false, the target region address represented by the set transmission value is output. Furthermore, the partitioning device divides the input data into a secondary address and stored data when the transmission setting register write enable signal is false. The internal address generator combines the secondary address and the target region address to produce an internal address. The input/output registers specified by the internal address inside the transmission space are used for storing the stored data.
The invention also provides a second input/output register programming system that uses set transmission values. The second input/output register programming system can be applied to any system that uses a write address and an input command for inputting data and a plurality of input/output registers. The second input/output register programming system includes an address decoder, a transmission setting register, a partitioning device, an internal address generator and a transmission space. The address decoder decodes write address to determine if the input command is an input/output register write command or a transmission setting register write command. Input data is written into the transmission setting register to become a set transmission value when the input command is the transmission setting register write command. The set transmission value is used to determine the target region address of the input command. The target region address represented by the set transmission value is output when the input command is an input/output register write command. Furthermore, the partitioning device divides the input data into a secondary address and stored data. The internal address generator combines the secondary address and the target region address to produce an internal address. The input/output registers specified by the internal address inside the transmission space are used for storing the stored data.
The invention also provides a third input/output register programming system that uses a set transmission value. The third input/output register programming system can be applied to any system that uses a write address and an input command for inputting data and a plurality of input/output registers. The input data includes a secondary address and stored data. The third input/output register programming system includes a transmission setting register, a partitioning device, an internal address generator and a transmission space. The transmission setting register stores a set transmission value for setting the target region address of an input command and is also capable of outputting the target region address. The partitioning device divides the input data into a secondary address and stored data. The internal address generator combines the secondary address and the target region address to produce an internal address. The input/output registers specified by the internal address inside the transmission space are used for storing the stored data.
This invention also provides an input/output register programming method that uses a set transmission value. First, a write address and an input command for inputting data are provided. The input data include a secondary address and stored data. By decoding the write address, whether the input command is an input/output register write command or a transmission setting register write command can be determined. The input data is stored as a set transmission value when the input command is a transmission setting register write command. The target region address represented by the set transmission value is output when the input command is an input/output register write command. The secondary address and the output target region address are combined to produce an internal address. Finally, the stored data are written into the internal address.
This invention also provides an input/output register programming method that uses a set transmission value. First, an input command for inputting data and a target region address is provided. The input data include a secondary address and stored data. By combining the secondary data and the target region address, an internal address is produced. Finally, the stored data are written into the internal address.
In brief, this invention uses a set transmission value and input command that includes a secondary address to produce an internal address. Through address exchange and the setting of transmission values, data in registers having non-contiguous addresses can be accessed as data in registers having contiguous addresses. Therefore, some handshaking cycles between registers are eliminated leading to a faster operating speed for the control system.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Input/output register programming system and method


A carrier shape measurement device includes: a stage which supports a carrier which is to be a subject of measurement; and a measurement section which measures a shape of the carrier, and the stage comprises kinematic coupling pins to support the carrier by a kinematic coupling.

The disclosure of the following priority application is herein incorporated by reference:
Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-155496, filed May 25, 2000.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shape measurement device for an article whose shape is required to be accurate, and in particular relates to a shape measurement device intended for the measurement of a carrier which is used upon a semiconductor device production line for transporting a set of several semiconductor wafers all together.
2. Description of the Related Art
Upon a production line for semiconductor devices, in order to transport a semiconductor wafer between devices which perform film deposition, processing or the like, there has been employed a per se known method of transporting the semiconductor wafers by collecting together several at one time in a receptacle termed a xe2x80x9ccarrierxe2x80x9d. Generally, this type of carrier is formed with a number of slots being provided upon its inner walls on both its sides at predetermined intervals, and is made so as to hold a plurality of semiconductor wafers in a horizontally superimposed state with predetermined intervals between them, by supporting both the sides of the semiconductor wafers by these grooves.
When a semiconductor wafer is to be taken out from the carrier after it has been transported and is to be inserted into a device which performs a process like film deposition, processing or the like, a so called xe2x80x9crobot armxe2x80x9d device inserts the end of an arm, which is formed in a thin plate shape, between two adjacent semiconductor wafers in the carrier. Then the end of the robot arm performs the operation of pulling a single semiconductor wafer out forwards towards itself along the grooves while lifting it up by its under surface.
At this time there is a danger that, if the space between one semiconductor wafer and the adjacent one supported in the carrier deviates from its design value by more than its permitted value, the end of the robot arm may touch against the upper surface of the adjacent semiconductor wafer. Since film deposition, processing or the like has been performed upon the upper surfaces of the semiconductor wafers by the previous processes up until this point, it is not desirable for the end of the robot arm to come into contact with any upper wafer surface, because damage or contamination may result. Furthermore, if the heights at which the semiconductor wafers are supported in the carrier deviate from the design values, apart from the possibility that the robot arm may touch the upper surface of some semiconductor wafer, there is a danger that one semiconductor wafer may be damaged by collision with the front edge of the semiconductor wafer. Yet further, if one of the semiconductor wafers is tilted, the end of the robot arm may not be able properly to lift up this semiconductor wafer. Due to these problems, it is extremely important for the heights at which the semiconductor wafers are supported in the carrier, the spaces between the semiconductor wafers, and the inclinations of the semiconductor wafers, all to be constrained to be within their permitted ranges around their design values.
For this reason, a shape measurement operation is performed at the time of shipping of the carrier from the carrier manufacturer and/or at the time of receipt of the carrier by the semiconductor device maker, in order to determine whether or not the shape of the carrier accords with its design values. Further, it may happen that the carrier becomes deformed during use, since cleansing processes and the like upon a semiconductor device production line are performed at high temperatures. Due to this, a measurement operation may be performed by the semiconductor device maker while the carrier is partway along the production line, in order to check whether or not its shape accords with its design values.
There is a per se known prior art carrier shape measurement device which measures the shape of a so called open carrier in which apertures are formed both in its front surface and also in its rear surface. With this structure, this open carrier is illuminated from its rear, and images are formed by a CCD camera or the like of the external shape of the carrier and the shapes of the grooves from the front, and the process of shape measurement is performed by processing these images.
However, since the grooves in the carrier are formed upon both the sides thereof, even if the shapes of these grooves are measured, it has been difficult accurately to derive from these values the spaces between the central portions of the wafers which are supported in these grooves, and their heights and inclinations. In particular, with a carrier shape measurement device according to this prior art, since the images which are used are formed from the front side of the carrier, therefore information cannot be obtained as to what the shapes of the grooves may be, further in the direction into the grooves than the depth of focus of the CCD camera. Because of this, even though the spaces between the wafers which are supported in these grooves, and their heights and inclinations, can be derived with accuracies on the order of millimeters, there have been great difficulties in increasing the accuracy above such a level.
More particularly, in recent years, the use has increased of so called large size semiconductor wafers of diameter of 300 mm or greater. Since both the edges of these large size semiconductor wafers are supported in the carrier in grooves which are several millimeters deep, it becomes more and more difficult to know, from the shapes of the grooves, the state of support with regard to the spaces between the central portions of the wafers and their inclinations and the like. Moreover since, in the case of semiconductor wafers of large diameter, if a wafer is inclined even a little, the spaces between it and the neighboring wafers become extremely restricted, therefore a measurement accuracy on the order of millimeters is no longer adequate, and a further enhancement of the accuracy of measurement is desirable.
Yet further, since such a carrier measurement device according to the prior art is directed towards measurement of an open carrier, therefore it is not capable of being applied to the measurement of the shape of a sealed type carrier which has a blocked rear side and a cover over its front side, such as a so-called FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) carrier for wafers of 300 mm diameter according to the SEMI standard.
The objective of the present invention is to propose a carrier shape measurement device which can measure with high accuracy the shape of a carrier and the attitudes of semiconductor wafers which are loaded into the carrier.
In order to attain the above described objective, a carrier shape measurement device according to the present invention, comprises: a stage which supports a carrier which is to be a subject of measurement; and a measurement section which measures a shape of the carrier, and the stage comprises kinematic coupling pins to support the carrier by a kinematic coupling.
In this carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that the stage comprises a surface which coincides with or is parallel to at least one of a horizontal datum plane, a facial datum plane, and a bilateral datum plane which are specified with respect to the carrier which is supported by the kinematic coupling. In this case, it is preferred that the measurement section measures the shape of the carrier by taking as a reference the coinciding or parallel surface of the stage. Furthermore, it is preferred that a shifting section which shifts the measurement section relatively to the carrier is provided, and a direction of shifting by the shifting section is parallel or perpendicular to the coinciding or parallel surface of the stage.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that a calculation section which calculates results of measurement by the measurement section is further provided, and the calculation section derives coordinates of a center of a wafer which is loaded into the carrier by substituting coordinates of a plurality of points upon an edge of the wafer which have been measured by the measurement section, into a predetermined equation.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that the stage comprises a mechanism section which vibrates the kinematic coupling pins.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that a detection section which detects whether or not an engagement between the carrier and the kinematic coupling pins is normal, and a control section which, if the detection section has detected that the engagement is normal, stops vibrating by the mechanism section, are further provided.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that each of the kinematic coupling pins comprises an air ejection orifice for ejecting air from its tip towards the carrier, and a flow conduit which conducts air to the air ejection orifice. In this case, it is preferred that a detection section which detects whether or not an engagement between the carrier and the kinematic coupling pins is normal, and a control section which, if the detection section has detected that the engagement is normal, stops supplying air to the flow conduit, are further provided.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that the kinematic coupling pins comprise three pins arranged in a predetermined arrangement, and in order to support the carrier in a desired orientation with the kinematic coupling pins, the stage is made with such a structure that an orientation of the arrangement of the three pins upon the stage can be changed while the arrangement is being maintained relatively between the three pins. In this case, it is preferred that the stage comprises a plate which comprises the kinematic coupling pins, and a support portion upon which the plate is loaded; and the support portion comprises a mechanism which can change a loading direction of the plate, in order to change the orientation of the arrangement of the three pins. Furthermore, it is preferred that a dimension calculation section which calculates dimensions of the carrier from results of measurement by the measurement section is further provided, and the dimension calculation section calculates the dimensions of the carrier either by using coordinates which result from the measurements just as they are, or by using coordinates which have been converted by the coordinate conversion section. Also, it is preferred that the stage comprises a plate which comprises the kinematic coupling pins, and a rotation section which rotates the plate. Also, it is preferred that the stage comprises a plurality of kinematic coupling pins whose arrangements of the three pins differ from one another, a mechanism section for projecting and retracting the plurality of kinematic coupling pins from the stage, and a control section which controls the mechanism section so as selectively to project one of the plurality of kinematic coupling pins from the stage. Also, it is preferred that a coordinate conversion section which converts coordinates of results of measurement according to the orientation of the kinematic coupling pins upon the stage, is further provided.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that a calculation section which calculates results of measurement by the measurement section is further provided, and the calculation section derives coordinates of a center of a wafer which is loaded into the carrier by adding a dead weight bending amount, which has been determined in advance from a weight of the wafer, to at least one of coordinates of a wafer support portion of the carrier which have been measured by the measurement section, and coordinates of a point upon an edge of the wafer which have been measured by the measurement section.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that a calculation section which calculates results of measurement by the measurement section is further provided, and the calculation section, by using coordinates of left and right wafer support portions of the carrier which have been measured by the measurement section, derives an inclination of a wafer which is loaded into the carrier and which is supported by the wafer support portions.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that the stage comprises a surface which coincides with or is parallel to a surface based upon a designed shape of the carrier.
In the above carrier shape measurement device, it is preferred that the measurement section measures a shape of the carrier by comparison with the coinciding or parallel surface of the stage.
Another carrier shape measurement device comprises: a stage which supports a carrier which is to be a subject for measurement; an imaging section which forms an image of the carrier; and a calculation section which calculates image formation results of the imaging section, and the imaging section comprises an objective lens, and an operational distance of the objective lens is longer than a distance from an opening of an aperture for taking a wafer out from the carrier and inserting it thereinto, to a wafer support portion within the carrier.

Semiconductor Leading Edge Technologies, Inc.


One first drive unit that advances or recedes in the X-direction and that exerts a drive force in the X-direction to a movable table is arranged to exert a drive force to a center position in the Y-direction of one end part in the X-direction of the movable table. Two second drive units that advance or recede in the Y-direction that is perpendicular to the X-direction, and that exert the drive forces in the Y-direction to the movable table are arranged to be point-symmetric with respect to the center of the movable table as the center of symmetry. Plural plane guide bearings are arranged at positions such that the total sum of the moment forces of the respective plane guide bearings is zero on the center axis line in the X-direction of the movable table.

The XYθ table apparatus used as an alignment table includes a base, a movable table, and a plane guide bearing. The movable table movably supported by the plane guide bearing moves linearly and rotationally in a given plane above the base. Such a movement of the movable table is made by plural drive units applying drive forces to the movable table.
Patent Literatures 1 and 2 disclose the XYθ table apparatus in which three drive units move the movable table. One of the three drive units exerts the drive force in the X-direction to the movable table, and the other two drive units apply the drive forces in the Y-direction that is perpendicular to the X-direction to the movable table. Then, any combination of the exerted amount and direction of these drive forces enables the linear movements of the movable table in various directions, and in addition, enables a rotational movement with respect to an arbitrary point (for example, the center of the movable table) as the center of rotation.


A drop ejection device includes a group of orifices adapted to eject fluid drops. The fluids ejected from the orifices merge into a fluid drop. The orifices are separated by walls which define the orifices. The merging of the fluid into a fluid drop depends on the spacing of the orifices and the waveform applied to actuators which cause the fluid to be ejected.

Ink jet printers typically include an ink path from an ink supply to a nozzle path. The nozzle path terminates in a nozzle opening from which ink drops are ejected. Ink drop ejection is controlled by pressurizing ink in the ink path with an actuator, which may be, for example, a piezoelectric deflector, a thermal bubble jet generator, or an electro statically deflected element. A typical printhead has an array of ink paths with corresponding nozzle openings and associated actuators, and drop ejection from each nozzle opening can be independently controlled. In a drop-on-demand printhead, each actuator is fired to selectively eject a drop at a specific pixel location of an image as the print head and a printing substrate are moved relative to one another. The ink in the ink conduit of an ink jet printing system is usually kept at a negative pressure to keep the ink from spilling over the nozzle plate. In addition, the ink nozzles are required to be primed by the ink fluid for proper ink drop ejection.

System and methods for fluid drop ejection


A refrigerator with a single lever switch for a user to control dispensing both water and ice. A water/ice dispenser includes a main body, an ice discharge port disposed on one side of the main body, an ice guide coupled to the outlet of the ice discharge port, a water discharge port disposed on the other side of the main body, and an integral lever. The integral lever is coupled pivotally to the ice guide through its middle portion. One end of the integral lever serves as a water discharge button for a user to request dispensing water and the other end of the integral lever serves as an ice discharge button for a user to request dispensing ice.

Refrigeration equipments (e.g., refrigerator) provide storage spaces maintained at low temperatures, such as for food. For example, a refrigerator may include a refrigerating compartment maintained at a temperature above zero but below room temperature, and a freezing compartment maintained at a temperature below zero.
Recently, with the increase of demand for generating and supplying purified water and ice at home, it is increasingly desirable for a refrigeration equipment to have a water purifier and an ice maker. For example, an ice maker may be installed in the freezing compartment, the refrigerating compartment, or the door, depending on the product design of the refrigeration equipment.
Typically, in a refrigeration equipment having a water purifier and an ice maker that are formed integrally with each other, a dispenser is installed on the exterior side of the front door of the refrigeration equipment for dispensing water and/or ice.
FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a conventional dispenser used in refrigeration equipment.
Referring to FIG. 1. The main body 102 of a dispenser is installed on the exterior side of the front door and includes a cavity directing to the inside of the door. In this cavity, an ice discharge port 104, an ice guide 106, a water discharge port 108, a water discharge lever 110, and an ice discharge lever 112 may be installed.
More specifically, the ice discharge port 104 may be disposed on one side (e.g., inside the cavity) of the main body 102 of the dispenser. The ice guide 106 may be coupled to the end of the ice discharge port 104. The water discharge port 108 may be formed on the other side (e.g., outside the cavity) of the main body 102.
On one side (e.g., outward side) of the ice guide 106, the water discharge lever 110 having a switch (not shown) on the back side thereof may be installed. By pressing the water discharge lever 110, a user may dispense water through the water discharge port 108.
Similarly, on the inner wall surface of the cavity, the ice discharge lever 112 having a switch (not shown) on the back side thereof may be installed. By pressing the ice discharge lever 112, the user may dispense ice through the ice guide 106.
Because such a dispenser is equipped with two separate levers for discharging water and ice respectively, the assembly of the dispenser is unfortunately complex and contribute to significant manufacturing and material cost.

Dispenser with an integral control switch for discharging water and ice on refrigerator


Devices and methods for forming a device are disclosed. The device includes a contact region disposed over a last interconnect level of the device. The device includes a final passivation layer having at least an opening which at least partially exposes a top surface of the contact region and a buffer layer disposed at least over a first exposed portion of the top surface of the contact region. When an electrically conductive interconnection couples to the contact region, the buffer layer absorbs a portion of a force exerted to form an interconnection between the electrically conductive interconnection and the contact region.

It has always been desired to provide integrated circuit (IC) with low cost so as to meet customers' expectations. In addition, there is always a need to provide high speed IC by improving signal transmission speed by reducing RC time constant of signal propagation path. However, electrical or mechanical reliability of the IC, particularly interconnections of the IC, may be compromised while providing high speed IC.
From the foregoing discussion, it is desirable to provide reliable interconnects and to provide simplified and cost effective methods to form such reliable interconnects.