It is to provide a functional laminated film which is useful for antireflection on the surface and which can make the brightness of an image uniform, its production process and a CRT having said film attached thereto.

The present invention relates to a cathode ray tube (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as xe2x80x9cCRTxe2x80x9d) excellent in uniformity in brightness of an image. More particularly, it relates to a functional film which imparts such functions to a CRT and its production process.
It is required for a CRT that the brightness of an image displayed in its screen is uniform.
As a method to make the brightness of an image uniform, (1) a method wherein the transmittance of light of a panel glass is made constant in the plane, and (2) a method wherein, while a transmittance distribution of light is permitted to be present in the panel glass, it is corrected by an intensity distribution of an electron beam, and a distribution is imparted to the emission intensity of a phosphor, have been proposed.
However, as the former method (1), it has been attempted to overcome the difference in transmittance of light due to the thickness of glass by improving the transmittance of light of the glass base, however, the significant difference in thickness between the center portion and the peripheral portion of the panel glass, corresponding to flattening of the panel glass in recent years, can not adequately be overcome.
The latter method (2) has a technical limit such that when a panel glass has a significant difference in transmittance of light, such as a difference in transmittance of light of at least 10%, it can not cope therewith, and it has been difficult to achieve uniformity in brightness over the entire plane of the panel glass.
Further, as another related technology, JP-A-61-185852 discloses a method wherein the total glass thickness within the display area is made constant by attaching a front panel made of glass and provided with a thickness variation to the front surface of the panel glass by a resin. However, this method has had a problem that the weight of CRT increases. Further, a requirement for antireflection on the surface of the panel glass is increasing in recent years.
The present invention has been made to overcome such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a functional laminated film which can prevent reflection on the surface, and which can make the brightness of an image uniform, particularly regarding a CRT corresponding to flattening in recent years, and its production process.
The above object can be overcome by the following means. That is:
(1) A functional laminated film comprising a substrate film, an antireflection layer provided on one side of the substrate film, a colorant layer having a color density distribution provided on the other side of said substrate film, and an adhesive layer laminated on said colorant layer side.
(2) A functional laminated film comprising a substrate film, an antireflection layer provided on one side of the substrate film, and a colored adhesive layer having a color density distribution provided on the other side of said substrate film.
(3) A process for producing the functional laminated film as defined in the above (1), which comprises providing an antireflection layer on one side of a substrate film, providing a colorant layer having a uniform color density on the other side of said substrate film, irradiating said colorant layer with ultraviolet rays by means of a mask having a distribution of the transmission amount of ultraviolet rays to form a colorant layer having a color density distribution, and laminating an adhesive layer on said colorant layer.
(4) A process for producing the functional laminated film as defined in the above (1), which comprises providing an antireflection layer on one side of a substrate film, providing a colorant layer having a uniform color density on the other side of said substrate film, laminating an adhesive layer on said colorant layer, and irradiating said colorant layer with ultraviolet rays by means of a mask having a distribution of the transmission amount of ultraviolet rays to form a colorant layer having a color density distribution.
(5) A process for producing the functional laminated film as defined in the above (2), which comprises providing an antireflection layer on one side of a substrate film, providing a colored adhesive layer having a uniform color density on the other side of said substrate film, and irradiating said colored adhesive layer with ultraviolet rays by means of a mask having a distribution of the transmission amount of ultraviolet rays to form a colored adhesive layer having a color density distribution.
(6) A process for producing the functional laminated film as defined in the above (2), which comprises providing an antireflection layer on one side of a substrate film, providing a colored adhesive layer having a uniform color density on the other side of said substrate film, laminating a release film on said colored adhesive layer, and then irradiating said colored adhesive layer with ultraviolet rays by means of a mask having a distribution of the transmission amount of ultraviolet rays to form a colored adhesive layer having a color density distribution.
(7) A CRT comprising the functional laminated film as defined in the above (1) or (2) attached thereto.

Functional laminated film, its production process and CRT having said film attached thereto

Abstract: A functional laminated film having an antireflection layer, a substrate film, a colorant layer having a color density distribution and an adhesive layer laminated. A functional laminated film having an antireflection layer, a substrate film and a colored adhesive layer having a color density distribution laminated. A CRT having the above film attached thereto.


A magnetic head for multi-track data recording on magnetic tape is formed of a combination of two head modules, each having a linear array of thin-film transducer elements formed on a substrate, each of these arrays consisting of a mixture of write elements and read elements. These are positioned on the respective head modules such that when the head modules are combined with the substrates mutually opposing, pairs of transducer elements are formed for respective tape tracks, each pair consisting of a read and a write element. "Read-after-write" recording confirmation can thereby be implemented together with bidirectional recording operation, by using only a combination of two head modules.

The present invention relates to a magnetic head for multi-track magnetic recording operation, having arrays of read and write transducer elements formed by thin-film photolithography technology.
In recent years, there has arisen an increasing demand for increased speed of data transfer to and from various types of magnetic recording apparatus, particularly in the case of high-density tape recording apparatus. For this reason, multi-track recording has been adopted whereby a substantial number of read and write transducer elements for respective recording tracks are used to configure a magnetic head. Due to the extremely small spacings between the read and write transducer elements of respective tracks, and the extremely small sizes of the transducer elements themselves, it has become uneconomical to employ conventional manufacturing techniques to form the individual transducer elements (e.g. by winding individual coils for each transducer element, using wire) and hence thin-film techniques have been adopted to manufacture such a magnetic head. With such a method, a large number of thin-film transducer elements can be formed on a substrate formed of a magnetic material such as ferrite, using photolithography techniques. It is necessary to utilize respectively different configurations for the read and the write elements of such a magnetic head.
With such a thin-film magnetic head, each of the write transducer elements is manufactured by forming a thin-film coil upon a substrate consisting of a suitable magnetic material, which functions as respective magnetic cores for these transducer elements. Another magnetic substrate may be placed directly over this thin-film coil, to function as upper magnetic cores for the transducer elements. Alternatively, a film of electrically insulating material may be formed over the thin-film coil, and a thin film of a metallic magnetic material is then formed over this insulating film, to constitute the upper magnetic cores.
A magnetoresistive element (formed from a metallic magnetic thin film which exhibits magnetoresistive properties) is used to constitute each of the read transducer elements of such a thin-film magnetic head. Such a read element is typically manufactured by first forming a thin electrically insulating film upon a substrate of magnetic material, then forming a permalloy thin-film (which exhibits magnetoresistive properties) over this insulating film, to a thickness of typically 500 angstroms. An electrically insulating thin film is then formed over the permalloy film, and finally a substrate formed of magnetic material is placed in contact with the latter insulating film In some cases, an electrically conductive layer is formed below the aforementioned permalloy film, for use in producing a biasing magnetic field. This is done in order to increase the linearity of read signal generation by such a read transducer element.
A prior art example of such a thin-film magnetic head, for use in a multi-track magnetic tape recording apparatus, has been described in I.B.M. J. Res. Develop. Vol. 30, No. 3, pages 270 to 276. As described in that article, thin-film write transducer elements are formed on one substrate, while thin-film read transducer elements are formed on another substrate, to form respective thin-film read and write heads, i.e. respective modules one of which is formed only with read elements and the other formed only with write elements. These modules are combined to form the final magnetic head. However with one method of data recording utilized for such multi-track tape recorders, called "read-after-write" operation, data written on each tape track are read out immediately after being written, in order to check for write errors. In addition, a capability for bi-directional operation of such a tape recording apparatus is desirable, i.e. it should be possible to execute writing of data both when the tape is moving in a forward direction and when the tape is moving in the reverse direction. This is not possible by using a combination of a thin-film read magnetic head and a thin-film write magnetic head according to the prior art of the type described in the aforementioned I.B.M. article, since data writing will be only possible for one direction of tape movement, if "read-after-write" operation is to be executed. In order to implement such "read-after-write" operation with thin-film head modules of the type described, it would be necessary to use a combination of three such modules, i.e. a combination of a write head, a read head and a write head successively arranged in that order, such that each tape track moves past a write thin-film transducer element, a read transducer element, and a write transducer element, for each direction of movement of the tape. Alternatively, a combination of a read head, a write head and a read head successively arranged in that order could be utilized. However if either of these arrangements is used, it becomes difficult to ensure that the tape will be maintained in stable contact with each of the three thin-film head modules. Thus, such a prior art magnetic head has the disadvantage that stable recording and playback operation is difficult to achieve.

Magnetic head for multi-track recording having read and write transducers formed by thin-film technology

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The apparatus includes a first transistor having a gate/base terminal to receive a first drive control signal used for controlling a driver stage of the transceiver and a drain/collector terminal coupled to a control terminal of a switch of the transceiver. The first transistor is switched on when the first drive control signal is at a first level that enables the driver stage to amplify a first RF signal. When the first transistor is switched on, the drain/collector terminal of the first transistor outputs to a control terminal of the switch a switch control signal at a second level that enables the switch to provide a portion of the RF signal reflected by the antenna to the load.

Transceivers are used in wireless devices of a communication system to transmit and receive signal for two-way communication. For signal transmission, a transceiver may modulate a radio frequency (RF) signal with data to obtain a modulated RF signal, amplify and filter the modulated RF signal to obtain an amplified RF signal having a proper output power level, and transmit the amplified RF signal via one or more antennas to other wireless device(s). For signal reception, the transceiver may obtain an RF signal via one or more antenna(s) and may amplify, filter and process the received RF signal to recover data in the received RF signal. Thus, front-end architectures of transceivers may employ components such as pre-drivers, drivers, and low noise amplifiers (LNAs) to process the received and transmitted RF signals.
Typically, the wireless device may operate in a frequency division duplex (FDD) mode or in a time division duplex system (TDD) mode. The transceiver supporting the signal transmission and reception for the wireless device may thus be classified into an FDD transceiver or a TDD transceiver. A TDD transceiver may be switched into a transmission mode at a first time or a reception mode at a second time. An LNA included in the TDD transceiver is used to process the received RF signal, which may be easily burnt or damaged by high power input. Since the TDD transceiver may be operated in either the transmission mode or the reception mode and the RF signal to be transmitted in the transmission mode is usually amplified to a high power level, the LNA needs to be protected from being damaged by error high power input.


A paper supplying apparatus in a printer and method for supplying paper loaded in a cassette to a printing unit in a printer main body, the apparatus including a pickup roller pivotally installed on the printer main body so as to be closely in contact with the paper, for picking up the paper while rotating in contact with the paper, mechanism for pivoting and rotating the pickup roller installed on the printer main body, and a rotation delay mechanism for delaying the initial rotation of the pickup roller for a predetermined time. Similarly, the paper supplying method includes the steps of pivotally installing a pickup roller on the printer main body so as to be closely in contact with the paper, for picking up the paper while rotating in contact with the paper, pivoting and rotating the pickup roller installed on the printer main body, and delaying the initial rotation of the pickup roller for a predetermined time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method, for supplying paper in a printer, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method, for supplying paper in a printer having an improved structure for supplying sheets of paper placed in a cassette to a printing unit in the printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A general device such as a printer or a photocopier includes a paper supplying apparatus for receiving a plurality of sheets of paper and sequentially supplying the received sheets of paper to a printing unit of the device.
A paper supplying apparatus in a conventional printer, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a cassette 20 and a pickup roller 13. The cassette 20 is attachable and detachable along guide rails 12 and 14 provided in a printer main body 10, and receives paper. The pickup roller 13 is rotatably installed within the printer main body 10 and is closely in contact with the leading end of paper placed in the cassette 20.
As shown in FIG. 2, when paper 1 loaded in the cassette 20 is supplied to a printing unit (not shown), the pickup roller 13 supplies the paper 1 in close contact with the pickup roller is in the direction indicated by arrow B while descending by a pivoting means (not shown) and simultaneously rotating by a rotating means (not shown). Here, since the corners 27 and 28, of the paper 1 are constrained respectively by finger members 25 and 26, a leading end C of the paper 1 is raised, as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 2. Thus, the paper 1 is separated from the other sheets of paper below the paper 1 and supplied to the printing unit.
However, in the conventional paper supplying apparatus having such a configuration, the pickup roller 13 rotates and pivots at the same time, and thus may not be horizontally in contact with the paper 1 during pivoting. At this time, a portion of the leading end C of the paper 1 previously in contact with the pickup roller 13 proceed, before the other portion of the leading end C of the paper 1, thereby skewly supplying paper to the printing unit.

Apparatus and method for supplying paper in printer


A phosphor tape article includes a phosphor layer having a phosphor and a polymeric binder material, a pressure sensitive adhesive layer disposed adjacent the phosphor layer such that light transmitted through the pressure sensitive adhesive layer is received by the phosphor layer, and a release liner disposed on the pressure sensitive adhesive layer. The pressure sensitive adhesive layer is disposed between the release liner and the phosphor layer. The phosphor is suitable for excitation by UV or blue LED light, and the phosphor emission has a characteristic decay rate of less than 1 second. Light emitting devices including pieces of phosphor tape, and methods of making such devices, are also disclosed.

The present application relates to phosphor tape articles and specifically to phosphor tape articles that include a pressure sensitive adhesive layer.
Many white light sources that utilize LEDs in their construction can have two basic configurations. In one, referred to herein as direct emissive LEDs, white light is generated by direct emission of different colored LEDs. Examples include a combination of a red LED, a green LED, and a blue LED, and a combination of a blue LED and a yellow LED. In another basic configuration, referred to herein as LED-excited phosphor LEDs, a single LED generates a beam in a narrow range of wavelengths, which beam impinges upon and excites a phosphor material to produce visible light. The phosphor can include a mixture or combination of distinct phosphor materials, and the light emitted by the phosphor can include a plurality of narrow emission lines distributed over the visible wavelength range such that the emitted light appears substantially white to the unaided human eye.
One method for producing white (broad-spectrum) light from LEDs is to combine a blue or ultraviolet (UV) emitting LED with a suitable phosphor or blend of phosphors. In practice, phosphor powder is either coated directly onto the LED die or dispersed in the polymer encapsulant surrounding the LED die. One example of a white light LED is formed by combining a blue light emitting InGaN LED encapsulated with a yellow emitting phosphor such as cerium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Ce). White light is produced by this combination when the right amount of phosphor is deposited over the blue die to absorb most, but not all, of the blue light such that unabsorbed blue light and yellow light combine to create light that appears white.
Producing packaged white LEDs having a consistent white color requires careful control of the quality of phosphor deposited over the LED. Too little phosphor causes the LED emission to appear blue white while too much phosphor causes the emission to appear yellow. Accurately controlling the amount of phosphor deposited is difficult as package size (volume) decreases. The encapsulant dispensing system must have a dispensing precision on the order or tens of nanoliters and high phosphor loadings are difficult to dispense due to the non-Newtonian flow behavior of the phosphor loaded resins and clogging of the dispenser from phosphor agglomerates.
Incorporating the phosphor in the encapsulant also presents problems with manufacturing yield and quality control. Due to variation in semiconductor manufacturing and variation in the quality of encapsulant deposited in the LED package, each white LED must be tested and measured after encapsulation to determine its individual color and brightness. Based on this testing, the white light LEDs are sorted into bins. White LEDs that are too far out of tolerance cannot be reworked and are scrapped. Bubbles trapped in the encapsulant and inhomogeneous distribution of phosphor are other problems that are inherent in current white LED production and lead to additional yield loss.


The image of a pattern of reticle 12 is, being illuminated with exposure light IL of vacuum ultraviolet range, projected, via projection optical system PL, onto wafer 17a on wafer stage 18a in wafer chamber 24. By providing gas blowing plate 15 in which aperture portion 15a for the exposure light optical path is provided between projection optical system PL and wafer 17a, exhausting a gas in the first space S1 over gas blowing plate 15 via exhaust port G1e, purifying the exhausted gas, and then by blowing the purified gas again into space S1 via gas supply port G1i, outgases from wafer 17a are efficiently exhausted. Into the second space S2 under gas blowing plate 15 is supplied a gas of which contamination degree of impurities is controlled to be more relaxed compared with the gas in the first space S1. By this, even when using vacuum ultraviolet light as exposure light, with the decrease of transmittance on the optical path being controlled, a high exposure light intensity can be obtained.

The disclosure of the following priority application is incorporated herein by reference:
Japanese Patent Application No. 11-299331 filed on Oct. 21, 1999.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure method and an exposure apparatus used in a photolithography process for manufacturing micro devices such as semiconductor circuits, image pick-up devices (such as CCDs), liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, and thin film magnetic heads.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a photolithography process for forming a fine pattern of an electric device such as a semiconductor circuit or liquid crystal display, a projection exposure apparatus such as a stepper is used when transferring an original pattern of a reticle as a mask onto a wafer (or a glass plate) as a substrate to be exposed. In such a projection exposure apparatus, to improve its resolution to address a still finer integration level of micro devices, its exposure wavelength has shifted to a still shorter wavelength region. As the exposure wavelength, 248 nm of a KrF excimer laser is mainly used at present, but a shorter wavelength of about 200 nm or less in the vacuum ultraviolet region has also come to be used. In other words, the 193 nm wavelength of an ArF excimer laser is now virtually in practical use, and a projection exposure apparatus utilizing a laser such an F1 laser (of 157 nm wavelength) or an Ar2 laser (of 126 nm wavelength), each having a still shorter wavelength, as an exposure light source is now being developed.
Further, since the resolution can be improved by increasing the numerical aperture (NA) of a projection optical system, a still larger NA of a projection optical system is also being developed. In this connection, because a smaller exposure view field (exposure field) of a projection optical system advantageously affects in realizing a larger NA, the view field of a projection optical system itself is made smaller on one hand and, on the other hand, scanning exposure type exposure apparatuses such as a step-and-scan type exposure apparatus, which secures virtually a large view field by relatively scanning a reticle and a wafer during exposure, are also under practical use.
In a scanning exposure type exposure apparatus, in particular, because each of stages, on which a reticle or a wafer is mounted, should be driven with high precision, an air bearing system, which reduces friction during the movement of the stage by floating the stage by airflow, is adopted as a supporting system for the stage.
In recent years, light of vacuum ultraviolet range has been proposed to be used as exposure light; however, optical materials having practically applicable transmittance relative to vacuum ultraviolet light and usable as a lens or a reticle are limited to synthetic quartz, quartz doped with, e.g., fluorine, and crystals such as fluorite (CaF2), magnesium fluoride (MgF2), and lithium fluoride (LiF). Further, vacuum ultraviolet light is strongly absorbed by gases on the optical path such as an oxygen gas, moisture, and a hydrocarbonaceous gas (hereinafter, called xe2x80x9cabsorbent gasxe2x80x9d), and, furthermore, evaporated organic substances and the like, which react with vacuum ultraviolet light and result clouding substances on the surface of an optical element, can also be regarded as absorbent gases. Therefore, to exclude those absorbent gases from the optical path of exposure light, the gases on the optical path are required to be replaced with gases such as a nitrogen gas or a rare gas having small absorbency relative to vacuum ultraviolet light (hereinafter, called xe2x80x9ctransmitting gasxe2x80x9d). For instance, with respect to oxygen concentrations, the average concentration should be controlled to a level of ppm order. When the residual concentrations of the absorbent gases does not satisfy such specifications, exposure energy on a wafer considerably decreases, and, as a result, the throughput deteriorates because a longer exposure time is required.
Meanwhile, since in an exposure apparatus, wafers are sequentially exchanged and transferred with a fine pattern, wafers are required to be frequently moved in and out (exchanged) between an inside space including an exposure path and an outside space where the wafers are conveyed. As a result, during the wafer exchange operation, absorbent gases such as an oxygen gas and moisture flow into the inside space along with the conveyed wafers, and easily evaporable organic substances and the like adsorbed on the wafers are also conveyed. Further, because photoresist coated on the wafers itself releases a hydrocarbonaceous gas and the like (outgases), the concentrations of absorbent gases in the optical path cannot be easily kept within a predetermined level with respect to the atmosphere in the vicinity of the wafers.
Also, with respect to an exposure apparatus utilizing vacuum ultraviolet light as its exposure light, when a conventional air bearing system is adopted as a supporting system of a wafer stage and a reticle stage, a large amount of gas is necessary to float the stages. As a result, the gas for floating may flow into the atmospheres, where the stages are positioned, in the vicinity of a wafer and a reticle. If the gas for floating is an absorbent gas as normal atmospheric air, the transmittance of the atmosphere decreases. It is therefore preferable that also as the gas for floating, highly-purified transmitting gas is used. However, there is a problem that, to continuously control the concentrations of absorbent gases in the gas for floating used in relatively high volume within a predetermined level, the associated running costs increase.
Further, with respect to a wafer stage and a reticle stage of an exposure apparatus, their positions are normally measured with high precision by means of laser interferometers. In a laser interferometer, a moving mirror and a fixed mirror are each illuminated with a laser beam, and the position of the moving mirror (movable stage) is measured with reference to the fixed mirror. Also with this case, to improve the measurement accuracy of the laser interferometer, it is preferable, while supplying a transmitting gas on the optical path of exposure light, that the influence of gas fluctuation, accompanying the transmitting gas supply, on the optical path of the laser beams is made as little as possible.
In view of the above, it is a first object of the present invention to provide an exposure method and an exposure apparatus by which, even when using vacuum ultraviolet light as exposure light, a high exposure light intensity can be obtained by controlling the decrease of transmittance on an optical path.
Further, it is a second object of the present invention to provide an exposure method and an exposure apparatus by which, when adopting an air bearing system as a supporting system of a stage that moves a reticle or a wafer and even when using vacuum ultraviolet light as exposure light, the decrease of transmittance on an optical path can be controlled without increasing operating costs so much.
Further, it is a third object of the present invention to provide an exposure method and an exposure apparatus by which, when measuring, by a laser interferometer, the position of a stage that moves a reticle or a wafer and even when using vacuum ultraviolet light as exposure light, the decrease of transmittance relative to exposure light can be controlled without decreasing the measurement accuracy of the laser interferometer.
Further, it is a fourth object of the present invention to provide an exposure method and an exposure apparatus by which, even in such a case where vacuum ultraviolet light is used as exposure light, the position of a reticle or a wafer can be accurately detected.
Also, it is another object of the present invention to provide a device manufacturing method capable of mass-producing devices with high throughput using such exposure methods above.
A first exposure method according to the present invention is an exposure method in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure method comprising: dividing the space between the projection system and the second object into a first space on the side of the projection system and a second space on the side of the second object and providing, in the boundary portion between the first and second spaces, an aperture portion at a region through which at least the exposure beam passes; and supplying a first gas that transmits the exposure beam to the first space side, wherein the first gas"" contamination degree of impurities that absorb the exposure beam is smaller than that of a second gas of the second space side.
In connection with the present invention, the kind of affecting impurities varies depending upon the wavelength of the exposure beam. Further, the transmittance of the space in the vicinity of the second object is apt to change due to impurities"" intrusion during the exchange of the second object and due to impurities and the like adhered to the second object itself. In contrast, in the present invention, because the space in the vicinity of the second object is divided into a first space and a second space, with the first space being supplied with a gas with high transmittance, the proportion, in the space in the vicinity of the second object, of the space with low transmittance relative to the exposure beam is made small, and thus the decrease of transmittance as a whole can be controlled. As a result, with the intensity of the exposure beam on the second object being maintained to be high, the throughput of the exposure process improves.
In this case, it is preferable that the first gas is blown in a single direction in the first space. As a result, the decrease of transmittance of the first space is controlled, and, at the same time, because with the gas condition of the space over the second object being stabilized, the refractive index distribution in the planes perpendicular to the optical axis is uniformed, and the imaging characteristics are also stabilized. Further, impurities such as an outgas and the like generating from the second object are also efficiently exhausted by the first gas.
Next, a second exposure method according to the present invention is an exposure method in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure method comprising: disposing a stage holding the first object or the second object and moving on a base member in a space supplied with a third gas that transmits the exposure beam; floating the stage on the base member in a differential exhaust system by blowing a fourth gas and sucking the fourth gas; and setting, at the same time, the permissible absorbency limits of the fourth gas relative to the exposure beam higher than that of the third gas.
According to the present invention above, because the stage is floated in a differential exhaust system, the leakage amount of the fourth gas to the outside is small. Accordingly, even when setting the absorbency limits of the fourth gas relative to the exposure beam high and thus decreasing the operating costs, the decrease of transmittance of the exposure beam on the optical path in the vicinity of the stage can be controlled.
Further, a third exposure method according to the present invention is an exposure method in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure method comprising: measuring the position of the first object or the second object relative to a predetermined reference member by illuminating a stage moving with the first object or the second object and the reference member with a measurement beam and a reference beam, respectively; and making both of the optical paths of the measurement beam and the reference beam to be gaseous atmospheres each having about the same contamination degree of impurities that absorb the exposure beam.
According to the present invention above, because while supplying a gas that transmits the exposure beam on the optical path of the exposure beam in the vicinity of the stage, both of the refractive index fluctuations of the gases supplied to the optical paths of the measurement beam and the reference beam are made to be about the same amount, the measurement accuracy is maintained high.
Further, a fourth exposure method according to the present invention is an exposure method in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure method comprising: dividing the space between the projection system and the second object into a first space on the side of the projection system and a second space on the side of the second object and providing, within the boundary portion between the first and second spaces, an aperture portion at a region through which at least the exposure beam passes; blowing a gas that transmits the exposure light to the first space; and exhausting, via the gas blown in the first space, a substance generated from the second object by the illumination thereof with the exposure beam from the optical path of the exposure beam.
According to the present invention above, because impurities such as an outgas and the like generating from the second object during exposure are efficiently exhausted by the first gas, the transmittance of the exposure beam is maintained high. Furthermore, because clouding substances generated by chemical reaction of the outgas substance are prevented from adhering to the forefront lens of the projection system (the lens nearest to the second object), the transmittance of the exposure beam is maintained high at all times.
Further, a fifth exposure method according to the present invention is an exposure method in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure method comprising: dividing the space between the projection system and the second object into a first space on the side of the projection system and a second space on the side of the second object and providing, within the boundary portion between the first and second spaces, an aperture at a region through which a detection beam for detecting the position of the first object or the second object passes; and supplying a gas through which the exposure beam passes to the first space.
According to the present invention above, the gas that transmits the exposure beam can be effectively supplied to the first space on the side of the projection system, and at the same time, the second object can be illuminated with the detection beam via the aperture.
Further, a sixth exposure method according to the present invention is an exposure method in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure method comprising: dividing the space between the projection system and the second object into a first space on the side of the projection system and a second space on the side of the second object; and setting the contamination degree of impurities of the first space smaller than that of the second space. According to the present invention, as with the first exposure method, the operating costs can be controlled to be low, and the transmittance of the exposure beam can be maintained high.
Next, a first exposure apparatus according to the present invention is an exposure apparatus in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure apparatus comprising: an aperture plate which is disposed between the projection system and the second object and on which an aperture for making the exposure beam pass through is formed; a gas supply mechanism that supplies a first gas that transmits the exposure beam to a first space between the aperture plate and the projection system; and an environment control mechanism that controls the environment of a second gas which is supplied to a second space between the aperture plate and the second object and transmits the exposure beam and, at the same time, of which contamination degree of impurities that absorb the exposure beam is different from that of the first gas.
Further, a second exposure apparatus according to the present invention is an exposure apparatus in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure apparatus comprising: a stage that holds the first object or the second object and moves on a base member; a chamber that substantially hermetically seals a space enclosing the stage; a gas supply device that supplies a third gas that transmits the exposure beam into the chamber; and an air bearing device that float the stage on the base member in a differential exhaust system by blowing a fourth gas and sucking the fourth gas, wherein the permissible absorbency limits of the fourth gas relative to the exposure beam is set higher than that of the third gas.
Further, a third exposure apparatus according to the present invention is an exposure apparatus in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure apparatus comprising: a stage that moves with the first object or the second object; a reference member that is stationary relative to the projection system; an interferometer that measures the position of the first object or the second object relative to the reference member by illuminating the stage and the reference member with a measurement beam and a reference beam, respectively; and a gas supply device that supplies each of gases each having about the same contamination degree of impurities that absorb the exposure beam to each of the optical paths of the measurement beam and the reference beam.
Further, a fourth exposure apparatus according to the present invention is an exposure apparatus in which a second object is exposed, via a projection system, with an exposure beam that has passed a pattern of a first object, the exposure apparatus comprising: an aperture plate which is disposed between the projection system and the second object and on which an aperture for making a detection beam for detecting the position of the first object or the second object pass through is formed; and a first gas supply mechanism that supplies a first gas that transmits the exposure beam to a first space between the aperture plate and the projection system.
Each of above exposure methods according to the present invention can be performed by the use of each of such exposure apparatuses.
It is to be noted that as the first, second, and third gases in the present invention, a nitrogen gas, a rare gas (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, or radon), a mixed gas of these gases may be utilized. Furthermore, as the first, second, and third gases, the same gas with each other or different gases from one another may be utilized. On the other hand, in contrast with the first, second, and third gases, because the fourth gas is a gas for floating the stage on the base member, a gas, such as dry air, that has low transmittance relative to exposure light but is inexpensive can utilized as the fourth gas.
Further, the aperture plate in the present invention may be so configured that a through hole is formed as the aperture or that the through hole is provided with a glass substrate that transmits the exposure beam. Still further, the aperture plate may be constructed from a combination of a plurality of plates. In this case, the portion between the plurality of plates corresponds to the aperture.
Next, a device manufacturing method according to the present invention includes a process that transfers a device pattern onto a workpiece using an exposure method according to the present invention.
In accordance with to the above-described first, fourth, and sixth exposure methods according to the present invention, by locally supplying a gas that transmits the exposure beam to, for example, the first space on the side of the projection system, an outgas including impurities generating from the second object, for example, can be effectively excluded from the optical path of the exposure light. Thus, with the transmittance relative to the exposure beam being made high, the exposure intensity can be made high, and at the same time, the consumption of the gas can be made small, and thus the operating costs can be decreased. Further, this also effectively influences on the increase in longevity of the projection system.
Further, by making the shape of the aperture of the boundary portion between the first and second spaces, for example, a narrow slit-like form, the compatibility with a focus detection device of oblique incident type is facilitated, and thus the compatibility with precision focusing can also be facilitated.
Further, in accordance with to the second exposure method according to the present invention, by making an air bearing mechanism used, for example, in a scanning exposure type exposure apparatus to be a differential exhaust system, even when the specifications of the impurities gases (gases that absorb the exposure beam) in the gas for floating to be supplied to air pads are relaxed to a large extent, the transmittance of the exposure beam can be maintained high. Furthermore, the operating costs required for gas purification can be decreased.
Further, in accordance with to the third exposure method according to the present invention, by blowing gases that include substantially the same amount of impurities to both of the measurement side optical path and the reference side optical path of the interferometer for position measurement, measurement errors due to impurities on the optical paths of the interferometer can be decreased.
Further, in accordance with to the fifth exposure method according to the present invention, because the exposure intensity can be maintained high, and, at the same time, the second object can be illuminated with the detection beam via the aperture of the aperture plate, the position of the second object can be detected with high precision, and thus the image of the pattern of the first object can be transferred onto the second object with high resolution.
Further, the exposure methods according to the present invention can be performed by each of the exposure apparatuses according to the present invention, and, at the same time, in accordance with the device manufacturing method according to the present invention, because the intensity of the exposure beam can be maintained high, the throughput of manufacturing processes of various kinds of devices can be increased.

Exposure method and apparatus, and method of fabricating a device

c/o Nikon Corporation (Intellectual Property Department) 2-3 Marunouchi 3-chome


A zoom lens comprising four lens units is disclosed which achieves a high variable magnification ratio and favorable optical performance at an arbitrary zoom position. The zoom lens of the present invention includes, in order from an object side, a first lens unit having positive optical power, a second lens unit having a negative optical power, a third lens unit having a positive optical power, and a fourth lens unit having a positive optical power. During zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, the spacing between the first and second lens units is increased, the spacing between the second and third lens units is decreased, the spacing between the third and fourth lens units is increased, and an aperture stop moves together with the third lens unit. In addition, specific conditions are satisfied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens, and more particularly, to a zoom lens which is preferable for use in an image-taking apparatus such as a video camera and a digital camera which uses a solid-state image pickup element as an image pickup device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a zoom lens of a so-called negative lead type having a lens unit with a negative optical power at the front has been used as a standard zoom lens in many cameras since it relatively easily achieves image taking at a wider angle.
As an exemplary standard zoom lens of this type, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1978-132360 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. No.4,299,452), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1981-19022 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,031), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,639 each have proposed or disclosed a so-called two unit zoom lens consisting of two lens units, that is, a first lens unit having a negative optical power and a second lens unit having a positive optical power, in which these two lens units are moved along an optical axis to change the spacing between the lens units to provide zooming.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1995-52256 has proposed a zoom lens having, in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a negative optical power, a second lens unit having a positive optical power, and a third lens unit having a positive optical power, in which the spacing between the second lens unit and the third lens unit is increased to provide zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,710 has disclosed a zoom lens having, in order from an object side, three lens units consisting of a first lens unit having a negative optical power, a second lens unit having a positive optical power, and a third lens unit having a positive optical power, in which the spacing between the second lens unit and the third lens unit is reduced to provide zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end.
The present inventor has also proposed a multiunit zoom lens comprising of three or more lens units in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1994-27377 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,548).
Typically, the negative lead type zoom lens having a lens unit with a negative optical power at the front is characterized in that image taking is relatively easily performed at a wider angle and that a predetermined back focal distance can be readily provided.
To achieve favorable optical performance throughout the zoom range or throughout an image plane, it is necessary to appropriately set the arrangement of the optical powers of respective lens units and the shapes of lenses.
Inappropriately setting the arrangement of the optical powers of the respective lens units and the lens shapes increases variations in aberration associated with to cause difficulty in providing high optical performance throughout the zoom range.
Especially, in the two unit zoom lens having a lens unit with a negative optical power at the front, the relative positions of the respective lens units on an optical axis are uniquely determined resulting from varied magnification and corrected variations in the position of an image plane. As a result, optical performance cannot be controlled arbitrarily at a certain position while zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end.
Variations in aberration need to be minimized in the respective lens units during zooming in order to provide favorable optical performance at a certain point during zooming. As a method to address this, for example, the optical power is reduced in each lens unit, or a larger number of lens elements are used to form each lens unit. These methods, however, lead to an increase in the overall length of the lenses and difficulty in achieving high zooming ratio and high performance.
To solve the problems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,233 has disclosed a zoom lens consisting of, in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a positive optical power, a second lens unit having a negative optical power, a third lens unit having a positive optical power, and a fourth lens unit having a positive optical power, in which each lens unit is moved to provide zooming.
With the development of the image pickup device, however, further improvement in optical performance is required in the field of optical apparatuses such as a video camera and a digital camera in which increasingly higher performance is desired.
Additionally, in a zoom lens of a type in which a lens unit closer to an image plane than an aperture stop moves in association with zooming, the exit pupil distance largely varies as a higher zooming ratio is provided. In a CCD frequently used as an image pickup device in recent years, for example, if the incident angle of light rays on an imaging plane varies, the angle of the light rays passing through a color filter is changed to create the possibility of causing a problem of color bleeding on the periphery of an image.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a zoom lens comprising four lens units which achieves a high zoom ratio and provides favorable optical performance at an arbitrary zoom position.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a zoom lens which involves small variations in the exit pupil distance during zooming, in addition to the aforementioned object.
To achieve the aforementioned objects, the zoom lens according to an aspect of the present invention includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lent unit which has a positive optical power, a second lens unit which has a negative optical power, a third lens unit which has a positive optical power, and a fourth lens unit which has a positive optical power. During zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, the spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit is increased, the spacing between the second lens unit and the third lens unit is reduced, the spacing between the third lens unit and the fourth lens unit is increased, and an aperture stop moves together with the third lens unit. In addition, specific conditions described in the following embodiments are satisfied.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the zoom lens includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens unit which has a positive optical power, a second lens unit which has a negative optical power, a third lens unit which has a positive optical power, and a fourth lens unit which has a positive optical power. The spacing between the respective lens units changes during zooming, and specific conditions described in the following embodiments are satisfied.
Characteristics of the zoom lens of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments with reference to the drawings.


In one exemplary and non-limiting aspect thereof a method is provided that includes sending a wireless network (WN) a first message that includes a list of authentication mechanisms supported by a node and, in association with each authentication mechanism, a corresponding identity; determining in the WN an authentication mechanism to be used for bootstrapping, based at least on the list received from the node; and including information in a second message that is sent to the node, the information including the determined authentication mechanism in conjunction with a corresponding identity. The method further includes protecting at least the list of authentication mechanisms supported by the node and the corresponding identities and sending a second message to the network, the second message including at least the list of authentication mechanisms and the corresponding identities. The method further includes receiving a second response message from the network that is at least partially integrity protected, where the second response message includes an indication of the selected authentication mechanism and the corresponding identity.

The following definitions are herewith defined:
3GPPThird Generation Partnership ProjectAAAAuthentication, Authorization and AccountingGAAGeneric Authentication ArchitectureGBAGeneric Bootstrapping ArchitectureBSFBootstrapping Server FunctionAKAAuthentication and Key AgreementIMIP MultimediaISIMIM Services Identity ModuleNAINetwork Access IdentifierMNMobile NodeUEUser EquipmentEV-DOEvolution Data Only3GPP GBA (see 3GPP TS 33.220 "GAA:GBA", attached as Exhibit A to the above-referenced U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/759,487) aims at specifying a mechanism to bootstrap authentication and key agreement for application security from the 3GPP AKA mechanism. GBA is also being introduced in 3GPP2, where apart from AKA, bootstrapping based on legacy key materials, including the SMEKEY (for CDMA1x systems) and MN-AAA Key (for CDMA1x EV-DO systems), are also being standardized. As a result, when operating in a 3GPP2 system a MN may support, or may be required to support, more than one authentication and bootstrapping mechanism. A technique is therefore needed for the MN and the network to agree on the algorithm set to be used in the bootstrapping. The same is required for future terminals that support both 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks, such that a 3GPP terminal may roam in a 3GPP2 network (and vice versa) and still use GBA. In addition, it is possible for operators to deploy both 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks in the same geographical location. In such cases, terminals also have to negotiate with the network the bootstrapping mechanism to use.
3GPP supports only one authentication and bootstrapping mechanism, i.e., the Digest-AKA mechanism and AKA protocol with 3GPP-defined algorithms. Usage of AKA with Digest authentication is specified in Digest-AKA (see IETF RFC 3310 "Digest AKA", attached as Exhibit B to the above-referenced U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/759,487).
In 3GPP2 there are different mechanisms for bootstrapping supported in the network side, as both legacy and non-legacy terminals need to be supported.
The MN may have support for multiple authentication and key generation mechanisms (e.g. AKA, MN-AAA, CAVE) and may have multiple pre-provisioned secrets. In 3GPP2 there is a mechanism selection procedure defined, which mandates that the MN inserts into the payload of the first message it sends to the BSF the list of supported authentication mechanisms, enabling the BSF to select the authentication mechanism that it prefers. Once the BSF selects the authentication and key generation mechanism, it contacts the correct database and fetches authentication data. For instance, if the MN supports MN-AAA, in addition to other mechanisms, and the BSF selects MN-AAA, then the BSF will contact the H-AAA to fetch a challenge.
The MN has also one or more identities. For example, if the MN has an ISIM application, then it has a private identity. If the MN is an EV-DO terminal, then it has an NAI. If the MN is a 1x terminal, then it has an IMSI-like identity.
This creates a problem, in that when the MN first contacts the BSF by sending an HTTP GET request (according to 3GPP2 S.P0109-0, Version 0.6, 8 Dec. 2005, "Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) Framework", attached as Exhibit C to the above-referenced U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/759,487), it is mandated to insert its identity into the request. Because most of the identities can only be used with specific authentication and key generation mechanisms (e.g., private identity can only be used with AKA, IMSI can only be used by CAVE, EV-DO NAI can only be used by MN-AAA), by selecting and including one of its identities into the GET request the MN pre-selects implicitly the authentication mechanism as well. With one specific identity already inserted, the BSF cannot make another choice for the mechanism than the one which that identity can be used with. Alternatively, a mapping of the different identities of a MN may need to be accessible by the BSF, but this approach may not be desirable for a number of reasons.

Apparatus, method and computer program product providing mobile node identities in conjunction with authentication preferences in generic bootstrapping architecture (GBA)


A method and system are disclosed for trip planning using crowdsourcing. Validation information from automatic ticketing validation systems is collected and used to generate validation sequences, which include an origin, destination, and boarding and alighting timestamps. A path is defined from the validation sequence as a sequence of origins and destinations on a transportation network. The frequency of the path occurring for all travelers on the network is determined, along with the duration of travel time on the path. An expected transfer time between pairs of stations on the network is calculated from the duration, the pairs of stations corresponding to an origin and a destination in the sequence. One or more paths between a pair of stations corresponding to a selected origin and destination are identified and a trip plan is generated using the identified paths which have the least determined transfer time and the highest frequency of occurrences.

The following relates to the transportation arts, tracking arts, data processing and data management arts.
Intelligent transportation systems may use real time information to assist public transport agencies in decision making. Such intelligent transportation systems may incorporate automatic data collection subsystems so as to monitor vehicle ridership along a route and allow for the periodic adjustment of headway plans, in order to improve the quality of service and to make the transportation system more attractive to the travelers.
Previous attempts to monitor and modify transportation systems made use of expensive and time-consuming procedures, such as household surveys and roadside interviews. Intelligent transportation systems, in contrast, allow the incorporation of sensor- and detector-based technologies, which enable the collection of large amounts of traveler information in real-time, which may then be processed to facilitate more efficient planning by associated transportation system personnel. Urban public transportation networks often deploy automatic ticketing validation systems, which can serve as sensors.
A public transport trip planner, or journey planner, may be designed to provide information about available public transport journeys or routes along the public transportation system, for example via a Web-based application. Such an application may prompt a prospective traveler to input an origin and a destination, and then use a trip planning engine to determine a route between the two input locations using specified available public transportation services and routes, e.g., buses, trams, trains, etc., depending on available schedules for these services. Accordingly, transportation authorities may include such a public transport journey planner on their websites, London for example, has a multi-modal journey planner covering all modes of public transport in London, including bus, tube and rail, as described more fully in "Mining public transport usage for personalised intelligent transport systems," Neal Lathia, Jon Froehlich, and Licia Capra, ICDM, pages 887-892, 2010. A similar trip planner with all modes included is maintained by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council in Finland, as described more fully in "An examination of the public transport information requirements of users," Brian Caulfield and Margaret O'Mahony, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 8(1):21-30, 2007.
A trip planner may find one or more suggested paths between an origin and a destination. The origin and destination may be specified as geospatial coordinates or names of points of access to public transport such as bus stops, stations, airports or ferry ports. A location finding process may resolve the origin and destination into the nearest known nodes on the transport network in order to compute a trip plan over its data set of known paths, i.e., routes. Trip planners for large networks may use a search algorithm to search a graph of nodes (representing access points to the transport network) and edges (representing possible journeys between points). Different weightings such as distance, cost or accessibility may be associated with each edge. When suggesting the journey or trip plans, the trip planner uses the abstract model of the public transportation network and those plans may not reflect the trips that travelers make every day on these routes. Accordingly, traffic jams, traveler congestion, delays, crowding, and the like, are not taken into account when determining the routes provided by the trip planner.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a method and system which reflect traveler patterns of behavior for trip planning.

System and method for trip plan crowdsourcing using automatic fare collection data


Provided is a core/multishell semiconductor nanocrystal including a core and multiple shells, which exhibits a type-I band offset and high photoluminescence quantum yield providing a bright tunable emission covering the visible range from about 400 nm to NIR over 1600 nm.

The need for nanocrystals with bright and stable fluorescence for various applications covering biology to electrooptics is increasingly growing. This is particularly true for III-V semiconductor nanocrystals that can cover the technologically important visible to near infrared (NIR) spectral ranges and at the same time be used for large scale implementation stemming from their environmentally benign (e.g. InP) character.
The main strategy to increase photoluminescence quantum yield and stability of the nanocrystals is to grow a passivating shell on the cores surface. This removes surface defects acting as traps for the carriers and therefore reduces the probability for the undesired processes of emission quenching via nonradiative decay. Moreover, the passivating shell protects the core and reduces surface degradation. Two main factors are considered while choosing the semiconductor material for the passivating shell: the first is the lattice mismatch between the core and shell materials. A large lattice mismatch will cause strain at the core/shell interface that can lead to creation of defect sites acting as trap sites for the charge carriers. The second factor is the band offsets between the core and shell regions that should be sufficiently high so that carriers are confined into the core region and kept separated from the surface where defects can lead to the undesired nonradiative relaxation processes. This latter effect is particularly critical in III-V semiconductors that typically are characterized by small effective masses for the charge carriers requiring a large potential barrier for their confinement.
Earlier work on core/shell nanocrystals resulted in quantum yield values of up to 90% for II-VI/II-VI core/shell structures and up to 20% for III-V/II-VI core/shell structures (Banin et al in WO02/25745 and by Haubold et al in Chem. Phys. Chem., (2001) 2, 331). For the III-V structures there is still significant room for improvement in the quantum yield values, but even for the II-VI structures showing high quantum yield, the shell thickness corresponding to these maximal quantum yields is small, typically only of about 2 monolayers. This limitation is likely due to traps created by structure imperfections formed in the growth process. A thick shell is important for the stability of the nanocrystals, especially for applications in which they are exposed to tough processes.
A solution to this problem was given in the work of Li et al (J. Am. Chem. Soc., (2003) 125, 12567-12575), in which a layer-by-layer growth method was used. A layer-by-layer growth was previously also used to create CdS/HgS/CdS quantum dot-quantum well structures (Mews et al., J. Phys. Chem., (1994) 98, 934). In this method the cation and anion shell precursors are added sequentially into the reaction vessel. Another solution to the problem of increased stress with shell thickness is to grow a heteroshell structure in which a buffer layer is used to decrease stress in the shell.
In international publication no. WO04/066361 high photoluminescence quantum yield compositions containing monodispersed colloidal core/shell semiconductor nanocrystals and doped or radially-doped core/multishell nanocrystals are disclosed. The preparation of multi-shelled structures such as the core/shell/shell containing CdSe cores has also been demonstrated, for example by Talapin et al in J. Phys. Chem. (2004) B 108, 18826 and by Mews et al in J. Amer. Chem. Soc., (2005) 127, 7480-7488.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

III-V semiconductor core-heteroshell nanocrystals

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem


The present invention relates to a self-molding permanent agent and a method for proceeding free-rod and free-band type permanent, more particularly to a self-molding permanent agent comprising (a) a reducing composition containing a reducing agent reducing a disulfide bond of cystine on the hair and a molding stimulant spontaneously molding to fix a hair design; (b) a molding composition inducing to mold after reacting with the molding stimulant; and (c) a softening composition releasing the action of a molding stimulant, and a method for pressing a free-rod and free-band type permanent, which overcomes a disadvantage in the conventional method for pressing a permanent that needs to wear a curling device such as rods for a permanent (perm rod) or rubber band and improves to apply a wave set without a hair-curling device for a short time, since it has a self-molding feature.

Permanent agent is a composition used to set a hair design maintained for a long time. In general, permanent agent is often comprised of a reducing agent that reduces a disulfide bond of cystine when it is applied to the hair and an oxidizing agent that oxidizes the disulfide bond to reset hair in a desired mode after treating the reducing agent and to fix the hair design.
For a reducing agent of permanent agent, thiol, sulfide, bisulfide or the like are often utilized. Precisely, the reducing gent can be selected from the group consisting of cysteine and its derivative, cysteamine and its derivative, thiolactic acid, thioglycolic acid and its ester or alkali salt and glyceryl thioglycolate. Especially, thioglycolic acid alkali salt is reported to be most effective among the reducing agents and is a universal component of a reducing agent included in a permanent agent.
Several techniques relating to a permanent agent have been disclosed as follows.
The hair treatment agent of keratin fiber that is encapsulated by polyvinyl alcohol to sustain various constituents preventing a hair injury is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open No. 2001-0033091. Also, the method for mixing other components such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone, surface-active agent and extender for viscosity in a permanent agent to retain the setting function of hair styling agent such as mousse, spray, gel and glaze as well as the permanent press function on the hair, is demonstrated in Korean Pat. No. 0167487.
In addition, the permanent agent and straightening agent wherein stable beads in the reductive agent 1 and the oxidative agent 2 containing a hair nutrient component are dispersed to decrease hair injury and scalp irritation, to enhance the sustainability and not to be affected by heating and the method for preparing the same are disclosed in Korean Pat. No. 0405955. Besides, the permanent composition comprising ceramide, cysteine and phospholipid and the method for applying a permanent set by combining hair shampoo, treatment agent, oxidant, rinse, cuticle modulator with the same, are illustrated in Korean Patent Laid-open No. 2002-0021141. Also, the process for washing hair by using shampoo containing ceramide; the process for providing a treatment agent containing ceramide on the hair; and the method for pressing a permanent comprising steps (1) setting hair by using a permanent press composition and (2) treating an oxidant are disclosed. Furthermore, the method for pressing a permanent wherein a multiple system using one more substance among two soluble agents and a rinse product is adopted as a chemical suitable for the reductive reaction of keratin fiber and the persistent oxidative reaction, is demonstrated in Korean Patent Laid-open No. 2002-0021392. Herein, oil component and alcohol are defined and a conditioning agent is also included. In addition, the method for treating keratin to reset the hair permanently, wherein for a stable reducing agent comprising a solid composition in a powder form and a liquid composition, cysteine, cysteamine or the like are mixed to maintain the stability and the efficacy of a reducing agent, even if other reducing agent becomes unstable and ineffective and for a solid carrier, silica, clay, carbohydrate and organic polymer are selected, is already illustrated in Korean Pat. No. 0411960.
Generally, a method for pressing a permanent by using a permanent agent mentioned above is proceeded as follows.
In the first step, a reducing composition containing a reducing agent is treated to dissociate a disulfide bond of keratin (i.e., cystine).
In the second step, a curling device such as rods for a permanent press (hereinafter, referred to as "perm rod") or other means are equipped to set hair by tensile force after dissociating a disulfide bond.
In the third step, an oxidizing composition (also referred to as "neutralizing agent") is added on the hair curled above to rearrange the disulfide bond and finally, maintain the hair in a desired mode.
By the process for pressing a permanent described above, the hair can be curled, straightened, untied to remove a curl or waved smoothly. In this procedure, a hair-curling apparatus such as perm rod and rubber band can be exploited to fix hair in an intended mode, or a vinyl cap can be used to prevent the evaporation of moisture from a reducing composition or an oxidizing composition.
However, there are some disadvantages in the conventional process for pressing a permanent as follows.
First, this procedure may be dangerous to drop out hairs or cause red spots on the scalp, because hair is pulled down and set forcibly and elongate a disulfide bond of cystine to decrease the elastic strength of hair, break hair easily and injure the hair.
Second, it may leave a rod track because a hair-curling device are equipped as compressing by mechanical force and carve a rubber band track on the hair because a rubber band is placed on the hair to fix a perm rod. As a result, the hair is cut and hurt at the track to interfere a wave set in a desired mode.
Third, it cannot apply a natural wave set on the hair because a forcible permanent wearing a hair-curling device such as perm rod and rubber band makes an artificial curl.
Fourth, it may cause a severe hair injury by a permanent agent since at least 40 minutes is required to curl hair and is inconvenient and painful to spend more than 40 minutes while wearing a curling device.
Fifth, it cannot apply a wave set on the hair without rods.
The permanent agents and methods for performing a permanent press described above have been utilized for 80 years, but are seldom improved and displaced in spite of such a problem. Even reformed product does not outgrow the conventional process remarkably, although it adopted a surface-active agent or the like in a straightening agent to apply a straight wave. Therefore, it is necessary that the permanent agent developed presently should utilize a curling device such as perm rod or rubber band to fix hair to an intended design.
On the other hand, the hair setting agent comprising solution 1 containing polysaccharide and solution 2 containing metal salts reacting with the polysaccharide and gelling, is elucidated in Japanese Unexamined Pat. No. 2000-191478. Unfortunately, it just described the process for setting hair temporarily after coating by the gel reaction of polysaccharide or the technique for attaching a decoration on the hair. That is to say, the hair styling product that applies a wave set disappearing during styling or shampoo-washing and induces to reset hair temporarily are clarified in Japanese Unexamined Pat. No. 2000-191478. This product is clearly discriminated from the permanent agent of the present invention that maintains a hair design for several weeks after treatment and does not change a wave set even if washing hair by water or shampoo.

Self-molding permanent agent and method for proceeding free-rod and free-band type permanent

Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology


A transmissive display system is calibrated by applying DAC values for a target color and noting the color displayed on the screen. The displayed color is compared to the target color in high and low ambient light levels to determine if it is within a specified tolerance of the target color. Should the displayed color not be within the tolerance range, a calibration procedure is launched for both the high and low light levels which establishes new DAC values and backlight levels for accurate target color presentation on the screen over a wide dynamic range of input signal levels.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of transmissive displays and more particularly to a method of determining input values for providing the primary color luminances required for a set of specified colors to be displayed thereon.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Transmissive display systems have been developed to provide flat-panel monitors for numerous applications, including aircraft instrumentation, personal computers, laptop and notebook computers, and the like. Such displays potentially offer greater luminance, higher contrast ratios, greater sharpness, and better spatial uniformity than CRT displays. These systems utilize a light source, termed a backlight, to illuminate the pixels on the flat panel. Light intensity from the backlight is normally maintained at constant level and color is provided by the relative luminosity of the light transmitted through three primary color filters, usually selected as red, green, and blue, associated with each pixel on the screen. The intensity of the light from each filter is controlled by analog signals which in turn are selected by digital signals representative of the desired pixel color. These analog signals are selected from a look-up table which is accessed by the color representative digital signals.
Due to the backlight leakage through the primary color filters, the black level in a transmissive display is not as dark as the black level in a CRT. Consequently, transmissive displays have lower contrast ratios than CRTs. Further, when the luminance of a primary color is reduced by decreasing the video level, the measured color coordinates shift. This is largely the result of mixing the intended level of the primary colors with a backlight leakage component, which is also represented in the black level.
Colors produced on the screen of an uncompensated transmissive display may vary from the desired luminance and chromaticity of the target colors. Such variances may be caused by factors such as primary filter color variations, external flare, nonlinearities, and backlight leakage. Since measured color coordinates of the primary colors are not constant with input signal levels, due to backlight leakage, proper addition of the primary colors may not always be achieved. This problem is most severe when very low signal levels are required for use in low light ambient conditions. Consequently, when applied to transmissive displays, the prior art calibration methods can fail to achieve specified accuracy of chromaticity and luminance. To provide required chromaticity and luminance, a transmissive display system must be calibrated by modifying the process used to generate the input signals and calculating compensated input values which may be stored in a look-up table.
In the prior art, monitors were color calibrated and adjustments were made, if needed, either manually or automatically. The manual system, which is time consuming, requires a color calibration for each of a multiplicity of specified colors followed by a manual adjustment of the analog signals to bring each of the specified colors within predetermined tolerances. The closed loop system, which is expensive to set-up and maintain, monitors a specified color while the control signals are varied until the color being calibrated is within the predetermined tolerance. This procedure is repeated for each of the specified colors. Besides their difficulty and expense, these processes can fail when the chromaticity of primary colors varies with input signal level.

Method of color calibration for transmissive displays


A racket stringer includes a work table, and two opposite fixing devices each mounted on the work table and each including a rack, a guide plate, two foot posts, a support shaft, and a press rod. Thus, the fixing device has a quick positioning microadjustment function. In addition, the fixing device can be displaced easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating the user operating the racket sag stringer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stringer of a racket, and more particularly to a racket stringer having a frame fixing device with a quick positioning microadjustment function.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional racket stringer in accordance with the prior art shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a work table 1, and two opposite fixing devices 3 each mounted on the work table 1. Each of the fixing devices 30 includes a guide plate 2 mounted on the work table 1 and formed with an elongated guide slot 202, a base 4 slidably mounted on the guide plate 2 and has a bottom 402 provided with two pins 404 slidably mounted in the guide slot 202, a locking bolt 5 having a first end formed with a rotation head 502 and a second end extended through a washer 504 and the guide slot 202 and screwed into the bottom 402 of the base 4, two clamping arms 7 mounted on the base 4, an angle mechanism 9 mounted on the base 4 and provided with a rotation knob 902 to control the included angle between the two clamping arms 7, and a control mechanism 8 mounted on the base 4 and provided with a control knob 802 to move a resting plate 804 forward and backward.
In operation, the locking bolt 5 is unscrewed from the bottom 402 of the base 4, so that the base 4 can be moved freely, and the two fixing devices 3 can be moved outward relative to each other to reach the position of the frame of the racket. Then, the locking bolt 5 is screwed on the bottom 402 of the base 4, so that the base 4 is fixed. Then, the control knob 802 is rotated to move a resting plate 804 to rest on the inner periphery of the frame of the racket, and the rotation knob 902 is rotated to move the two clamping arms 7 to rest on the outer periphery of the frame of the racket, so that the frame of the racket is clamped between the two opposite fixing devices 30 for stretching the strings of the racket.
However, each of the two opposite fixing devices 3 cannot be moved easily and conveniently, thereby greatly causing inconvenience to the user. In addition, the user needs to successively screw and unscrew the locking bolt 5 to position and release the fixing device 3, thereby causing inconvenience to the user in use. Further, the fixing device 3 does not have a microadjustment function, so that the position of the fixing device 3 cannot be microadjusted.
The present invention is to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional racket stringer.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a racket stringer having a frame fixing device that has a quick positioning microadjustment function.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a racket stringer, wherein the frame fixing device can be displaced easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating the user operating the racket stringer.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a racket stringer, wherein the frame fixing device can be positioned easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating the user operating the racket stringer.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a racket stringer, comprising a work table, and two opposite fixing devices each mounted on the work table and each including a rack, a guide plate, two foot posts, a support shaft, and a press rod, wherein:
the rack is mounted on the top of the work table and has a top face formed with a plurality of oneway ratchet teeth;
the guide plate is mounted on the top of the work table and is formed with two elongated guide-slots each parallel with the rack;
each of the two foot posts is slidably mounted on the guide plate and has a bottom provided with a slide slidably mounted in a respective one of the two guide slots of the guide plate, thereby guiding the fixing device to displace on the work table reciprocally;
the support shaft is rotatably mounted between the two foot posts; and
the press rod is extended through the support shaft and has a first end rested on the ratchet teeth of the rack and a second end formed with a rotation head for rotating the press rod.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.


A printer driver enables appropriately executing real-time commands without causing operating errors even when print data is compressed for transmission to a printer. A driver causing a host computer that connects to a printer to execute a process, including causing the host computer to generate first commands executed by the printer in the order received, and second commands executed with priority over the first commands; generate print data including the first commands and send the print data to the printer; and execute a compression process converting data of the first commands contained in the print data to compressed data not containing a data train identical to a second command when generating the print data.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a host computer, and relates more particularly to a control method of a host computer for appropriately executing real-time commands without causing an operating error even when print data is compressed for transmission to a printer.
2. Related Art
Instructions (commands) sent to a printer include commands (referred to below as normal commands) such as print commands that are processed in the order transmitted (in the order received by the printer), and commands (referred to below as real-time commands) that are executed with priority over normal commands immediately upon receipt by the printer.
Real-time commands include commands to return information indicating the status of the printer (status information), commands to clear data stored in data buffers of the printer, and commands to operate (drive) devices connected to a printer, such as to open a drawer or sound an alarm.
Binary data such as image data may be contained (added to) in some commands that are sent to a printer, such as print commands for printing images and graphics, and the data train in such commands may contain a data train identical to the data train of a real-time command. In this event, the printer that receives the data train may erroneously interpret image data to be printed as a real-time command, and an unintended real-time command may be executed. Unintended operations caused by such false real-time commands may result in essential data being cleared, for example, and must be avoided.
To avoid problems, the device described in JP-A-2000-298563 uses the equivalent of a prohibit real-time command to prevent the printer from executing real-time commands.
Operating environments in which printers are used by mobile terminals that send print commands to the printer by wireless communication are increasingly common. To improve the printing performance of the printer and assure print quality at a constant print speed in such environments, the host device compresses the data to be transmitted in order to shorten the data transmission time to the printer.
As described above, the compressed data may also contain data trains identical to a real-time command, and when a data train identical to a real-time command is detected in the compressed data, the original data is sent to the printer without being compressed.
However, if the original, uncompressed data is transmitted in an environment in which the data is preferably compressed for transmission as described above, operating errors caused by false real-time commands resulting from compression can be avoided, but printers that print continuously may need to reduce the print speed due to communication delays, and printing problems, such as the introduction of white bands (blank bands) to images printed by changing the print speed may result.
When the method described in JP-A-2000-298563 is used, operating errors caused by false real-time commands can be prevented in the printer even if compressed data containing a data train identical to a real-time command is sent, but executing a true (valid) real-time command while sending compressed data may also be necessary. However, because the printer is prohibited from executing real-time commands, even valid real-time commands that are sent are ignored and not executed.

Host computer, control method of a host computer, and medium


An expandable implant includes a structural insert to provide a robust connection between an insertion instrument and the expandable implant. The structural insert can be made from a different material than the remainder of the implant to withstand compressive, tensile, shear, and torsional loads which may be present while inserting the implant into a patient. The structural insert may be formed as part of a bottom member of the implant or may be a separate element inserted into the implant body. The structural insert may provide a threaded connection to an insertion instrument. The expandable implant may include a bone graft port in fluid communication with a bone graft opening extending through the implant body.

The present invention generally relates to medical devices for stabilizing the vertebral motion segment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a composite spinal intervertebral body cage for distraction and fusion.
Certain known spine cages or implants are characterized by a body comprising a hydroxyapetite coated surface provided on the exterior surface for contact with adjacent vertebral segments or endplates. A cage of this type may be inserted posteriorly through the neuroforamen of the distracted spine after a surgeon removes disc, bone, and ligament material to create a pathway.
Such existing devices for interbody stabilization have important and significant limitations. Current devices for interbody stabilization include static spacers composed of titanium, PEEK, and high performance thermoplastic polymer produced by VICTREX, (Victrex USA Inc, 3A Caledon Court; Greenville, S.C. 29615), carbon fiber, or resorbable polymers.
One problem with conventional devices for interbody stabilization made of PEEK, other high performance thermoplastics or resorbable polymers is the relative weakness and/or brittleness of these materials compared to the forces required to insert the device between bones of the spinal column. A review of the Food and Drug Administration's Medical Device Reporting (MDR) database for intervertebral body cages show that the greatest reported failure rate, at 36% of all reports, is for breakage of the cage during insertion. Therefore there is a need for intervertebral body cages made from materials that can withstand the insertion forces without breaking.
The failure point for most cages experiencing breakage during insertion is the point of attachment between the intervertebral body cage and the inserter attached to the cage which is used to place the cage between the vertebrae. There are many means know to those skilled in the art for attaching a spinal fusion cage to an insertion instrument, including, but not limited to a threaded hole and threaded screw, an impression or indentation and hooks or projections, and a supporting surface and a clamping mechanism. In all cases, the attaching means must not only secure the spinal fusion cage to the inserter and then release the cage once it is properly located in the intervertebral space, but the attaching means must also provide a secure attachment during the insertion step when significant forces may be required to advance the cage between vertebral bodies that have come in contact or near contact around a "collapsed" disc space.
Impact loads of greater than 50 pounds force have been measured during the insertion of intervertebral spinal cages between vertebrae. Even more challenging can be the rotational moments placed on the implant as it is forced into a rigidly defined space as more than 90 inch-pounds of torque have been recorded during insertion. Therefore there is a need for intervertebral body cages with robust insertion attachment which can withstand the insertion forces without separation.

Structurally supporting insert for spinal fusion cage


A combined air-hydrogen turbo-rocket engine is disclosed having a simplified construction in which the hydrogen driven turbine is formed integrally with the rotor wheel of the axial air compressor stages. The rotor stages are located downstream of a stator vane structure and are driven by gaseous hydrogen passing across the turbine blades. The hydrogen is subsequently injected into an air duct surrounding the axial air compressor and defining an airflow path having an air inlet. The hydrogen-air mixture is ignited and the burned gases are expanded through a converging-diverging exhaust nozzle.

The present invention relates to a combined air-hydrogen turbo-rocket power plant capable of accelerating an aircraft or the like to hypersonic speeds at high altitudes.
French patent No. 2,215,538 describes a power plant of this type in which an axial air compressor is driven by an axial turbine rotated by hydrogen gas. The turbine is coaxially located with respect to the air compressor and is connected to the compressor by a generally axially extending shaft. The hydrogen expanding through the turbine is subsequently injected into an air duct which surrounds the turbine and the compressor, and defines an airflow path. The hydrogen is burned while it is being mixed with the compressed air issuing from the compressor and the mixture of burned gases is exhausted downstream through a diverging exhaust pipe.
While the performance of this known power plant is adequate, the complexity of the device is believed to be unduly high due to the number of compressor stages required to achieve a good air compression ratio and because of the complicated mechanical structure necessitated by the location of the hydrogen-feed turbine in the middle of the airflow duct.

Combined air-hydrogen turbo-rocket power plant

Societe Nationale D'etude et de Construction De Moteurs D'Aviation (S.N.E.C.M.A.)


A phase comparison circuit outputs a first phase comparison signal indicating whether or not an edge of an equalization signal is in a first interval between sampling timing and timing having a first predetermined phase advance, and outputs a second phase comparison signal indicating whether or not the edge of the equalization signal is in a second interval between the sampling timing and timing having a second predetermined phase delay. A determination circuit compares a predetermined comparison target pattern with output patterns of the first and second phase comparison signals corresponding to each bit of a detection data pattern.

The present disclosure relates to an adaptive receiver system configured to receive a reception signal and an adaptive transceiver system including the adaptive receiver system.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-022537 discloses a receiver including an equalizer configured to receive a digital signal from a transmitter to change a frequency response of the digital signal, and a receiver logic configured to adjust a gain of the equalizer. In the receiver, the receiver logic samples output of the equalizer at a certain data point to generate a data value, and samples output of the equalizer at a certain boundary point of data to generate a boundary value. Then, the receiver logic adjusts the gain of the equalizer based on the generated data value and the generated boundary value.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-099017 discloses a clock data recovery device configured to recover a clock signal based on an input digital signal. The clock data recovery device includes an equalizer, a sampler, a clock generator, and an equalizer controller. The equalizer is configured to adjust the level of an input digital signal and output the adjusted digital signal. The sampler is configured to sample a digital signal output from the equalizer by using a clock CKX representing data bit transition timing to obtain a value DX(n) and to sample a digital signal output from the equalizer by using a clock CK representing a central time of each bit duration to obtain a value D(n). The clock generator is configured to adjust, referring to FIG. 2 of Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-099017, the phases of the clock CKX and the clock CK based on an UP signal (phase comparison signal) representing a significance value when "D(n−1)≠DX(n−1)=D(n)" is satisfied and a DN signal (phase comparison signal) representing the significance value when "D(n−1)=DX(n−1)≠D(n)" is satisfied. The equalizer controller is configured to control, based on the value D(n) and the value DX(n), an offset voltage value added to an input digital signal by the equalizer.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-180188 discloses a clock data recovery circuit configured to compare the phases of input data and a sampling clock to generate a sampling clock based on a comparison result. In the clock data recovery circuit, the phase of the sampling clock is changed such that an edge of the sampling clock and an edge of the input data are apart from each other with more than a predetermined distance.

Adaptive receiver system and adaptive transceiver system