This invention relates to a combined rotary engine with an eccentric rotor and a single vane. The engine comprises at least a set consisting of a compressing portion and a working portion with similar structure combined side by side, and sharing a common output shaft. The gas is sucked into the compressing portion to be compressed, and is then translated to the adjacent working portion to ignite for working. The features of the engine are that power is translated out by the output shaft driven by the vane directly, wear is low, the adjacent compressing portion and working portion may have optimum volume ratio, the utilization of energy is high and oiling and cooling are executed easily.

This invention relates to a combined rotary vane engine, particularly to a rotary engine with a single vane and a biased rotor.
In the prior art, three typical structures of rotary engine are: a rotary engine with vane(s), a rotary engine with engagement of toothed gears or the like, and a rotary engine with oscillating motion. Additionally, the rotary engine with vane(s) has many variations, one of which is a rotary vane engine with an eccentric rotor, to which this invention is directed.
The main structural features of such an engine are as follows: the cylinder is of cylindrical shape; a shaft is provided at the axis passing the center of the cylinder; a vane rotating around the axis is disposed radially between the axis and the internal wall of the cylinder; a hollow cylindrical rotor with a longitudinal slot is located eccentrically in the cylinder around said center shaft, and the external wall of the rotor is tangential to the internal wall of the cylinder; a combustion chamber, the volume of which changes with the rotation of the vane, is formed between the external wall of the rotor and the internal wall of the cylinder so as to execute the working cycle of the internal combustion engine. Such an engine may have a vane or a plurality of vanes, as disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,132,632, 2,969,049 and 3,289,653.
Up to now the rotary engine is not widely used in practice because it has serious deficiencies and cannot realize the requirement for simple, reliable and highly efficient work. The references mentioned above are taken into account, for example: for such an engine with a plurality of vanes as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,632, the angles between said vanes are varied during operation, so that these vanes cannot be all fixed on the center shaft. Therefore, power output is realized by function of the vanes which move the eccentric rotor. Under the mutual action between the great pressure, which is produced during explosion of the combustion gas, and the load, a great stress may be caused between the vanes and the slot from which the vane projects, thus causing the slide or sealing member to quickly wear out. As a result, the whole engine fails.
For such an engine with a single vane, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,969,049 and 3,289,653, although the power output mode in which the vane is fixed with the center shaft is used, there exist some obvious deficiencies. First, it is necessary for the engine of U.S. Pat. No. 2,969,049 to provide a set of special mechanisms to drive the .eccentric rotor and the vane to execute the working cycle. Therefore, the eccentric rotor rotates on the internal wall of the cylinder by the action of the drive means, thus the structure is complicated, and it is difficult to achieve the seal and lubrication. Moreover, during operation, a great stress may be produced between the vane and the rotor, thus causing the sealing member to wear out, causing the whole engine to fail.
Additionally, both of the above-mentioned technical solutions have another similar deficiency. That is, since the working space of the engine is crescent and limited, it is difficult for the energy of the combustion gas by the explosion stroke to be used efficiently while rotating at a high speed (the explosion angle of rotation being less than 180.degree. of the rotation angle of the vanes), and the compression stroke is equal to the explosion stroke, which leaves surplus energy to be discharged, thus wasting energy and lowering efficiency.
Moreover, there exist the following deficiencies in the technical solution of U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,653:
1. The structure is unreasonable. Since the working mode in which the internal cylinder is for suction and compression, and the external cylinder is for combustion and action, it is difficult to realize an optimum ratio of working volumes;
2. A high sealing requirement is needed between the front and the back of the vanes, both ends of the rotor and the external wall, vane and rotor, so that the sealing is complicated and difficult, and reliability is worse;
3. Since both internal and external cylinders are all working chambers, effective lubrication and cooling is not provided between the chambers or in the chamber;
4. Because a very long compression gas pipe is provided between the compression cylinder and the working cylinder, the exhaust gas produced in combustion cannot be fully discharged out in the discharge stroke, thus lowering the combustion efficiency;
5. Gas passage is opened and closed by a disk turning valve, the structure is complicated and reliability is worse.


A method of and an apparatus for removing any burrs or other undesired defects from a workpiece having a bore therein is disclosed. Specifically, those burrs or other defects that are to be removed may be present on the marginal edge or interior of the bore. The method and apparatus are specifically designed to allow a rotary tool to meet the specific relationship requirements between the number of revolutions (n) and number of reciprocating motions (N), i.e., 1/3.ltoreq.n/M.ltoreq.1, when the rotary tool travels forward and backward within its specific stroke range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates genreally to the art of workpiece surface finishing, and more particularly provides the deburring (removal of burrs), finishing, polishing, and other like functions for workpieces that usually carry respective bores to be worked on and finally finished. More particularly, the present invention uses a rotary tool such as a brushing device to accomplish those functions, which includes a functional element that may be applied upon the workpieces to remove any burrs from the marginal edges and/or interiors of the bores through the workpieces.
It should be understood in connection with the present invention that the term "rotary tool" referred to hereinafter may include all tools having a resilient property and having a particular shape such as cylindrical, conical/tapered, and the like, which are made of a bundle of wire-brushes, fibrous materials, or plastics (including nylon) that contain any appropriate adrading sustances, or buffs which are made of cloth. It should also be understood that those tools have the good resilient contact that allows them to engage the corners of the workpiece to be worked on, and provide the mechanical rigidiy or strength or functional ability or both. Thus, the good surface finishing results such as deburring can be obtained by using those tools.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is a conventional surface finishing method or apparatus that is designed to provide the deburring function, for example. According to that method or apparatus, the deburring operation occurs for a workpiece with a bore from which any burrs are to be removed. During the deburring process, the workpiece is placed with regard to the apparatus to ensure that the center axis through the bore is properly aligned with the center axis through the rotary tool on the apparatus. Then, the rotary tool is rotated with a high speed while it is being inserted into the bore through the workpiece. The deburring operation actually occurs by moving the rotary tool with a reciprocating motion with regard to the workpiece (this teaching is disclosed in Japan's Utility Model Application No. 62-28376 which is now published).
The conventional deburring method or apparatus is disadvantageous in that the rotary tool has the significantly great ratio of the number of revolutions (n) to the number of reciprocating motions (N) (such as 50<n/N<100). As such, the rotary tool must have its blade tip placed at a relatively small angle with regard to the bore of the workpiece from which any burrs are to be removed. That is, the rotary tool must have its blade tip placed in its horizontal position against the bore of the workpiece. In that way, the blade tip can easily deviate or escape from the point where any burrs that should thereby be removed are located, so that not all burrs may completely be removed.

Method for removing burrs from workpieces


A gripping device intended particularly for bottles or like objects, including a gripping block (6) which incorporates a plurality of through-passing cylindrical channels (7), and a gripping element arranged in each of the channels. Each gripping element includes a support sleeve (8) having mounted thereon a substantially cylindrical muff (9) made of an elastic material. By delivering pressurized air to the space located between the muff (9) and the support sleeve (8), the muff can be deformed so as to grip around the neck of a bottle. The gripping block (6) is connected in a readily removable manner to a mounting block (5) carried by a holding device (1), and the mounting block is so constructed that when the gripping block is connected to the mounting block the mounting block will hold the gripping elements in place in the gripping block. The arrangement enables the gripping elements to be quickly reached for exchange purposes when removing the gripping block (6) from the mounting block (5).

The present invention relates to a gripping device, and more specifically, but not exclusively, to a gripping device intended for gripping bottles or like objects and being of the kind which includes a gripping block in which there is embodied a plurality of through-passing cylindrical channels in each of which there is disposed a gripping element in the form of a support sleeve which has mounted thereon a substantially cylindrical muff made of an elastic material, and air passages which are operative in delivering air under pressure to the space located between the muff and the support sleeve, such as to deform the muff.
Such gripping devices may, for instance, be incorporated in machines for lifting return bottles from crates arriving at a brewery and for placing filled bottles into crates to be distributed from a brewery. Normally, a plurality of bottle-gripping devices, corresponding in number to the number of bottles in a crate, are mutually coupled to form a co-acting unit. In those instances when it is likely that the distances between adjacent rows of bottles in a crate or on the bottle conveyer belt will vary, the grippers may be constructed for mutual displacement in relation to one another, so that the grippers can be brought into their correct position.
Bottle grippers of this known kind, with which respective bottles are gripped with the aid of an elastic muff, preferably a rubber muff disposed in an air passage, afford certain advantages over those bottle grippers with which the bottles are gripped with the aid of balls or like elements urged into engagement with the bottle head.
DE-A1-2 845 094 teaches a bottle gripping device which includes a rubber muff arranged in a through-passing channel for co-action with a bottle head. In this case, however, the rubber muff is mounted between the support sleeve and a screw-threaded plug. Thus, the attachment is achieved solely by the clamping action obtained between the plug and the support sleeve, and has been found unreliable in practice. Among other things, it is difficult in this way to achieve a positive attachment capable of withstanding high pressure impacts.
A more serious drawback with this prior art attachment is that the muff anchorage is progressively impaired, even in normal use of the gripper, and finally results in a gripper which will no longer function in the manner intended. This is due to the fact that when the rubber muff is deformed, creep occurs in the rubber material beyond the position at which the muff is clamped. When the pressure is subsequently equalized, the elasticity of the rubber material is not sufficient to retract the rubber material past the clamping location. Consequently, material migrates progressively beyond said clamping location.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,045 teaches a gripping device with which this problem is alleviated, by arranging and configuring the rubber muffs in a manner such that the muffs are self-locking in the channels as a result of the elevated air pressure acting on respective muffs, this elevated pressure also increasing the frictional force between the muff and the channel wall, so that the muff retaining force will increase with increasing pressure.
In order, inter alia, to prevent the sleeve and the muff from being pressed up through the channel when a holder means forming part of the grip arrangement is lowered over a bottle, a screw-threaded plug having a through-passing bore whose diameter is smaller than the diameter of the channel is screwed into the holder means so as to hold the gripping device in position.
Although this known gripping arrangement functions quite satisfactorily in practice, the task of replacing defective rubber muffs is relatively laborious and difficult to carry out, particularly in those instances when the gripping device is so mounted as to leave only a very small space above the gripper elements. This lack of space makes it difficult to unscrew respective plugs so as to enable a defective muff to be removed and replaced with a new muff. It will be understood that it is imperative with machines of this kind that stationary periods can be reduced to a minimum in the event of a malfunction. Furthermore, the construction of the known gripping device is unnecessarily complicated, since it includes a multiplicity of elements or components.


There is provided a thermoplastic resin composition comprising the following components (A) to (E): component (A): 50 to 74.7% by weight of a Ziegler-Natta catalyst sequentially polymerized blend of a propylene homopolymer and an ethylene-propylene copolymer, component (B): 5 to 10% by weight of an ethylene-octene random copolymer, component (C): 5 to 10% by weight of an ethylene-butene random copolymer, component (D): 0.3 to 5% by weight of an elastomer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a thermoplastic resin composition comprising a propylene-ethylene block copolymer resin, a low crystalline ethylene-octene copolymer, a low crystalline ethylene-butene copolymer, a specific elastomer having a block structure, talc, and a specific additive admixture, which is excellent in terms of processability on injection molding and in the appearance of a molded product, has good flexural modulus, impact resistance, elongation in tension, surface hardness, and heat resistance, and is also excellent in adhesion to a paint film and improved in terms of prevention of mold contamination, and thus is particularly suited for the production of injection-molded products such as automotive interior trims.
2. Background Art
So far, numerous attempts have been made to increase the impact resistance and rigidity of polypropylene resins by the addition thereto of ethylene-propylene copolymers, various ethylene copolymers, and talc. For instance, resin compositions having excellent impact resistance are known from JP-B-63-42929, JP-A-64-150, JP-A-64-66263, and JP-A-1-204946.
However, the composition set forth in the above JP-B-63-42929 is insufficient in flexural modulus and heat resistance due to the use of a polypropylene of not so high crystallinity.
The compositions described in JP-A-64-150, JP-A-64-66263 and JP-A-1-204946, because of their low talc content, are suited for some applications, e.g., bumpers but their flexural modulus is too low for interior trims.
Furthermore, JP-A-4-159345 discloses an ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer composition containing a large amount of inorganic filler. This composition has a high specific gravity, and thus is not preferred in the light of weight reduction of automobiles.
In order to reduce the above drawbacks, JP-A-7-53843 has proposed a composition. This composition, however, is unsatisfactory in fluidity for use in applications requiring a higher level of fluidity where molding should be carried out at a low pressure in short cycle times.
Regarding the interior trims, they are in most cases coated with a paint to enhance the commercial value. Unfortunately, however, polypropylene materials for interior trims generally exhibit poor adhesion to a paint film, especially when fats and oils are involved. Therefore, the development of materials having higher adhesion to a paint film has been desired in the art.
On the other hand, there is the following problem with the conventional talc-containing polypropylene composite materials at the time of their molding. Thus, during the long-term continuous molding of the composite materials, bleedouts are gradually deposited on molds, whereby the resulting molded product undesirably exhibits a high gloss. This is particularly pointed out for automotive interior trims. A propylene polymer which provides a solution to this problem while maintaining the physical properties has been proposed in JP-A-5-209094 and JP-A-6-17982. However, this polymer utilizes no weathering agent. In view of the fact that stabilizers used for improving weathering resistance usually exert an adverse influence on the contamination of molds, there is still left much to be desired.
An object of the present invention is to provide a thermoplastic resin composition which has high fluidity, good physical properties and excellent moldability, can provide moldings having good adhesion to a paint film, is improved in terms of prevention of mold contamination, and is especially suited for the production of automotive interior trims such as an instrument panel.


Methods of processing a substrate include: providing a substrate having a polymer dielectric layer, a metal pad formed within the polymer dielectric layer and a first metal layer formed atop the polymer dielectric layer; depositing a polymer layer atop the substrate; patterning the polymer layer to form a plurality of openings, wherein the plurality of openings comprises a first opening formed proximate the metal pad; depositing a first barrier layer atop the polymer layer; depositing a dielectric layer atop the first barrier layer; etching the dielectric layer and the first barrier layer from within the first opening and a field region of the polymer layer; depositing a second barrier layer atop the substrate; depositing a second metal layer atop the substrate wherein the second metal layer fills the plurality of openings; and etching the second metal layer from a portion of the field region of the polymer layer.

A semiconductor memory device generally comprises a plurality of memory cells which are used to store a large quantity of information. Each memory cell includes a capacitor for storing electric charge and a corresponding field effect transistor for opening and closing charging and discharging passages of the capacitor. As the size of semiconductor devices continues to shrink, the area occupied by each component of a semiconductor device should be decreased. Capacitors are one component that can occupy considerable area on a semiconductor die depending on the size of the capacitor and/or the number of capacitors on the die.
One example of a capacitor used in a semiconductor memory device is a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor. A traditional MIM capacitor is two-dimensional (2D). A 2D MIM capacitor has two facing metal plates which are planar and substantially parallel to each other and to the substrate. One method of increasing the capacitance of a MIM capacitor is to increase the sizes of the metal plates. However, increasing the sizes of the metal plates will consume more surface area of the substrate. Accordingly, a need exists to reduce the surface area on the substrate occupied by a capacitor without sacrificing the capacitance.
Accordingly, the inventors have developed an improved 3-dimensional metal-insulator-metal (3D MIM) capacitor and method of forming a 3D MIM capacitor.

Structure and method of fabricating three-dimensional (3D) metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor and resistor in semi-additive plating metal wiring


An n.sup.- epitaxial layer 4 is formed on the top face of a p type semiconductor substrate 1. A p.sup.+ buried layer 20 is formed by implanting ions in the region extending over the p type semiconductor substrate 1 and the n.sup.- epitaxial layer 4. A p.sup.+ channel stop is formed in the upper layer of the p.sup.+ buried layer 20 by ion implantation. A p well is formed extending from the upper layer of the p.sup.+ channel stop to the top face of the n.sup.- epitaxial layer. An n channel MOS type field effect transistor 200 is formed in the p well 22. It is possible to reliably isolate an element from an adjacent element thereto because of the structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device for improving element characteristics by improvement of the structure of a transistor and a method of manufacturing thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
A VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit) represented by a memory and a processor tends to be made large in scale recently. In order to meet with this requirement for a larger scale, a CMOS having features of high integration density and low power consumption has become the mainstream. However, such is the state that requirement for a higher speed is not sufficiently met even though an operating speed of a MOS has been enhanced because of progress of a miniaturization technique. From the view point of high speed, bipolar implementation centered at ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic) is usually the mainstream. However, power consumption of a bipolar device is extremely high, which imposes a great limit on high integration density.
Under these circumstances, in order to implement a device operable at a high speed with low power consumption, much attention has been paid to a Bi-CMOS transistor which can have CMOS's features of high integration density and low power consumption, and a bipolar implementation's feature of a high speed.
Referring to FIG. 15, a Bi-CMOS transistor 900 is often used in a peripheral circuit as a transistor for driving a memory cell 551 provided in a semiconductor device 550. An equivalent circuit of the Bi-CMOS transistor 900 is shown in FIG. 16.
A structure of the above-described Bi-CMOS transistor 900 is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 62-219554 and the like.
Referring to FIG. 17, an n.sup.- type epitaxial layer 502 is formed on a p.sup.- type semiconductor substrate of single crystal silicon.
An n.sup.+ type buried layer 503A of high concentration is formed extending over the semiconductor substrate 501 and the epitaxial layer 502 in a region where a bipolar transistor 600 is to be formed.
An n.sup.+ type buried layer 503B of high concentration is formed extending over the semiconductor substrate 501 and the epitaxial layer 502 in a region where a p channel MOS type field effect transistor 700 is to be formed.
The bipolar transistor 600 of the Bi-CMOS transistor 900 includes, as shown on the left side of FIG. 17, the n.sup.+ buried layer 503A, an n.sup.+ collector wall 507 of high concentration, the epitaxial layer 502, a p.sup.- base region 508, and an n.sup.+ emitter region 511 B of high concentration. The collector region includes the buried layer 503A, the collector wall 507 and the epitaxial layer 502. The collector wall 507 is connected to an electrode 515 for the collector wall through a connection hole 514 provided at an interlayer insulating layer 513. The base region 508 is electrically connected to the electrode 515 for base through the connection hole 514. The n.sup.+ emitter 511B is electrically connected to an emitter electrode 510B through a connection hole (with no reference numeral allotted) provided at a gate oxide film 509.
The p channel MOS type field effect transistor 700 of the Bi-CMOS transistor 900 includes, as shown in the center of FIG. 17, an n well of the n.sup.+ buried layer 503B, the n.sup.- epitaxial layer 502, the gate oxide film 509, a gate electrode 510A, and a pair of p.sup.+ source and p.sup.+ drain regions 512 of high concentration.
The n type well region has the bottom portion formed of the n.sup.+ buried layer 503B of high concentration. The n.sup.+ buried layer 503B is implemented to reduce the current amplifying rate of a parasitic bipolar transistor having the above-described well region as a base region to prevent a so-called latch up phenomenon of the parasitic bipolar transistor.
The p.sup.+ source region/p.sup.+ drain region 512 is electrically connected to the electrode 515 for source or drain through the connection hole 514.
Latch up is a phenomenon where pnp type and npn type parasitic bipolar transistors in a CMOS transistor implement a pnpn thyristor between power supply potential (V.sub.DD) and ground potential GND (V.sub.SS) in which an externally applied noise will cause continuous current flow between V.sub.DD and GND to induce breakdown of the CMOS transistor.
FIG. 18 is a sectional view schematically showing an example of a parasitic thyristor formed in the CMOS transistor of FIG. 17. If the impurity concentration of the n well 502 and the p well 506 is low in the CMOS transistor, the application of some surge noise will increase the voltage effect (voltage effect corresponding to resistors Rn and Rp) when current flows to these well regions. As a result, the parasitic pnp bipolar transistor Q1 and the parasitic npn bipolar transistor Q2 have their emitters and bases biased. The operation of these parasitic transistors will increase the possibility of the above-described latch up phenomenon.
An n channel MOS field effect transistor 800 of the Bi-CMOS transistor 900 includes, as shown on the right side of FIG. 17, a p.sup.+ buried layer 505A of high concentration, a p well 506 of low concentration, the gate oxide film 509, the gate electrode 510A, and n.sup.+ source region and n.sup.+ drain region 511A of high concentration. The p well 506 has its bottom portion formed of the p.sup.+ buried layer 505A of high concentration as well as the above-described n well. The p.sup.+ buried layer 505A is implemented to prevent the latch up phenomenon as well as the above.
The n.sup.+ source region and n.sup.+ drain region 511A is electrically connected to the electrode 515 for source or drain through the connection hole 514.
An isolation region is provided between the respective forming regions of the bipolar transistor 600, the p channel MOS type field effect transistor 700, and the n channel MOS type field effect transistor 800 which implement the above-described Bi-CMOS transistor 900.
The isolation region is formed of an isolation oxide film 504 provided on the main surface of the n.sup.- epitaxial layer 502, and a semiconductor region 505B for p.sup.+ isolation of high concentration contacting the bottom face of the isolation oxide film 504 and provided on the main surface of the n.sup.- epitaxial layer 502 at a position higher than that of the p.sup.+ buried layer 505A.
A method of manufacturing the above-described Bi-CMOS transistor 900 will now be described. FIGS. 19-21 are cross-sectional views of the Bi-CMOS transistor 900 in respective steps of the manufacturing process thereof in accordance with the cross-sectional structure shown in FIG. 17.
Referring to FIG. 19, the n.sup.+ buried layers 503A, 503B are formed on the forming regions of the bipolar transistor 600 and the p channel MOS type field effect transistor 700, respectively, of the main surface of the p.sup.- type semiconductor substrate 501. Then, the n.sup.- type epitaxial layer 502 is stacked on the main surface of the semiconductor substrate 501. At this time, because of heat for growth of the epitaxial layer 502, impurities in the n.sup.+ buried layers 503A, 503B are diffused into the epitaxial layer.
Referring to FIG. 20, the isolation oxide film 504 is formed at a predetermined position on the main surface of the epitaxial layer 502 between the forming regions of the semiconductor elements by using a LOCOS method. Then, the gate oxide film 509 is formed on the surface of the epitaxial layer 502.
Referring to FIG. 21, the p.sup.+ buried region 505A and the semiconductor region 505B for p.sup.+ isolation are formed at the main surface portion of the epitaxial layer 502 of the forming region of the n channel MOS type field effect transistor 800, and of the forming region of the isolation region, respectively.
The p.sup.+ buried region 505A, the semiconductor region 505B for p.sup.+ isolation, and the p well 506 are formed by a predetermined ion implantation using a resist film 516 (shown by a dot dash line in the figure). Then, the n.sup.+ collector wall 507, the p.sup.- base 508 and the n.sup.+ emitter 511B are formed in order in the forming region of the bipolar transistor 600.
In the forming region of the p channel MOS type field effect transistor 700, the gate electrode 510A, and the pair of p.sup.+ source region and p.sup.+ drain region 512 are formed in order.
In the forming region of the n channel MOS type field effect transistor 800, the gate electrode 510A, and the pair of n.sup.+ source region and n.sup.+ drain region 511A are formed in order.
After further forming the interlayer insulating film 513, the connection hole 514, and the respective electrodes 515 are formed. By carrying out the series of manufacturing steps, the Bi-CMOS transistor 900 is completed.
However, in the above-described structure, since isolation of the p channel MOS type field effect transistor 700 from the n channel MOS type field effect transistor 800 is insufficient, the parasitic thyristor element is rendered conductive, causing a large current flow to be produced between power supply terminals of a CMOS circuit and the like, the circuit operation to be hampered, and the semiconductor device itself to be destroyed. This is a so-called latch up phenomenon.
Referring to FIG. 22, FIG. 22 shows concentration distribution of impurities in cross-section taken along the line I--I of FIG. 17.
In the above-described prior art, the p.sup.+ buried layer 505A and a p.sup.+ channel stop layer 505B are simultaneously formed by a single impurity implantation, and the maximum value of concentration distribution of impurities is in the region (d1 in the figure) directly beneath the isolation oxide film 504. Therefore, concentration of impurities was lower at a position of the p.sup.+ channel stop deeper in the direction of depth of the substrate, which, in turn, caused insufficient isolation resulting in the above-described latch-up phenomenon.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing thereof


Footwear includes an insole with integral massaging pads to aid in relaxation, relief of sore feet, and stimulation for various body parts through reflexology. A sole portion is provided with a plurality of bumps and ridges designed to impact and massage various reflex areas of the feet while walking. These bumps and ridges correspond to various areas of the foot that are linked to various points and organs in the human body such as kidneys, liver, skeletal joints, and the like. Thus, as the user walks, they experience a massaging effect resulting in increased comfort, relaxation, and overall body wellness. The beneficial features of the footwear may be incorporated various styles of footwear including sandals, shoes, boots, and the like.

Footwear are perhaps the most ubiquitous and useful articles of clothing utilized by human beings. Shoes, boots, and other similar items provide warm to lower extremities and protection from rough ground surfaces. One (1) problem commonly associated with footwear is that of discomfort to a user during extended periods of use. During any standing position or walking or running motions, the full weight of a user's body is placed upon the feet and, as a result, the user's footwear. Extended periods of standing or walking can result in great discomfort to a user's feet, knees, back, and the like. While many shoes are provided with soles to provide a function which is better than that of standing on bare ground, constant use still affects the user's well being in a negative manner.
Various attempts have been made to provide shoes with means for enhanced comfort to a user. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,387, issued in the name of Daswick, describes a resilient inner sole for a shoe, which provides a plurality of air pockets designed to compress and absorb a portion of impact when a user's foot contacts the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,831 issued in the name of Seltzer, describes massage footwear in which the inner sole provides upwardly projecting foot stimulating massage bumps for traction and massage purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,690, issued in the name of Chang, describes footwear with adjustable massage units. The Chang device provides a plurality of spring-loaded massage units which provide an upward bias against a user's foot to incur a self-adjustable massaging function.
Additionally, ornamental designs for comfortable footwear exist, particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. D 281,735, D 373,013 and D 412,390. However, none of these designs are similar to the present invention.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such devices do not provide support enhancing functions. Also, many such devices do not provide massaging features which offer features beyond stimulation of the bottom of a user's foot. Accordingly, there exists a need for massaging footwear without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.


The present disclosure is directed to energy storage systems for vehicles. In some aspects, the energy storage system may be used to power an electric automobile. The energy storage system may include a plurality of individual battery cells. The cells may be cylindrical and have a positive and negative terminal on the same side. The cells may be physically and/or electrically organized into bricks. The bricks may be physically and/or electrically organized into modules. The modules may be physically and/or electrically organized into strings. The strings may be physically and/or electrically organized into a pack. In some embodiments, packs, strings, modules and/or bricks may include flexible circuitry and/or may be liquid cooled.

Electric-drive vehicles may reduce the impact of fossil-fuel engines on the environment and increase the sustainability of automotive modes of transportation. Energy-storage systems are essential for electric-drive vehicles, such as hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and all-electric vehicles. Size, efficiency, and safety are important considerations for these energy-storage systems. Spatially efficient storage, improved thermal management, and balance among battery cells, promote these goals.


The present invention provides an apparatus for hardening a metal article, comprising a holding device, an energy beam generator pointed at the holding device for directing energy beams at the holding device, and a movement system supporting the holding device, wherein the movement system varies the orientation of the metal article relative to the energy beam generator. The apparatus includes an energy beam delivery instrument system positioned between the energy beam generator and the holding device so that the energy an energy beam delivery instrument directs the energy beam to the holding device. Also, the apparatus includes an auxiliary heating device engaging the holding device, wherein the auxiliary heating device heats the metal article independently from the energy beam.

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for hardening metal by varying the engagement between irradiation and the metal.
Data on the useful application of radiation on metal is nearly non-existent. Some prior art publications describe the useful application of high-dose electron beam radiation on tungsten carbide and other hard metals. As seen in FIG. 2, this prior used an electron beam generator to both irradiate and heat the metal. The prior art required a continuous electron beam irradiating a stationary metal sample for an extended period of time. As a result, the prior art failed to efficiently and effectively maintain conditions conducive to the facilitation of the morphological changes in the metal.
The prior art fails produce a useful commercial product because the yield is low and is uneconomical for most industrial applications. The prior art used a continuous stream of 1.4 MeV electrons to irradiate stationary metal samples kept in a melting medium or xe2x80x9cgatexe2x80x9d. A single surface of the metal sample faced the irradiation during the prior art process. The electrons were largely stopped in the gate material and never reached the metal sample. Most of the electron radiation failed to reach the sample because normally 1.4 MeV electrons penetrate to only an approximate depth of only 2.6 mm in a typical oxide gate with a density of 2.7 g/cc. As a result, almost no electron radiation reached the metal sample and the limited amount that does only penetrates to a depth of less than a micron into the surface of the metal sample directly facing the irradiation.
Also, the prior failed to reposition the electron beam or the metal sample to effectively irradiate the entire metal sample. As the small percentage of irradiation pass through the gate material and engaged the metal sample, the irradiation continuously struck only the single surface initially exposed to the irradiation. The prior art failed to appreciate the increase hardening possible through the variance of the engagement location between the irradiation and the metal sample.
Variance in the positioning of the metal sample relative to the irradiation allows a deeper penetration of the irradiation into the numerous surfaces of the metal sample. This increases the hardening characteristic of the metal after irradiation.
Other minute amounts of radiation from the electron beam may have reached the metal sample. It is well known in the art that an energy beam creates x-rays when the energy beam strikes a solid object releasing photons.
Since the electron beams in the prior art are stopped in the oxide gate, less than one tenth of one percent of the electron radiation could be converted into x-rays, which could penetrate the melted oxide gate and reach the metal sample. This percentage is extreme low and practically insignificant in the irradiation of the metal.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method that effectively, economically, and efficiently hardens metal through irradiation.
The present invention provides an apparatus for hardening a metal article, comprising a holding device, an energy beam generator pointed at the holding device for directing energy beams at the holding device, and a movement system supporting the holding device, wherein the movement system varies the orientation of the metal article relative to the energy beam generator. The apparatus includes an energy beam delivery instrument system positioned between the energy beam generator and the holding device so that the energy an energy beam delivery instrument directs the energy beam to the holding device. Also, the apparatus includes an auxiliary heating device engaging the holding device, wherein the auxiliary heating device heats the metal article independently from the energy beam.
A method for hardening metal is also disclosed. This method includes irradiating the metal, heating the metal independently from the irradiation, and varying the engagement location of the irradiation and the metal article. The method teaches separating the metal from the atmosphere using a fluid material, redirecting the irradiation as it approaches the metal, and manipulating the position of the metal during the irradiation.
A main purpose of this invention is to effectively, economically, and efficiently harden metal by irradiating the metal article with an energy beam. This purpose requires heating and irradiating the metal sample with predetermined amounts of irradiation at a predetermined temperature to foster the metallurgical changes within the metal sample.
Irradiation of the metal samples causes a reduction in the porosity of the metal surface. Also, the irradiation creates a monolithic surface structure where the components of the metal sample, tungsten carbide and a cobalt binder, are converted into new phases. These two phenomenons facilitate increase in the wear characteristic of the metal sample.
It is therefore a general objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for hardening metal using irradiation.
Another objective of the present invention is to harden metal with irradiation by varying the orientation of the metal relative to the irradiation.
Another objective of the present invention is to harden metal with irradiation by varying the engagement of the irradiation and the metal.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for hardening metal using irradiation and heat independent from the irradiation.
Still another objective of this invention is to harden metal by purposefully converting an energy beam into x-rays in order to increase the amount of radiation reaching the metal.
Yet another objective of the present invention is the use of gamma rays to harden metal.
Another object of the present invention is to reduce the amount of irradiation needed to harden metal by using higher energy irradiation.
Still yet another objective of the present invention is to harden tungsten carbide through irradiation.
Numerous other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, upon the reading of the following disclosure, when taken in conjunction with the new drawings.

Apparatus and method for hardening metal by varying the engagement between irradiation and metal


A backrest adjustment structure for adjusting the reclined position of the backrest of the seat of a baby stroller is disclosed to include a belt connected between the ends of the handlebar of the baby stroller at the back side of the backrest of the seat, a housing coupled to two equal belt sections of the belt at the back side of the backrest of the seat of the baby stroller, and two retaining blocks pivotally mounted on a pivot member inside the housing at two sides of the belt and turnable about the pivot member between a first position to hold down the two belt sections of the belt and a second position to release the belt sections of the belt. The two retaining blocks are forced by the two reversely extending ends of the belt sections of the belt to hold down the two belt sections with respective teeth thereof and to support the backrest of the seat in the desired reclined position.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a baby stroller and more particularly, to a backrest adjustment structure for use in a baby stroller for adjusting the angle of inclination of the backrest of the seat of the baby stroller.
2. Description of the Related Art:
FIG. 1 shows a conventional baby stroller. According to this design, the seat 10 of the baby stroller has a backrest 20. The backrest 20 can be adjusted to one of a limited number of (two or three) reclined positions. As illustrated, two adjustment rods 40 are respectively pivotally connected to two opposite lateral sides of the backrest 20, each having a plurality of longitudinally spaced bottom locating notches 401 that are selectively connectable to a respective locating rod 301 at the handlebar 30 of the baby stroller. U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,584 discloses a similar design. This design does not allow the user to freely adjust the angle of inclination of the backrest 20 of the seat 10.
Further, stepless backrest adjustment designs for baby stroller are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,222, and U.S. Publication No. 2003/0052474. U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,222 discloses an adjustable seat back arrangement for stroller, which includes two elongated elements extended from two construction bars to a rear side of a back support, an inclination locker securely locked up the two elongated elements together for adjusting lengths of the elongated elements between the construction bars and the inclination locker so as to adjust an inclined angle of the back support with respect to a seat support. This design has a cheap value image in the market. Further, the design of U.S. Publication No. 2003/0052474 uses a big number of component parts. This complicated design is inconvenient to install. Further, the spring member used in this design wears quickly with use.

Backrest adjustment structure for baby stroller


A battery powered welding system is provided. In one welding system a battery powered welder includes control circuitry configured to control a welding power output converted from power from an external battery power source. The battery powered welder also includes a wire drive assembly coupled to the control circuitry and configured to feed a welding wire using power from the external battery power source. The battery powered welder includes a case integrally supporting and enclosing the control circuitry and the wire drive assembly. The case is not configured to enclose the external battery power source.

The invention relates generally to welding systems and, more particularly, to a battery powered welding system.
Welding is a process that has become increasingly ubiquitous in various industries and applications. Portable welding systems may be used in field applications where it is not practical or convenient to send a work piece to a welding shop for repair or fabrication. One specific group of portable welders is designed for light or occasional welding applications (low output requirements of about 200 amps or less), and is well suited for shops and garages where only single-phase power is available. These welders find applications in the farming and ranching industry; off-road applications; the food and beverage industry; restaurant and kitchen repair; petroleum and chemical fabrication; shipboard installation and repair; and many other maintenance and repair applications. Certain configurations of these systems may be suitable for use in remote or difficult to reach areas, and may be vehicle-based or designed to be permanently or temporarily carried and/or connected to a vehicle.
Certain portable welding systems utilize one or more internal batteries, resulting in increased cost and weight when compared to portable systems that do not include a battery. Furthermore, for metal inert gas (MIG) and similar welding processes, some welding systems utilize a spool gun or torch, on which a small spool of welding wire is mounted and fed to a welding tip during the welding process. While generally effective, such systems are difficult or unwieldy in weld in locations with limited clearance. In addition, some battery powered portable welding systems do not include welding output control, making use of quite primitive techniques for establishing and maintaining welding arcs, substantially reducing control of output power and limiting both the applicability of the systems and the quality of resulting welds. There is a need in the field for a system that overcomes such disadvantages.


A propeller guard is provided with replaceable ribs that form a cage is placed around the propeller of an outboard marine propulsion unit. The ribs are suspended from a flat upper plate adapted to be bolted to a cavitation plate above the propeller. The ribs are maintained in spaced relation to each other around the propeller by the support plate and a longitudinally extending bottom bar bolted at one end to the skeg of the propulsion unit. In the event of damage to any of the ribs of the cage, the damaged rib can easily be replaced with a new one.

In the past a number of different propeller guards have been proposed. Examples of these guards are shown in Kappas U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,984; Balius U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,516; Gruber U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,425 and Eller U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,017. Primary objectives of the inventions disclosed in the exemplified patents included the following:
"To provide a marine propulsion unit whose screw cannot accidentally touch a human body."
"To provide a propeller guard for an outboard motor or a stern drive unit constructed in a manner whereby the guard will substantially fully enclose the propeller . . . and thus render it nearly impossible for swimmers to come in contact with the propeller or the propeller to come in contact with the bottom or other submerged objects when running in shoal waters."
"To provide a propeller guard constructed in a manner whereby it may be readily removed from engagement with and installed on various forms of drive units."
"To provide a motorboat propeller guard which protects the propeller from damage . . . ."
In addition to the safety aspects of the use of a propeller guard, the protection of the propeller from damage is an important consideration. It is estimated that many boat owners who make frequent use of their boats will buy two or three propellers a year because of damage to unprotected propellers caused by floating logs and debris or by backing into rocks and pilings. Many of the available propeller guards are complicated structures and are subject to damage by the same causes. The cost of repairing or replacing the propeller guard may approach or exceed the cost of repairing or replacing a propeller.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a propeller guard that will meet the safety and performance objectives of known propeller guards while being constructed so as to be easily and inexpensively repairable if any damage occurs to the guard.
These and other objectives of the invention will be apparent from the following disclosure of a preferred embodiment thereof.


A rotary mower (22) having an improved castering wheel assembly (39, 92) so as to reduce rotation of the castering wheel (4) about its support shaft (6). In one embodiment, a torsion resistance mechanism (2) is interposed between the shaft (3) and mower frame (67), the torsion resistance mechanism (2) including a resilient material (46) rigidly bonded to a sleeve (77) in which the shaft (3) is retained. The resilient material (46) is press fit into a housing (11), the housing (11) being rigidly bonded to the mower frame (67). In another embodiment, a cap (98) housing a spring (102) is threadably attached to the castering wheel support shaft (81). Rotation of the cap (98) compresses spacers (85-90) mounted co-axially on the shaft (81) while urging the shaft (81) in an upward direction (111) so as to prevent axial rotation of the shaft (81) when the castering wheel loses contact with the ground.

Castering wheels are used on many types of turf maintenance and harvesting equipment. Although the present invention could be used in conjunction with turf maintenance machines and harvesters of any type, for the sake of brevity the invention will be described in terms of a turf mowing machine having one or more rotary cutting units or decks. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention can be used most advantageously as a component of riding rotary mowers. In order to better understand the somewhat unique demands that are placed on castering wheels used on mowing equipment, a brief discussion of rotary mower structures and geometry is necessary.
Larger rotary riding mowers typically include a traction vehicle supported by a plurality of wheels; a prime mover connected through a transmission to one or more of the wheels; one or more rotary decks having mechanically or hydraulically driven blades; and one or more lift arms (or analogous structures) pivotally connected to the traction vehicle suitable for supporting the deck(s). Lift arms are so termed because they lift the decks from their normal operating positions to their transport positions. An example of a rotary mower of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,112, issued to Holley, et al, and which is illustrated generally in FIG. 6 herein.
The mower 10 includes a traction vehicle 12 supported by a pair of front drive wheels 14 and a pair of rear steerable wheels 16. Traction vehicle 12 also carries a prime mover connected through a transmission to drive wheels 14. Traction vehicle 12 supports a front deck 18 and a pair of wing decks 20a and 20b, the blades of which are driven either hydraulically or through a power take-off (PTO) to the prime mover. The decks 18, 20 are shown in their cutting positions in solid line; and in their transport positions in phantom line.
Referring to FIG. 6, the preferred characteristics or features of a rotary deck or cutting unit support system can be appreciated. In the cutting position, the cutting units 20a and 20b are preferably "floated" relative to the traction vehicle 12. That is, the cutting units 20a and 20b are preferably independently and separately supported by the traction vehicle 12 so that they can follow the contours or undulations of the ground regardless of the gross motion of the traction vehicle 12. If cutting units 20a and 20b are not supported in a floating manner, they tend to scalp the higher regions and miss the lower regions. While non floating cutting units might be acceptable for residential use, certainly golf course and estate maintenance require that the cutting units individually follow the subtle variations of the ground to maintain a consistently good cut across the entire swath, regardless of the immediate topography encountered by each individual cutting unit.
The connection between the cutting units and the traction vehicle must also permit lifting of the cutting units from their lowered cutting positions to a raised "transport" position (shown in phantom in FIG. 6). This "transport" position permits the operator to temporarily raise one or more of the cutting units 20a and 20b in order to mow a narrower swath or to pass through a gate or between trees. Also, it is occasionally necessary to drive mowing machines over conventional road surfaces, at which time it is important to raise the cutting units 18, 20a and 20b to a transport position since they are not entirely suitable for repeatedly running up and down over curbs, nor for travel over paved streets at anything approaching the speed of ordinary traffic. In view of this, most riding mowers, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 6, include mechanisms which can raise the cutting units upward and toward the traction vehicle. Although the castering wheels on both decks 18 and 20 are subject to unique operating conditions, the wing decks 20a and 20b consistently place the greatest demands on the castering wheels. The following discussion of deck 20 is, however, also generally applicable to front deck 18. The deck 20 can "float" relative to traction vehicle 12. The struts 40 which support deck 20 are rollably supported at either end by casters 42, the casters 42 serving as ground following devices establishing the height of cut of deck 20. That is, as casters 42 follow ground undulations, struts 40 and housing 24 also "pitch", "roll", "yaw" and translate vertically depending on the terrain. In the mowers heretofore known, the casters 42 are typically free to rotate a full 360 degrees about their support shaft (i.e., vertical) axis.
In the cutting mode, the free rotation of the casters presents several problems. First, the casters should follow (i.e., roll) in the direction of the traction unit. However, due to turning movements of the traction unit or uneven terrain, one or more caster wheels may become substantially misaligned or "cocked" with respect to the drive wheels 14, as may be clearly seen in FIG. 6. When the caster wheel returns to ground contact in such a misaligned state, an instantaneous scraping or scuffing of the turf occurs. Such scuffing is unacceptable in many settings, such as on a golf course. Also, as can be seen by viewing the raised position of deck 20b, the caster wheels 112 and 113 tend to become perpendicularly aligned to their normal ground track due to minute imbalances in each individual caster. When the deck is lowered, the casters initially remain substantially perpendicular to the desired direction of travel. Since the raising and lowering of the deck typically occurs while the mower is in motion (e.g., 12 mph), significant, repeated scuffing can occur. Further, the shock can sometimes be great enough to pull the caster wheel tire from the wheel rim or at least damage the tire.
Other problems with a conventional, freely rotating caster wheel can also occur. If the deck is raised only slightly (for example, to less than a 45 degree angle with respect to a horizontal plane), the minute imbalance of each caster causes the caster to rotate about its support shaft axis, often continuously, thereby becoming a disturbing source of noise. Also, some decks are supported by four separate castering wheels, since the typical terrain is not perfectly flat, one caster wheel is usually suspended above the ground. The "uneven" wheel tends to rotate about its support shaft, creating noise and the potential for scuffing. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the particular geometry of some mowers causes the clearance between drive wheel 14 and caster wheel 42 to be quite small. This is because the designers want the casters to be as close as possible to the cutting blades to enhance ground following. In these situations, caster wheel 42 can actually collide with drive wheel 14, causing caster wheel 42 to momentarily stop rolling along the ground, creating further scuffing of the turf.
Further, the conventional caster support shaft resides within its supporting collar with only lubricant separating the two metal surfaces. Such an arrangement permits lateral loads and vibration affecting the caster wheel to be transmitted directly to the deck itself without any intervening shock absorption. Thus, the castering wheel promotes early deterioration of the deck frame due to twisting and vibration induced stress relief cracks.
As mentioned earlier, the caster wheels serve as the primary means of establishing the height of cut of the rotary blades. In FIG. 6, no particular caster wheel height adjustment mechanism is depicted. Referring to FIG. 2, however, one can view a conventional height adjustment scheme. As seen at castering wheel 4, a fork 5 is rigidly affixed to a shaft 6 which passes through sleeve 7. A series of spacers or "c" rings 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55 is stacked above sleeve 7, the uppermost spacer 50 abutting cotter pin 56. In order to make height adjustments, spacers are removed as needed from above sleeve 7 and placed below sleeve 7 in the region 57. In this way, sleeve 7 is raised above fork 5, thereby incrementally raising deck 58 above surface 59.
In practice, this arrangement presents several disadvantages, insofar as the overall height of the spacer stack (plus the height of sleeve 7 ) does not perfectly match the distance between the upper surface 60 of fork 5 and the cotter pin 56. The stack of spacers is therefore free to rattle. When castering wheel 4 is in motion, this imperfect fit can contribute to shimmying of wheel 4. Such a washer arrangement does virtually nothing to frictionally resist 360 degree rotation of wheel 4 about the axis defined by shaft 6 when deck 58 is raised for transport, and performs a shock transferring, rather than a shock absorbing, function.
Efforts to prevent caster wheel shimmy have been attempted in the past, as is most notably exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,692, issued to Sisulak. The Sisulak device requires the use of three springs and a casting containing three parallel bores in order to urge continuous contact between a castering wheel and the ground over which it travels (see Sisulak at column 1, lines 47-54; column 3, lines 37-2). The complexity of the Sisulak device tends to negate the inherent advantage of the castering wheel, namely, its low cost and ease of manufacture. In most cases, it is preferable to permit 360 degree (or some substantial amount) castering in order to accommodate sharp turns of the mower; however, because of space limitations this may not always be possible. Thus a need exists to preserve some of the advantages of a castering wheel of relatively simple design while providing some degree of shock absorption to the mower deck, some restraint on uncontrolled rotation of the castering wheel about its supporting shaft, both when in and out of contact with the ground, and finally to provide some resistance to shimmying and vibration, all while permitting the castering wheel to serve as a convenient means of adjusting the height of cut in a turf maintenance device.

Caster wheel suspension and shaft tensioning system for turf maintenance equipment


A knitted spacer fabric has a tightly knitted bottom layer, a more loosely knitted upper layer and linking fibres extending across the space between the lower and upper faces. Settable material, e.g. cement, is introduced into the space between the upper and lower faces and can be caused to set by the addition of a liquid, e.g. water. Until set, the fabric is flexible and can be shaped but after the material in space has set, the fabric is rigid and can be used as a structural element in a wide range of situations. The bottom layer has an extension that extends beyond the upper face and is connected to the upper face by elastic connecting fibres that draw the extension towards the other face, thereby at least partly closing the space at the edge of the cloth and preventing the settable material from spilling out. In addition, the packing of the settable material and maximum space between the faces are such that only a predetermined amount of liquid can be accommodated within the space and that amount is matched to the water required to set the cement.

WO 2005/124063 describes a shelter that includes a ground sheet and a cover; the space between the ground sheet and the cover can be inflated by pumping air into the space to raise the cover and form the shelter. The cover is made of a fabric that has been impregnated with cement; the fabric may be a type of felt known as "wadding", which is a loose non-woven fabric. Immediately before the interior space is inflated, the cover is wetted with water, so that, after inflation, the cement in the cover sets and forms a rigid shell that acts as a self-supporting roof for the shelter, which is particularly useful in providing temporary accommodation in emergency areas.
WO2007/144559 discloses a fabric comprising a pair of opposed faces and self-supporting yarns (also called linking fibres) extending between the faces that maintain the faces in a spaced-apart arrangement and a solid powder material located in the space between the faces. The powder material is capable of setting to a rigid or semi-rigid solid mass on the addition of a liquid or on exposure to UV radiation and may comprise cement that will set to solid cement or concrete on the addition of a water-based liquid. The amount of settable material in the space in the fabric is such that, particularly when the material has set, it occupies substantially the whole of the space between the first and second faces. The fabric (without the powder material) may be spacer fabric, which is known and commercially available. The thickness of the spacer fabric is determined during manufacture by choosing an appropriate length for the linking fibres.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,235 discloses a flat body containing a core made of cement and aggregates placed between a cover layer and a backing layer. The layers and the cores are needle bonded together prior to the hardening of the cement so that the layers will hold together in a deformable state.
The term "cloth" or "filled cloth" will be used in the present specification to denote a spacer fabric having an internal space containing settable powder material. A "spacer fabric" is a fabric having a first face and a second face separated from each other by a space and also has self-supporting linking fibres extending between the first and second faces that maintain the first and second face in a spaced-apart arrangement. The settable powder material will also be referred to as the "fill"; the fill may include both material that reacts with the liquid to cause the fill to set, which will be referred to as the "reagent", and materials that do not react with the liquid, e.g. auxiliaries and inert materials such as fillers.
One problem with powder filled cloth is that the fill spills out of the open edges of the spacer fabric, causing a mess during the manufacture, transport and use of the cloth, and the loss of the fill in the edge region of the fabric makes the properties of the edge region different from those of the rest of the cloth, and often the edge region must be removed when the cloth is used. Additionally some powdered fillers, particularly those having a melting temperature that is substantially different from the fibres of the spacer fabric, for example cement and most fillers, make heat cutting and sealing difficult or impossible for two reasons: firstly, they remain as powders and clog the melted plastic preventing it acting as a sealing material and secondly they increase the heat input required for effective heat cutting and clog the cutting blade preventing it from melting the spacer fabric fibres neatly. Therefore in order for heat sealing to work the cloth must be cut mechanically and the powder must be first removed from the edge being sealed; a preferred method is to suck the powder out in the area adjacent to the edge using a vacuum, then apply heat and pressure to seal the faces. However the multiple steps in the process make it time consuming and laborious or require expensive and bulky machinery, also the process is often unreliable and slow due to the requirement to have a dust free surface for effective heat sealing.
A further problem with filled cloth is that it is difficult to control the amount of liquid that is added during the setting procedure. If the amount of liquid added is less than that required to completely set all the reactive material in the fill, some of the reactive reagent will be wasted and could have been replaced by cheaper inert filler. Ultimately, a region may remain in the middle of the cloth that contains unset material, resulting in a significant reduction in the properties of the cloth. Although a problem initially, if the setting liquid is water and the cloth comes into contact with water in use, e.g. because it is exposed to rain, then the reagent may become fully set in use. More generally, particularly where the amount of liquid added is only slightly less than the optimum the unset material will be distributed throughout the set material resulting in only slightly lower than optimum mechanical properties.
On the other hand, if too much liquid is added, the consequences can be much more severe, for example the fill may be converted into a slurry and washed out of the cloth. Also, the excess liquid will not react and instead will remain within the fill while the reagent sets; the liquid may drain out of the cloth after setting, leaving voids in the set fill, thereby reducing the density of the set material. This can result in a high level of porosity in the final set product, which can result in a significantly lower final strength and also a lower resistance to liquid ingress, which is undesirable for applications where the cloth acts as a barrier to liquids. Furthermore a high level of porosity can result in other undesirable properties, for example: an increase in susceptibility to freeze/thaw damage and chemical attack.
The adding of the correct amount of liquid is time-consuming and requires the use of trained personnel.
The present invention provides improvements in filled cloth and especially provides a solution to the above problems.


A user interface (UI) device is disclosed. The UI device has two displays (106 and 108) that can be moved between a first position and a second position. In the first position the two displays (106 and 108) are side-by-side and the display surface for each of the two displays forms a common plane. In the second position the display surfaces face away from each other.

Data centers typically contain racks of equipment arranged in rows. Each rack typically has a standard width and length. Each rack may contain a number of Made servers, memory devices, storage devices, switches, I/O devices, power supplies, management controller and the like. The equipment inside each rack may need to be configured or managed. Typically a user interface (UI) device, for example a display and keyboard, is coupled to the rack and used to configure or monitor the equipment inside each rack.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method includes providing a semiconductor substrate having first and second regions that are doped with first and second dopants respectively. The first and second dopants are of opposite types. The method further includes epitaxially growing a first semiconductor layer that is doped with a third dopant. The first and third dopants are of opposite types. The method further includes depositing a dielectric hard mask (HM) layer over the first semiconductor layer; patterning the dielectric HM layer to have an opening over the first region; extending the opening towards the semiconductor substrate; and epitaxially growing a second semiconductor layer in the opening. The second semiconductor layer is doped with a fourth dopant. The first and fourth dopants are of a same type. The method further includes removing the dielectric HM layer; and performing a first CMP process to planarize both the first and second semiconductor layers.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advancements to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed.
For example, multi-gate devices have been introduced in an effort to improve gate control by increasing gate-channel coupling, reduce OFF-state current, and reduce short-channel effects (SCEs). One type of the multi-gate devices is FinFETs—transistors with a fin-like semiconductor channel ("fin") and a gate electrode engaging the fin on two or three sides thereof.
Typical methods of forming fins include a replacement fin approach and a strain relaxed buffer (SRB) approach. Both approaches have their drawbacks. A typical replacement fin approach forms dielectric trenches over a substrate and epitaxially grows semiconductor fins over the substrate and in the dielectric trenches. Defects typically exist on the interface between the semiconductor fins and the surrounding dielectric material. A typical SRB approach forms thick epitaxial films (e.g., over 1 micron (μm)) over an entire wafer, and etches the epitaxial films to form semiconductor fins. Lattice mismatch between the upper epitaxial films and the substrate are gradually decreased to provide quality epitaxial layers. However, thick epitaxial films over an entire wafer could result in severe crosshatch pattern defect, in addition to increased material costs.
Accordingly, new and improved methods for forming fins are desired.

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


A method for providing a lithographic light source is provided that includes producing a process fluid plume. A coaxial shielding fluid is produced around the process fluid plume. A plasma is generated by providing an energy source that impinges on the process fluid plume.

Photolithographic fabrication of semiconductor components, such as integrated circuits and dynamic random access memory chips, is customary in the semiconductor industry. In photolithographic fabrication, light may be used to cure or harden a photomask that is used to form a pattern of conductive, semiconductive, and insulative components in the semiconductor layer. The resulting pattern of conductive, semiconductive, and insulative components on the semiconductor layer form extremely small microelectronic devices, such as transistors, diodes, and the like. The microelectronic devices are generally combined to form various semiconductor components.
The density of the microelectronic devices on the semiconductor layer may be increased by decreasing the size or geometry of the various conductive, semiconductive, and insulative components formed on the semiconductor layer. This decrease in size allows a larger number of such microelectronic devices to be formed on the semiconductor layer. As a result, the capability and speed of the semiconductor component may be greatly improved.
The lower limit on the size, often referred to as the line width, of a microelectronic device is generally limited by the wavelength of light used in the photolithographic process. The shorter the wavelength of light used in the photolithographic process, the smaller the line width of the microelectronic device that may be formed on the semiconductor layer. Semiconductor component fabrication may be further improved by increasing the intensity of the light used in the photolithographic process, which reduces the time the photomask material needs to be radiated with light. As a result, the semiconductor components may be produced faster and less expensively.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light has a very short wavelength and is preferable for photolithographic fabrication of semiconductor components. Conventional systems for generating EUV light typically include an energy source impinging on a hard target. The energy source may be a high energy laser, an electron beam, an electrical arc, or the like. The hard target is generally a ceramic, thin-film, or solid target comprising materials such as tungsten, tin, copper, gold, xenon, or the like. Optics, such as mirrors and lenses, are used to reflect and focus the EUV light on a semiconductor layer.
Conventional systems and methods for generating EUV light suffer from numerous disadvantages. One of these disadvantages is that debris from the energy source/target interaction is produced along with the EUV light. The production of debris, which increases with the intensity of the energy source, results in the target being degraded and eventually destroyed. The debris may coat and contaminate the optics and other components of the system, thereby reducing efficiency and performance while increasing frequency of maintenance and length of down time.
Recent improvements in systems and methods for generating EUV light include an energy source impinging on a fluid target. However, these systems and methods also suffer from disadvantages. One disadvantage is the existence of plasma-induced erosion. The energy source impinging on the fluid target produces a plasma which can degrade the external surfaces of the components of the light source. This plasma-induced erosion releases contaminants that must be removed, adding cost and complexity to the system.
Another disadvantage is that the plasma is a major source of high heat loading on the components of the light source. Thermal particle or ion impact from the plasma further adds to the high radiative heat load on the components. This problem is compounded by the fact that the amount of heat that can be removed from the components is limited by their severe geometric restrictions.
Yet another disadvantage is caused by the collection optics needing a direct view of the plasma to collect the light rays being generated. This results in direct plasma interaction on the collection optics which causes erosion. The optics are sensitive to erosion and costly to repair.

System and method for providing a lithographic light source for a semiconductor manufacturing process


A data processing system configured to process acquired image data (e.g., as part of a diagnostic imaging apparatus) uses a signal-power estimating unit for estimating signal power by using reference data containing data different from processing-target data and a data processing unit for processing the processing-target data by using a WF (wiener_filter) based on the signal power estimated by the signal-power estimating unit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a wiener_filter used for a reduction in a noise of data (i.e., for an improvement in a signal to noise ratio (SNR)) and data processing. In particular, the present invention relates to a data processing system, a data processing method, a diagnostic imaging apparatus, and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus for optimally processing data depending on the noise of data and deterioration characteristics.
2. Related Art
A magnetic resonance imaging is a technique for magnetically exciting nuclear spins in a patient (subject) located in a static magnetic field by using a high Larmor frequency and reconstructing an image from MR signals, such as echo signals, generated in response to the excitation. For the magnetic resonance imaging, it is very important to improve the SNR and spatial resolution per unit time.
A wiener_filter (WF) that was devised based on the likelihood maximization of the amount of information is available. The WF is a filter for optimizing the SNR of data defined in Fourier space (also referred to as "k-space" or "frequency space"). In theory, an ideal_WF is defined in Fourier space and a WF aimed for only noise recovery processing (the WF will be particularly referred to as a wiener-smoothing-filter (WSF)) is represented as the following expression (1), where "Ps" indicates signal power (power spectrum) and "Pn" indicates noise power.
                    WF        =                  Ps                      Ps            +            Pn                                              (        1        )
Alternatively, if the SNR is defined as the following expression (2), the WF is represented as the following expression (3) from expressions (1) and (2).
                    SNR        =                  Ps          Pn                                    (        2        )                                WF        =                  1                      1            +                          1              SNR                                                          (        3        )
Expression (3) is defined based on a variety of assumptions and a particularly important point is that Ps must be the signal power that does not contain the noise. In addition, a general expression including not only the noise, but also recovery processing of deterioration, such as blur, is represented as the following expression (4), where "H" indicates a deterioration characteristic in the filter space and "*" indicates a complex conjugate.
                    WF        =                                            H              *                                    Ps                                                                                                  H                                                  2                                          Ps                        +            Pn                                              (        4        )
However, in the actual application of the WF, when H and Pn are known or measurable, the values are used as H and Pn. On the other hand, since an ideal signal power (ideal_Ps) that does not contain the noise cannot be generally known, the ideal_Ps cannot be used as Ps. Accordingly, actual data is first measured and noise-contaminated signal power (PSd) is used as the ideal_Ps to determine the WF in an approximated manner.
In addition, although the WF was originally conceived for Fourier space, it is not only applied to frequency space, but is also applied to, for example, Fresnel transform band splitting (FREBAS) space, in which the deterioration of high frequency components is considered to be less.
However, compared to a case in which the ideal_Ps is used, the related art is greatly inferior in performance for an improvement in the SNR, i.e., a reduction in the noise while maintaining a spatial frequency. In addition, for data having a smaller SNR, the deterioration of the image quality (filtering effect) is more prominent. Thus, when the WF is actually used, the issue is how to estimate the ideal_Ps based on the Psd, which is a noise-containing processing-target data.
FIG. 37 shows a gain characteristic relative to an SNR in the ideal_WF. For a portion where the SNR (=Ps/Pn) is large, i.e., where "Ps>>Pn" is sufficiently satisfied, the WF is substantially equal to 1, which does not cause a large influence. On the other hand, for a portion where the Ps approaches the Pn, the WF approaches "0" to reduce the gain, so that the noise is optimally reduced in accordance with the sizes of the Ps and the Pn while high-frequency components are reserved as much as possible.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 38 (for the Psd with only one scan), the Ps is closer to the Pn since the gain decreases for high-frequency components of data. Thus, with the WF, variations in high-frequency components are more likely to affect the characteristics than low-frequency components.

Data processing system, data processing method, diagnostic imaging apparatus, and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus


A feeding device in accordance with the invention comprises a dosing wheel driven by a drive mechanism which rotates on a horizontal axis; a plurality of carrier shelves for receiving the components and attached to an inside periphery of the dosing wheel; an opening disposed in the dosing wheel for supplying the components to the carrier shelves disposed inside the dosing wheel; an inclined sorting groove projecting partly into the dosing wheel and having a V-shaped cross section and a bottom surface having a width corresponding to a width of the components; an open groove positioned between the sorting groove and a covered feeder channel with the open groove having a width which corresponds to the width of the components and with the feeder channel having a cross section corresponding to a cross section of the components; a first air nozzle positioned in front of the feeder channel for blowing away components which are incorrectly oriented to pass into the feeder channel; a forward directed second air nozzle positioned inside the entrance of the feeder channel for blowing the components forward in the feeder channel towards a delivering position; and a delivering mechanism for lifting components in the feeder channel upwards to the delivering position.

Normally, mounting apparatuses for positioning small SMD-components on chips and small printed circuit cards are adapted to work with SMD-components, which as delivered from the factory are mounted on carrier tape in rolls. A demounting of the SMD-components from the carrier tape is carried out in connection with the mounting apparatus.
This temporary mounting of small SMD-components on carrier tape has so far been a necessity, which adds an additional price to the actual SMD-components, such as for instance physically rather small resistances, condensers, inductors, etc.

Method and device for successively feeding of components to a mounting apparatus


A method, an apparatus, and a device for determining the state of a phase-change memory cell. The method includes the steps of: biasing a cell with a time-varying read voltage (Vread); making a measurement (TM) that satisfies a predetermined condition where the predetermined condition depends on a cell current when the read voltage is applied; and determining a state of the cell based on the measurement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to phase-change memory. More particularly, this present invention relates to methods and apparatus for determining the state of phase-change memory cells.
2. Description of Related Art
Phase-change memory (PCM) is a new, non-volatile solid-state memory technology that exploits the reversible switching of certain chalcogenide materials having at least two states with different electrical conductivity. PCM is fast, has good retention and endurance properties, and has been shown to scale to the future lithography nodes.
In single-level cell (SLC) PCM devices, the fundamental storage unit (the "cell") can store one bit of binary information. The cell can be set to one state out of two states, which include crystalline and amorphous, by application of heat. In the amorphous state, which represents binary 0, the electrical resistance of the cell is high. When heated to a temperature above its crystallization point and then cooled, the chalcogenide material is transformed into an electrically-conductive crystalline state. This low-resistance state represents binary 1. If the cell is then heated to a high temperature, above the chalcogenide melting point, the chalcogenide material reverts back to its amorphous state on rapid cooling.
In multilevel-cell (MLC) PCM devices, a memory cell can be set to s different states, where s>2, in order to permit storage of more than one bit per cell. MLC operation is achieved by exploiting partially-amorphous states of the PCM cell. Different cell states are set by varying the size of the amorphous region within the chalcogenide material. This varies cell resistance. Thus, each cell state corresponds to a different amorphous volume which in turn corresponds to a different resistance level.
To write data to a PCM cell, a voltage or current pulse is applied to the cell to heat the chalcogenide material to an appropriate temperature to induce the desired cell-state on cooling. Reading of PCM cells is performed using cell resistance as a metric for cell-state.
The resistance of a cell can be measured in various ways, usually by biasing the cell at a certain constant voltage level and measuring the current that flows through it. U.S. Pat. No. 7,505,334 B1 discloses an alternative method whereby cell resistance is detected from the discharge time of an RC (resistor-capacitor) circuit in which the cell is the resistor. However measured, the resulting resistance indicates cell-state according to the predefined correspondence between resistance levels and cell-states.
The resistance measurement for a read operation is performed in the sub-threshold region of the current-versus-voltage (I/V) characteristic of the cell, i.e. in the region below the threshold switching voltage at which a change in cell-state can occur. Since the threshold switching occurs at a fixed electric field, the states which correspond to low amorphous size undergo threshold switching at lower bias voltages. A low, and hence safe, bias voltage is therefore used for reading all cells. In this low-field region, all cells can be read without affecting cell-state.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Determining cell-state in phase-change memory

International Business Machines Corporation


In a method for managing redundant array of independent disk (RAID) cards, physical layer (PHY) chips of the RAID card is detected by a serial port. Information of a malfunctioning PHY chip and a standby PHY chip is read and stored in a firmware of a flash erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) of the RAID card. An address of the malfunctioning PHY chip is set as an address of the standby PHY chip, and a hard disk electronically connected to the malfunctioning PHY chip is connected to the standby PHY chip. A new serial attached small computer system interface (SAS) address is obtained by amending an original SAS address according to the number and address of the standby PHY chip, and a new firmware is created in the flash EPROM according to the new SAS address.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to redundant array of independent disk (RAID) cards, and particularly to a server and a method for managing the RAID cards.
2. Description of Related Arts
Presently, if a physical layer (PHY) chip of a RAID card malfunctions, the entire RAID card may need to be replaced. In this situation, data stored in the RAID card may be lost or damaged.

Server and method for managing redundant array of independent disk cards


Insertable imaging devices and use methods thereof in minimally invasive medical procedures. Some insertable imaging devices are introduced and removed from an access port without disturbing or risking damage to internal tissue. Some insertable imaging devices are integrated with an access port, thereby allowing imaging of internal tissues within a vicinity of the access port, while enabling manipulation of surgical tools in the surgical field of interest. Some insertable imaging devices are integrated into an imaging sleeve that is insertable into an access port. Some insertable imaging devices perform imaging within an access port, wherein the imaging is based on one or more imaging modalities, including, but are not limited to, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, optical imaging, such as hyperspectral imaging and optical coherence tomography, and electrical conductive measurements.

The present disclosure is generally related to image guided medical procedures.
In the field of surgery, imaging and imaging guidance is becoming a more significant component of clinical care, from diagnosis of disease, monitoring of the disease, planning of the surgical approach, guidance during the procedure and follow-up after the procedure is complete, or as part of a multi-faceted treatment approach.
Integration of imaging data in the surgical suite has become common-place for neurosurgery, where typically brain tumors are excised through an open craniotomy approach guided by imaging. The data that is used typically consists of CT scans with or without associated contrast (iodinated contrast), and MRI scans with or without associated contrast (gadolinium contrast). Systems provide a means to register the imaging data sets together, and registration methods to translate the three dimensional imaging space to the three dimensional space of the patient and tracking of instruments relative to the patient and the associate imaging data by way of an external hardware system such as a mechanical arm, or an RF or optical tracking device.

Insert imaging device for surgical procedures


The invention relates to a novel VHH construct which can be bounded by a complete antibody without impairment of the antigen binding properties of the VHH construct being impaired. The invention also relates to an antibody construct comprising a VHH construct of this type and a kit, as well as the use thereof in immunodiagnostics or in the area of therapeutics. With the invention, among other things, it is possible to direct the existing immunity of a patient toward a different antigen.

In addition to conventional antibodies, each of which has two heavy and two light chains, camelids (old-world and new-world camels) also produce antibodies consisting exclusively of heavy chains. These so-called heavy-chain antibodies are homodimers of two identical heavy chains having a single variable domain for interacting with an antigen, known as VHH (variable domain of the heavy chain of heavy chain antibodies).
Thus camelids have IgG subclasses (IgG2+3) which have a VHH fragment instead of a Fab fragment. This VHH fragment offers various advantages in terms of antigen-binding behavior, but especially has the particular advantage of being able to be produced by a simple recombinant process in various expression organisms such as bacteria and yeasts. Likewise, antigen-binding VHH fragments can be produced synthetically. These recombinant VHH fragments are also known under the trade name of Nanobodies®.
The VHH domain has three complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) and four framework regions (FR). The VHH domain of a heavy chain antibody of this type forms a very small polypeptide unit characterized by a high antigen binding capacity, and therefore these fragments are of great interest for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes.
However, the VHH fragments cannot be used as complete antibodies, since the FC fragment is lacking. In therapeutic application this results in a shortened half life, and many laboratories do not have the appropriate secondary reagents for use in immune test systems such as ELISA.
In some instances the missing FC fragment is an advantage in use, but there are also applications in which coupling to an FC fragment would be advantageous. A human FC fragment is needed especially in immunotherapeutic applications. Problems often arise in the preclinical testing of antibody products, since the test product has a human FC fragment, but the preclinical studies were conducted in nonhuman organisms. The immune system responds very differently to FC fragments from other species. Therefore it would be advantageous if a new therapeutic agent in preclinical testing would be equipped with the respective FC fragment of the test species, but otherwise did not differ in any way from the product to be used in humans.
Monoclonal antibodies, most frequently monoclonal mouse antibodies, are often used in immune test systems. The development and production of monoclonal mouse antibodies is associated with great effort and expense. The preparation of recombinant and thus monoclonal VHH fragments can be done much more advantageously and efficiently. However, it would be advantageous for the immune test systems if an FC fragment of an antibody frequently used in such test systems were available in order to continue to work with the same protocols, reagents and methods.
To recreate complete immunoglobulins from the recombinantly produced VHH fragments, up to now the whole antibody was produced by recombinant means. In this process the Fab fragment is replaced by the VHH fragment. This method is primarily used for therapeutic purposes, and correspondingly, a human Fc fragment is used, as a rule. The production of such recombinant, chimeric antibodies can only be done in mammalian cells, and therefore the advantage of cost-advantageous, large-scale production of VHH fragments in bacteria or yeasts is lost.
VHH fragments are very small and on average have a molecular weight of about 12-15 kDa. VHH fragments as a medication have a very short plasma half-life unless modifications are made to prevent rapid renal clearance. For this purpose either serum protein linkers (e. g., HSA) may be used, or the entire construct can be enlarged by preparing bivalent or multivalent constructs. Another possibility is PEGylation of the protein.
VHH fragments are also used for research. Here they offer the advantage of being very small. Precisely for this reason, specially labeled VHH fragments are a valuable tool, particularly in live cell imaging. However, they are not usable for many immunologic detection methods, since either corresponding secondary reagents do not exist at all, or they are not available for the specific purpose.

VHH constructs for diverting an immune response

PRECLINICS GES. F. PRAEKLINISCHE FORSCHUNG MBH