A depletion enhancement layer having a striped opening on the upper surface of a ridge portion, a low carrier concentration layer and an n-type current blocking layer are successively formed on a p-type cladding layer having the ridge portion. The low carrier concentration layer has a lower carrier concentration than the n-type current blocking layer. The band gap of the depletion enhancement layer is set to an intermediate level between the band gaps of the p-type cladding layer and the low carrier concentration layer. Alternatively, a first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration and a second current blocking layer of the opposite conduction type are formed on an n-type depletion enhancement layer, and a p-type contact layer is formed on the second current blocking layer of the opposite conduction type and another p-type contact layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser device having a current blocking layer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A refractive index guided semiconductor laser device supplied with refractive index difference in a direction parallel to an active layer for forming a light guide is developed in general. FIG. 34 is a typical sectional view showing a conventional semiconductor laser device 120 described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 8-222801 (1996).
In the semiconductor laser device 120 shown in FIG. 34, an n-type cladding layer 122, an active layer 123, a p-type cladding layer 124 and a p-type contact layer 127 are successively formed on an n-type substrate 121, and the p-type contact layer 127 and the p-type cladding layer 124 are etched for forming flat portions on a ridge portion and on both sides of the ridge portion.
Further, a first current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration is formed on the flat portions of the p-type cladding layer 124 located on both sides of the ridge portion, and an n-type current blocking layer 126 is formed on the first current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration. A p-type contact layer 128 is formed on the p-type contact layer 127 and the n-type current blocking layer 126.
When the semiconductor laser device 120 is driven, a reverse bias voltage is applied to a p-n junction between the n-type current blocking layer 126 and the p-type cladding layer 124. Thus, the n-type current blocking layer 126 cuts off a current so that the current is injected into the ridge portion in a narrowed state.
In general, a p-n junction formed between an n-type current blocking layer and a p-type cladding layer has large electric capacitance, and hence serves as a factor inhibiting high-speed operation of a semiconductor laser device. The electric capacitance of the p-n junction is increased as the carrier concentration in this p-n junction is increased.
Therefore, the semiconductor laser device 120 shown in FIG. 34 is provided with the current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration, in order to reduce the electric capacitance in the p-n junction between the n-type current blocking layer 126 and the p-type cladding layer 124.
This current blocking layer 125 has a lower carrier concentration than the n-type current blocking layer 126. Therefore, the current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration defines a depletion region in the p-n junction between the n-type current blocking layer 126 and the p-type cladding layer 124, for reducing the electric capacitance. Thus, the semiconductor laser device 120 is enabled to operate at a high frequency.
In the semiconductor laser device 120 having the current blocking layer 125 of a low carrier concentration having a narrower band gap than the p-type cladding layer 124, however, valence bands of the p-type cladding layer 124 and the current blocking layer 125 of a low carrier concentration have energy band structures shown in FIG. 35.
FIG. 35 is a model diagram showing the energy band structures of the valence bands of the p-type cladding layer 124 and the current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration. As shown in FIG. 35, the band gap of the current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration is sufficiently smaller than the band gap of the p-type cladding layer 124, and hence carriers are readily injected from the p-type cladding layer 124 into the current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration and stored therein. Consequently, since depletion of the p-n junction between the n-type current blocking layer 126 and the p-type cladding layer 124 is inhibited, electric capacitance between the current blocking layer 125 having a low carrier concentration and the p-type cladding layer 124 is increased. Therefore, the operating speed of the semiconductor laser device 120 cannot be sufficiently increased.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor laser device sufficiently increased in operating speed.
A semiconductor laser device according to an aspect of the present invention comprises an active layer, a first cladding layer of a first conduction type provided on the active layer, a current blocking layer of a second conduction type provided on the first cladding layer except a current injection region, a low carrier concentration layer provided on the side of the current blocking layer between the first cladding layer and the current blocking layer and having a lower carrier concentration than the current blocking layer and a depletion enhancement layer provided on the side of the first cladding layer between the first cladding layer and the current blocking layer for inhibiting storage of carriers in the low carrier concentration layer.
In the semiconductor laser device, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the first cladding layer into the low carrier concentration layer. Thus, the low carrier concentration layer is kept in a depleted state. Therefore, electric capacitance between the current blocking layer and the first cladding layer is kept small for sufficiently increasing the operating speed of the semiconductor laser device.
The band gaps of the first cladding layer, the depletion enhancement layer and the low carrier concentration layer may be reduced in this order.
Thus, the depletion enhancement layer having an intermediate band gap is provided between the first cladding layer having a large band gap and the low carrier concentration layer having a small band gap.
In this case, the band offset between the first cladding layer and the depletion enhancement layer is smaller than the band offset between the first cladding layer and the low carrier concentration layer, whereby carriers are hardly injected from the first cladding layer into the depletion enhancement layer while carriers are more hardly injected into the low carrier concentration layer. Further, the carriers are injected from the first cladding layer into both of the low carrier concentration layer and the depletion enhancement layer in a divided manner, whereby the quantity of carriers stored in the low carrier concentration layer is reduced. Thus, storage of carriers in the low carrier concentration layer can be inhibited by the simple structure of setting the band gap of the depletion enhancement layer to the intermediate level between the low carrier concentration layer and the first cladding layer.
The first cladding layer may have a flat portion formed on the active layer and a ridge portion formed on the flat portion in the current injection region, the depletion enhancement layer may be formed on the flat portion located on both sides of the ridge portion and on the side surfaces of the ridge portion, and the low carrier concentration layer and the current blocking layer may be successively formed on the depletion enhancement layer.
In this case, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the flat portion of the first cladding layer into the low carrier concentration layer. Thus, the low carrier concentration layer is kept in the depleted state, and the electric capacitance between the flat portion of the first cladding layer and the current blocking layer is kept small.
The thickness of the depletion enhancement layer is preferably at least 10 nm. Thus, the semiconductor laser device is more improved in high-frequency characteristic.
The thickness of the depletion enhancement layer is preferably at least 15 nm. Thus, the semiconductor laser device is further improved in high-frequency characteristic.
The semiconductor laser device may further comprise a ridge-shaped second cladding layer of a first conduction type provided on the depletion enhancement layer in the current injection region, the depletion enhancement layer may be formed on the first cladding layer, and the lower carrier concentration layer and the current blocking layer may be successively formed on the depletion enhancement layer located on both sides of the second cladding layer and on the side surfaces of the second cladding layer.
In this case, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the first cladding layer into the low carrier concentration layer. Thus, the low carrier concentration layer is kept in the depleted state and the electric capacitance between the first cladding layer and the current blocking layer is kept small.
The thickness of the depletion enhancement layer is preferably at least 15 nm. Thus, the semiconductor laser device is more improved in high-frequency characteristic.
The thickness of the depletion enhancement layer is preferably at least 20 nm. Thus, the semiconductor laser device is further improved in high-frequency characteristic.
The depletion enhancement layer, the low carrier concentration layer and the current blocking layer may be successively formed on the first cladding layer except the current injection region, and the semiconductor laser device may further comprise a second cladding layer of a first conduction type provided to fill up a space enclosed with the side surfaces of the depletion enhancement layer, the low carrier concentration layer and the current blocking layer and the upper surface of the first cladding layer in the current injection region.
In this case, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the first cladding layer into the low carrier concentration layer. Thus, the low carrier concentration layer is kept in the depleted state and the electric capacitance between the first cladding layer and the current blocking layer is kept small.
The thickness of the depletion enhancement layer is preferably at least 15 nm. Thus, the semiconductor laser device is more improved in high-frequency characteristic.
The thickness of the depletion enhancement layer is preferably at least 20 nm. Thus, the semiconductor laser device is further improved in high-frequency characteristic.
The depletion enhancement layer may have a single-layer structure or a superlattice structure.
The active layer may include a layer made of (Alx1Ga1xe2x88x92x1)y1In1xe2x88x92y1P, the depletion enhancement layer may be made of (Alx2Ga1xe2x88x92x2)y2In1xe2x88x92y2P or Alx2Ga1xe2x88x92x2As, the low carrier concentration layer may be made of (Alx3Ga1xe2x88x92x3)y3In1xe2x88x92y3P or Alx3Ga1xe2x88x92x3As, the current blocking layer may be made of (Alx4Ga1xe2x88x92x4)y4In1xe2x88x92y4P or Alx4Ga1xe2x88x92x4As, and x1, x2, x3, x4, y1, y2, y3 and y4 may be at least zero and not more than 1 respectively.
The active layer may include a layer made of Alx1Ga1xe2x88x92x1As, the depletion enhancement layer may be made of Alx2Ga1xe2x88x92x2As, the low carrier concentration layer may be made of Alx3Ga1xe2x88x92x3As, the current blocking layer may be made of Alx4Ga1xe2x88x92x4As, and x1, x2, x3 and x4 may be at least zero and not more than 1 respectively.
The active layer may be made of Inx1Ga1xe2x88x92x1N, the depletion enhancement layer may be made of Alx2Ga1xe2x88x92x2N, the low carrier concentration layer may be made of Alx3Ga1xe2x88x92x3N, the current blocking layer may be made of Alx4Ga1xe2x88x92x4N, and x1, x2, x3 and x4 may be at least zero and not more than 1 respectively.
The active layer preferably includes a layer made of (Alx1Ga1xe2x88x92x1)y1In1xe2x88x92y1P, the depletion enhancement layer is preferably made of (Alx2Ga1xe2x88x92x2)y2In1xe2x88x92y2P, the low carrier concentration layer is preferably made of Alx3Ga1xe2x88x92x3As, the current blocking layer is preferably made of Alx4Ga1xe2x88x92x4As, x1, x2, x3, x4, y1 and y2 are preferably at least zero and not more than 1 respectively, and the first conduction type is preferably the p type, and the second conduction type is preferably the n type.
In this case, improvement of the high-frequency characteristic resulting from the depletion enhancement layer inhibiting storage of carriers from the first cladding layer into the low carrier concentration layer is particularly remarkable.
A semiconductor laser device according to another aspect of the present invention comprises an active layer, a first cladding layer of a first conduction type provided on the active layer, a first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration provided on the first cladding layer except a current injection region and a depletion enhancement layer formed between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer for inhibiting storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer, while the depletion enhancement layer has an energy level in band gap supplying second conduction type carriers to compensate for first conduction type carriers supplied from the first cladding layer due to a modulation doping effect.
The first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration is an undoped layer or a layer doped with a low density of impurity In a range capable of blocking a current.
In the semiconductor laser device, the depletion enhancement layer formed with the energy level in band gap supplying the second conduction type carriers is formed between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer.
In this case, the second conduction type carriers supplied from the energy level in band gap of the depletion enhancement layer compensate for the first conduction type carriers supplied from the first cladding layer. Therefore, storage of carriers can be prevented in the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration. Thus, the first current blocking layer is kept in a depleted state. Therefore, electric capacitance generated between the first current blocking layer and the first cladding layer can be reduced and the operating speed of the semiconductor laser device can be sufficiently increased.
At this point, the first current blocking layer has a narrower band gap than the first cladding layer. When the first current blocking layer has a narrower band gap than the first cladding layer, carriers are readily injected from the first cladding layer into the first current blocking layer and stored therein. In this case, however, the depletion enhancement layer formed between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer can inhibit storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer.
The energy level in band gap preferably has such density that substantially all energy level in band gap ionize under a condition applying no bias voltage voltage. In this case, it is possible to effectively compensate for the first conduction type carriers supplied from the first cladding layer. Therefore, storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration can be more effectively inhibited.
The energy level in band gap may be formed by doping with a second conduction type impurity. In this case, the depletion enhancement layer provided with the energy level in band gap can be readily formed.
The material of the depletion enhancement layer may be the same as the material of the first current blocking layer. In this case, the band gap width of the depletion enhancement layer and the first current blocking layer are equalized with each other.
The first cladding layer may have a larger band gap than the depletion enhancement layer, and the semiconductor laser device may further comprise an intermediate band gap layer provided between the first cladding layer and the depletion enhancement layer and having a band gap smaller than the band gap of the first cladding layer and larger than the band gap of the depletion enhancement layer.
In this case, carriers are hardly injected from the first cladding layer into the depletion enhancement layer and hardly injected into the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration either due to the intermediate band gap layer provided between the first cladding layer and the depletion enhancement layer. In this case, further, the carriers are injected into both of the depletion enhancement layer and the intermediate band gap layer in a divided manner, and hence hardly injected into the first current blocking layer.
Thus, storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer is further inhibited.
Further, the ranges of the thickness and the carrier concentration of the depletion enhancement layer capable increasing the operating speed of the semiconductor layer device are widened by providing the intermediate band gap layer in the aforementioned manner. Therefore, the thickness and the carrier concentration of the depletion enhancement layer can be readily set so that the depletion enhancement layer can be readily prepared.
The depletion enhancement layer may have a band gap smaller than the band gap of the first cladding layer and larger than the band gap of the first current blocking layer. In this case, the depletion enhancement layer serves as the aforementioned intermediate band gap layer, thereby further inhibiting storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer.
Also in this case, the ranges of the thickness and the carrier concentration of the depletion enhancement layer capable of increasing the operating speed of the semiconductor laser device are widened. Thus, the thickness and the carrier concentration of the depletion enhancement layer can be readily set so that the depletion enhancement layer can be readily prepared.
The first cladding layer may have a flat portion formed on the active layer and a ridge portion formed on the flat portion in the current injection region, the depletion enhancement layer may be formed on the flat portion located on both sides of the ridge portion and on the side surfaces of the ridge portion, and the first current blocking layer may be formed on the depletion enhancement layer. In this case, a ridge guided semiconductor laser device improved in operating speed is implemented.
The depletion enhancement layer and the first current blocking layer may be successively formed on the first cladding layer except the current injection region, and the semiconductor laser device may further comprise a second cladding layer of a first conduction type provided to fill up a space enclosed with the side surfaces of the depletion enhancement layer and the first current blocking layer and the upper surface of the first cladding layer in the current injection region. In this case, a self-aligned semiconductor laser device improved in operating speed is implemented.
The depletion enhancement layer may be formed on a region excluding the current injection region. In this case, a current is quickly injected into the current injection region provided with no depletion enhancement layer of the opposite conduction type.
The semiconductor laser device may further comprise a second current blocking layer of a second conduction type provided on the first current blocking layer.
A semiconductor laser device according to another aspect of the present invention comprises an active layer, a first cladding layer of a first conduction type provided on the active layer, a first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration provided on the first cladding layer except a current injection region and a depletion enhancement layer formed between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer for inhibiting storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer.
In the semiconductor laser device, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the first cladding layer into the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration. Thus, the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration is kept in a depleted state. Therefore, electric capacitance between the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration and the first cladding layer is kept small for sufficiently increasing the operating speed of the semiconductor laser device.
At this point, the first current blocking layer having a low concentration has a narrower band gap than the first cladding layer. When the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration has a narrower band gap than the first cladding layer, carriers are readily injected from the first cladding layer into the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration and stored therein. In this case, however, the depletion enhancement layer formed between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration can inhibit storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration.
The band gaps of the first cladding layer, the depletion enhancement layer and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration may be reduced in this order.
Thus, the depletion enhancement layer having an intermediate band gap is provided between the first cladding layer having a large band gap and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration having a small band gap.
In this case, the band offset between the first cladding layer and the depletion enhancement layer is smaller than the band offset between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration, whereby carriers are hardly injected from the first cladding layer into the depletion enhancement layer while carriers are more hardly injected into the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration. Further, the carriers are injected from the first cladding layer into both of the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration and the depletion enhancement layer in a divided manner, whereby the quantity of carriers stored in the low carrier concentration layer is reduced. Thus, storage of carriers in the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration can be inhibited by the simple structure of setting the band gap of the depletion enhancement layer to the intermediate level between the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration and the first cladding layer.
The first cladding layer may have a flat portion formed on the active layer and a ridge portion formed on the flat portion in the current injection region, the depletion enhancement layer may be formed on the flat portion located on both sides of the ridge portion and on the side surfaces of the ridge portion, and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration may be formed on the depletion enhancement layer.
In this case, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the flat portion of the first cladding layer into the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration. Thus, the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration is kept in the depleted state, and the electric capacitance between the flat portion of the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration is kept small.
The semiconductor laser device may further comprise a ridge-shaped second cladding layer of a first conduction type provided on the depletion enhancement layer in the current injection region, the depletion enhancement layer may be formed on the first cladding layer, and the first current blocking layer having a lower carrier concentration may be formed on the depletion enhancement layer located on both sides of the second cladding layer and on the side surfaces of the second cladding layer.
In this case, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the first cladding layer into the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration layer. Thus, the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration is kept in the depleted state and the electric capacitance between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration is kept small.
The depletion enhancement layer and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration may be successively formed on the first cladding layer except the current injection region, and the semiconductor laser device may further comprise a second cladding layer of a first conduction type provided to fill up a space enclosed with the side surfaces of the depletion enhancement layer and the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration layer and the upper surface of the first cladding layer in the current injection region.
In this case, the depletion enhancement layer inhibits storage of carriers from the first cladding layer into the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration. Thus, the first current blocking layer having a low carrier concentration is kept in the depleted state and the electric capacitance between the first cladding layer and the first current blocking layer having a low concentration is kept small.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


An FPC (3) includes a first bending portion (31) having an outer periphery thereof directed from an attachment portion (36) toward an upstream end (3F), and bent in such a direction as to face the attachment portion (36); a second bending portion (32) which is bent from the attachment portion (36) toward a center axis (Z1) at a specified position closer to a downstream end (3B) than the first bending portion (31), and guided to a positioning portion (11); and a third bending portion (33) which is bent toward the camera body at a specified position closer to the downstream end (3B) than the positioning portion (11).

In recent years, there is a demand for miniaturization of a lens barrel, in addition to high performance and high function. Seeking high performance results in an increase in the size of a lens and a driving portion for driving e.g. the lens. As a result, the size of the lens barrel is increased, which is against the demand for miniaturization. Seeking miniaturization of a lens barrel results in a decrease in the clearance between components, which makes it difficult to assemble the lens barrel.
Generally, a lens barrel is internally provided with electrical components, and the electrical components and a camera-body-side circuit board are electrically connected via a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter, called as "FPC"). Since miniaturization of a lens barrel results in a decrease in the space for installing an FPC, disposing the FPC at an inappropriate position may cause interference between the FPC and a driving member during use of a camera, which may damage the FPC. Further, disposing the FPC at an inappropriate position may cause tearing of the FPC at the time of assembling the lens barrel, which may damage the FPC and result in operation failure of the lens barrel.
In particular, in most of the cases, a lens barrel incorporated in an exchange lens for a single-lens reflex camera is provided with an inner focus system, a lens system loaded with a motor, and a shake correction mechanism. In particular, in the case where an inner-focus system is employed in a large aperture lens, movable members are disposed on the image side. Consequently, electrical components are disposed on the object side, which increases the length of the FPC to be electrically connected to a camera-body-side component. Further, considering the connection workability between the FPC, and a lens mount incorporated with an electrical contact with the camera-body-side component, it is necessary to secure a sufficiently long length for the FPC, in view of the need of pulling out the FPC from the lens barrel. The disposed position of the FPC is important for accommodating the FPC of such a long size in the lens barrel, while avoiding interference with the movable members. In other words, it is required to dispose an FPC at such a position that secures easy assembling in a limited space.
As shown in FIG. 6, patent literature 1 discloses a lens barrel comprising a fixed cylinder 2000, and an attachment base plate 3000 which is formed at a position facing a side wall of the fixed cylinder 2000, with an electronic component group 1000 being mounted on the fixed cylinder 2000 side, wherein an FPC is folded two times and accommodated in a space between the attachment base plate 3000 and the side wall of the fixed cylinder 2000.
As shown in FIG. 7, patent literature 2 discloses a lens barrel constructed in such a manner that a support plate 5400 which is slidably movable relative to an optical axis direction, and an electrical component 4200a provided on the lower side of the support plate 5400 are connected to each other by an FPC 6500. In patent literature 2, the FPC 6500 has an end thereof mounted on the upper surface of the support plate 5400, is folded toward the lower side so that the FPC 6500 faces the lower surface of the support plate 5400, and then, is bent in a direction orthogonal to the support plate 5400, with the other end thereof being connected to the electrical component 4200a.
However, patent literature 1 merely discloses a technology that an FPC is folded two times to be accommodated, and fails to provide a countermeasure against contact between the FPC and the electronic component group 1000. Accordingly, the FPC may be damaged by the electronic component or by soldering for use in connecting the electronic component. Further, an erroneous operation may occur resulting from noise superimposed on an electrical signal. In the technology disclosed in patent literature 2, the FPC 6500 is attached to the upper surface of the support plate 5400, and is folded toward the lower side. Accordingly, a force may be exerted on the FPC 6500 in such a direction as to peel off the FPC 6500 from the support plate 5400. Long-time use of the lens barrel in such a condition may result in peeling off of the attachment portion of the FPC 6500, and interference with a member adjacent to the FPC 6500 at the time of operation, which may cause generation of abnormal sound or conduction failure.


Pressure transducers are incorporated as part of a transmission control unit TCU rather than placed in a remote location. This configuration eliminates the need to link the pressure transducers to the TCU via a long electrical connection, thereby shortening the signal path of the low-level signals output from the pressure transducers and reducing the complexity of the overall system. The transducers may be disposed either directly or on supports having support ports that align with pressure ports in the manifold to form fluidic paths between the manifold and the transducer.

Electronically controlled solenoid operated valves provide improved shifting capabilities for the transmission compared to hydro-mechanical shift control and, in particular, permits staged or progressive release and application of clutches, such as band clutches and/or plate clutches, for effecting smoother speed changes in the transmission. In currently-known production transmissions, these valve assemblies are mounted internally on the transmission valve body and supplied with pressurized fluid from a pump disposed in the transmission. Shifting is performed using open loop control of the valves, which requires time-consuming and costly calibration of each valve in the transmission system. However, as the valves wear over time and as the viscosity of the transmission fluid changes due to age and contamination, the transmission system moves away from its initial calibration conditions, reducing the shifting performance of the transmission.
Closed loop control of solenoid operated valves has been proposed as a way to obviate the need for precise calibration of the solenoid pilot and regulating valves used for clutch engagement and line pressure regulation in an automatic speed change transmission. Preferably, closed loop control includes providing a feedback signal that indicates the torque transmitted by a particular shifting clutch band or plate to the solenoid valve. U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,472 describes a system that allows closed loop control of a transmission system by using pressure sensors to sense the hydraulic pressure to each clutch actuator and provide an electrical signal to a transmission control unit (TCU) corresponding to the sensed pressure. The TCU then determines the difference between the actual sensed pressure and a target pressure corresponding to the desired output pressure to the actuators. The TCU controls the current level or the duty-cycle sent to either a linear or pulse-width-modulated (PWM) solenoid-operated valve to control the clutch regulator valve or the clutch actuator directly until the actual pressure reaches the target pressure. This closed loop feedback ensures that the shift actuators provide smooth transmission shifting operation, even with temperature changes, valve wear, and transmission fluid contamination.
Piezoelectric pressure transducers are often a preferred choice in many sensing applications because of their low cost, but they pose numerous design challenges due to their non-linear response, low output signal strength, and temperature sensitivity. Thus, using piezoelectric pressure transducers requires signal amplification and correction for non-linearities. Corrections may be carried out by, for example, mixed-signal ASICs. Further, the pressure transducers must be positioned so that current can be carried from the TCU to the solenoid valves and that signals can be carried from the pressure transducers back to the TCU to effect control of valves based on the pressure transducer signals.
Placing discrete, isolated, single transducers in a transmission system having a signal communication interface, such as a lead frame, stamped metal traces, flex-circuits, plated circuits, a wire harness, wireless means, etc. to carry current and signals between the TCU, solenoid valves, and transducers increases the overall complexity of the system and also exposes the transducers to current spikes from the solenoids in the valves. Because the transducers output low-level signals, the noise generated by the current spikes will create unacceptable signal errors.
There is a desire for a transmission control unit that incorporates low-cost pressure transducers while reducing noise sensitivity and complexity.

Transmission control unit having pressure transducer package


A method used in a service providing device for delivering interactive multimedia content to a plurality of client devices, comprising: receiving a request for the interactive multimedia content, from at least one of the plurality of client devices; disabling the plurality of client devices from sending the request to the service providing device, according to a predetermined condition; and delivering the interactive multimedia content to the plurality of client devices.

Digital broadcast communication systems such as DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting—Handheld), DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting—Terrestrial) or other client-server communication system, enable end users to receive digital content including video, audio, and data. Using a fixed or mobile terminal, a user may receive digital contents over a cable or wireless digital communication network. For example, a user may receive data such as a broadcast program in a data stream. Additional data associated with the broadcast program such as interactive multimedia contents including program title, news, interactive services, or additional audio, video and graphics, may also be available. The interactive multimedia contents can be previously stored at the server or generated during the broadcasting or multicasting of the program.
Interactive multimedia content is a service that aggregates interactive services with a conventional A/V broadcasting service. MPEG-4 Part 20 designates interactive multimedia using the terms 'rich media'. OpenTV and DVB designate interactive multimedia using the terms 'interactive television'. The core idea of interactive multimedia is adding one or more interactive multimedia to an original A/V stream. The content of the interactive multimedia, usually synchronized with the original A/V stream, will enable reaction to different user inputs. The processing of user inputs can be either handled locally or remotely, in the latter case using a bi-directional channel.
The content of the interactive multimedia service is a collection of multimedia data, such as graphics, text, audio and video etc, which may change over time based on the A/V stream. The A/V stream has its own timeline, here, the timeline is a term used to describe that a video/audio sequence is ordered by time stamp. The corresponding contents of interactive multimedia content also have a timeline, which relates to this A/V stream timeline by a reference, such as a start point tag. That is, there is a temporal synchronization between the corresponding interactive multimedia content and the A/V stream. The start point tag refers the specific time point of the timeline of A/V stream. When the A/V stream plays to the specific time point, an event is triggered to play the corresponding interactive multimedia contents.
The interactive multimedia contents are shown according to users input during a specific period of timeline of A/V stream. For example, a sports TV (television) channel may be associated with a pop-up interactive multimedia content that describes an athlete who just scored a goal and the video scene of the athlete is being broadcasted. When the video scene of the program changes, the other interactive multimedia contents will be used accordingly. The transmitted interactive multimedia content can be either integrally multiplexed into conventional A/V stream or sent in a separate channel.
According to the above, interactive multimedia services can be an interactive experience during a specific period of the A/V stream between a multimedia server such as a service providing device and the end users. During the specific period users may send requests for a type of interactive multimedia to the service providing device, and then the service providing device will send the requested multimedia content to the users. However, the bandwidth resource used by interactive multimedia services for multimedia requesting and multimedia delivery during the specific period will not scale well with growing numbers of users. This may be the case for a multicasting communication environment or a broadcasting TV network with return channel.
Therefore, an improved method for requesting and delivering interactive multimedia content is needed.

Methods for delivering and receiving interactive multimedia


In a method of a manufacturing flat display apparatuses by working flat substrates, a flat substrate is prepared having a first region which is used as a flat display apparatus and a second region outside the first region. After the first region is worked as desired, the second region is cut and separated from the flat substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a manufacturing method for flat display apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various flat display apparatuses have been developed as a next generation of lightweight, thin image display apparatuses to replace cathode-ray tubes (hereinafter referred to as CRT). These known flat display apparatuses include a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LCD), plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP), field emission display (hereinafter referred to as FED), surface-conduction emitter display (hereinafter referred to as SED), etc. In the LCD, the intensity of light is controlled by utilizing the orientation of a liquid crystal. In the PDP, phosphors are caused to glow by means of ultraviolet rays that are produced by plasma discharge. In the FED, phosphors are caused to glow by means of electron beams that are emitted from field-emission electron emitting elements. In the SED, phosphors are caused to glow by means of electron beams that are emitted from surface-conduction electron emitting elements.
Preferably, the size of display apparatuses, including ones that are not flat, should enjoy wide variation to cope with market demands. It is to be desired, moreover, that commodities of different sizes should be able to be quickly supplied to meet the needs.
If various sizes that are required by the market are to be covered by the manufacture, however, the manufacturing line may be complicated or the manufacturing equipment must be remodeled or, in some cases, changed completely on each occasion, thus requiring a vast investment.
Thus, in manufacturing processes for flat display apparatuses, flat substrates that are used in the flat display apparatuses must be formed having patterns for a phosphor screen, color filter, electron sources, plasma cells, drive wiring array, TFT array, etc., depending on the specifications of the display apparatuses. Manufacturing apparatuses that can cope with size differences must be used to manufacture a plurality of types of flat substrates of different sizes on the same manufacturing line.

Method of manufacturing flat display panels of different sizes from a common base substrate


The pulse counter counts high speed pulses and detects an absolute phase difference among a plurality of electric motors.. Pulse outputs 5 and 6 from pulse generators 3 and 4 are inputted into integrating counters 15 and 16 through pulse converters 9 and 11 and rotation direction detectors 10 and 12. Integrating counters 15 and 16 count up/dow the pulses in response to the rotation direction. Integrating counters 15 and 16 are cleared with a zero phase pulse output 7, outputted per revolution from the pulse generators 3 and 4. Multipliers 19 and 20 multiply outputs from the integrating counters 15 and 16 by a ratio set by a coefficient unit, and output a signal corresponding to the rotation angle of each electric motor.. Adder/subtractor 21 estimates a deviation between the outputs of the multipliers 19 and 20 such that the phase difference between the pulse generators 3 and 4 is estimated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pulse counter for counting a pulse train outputted in response to the rotation of an electric motor, and more particularly, to a pulse counter used for simultaneously controlling a plurality of electric motors in a highly accurate manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an electric motor driving device which simultaneously drives two electric motors, it is usual to control revolutions of each electric motor by inputting the pulse trains outputted from the electric motors and counting the difference between the pulse numbers outputted from the electric motors with a pulse counter.
To create the pulse train from the electric motor, a pulse generator is mounted on each of the electric motors. The pulse generated by the pulse generator has a very high frequency. This leads to a problem in that there is a limitation to processing the high frequency outputted pulse.
It is usual that the number of pulses per revolution generated by the pulse generator is not fixed and changes in response to the machines which are driven by the electric motors and the applications to which those machines are subject.
When an incremental pulse generator is used, it is difficult to obtain synchronized operation of two electric motors and keep an absolute phase difference between the two electric motors at all times.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pulse counter capable of counting high frequency pulses and easily dealing with such high frequency pulses even though the number of pulses per revolution generated from the pulse generator is different. Furthermore, the present invention detects an absolute phase difference between a plurality of the electric motors.


The invention is a glycolipid useful in treating autoimmune diseases and a medicine thereof as active ingredient for autoimmune diseases, represented by the formula

Living bodies have a function to prevent and inhibit the occurrence of autoimmune diseases, and this function is referred to as the "immune modulatory function". NKT cells recently attracted attention as a lymphocyte having the "immune modulatory function". (Saishin Igaku Vol. 55, No. 4, pp. 858-863.) The inventors have been working on the development of medicines that act upon NKT cells (a pharmaceutical drug material that appropriately stimulates NKT cells and effectively expresses their immune modulatory function).
The conventional treatment methods for autoimmune diseases focused mainly on "non-specific immunosuppressive therapy" involving glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants. "Non-specific immunosuppressive therapy" refers to methods of treatment that suppress many of the biological functions of immune cells without special selectivity and distinction. These methods of treatment, therefore, suppress biological reactions inducing and aggravating diseases but they also suppress biological reactions necessary to living bodies (side effects). Therefore, the development of specific immunosuppressants (pharmaceutical drug agents that suppress only the biological reactions that induce and aggravate diseases) is urgently desired. Auto-antigen peptide treatments were recently tested with this goal in mind. However, since peptides are manifested by the major histocompatibility gene complex (MHC) molecules that have individual differences, the difference in efficacy varied tremendously among individuals, and allergic reactions also posed a problem.
Alpha-galactosylceramide has been identified so far as a substance capable of stimulating NKT cells by other researchers. [Science, Vol. 278, pp. 1626-1629 (1997), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 95, pp. 5690-5693 (1998), J. Med. Chem. 1995, 38, pp. 2176-2187, Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure (Kokai) Hei 5-9193, Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure (Kokai) Hei 5-59081, Japanese Patent No. 3088461 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,076.] The inventors administered the alpha-galactosylceramide described in the publications to treat autoimmune diseases such as the animal model for multiple sclerosis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and collagen induced arthritis, the animal model of rheumatoid arthritis. However, this alpha-galactosylceramide induces both IL-4, a cytokine that suppresses autoimmune diseases, as well as IFN-γ, a cytokine that aggravates autoimmune diseases. Therefore, this alpha-galactosylceramide was found to be clearly not effective in suppressing or treating autoimmune diseases. (American Immunology Society Journal, the Journal of Immunology, Jan. 1, 2001, Vol. 166, pp. 662-669.) That is, conventional alpha-galactosylceramide is not an appropriate medicine for autoimmune disease since it induces a simultaneous manifestation of conflicting functions (a function to suppress disease and a function to aggravate the disease) of NKT cells.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Glycolipid and medicine for autoimmune disease containing the same as active ingredient

Abstract: wherein R1 is an aldopyranose group, R2 is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxyl group, R3 is —CH2—, —CH(OH)—CH2— or —CH═CH—, R4 is a hydrogen atom or CH3, x is 0-35, y and z represent integers satisfying y+z=0-3.

Japan as Represented by President of National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry


An apparatus for testing a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore, comprising a tool having a sample flow line an inlet disposed with the tool and configured to establish fluid communication between the formation and the sample flow line to draw a fluid sample into the sample flow line, and an active filter positioned in the sample flow line and providing a filter flow route and a bypass flow route in the sample flow line.

Wells are generally drilled into the ground or ocean bed to recover natural deposits of oil and gas, as well as other desirable materials that are trapped in geological formations in the Earth's crust. A well is typically drilled using a drill bit attached to the lower end of a drill string. Drilling fluid, or "mud," is typically pumped down through the drill string to the drill bit. The drilling fluid lubricates and cools the drill bit, and it carries drill cuttings back to the surface in the annulus between the drill string and the wellbore wall.
For successful oil and gas exploration, it is necessary to have information about the subsurface formations that are penetrated by a wellbore. For example, one aspect of standard formation evaluation relates to the measurements of the formation pressure and formation permeability. These measurements are essential to predicting the production capacity and production lifetime of a subsurface formation.
One technique for measuring formation and reservoir fluid properties includes lowering a wireline tool into the well to measure formation properties. A wireline tool is a measurement tool that is suspended from a wireline in electrical communication with a control system disposed on the surface. The tool is lowered into a well so that it can measure formation properties at desired depths. A typical wireline tool may include a probe that may be pressed against the wellbore wall to establish fluid communication with the formation. This type of wireline tool is often called a formation tester. Using the probe, a formation tester measures the pressure of the formation fluids, which is used to determine the formation permeability. The formation tester tool also typically withdraws a sample of the formation fluid that is either subsequently transported to the surface for analysis or analyzed downhole.
In order to use any wireline tool, whether the tool be a resistivity, porosity or formation testing tool, the drill string must be removed from the well so that the tool can be lowered into the well. This is called a trip uphole. Further, the wireline tools must be lowered to the zone of interest, commonly at or near the bottom of the wellbore. A combination of removing the drill string and lowering the wireline tools downhole are time-consuming measures and can take up to several hours, depending upon the depth of the wellbore. Because of the great expense and rig time required to "trip" the drill pipe and lower the wireline tools down the wellbore, wireline tools are generally used only when the information is absolutely needed or when the drill string is tripped for another reason, such as changing the drill bit. Examples of wireline formation testers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,934,468; 4,860,581; 4,893,505; 4,936,139; and 5,622,223.
To avoid or minimize the downtime associated with tripping the drill string, another technique for measuring formation properties has been developed in which tools and devices are positioned near the drill bit in a drilling system. Thus, formation measurements are made during the drilling process and the terminology generally used in the art is "MWD" (measurement-while-drilling) and "LWD" (logging-while-drilling).
MWD typically refers to measuring the drill bit trajectory as well as wellbore temperature and pressure, while LWD refers to measuring formation parameters or properties, such as resistivity, porosity, permeability, and sonic velocity, among others. Real-time data, such as the formation pressure, facilitates making decisions about drilling mud weight and composition, as well as decisions about drilling rate and weight-on-bit, during the drilling process. While LWD and MWD have different meanings to those of ordinary skill in the art, that distinction is not germane to this disclosure, and therefore this disclosure does not distinguish between the two terms.
Formation evaluation, whether during a wireline operation or while drilling, often requires that fluid from the formation be drawn into a downhole tool for testing and/or sampling. Various sampling devices, typically referred to as probes, are extended from the downhole tool to establish fluid communication with the formation surrounding the wellbore and to draw fluid into the downhole tool. A typical probe is a circular element extended from the downhole tool and positioned against the sidewall of the wellbore. A rubber packer at the end of the probe is used to create a seal with the wellbore sidewall. Another device used to form a seal with the wellbore sidewall is referred to as a dual packer. With a dual packer, two elastomeric rings expand radially about the tool to isolate a portion of the wellbore therebetween. The rings form a seal with the wellbore wall and permit fluid to be drawn into the isolated portion of the wellbore and into an inlet in the downhole tool.
The mudcake lining the wellbore is often useful in assisting the probe and/or dual packers in making the seal with the wellbore wall. Once the seal is made, fluid from the formation is drawn into the downhole tool through an inlet by lowering the pressure in the downhole tool. Examples of probes and/or packers used in downhole tools are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,301,959; 4,860,581; 4,936,139; 6,585,045; 6,609,568, and 6,964,301.
Reservoir evaluation can be performed on fluids drawn into the downhole tool while the tool remains downhole. Techniques currently exist for performing various measurements, pretests and/or sample collection of fluids that enter the downhole tool. However, it has been discovered that when the formation fluid passes into the downhole tool, various contaminants, such as wellbore fluids and/or drilling mud primarily in the form of mud filtrate from the "invaded zone" of the formation, may enter the tool with the formation fluids. The invaded zone is the portion of the formation radially beyond the mudcake layer lining the wellbore where mud filtrate has penetrated the formation leaving the mudcake layer behind. These mud filtrate contaminates may affect the quality of measurements and/or samples of the formation fluids. Moreover, contamination may cause costly delays in the wellbore operations by requiring additional time for obtaining test results and/or samples representative of the formation fluid. Additionally, such problems may yield false results that are erroneous and/or unusable. Thus, it is desirable that the formation fluid entering into the downhole tool be sufficiently "clean" or "virgin" for valid testing. In other words, the formation fluid should have little or no contamination.
Attempts have been made to eliminate contaminates from entering the downhole tool with the formation fluid. For example, as depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,749, filters have been positioned in probes to block contaminates from entering the downhole tool with the formation fluid. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,959, a probe is provided with a guard ring to divert contaminated fluids away from clean fluid as it enters the probe. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,591 discloses a central sample probe with an annular "guard" probe extending about an outer periphery of the sample probe, in an effort to divert contaminated fluids away from the sample probe.
Traditional techniques do not efficiently or effectively address contamination for various subterranean formation types. A common technique to address high contamination, e.g., sand, within the flow line in the tool is to provide a sacrificial sample bottle. For example, a sample bottle that preferably would be utilized for storing a fluid sample is adapted to filter the fluid sample as it is routed through the tool. In some techniques the sacrificial sample bottle may include a screen or other media and/or separation techniques to reduce the contamination in the fluid sample. One of the drawbacks of these systems is the loss of valuable space in the tool as well as that the sacrificial technique merely buys some time for use of the tool downhole. For example, the sacrificial sample chamber will eventually clog, eliminating utilization of the tool.
Despite the existence of techniques for performing formation evaluation and for attempting to deal with contamination, there remains a need to manipulate the flow of fluids through the downhole tool to reduce contamination as the fluid sample passes through the downhole tool. It is desirable that such techniques are capable of diverting contaminants away from contaminant sensitive devices, such as, and without limitation, sensors and pumps. It is also desirable that such techniques be available at one or more positions in a sample tool flow line.


Non-uniformity in a thickness of a silicon oxide film formed on a processing target object can be reduced even when an aspect ratio of an opening of a mask is increased. A silicon oxide film is formed by repeating a sequence including: (a) a first process of forming a reactant precursor on the processing target object by generating plasma of a first gas containing a silicon halide gas within a processing vessel of a plasma processing apparatus; (b) a second process of generating plasma of a rare gas within the processing vessel after the first process; (c) a third process of forming a silicon oxide film by generating plasma of a second gas containing an oxygen gas within the processing vessel after the second process; and (d) a fourth process of generating plasma of a rare gas within the processing vessel after the third process.

In a manufacturing process of an electronic device such as a semiconductor device, etching is performed to form a mask on an etching target layer and transcribe a pattern of the mask to the etching target layer. In general, a resist mask is used as the mask. The resist mask is formed by photolithography. Thus, a critical dimension of the pattern formed in the etching target layer is affected by a resolution limit of the resist mask formed by the photolithography.
With a recent trend of high integration of electronic devices, however, it is required to form a pattern having a dimension smaller than the resolution limit of the resist mask. In this regard, as described in Patent Document 1, there has been proposed a technique of reducing a width of an opening of the resist mask by depositing a silicon oxide film on the resist mask.
To be specific, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the silicon oxide film is formed on the resist mask by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. More specifically, a source gas containing organic silicon and activated oxygen species are alternately supplied into a processing vessel in which a processing target object is accommodated. An aminosilane gas is used as the source gas.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2011-082560
In the technique of reducing the opening width of the mask by using the silicon oxide film, which is formed on a surface of the processing target object including a surface of the mask by using the film forming method such as the ALD method, non-uniformity in thicknesses of the silicon oxide film at individual positions on the surface of the processing target object needs to be reduced. That is, when forming the silicon oxide film, the silicon oxide film needs to have high in-plane uniformity on the surface of the processing target object and, also, to have conformal coatability. Here, the term "conformal coatability" implies that a difference between a thickness of the silicon oxide film on a top surface of the mask, a thickness (width) of the silicon oxide film on a side surface of the mask confining the opening and a thickness of the silicon oxide film on a bottom surface of the opening is small. If, however, an aspect ratio of the opening of the mask is increased, the thickness of the silicon oxide film on the side surface of the mask confining the opening and the thickness of the silicon oxide film on the bottom surface of the opening are reduced as compared to the thickness of the silicon oxide film formed on the top surface of the mask.
Accordingly, it is required to reduce the non-uniformity in the thickness of the silicon oxide film formed on the processing target object even when the aspect ratio of the opening of the mask is increased.


An imaging apparatus, including a pattern projecting device that projects a pattern onto a wall of a body cavity, the pattern including at least a first section and a second section. The apparatus also includes an illumination device that directs an illumination light onto the wall of the body cavity and an imaging device that, while in a first orientation directed to the first section of the pattern projected onto the wall, acquires a first image of the first section, and while in a second orientation directed to the second section of the pattern projected onto the wall, acquires a second image of the second section. The apparatus further includes a processor controlling the pattern projecting device and the illumination device such that the imaging device acquires the first and the second images during the use of the illumination light, and stitching the first image to the second image.

While an endoscope may provide an image of a section of walls of a body cavity, the image provided may be insufficient for a professional viewing the image. Typically, if only a section of the walls is imaged, the professional may not be able to correctly relate the imaged section with other parts of the body cavity walls. Availability of a panoramic image of the body cavity walls overcomes a lack of correlation and orientation which occurs if only a portion of the walls are imaged.
Documents incorporated by reference in the present patent application are to be considered an integral part of the application except that to the extent any terms are defined in these incorporated documents in a manner that conflicts with the definitions made explicitly or implicitly in the present specification, only the definitions in the present specification should be considered.


A fluidized-bed-type apparatus and method for treating gypsum, which activates or improves fluidity of gypsum powder to promote an effect of treatment of gypsum, such as modification or homogenization of the gypsum powder. The apparatus for treating gypsum includes a reactor vessel, a conditioned air supply port, a horizontal partition wall and a plurality of stationary vanes. The wall allows a conditioned air flow to flow upward into a reaction region. The vanes are arranged at an angular interval in a circumferential direction. A fluidized bed of calcined gypsum is provided in the vessel. The vane deflects the conditioned air flow flowing upward into the reaction region, toward a radially outward and circumferential direction of the reaction region. The calcined gypsum makes a saltational fluid motion or saltational movement in the vessel with the air flow.

Gypsum based boards produced from gypsum, such as gypsum boards, plaster plates and so forth, are widely available as architectural interior finish materials and so forth. The gypsum may be generally classified into gypsum dihydrate (dihydration product of calcium sulphate), gypsum hemihydrate (hemihydration product of calcium sulphate), and anhydrous gypsum (anhydrous product of calcium sulphate), in accordance with existing state of combined water. In general, calcined gypsum (stucco or calcined plaster) obtained by calcination of the gypsum dihydrate is used as a raw material for production of gypsum based boards. The calcined gypsum is produced by a calcination process, wherein raw gypsum, such as natural gypsum or chemical gypsum, is calcined solely, or a mixture of different kinds of raw gypsum is heated (calcined). An oven-type furnace (direct-heating-type furnace), an indirect-heating-type furnace and so forth are used as a gypsum calciner for producing the gypsum hemihydrate and so forth, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2571374 (Patent Literatures 1). The gypsum dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O) is converted to the gypsum hemihydrate (CaSO4.½H2O) by a calcination process. In general, the calcined gypsum obtained by the calcination process includes not only the gypsum hemihydrate but also insufficiently calcined gypsum (gypsum dihydrate), excessively calcined gypsum (III type anhydrous gypsum (CaSO4)) and so forth.
It is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2013-535401 (Patent Literature 2) that process gas (high temperature and high humidity gas) generated in a furnace or reaction vessel of a gypsum calciner or an apparatus for calcination of gypsum is delivered through a fluid passage together with the calcined gypsum, and that the calcined gypsum and the process gas are introduced into a gypsum plaster cooler. This cooler is an apparatus for treating gypsum which is intended to homogenize the calcined gypsum and reduce the amount of mixing water for slurrying the calcined gypsum. This cooler is arranged to introduce the process gas of the gypsum calcination apparatus, which includes a relatively large amount of moisture (steam), into a stabilization zone of the cooler together with the calcined gypsum. According to such a gypsum plaster cooler, it is assumed that the III type anhydrous gypsum contained in the calcined gypsum can be converted to the gypsum hemihydrate in the stabilization zone by the moisture contained in the process gas and that a particle size distribution of the gypsum powder can be improved by rotating and fluidizing the gypsum powder as a whole.
Furthermore, a homogenizer (an apparatus for homogenizing the calcined gypsum) is known in the art, which homogenizes the calcined gypsum extracted from the calciner, so as to be the calcined gypsum substantially consisting of the gypsum hemihydrate, wherein insufficiently calcined gypsum (gypsum dihydrate) and excessively calcined gypsum (anhydrous gypsum) contained in the calcined gypsum are converted to the gypsum hemihydrate. The homogenizer is provided with a reaction region which retains the gypsum dihydrate and the anhydrous gypsum together with the gypsum hemihydrate. Air or the like conditioned at a predetermined temperature or a predetermined humidity is introduced into the reaction region. The gypsum dihydrate and the anhydrous gypsum contained in the calcined gypsum are agitated in the reaction region, and they are converted to the gypsum hemihydrate by a dehydration reaction or a hydration reaction. As a result, the percentages of the contents of the gypsum dihydrate and the anhydrous gypsum are reduced, and the percentage of the content of the gypsum hemihydrate is increased. Thus, the calcined gypsum is homogenized to be the gypsum hemihydrate with less "uneven calcination".

Apparatus and method for treating gypsum


Disclosed is a photographic printing paper support comprising a waterproof substrate constituted of raw paper and polyolefin resin coats covering the both surfaces thereof, which further has on the back side of the substrate a backing layer containing at least (a) colloidal silica, (b) an aqueous dispersion of a styrene-acrylate copolymer prepared by the polymerization in the presence of a water-soluble high-molecular compound, (c) at least one substance selected from a group consisting of carboxyl or sulfo group-containing water-soluble high-molecular compounds, the metal salts thereof and hydrophilic organic high-molecular colloidal substances and (d) an aqueous dispersion of a polyolefin resin having a melting point below 100.degree.C.

In general, raw paper has so far been used as a substrate for photographic printing paper. For the purpose of imparting a water-resisting property to raw paper, both sides thereof are generally covered with polyolefin resins, such as polyethylene. The photographic printing paper support using a polyolefin-covered raw paper as described above is coated with photographic emulsions on one side thereof. This side of the support is called "front side". The other side of the support on which any photographic emulsions are not coated is called "back side".
In case of a roll-form silver halide photographic material, letters and/or marks have often been typewritten on a backing layer provided on the back side thereof in order to clearly indicate the boundary between neighbouring image planes in anticipation of the photographic material's being automatically cut into image planes or in order to write image information on each image plane.
Therein, the typewriting has caused a trouble such that the typed ink was eluted into a processing bath, the color thereof faded to such an extent as not to fully perform its function, or it partly transferred onto the emulsion layer side when the photographic material was wound up into a roll.
Under these circumstances, some proposals have been made with the intention of imparting satisfactory penciling and typewriting qualities to photographic printing paper. For instance, (i) the photographic printing paper support comprising a polyolefin-covered waterproof substrate having on the back side thereof a written letter-retaining layer constituted of a styrene-acrylate copolymer containing binder and an inorganic pigment (e.g., crystalline silica, colloidal silica) dispersed therein and (ii) the silver halide photographic material containing a carboxyl or sulfo group-containing compound in a backing layer thereof mainly for improvement in antistatic property have been proposed [in JP-A-62-6256 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") and JP-B-03-28696 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication), respectively]. However, those materials can be still improved upon typewriting quality.
Meanwhile, photographic printing paper is manufactured by applying various photographic layers to a support generally measuring 1 to 2 meters in width, cut into sheets or rolls with a long length depending on the end-use purpose thereof, and then marketed.
In supplying roll-form printing papers with a long length, cut pieces of printing paper are overlapped with an appropriate width when they have a length less than the desired roll length, and the overlapped part thereof is thermally fused by a splicing method using ultrasonic waves or so on to splice the cut pieces.
In case of broad photographic printing paper, however, the thermal fusion method, whether it uses ultrasonic wave irradiation or heat application, has a drawback such that it cannot ensure a satisfactorily spliced state to the overlapped part thereof because photographic layers including emulsion layers and coatings on the back side are present between two polyolefin resin-covered supports to adhere to each other.
As a result of our intensive studies for solving the above-described problems, it has been found out that not only an improved typewriting quality but also enhanced spliceability upon thermal fusion utilizing ultrasonic waves or so on can be obtained by forming a backing layer on the back side of a waterproof support comprising raw paper covered with polyolefin resins on beth sides thereof and further by using in said backing layer an aqueous dispersion of polyolefin resin having a melting point below 100.degree. C., thus achieving the present invention.


A method for producing a microfluid component includes: Producing a single polymer layer made of at least one plastic or a plastic composite and having a microfluid structure, fitting the polymer layer with at least one semiconductor element, and/or with at least one electronic component, and/or with an optical or optoelectronic component, sealing the microfluid structure.

From DE 601 05 979, a microfluid component is known, which is made up of a plurality of polymer layers. Each polymer layers has a fluidic microstructure which forms a micro channel or a reservoir for a fluid. In the known microfluid component, the microstructure is introduced into the polymer layer using a method that has an ablating effect.
In addition to the microfluid component known from DE 601 05 979, additional microfluid components are known, which are developed as micro-pump or pressure sensor, for instance, and include a plurality of microstructured polymer layers for absorbing, storing or conveying a fluid.
A microfluid component that is optimized with regard to its producibility is described in DE 10 2007 046 305. The microfluid component includes a plurality of microstructured polymer layers on which at least one semiconductor element is disposed.
All previously mentioned arrangements share the disadvantage that each polymer layer must be microstructured and coated separately, so that each individual polymer layer generates approximately the same cost in the production.

Method for producing a microfluid component, as well as microfluid component


It is an object of the invention to provide a circuit board for mounting a semiconductor chip and a manufacturing method thereof that prevent post-reflow warping and prevent peeling of the semiconductor chip and breakage resulting from thermal stress. In the circuit board for mounting a semiconductor chip, wiring regions, in which are formed wirings electrically connected to a semiconductor chip, are disposed on an insulating substrate in a vicinity of a chip region in which the semiconductor chip is mounted. A reinforcement layer, in which is formed reinforcement layers for reinforcing the insulating substrate, is disposed in a vicinity of the wiring regions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit board for mounting a semiconductor chip used in a semiconductor device in which a semiconductor chip is packaged, such as a Ball Grid Array (BGA), a Land Grid Array (LGA) or a Chip Size Package (CSP), and also relates to a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many external terminal connection terminals have become necessary due to increases in the speed and sophistication of signal processing of semiconductor chips. Thus, as one semiconductor chip package, there is a BGA-type semiconductor device where external terminals are arranged two-dimensionally on a bottom surface thereof. For example, there is a BGA-type semiconductor device where a semiconductor chip is mounted on a circuit board, on which are disposed solder balls arranged two-dimensionally as external electrodes, and the vicinity of the semiconductor chip is sealed with a resin. On this circuit board, wirings electrically connected to external terminals of the semiconductor chip are formed on an insulating substrate, a solder resist (protective film) that protects these wirings is formed, and the semiconductor chip is laminated on a surface of the solder resist.
In this BGA-type semiconductor device, when the semiconductor chip is mounted on a printed board such as a mother board, the two-dimensionally arranged solder balls are soldered at once by reflow on plural pads on the printed board.
However, there is the problem that the circuit board becomes warped due to thermal stress resulting from the reflow. In order to prevent such warping, a reinforcement layer comprising copper or the like has conventionally been formed on the circuit board.
In this circuit board, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the reinforcement layer is formed in a region (reinforcement layer region 132) positioned in a substantially central portion of a circuit board 110 at an inner side of a wiring region 128 (or at inner sides of wiring regions 128) where wirings connected to the external terminals of the semiconductor chip are formed on an insulating substrate 116, whereby the semiconductor chip is mounted above the reinforcement layer region 132.
However, as shown in FIG. 8, when a solder resist 122 is formed so as to cover wirings 118 and a reinforcement layer 120, the surface of the solder resist 122 is uneven along the pattern of the wirings 118 and the reinforcement layer 120, and the semiconductor chip adhering surface is not planar. Thus, for example, problems arise in that pressure from the chip at the time of mounting the semiconductor chip becomes unevenly applied to the chip adhering surface, a liquid adhesive (die-bonding agent) is not evenly coated, an insufficiently filled portion (void) is generated in a semiconductor chip vicinity portion, and peeling of the semiconductor chip and breakage arise due to thermal stress at the time of reflow.
In order to planarize the semiconductor chip adhering surface, a proposal has been made in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication (JP-A) No. 11-340249 to form wirings on the insulating substrate and form dummy wirings in regions where these wirings are not formed.
However, in JP-A No. 11-340249, although the semiconductor chip adhering surface is planarized in comparison to what has conventionally been the case, unevenness along the pattern of the wirings and the dummy wirings arises in the chip adhering surface, and there is a demand for further improvement.
The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems and seeks to achieve the following object. Namely, it is an object of the invention to provide a circuit board for mounting a semiconductor chip and a manufacturing method thereof where the circuit board is reinforced in order to prevent post-reflow warping and the chip adhering surface is planarized.

Circuit board for mounting a semiconductor chip and manufacturing method thereof


Techniques are shown for key management using a traceable key block-chain ledger involving creating a cryptographic key at a key source, generating a genesis block for a key block-chain ledger corresponding to the cryptographic key, and securely modifying the genesis block to include metadata describing the key source. The techniques also involve performing a first key transaction with the cryptographic key, generating a first transaction block corresponding to the first key transaction with the cryptographic key and adding the first transaction block to the key block-chain ledger, and securely modifying the first transaction block to include metadata describing the first key transaction with the cryptographic key.

Key management is the management of cryptographic keys in an encrypted system and includes dealing with the generation, exchange, storage, use, destruction and replacement of keys. It typically includes cryptographic protocols, key servers, and user procedures. When keys are created in many key management systems, the key typically includes a cryptographic certificate to govern how the key is used, the agency that is attesting for the key, and lifecycle policies for the key.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.


Driving and dispensing devices for an injection device are used for administering a liquid product and adjusting a product dose and include a dosage display element with a helical dosage scale; an indication device for indicating a dosage value from the dosage scale; and a dosage element, which can be held by a user and screwed relative to the indication device around a rotational axis (L) and relative to the dispensing member along the rotational axis (L) in order to adjust the dosage to be administered. A bearing element having a thread is in a threaded engagement with a thread of the dosage indication element, and the thread pitch of the thread of the dosage indication element is not the same as the pitch (P1) of the helical scale, and may be greater or smaller than the pitch (P1) of the helical scale.

The invention relates to a driving and metering device for an injection device for administering a liquid product, particularly a medicine such as insulin. A product dose to be administered can be set and preferably dispensed with the driving and metering device, wherein these steps can be repeated multiple times. The invention thus also relates to an injection device having such a driving and metering device.
From the prior art, particularly WO 2009/105909 A1, an injection device is known that has a housing in which is arranged a dosage display sleeve with a helical scale arranged over the circumference thereof. A rotatable metering button that is axially fixed in relation to the housing is arranged at the rear end of the housing. By rotating the metering button, the dosage display drum is screwed along a thread formed on the housing. The thread has the same pitch as the helical scale on the circumference of the dosage display element.
WO 2005/046770 A1 describes an injection device having an adjusting element at the distal end thereof that is used for setting the injection dosage. The adjusting element further comprises a helical dosage scale. The adjusting element is in threaded engagement with the housing via a first thread and, via a second thread, with a slide that is rotationally fixed in relation to the housing but is axially movable. The thread for the threaded engagement with the housing has a pitch equal to that of the helical dosage scale, while the thread for the engagement with the slide has a smaller pitch than that of the dosage scale.
The devices known from the prior art are quite challenging in regard to assembly. In particular, it is necessary to bring the adjusting element into engagement with two threads of different pitches during assembly in WO 2005/046770 A1.

Injection device having a helical or spiral dosage scale


A fractional handpiece and systems thereof for skin treatment include a passively Q-switched laser assembly operatively connected to a pump laser source to receive a pump laser beam having a first wavelength and a beam splitting assembly operable to split a solid beam emitted by the passively Q-switched laser assembly and form an array of micro-beams across a segment of skin. The passively Q-switched laser assembly generates a high power sub-nanosecond pulsed laser beam having a second wavelength.

Typically, systems for non-invasive treatment of skin disorders include a cabinet into which a laser is placed and a beam delivery system (typically an optical fiber or an articulated arm) connected to a handpiece that conducts the laser radiation from the laser to a segment of skin to be treated. The functionality of such a system is limited by the capabilities of the selected laser. Treatment of skin imperfections usually requires more than one type of laser and frequently more than one type of laser is placed in the cabinet. This increases size, cost and complexity of the system.
Treatment of some skin imperfections requires significant laser power (tens and even hundreds of MW) that in order to prevent skin damage is supplied in ultrashort pulses (most commonly in picosecond regime). Such laser power is difficult to transfer through a fiber and use of an articulated arm significantly limits the freedom of the caregiver.
A typical Q-switched microcavity laser consists of a laser medium and a saturable absorber as a passive Q-switcher positioned very close each other. The cavity length is managed to be as short as possible. Q-switched microcavity lasers are small solid-state lasers with linear short cavity. The typical cavity length is on the order of millimeter. The short cavity lengths result in extremely short cavity lifetimes, and the possibility of much shorter Q-switched pulses. It has been demonstrated that Q-switched microcavity lasers can produce output pulses on a subnanosecond regime. In some special cases (i.e., monolithic cavity), the pulse duration can be, as short as large mode-locked lasers produce with peak powers of about 10 KW, similar to commercially available large Q-switched systems produce.
Over decades, a lot of effort has been put in places striving for generation of high energy picosecond lasers. Many techniques have been developed. These techniques commonly involve multi-stage configurations, i.e., a low energy picosecond seed laser, for example nJ or μJ are fed into amplification stages (including regenerative amplifier or/and multi-pass amplifications). Such multi-stage configurations require complex optical arrangement and sophisticated electronic synchronization further increasing the complexity and cost of the system.

Fractional handpiece with a passively Q-switched laser assembly


A memory array is described herein that includes a static random-access memory (SRAM) array to store data. The memory array also includes a bit circuit to retrieve the data from the SRAM array, the bit circuit to be operated with a clock signal that oscillates between a low state and an intermediate state, wherein the intermediate state is between the low state and a high state. Furthermore, the memory array includes a sense amplifier to amplify an output signal from the bit circuit indicating a value of the stored data, wherein the sense amplifier does not include a cross coupled positive field-effect transistor.

The present disclosure relates generally to circuits, and more specifically, but not exclusively, to executing computer instructions with memory arrays that have a reduced circuit design.
Computing devices can include any number of different types of memory to store data to be used by a processor to execute read and write instructions. In some current computing devices, memory can include static random-access memory (SRAM) that uses bistable latching circuits or flip-flops to store each bit. SRAM may be used as a cache device in a computing device by storing copies of data from slower non-volatile memory. SRAM cells can store single values and any number of SRAM cells can be organized into various columns and rows. In some memory chips, each column of SRAM cells can be connected to a bit circuit and a sense amplifier. In some current sense amplifier designs, sense amplifier circuits are repeated a large number of times within dense memory circuits and contribute to memory efficiency degradation. Cross coupled PFETs (e.g., p-channel field-effect transistors or p-channel metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors) in current sense amplifier designs support high side noise and voltage difference. These may impact density and efficiency of memory arrays.

International Business Machines Corporation


A voice input by a vehicle user is taken as a basis for determining at least one keyword from a set of prescribed keywords. The at least one keyword is taken as a basis for determining at least one event and/or at least one state from a set of events and/or states of the vehicle that are stored during a prescribed period of time. This involves the respective event and/or the respective state being stored in conjunction with at least one condition occurrence that characterizes a respective condition that needs to be met in order for the event to occur and/or the respective state to exist. In addition, a response is determined from a set of prescribed responses on the basis of the condition occurrence that is associated with the determined event and/or state. Furthermore, a signaling signal is determined on the basis of the ascertained response.

The invention relates to a method and a corresponding apparatus for operating a voice-controlled information system for a vehicle.
In the automotive sector, voice-based user interfaces are being used to an increasing extent. Besides mobile telephones, navigation applications that are controlled by means of voice operation by virtue of the input of town and/or road names, known destinations, routes and/or points of interest (POI) have essentially been commercially available in motor vehicles to date.
The object on which the invention is based is that of providing a method and an apparatus for operating a voice-controlled information system that allow flexible checking of information and contribute to increasing reliability for the provision of information.
This and other objects are achieved by a method and a corresponding apparatus for operating a voice-controlled information system for a vehicle. A voice input by a vehicle user is taken as a basis for determining at least one keyword from a set of prescribed keywords. The at least one keyword is taken as a basis for determining at least one event and/or at least one state from a set of events and/or states of the vehicle that are stored during a predetermined period of time, wherein the respective event and/or the respective state is stored in conjunction with at least one condition occurrence that characterizes a respective condition that needs to be met in order for the event to occur and/or the respective state to exist. In addition, a response is determined from a set of prescribed responses on the basis of the condition occurrence that is associated with the determined event and/or state. Furthermore, a signaling signal is determined on the basis of the determined response.
Advantageously, the information system can thus also be used by a vehicle driver during a trip. The voice interaction with the information system has the advantage that a vehicle driver, in particular, can continue to observe a current traffic scenario unhindered. Advantageously, it is thus also possible to take account of a current state of surroundings and/or a current operating state of the vehicle when selecting the information to be provided. The use of voice recognition in a suitable form allows unrestricted language by a vehicle user to be evaluated sufficiently reliably. Possible problems that affect the vehicle user can be easily identified on the basis of the keywords and the events. This allows efficient and/or reliable selection and/or filtering-out of the probably required information for the vehicle user. Incorrect or context-free responses can be reduced or even avoided by evaluating the event and/or state history. In addition, the voice interaction with the vehicle can contribute to a kind of personal relationship being formed with the vehicle and hence the wellbeing of a vehicle user is increased when the vehicle is used.
In one advantageous embodiment, the at least one keyword is taken as a basis for determining a content section of a prescribed interactive instruction manual, and the signaling signal is determined on the basis of the content section. The signaling signal can be used for forwarding the response to a further device and/or to a further module for further processing. Advantageously, this allows an interactive instruction manual for the vehicle to be used as an information source for the provision of information for the vehicle user. The instruction manual can include all of the vehicle components, such as the engine, transmission, seat adjustment, radio, navigation device, or just specific vehicle components, for example vehicle components that a vehicle user can operate for personal adjustment. The voice control allows the vehicle user to voice (speak) his question to the vehicle. The determined content section(s) can be output audibly. In addition, graphics and/or images from the instruction manual can be signaled visually.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the response is determined on the basis of a prescribed characteristic property of the vehicle that explicitly identifies the vehicle. This allows individual equipment of the vehicle to be taken into account when determining the response. In particular, it is thus also possible to take account of a change in the equipment of the vehicle.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method and device for operating a speech-controlled information system for a vehicle

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A process for preparing glycosides from a source of saccharide moiety and an alcohol in the presence of a hydrophobic acid catalyst is provided. An example of such a catalyst is dinonylnaphthalenemonosulfonic acid. The use of such catalysts provides a number of process advantages, which includes the reduced production of polar by-products. Preferred glycosides produced by the process are higher alkyl glycosides useful as surfactants.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to the production of glycosides by the reaction of an alcohol with a reducing saccharide, or a source of reducing saccharide, in the presence of an acid catalyst.
2. Statement of Related Art:
The reaction of a reducing saccharide, e.g. an aldose or ketose saccharide, or a source thereof, with an alcohol results in the formation of a glycoside. Acids catalyze the reaction between a reducing saccharide and an alcohol. When the alcohol is an alkanol, the resulting glycoside is commonly referred to as an alkyl glycoside. Alkyl glycosides are generally stable to alkali. Long chain alkyl groups contribute to surface activity, e.g. detergency, of the glycoside.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,828 (Mansfield et al.) discloses a process for producing surface active (i.e. higher alkyl) glycosides by first reacting a saccharide with a lower alkanol (e.g. butanol) in the presence of an acid catalyst to form a lower alkyl glycoside which is then reacted with a higher alkanol to form the higher alkyl glycoside. The acid catalysts disclosed by Mansfield et al. are mineral acids (H.sub.2 SO.sub.4, HCl and HNO.sub.3), p-toluenesulfonic acid, and methanesulfonic acid. It is stated by Mansfield et al. that while other acid, electron accepting compounds of the group generally classified as "Lewis acids" may be employed as catalysts, sulfuric acid is preferred.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,865 (Lew) discloses the production of higher alkyl (C.sub.8 -C.sub.25) glycosides from a monosaccharide or source thereof and a higher monohydric alcohol in the presence of a latent solvent (lower alcohols) and an acid catalyst selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, toluenesulfonic acid, and boron trifluoride.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,656 (Boettner) discloses a process for producing a higher alkyl glycoside by reacting glucose with methanol in the presence of a macroreticular-structured sulfonic acid resin, anhydrous and in the acid form, to produce methyl glucoside which is reacted without isolation with butanol to form butyl glucoside and which in turn is reacted with a higher alcohol to form a surface active higher alkyl glycoside.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,319 (Mansfield) discloses a process for producing alkyl glycosides by direct, acid catalyzed reaction of a higher alcohol and a saccharide. The acid catalysts are mineral acids such as hydrochloric and sulfuric, and sulfonic acid exchange resins.
E.P.O. Publication No. 132,043, published Jan. 23, 1985, (Davis et al.) discloses the production of alkyl glycosides by reacting, in the presence of an acid catalyst, a monohydric alcohol with a monosaccharide or a source thereof, wherein the acid catalyst is the acid form of an anionic surfactant, e.g. alkyl hydrogen sulfates or alkyl sulfonic acids having in their molecular structure an alkyl group containing from 8 to 22 carbon atoms and alkylbenzene sulfonic acid, with alkyl groups having from 8 to 15 carbon atoms. The publication states it is contemplated by Davis et al. that the catalyst gives a faster reaction rate by building up on the surface of solid saccharide particles which is facilitated by the surface active properties of the catalyst.
While the above processes have varying degrees of utility, they each suffer from one or more disadvantages such as inefficient multi-phase reactions, insufficient reaction rates, excessive by-product formation (e.g. polydextrose), excessive color formation, as well as others. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a new process which does not suffer from one or more of the disadvantages in the above processes.


According to one embodiment, a voice recognition apparatus includes a determination unit, an estimating unit, and a voice recognition unit. The determination unit determines whether a component with a frequency of not less than 1000 Hz and with a level not lower than a predetermined level is included in a sound input from a plurality of microphones. The estimating unit estimates a sound source direction of the sound when the determination unit determines that the component is included in the sound. The voice recognition unit recognizes whether the sound obtained in the sound source direction coincides with a voice model registered beforehand.

JP-A 2002-366191 (KOKAI) discloses a voice recognition apparatus in which the voice emitted by a speaker is detected, and a microphone array is oriented in the direction of emission of the voice.
More specifically, in the voice recognition apparatus, it is determined whether the sound pressure and duration of an input voice exceed predetermined threshold values, to thereby estimate the direction of the sound source and set the orientation of the microphone array based on the estimation result. The voice detected in the estimated direction is emphasized to be recognized.
However, the disclosed voice recognition apparatus may detect sound (e.g., a noise, such as a sound occurring when a door is closed) other than the voice of a speaker. In this case, the microphone array may be oriented in the direction of the noise, with the result that accurate voice recognition may not be achieved.