A magnetic resonance antenna arrangement includes at least one first antenna group including individually-controllable first antenna conductor loops and a second antenna group adjacent to the first antenna group. The second antenna group includes individually-controllable, longitudinal second antenna elements. The first antenna conductor loops essentially extend in a first extending surface and are disposed in the first extending surface in a first direction in a row behind one another. The longitudinal second antenna elements extend with the longitudinal axes transverse to the first direction disposed in parallel next to one another in a second extending surface that runs essentially in parallel to the first extending surface. Each of the second antenna elements are coupled at first and second end areas to a conductive element to form a second conductor loop with the conductive element. The second antenna elements are disposed to overlap an adjacent first antenna loop in each case.

The present embodiments relate to a magnetic resonance antenna arrangement for a magnetic resonance system with at least one first antenna group including a plurality of individually-controllable first antenna conductor loops.
Magnetic resonance tomography involves a technique of obtaining images of the inside of the body of a living proband. In order to obtain an image with this method, the body or the part of the body of the patient or proband under examination is to be subjected to a static basic magnetic field (B0 field) that is as homogeneous as possible. The basic magnetic field is created by a basic field magnet system of the magnetic resonance system. The basic magnetic field is overlaid during the magnetic resonance imaging with rapidly switched gradient fields for local encoding. The gradient fields are generated by gradient coils. High-frequency pulses of a defined field strength (e.g., the "B1 field") are beamed (e.g., radiated) with high-frequency antennas into the object under examination. The nuclear resonance of the atoms in the object under examination are excited by the high-frequency pulses, such that the high-frequency pulses are deflected by an "excitation flip angle" from the position of equilibrium in parallel to the basic magnetic field. The nuclear resonances process around the direction of the basic magnetic field. The magnetic resonance signals generated thereby are received by high-frequency receive antennas. The magnetic resonance images of the object under examination are created based on the received magnetic resonance signals.
To send out the high-frequency pulses into a measurement space, in which the object under examination is located, and, if necessary, also to receive the magnetic resonance signals from the object under examination, the tomograph may have a high-frequency antenna permanently installed in the tomograph housing (e.g., a "whole-body antenna"). Typical structures for whole-body antennas are birdcage structures, transversal electromagnetic (TEM) antennas, and saddle coils.
With modern magnetic resonance systems (MR systems), for example, that operate with basic magnetic field strengths of 3 Tesla or more, the interaction of the object under examination or patient with the fields of the high-frequency antenna arrangements results in degradations in the image quality. Eddy currents that may occur in the body of the patient may be responsible for these. The degradation in the image quality takes the form of a spatial variation of the flip angle in the transmit phase or variations of the signal-to-noise ratio during receiving. In addition, with these types of high magnetic field strengths, the absorption of the transmit power of the high-frequency pulses in the object under examination (e.g., the specific absorption rate (SAR)) plays a greater part. Thus, some imaging sequences are restricted in quality by the strict limitation of the permitted power absorption. To resolve or reduce these problems, the previous usual simple circular polarized transmit antennas are no longer used, but antenna arrays are used instead. The antenna arrays include a plurality of individual antenna elements (e.g., elements controllable independently of one another), or antenna conductor loops. If a multichannel transmit system, with which the individual antenna elements or antenna conductor loops may have high-frequency pulses applied independently, is also used, in principle, the high-frequency excitation field and thus the spatial flip angle distribution may be selected in any given manner. This enables, for example, a reduction in the SAR load on the patient to also be achieved. Since with these types of systems several RF pulses are transmitted simultaneously in parallel, which then overlay each other in an intended manner, this technique is also referred to as "parallel transmission technique" (pTX), and the antenna arrays are referred to as "pTX" arrays. Such antenna arrays have been used for the receive coils in the local coils to be accommodated close to the object under examination. Thus, the signal-to-noise ratio may be improved during reception, and the imaging time may be reduced.
A major demand on the antenna arrangement for pTX arrays is a sufficient decoupling of the individual antenna elements or antenna conductor loops in order to achieve crosstalk and thus a possible mixing of the separate transmit channels. With antenna arrangements, of which the antenna elements are only disposed over the circumference of the measurement space embodied, for example, in a cylindrical shape (e.g., a "patient tunnel"), a number of practical options are known for decoupling such as, for example, an overlap of two adjacent antenna conductor loops along the circumference by a specific amount. However, sufficient decoupling of antenna elements in two directions (e.g., not only in the circumferential direction but also in the longitudinal direction (axial direction) of the patient tunnel of antenna arrangements disposed next to one another) is problematic. The methods previously known for receive antennas are unsuitable for antenna arrangements that are to be employed for transmission, since the preamplifier decouplings used in the receive area may not be applied to transmit antennas. pTX antenna arrangements having individually-controllable antenna elements or antenna conductor loops not only disposed next to one another in the circumferential direction but also in the axial direction may also be built. The individual antenna elements arranged in the circumferential direction essentially only allow a direct improvement of the excitation in a transversal plane (e.g., a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the patient tunnel). Other planes are only able to be slightly influenced by this and, even then, only when higher power is provided, which once again is associated with greater SAR. To also be able to influence any other given planes within the measurement space, three-dimensional areas or rotated slices (e.g., in the optimum manner, independently-controllable antenna elements disposed next to one another) are thus also provided in the axial direction.

Magnetic resonance antenna arrangement and magnetic resonance system


In a terminal (100), a PH calculator (105) calculates one or more power headrooms, each of which being calculated for each beam, and a radio transmitter (108) transmits the one or more power headrooms for a number of beams, the number being determined in accordance with a type of power headroom, or a trigger condition serving as a trigger for power headroom reporting.

In the standardization of the fifth generation mobile communication system (5G), a new radio access technology (New Radio: NR) which is not necessarily backward compatible to LTE/LTE Advanced has been discussed.
In discussion of a transmission power control method for terminals (each may be referred to as "User Equipment (UE)") for NR, a feature enhancement taking into account beam transmission and reception for NR (directivity transmission and reception) using the LTE transmission power control method as the basis of the method has been under study.
In addition, in NR, performing Power Headroom Reporting (PHR) as in LTE has been discussed, in which terminals each report a power headroom indicating how much transmission power is left for the terminal to a base station (may be referred to as "eNB" or "gNB").

Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America


A glass panel resistant to coloring when irradiated with electron rays, which has the following glass composition:. ______________________________________ SiO.sub.2 64-75% by weight Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 1.5-2.0% by weight CaO 6.5-9.0% by weight MgO 0-5.0% by weight Li.sub.2 O 0.5-2.5% by weight Na.sub.2 O 7.0-12% by weight K.sub.2 O 2.1-5.0% by weight SrO + BaO + ZrO.sub.2 0-10% by weight CeO.sub.2 0-0.5% by weight, ______________________________________. wherein part of the Na ion, in at least the surface layer of the panel region to be irradiated with electron rays, is substituted with K ion by an ion exchange treatment in a K-containing molten salt so that the molar ratio of Na ion and K ion expressed by Na.sub.2 O/(Na.sub.2 O+K.sub.2 O) in at least the glass layer ranging from 0.5 .mu.m to 6.5 .mu.m in depth from the panel surface, of said panel region to be irradiated with electron rays, is 0.3-0.75.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass panel used in image display devices (e.g. a cathode ray tube, plasma display panel) or fluorescent indicator tubes which are irradiated with electron rays, particularly to a glass panel suitably used in cathode ray tubes which are irradiated with electron rays of high energy density.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, display devices using a cathode ray tube or a plasma display are required to use electron rays of high acceleration voltage or high energy density in order to increase the luminance, or to decrease the thickness, of the glass panel in order to reduce the total weight.
Hence, the glass panels used in said display devices are required to (a) undergo low coloring when irradiated with electron rays, (b) have a high strength even when the panels are thin and (c) be resistant to dielectric breakdown even when a high voltage is applied thereto. Further, it is necessary that the glass ingredients be sufficiently available in order to enable production, of glass panels meeting the above requirements in a large amount. For these reasons, studies have been under way on various glass compositions containing no PbO (PbO increases the weight of resulting glass). That is, it is under study to heat-form a glass plate material containing no PbO, then substitute the Na ion present at the plate surface with K ion to generate a compression layer at the plate surface and to thereby produce a glass panel having a higher mechanical strength while incurring low coloring when irradiated with electron rays. In such a glass panel, the glass composition, particularly the Na.sub.2 O, K.sub.2 O and Li.sub.2 O contents and the viscosity characteristic of glass plate material are important. Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-open) No. 288134/1987 discloses a glass panel containing SrO and BaO and having a controlled ratio of Na.sub.2 O and K.sub.2 O contents. This glass panel has a high K.sub.2 O content and therefore has a good electrical insulating property; however, even after being subjected to an ion exchange treatment (for substitution of Na ion in panel with K ion) in a molten salt containing K ion, the panel is unable to have a higher mechanical strength and shows insufficient suppression for coloring caused by irradiation with electron rays. Further, the glass plate material used for the production of the above glass panel cannot be produced by shaping a molten glass material directly into a flat plate according to the float process, and must be produced by subjecting a glass gob to press molding, followed by surface grinding.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-open) No. 153143/1987 discloses a glass plate material which can be produced as a flat plate directly by the float process. The glass panel produced therefrom has a high electrical insulating property but, even after being subjected to an ion exchange treatment, is unable to show improvements in resistance to coloring caused by irradiation with electron rays as well as in mechanical strength.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-open) No. 195146/1988 discloses a glass panel which is produced by subjecting a glass plate material of soda-lime silica composition for commercially available window glass, obtained by the float process, to an ion exchange treatment in a K-containing molten salt to form a K-ion-rich layer at the panel surface and which resultantly has sufficient resistance to coloring when irradiated with electron rays and sufficient mechanical strength. The glass panel, however, has a low electrical insulating property and, when receiving a high voltage locally, gives rise to dielectric breakdown.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The object of the present invention is to provide a glass panel characterized by (a) a suppression of the coloring caused by electron rays irradiation, (b) a high mechanical strength owing to the presence of a compression stress layer formed at the panel surface by an ion exchange treatment, and (c) a high electrical insulating property and therefore being resistant to dielectric breakdown even when a high voltage is applied to the panel, and further characterized in that the glass plate material used for production of said glass panel can be produced directly from a molten glass material by the float process.

Glass panel resistant to coloring when irradiated with electron rays


A vehicular safety apparatus of the present invention is one actuated according to a collision prediction level of a vehicle. The vehicular safety apparatus of the present invention is provided with a determining device for determining a collision prediction level on the basis of a relative position between a vehicle and an obstacle ahead of the vehicle; a storage for storing a amount of brake operation by a driver at a point where the collision prediction level exceeds a predetermined threshold, as a reference level; and an actuation controller for actuating the safety apparatus in accordance with an increase from the reference level. This prevents the actuation of the safety apparatus from being excessive in the case where an increase of the amount of brake operation is low. Furthermore, in the case of the increase being high, the actuation is controlled so as to fully bring out the performance of the safety apparatus. Therefore, the performance of the safety apparatus can be suitably demonstrated without causing the driver to feel odd.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicular safety apparatus actuated, for example, in cases where a vehicle is at high risk of collision.
2. Related Background Art
There are conventionally known vehicular safety apparatus with a brake assist system which generates a higher brake pressure than a brake pressure by a driver's braking operation when an intervehicle distance becomes smaller than a predetermined threshold. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-124019 (pp.11–12, and FIG. 6) discloses the technique of setting up the intervehicle distance threshold suitable for a driver based on his (her) driving pattern, so as to provide the suitable brake assist. This brake assist control is started when the intervehicle distance becomes smaller than the threshold and when the brake pedal stroke velocity becomes faster than a predetermined velocity.


A method and apparatus for a dedicated cache memory are described. Under an embodiment of the invention, a cache memory includes a general-purpose sector and a dedicated sector. The general-purpose sector is to be used for general computer operations. The dedicated sector is to be dedicated to use for a first computer process.

In computer operation, cache memories can improve system operation by providing access to certain data in memory that can be accessed more quickly than the mass storage. A processor and system may utilize multiple cache memories of differing sizes, locations, technologies, and operational speeds.
However, the use of cache memories may be more complicated when certain operations, such as when processes operate in allocated cycles. For example, a computer that receives a data stream, such as a multimedia stream, may pre-allocate certain compute cycles to the processing of the data stream to enable predictable and reliable operations.
If data processing for a particular operation is handled in certain allocated cycles, it is possible that a cache memory will be flushed in the intervals in between the allocated cycles. As a result, the data stream may not be able to utilize the cache to enable efficient operations because accesses to the cache will likely not result in usable cached data.


Foreign matter is removed from a digital hydraulic pressure controller having two portions connectable to each other and each including two valve arrays with a plurality of individually switchable valve means having different flow cross-sections and connected in parallel within a valve array. One valve array of each pressure controller portion can connect a supply line to a controller output line and the other valve array can connect the output line to a drain line. The two pressure controller portions are connected, the valve means having the largest flow cross-section of the valve array of the one portion on the supply line side is opened, the valve means having the largest flow cross-section of the valve array of the other portion on the drain line side is opened and the opened flow path is flushed through the pressure controller with pressurized working fluid, while the other valve means are closed.

The invention relates to a method of removing foreign matter from a digital hydraulic pressure controller of a hydraulic system and, more exactly speaking, to a method of removing foreign matter from a digital hydraulic pressure controller of a hydraulic system of a machine for producing a fibrous material web, especially a paper or board machine.
In paper machines, hydraulics is widely used as means of operation and control; in particular, actuators by means of which great forces can be adjusted and exerted with high precision are hydraulically driven.
Normally a working fluid, e.g. hydraulic oil, which is pressurized by a pump, is used. The introduction of the pressurized hydraulic oil into a hydraulic actuator, such as a hydraulic cylinder or a hydraulic motor, is typically controlled by a proportional control valve or a proportional valve which can be driven electrically, hydraulically or pneumatically.
Such a control valve has a movable or displaceable spool valve or control piston which, in response to its position within an associated valve housing, can adjust a target pressure at the output by regulating down the pressure of the hydraulic oil supplied by the pump. The mobility of the control piston in the valve housing requires a certain play or clearance between the control piston and the valve housing so that inner leakage of the control valve is unavoidable. The clearance must not be selected to be too narrow, since otherwise the valve would be too prone to contamination in the hydraulic oil.
Recently, alternative pressure controllers have been developed which shall consistently be referred to as digital hydraulic pressure controllers in the present application.
The mode of operation of the digital hydraulic pressure controllers is widely known already. For the sake of improved readability of the present application, however, the mode of operation of digital hydraulic pressure controllers is briefly summarized hereinafter:
In the simple case, a digital hydraulic pressure controller consists of a row of valves which are switched in parallel and which merely have an ON/OFF function; i.e. they are simple ON/OFF switching valves which permit or interrupt a flow and can consistently be referred to as valves in the present application. All of the valves are, on the one hand, connected to a common supply line and, on the other hand, to a common output line. The valves themselves can be conventional solenoid valves, i.e. valves having an electromagnetic drive. Of course, other drive forms may also be selected.
By connecting or installing throttle elements or by the valves themselves it is ensured that the valves have different flow cross-sections and thus different flows when they are opened; a throttle element together with a valve constitutes a valve means. If, for example, four valves are provided, the flow rates Q in the individual flow cross-sections each of which is selectively openable by the associated valve can be at a ratio of 1:2:4:8 with respect to each other; in the case of a larger number of valves, this row is continued accordingly.
By opening and closing individual valves or valve combinations which are determined and selected by a computer on the basis of mathematical models, a very rapid and precise pressure adjustment in the output line or in the actuator connected thereto can be achieved. This is accomplished by replacing the analog control curve of the proportional control valve described above by a digitally generated (approximated) control curve. Due to the omission of non-linearities and/or hysteresis of the analog proportional valve, this curve may be a straight line which is approximated stepwise and allows a set point to be approached quickly and (almost) free from overshoot.
It is another advantage of the digital hydraulic control that the valves are either open or closed, i.e. the valves are simply closed for maintaining a target pressure within a closed (and unchanged) system and there are no internal leakage flows. Thus a clear difference from the conventional proportional valve is given through which constantly a hydraulic oil flow is passed. This requires continuously energy for the hydraulic pumps, e.g. in the paper machine.
Consequently, it is evident that the use of digital hydraulic pressure controllers allows operating the hydraulic pumps less frequently and for a shorter time, whereby energy can be saved.
When operating a digital hydraulic control as described in the foregoing, it may happen that foreign matter occurs in the valves and/or in the common lines which may disturb a smooth operation of the control. Such foreign matter can get into the system, inter alia, when exchanging one or more of the valves during maintenance. Also air or air bubbles are referred to as foreign matter which may occur in the system when such digital hydraulic system is taken into operation for the first time. Foreign matter of this type must be removed or flushed out of the system for a faultless operation of the same.

Method for removing foreign matter from a digital hydraulic pressure controller


A three axis, single degree of freedom gyroscope based rate sensing platform has restraining torque developed for the platform from a feedback loop that includes electronics that decouples individual gyroscope outputs from the rate inputs that correspond to axes other than the input axis for that gyroscope and provides an enhanced frequency response. The outputs from the various gyroscopes are processed in a compensator that estimates the platform rates on independent axes using either a Kalman filter estimator or a matrix inverse of the matrix equation of motion between platform input rate and gyroscope output. High bandwidth performance is obtained by an increased stiffness and prefiltering of the gyro torque inputs.

The present invention relates to three axis, single degree of freedom inertial sensors using three orthogonally placed gyroscopes strapped down on an inertial platform. Such systems also typically have a limited bandwidth in the absence of angular accelerometers. That bandwidth is typically a small fraction of the ratio of gryo angular momentum to platform inertia.
The use of angular accelerometers adds bulk, weight and complexity that is undesirable, limiting their capability in weight limited applications including navigation and precision pointing and tracking.

Wide bandwidth stable member without angular accelerometers


Disclosed is a method of designing a soft contact lens, the method comprising the steps of: (a) measuring or defining a wavefront generated by passage of light through a selected eye and using the wavefront to generate a computer model of the optical characteristics of the selected eye; (b) measuring or defining the topography of the cornea of the selected eye; (c) incorporating into the computer model a soft contact lens, the posterior surface topography of which is defined by the topography of the cornea, offset by an arbitrary amount intended to represent the tear layer thickness of the selected eye, said lens having a defined thickness at a selected locus on the anterior surface; (d) calculating a desired topography for the anterior surface of the lens such that the wavefront will be corrected to assume a desired pattern (for example, preferably planar, the plane of which is perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens) when passing through the computer model eye/lens combination; (e) remodeling the lens off-eye by adapting the posterior topography of the lens to a desired posterior topography to be manufactured; and (f) recalculating a modified anterior topography required as a result of adapting the posterior topography, the modified anterior topography being intended to preserve the desired wavefront pattern defined in (d) when the lens is in situ on the selected eye.

Conventional contact lenses are generally designed to improve the visual acuity of the human eye. The human eye frequently does not constitute a perfect optical system, but instead comprises optical imaging errors which are known as ocular aberrations. For many individuals, the most significant refractive errors giving rise to visual problems associated with the focal power of the eye are those caused by the so-called lowest order aberrations, namely defocus and astigmatism. However, a large number of people have normal retinal function and clear ocular media, but cannot attain good visual acuity using conventional contact lenses, due to having an irregular corneal surface or irregular crystalline lens which gives rise to higher order or irregular aberrations.
One such defect of the eye is known as spherical aberration, wherein light rays entering a refracting surface such as the cornea of the eye, or the lens, are less strongly focused at the centre of the cornea or lens and are progressively more strongly focused off-centre. This results in an image that is sub-optimal and is not clearly focused on one point, but on a series of focal points in front or behind the retina. UK Patent No. 2364138 relates to the design of contact lenses for reduction of spherical aberration. Lenses have also been developed to reduce the effect of tilt aberrations.
Several techniques have been used to measure the wavefront aberrations of the eye. One such technique involves the measurement of the ocular shape of a wavefront using a wavefront aberrometer. The wavefront aberrometer operates by focusing a fine beam of light through the eye. The beam is then scattered back by the retina, through the eye and the pupil. The resulting data is presented as a profile of the optical aberrations present in a subject's eye by means of an ocular optical wavefront. In this respect, the aberrations of the eye can be described as a defined wavefront, the shape of which represents the optical aberrations, a planar wavefront being produced by an ocular system with no net aberrations. The wavefront may be mathematically described using a number of functions, most commonly using a set of Zernike or Seidal functions.
The surface topography of the cornea of the eye is often not spherical. Instead the corneal topography may change at varying and unpredictable rates from the centre of the cornea out to the periphery in a manner that is unique to every individual cornea. Consequently, the optical function of a contact lens is affected by the topography of the cornea onto which the contact lens is superposed. In some cases, the uneven topography the cornea may affect the contact lens by creating a layer of lachrymal fluid (i.e. a lachrymal lens) between the posterior face of the contact lens and the surface of the cornea and/or by deforming the posterior (and consequently the anterior surface in the case of a soft lens) of the contact lens when the contact lens is superposed on the cornea of the eye.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,628 describes a method for the manufacture of contact lenses whilst taking into account the topography of the eye and compensating for the lachrymal lens by modifying the optical area of the front surface of the lens. The document does not disclose correction of higher order aberrations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,204 describes a method to record the aberrations of the eye. In particular, the method involves the use of mathematical steps to design a contact lens wherein the aberrations have been significantly reduced. However, there is no reference in this patent to the feature wherein a soft contact lens is designed to take into account the topography of the cornea. The method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,204 requires the actual manufacture of an initial lens, with associated cost and effort of fitting, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,802 describes a method of integrating the topography of the cornea and ocular wavefront data to create a soft lens design. The method involves the use of topographical data to create a soft contact lens design wherein the posterior surface of the lens is uniquely matched to the corneal topography. In addition, the unique posterior surface of the lens corrects for lower and higher order optical aberrations. The posterior surface of the contact lens is described as having an arbitrarily defined shape or an averaged shape based on the corneal topography, wherein any known aberrations are corrected on the anterior surface of the lens. This involves a process of using corneal topographic information to calculate the posterior surface of the lens, subtracting optical aberrations due to the posterior surface of the lens from the total optical aberrations, and using the net residual optical aberration to determine the anterior surface of the lens. However, there is no reference or guidance given as to the method of calculating the resulting ocular aberrations using the configuration of the posterior surface of the lens.
International Application No. PCT/US2003/027478 describes a method of using a real trial diagnostic lens in order to determine the ocular aberrations that arise from the combination of a soft contact lens with an arbitrarily defined posterior surface. The trial lens is also used to determine the position of the final lens in normal wear conditions. However, the use of such a trial lens increases the cost and time required for fitting contact lenses.

Contact Lens Precision Laboratories Limited


The invention provides a novel sulfonium salt having at least one acid labile group attached to a phenyl group in a molecule and a normal, branched or cyclic C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkylsulfonate anion. The novel sulfonium salt is effective for increasing the dissolution contrast between exposed and unexposed areas. Upon exposure, it generates an alkylsulfonic acid which is a weak acid, minimizing the influence of side reaction and deactivation during PEB step. The sulfonium salt is useful in a chemically amplified positive resist composition which lends itself to fine patterning and features high resolution.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel sulfonium salt and a chemically amplified positive resist composition containing the same and suitable for use in fine patterning.
2. Prior Art
As the LSI (large scale integration) technology tends toward higher integration and higher speed, further refinement of pattern rules is required. Deep-ultraviolet lithography is regarded promising as the next generation of fine patterning technology. The deep-UV lithography is capable of working on the order of 0.3 to 0.4 .mu.m. If a less light absorbing resist is used, it is possible to form a pattern having a side wall nearly perpendicular to the substrate. Great attention is now paid to the technique of utilizing a high illuminance KrF excimer laser as a deep-UV light source. In order to employ this technique on a mass production scale, a resist material having low light absorption and high sensitivity is desired.
From this point of view, a number of chemically amplified positive working resist materials using acid catalysts were recently developed as disclosed in EP 249139, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,491,628 and 5,310,619. These materials have high sensitivity, resolution and dry etching resistance and are promising as resist materials especially suited for deep-UV lithography.
It is known that the function of chemically amplified positive resist materials is largely affected by photoacid generators used therein. Typical photoacid generators are onium salts as shown below. ##STR1##
The onium salts themselves are lipophilic. When blended as a resist component, they act to reduce the solubility of the resist material in alkaline aqueous solution and to prevent the resist film from thinning upon development.
However, in exposed areas of positive resist material, photoacid generators absorb actinic radiation to decompose into products which are also lipophilic. The decomposed products reduce the rate of dissolution of the exposed areas in alkaline aqueous solution, failing to provide a high ratio of the alkali dissolution rate of exposed areas to that of unexposed areas (which ratio is known as dissolution contrast).
This problem can be solved by incorporating a tert-butoxycarbonyl group or acid labile group into p-hydroxyphenylsulfonium salts as disclosed in JP-A 26550/1989, 35433/1989, and 12153/1990. Upon exposure to actinic radiation, the salts decompose to generate acids, which help form alkali soluble phenol derivatives, providing an enhanced dissolution contrast.
These tert-butoxycarbonyloxyphenylsulfonium salts, however, lack thermal stability and fail to satisfy the requirement of high resolution. Additionally, they generate strong acids such as metal halide anions and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid. Since the generated acid has high acidity, an acid labile group can be effectively decomposed with a small amount of acid. However, since the amount of acid generated is very small, line patterns would have a T-top profile, that is, patterns become thick at the top if the leave-to-stand or delay time from exposure to post-exposure baking (PEB) is extended. Patterns tend to be readily affected by contamination with air-borne basic substance.
Light exposure generates acid at the resist surface which reacts with air-borne basic substance and is thereby deactivated. As the delay time until PEB is extended, more acid is deactivated and accordingly, decomposition of acid labile groups is more unlikely to occur. As one solution, it is known from JP-A 232706/1993 and 249683/1993 to add a basic compound in a resist material for suppressing the influence of air-borne basic substance. According to our follow-up test, the basic compound used therein is poorly incorporated into the resist film due to volatilization, less compatible with resist components, and unevenly dispersible in a resist film. Thus the basic compound cannot achieve its advantages in a reproducible manner and causes a reduction of resolving power.
It is also reported in Proc. SPIE, 2195, 74-83 (1994) that strong acids such as trifluoromethanesulfonic acid resulting from photolysis reaction give rise to undesirable side reaction during PEB step involving decomposition of a tert-butoxycarbonyloxyphenyl group or acid labile group, forming a by-product having a hydroxyphenyl group tert-butylated at the o-position which causes a reduction of alkali solubility.

Sulfonium salts and chemically amplified positive resist compositions


An ABS control apparatus employs a normally-open linear solenoid valve as a pressure-increasing valve, and repeatedly performs ABS control composed of pressure-reducing control and linear pressure-increasing control. This apparatus determines an initial value Pw0 of an estimated wheel cylinder pressure value Pw in consideration of brake operation time before start of ABS control Tstp and vehicle body deceleration at the start of a first-time ABS control, and then determines the estimated wheel cylinder pressure value Pw during the ABS control on the basis of the value Pw0 and the pressure-reducing characteristic of a pressure-reducing valve. This apparatus determines instruction current supplied to the pressure-increasing valve during the linear pressure-increasing control, while using an estimated differential pressure Pdiff (=(Pw0−Pw)+Pup1+Pup2), wherein Pup1 and Pup2 are set in accordance with the time Tstp and additional brake operation during the ABS control, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antiskid control apparatus for a vehicle which performs antiskid control for preventing excessive slip of wheels (hereinafter referred to as "ABS control").
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an antiskid control apparatus includes a normally-open solenoid valve (pressure-increasing valve) interposed in a hydraulic circuit between the wheel cylinder and a master cylinder capable of generating brake hydraulic pressure (hereinafter referred to as "master cylinder pressure") corresponding to a driver's brake operation; and a normally-closed solenoid valve (pressure-reducing valve) interposed in a hydraulic circuit between the wheel cylinder and a reservoir.
In general, ABS control is started when predetermined ABS-control start conditions are satisfied, and is accomplished by performing at least pressure-reducing control, and then pressure-increasing control. And the ABS control is continuously performed a plurality of times over a plurality of control cycles.
Incidentally, in recent years, there has arisen demand for control in which the wheel cylinder pressure is increased smoothly (seamlessly) during the above-mentioned pressure-increasing control (hereinafter referred to as "linear pressure-increasing control"). Therefore, some antiskid control apparatuses employ a linear solenoid valve (in particular, a normally-open linear solenoid valve) as the above-mentioned pressure-increasing valve. Such a linear solenoid valve enables the differential pressure (hereinafter referred to as "actual differential pressure") obtained by subtracting the wheel cylinder pressure from the master cylinder pressure to be seamlessly adjusted by means of linearly controlling the current supplied to the pressure-increasing valve (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2003-19952).
In general, in a normally-open linear solenoid valve, proportionality exists between supplied current (instruction current) and differential pressure corresponding to attraction force (hereinafter referred to as "instruction differential pressure"). Accordingly, a normally-open linear solenoid valve, which serves as a pressure-increasing valve, closes when the instruction differential pressure determined from the supplied current is greater than the actual differential pressure, to thereby break the communication between the master cylinder and the wheel cylinder, and opens when the instruction differential pressure is less than the actual differential pressure, to thereby establish the communication between the master cylinder and the wheel cylinder.
Meanwhile, when the instruction differential pressure is less than the actual differential pressure, brake fluid flows from the master cylinder side into the wheel cylinder, whereby the wheel cylinder pressure increases, and the actual differential pressure decreases. When the actual differential pressure becomes equal to the instruction differential pressure, the actual differential pressure attains a balance with the instruction differential pressure.
That is, in order to smoothly increase the wheel cylinder pressure immediately after the linear pressure-increasing control is started by use of a normally-open linear solenoid valve serving as a pressure-increasing valve, the current supplied to the normally-open linear solenoid valve (pressure-increasing valve) must be controlled, with the pressure-reducing valve maintained closed, in such a manner that the current supplied to the normally-open linear solenoid valve is immediately set to a current value corresponding to the actual differential pressure (that is, a supply current value for rendering the instruction differential pressure coincident with the actual differential pressure; hereinafter referred to as "actual-differential-pressure corresponding current value") at the start of the linear pressure-increasing control, and the supply current value is linearly decreased at a constant gradient. By virtue of this control, the actual differential pressure smoothly decreases from the start of the linear pressure-increasing control, which enables the wheel cylinder pressure to smoothly increase throughout the linear pressure-increasing control.
In contrast, in the case where the supply current value, which decreases throughout the linear pressure-increasing control, is set to a value greater than the actual-differential-pressure corresponding current value at the start of the linear pressure-increasing control, the normally-open linear solenoid valve is maintained in its closed state and the wheel cylinder pressure is held from the start of the linear pressure-increasing control until the decreasing instruction differential pressure becomes equal to the actual differential pressure. Herein, this phenomenon will be called "delay in starting of wheel cylinder pressure increase."
Meanwhile, in the case where the supply current value, which decreases throughout the linear pressure-increasing control, is set to a value less than the actual-differential-pressure corresponding current value at the start of the linear pressure-increasing control, there arises a problem in that the normally-open linear solenoid valve is maintained in its opened state and the wheel cylinder pressure abruptly increases until the actual differential pressure, which decreases because of a flow of brake fluid from the master cylinder side into the wheel cylinder, becomes equal to the instruction differential pressure. Herein, this phenomenon will be called "abrupt increase of wheel cylinder pressure."
Accordingly, in order to smoothly increase the wheel cylinder pressure immediately after the start of the linear pressure-increasing control, the actual-differential-pressure corresponding current value at the start of the linear pressure-increasing control (that is, the actual differential pressure at that time point) must be precisely determined. The actual differential pressure can be readily detected by use of a sensor for detecting the master cylinder pressure and a sensor for detecting the wheel cylinder pressure. However, the configuration utilizing such two sensors is not suitable for general employment. Therefore, the brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, which performs linear pressure-increasing control, is designed to set the supply current value at the start of the linear pressure-increasing control to its maximum value in a first control cycle (first-time ABS control).
By virtue of this design, the instruction differential pressure at the start of the linear pressure-increasing control in the first control cycle becomes greater than the actual differential pressure without fail.
As a result, the actual differential pressure (=the instruction differential pressure) during the linear pressure-increasing control after the time point at which the instruction differential pressure has reached the actual differential pressure can be obtained. The apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned publication is configured to obtain the actual differential pressure during a second or subsequent control cycle on the basis of the thus-obtained actual differential pressure.
However, in this case, there arises a problem in that the above-described "delay in starting of wheel cylinder pressure increase" always occurs in the linear pressure-increasing control in the first control cycle. According, desire has arisen for an alternative method which can properly estimate the actual differential pressure during ABS control.


A processor for processing a program with commands, which has a mother program with a sub-program jump command and a sub-program, which is to be processed in response to the sub-program jump command. The processor has a command processor, which is adapted in the mother program upon occurrence of the sub-program jump command, to extract back-up information about data required in the mother program after processing the sub-program from the sub-program jump command, to back-up data required in the mother program after execution of the sub-program based on the back-up information, to extract a destination address from the sub-program jump command, which refers to the sub-program, and to effect the continuation of the processing of the program with the sub-program based on the destination address.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processors in general and particularly to the administration of intermediate results in jumps to a sub-program.
2. Description of the Related Art
The operation of processors is controlled by programs, which consist of several commands. In the easiest case, the processor processes the program from beginning to end in a linear way according to a predetermined processing sequence, without passing through any program parts several times. Therefore, the program is stored and disposed, respectively, in a linear way in the physical memory or, in the case of a virtual memory addressing, in the virtual address space.
For avoiding the repeated storage of identical program parts with an identical sequence of commands, however, programs have at least so-called sub-program jump commands (CALLs), and when they occur, processing is continued in part of the program, a so-called sub-program, until a return occurs in the sub-program, whereupon the execution of the program is continued at the location which succeeds the sub-program jump command according to the processing sequence. In that way, the memory required for storing the program is reduced to the one required for storing the commands of the sub-program as well as the jump commands compared to the memory, which would be required to store the complete sub-program each time.
During processing the program, the processor generates intermediate results, which it writes into internal registers of the processor. These internal registers are, on the one hand, faster writable and readable, respectively, than external memories available for the processor, such as a RAM or an EEPROM, but are, on the other hand, very limited in their memory capacity, since they are expensive. To really allow full access to the fast internal memory of the processor during processing the sub-program, it has to be made sure during the programming of the program, that those intermediate results in internal registers, which are still required in the mother and main program, respectively, after processing the sub-program, will not get lost by overwriting these internal registers during processing the sub-program.
A first and at the same time easiest possibility for backing-up intermediate results in the internal registers during the length of the sub-program is to provide memory commands in the program code in processing sequence prior to the respective program branch command and the jump command, respectively, which store the register contents sequentially, register by register into a memory location secure from overwriting, such as an external RAM. One example of such a memory command is, for example, the command MOV <memory location address>, Rx, wherein the common notation for commands is used and the operand <memory location address>indicates the address of the memory location, where the register content of the register Rx is to be stored. A disadvantage of this procedure is that one or according to data organization, even several commands are required per intermediate result to be stored and per register, whose content is to be stored, respectively, so that the length of the program code and, more exactly, the requirement of code memory per program branch is increased significantly.
An improved possibility for backing-up register content for the length of the sub-program is to use specialized commands for pre-storage of the register contents to be backed-up, which store the register contents to be backed-up not individually but in groups or at once in the back-up memory provided therefore. An example for such a memory command is, for example, a multiple push operation and a multiple filling operation, respectively, such as, written in common notation, Push <Rx, Ry, Rz . . . >, whereby the register contents of the register s Rx, Ry, Rz . . . are entered into a stack provided therefore. Although the requirement of command lines in the program code is reduced to a single memory command by summing-up several memory commands, there are still at least two command lines required for preparing the processing of the sub-program, namely the multiple memory command and the program branch command.
A last possibility for backing-up register contents for the length of a sub-program is an automatic recognition of the data and register content to be backed-up, respectively, by logging those registers which have been written with intermediate results prior to the jump command. According to this possibility, the register contents of the accordingly recognized internal registers are automatically counted to the "data to be conserved" when a branch command occurs, i.e. backed-up to a stack or another back-up memory, which is not as much subject to the size restrictions of the internal registers. Although in the last-named possibility of data back-up, merely one command line and one branching command, respectively, is required in that part of the program from which the jump to the sub-program is performed and which is referred to as mother program below, it is a disadvantage that in the automatic recognition it cannot be considered, which of the data stored in the internal registers during the execution of the mother program have to be available after processing the sub-program and which not, so that the back-up storage for backing up these data is wasted and a larger than absolutely required back-up memory is required, respectively.
As has already been mentioned, a return command in the sub-program corresponds to the jump command in the mother program and, upon occurrence of the return command processing is continued at the command succeeding the sub-program jump command in the mother program. Here, commands for restoring the data needed for further processing the mother program are required, in correspondence to the commands of the pre-data back-up in the jump command.
A possibility for data restoration corresponding to the above first described possibility are simple loading commands, such as MOV Rx, <back-up location address>, which are equivalent to the memory commands. A variation corresponding to the second possibility uses, for example, a multiple-pop-command and a multiple-output-command, respectively, such as pop <Rx, Ry, Rz . . . >, whereupon a number of register contents corresponding to the number of registers Rx, Ry, Rx . . . is taken from the stack and entered into these registers. In the case of using the last-named possibility for data back-up of jump commands, the register contents to be restored are automatically restored upon occurrence of the return command (such as RET) and written into respective internal registers, respectively, wherein the information, which of the registers have been backed-up automatically and, in other words, how many register contents are to be taken from the back-up memory, and into which registers same are to be written, are already stored in the back-up memory together with the register content to be backed-up during processing the "automatic jump command".
The previous discussion with regard to the return command from the mother program to the sub-program has illustrated that the problem of the requirement of command lines for backing-up data to be restored in the registers occurs again after processing the sub-program, whereby the requirement of command lines is doubled in total.
Although the problem of the additional requirement of command lines when calling sub-programs is only a small problem in view of the rapid development of the memory technologies in most applications, such as personal computer applications, there are memory restrictive fields of application where the program memory for storing the program code is extremely limited in multiple ways. One example of such a field of application are chip cards, such as used in cashless payment systems. Industrial standards determine the available chip area, which again limits the available memory capacity. The problem is increased by high security requirements, which require extremely expensive and thus large-area crypto processors for the calculation of the extremely computation-intensive cryptoalgorithms. Additionally, chip cards are required to have a high degree of user friendliness, part of which is a terminal time period, which is as short as possible. To enable fast terminal time periods, cryptographical computations have to be parallelized, which requires a trade-off between required chip area, required computation time of the crypto co-processors and underlying key lengths. Above that, some chip card applications provide a transfer of program codes, namely from terminal to chip card, so that here, due to the limited transfer rate, a reduced program code length is desirable for shorter terminal time periods. Accordingly, the latter holds true, of course, for other fields of application, such as the transfer of program codes to satellites or the like.

Processor for processing a program with commands including a mother program and a sub-program


A method for plasma-etching a magnetic film and plasma-cleaning, in which deposits in an etching processing chamber are efficiently removed while corrosion of a wafer is suppressed, is provided. A plasma processing method for plasma-etching a to-be-processed substrate having a magnetic film in an etching processing chamber includes the steps of plasma-etching the magnetic film using a first gas not containing chlorine, transferring out the to-be-processed substrate from the etching processing chamber, first plasma-cleaning of the etching processing chamber using a second gas containing chlorine, and second plasma-cleaning using a third gas containing hydrogen after the first plasma cleaning.

The present invention relates to a plasma processing method using a plasma processing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a plasma processing method for plasma-etching a magnetic film.
With an increase in an amount of information in recent years, electronic equipment is required to be low in power consumption and memories are required to be fast in operation and non-volatile. DRAMs (Dynamic Random Access Memories), flush memories, and the like, which utilize accumulation of electric charges, can be listed as memories which are used at present. The DRAMs are used as a main memory of a computer and are volatile memories which lose memory when the power supply is turned off. Further, in order to hold data during operation, rewrite is necessary in a certain interval and power consumption is large. Though flush memories are non-volatile memories, on the other hand, write time of information is in the order of micro seconds and long. As non-volatile memories which are free from these drawbacks and operate with low power consumption at a high speed, an application of MRAMs (Magnetic Random Access Memories) is expected.
The MRAMs are the memories that utilize the changes of resistance values depending on the directions of magnetization and in their fabrications a micromachining technology with dry etching of a magnetic film containing elements such as Fe, Co, and/or Ni formed on a substrate using a mask produced by lithography are required.
As for methods of dry etching of a magnetic film there are a method using ion beam etching and a method using plasma etching; plasma etching, in particular, has been widely used in fabrication of semiconductor devices and is advantageous in mass productivity because a substrate having a large diameter can be uniformly plasma-etched.
As for etching methods of a magnetic film using plasma etching there are a method that utilizes formation of chlorides of the magnetic film by Cl2 plasma converted from a Cl2 gas into plasma and a method that utilizes formation of metal carbonyls of the magnetic film by CO-containing plasma converted from a CO-containing gas such as a mixed gas of a CO gas and an NH3 gas or a CH3OH gas into plasma.
On the other hand, as for a plasma-cleaning method JP-A-2000-012515 discloses a cleaning method for preventing generation of contaminating matters by reducing deposits inside a chamber using a mixed gas of a boron trichloride (BCl3) gas and a chlorine (Cl2) gas or a mixed gas of a boron trichloride (BCl3) gas and a hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas as a cleaning gas after a laminated film of aluminum (Al) and titanium nitride (TiN) is etched.
Also, JP-A-2002-359234 discloses a method in which metals such as iron (Fe) and/or copper (Cu) attached to an inner surface of a plasma processing chamber are removed by plasma cleaning using a fluorinated diketone gas and then organic materials attached to the inner surface of the plasma processing chamber are removed by oxygen (O2)-based plasma cleaning.
In the plasma cleaning method disclosed in JP-A-2000-012515, however, chlorine remains in the etching processing chamber after cleaning and, when magnetic films are etched in succession, the chlorine component remaining in the etching processing chamber is implanted into the magnetic films, which are material to be etched, so that magnetic characteristics degrade. Also, when a wafer having the magnetic films is exposed to the atmosphere after etching while chlorine remaining in the etching processing chamber stays on the wafer, chlorine staying on the wafer having the magnetic films reacts with moisture in air on the surface of the wafer having the magnetic films to produce hydrochloric acid so that a problem arises that the surface of the wafer having the magnetic films is corroded.
Also, in the plasma cleaning method disclosed in JP-A-2002-359234, since cleaning gas contains fluorine (F), fluorine (F) reacts with aluminum (Al) of base material of an inner wall of an etching processing chamber or anodized aluminum of a protective film of an inner wall of a processing chamber to produce aluminum fluoride of low volatility, which deposits in the etching processing chamber, and a problem of generation of contaminating matters due to the aluminum fluoride deposition arises.


The indolium compounds of the present invention are represented by general formula (I) below and exhibit thermal decomposition behavior further suitable for optical recording materials used in an optical recording layer of an optical recording medium for high-speed recording.

Compounds exhibiting intense light absorbance in a range of 550 to 620 nm, particularly compounds having a maximum absorbance wavelength (λmax) at 550 to 620 nm, are used as optical recording materials to form an optical recording layer of optical recording media such as DVD-R.
As the optical recording materials, there are many reports with indolium compounds having an indole ring since they give merits of high sensitivity and good response to increase in recording speed. For example, Patent Documents 1 to 6 report styrylindolium compounds. Patent Document 7 reports a low-temperature decomposable cyanine compound in which a benzyl group is introduced into the 3-position of indole ring. Low-temperature decomposable compounds readily form recording segments (pits) in optical recording layers and are considered to fit for high-speed recording media.                Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H11-34489        Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H11-170695        Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-342366        Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-206061        Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-313447        Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-321450        Patent Document 7: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-231359

Indolium compounds and optical recording materials

Abstract: (In the formula, ring A represents a benzene or naphthalene ring; Z represents, for example, an optionally halogenated C1-8 alkyl group that is optionally interrupted by —O—, —CO—, —OCO—, or —COO—; at least one of R1 and R2 represents a group represented by general formula (II) or (III), and when only one of R1 and R2 is a group represented by general formula (II) or (III), the other represents a C1-30 organic group; R3 and R4 each represent a hydrogen atom, a C1-30 organic group, or others; X represents a C1-8 alkyl group, which is optionally substituted with a halogen atom or a hydroxyl group or optionally interrupted by an ether bond, or others; Y1 represents a hydrogen atom or a C1-30 organic group; n represents an integer of 0 to 4, q represents an integer of 0 to 4; Anm- represents an m-valent anion; m represents 1 or 2; and p represents a coefficient to keep the electric charge neutral.)


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for use in testing a computer program application, including an application having multiple versions. Information identifying a target system is obtained. Application information identifying the actual version of the application as installed on the target system is obtained. A test script is selected from multiple test script versions based on the actual version of the application. The selected test script is used to test the application as installed on the target system.

The present invention relates to data processing by digital computer, and more particularly to testing versions of computer programs.
Applications are used by computer systems, for example, to process (e.g., sort, filter, store) data. To ensure proper processing of the data, the applications are generally tested. In one approach to testing, known inputs are supplied to the application during execution to establish what the predicted proper outputs would be. Using these predicted outputs, another instance of the application running on a possibly different platform and running at any location may be tested by applying the same inputs to the other application and comparing the processed outputs to the predicted outputs. The testing is done by a process that contains testing instructions that deliver a large number of tests to the application and process the results to determine whether features of the application are working properly.
When features of an application are changed or enhanced to produce an updated application or a newer application version, the testing process must be updated, too. In addition, because older versions of the application may continue to be used, the original test process must be maintained and used even though a new test process has been generated.


A method of controlling holding pressure in an injection molding operation and an apparatus therefor, wherein the quality of molded products can be controlled with a high accuracy without the need for a pressure sensor in a mold and without requiring any additional data such as the thickness of a molded product, the effective heat diffusion rate, and so on. Further, a method for estimating resin temperature in injection molding and an appartus therefor, wherein in-mold resin temperature in a holding pressure and cooling stage is estimated during injection at a high speed and with a high accuracy.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling holding pressure retention in an injection molding process and an apparatus therefor.
Injection molding is performed under various temperatures due to factors such as a temperature change of seasons, a temperature change between day and night, and so on. These temperature changes mainly affect the temperature of a metal mold or of melted resin which is a molding material to be injected into the metal mold, so that the heat history of the resin is changed in the process where the resin is charged into the mold, cooled and solidified therein, and then taken out from the mold. The change of the heat history of the resin in the mold changes the viscosity and density of the resin, and, as a result, for example, produces a change of resin pressure in the mold. Therefore, a change is produced in the weight and size of molded products, so that the quality of molded products is not consistent.
A known method of solving such a problem caused by temperature changes utilizes a pressure sensor provided in a mold, resin temperature in the mold is detected by the sensor or calculated from the thickness of a molded product, effective heat diffusion rate, and so on, and the specific volume of a molded product is controlled to be a desired value regardless of the temperature change on the basis of PVT property data which is basic physical-property data expressing the relationship among the pressure (P), the specific volume (V) and the temperature (T) of the molding material (resin) (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. Sho. 63-3926, and Sho. 63-3927).
In each of the above-mentioned conventional methods, it is necessary to attach a pressure sensor in a mold, which is not economical. Also, it is difficult to adjust and attach the sensor. In addition, since a conventional calculation expression of in-mold resin temperature is approximate, the accuracy of calculation is not high so that the quality of molded products cannot be controlled with a high accuracy. In addition, additional data such as the thickness of a molded product, the effective heat diffusion rate, and so on are required, and it is troublesome to collect this data.
In addition, in injection molding, for the purpose of process controlling, process monitoring, and so on, it is necessary to control the injection speed, the pressure retention force, and so on, correspondingly to the in-mold resin temperature. As a method for obtaining the in-mold resin temperature, conventionally known are the following methods:
(1) A method in which a temperature sensor is provided in a cavity portion so as to directly measure the in-mold resin temperature; and
(2) A method in which an unsteady state heat condition analysis technique is used to thereby estimate the in-mold resin temperature from the following calculations a, b or c:
a. Calculation by numerical analysis by calculus of finite differences; PA1 b. Calculation by a calculation expression obtained analytically; and PA1 c. Calculation by the following approximate expression: EQU T(t)=Tw+(Tr-Tw).multidot.(8/.pi..sup.2).multidot.exp(-.alpha..multidot..pi. .sup.2 .multidot.t.sup.2 /R.sup.2) PA1 T(t) represents a sectional-direction average value of the in-mold resin temperature; PA1 Tw represents an average value of the metal-mold temperature (=(Twf+Twm)/2, Twf representing the fixed-side metal-mold temperature, Twm representing the movable-side metal-mold temperature); PA1 Tr represents the injected-resin temperature; PA1 .alpha.=K/(.rho..multidot.Cp); PA1 K represents the thermal conductivity of the molding material; PA1 .rho. represents the density of the molding material; PA1 Cp represents the specific heat of the molding material; PA1 t represents the point of time to be a subject of calculation; and PA1 R represents the thickness of a molded product. PA1 Tws represents the metal-mold temperature in a shot in which a good product was molded; PA1 Tr represents the resin temperature in the resin paths (2a, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f); PA1 Trs represents the resin temperature in the resin paths (2a, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f) in a shot in which a good product was molded; and PA1 t represents a point of time. PA1 Twms represents the movable-side metal-mold reference temperature; PA1 Trs represents the injected-resin reference temperature; PA1 R represents the thickness of a molded product; PA1 K represents the thermal conductivity of molding material; PA1 h represents the heat transfer coefficient between the molding material and the metal-mold wall surface; PA1 .rho. represents the density of the molding material; PA1 Cp represents the specific heat of the molding material; PA1 x represents the position to be a subject of calculation; PA1 .alpha.=K/(.rho..multidot.Cp); PA1 A=(1-S/h).multidot.(Twms-Twfs); PA1 B=-(S/K).multidot.(Twms-Twfs); PA1 S=1/(2/h+R/K); PA1 tan(nj.multidot.R/2)=(h/K)/nj; PA1 Dj=4.multidot.(h/K).sup.2 .multidot.{Trs-(Twfs+Twms)/2}/[nj.multidot.{nj.sup.2 +(h/K).sup.2 .multidot.R+2(h/K)}]; PA1 N represents the number of repetitions of series; and PA1 t represents the point of time to be a subject of calculation; PA1 Twf represents the measured fixed-side metal-mold temperature; PA1 Twm represents the measured movable-side metal-mold temperature; PA1 Tr represents the measured injected-resin temperature; PA1 .DELTA.Twf=Twf-Twfs; PA1 D=Twms-Twfs; PA1 .DELTA.D=(Twm-Twf)-(Twms-Twfs); PA1 .DELTA.Tr=Tr-Trs; PA1 .differential.T/.differential.Twf={Trs-Ts(t,x)-(R/2-x).multidot..xi..sub.2 .multidot.D}/(Trs-Tws); PA1 .differential.T/.differential.D=[(.xi..sub.1 +x.multidot..xi..sub.2).multidot.(Trs-Tws)-(1/2).multidot.{Ts(t,x)-Twfs -(.xi..sub.1 +x.multidot..xi..sub.2).multidot.D}]/(Trs-Tws); PA1 .differential.T/.differential.Tr={Ts(t,x)-Twfs-(.xi..sub.1 +x.multidot..xi..sub.2).multidot.D}/(Trs-Tws); PA1 .xi..sub.1 =(1+h.multidot.R/K)/(2+h.multidot.R/K); PA1 .xi..sub.2 =-(h/K)/(2+h.multidot.R/K); and PA1 Tws=(Twms+Twfs)/2
where:
Of the above-mentioned conventional methods, the method (1) requires a temperature sensor, and thus is not economical. In addition, if the in-mold resin temperature in the holding pressure and cooling stage cannot be obtained in the filing stage of injecting melted resin into the mold before the holding pressure and cooling stage, it is difficult to control the behavior of resin in holding pressure and cooling stage in which the resin in the mold is almost being solidified.
In the method (2), on the other hand, because of the complicated calculation, it takes many seconds or even several minutes to obtain an estimated value (a and b), and because of approximation errors, the accuracy is low (c).

Method of controlling holding pressure in injection molding and apparatus therefor


A resin sealed semiconductor device having: a semiconductor chip having an electric circuit therein and an elongated main connection line respectively formed thereon; a plurality of leads disposed near the chip; electrical connecting wires for electrically connecting together the chip and the leads; at least one by-pass connection line formed in correspondence with the main connection line; and by-pass connecting wires for electrically connecting the main connection line near at one end thereof to the by-pass connection line near at one end thereof, and electrically connecting the main connection line near at the other end thereof to the by-pass connection line near at the other end thereof.

As a means for electrically connecting a semiconductor element (hereinafter called a chip) to external leads of a semiconductor device having a plurality of terminals or pins, such as ICs and LSIs, there are known wire bonding and wireless bonding methods. The wire bonding method is a method whereby a bonding wire made of a fine metal such as gold and aluminum and having a 20 to 30 .mu.m diameter, connects a bonding pad on a chip to an external lead. Bonding wire is bound, for example, by means of a thermocompression bonding method, an ultrasonic bonding method, or both the methods. The wireless bonding method is a method whereby a plurality of gold pads on a chip are connected to a plurality of external leads at a time using specific bumps or metal leads. This method is executed by a known tape carrier scheme, flip chip scheme, beam lead scheme, or the like. As well known, in order to protect a chip from contamination or defect by ambient atmosphere, the chip and its peripheral area are sealed with resin.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a chip of a resin sealed semiconductor having a well known zigzag in-line package (ZIP). Referring to FIG. 1, at the peripheral area of a chip 1, there are formed bonding pads 2, a V.sub.ss potential bonding pad 3, and a V.sub.cc potential bonding pad 4, at positions corresponding to the layout of a lead frame for ZIP. The V.sub.SS potential bonding pad 3 is connected to a V.sub.SS potential connection line 20 of a closed loop formed at the peripheral area of the chip 1. A V.sub.CC potential connection line (not shown) is also formed at the side of the V.sub.SS potential connection line, the detailed description of this line being omitted because it is not closely related to the present invention. As described above, a chip has a number of power supply lines and a number of electrodes (bonding pads) for supplying input/output signals and power sources. A connection line, particularly a power source line, occupies a large area of wiring space, providing one of obstacles against high integration of a semiconductor device.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a conventional lead frame on which the chip shown in FIG. 1 is mounted. A semiconductor mount section (hereinafter called a bed) 5 is formed at the central area of the frame, and leads are formed externally of the bed. Each lead is comprised by an inner lead 9 directly connected to a bonding pad, and an outer lead 8 integrally formed with the inner lead 9. At the tip of the inner lead 9, there is formed a metal plated layer 9A such as gold and silver. One of the inner leads 9 is used as a V.sub.SS potential lead 10, and another is used as a V.sub.CC potential lead 13.
The bed 5 is suspended by a side section 7 of the lead frame via suspension pins 6. A metal plated layer 5A such as gold and silver is also formed on the surface of the bed 5. Reference numeral 7A represents a hole for transporting the lead frame.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the finished semiconductor device wherein the chip 1 shown in FIG. 1 and mounted on the lead frame shown in FIG. 2, is sealed with resin and the side section 7 of the lead frame is removed. FIG. 3 is shown as seeing through the resin sealed portion of the semiconductor device. The chip 1 is attached to the bed 5 using mount paste. Next, the bonding pads 2, V.sub.SS potential bonding pad 3, and V.sub.CC potential bonding pad 4, respectively on the chip 1, are connected to leads 9 (10, 13) using bonding wires 11. Thereafter, the chip 1 is sealed with resin 12 such as epoxy resin, and the leads are cut from the side section and bent. In this manner, the resin sealed semiconductor device is formed, with the side section 7 of the lead frame being removed.
FIG. 4 shows another conventional resin sealed semiconductor device of a thin small out-one package (TSOP) type. FIG. 4 is shown as seeing through resin 12. This device has leads extending from two opposite sides, and suspension pins 6 being formed at the other two opposite sides. These points differ from the device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
Recently, semiconductor devices such as ICs and LSIs are becoming more and more integrated, so the number of pads on a chip for supplying input/output signals and power sources is increasing greatly. Furthermore, the chip size is becoming more and more reduced, so the design rule is becoming finer. Therefore, the resistance of a connection line becomes high posing a problem of signal noises.
A connection line, particularly a power source line, occupies most of the chip wiring area. This power source line is therefore becoming more and more fine, resulting in noise generation by power source lines in many cases. For example, the chip 1 shown in FIG. 1 has its V.sub.SS potential bonding pad 3 on the A side. Assuming that the pad 3 is connected to the V.sub.SS potential side (ground), the V.sub.SS potential connection line 20 takes a V.sub.SS potential. However, the potential at the B side of the connection line 20 is not V.sub.SS in practice. Since the V.sub.SS potential connection line is made fine because of high integration of the semiconductor device, the resistance of the V.sub.SS potential connection line 20 becomes high. It is a tendency therefore that the potential of the connection line 20 at the B side opposite to the A side becomes higher than V.sub.SS potential. More specifically, if the connection line width becomes equal to or less than about 100 .mu.m, the V.sub.SS potential rises about 0.1 V from 0 V. Accordingly, noises are superposed upon input/output signals within a chip, posing the problem that operation speed cannot be made high.
The above problem can be solved if, for example, the V.sub.SS potential is supplied to both sides of a chip, at the areas near the A and B sides. However, from the viewpoint of package lead frame designs, it is impossible to increase the number of V.sub.SS leads.
As described above, semiconductor devices are becoming more and more integrated, so the design rule is becoming finer. Therefore, the resistance of a connection line becomes high posing a problem of signal noises.

Resin sealed semiconductor device having power source by-pass connecting line


Absorbent structures are disclosed comprising a fibrous, superabsorbent core and an integrally attached facing layer.. The structures can be made by forming nonwoven webs of mixtures of thermoplastic fibers and superabsorbent fibers, and a web consisting essentially of thermoplastic hydrophobic fibers. The layers are bonded together using thermal bonding.. The structures are suitable for use in disposable absorbent products, in particular, pantiliners.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,067,747, issued Dec. 11, 1962 to Wolterding et al. discloses absorbent nonadherent bandages for surgical or menstrual use. The bandages have topsheets of nonwoven web of bonded synthetic hydrophobic fibers. The absorbent web may be a combination of cotton and/or rayon fibers mixed with thermoplastic fibers. The topsheet is thermally bonded to the absorbent web.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,534, issued Sep. 13, 1977 to Thomaschefsky et al. relates to nursing pads having an inner absorbent layer including a proportion of synthetic thermoplastic polymer fibers and an outer layer of thermoplastic polymer fibers. The layers are combined by embossing with heat and low pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,644, issued Aug. 9, 1983 to Matthews et al. discloses a topsheet for sanitary napkins, having a hydrophilicity gradient. The topsheet consists of two layers. The top layer is thermoplastic, for example, spun bonded polypropylene. The so called transfer layer contains from 40 to 100 percent thermoplastic fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,965, issued Jul. 4, 1989 to Foxman, relates to an absorptive device for incontinent patients. The device includes a liquid permeable absorptive member having an outer facing layer of synthetic fabric and an inner backing layer of fabric having a blend of thermal plastic and cellulose fibers. The synthetic outer facing layer is ultrasonically welded to the thermal plastic fibers of the blended material inner backing layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,965, issued Jul. 4, 1989 to Foxman, discloses an absorptive member (for example a bed pad) having an outer facing layer of thermal plastic material and an inner facing layer which has a material blend of thermal plastic and cellulose fibers. This synthetic outer facing layer is ultrasonically welded to the thermal plastic fibers of the blended material inner backing layer. The pad is washable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,697, issued Dec. 12, 1989 to Perdelwitz, Jr. et al. relates to materials having at least one layer comprising a mixture of thermoplastic and other fibers which may be covered with thermoplastic material containing cover sheets. The materials are densified in discrete areas, and eventually cut within the densified region. The layer comprising a mixture of thermoplastic and other fibers may additionally contain a superabsorbent material. The facing layer may be thermobonded to the absorbent layer by pulling heated air through the web plus facing layer. The material is disclosed to be suitable for use in children's car seats.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,017, issued Jul. 3, 1990 to Foxman discloses an absorbent pad having an outer layer of 100 percent synthetic thermal plastic fabric and an absorptive layer which is a blend of plastic and cellulose fibers. The layers are ultrasonically welded.

Fibrous superabsorbent core having integrally attached hydrophobic facing layer


An alert system for a vehicle includes a video display, an interior visual alert device disposed at an interior rearview mirror assembly, a driver side visual alert device disposed at a driver side exterior rearview mirror assembly and a passenger side visual alert device disposed at a passenger side exterior rearview mirror assembly. A control is operable to activate at least one of the alert devices in response to a detection of an object rearward of the vehicle. The alert devices are viewable by the driver of the vehicle when activated and are operable to guide or prompt the driver to check the images captured by a rearward facing camera and displayed in the vehicle cabin by the video display so that the driver can verify the nature and type of a potential hazard rearward of the vehicle.

It is well known that the act of reversing a vehicle, such as backing out of a garage or driveway or parking space, can be dangerous, particularly if a child or pet wanders behind the vehicle before or during the reversing process. A variety of backup assist systems are known to assist the driver in detecting and/or seeing an object in the rearward path of the vehicle. For example, rear vision systems are known that capture images of a scene rearward of a vehicle (such as during a reverse driving maneuver) and display the images of the rearward scene to the driver of the vehicle to assist the driver during a reverse driving maneuver. Such systems may include a rearward facing camera or image sensor for capturing images of the rearward scene, and may include other types of sensors, such as ultrasonic sensors or radar sensors or the like, which may provide a distance sensing function or proximity sensing function. Examples of such vision and/or imaging systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935; 5,796,094; 6,396,397; 6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,123,168; 7,004,606; 6,946,978; 7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176; 6,313,454; and 6,824,281, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Studies have indicated that drivers, during a reversing act, spend at least about 25 percent or thereabouts of the reverse driving time looking over their right shoulder (for left hand drive vehicles, such as used in the United States), and about 35 percent or thereabouts of the reverse driving time glancing at the rearview mirrors of the vehicle. The studies further indicate that, of the 35 percent of time the driver is viewing the rearview mirrors, the driver typically spends about 15 percent of that time viewing or glancing at the driver side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle, about 15 percent of that time viewing or glancing at the passenger side exterior rearview mirror of the vehicle, and about 5 percent of that time viewing or glancing at the interior rearview mirror of the vehicle. In spite of the presence of known backup assist systems and rear vision systems, accidents still occur.


A system and method for updating a source copy of an ordered list (the source list) comprising a plurality of list items according to modifications made to the order of the list items in a local copy of the ordered list (the local list) is provided. Each list item includes an order value. The order of the list items is determined according to the order values. To update the source list, the list items that have been moved in the local list are identified and placed on a temporary list, retaining the ordinal position in the local list. For each list item in the temporary list, the list item is placed back in the local list and its order value is set according to the average of the previous list item's order value and the subsequent list item's order value. The list item is then written to the source list.

Lists are ubiquitous, basic organizational tools used in everyday life. Lists are useful for helping us organize our lives, schedule our daily activities, prioritize the activities of each day, and serve as a reminder while shopping, and so forth. Increasingly, our lists of information are stored electronically. In addition to storing lists electronically, remotely accessing electronically stored list information over a communication network is increasingly popular.
When accessing list information over a communication network, care should be taken to minimize the amount of data exchanged between the access point and the list's remote storage location. For example, the amount of information exchanged between the list's remote storage location and a user's local computer can be minimized by updating the list's remote storage location after the user has completed all intended changes on the list, instead of updating the list's remote storage location after each individual change to the list. Additionally, information exchanged can be further minimized by updating the list's remote storage location only for those list items that have been modified.
Repositioning a single item in a list may potentially cause the entire list to be renumbered. Thus, it would seem that in order to update the list at its remote storage location, each element in the list must be updated. When a list is stored locally, updating the entire list to storage is less problematic, i.e., not using limited network resources/bandwidth. However, updating the list at its remote storage location for each item in the list consumes limited network resources.
Additionally, when accessing list information from a remote location over the Internet using a Web browser, the list is typically displayed with related drop-down controls that identify the order of the list, and permit the user to modify the order of the list items. However, while a user may update the order of elements in the list using these controls, the ordinal values are typically updated, but the list items themselves are not rearranged on screen.
The present invention addresses these and other problems in the prior art by providing a system and method for minimizing the amount of information sent from a user's local computing device to the list's remote storage location to update the list when some of its list items have been reordered. The present invention further provides a system and method for maintaining and displaying a local copy of a list in a Web browser, reflecting changes to the order of the list elements by redisplaying the list elements in their proper order.

System and method for maintaining and displaying user ordered lists


A system and method of providing security during operation of a self-service checkout terminal by detecting movement of an item within a scanner zone associated with the terminal with a video system and generating a scanning-attempt control signal in response thereto. The method also includes the step of generating an item-entered control signal if a product code associated with the item is entered into the terminal. The method further includes the step of generating an attempt-failed control signal if the item-entered control signal is not generated in response to the movement of the item within the scanner zone. Moreover, the method includes the step of detecting insertion of the item into a grocery container with the video system and generating a detection control signal in response thereto. The method yet further includes the step of generating an invalid-use control signal if the item-entered control signal has not been generated prior to generation of the detection control signal.

The present invention relates generally to a checkout or point-of-sale (POS) terminal, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for enhancing security in a self-service checkout terminal.
In the retail industry, the largest expenditures are typically the cost of the goods sold followed closely by the cost of labor expended. With particular regard to the retail grocery or supermarket industry, the impetus to reduce labor costs has focused on reducing or eliminating the amount of time required to handle and/or process the items or goods to be purchased by a customer. To this end, there have been a number of self-service checkout terminal concepts developed which attempt to substantially eliminate the need for a checkout clerk.
A self-service checkout terminal is a system which is operated by a customer without the aid of a checkout clerk. In such a system, the customer scans individual items for purchase across a scanner and then places the scanned item into a grocery bag, if desired. The customer then pays for his or her purchase either at the self-service checkout terminal if so equipped, or at a central payment area which is staffed by a store employee. Thus, a self-service checkout terminal permits a customer to select, itemize, and in some cases pay for his or her purchase without the assistance of the retailer's personnel.
A customer typically has little or no training in the operation of a self-service checkout terminal prior to his or her initial use of the checkout terminal. One concern that retailers have when evaluating a self-service checkout terminal is the level of supervision provided to inexperienced customers.
It is also known that some customers may have improper intentions when using a self-service checkout terminal. In traditional checkout systems, the clerk employed by the retailer to operate the checkout terminal provides a level of security against theft or other improprieties. However, in the case of a self-service checkout terminal, the terminal itself must provide the necessary supervision and security. Such supervision and security includes preventing a customer from either inadvertently or intentionally placing an item in a grocery bag without scanning the item, or scanning one item, but placing a second item of greater value in the bag. Thus, another concern when evaluating a self-service checkout terminal is the level of security provided against illicit use of the self-service checkout terminal by customers.
What is needed therefore is a self-service checkout terminal which assists or otherwise supervises a customer in the use thereof. What is further needed is a self-checkout terminal which provides security from theft and other improprieties.

Method and apparatus for enhancing security in a self-service checkout terminal


An electric drill apparatus having a low profile is provided which comprises an annular cutter, a motor for rotating the annular cutter, a rotary shaft assembly for rotating the annular cutter attached to its leading end about a rotating, a rotation reduction mechanism disposed between the motor and rotary shaft assembly for transmitting a driving force of the motor to the annular cutter through the rotary shaft assembly, a feed mechanism responsive to an operation of a manual handle, for moving the rotary shaft assembly along with a straight line to advance or retract the annular cutter attached to the rotary shaft assembly with respect to a workpiece, and an adhesion base for securing the electric drill apparatus to the workpiece. The annular cutter has a plurality of cutting blades comprised of cemented carbide tips fixed on its lower end, thereby it is capable of rotating at a high speed. The rotary shaft assembly has a rotating shaft which rotates in a direction different from that of a rotating shaft of the motor, thereby the drill apparatus has a low profile.

The present invention relates generally to an electric drill apparatus, and more particularly to an electric drill apparatus having a low profile and adapted to automatically re-drive a drill motor when rotation of the drill motor is stopped in the event of overloading.
Nowadays, in new construction, repair and the like of a variety of buildings and so on, there exists a need for drilling workpieces comprising structural materials such as a steel cage and the like at or near positions at which the workpieces are attached to buildings. It is therefore necessary to transport an electric drill apparatus to workpiece assembly places. In addition, a drilling operation must be often performed in a relatively narrow space at or near a position at which a structural material or workpiece is attached. Thus, to enable easy transportation and operation in narrow operating spaces, a reduction in size and weight is required for electric drill apparatuses.
A conventional electric drill apparatus typically comprises a slide mechanism which is automatically or manually movable in a vertical direction along a side surface of a body of the apparatus. The electric drill apparatus further comprises a motor, an annular cutter movable in the vertical direction by way of the slide mechanism, and a transmission mechanism for transmitting power of the motor to the annular cutter, which are arranged in the vertical direction or in the same direction as that of movement of the slide mechanism. Such vertically-arranged electric drill apparatuses are generally large in size, and can thus be only used in limited operation areas and have limited portability.
In contrast, WO 00/54915 describes an electric drill of a relatively low profile, in which a slide mechanism for sliding an annular cutter has a rotation axis which is substantially perpendicular to a rotation shaft of a drill motor. Such a low profile type electric drill apparatus is reduced in overall length as compared with the vertically-arranged type, and its compact size increases its portability.
In addition, Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 3-78205 and Japanese Patent Public Disclosure (Kokai) No. 2003-25122 describe vertically arranged type electric drill apparatuses, each of which comprises a function of automatically stopping driving of a motor in the event of overloading.
However, such a low profile type electric drill apparatus as above, which is small in size and light in weight suffers from a drawback in that it has a limited drilling capability since only a small adhesive force acting on an electromagnetic base is employed to secure the electric drill apparatus on a workpiece.
Also, although the automatic electric drill apparatuses described in the above Japanese Official Gazettes have an automatic stop function when motor overload occurs, the function is provided to an electric drill apparatus comprising an automatic shift mechanism which moves an annular cutter in a vertical direction. There exists no electric drill apparatus having a manual shift mechanism for an annular cutter and a control means for automatically stopping driving of a motor when motor overload occurs. Further, there exists no electric drill apparatus having a function of re-driving a motor after it has been automatically stopped due to motor overload.