A method of exposing a peripheral part of the wafer is used for a fine pattern formation process in the processing of ICs, LSIs and other electronic elements, to remove, in a development step, an unnecessary portion of a photoresist coated on a semiconductor substrate, typically a silicon wafer, or a substrate consisting of a dielectric, a metal or an insulator. A peripheral part of the wafer is exposed to light led by an optical fiber light guide. The same area is exposed to light at least twice in a predetermined time interval. The illumination intensity of light in a wavelength range necessary for the first exposure is set to be lower than that for the second and following exposures. In the first exposure, the wafer may be held in a heated state.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of exposing a peripheral part of wafer which is used for a fine pattern formation process in the production of ICs, LSIs and other electronics elements. More this particularly, this invention relates to removing, in a development step, an unnecessary portion of a photoresist coated on a semiconductor substrate, typically a silicon wafer, or a substrate consisting of a dielectric, a metal or an insulator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the manufacture of ICs and LSIs, for forming a fine circuit pattern, a photoresist pattern is formed by coating a photoresist on a silicon wafer or the like and exposing and developing the coated photoresist. The photoresist pattern thus formed is used as a mask to effect ion implantation, etching, lifting-off and other steps.
Usually, the photoresist is coated by spin coating. In the spin coating process, the wafer is spun while pouring photoresist onto the center position of the right side of the wafer. The poured photoresist is coated on the wafer by centrifugal forces. In this spin coating process, however, the photoresist is spun off a peripheral part of the wafer and is brought to the wrong side of the wafer.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing a photoresist coated on a wafer. In the Figure, reference numeral 1 designates a wafer, 1p a peripheral part of the wafer, 1a a photoresist portion on a pattern formation part of the wafer, 1b a photoresist portion on a peripheral part 1p, and 1c a photoresist portion brought to the wrong side of the wafer 1 from the edge thereof. The photoresist portion 1c brought to the wrong side of the wafer is not illuminated in an exposure step for pattern formation, and if it is a positive photoresist, it remains after the development.
FIG. 3 is a typical view showing a circuit pattern formed by exposure on the wafer. Each area labeled T corresponds to one circuit pattern. In a peripheral part of wafer, a correct circuit pattern can not be formed in many cases, or it can be formed with a inferior yield. The photoresist portion 1b on a peripheral part of wafer is substantially unnecessary in the circuit pattern formation. Even if the peripheral part of wafer is exposed by a stepper, the photoresist remains unnecessarily after, the development.
The remains of unnecessary photoresist coated on the peripheral part and brought to the wrong side of the wafer gives rise to the following problem. The wafer with the coated photoresist is conveyed in various steps and by various systems or units. A peripheral part of the wafer thus is sometimes mechanically chucked and sometimes rubs a wall of wafer cassette or like wafer accommodation means. In such cases, the unnecessary photoresist portion on the peripheral part of wafer is liable to be removed and re-attached to a pattern formation portion of the wafer. In this case, correct pattern formation can no longer be obtained, thus reducing the yield.
The fact that the unnecessary photoresist remaining on the peripheral part of wafer becomes "refuse" to reduce the yield poses significant problems particularly in view of the recent trend for higher functional levels and finer patterns in ICs.
For removing the unnecessary photoresist remaining on the peripheral part of wafer, a technique of removing the photoresist by a solvent spray method is in practical use.
In this method, the solvent is sprayed on the wrong side of the peripheral part of the wafer, solving the unnecessary photoresist. In this method, however, although the photoresist 1c as shown in FIG. 2 can be removed, the unnecessary photoresist 1b on the right side of the peripheral part of wafer can not be removed. Further, if it is arranged such that the solvent is sprayed on the right side of wafer 1 for removing the unnecessary photoresist 1b, not only does there arise a problem caused by scattering of the solvent, it is impossible to remove only the unnecessary photoresist with high controllability. Also, it is impossible to provide for a sharp borderline between the unnecessary photoresist 1b on the peripheral part of wafer and photoresist 1a on the pattern formation part of wafer which is necessary as a mask layer for a subsequent etching or an ion implantation process.
Recently, it has been in practice to expose the unnecessary photoresist on the peripheral part of wafer to remove it in the development process in addition to the exposure step for pattern formation of the wafer so called "photolithography".
In this peripheral part of the wafer exposure method, the borderline between the unnecessary photoresist 1b on the peripheral part of wafer and photoresist 1a necessary for the pattern formation as a mask layer for a subsequent ion implantation process or the like, as shown in FIG. 2, can be sharp and with high controllability, so that this method is superior to the solvent spray method.
In the above prior art of peripheral part exposure method, if the photoresist is irradiated with strong ultraviolet rays from the outset to shorten exposure time, gases that are generated by decomposition and evaporation of organic solvents contained in the photoresist or photochemical reaction of photoresist thereof are not emitted to the outside but becomes bubbles within the photoresist.
If such a bubble formation occurs, the portions with bubbles are spattered when the wafer rubs a wall of a wafer cassette or the like. The spattered photoresist is attached as "refuse" to the pattern formation part of the wafer to bring about the problem of pattern defects as noted above.

Method of exposing a peripheral part of a wafer


The present invention provides a process cartridge mountable to an image forming apparatus, comprising an image bearing member, process means acting on the image bearing member, and a plurality of frames for constituting a housing for the image bearing member and the process means. A projection is provided along an abutment portion of one of the frames to be welded.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus containing the cartridge. The image forming apparatus may be, for example, a laser beam printer, an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine, a word processor or the like.
2. Related Background Art
In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a latent image is formed by selectively exposing a photosensitive drum (an image bearing member), which has been uniformly charged. The latent image is then visualized with toner as a toner image, which is in turn, transferred onto a recording sheet, thereby recording an image on the recording sheet. In such an apparatus, wheneven the toner is consumed or used up, new toner must be replenished. However, the toner replenishing operation is not only troublesome, but also often causes the contamination of surroundings. Further, maintenance of various elements of the apparatus must be performed periodically.
To this end, a so-called process cartridge has been proposed and put into practical use (for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,985,436, 4,500,195, 4,540,268 and 4,627,701) wherein a photosensitive drum, a charger, a developing device, a cleaning device and the like are integrally contained in a cartridge housing which can be removably mounted to an image forming apparatus, and whereby the replenishment of toner or the exchange of parts, the service lives of which have expired, can be permitted and maintenance can be facilitated.
By the way, a housing of the process cartridge is constituted by interconnecting a plurality of frames such as a toner frame containing toner, developing frame for supporting a developing device and the like. When the toner frame is integrally joined to the developing frames, both frame made of synthetic resin are welded together by ultrasonic welding, in order to prevent the toner from leaking through the interface between these frames.
In the ultrasonic welding, the frames to be welded are abutted against each other, and the ultrasonic waves are applied to the interface between the frames, thereby welding the frames to each other by heat generated by the ultrasonic waves. However, if the ultrasonic waves are applied to the frames in a condition that the frames are merely abutted against each other, the jointed portion is apt to distort or deform due to the vibration generated by the application of the ultrasonic waves.
In the process cartridge, since various parts such as process means must be attached to the frames, if the frames are deformed, the attaching accuracy for the parts is worsened, and, if a small clearance is generated between the frames due to the deformation thereof, it is feared that the sealing ability is worsened and fine toner particles are leaked through the clearance.

Process cartridge, method for assembling process cartridge and image forming apparatus


An input device according to the present embodiment includes a detection unit, a vibration unit, and a vibration control unit. The detection unit detects a touch position on an operation surface. The vibration unit vibrates the operation surface. The vibration control unit controls the vibration unit to provide different vibration modes between a case where a direction of movement of the touch position is a first direction defined on the operation surface and a case where the direction of movement is a second direction different from the first direction.

Conventionally, an input device has been known that provides a user with a sense of touch to inform that input has been accepted. For example, such an input device generates vibration depending on pressing force provided by a user to inform the user that input has been accepted (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-235614).
However, a conventional input device merely generates vibration depending on pressing force, and there is room for further improvement in that user operability thereof is improved.

Input device, display device, and method for controlling input device


An electrodynamic machine includes a rotor assembly, a stator assembly defining an annular core receiving the rotor assembly, the rotor assembly rotating within the stator assembly based on electromagnetic fields generated by the stator assembly and the rotor assembly, a plurality of structural components mechanically supporting the rotor assembly and stator assembly, and an active damping element providing forced vibrations that counteract structural vibrations of the electrodynamic machine caused by magnetic forces based upon the electromagnetic fields or caused by mechanical forces based upon the plurality of structural components.

1. Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to electrodynamic machines, and a method for reducing vibration of an electrodynamic machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Machines with rotating masses, including electrodynamic machines, inherently have critical vibration excitation speeds attributable to the structural mechanics of the device and associated system operational forces. For example, the structure and bearing housings of electrodynamic machines are exposed to different mechanical forces, i.e., unbalanced forces, and electromagnetic forces, i.e., generation of electromagnetic fields, which manifest as vibrations. Whenever excitation frequencies coincide with the natural frequencies of the structures, high vibration occurs. Exposure to such high vibration can damage or cause catastrophic breakdown of the machinery. Hence, high vibration is undesirable in the machinery. It is known to design structures and/or components of electrodynamic machines with low structural vibration, wherein the natural frequencies of the system and/or components are very different compared to operating frequencies and speeds.
Induction motor vibration influences that ultimately contribute to motor critical vibration speed include among other things: rotor length to diameter ratio, rotor core cross-sectional structure, shrink fit pressure between the rotor core and shaft, stacking spacing between adjoining rotor core laminas, changes in alternating current excitation frequency established by variable speed motor drive controllers, and oil whip rotor-dynamic stability induced by the hydrodynamic bearings that support the rotor shaft. With respect to excitation frequency vibration influences, induction motors generally are optimized for 50 Hz or 60 Hz alternating current excitation frequencies, including any operational vibration responses. However, AC induction motors that are coupled to variable speed motor control drives, for example a variable frequency drive (VFD), often vary the AC excitation frequencies in a range from 30 Hz to 75 Hz. This increased range of AC variable excitation frequencies increase proportionally the motor's responsive critical vibration frequency range. Thus, a need exists for an electrodynamic machine, for example an induction motor, operated with a variable frequency drive which comprises reduced structural vibrations.

Electrodynamic machines, and method for reducing vibration of an electrodynamic machine


An electrically programmable memory array of the floating gate type is made by a process which allows the edges of the floating gates to be aligned with the edges of the control gates which also form address lines. Contacts to individual cells are not needed. These factors provide a very small cell size. The source and drain regions are formed prior to applying the first level polysilicon then covered with thick oxide, rather than using the polysilicon as a mask to define the gate areas.

This invention relates to semiconductor memory devices and method of manufacture, and more particularly to an electrically progammable read only memory (EPROM) of the floating gate type.
Nonvolatile memory devices using a floating gate to retain charge are made by a double level polysilicon process as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,544 issued to David J. McElroy and U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,509 issued to Lawrence S. Wall, both assigned to Texas Instruments, or in U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,822 issued to Simko et al. These devices are widely used in microcomputers, particularly in program development.
The cell size in prior floating gate EPROMs has been large due to the metal to polysilicon contacts needed for each cell or cell pair, and due to the excess overlap of the control gate over the floating gate needed to provide a larger control gate to floating gate capacitance then floating gate to source-drain capacitance and to assure proper alignment. These features were necessary because of the process used for manufacture. Smaller cell size is desirable in order to provide a more dense array with more cells in a given silicon area, and/or to lower cost and increase yields in manufacture.
It is the principal object of this invention to provide an improved electrically programmable memory. Another object is to provide an EPROM of reduced cell size. An additional object is to provide a dense array of EPROM cells, made by a more efficient method.

High density electrically programmable ROM


A power supply module for a driving device of a display system includes a source power unit, for outputting a source high voltage only in a first period and outputting a source low voltage only in a second period according to a power control signal, wherein the source high voltage and the source low voltage are utilized for generating a plurality of data signals of a plurality of pixels in the display system; and a bias power unit, for generating a common voltage, wherein the common voltage is between the source high voltage and the source low voltage; wherein the first period does not overlap the second period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply module of a driving device in a display system, related driving device and power supplying method, and more particularly, to a power supply module providing a data voltage of single polarity at the same time, related driving device and power supplying method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nowadays, there are many electronic paper display systems exclusively utilized for reading on the market. The electronic paper is a conducting polymers material comprising lots of microspheres (e.g. microcapsules). The electronic paper have mimic appearance and features of the paper, not only equipping softness but also capable of repeatedly displaying data. Different from a liquid crystal display that needs backlights for displaying images, the electronic paper is able to reflect the external light to display images. Thus, the image displayed by the electronic paper is visible indirect sunlight without appearing to fade. Further, the electronic paper does not have problem of limited viewing angle.
Generally, a driving device (e.g. a driver integrated chip (IC)) of the electronic paper is required to generate scan signals and data signals in large voltage ranges (e.g. the voltage range of the scan signals may be 16V-(−16V) and the voltage range of the data signals may be 11V-(−11V)), to conduct transistors coupled to pixels of the electronic paper and to control the pixels of the electronic paper. The scan signals and the data signals with the large voltage ranges not only increase power consumptions of the driving device, but also make the driving device use a significant number of transistors realized by a process of high withstanding voltage. The manufacture cost is considerably increased, therefore. Thus, how to shrink the voltage ranges of related signals in the driving device becomes a topic to be discussed.

Power supply module of driving device in display system, related driving device and power supply method


A four-cycle internal combustion engine which has one or more horizontally disposed cylinder bores and a piston supported for horizontal reciprocation in each cylinder bore. Each piston includes a ring structure wherein a plurality of compression rings are fitted in corresponding parallel grooves formed on the outer periphery of each piston. A positioning pin for each compression ring is press fitted into the groove of the associated ring in its end gap for positioning and holding the end gap of each compression ring at a point along the outer periphery of the piston outside of the area under the piston axis.

This invention relates to a horizontal cylinder arrangement for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to a horizontal cylinder arrangement in a four-cycle internal combustion engine in which the pistons are supported for horizontal reciprocation and wherein the pistons have a ring structure for positioning and maintaining the gaps of the piston rings out of the area below the piston axis.
It is common practice to provide the pistons of internal combustion engines with one or more piston rings that are placed in the cylinder and fitted into corresponding grooves formed around the outer peripheries of the pistons. Most engines employ two types of piston rings. One or two compression rings for each piston are typically employed for maintaining compression pressures in the combustion chambers by preventing the combustion gases from leaking out of the combustion chambers and into the crankcase chamber. An oil ring is normally employed in connection with each piston to scrape oil from the inner surface of the cylinders and to prevent the oil in the crankcase chamber from leaking into the combustion chambers. Each type of ring has ends which form a gap when it is placed in the cylinders and fitted in the piston grooves.
Although this type of piston assembly is generally satisfactory, the gaps in the compression rings can create a problem in some internal combustion engine cylinder arrangements, particularly in engines formed with horizontally disposed cylinder bores wherein the pistons reciprocate in the horizontal direction. In particular, there has been a problem in this type of engine arrangement in maintaining the compression ring end gaps out of the area on the outer surfaces of the pistons just below the piston axis.
The reason for this is that during operation of engines formed with horizontally disposed cylinder bores, the weight balance of the rings around the pistons has a tendency to cause the rings and ring end gaps to move circumferentially within their respective grooves and align themselves along the outer surface of their respective piston just under the piston axis in a position in which the rings are quite stable. When this occurs, there is a distinct possibility that any unburned fuel charge in the combustion chambers will flow along the lower inner surface of the cylinder bore through these gaps and into the crankcase chamber. If this unburned fuel charge enters the crankcase chamber, it will dilute and contaminate the oil which is used to lubricate the engine and hence will reduce the lubricating effectiveness of the oil.
This problem is even more likely to occur where the horizontally supported pistons are provided with only one piston ring each which is of the compression ring type. In this case, any unburned fuel charge in the combustion chambers will be able to enter the crankcase chamber through the associated compression ring end gap as soon as that ring is positioned under the piston axis.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide a piston ring structure for a four-cycle internal combustion engine which prevents any unburned fuel charge in the combustion chamber from entering the crankcase chamber.
It is another object of this invention to provide a piston ring structure for a four-cycle internal combustion engine wherein the compression ring end gap of each compression ring is positioned and maintained on the outer periphery of the respective piston outside of the area under the piston axis.

Horizontal cylinder arrangement for an internal combustion engine


An endless scraper chain carried by a bridge is provided with spaced scraper flights. The scraper chain is driven so as to move its lower course toward one end to thereby move bulk material to a roller bed extending under that one end. The roller bed is connected to the bridge to move therewith. An endless conveyor belt is supported on the roller bed and extends transversely of the bridge and has an upper course which extends under the one end of the scraper chain to receive the bulk material from the scraper chain. A conveyor type weigher is adapted to indicate the weight of bulk material lying on the upper course of the conveyor belt in a predetermined area thereof. Mutually opposite confining walls are disposed on opposite sides of said lower course of said scraper chain, and are mounted to the bridge to permit vertical movement of said confining walls.

This invention relates to equipment for taking bulk material from a dump and for conveying the bulk material to a processing plant of the type which includes a bridge which extends along one end face of the dump and is movable along the dump transversely of the end face, an endless scraper chain which is carried by said bridge and provided with scraper flights and revolves in a vertical plane parallel to the end face of the dump, a roller bed disposed below the delivery end of the scraper chain and connected to the bridge to move therewith, a conveyor belt which overlies the roller bed, and a conveyor type weigher incorporated in said roller bed.
Such equipment as well as equipment in which the scraper chain revolves in a horizontal plane are known from German Patent Specification No. 1,032,170 and Published German Specification No. 2,616,807. The rate at which bulk material can be taken by such equipment is virtually constant. This is not objectionable when merely a rearrangement of bulk material is desired, as is necessary with some materials, e.g., in order to prevent an undesired heating or caking. On the other hand, the bulk material taken from the dump is often supplied by the conveyor belt to a processing station, in which the bulk material is processed, e.g., by being reduced in size, ground or sorted and from which the resulting product is then removed. Processing stations may also consist of loading stations in which the bulk material is loaded on transportation equipment, such as railroad cars, motor vehicles or the like. The rate at which material is to be removed from the processing station will depend on the demand and on the number and capacity of the transportation vehicles which are available at a given time. For instance, installations used in the cement industry are provided with bins for intermediate storage or with feeding bins for receiving surplus material removed from the dump, and with means for removing material from such bins at the rate which is required for supply to grinding mills, sorting means or the like so that the latter deliver processed material at the desired rate (see periodical "Zement, Kalk, Gips", 1976, No. 11, pages 491, 496). Obviously such measures involve a considerable expenditure in equipment and it is impossible or difficult to incorporate such equipment in existing processing plants, e.g., because of a lack of space or because of excessive costs.
It is an object of the invention to eliminate these disadvantages and to provide equipment which eliminates the need for intermediate storage bins at the processing station and for means for supplying and removing material to and from such bins.


A head drum cleaning device for a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus comprising a head cleaning lever pivotally mounted to a fixed base plate of the apparatus by a pin fixed to the fixed base plate, a cleaning roller rotatably mounted to one end of the head cleaning lever by a pin fixed to the head cleaning lever, a drive member constituted by a part of a slide base of the apparatus and adapted to drive the head cleaning lever, and a head cleaning lever rotating unit operatively connected to the drive member and adapted to pivot the head cleaning lever through two steps, namely, in toward the drum and then in the reverse direction. The head drum cleaning device has a simple construction capable of achieving a smooth cleaning operation, in that the head cleaning lever is actuated by the drive member mounted to the slide base to clean the rotating head drum. The head drum cleaning device can be applied to compact camcorders such as 8 mm camcorders using the slide base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for cleaning a head drum of a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a head drum cleaning device for a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, comprising a head cleaning arm driven by a slide base in a sliding loading type camcorder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such a cleaning device has been conventionally employed n a potable VCR, for cleaning a rotating head drum. However, the conventional cleaning device has a complicated construction which makes the device difficult to be employed in a camcorder adopting a sliding loading system, since the camcorder requires a compact deck mechanism having an insufficient space to occupy the cleaning device.

Head drum cleaning device for magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus


A variable pitch percussion instrument comprising a drum body having an open end with an annular edge, and at least one drumhead assembly, including, flexible drumhead material stretched across the open end and an annular drumhead mounting ring secured to the perimetrical edges of the flexible drumhead so that tension can be increased on the drumhead by pressure between the open end of the drum body and the head. A plurality of flexible linear connecting elements, each having a pair of ends has one end of each of the flexible linear elements circumferentially around the mounting ring and the other ends, respectively, the other end of the drum body. A flexible tuning element located between the ends of the connecting elements, respectively, and arranged to tangentially engage and circumferentially wrap around the connecting elements such that when the area enclosed by the flexible tuning element is varied it causes the connecting elements to apply more or less tension on the drumhead material and change the pitch when the drumhead is vibrated. The drum body is mounted on a floor stand and a foot pedal mechanism is included to actuate the tuning element.

My invention is a musical instrument based on the traditional African drum known as a "Dondo". This type of variable pitch drum is often referred to in the United States as a "talking drum", because of the ability to alter its tonal pitch rapidly.
The Dondo has an hourglass-shaped wooden body carved from a wooden log. Circles of goat or lizard skin are stretched over each end and form the vibrating surfaces, or heads, of the drum. Leather or rope lacing is threaded through holes in the edges of the skins, back and forth from one skin to the other, to draw the skins uniformly over the ends of the drum body and tension them. The lacing is continued, around the drum body until the starting end of the lacing can be tied to the other end. To play the drum, it is placed between its player's arm and body, with the arm holding it near the center of the drum body. By pressing the arm toward the body, the lacing is squeezed toward the central, narrowest part of the drum body. This increases the tension of the lacing on the drumheads. The drum is beaten, typically, with a stick in one hand, and with the other bare hand. Squeezing the drum between arm and body changes the drum-head tension, and hence the drum's pitch. This creates the wide and interesting range of sounds which gives this class of drum the nickname "talking drum. "
There are some major problems with the "Dondo", when used by contemporary professional drummers or percussionists.
Environmental factors, principally humidity and temperature acting on the animal skins and leather or rope, directly effect tension in the drum heads. The results are sound quality changes and changes in the drum's response to its player's actions. This creates artistic problems for the musician.
Animal-skin drumheads are easily broken. Because of the continuous nature of the lacing, proper replacement requires removal of both drum heads, and complete replacement of the lacing. The repair operation can require a day's time.
Since it is intended to be held under the player's arm, such a drum is limited to relatively small overall size and modest weights, consequently to a relatively high range of pitch. Because the little drum must be carefully held and squeezed, it renders difficult the effective playing of other types of drums and percussion instruments.
Earlier U.S. Patents in variable pitch drum art have emphasized low cost drums related to the Dondo pattern. Craig Woodson, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,297, describes a Variable Pitch Drum which is laced by a "cord" in the same zigzag pattern marking the Dondo design, and altered in pitch in the same manner, "by manually squeezing the cord toward the drum shell, which in that case is a cardboard tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,204,987, issued to W. Gussak, describes an instrument with body narrowed at its center. The Gussak patent is limited to the original manner of operation, discloses a "hoop member" for supporting the skin. The specification (p. 1, col. 2, lines 30-36) mentions, but does not appear to further describe, a proposal ". . . to tension the drum heads by means of a foot pedal and spring arrangement." Gussak discounts that possibility, indicating that "such an arrangement does not give the player the "feel of the instrument to enable him to produce the great variety of tones that can be produced by the instant invention."
A later patent issued to the same inventor (U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,013) added a pair of spring-mounted concave pads on each side of the drum at its center whose purpose is to aid in gripping the drum. These additional elements do not control lacing tension and pitch.
Gussak's object (p. 1, lines 20-24) was a small and cheap instrument, and large drums using this tuning principle, nor did his invention incorporate means to overcome the temperature and humidity variability of the original instrument.


A method for bonding aluminum and aluminum alloys to refractory materials. A body of metal is heated to an elevated temperature at a total pressure above the vapor pressure of aluminum but less than atmospheric pressure. Oxygen partial pressure is maintained sufficiently low to prevent substantial oxidation of the metal. The heated body is contacted with a mass of refractory material and cooled, thereby forming a composite.

Methods for joining aluminum and aluminum alloys to refractory substances are known in the prior art. However, the prior art methods each suffer from one or more serious disadvantages making them less than entirely suitable for their intended purpose.
For example, Donomoto et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,207, issued May 22, 1984, describes composite materials comprising alumina or carbon reinforcing fibers compounded with a matrix metal consisting essentially of an aluminum-magnesium alloy. Composites made with alloys containing about 0.5-4.5 wt % magnesium were found to have optimum bending strength and bending fatigue strength. However, formulation of the composites requires pressurization at approximately 1000 kg/cm.sup.2 in order to infiltrate the molten matrix metal into interstices of the mass of reinforcing fibers.
Riewald et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,204, issued Mar. 15, 1977, claims a composite material comprising an aluminum-lithium alloy matrix reinforced with polycrystalline alumina fibers. Molten alloy is infiltrated into the fibers by creating a pressure differential either by applying a vacuum to the mold or a positive pressure to the metal or a combination of both.
It is a principal objective of the present invention to provide a method of bonding aluminum and aluminum alloys to a refractory material wherein the refractory material is wet by the metal.
A further objective of the invention is to provide a method that does not require application of a pressure differential to combine a metal and refractory material into a composite.
An advantage of the present invention is that the method is useful for combining both pure aluminum and aluminum alloys with refractory materials.
Additional objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following specification and claims.

Bonding aluminum to refractory materials


This invention provides a process for preparing 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane, which comprises reacting 2-trifluoromethyl-3,3,3-trifluoropropionic acid with fluorine gas. The process according to this invention produces 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane with high selectivity and is an industrially efficient and economical method.

Known methods for preparing 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane include, for example, a method comprising reacting hexafluoropropene with hydrofluoric acid in the presence of an antimony catalyst (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 24362/1996), and a method comprising reacting hexafluoropropene with hydrofluoric acid using a hydrogen fluoride adduct of an organic nitrogen base as a reaction medium (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 53543/1998).
Hexafluoropropene used as a starting material in these reactions is highly useful as a fluororesin monomer and as an intermediate for fluorochemicals, and is expensive. Therefore, the above methods have a cost disadvantage.
Perfluoroisobutene (hereinafter referred to as "PFIB") is a byproduct in the manufacture of hexafluoropropene. PFIB is a highly toxic compound which is usually converted to the less harmful methanol adduct. Effective uses of the PFIB-methanol adduct, however, are not generally known.
Japanese Unexamined Publication No. 309791/1995 describes a method for preparing hexafluoropropane, perfluoropropane and heptafluoropropane using PFIB as a starting material. The method comprises the steps of reacting PFIB-alkanol adducts (e.g., 2H-octafluoroisobutyl methyl ether and heptafluoroisobutenyl methyl ether) with trialkylamine and water to produce hexafluoropropane and electrolyzing and fluorinating hexafluoropropane to give perfluoropropane and heptafluoropropane. According to this method, only a small amount (about 10%) of heptafluoropropane is obtained as a byproduct.
WO 98/28247 describes a method for preparing heptafluoropropane, which comprises reacting hexafluoropropane with fluorine gas. This method also produces a large amount of byproducts, such as perfluoropropane.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,179 and J. Org. Chem., 34, 2446 (1969) describe a method of reacting carboxylic acid with fluorine gas to replace carboxyl groups with fluorine atoms. This method comprises bringing carboxylic acid or a metal salt thereof into contact with fluorine gas in the presence of a diluent such as water or alcohol to produce fluoride. However, it has been revealed that 2-trifluoromethyl-3,3,3-trifluoropropionate can not be fluorinated by this method.

Process for preparing 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane


A facsimile communication device includes keys for designating identifying data of another facsimile communication device to or from which image data of an original document should be transmitted; an original document sensor for detecting whether or not the original document to be transmitted has been set; and a controller for reading outputs from the keys and original document sensor and controlling data transmission; if the original document has been set when the keys designate the identifying data, another facsimile communication device corresponding to the identifying data and to which the image data should be transmitted being called to receive the image data of the original document transmitted by the controller, and if the original document has not been set when the keys designate the identifying data, another facsimile communication device corresponding to the identifying data and from which the image data should be transmitted being called and required by the controller that the image data should be transmitted from it.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile communication device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A facsimile communication device which is used as a sort of communication device is in wider use of transferring image data, compared with a communication device like a telephone used only for transmitting sound. In recent years, this type of facsimile communication device has widely employed a function named "sequential data concurrent transmission". The sequential data concurrent transmission is the function that, by depressing, for example, a sequential data concurrent transmission button, a facsimile communication device storing a plurality of facsimile numbers of other facsimile communication devices reads an original document set in the device and stores its data in an image memory to sequentially transfer contents of the image memory to the plurality of facsimile devices. Also widely employed has been a function named "transmission request", which is the function that a facsimile communication device designates one or more other facsimile communication devices and makes them read an original document set in the former and transmit image data through remote control.
A conventional facsimile communication device having such functions as stated above comprises operating means like a sequential data transmission button, a transmission request button and the like, separately; and hence, with such devices, there arises the problem that its structure is complicated and its operability degrades.
As a similar example of the art, a facsimile control system (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 160262/1982) is known, in which simply turning on a single switch for polling enables two functions, "permission of polling-transmission" and "commencement of polling-receiving", and the "permission of polling-transmission" is automatically released when the polling-transmission is normally completed, so as to prevent malfunctions caused by the next operation, while the condition of the "permission of polling-transmission" is retained when the polling-transmission is abnormally interrupted, so as to enable the recommencement of receiving by calling a receiving station, or a remote receiver, again. Also, a facsimile device capable of switching between a polling-standby mode and a polling-receiving mode (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 148464/1984) is known.
As a related prior application by the applicant of the present invention, there are some facsimile communication devices: An embodiment of the devices has an automatic receiving function capable of satisfying both of a demand for telephonic communication and a demand for facsimile communication from a transmitter (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 90657/1989 and 90661/1989). Another embodiment has an automatic receiving function capable of satisfying both of a demand for telephonic communication and a demand for facsimile communication from a transmitter and capable of satisfying a demand for facsimile communication from a manual dialing facsimile communication device (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 90658/1989). Still another embodiment has an automatic receiving function capable of satisfying both of a demand for telephonic communication and a demand for facsimile communication from a transmitter and capable of informing the transmitting station that the device has satisfied the demand for telephonic communication (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 90659/1989). Yet another embodiment is capable of satisfying both of a demand for telephonic communication and a demand for facsimile communication from a transmitter, and is capable of informing the operators on both transmitting and receiving parties that the device of the receiving station is in use for satisfying the demand for telephonic communication (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 90660/1989).


Provided are registering, deregistering and standby processing methods and systems for a terminal peripheral. The registering method includes that: a Machine-to-Machine/Man (M2M) gateway pre-allocates a terminal peripheral group identifier of a terminal peripheral group to a terminal peripheral configured into the terminal peripheral group by an M2M user, and sets an initial state of the terminal peripheral, the terminal peripheral group identifier being used for identifying the terminal peripheral group to which the terminal peripheral belongs; the M2M gateway acquires a terminal peripheral identifier of the terminal peripheral initiating a registering request, and determines the terminal peripheral group identifier pre-allocated to the terminal peripheral according to the terminal peripheral identifier; and the M2M gateway sends the terminal peripheral identifier and the terminal peripheral group identifier to an M2M application through an M2M service platform.

The architecture of a Machine-to-Machine/Man (M2M) communication system may be divided into an M2M application layer, an M2M service capability layer, a communication network layer, an M2M terminal and perception extension layer and a management supporting system.
According to capabilities of M2M terminal devices, the M2M terminal and perception extension layer may divide the M2M terminal devices into the following two types which are respectively introduced below.
One type of M2M terminal device is an M2M terminal with a capability of communicating with an M2M communication network. This type of M2M terminal can directly access an M2M service platform through the communication network, interact with the M2M service platform to implement operation such as registering, certification, authentication and the like over the terminal, provide perception information required by an application and perform service interaction with the application through the M2M service platform, and further receive management over a terminal peripheral.
The other type of M2M terminal device is an M2M gateway with a capability of communicating with the M2M communication network and an M2M stub network. Besides implementing access of the M2M stub network to the M2M communication network, this type of the M2M gateway can further receive information of nodes of the M2M stub network and perform protocol conversion between the M2M stub network and the M2M communication network. A terminal peripheral can only perform short-distance communication due to its own limits, and such a single terminal is called a terminal peripheral. A network formed by multiple such terminal nodes may be called an M2M stub network.
In a practical application process, a characteristic different from that of conventional mobile communication is introduced to an M2M service, for example, a group-based M2M characteristic. When the group-based M2M characteristic is activated, an M2M user, an M2M application or an M2M service platform can control, manage or charge M2M terminal nodes in groups according to service requirements. In such a manner, the group-based M2M characteristic provides a simpler mode for controlling/updating/charging the M2M terminal nodes by taking a group as a granularity, and reduces extra signaling overhead to avoid network congestion. When there are numerous M2M terminal nodes, using the group-based M2M characteristic can further save network resources. Each terminal node within one group may be located in the same position area, and/or have the same characteristic attribute, and/or belong to the same M2M user. For a network, each terminal node in the group is visible.
However, there is no effective mechanism for performing group management over terminal peripherals by an M2M gateway in the related technology.

Registering, deregistering and standby processing methods and systems for terminal peripheral


A method and apparatus to model the power network of a VLSI circuit is described. The method includes the step of extracting the power network associated with a semiconductor circuit layout. A compacted power network is then derived from the power network. The compacted power network includes a compacted primary resistive network to characterize the electrical resistance of the power trunks within the semiconductor circuit layout. The compacted power network also includes a compacted secondary resistive network to characterize the electrical resistance of power straps that deliver power to transistors within the semiconductor circuit layout. The compacted power network constitutes a network of compaction component values that correspond to functional regions in the semiconductor circuit layout. Each of the compaction component values includes an associated set of spacial compaction values that characterize the total resistance of a functional region. The operation of the compacted power network is simulated on a circuit simulation program to identify areas in the compacted power network that do not comply with predetermined power network performance criteria, such as electromigration limits and voltage drop limits. The semiconductor circuit layout is then reconfigured to satisfy the predetermined power network performance criteria.

Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) circuits are designed with the use of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, also called Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools. Typically, the design process begins with a circuit being specified in a Hardware Description Language (HDL), such as Verilog or VHDL. The HDL description is a set of statements in a computer language format that define the functional operation to be performed by the circuit.
An HDL circuit simulator is used to run a circuit simulation of the HDL description. Modifications to the HDL description are made based upon the results of the HDL circuit simulation.
In addition to its function as a simulator of an HDL description, the HDL circuit simulator is used to generate a netlist. A netlist defines the components and interconnections between the components required to implement the functional operation specified in the HDL circuit description.
Once a netlist has been generated, there are a number of commercially available "silicon compilers", also called "place and route tools", that are used to convert the netlist into a semiconductor circuit layout. The semiconductor circuit layout specifies the physical implementation of the circuit in silicon, or some other semiconductive material. The semiconductor layout includes metal conductive paths to deliver power to different cells in the circuit. In addition, the semiconductor layout includes a set of power trunks that are used to delivery power to the metal conductive paths.
The metal conductive paths and power trunks of a circuit constitute a power network. While there are a number of known EDA tools to test the logical operation of a VLSI circuit, EDA tools to test the operation of a power network of a VLSI circuit are not prevalent. Using existing EDA tools to test the operation of a power network is computationally expensive. The computational expense associated with prior art devices is attributable to the fact that there is a large amount of conductive metal in the power network that must be analyzed. Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a method and apparatus that reduces the complexity of analyzing the power network of a VLSI circuit.
Two major concerns in analyzing the efficiency of a power network are voltage drop and electromigration. Excessive voltage drop in a circuit must be avoided so that the circuit elements at the physical center of a chip receive sufficient voltage. In other words, if the voltage drop caused by the path resistance to the center of the chip is too large, then the voltage received by the circuit elements at the center of the chip will not be sufficient. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus to efficiently analyze the voltage drops of a power network in order to identify excessive voltage drops at the nodes of the power network.
The second salient concern in analyzing the efficiency of a power network is to assess whether electromigration will occur in the power network. If the current density driven through a piece of conductive metal is too high, then the atoms in the metal migrate along the conductive metal. This phenomenon, known as electromigration, eventually results in the deterioration of the conductive metal and the failure of the semiconductor circuit. Consequently, an assessment of a power network must include the identification of all regions of the power network that are susceptible to electromigration.

Method and apparatus for analyzing the power network of a VLSI circuit


A product information display apparatus is provided to display primary and secondary product information. The display apparatus generally comprises a label holder and a sign holder. The label holder includes a sleeve having front and rear walls defining an interior pocked sized to receive a label having primary product information. The sign holder is structured for selective attachment to the label holder to position a sign adjacent the front wall of the sleeve, the sign having secondary product information. Preferably, the sign holder has a general C-shape with the free ends of the C-shape defining a throat sized smaller than a height of the sleeve. Also, the general C-shape is preferably defined by a pair of rear walls connected by a front wall, the front wall spaced from the pair of rear walls a distance similar to a thickness of the sleeve to securely position the sign.

The present invention relates generally to marketing display devices, and more particularly relates to label holders and sign holders.
As is well known, a variety of hangers, shelving, racks and similar merchandise supports are used to support and display merchandise for convenient viewing and access by customers. Likewise, numerous types of product information display apparatus, such as label holders, are used to display product information such as name, quantity, price, etc. For example, hangers such as peg hooks and scanning hooks are commonly used to display merchandise, and most hangers are also adapted to display a label, usually with a label holder built into or attached to an end of the hanger.
As is also well known, new products are introduced quite frequently, which requires the use of existing merchandise supports and information displays for these new products. Furthermore, today""s marketplace often dictates that product information changes on a regular basis, requiring frequent modification of the product information. Likewise, additional or supplemental information (usually short-term information) such as a special sale or the like must also be displayed and modified. For these reasons, labels are frequently replaced with new labels displaying new, more current information, as well as sale information. Therefore, there exists a need to provide a simple and economical way to display modified merchandise information, including additional or supplemental information.
In light of the above, it is a general aim of the present invention to provide a product information display apparatus that securely displays product information that can be easily updated or modified.
In that regard, it is also an object of the present invention to provide a product information display apparatus that can easily display primary product information as well as secondary or supplemental product information.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a product information display apparatus that can selectively display secondary product information.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a product information display apparatus that can be adapted for different sizes of merchandise supports.
In accordance with these objects, the present invention provides a product information display apparatus for use with a merchandise support to display primary and secondary product information. The display apparatus generally comprises a label holder and a sign holder. The label holder includes a sleeve having front and rear walls defining an interior pocked sized to receive a label having primary product information. A mounting member is connected to the rear wall of the sleeve and is structured for attachment to the merchandise support. The sign holder is structured for selective attachment to the label holder to position a sign adjacent the front wall of the sleeve, the sign having secondary product information. Preferably, the sign holder has a general C-shape with the free ends of the C-shape defining a throat sized smaller than a height of the sleeve. Also, the general C-shape is preferably defined by a pair of rear walls connected by a front wall, the front wall spaced from the pair of rear walls a distance similar to a thickness of the sleeve to securely position the sign.
According to more detailed aspects, the label holder further includes a bridge linking the sleeve and mounting member, the bridge having a height less than the mounting member and the sleeve. The bridge also serves to define a well that is sized to receive the sign holder. The well typically receives at least a portion of the free ends of the sign holder. Preferably the well includes an upper well and a lower well, the upper well sized to receive the free end of the upper rear wall and the lower well sized to receive the free end of the lower rear wall.
According to another embodiment of the present invention a product information display apparatus is provided for use with a merchandise support to display primary and secondary product information. The display apparatus generally comprises a label holder and a sign holder. The label holder includes a sleeve having front and rear walls defining an interior pocked sized to receive a label having primary product information. A mounting member is connected to the rear wall of the sleeve and is structured for attachment to the merchandise support. The sign holder is structured for selective attachment to the label holder to position a sign adjacent the front wall of the sleeve, the sign having secondary product information. The sign holder has a pair of rear walls connected by a front wall, free ends of the rear walls being spaced apart to define a throat. The rear wall of the sleeve and the mounting member have clearance to receive the free ends of the rear walls. According to more detailed aspects, the front wall is spaced from the pair of rear walls a distance similar to a thickness of the sleeve. Preferably, the clearance is defined by a bridge linking the label holder and mounting member, the bridge defining a well. Also preferable, the well is sized to receive the free ends of the sign holder.
In accordance with the present invention a unique label holder is also provided. The label holder generally comprises a sleeve having front and rear walls defining an interior pocked sized to receive a label. A mounting member is attached to the rear wall of the sleeve and is structured for attachment to the merchandise support. A bridge links the label holder and mounting member. Preferably, the bridge has a height less than the mounting member and sleeve to define a well. According to more detailed aspects, the mounting member includes a plurality of slots, each slot of a different size to accommodate differently sized merchandise supports. Preferably, each slot is generally L-shaped and are vertically spaced in incremental size. The interior pocket of the sleeve may be upwardly opening and the rear wall will include an upwardly opening slot corresponding to the pocket. Alternatively, the interior pocket of the sleeve may be laterally opening and the rear wall will include a laterally opening slot corresponding with the pocket.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Label holder with selectively attachable sign holder


A hypodermic syringe assembly comprises a barrel with an axial bore, a hollow tip integral with the barrel having an internal surface defining a passageway communicating with the axial bore and also having a tapered external surface adapted to mate with the female tapered surface of a conventional needle hub, a needle hub having a bore therethrough removably positioned in and occupying substantially the entire volume of the passageway and a hollow needle secured within the bore of the hub in fluid communication with the axial bore of the barrel. The syringe assembly may be used with the unique hub positioned within the passageway to provide a substantially air-free syringe or the hub and needle may be removed from the tip to permit a conventional needle hub to be placed thereon.

This invention relates to a hypodermic syringe assembly and, more particulary, to a unique syringe assembly that may be utilized as a substantially air-free syringe or as a conventional syringe.
Presently, syringes that are constructed to be used with removable, interchangeable needles suffer from the presence of a large dead air space in the distal end of the assembly. This results in the presence of a substantial air bubble when medication is drawn into the syringe, which leads to the inconvenience of purging the air bubble from the syringe before making the injection. Although several different constructions have been proposed and used for making a syringe with a reduced air bubble, it has heretofore been impossible to provide a syringe assembly which has a reduced air bubble as assembled by the manufacturer but which can be disassembled and used as a conventional needle at the option of the user.
One such prior construction which provides an essentially air-free configuration is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,450, which issued on Apr. 30, 1968 to W. H. Adelberger. This patent describes a syringe assembly utilizing a needle hub which is positioned within the bore of a projection extending from the syringe barrel. By thus positioning the needle hub, the bore of the projection is substantially filled with the hub and reduces the volume which is normally present with a conventional needle hub arrangement.
Although the needle hub of the Adelberger patent may be removed from the syringe projection by rupturing a seal that is formed during the manufacturing process, the remaining syringe barrel and projection would be rendered useless by this act in that it would thereafter be incapable, as illustrted and described, of accommodating a conventional needle hub and, therefore, the syringe is actually designed to perform only a single function. In addition to the Adelberger device, other attempts have been made to provide syringe assemblies that may be utilized without the necessity of purging the air therefrom prior to use. However, none of the known prior devices have provided such an assembly that can also be utilized, if desired by the user, with a conventional needle hub.


Three positive-type photosensitive material layers which are photosensitive to light having the same wavelength range are provided on a substrate, and an intermediate layer contains a light-absorbing agent. The ultraviolet absorbing agent contained in the intermediate layer prevents the intermediate layer and lower layer from being exposed during the exposure of an upper layer. After the upper layer is exposed, the intermediate layer and lower layer are exposed with the light having the same wavelength range, which is used to expose the upper layer.

An ink jet recording method which discharges ink on a recording medium to perform recording can be cited as an example in which a liquid discharge head for discharging a liquid is used.
The ink jet recording head to which the ink jet recording method is adopted usually includes an ink discharge port, an ink flow path, and an energy generating element. The energy generating element is provided in a part of the flow path, and generates energy for discharging the ink. Conventionally, for example, there is known a following method as the method of producing the ink flow path of the recording head.
In the producing method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,606, a pattern which becomes a mold of the ink flow path is formed with a soluble resin on a substrate in which the energy generating elements are formed, and a coating resin layer which becomes an ink flow path wall is formed on the mold pattern of the ink flow path. Then, orifices are formed on the energy generating element by photolithography, and the mold pattern of the ink flow path is eluted to cure the coating resin layer which becomes the ink flow path wall.
Recently, as high speed and high image quality are demanded in the ink jet printer, the flow path becomes miniaturized in the ink jet recording head.
For the method of forming the ink flow path with the pattern which becomes the mold, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,980, a three-dimensional shape is optimized in the miniaturized ink flow path to achieve the speedup of ink refill.
In the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,980, a first positive-type photosensitive material layer which is photosensitive to light having a first wavelength range while cross-linked is provided on the substrate in which the energy generating elements are formed, and the first positive-type photosensitive material layer is heated to form the cross-linked positive-type photosensitive material layer (lower layer). Then, a double-layer structure is formed by providing an upper layer including a second positive-type photosensitive material on the lower layer. The second positive-type photosensitive material is photosensitive to light having a second wavelength range which is different from the first wavelength range. Then, a predetermined portion of the upper layer of the double-layer structure is irradiated with the light having the second wavelength range. Subsequently, the irradiated region of the upper layer is removed to obtain a desired pattern by performing a development process. Then, a predetermined region of the lower layer which is exposed by the pattern formation of the upper layer is irradiated with the light having the first wavelength range, and the desired pattern is formed in the lower layer by performing the development process. Thus, the pattern which becomes the mold of the flow path is produced through the above steps.
However, in the ink jet recording head producing method described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,980, it is necessary to use two kinds of exposure wavelengths. Therefore, there is a problem that a process load is increased by complicating the process.


An input protection circuit includes an input protection resistor and an input protection element. The input protection resistor is connected at one end to an input pad and connected at the other end to the gate of a MOS transistor provided at the input stage of an internal circuit. The input protection element is connected between the gate of the MOS transistor and at least one of a ground terminal and a power source. The input protection resistor includes a first impurity diffused region of a second conductivity type formed in the main surface area of a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, and a second impurity diffused region of the second conductivity type which is formed in the first impurity diffused region to have an impurity concentration higher than the first impurity diffused region and have a diffusion depth smaller than the first impurity diffused region.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an input protection circuit for protecting the gate of a MOS (insulated gate type) transistor provided at the input stage of a semiconductor integrated circuit from electrostatic discharge (ESD) breakdown, and more particularly to the element structure of an input protection resistor constituting the input protection circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor integrated circuit device, ESD breakdown of an internal element caused by input of a surge voltage during the mounting operation by a user is a serious problem. The ESD breakdown is caused when an excessively high voltage is applied to an external pin of the semiconductor integrated circuit device.
In order to prevent occurrence of the ESD breakdown, an input protection circuit is provided in the conventional MOS LSI (large scale integrated circuit). The input protection circuit is provided in a signal path extending from an input pad which is supplied with an input signal from the exterior of the LSI to the gate of a MOS transistor at the input stage of an internal circuit. That is, the drain of an N-channel MOS transistor (input protection transistor) serving as an input protection element is connected to the gate of the input-stage MOS transistor and the gate and source of the input protection transistor are connected to a ground terminal. FIG. 1 shows an example of the cross sectional structure of the input protection transistor. An element isolation region (field insulation film) 61 is selectively formed on the main surface of a P-type semiconductor substrate 60. A drain region (N.sup.+ -type impurity diffused layer) 62 and a source region (N.sup.+ -type impurity diffused layer) 63 are separately formed in the main surface area of the substrate 60 corresponding to an element region separated by the element isolation region 61. A gate insulation film 64 is formed on that portion of the substrate 60 which lies between the drain and source regions 62 and 63 and a gate electrode 65 is formed on the insulation film 64. An inter-level insulation film 66 is formed on the element isolation region 61 and the gate electrode 65. Contact holes 66a and 66b are formed in those portions of the inter-level insulation film 66 which lie on the drain and source regions 62 and 63. A drain electrode 67 is formed on the inter-level insulation film 66 and made in contact with the drain region 62 via the contact hole 66a. Likewise, a source electrode 68 is formed on the inter-level insulation film 66 and made in contact with the source region 63 via the contact hole 66b.
When an excessively high voltage is applied to the input pad and a potential applied to the drain of the input protection transistor with the construction shown in FIG. 1 becomes higher than the surface breakdown voltage of the junction plane between the drain region 62 and the substrate 60, breakdown occurs in the PN junction plane between the drain region (N.sup.+ -type impurity diffused layer) 62 and the P-type substrate 60, causing a large number of holes 69 to be discharged from the drain region 62 into the P-type substrate 60. The holes 69 raise the potential of the P-type substrate 60, and when the potential thereof becomes higher than the ground potential Vss by the forward voltage drop across the PN junction between the P-type substrate 60 and the source region (N.sup.+ -type impurity diffused layer) 63, the holes 69 flow into the source region 63. As a result, the input protection transistor acts as an NPN bipolar transistor and an excessively high voltage input from the exterior is discharged by the bipolar action.
FIG. 2 shows the input voltage-output current characteristic obtained by the bipolar action of the input protection transistor. When the input voltage V.sub.IN is raised, the input protection transistor operates as an NPN bipolar transistor and is turned on so as to permit current to flow. If the bipolar transistor is once turned on, it maintains the ON-state even if the input voltage V.sub.IN is set lower than the turn-ON voltage.
Therefore, the gate voltage of the MOS transistor at the input stage (first stage) of the internal circuit is kept lower than the surface breakdown voltage of the junction plane between the substrate and the drain region of the input protection transistor so that an excessively high voltage can be prevented from being applied to the gate of the input-stage MOS transistor.
However, in recent years, in order to form the semiconductor integrated circuit device at a high integration density, elements constituting the internal circuit are formed in a fine pattern and the input protection elements are formed in a fine pattern. With the even greater miniaturization of the elements, the PN junction of the input protection transistor tends to be broken down by heat generated at the time of breakdown of the input protection transistor. The above problem occurs because heat generated in the junction plane is transmitted to aluminum forming the drain electrode 67 when the breakdown occurs at the PN junction plane between the P-type substrate 60 and the drain region 62 of the input protection transistor. When the temperature of aluminum is raised to the melting point of aluminum by the thus generated heat, aluminum at the contact portion with the drain region 62 melts and flows on the surface of the drain region 62 in a current flow direction. When the melted aluminum has reached the substrate 60, the drain region 62 is short-circuited to the substrate 60 and a state equivalent to a state in which the PN junction is broken down is set up.
The junction breakdown due to the melting of aluminum occurs before occurrence of the PN junction break-down due to concentration of electric field since the melting point of aluminum is low. For this reason, it is difficult to attain the greater miniaturization of elements and the high breakdown voltage of the PN junction at the same time.
There is a semiconductor integrated circuit device in which an input to an address input pin is required to be subjected to three-valued control, for example, in the electric signature test in an EPROM (ultraviolet erasable and programmable read only memory). The three-valued control is effected by controlling an input voltage by use of an ordinary high level (substantially the power source voltage level), low level (ground potential level) and a voltage level which is higher than the high level. In the case of the electric signature test, the high level is set at 5 V, the low level is set at 0 V and the voltage level higher than the high level is set at 12.5 V.
Assume now that noise is mixed into the input voltage in the electric signature test with the input voltage V.sub.IN set at a voltage of 12.5 V which is higher than the high level. For example, if the breakdown voltage of the NPN transistor is 14 V, the input voltage V.sub.IN becomes 14.5 V (12.5 V+2 V) when noise of approximately 2 V is superposed on the input voltage, thereby turning on the input protection transistor (NPN transistor). Noise is superposed instantaneously and then the input voltage is returned to 12.5 V, but the NPN transistor which is once turned on permits current to continuously flow if the input voltage V.sub.IN is kept at 12.5 V as shown in FIG. 2. Current flowing in the NPN transistor which is set in the ON-state is large and heat generated at this time may cause the NPN transistor to be broken down. Further, a latch-up phenomenon may occur by a substrate current flowing at the time of turn-on of the NPN transistor.
The above explanation is made by taking an example of a case wherein a voltage higher than the high level is input in the electric signature test for EPROMs, but the above phenomenon may occur when an ordinary address is input if the surface breakdown voltage is lowered with the even greater miniaturization of elements. Particularly, the NPN transistor is turned on immediately after noise is superposed on the address input and overshooting of the address input has occurred, and the ON-state is maintained so that the NPN transistor may be damaged.
As described above, the conventional input protection circuit permits current to continuously flow at the time of breakdown of the input protection transistor by reduction in the surface breakdown voltage due to the even greater miniaturization of elements and the PN junction of the input protection transistor tends to be broken down by heat caused by the current. Further, a latch-up phenomenon tends to occur by the substrate current flowing when the input protection transistor is turned on.

Input protection resistor used in input protection circuit


Apparatus for washing folding chairs. The apparatus comprises a housing having a channel therethrough dimensioned for receiving a folded folding chair. A continuous conveyor belt conveys chairs through the channel as first one, then a second cylindrical brush assembly scrubs the alternate sides of the chair to loosen foreign matter, assisted by sprays of a cleaning liquid, from the chair's surfaces. Then, the chair passes between rinsing nozzles to rinse off the loosened foreign matter and cleaning fluid. The chair then exits the housing and passes between two perforated tubes blowing air on its sides to remove excess rinse water. The brushes both turn in the same direction so that one turns with the advancing chair and the other turns against the advancing chair for more thorough cleaning. Panels return the chair to the folded condition in the event it begins to unfold in the channel. Easily-removable, windowed apertures on both sides of the apparatus allow inspection of the progress of the chairs and access for maintenance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for automatically washing a series of folding chairs.
2. Discussion of Background
Folding chairs are chairs that fold to an essentially flat configuration, usually by lifting the front of the seat from a horizontal unfolded position to a vertical folded position as the legs pivot with respect to each other. Folding chairs are often used in large numbers for events such as graduation ceremonies, weddings, concerts and so on. At these events, foreign matter can soil the chairs. "Foreign matter" includes traces of food and beverages, fingerprints, scuff marks, mud, bird droppings, tree sap, grass stains, blades of grass, and so on; essentially foreign matter is any matter not found on a clean chair.
Currently, folding chairs are cleaned manually in one of two ways. The first method involves the use of a brush and hose. The second uses a pressurized hose. Typically, a worker can clean 30-40 chairs per hour. The chairs are brought to a central location, for example, a rental agency or warehouse, where they are cleaned before sending them out again because cleaning them at the event location requires more time than practical for a large number of chairs. Then the chairs are either stored for the next use or sent to a new event site.
Although there are a number of apparatus for cleaning a series or set of objects, such as commercial dishwashers, car washes, grocery carts (U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,029), cafeteria trays (U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,675), poultry shackles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,993), beverage cases (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,675,665 and 3,018,200), bottles (U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,024), eyeglasses (U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,080), applicant is unaware of any apparatus for automatically cleaning folding chairs, in spite of the fact that folding chairs are routinely used by the hundreds and thousands at events, and inevitably require labor-intensive to clean between uses.
Notwithstanding the fact that a significant effort is required to clean large numbers of chairs, sometimes between use at closely-timed events, the problem of cleaning chairs quickly and cheaply has long gone unrecognized; that is, the need for an automatic chair-cleaning apparatus has not heretofore been recognized, as indicated by the absence, for example, of apparatus for this purpose.
Moreover, once the fact that large numbers of folding chairs must be cleaned is recognized, it can be appreciated that cleaning folding chairs automatically presents several problems. For example, folding chairs are symmetric left to right but not top to bottom or front to back. Furthermore, because they tend to loosen with use, the seat will readily pivot from the vertical folded to the horizontal unfolded positions. To be really useful, an apparatus for cleaning folding chairs should be portable, so that it can be taken to a location where the chairs have been used. It should be operable from readily-available power and water supplies. It should be efficient so that a large number of chairs can be cleaned in a short amount of time so that on-site cleanup of the chairs does not take an inordinate amount of time. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus for cleaning a series of folding chairs, an apparatus that washes chairs thoroughly, quickly and cheaply.


Disclosed is a small-scale hydrogen liquefaction system using cryocoolers. The system includes: a pre-cooling heat exchanger for pre-cooling gaseous hydrogen using liquid nitrogen; a first cryocooler that primarily cools the gaseous hydrogen, pre-cooled by the pre-cooling heat exchanger; a heat exchanger attached to a cold head of the first-cryocooler; an n-th cryocooler (wherein n is a natural number equal to or greater than two) that is connected in series with the first cryocooler and cools the gaseous hydrogen, primarily cooled by the first cryocooler, to a liquefaction temperature of 20.3 K; a condensation plate arranged to be in contact with the n-th cryocooler to liquefy the gaseous hydrogen, cooled to the temperature of 20.3 K by the n-th cryocooler; and a low-temperature chamber providing an accommodation space to accommodate the pre-cooling heat exchanger, the first cryocooler, and the n-th cryocooler.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small-scale hydrogen liquefaction system equipped with a cryocooler. More particularly, the present invention relates to a small-scale hydrogen liquefaction system equipped with series-connected cryocoolers to increase a liquefaction rate to 10 L/h.
Description of the Related Art
Liquid hydrogen is used as a fuel. It is 10 times lighter than fossil fuels and is thus popular in the aerospace industry. That is, it is favorably used as a propellant for rockets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's), etc. Furthermore, as vehicles that use hydrogen fuel in their internal combustion engine have been recently commercialized, there is a dramatic increase in the demand for liquid hydrogen as fuel.
This trend is boosting domestic demand for liquid hydrogen in fundamental research laboratories. Thus, supply of liquid hydrogen obtained through small-scale liquefaction can be an impetus for the development of relevant technologies and market expansion.
Meanwhile, a hydrogen liquefaction temperature is about 20.3 K. That is, hydrogen is liquefied at cryogenic temperatures unlike general materials. To obtain liquid hydrogen, various technologies including cryogenic engineering, thermodynamics, heat transfer, etc. are required. A typical large-scale hydrogen liquefaction plant involves a Brayton cycle or a Claude cycle, both of which need to use a variety of equipment such as a compressor, a heat exchanger, and a cryogenic turbine. Therefore, it is difficult to adopt such a cycle in a small-scale liquefaction process.
Therefore, different approaches are required to realize a small-scale hydrogen liquefaction system.
As a related art, Korean Patent No. 10-1585825 discloses a hydrogen liquefaction apparatus in which a heat pipe has a double pipe structure and a pre-cooling pipe equipped with an ortho-para converter is arranged in a double-piped portion filled with solid nitrogen (SN2). In the apparatus, gaseous hydrogen (GH2) sequentially undergoes pre-cooling and ortho-para conversion by passing through the pre-cooling pipe and the ortho-para converter and then comes into contact with an evaporator of the heat pipe, thereby being liquefied. This apparatus reduces initial loads of a cryogenic cooler in this way.
A conventional hydrogen liquefaction apparatus using a cryocooler has a disadvantage of small liquefaction capacity because it uses only a single pre-cooling pipe and a single cryocooler to liquefy hydrogen. Therefore, the conventional hydrogen liquefaction apparatus cannot meet an increasing demand for liquid hydrogen and cannot satisfy sufficient productivity and economic feasibility.
For this reason, development of a hydrogen liquefaction technology that can lower initial investment costs, simplify the structure of parts, guarantee safety, and increase a liquefaction rate to about 10 L/h is required.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.

Small-scale hydrogen liquefaction system equipped with cryocooler


A computer system has clients and servers of different object models, such as SOAP, CORBA and EJB for providing distributed application services. To connect a SOAP client to a CORBA or EJB server, a bridge 10 is used containing corresponding server and client components as well as a mapping component to map object and method requests of one type into another.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a bridge for coupling a client to a server computer and to a corresponding method, computer system and a computer program.
2. Related Art
From Statutory Invention Registration U.S. H1,895 an application provider and method for communication is provided for communication of an application provider between a first sub-system and a second sub-system of a common node.
For example, the application provider may be a mobile application provider, the first and second sub-systems may be a home location register and a visitor location register, and the common node may be a wireless telecommunication system. The system is implemented by means of an object request broker (ORB) such as the common request broker architecture (CORBA) defined by the object management group (OMG). A resource manager application serves as a "bridge" or "conduit" between a call processor and a resource assembly.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,688 a system is known for modular application collaboration including filtering at the source and proxy execution of compensating transactions to conserve server resources. This system provides interoperability between applications including a plurality of connectors for communicating with a like lurality of applications and an interchange server.
The interchange server includes an application collaboration module and service module. The services module transfers messages between connectors and the application collaboration module. The application collaboration defines the interoperability between two or more applications. The interchange server service module includes a transaction service and an error service. Transactions are executed in the application collaboration module.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,220 an enterprise interaction hub for managing an enterprise web system is known. The enterprise interaction hub includes a number of layers that interact to manage an enterprise web system.
An interaction layer receives requests to the enterprise web system and returns responsive web pages. A presentation layer is coupled to the interaction layer and generates the responsive web pages. A business layer is coupled to the presentation layer and provides business logic for use by the presentation layer in generating the responsive web pages.
An integration layer is coupled to the business layer and interfaces with existing legacy data to provide the legacy data to the business layer. A trend collection layer monitors and accumulates historical information from the interaction layer, the presentation layer, the business layer and the integration layer. The trend collection layer also stores the historical information in a trend database.
A profile database, accessible by the presentation layer and the business layer, stores profile data, including data mined from the trend database, that characterizes individual user access to the enterprise web system. The profile data is used by the presentation layer and the business layer to provide customized dynamic content in the generated web pages.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,030 a network component server is known. The component server architecture enables consumer nodes of a computer network to interact with heterogeneous software components and services distributed throughout the network, as well as network devices and data.
Distributed interactions between a consumer and a heterogeneous software is achieved, in part, by registering and locating the component and services. An object neutral global component registry with access controls of the architecture interoperates with the component management service to transparently ensure proper administration, of indication and run-time binding access to components offered in response to requests from applications executing on the consumer nodes.
The architecture is implemented on a component server node of the network that is configured to communicate with the consumer, i.e., client, nodes in client-server computing arrangements. That is, the component registry of the component server node responds to a consumer application request by locating a heterogeneous component for the consumer. The registry offers this component to the consumer by providing an appropriate interface between the object module of the software component. This registry is organized as a plurality of cooperating storage entities including a description repository, an offer repository, an interface adapter repository and an object factory repository.
A component server architecture is provided to interact with heterogeneous software components and services distributed throughout the network, as well as with network devices and data. Distributed interaction between a consumer and heterogeneous software is achieved, in part, by registering and locating the components and services.
An object-neutral global component registry with access controls of the architecture interoperates with a component management service (CMS) to transparently ensure proper administration, authentication and run-time binding access to components offered in response to requests from applications executing on the consumer nodes. The architecture is implemented on a component server node of the network that is configured to communicate with the consumer, i.e., client, nodes in client-server computing arrangements. That is, the component registry of the component server node responds to a consumer application request by locating a heterogeneous component for the consumer. The registry offers this component to the consumer by providing an appropriate interface between the object module of the consumer and the object module of the software component.
This registry is preferably organized as a plurality of cooperating storage entities including a description repository, an offer repository, an interface adapter repository and an object factory repository.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,061 a modular application collaborator is known for providing inter-operability between applications including a plurality of connectors for communicating with a like plurality of applications and an interchange server. The interchange server includes an application collaboration module and a service module.
The service module transfers messages between connectors and the application collaboration module. The application collaboration module defines the inter-operability between two or more applications and includes a trigger and a transaction responsive to the trigger. The trigger is activated upon receipt of data from one or more connectors resulting in the transaction delivering data to one or more connectors for transfer to an associated application.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,646 a dynamic and generic process automation system is known. This includes a generic object-oriented process automation engine that provides workflow management services in a heterogeneous distributed computing environment. The system consists of three major parts: a build time part used to capture and store process definitions, and to request the enactment of a process; a run time part used to schedule, execute, and monitor the requested process; a CORBA to plug-in-software applications needed to execute processes and to allow interactions among the system components. This system is event-driven and provides scheduling and resource allocations schemes.
The system can incorporate a trader service which provides a "yellow pages" for objects; it allows objects to publicize their services and allow clients to find them based on upon which services the client needs. For example, a resource allocator can use the service to find a resource that satisfies a set of agents constrains.
The above referenced prior art systems and methods mostly rely on object oriented software technologies, such as CORBA. CORBA is a vendor-independent architecture and infrastructure that computer applications use to work together over networks. In CORBA, every object instance has its own unique object reference, an identifying electronic token.
Clients use the object references to direct their invocations, identifying to the object request broker the exact instance they want to invoke. The client acts as if its invoking an operation on the object instance, but it is actually invoking on the IDL stub which acts as a proxy. Passing through the stub on the client side, the invocation continues through the object request broker, and the skeleton on the implementation side, to get to the object where it is executed on the server.
The object request broker provides a mechanism for transparently communicating client requests to target object implementations. The object request broker simplifies distributed programming by decoupling the client from the details of the method invocations. This makes client requests appear to be local procedure calls. When a client invokes an operation, the object request broker is responsible for finding the object implementation, transparently activating it if necessary, delivering the request to the object and returning any response to the caller.
The IDL stubs and skeletons serve as the "glue" between the client and the server applications, respectively, and the object request broker. The transformation between IDL definitions and the target programming language is automated by a IDL compiler. The use of a compiler reduces the potential for inconsistencies between client stubs and server skeletons and increases opportunities for automated compiler optimizations.
Another important object oriented technology is Enterprise Java Beans. Enterprise Java Beans provides a framework for components that can be "plugged in" to a server, thereby extending that service functionality. Client programs execute methods on remote Enterprise Java Beans by way of an Enterprise Java Beans object. The Enterprise Java Beans object implements the "remote interface" of the EJB component on the server.
A common disadvantage of the CORBA and Enterprise Java Beans object technologies is that corresponding applications being available in an company's intranet are not accessible through a firewall from the internet.
For this and other reasons companies recently have started to use the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) as the object oriented technology of choice as (SOAP) is firewall compatible. SOAP is a protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It is an XML based protocol that consists of three parts: an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of applications—defined data types, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses. SOAP can be used in combination within an HTTP extension framework.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art network. The network includes internet 1 and intranet 2 which are separated by firewall 3. A SOAP client 4 is coupled to SOAP server 5 via internet 1.
Within the companies' intranet 2 a CORBA client 6 and an EJB client 7 are coupled to a CORBA server 8 and an EJB server 9, respectively.
Because of the tight coupling between the CORBA and EJB clients 6, 7 and their respective servers 8, 9 the applications of servers 8 and 9 are not accessible through the firewall 3 from the internet 1. As a consequence the SOAP client 4 can only access the SOAP server 5—or other servers which are not shown in FIG. 1—over the internet 1 but can not access applications provided on servers 8 or 9 in the company intranet 2. This is a serious disadvantage for offering a variety of applications to customers, in particular if existing CORBA and EJB systems are available.

Method and a bridge for coupling a server and a client of different object types

International Business Machines Corporation


A vibration actuator driving device includes a plurality of wiring sections and a supply controller. The plurality of wiring sections are disposed correspondingly to a plurality of electrically independent electrodes of an electromechanical conversion element. The wiring sections input driving signals to drive the electromechanical conversion element. The supply controller is capable of independently supplying a driving signal for each respective wiring section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration actuator driving device, a lens barrel, a camera, a method of manufacturing an electromechanical conversion element, a method of manufacturing a vibration actuator, and a method of driving a vibration actuator.
2. Discussion of the Background
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 9-103082 proposes the technique of adjusting an electrostatic capacitance value to a specified value by connecting an external capacitor to a piezoelectric element.
However, the electrostatic capacitance value of the piezoelectric element for driving an ultrasonic motor generally has a positive temperature coefficient (the electrostatic capacitance value increases with increasing temperature), and will vary with environmental temperature and the like.
Therefore, the vibration characteristics of the piezoelectric element will also vary with environmental temperature and the like. For example, when the piezoelectric element is used as the driving source of a lens drive motor, it may be difficult to obtain the desired drive characteristics.

Vibration actuator driving device, lens barrel, camera, method of manufacturing electromechanical conversion element, method of manufacturing vibration actuator, and method of driving vibration actuator