A computer-implemented method includes providing one or more initial questions, including a first question, selected from a database of possible questions, where the one or more provided questions are selected based on a sales phase of a sales opportunity. A first response to the first question is received, and one or more additional questions are provided, where each additional question is based at least in part on the first response to the first question. Additional responses to the additional questions are received, and a sales strategy associated with the sales phase of the sales opportunity is provided, where the sales strategy is based at least in part on the first response and the one or more additional responses and the sales strategy includes one or more actions to perform. The one or more included actions are selected from a database of possible actions based on their anticipated ability to increase a likelihood of success of the sales opportunity.

Sales are an integral part of operating practically any business, and as such, great importance may be laid upon the sales processes used to identify the sales opportunities, monitor and manage the opportunities, and convert the opportunities into actual sales. Small-scale sales opportunities may be identified, monitored, managed, and converted by one or two people and the entire lifespan of the opportunity may last on a short period of time. However, larger-scale sales opportunities may require large teams of sales people working across multiple sales phases, each of which may span months or even years. It is likely that during the course of such large-scale sales opportunities, the procuring business will lose multiple sales persons involved in the procurement process, well before the opportunity may be won. As such, unless the procuring business has a defined sales strategy in place, often times when employees leave a business, so too leaves their knowledge of the business's sales processes.
Businesses seek ways to formalize their sales processes and decouple the sales knowledge from their employees and transfer it into systems that may be implemented and that remain viable even in the face of employee turnover. Additionally, businesses seek ways to quickly and efficiently determine which sales strategy to use for their current sales situation, without having to spend time answering irrelevant questions.
There may exist best practice sales approaches, especially in the case of large-scale sales opportunities, however with a people-centric system it may be difficult to determine where in the sales lifecycle the company currently operates and what is the best practice or action needed to take to help win the procurement.


A fluid friction coupling comprises a coupling hub (1) and a coupling housing (2) rotatably supported on the coupling hub. The coupling also comprises sets of plates (6; 7) non-rotatably mounted on the hub and housing. One set of plates has spacing teeth (8) which, while eliminating the previously used spacer rings, permit accurate spacing of the set of plates. A predetermined number of spacing teeth (8) of the axially immovable plates (7) are bent out of the plane of the respective plate so as to be Z-shaped with both bending angles approximately 90 degrees. This measure ensures that the plates for a friction coupling are designed in such a way that they are accurately spaced at predetermined distances and that they are suitable for automatic assembly purposes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fluid friction coupling comprising at least one coupling hub, a coupling housing rotatably supported on the coupling hub, and two sets of plates, one non-rotatably connected to the coupling hub and one non-rotatably connected to the coupling housing, the plates of the sets of plates being disposed in an alternating sequence with the plates of a first of the sets being held at predetermined spacings from one another while the plates of the other set are axially movable.
2. Description of Prior Art
With such fluid friction couplings such as they are known from West German Patent Specification No. 38 28 421 C1 and its British equivalent No. 2 222 232, spacing between the first set of plates is achieved by so-called spacer rings of a predetermined thickness. These spacer rings are slotted and as compared to the inner diameter of the coupling housing, they have a slightly increased outer diameter so that they rest against the inner housing wall in a prestressed condition. However, a disadvantage of this design is that automatic assembly of the plates is either not possible at all or causes great difficulties, which is the reason why the plates are still fitted by hand.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,027, it is known to arrange a certain number of teeth on the plates in an angular position in order to achieve a spring-loaded return. However, for spacing the plates such an angular position is not suitable because the tolerances of the outer diameter and especially centering of the plates have to be very close to achieve uniform dimensions for the distances to be observed, whereas an articulated position, because of its spring-loaded return forces, does not permit such tolerances or only with considerable effort.
From West German Patent Specification No. 37 26 641 C1 and its British equivalent No. 2 207 983 it is known to provide one of the sets of plates with cam-like pressed-out regions which are aligned relative to each other in one direction of rotation and which increase the distance between the associated plates. However, it is the purpose of this design to provide the fluid friction coupling with different torque characteristics for the two directions of rotation; a predetermined distance between the plates cannot be achieved with such pressed-out regions.

Spacing mechanism for the plates of a fluid friction coupling


A wafer processing method. The method includes providing a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer includes (i) a semiconductor layer and (ii) a dopant layer on top of the semiconductor layer. The dopant layer comprises dopants. The method further includes removing the dopant layer from the semiconductor wafer. No chemical etching is performed on the dopant layer before said removing the dopant layer is performed.

Ion implantation monitor wafers are used to monitor ion implantation tools. More specifically, a monitor wafer is put in an ion implantation tool and the ion implantation process is performed on the monitor wafer. Then, the monitor wafer is taken out of the ion implantation tool and the doping dose on the monitor wafer is measured to determine if the ion implantation process is within specification. The ion implantation monitor wafers are expensive. Therefore, there is a need for a method for recycling ion implantation monitor wafers.

Recycling of ion implantation monitor wafers

International Business Machines Corporation


A device for adjusting an optical tube, which is disposed in a housing of a spotlight or optical device and which is guided in the housing in the direction of the optical axis of the spotlight or optical device is provided. An adjustment drive, an operating element and a brake device is disposed between the tube and the housing, which with the adjustment drive not activated connects the tube to the housing in a non-positive locking and/or positive-locking manner and which on activation of the adjustment drive releases the connection between the tube and the housing and enables adjustment of the tube along the optical axis of the spotlight or optical device.

Spotlights and other optical devices, such as telescopes and microscopes, contain an optical tube with a lens or a lens system of multiple lenses, which are either fixed in the tube or movably disposed therein. For optical reasons it can be necessary not no move the lens or the lens system within the tube for focusing and defocussing, but to move the tube together with the fixed installed lens or the lens system relative to the housing of the Spotlight or optical device. This is especially true if the edge of the tube would interfere with the optical path by partially blocking the same when adjusting the lens or the lens system within the tube. For example, microscope objectives and a number of photographic objectives are assembled according to this principle of construction.
In order to ensure exact adjustment of the Spotlight or optical device, accurate guidance and movement of the tube relative to the housing accommodating the tube is necessary. Two basic embodiments are known for this purpose.
In a first embodiment a screw thread is provided for adjusting the tube, whereby the housing is provided with an internal thread, whereas the optical tube comprises an external thread that matches the internal thread. An adjustment of the tube along the optical axis of the Spotlight, or optical device takes place by rotating the tube relative to the housing, wherein the pitch of the screw thread determines the displacement of the tube during the adjustment.
With this embodiment it is disadvantageous for one thing that a large number of rotations are necessary in order to displace the tube by a certain amount, and for another thing that because of the use of a screw mechanism the tube and the housing must have a circular outer cross-section or inner cross-section.
In order to enable any cross-sectional shape for the tube and the housing, e.g. a square tube and a square housing, in a second embodiment the adjustment of the tube takes place by means of a linear drive, with which the tube can be displaced along the optical axis of the Spotlight or optical device without twisting relative to the housing. Such a linear drive consists e.g. of a toothed rack connected to the tube or formed on the outer surface of the tube, which is driven by a pinion that is connected to a rotation axle, which comprises a rotary knob for manual operation and adjustment of the tube. This principle of construction is e.g. used for simple microscopes.
It is disadvantageous with this embodiment that depending on the inclination of the tube and of the housing a variable weight acts on the tube, which can cause the tube to move away from the selected adjustment into the housing or out of the housing if the toothed rack transmission has no or too little self-locking.
This is especially the case for the use of a linear drive for linear tube adjustment for a powerful Spotlight, e.g. for displacing a Fresnel lens relative to a light, generation unit. Here such heavy weights occur that a high degree of self-locking of the linear drive is necessary. However, a high degree of self-locking of the linear drive causes an increase of the force required to adjust the tube, whereby the operation for adjustment of the tube is made considerably more difficult. Because powerful spotlights generally have a large diameter and are associated with heavy accessories, such as e.g. metal swing gates and glass diffuser disks, which have to be moved into each operating position, the use of a simple rack and pinion gear for tube adjustment is excluded, because the forces required for operating the spotlight are too large.

Device for adjusting an optical tube arranged in the housing of a headlight or optical device

Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH & Co. Betriebs KG


The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for adding new vocabulary to interactive translation and dialog systems. In one embodiment, a method for adding a new word to a vocabulary of an interactive dialog includes receiving an input signal that includes at least one word not currently in the vocabulary, inserting the word into a dynamic component of a search graph associated with the vocabulary, and compiling the dynamic component independently of a permanent component of the search graph to produce a new sub-grammar, where the permanent component comprises a plurality of words that are permanently part of the search graph.

Interactive translation and dialogue systems are computer systems that converse with human users or enable conversations between human users. Such systems may be monolingual in that a "conversation" occurs between the system and a human user (e.g., a telephone-based dialogue system that provides airline flight information responsive to user commands). Such systems may also be bilingual in that the "conversation" occurs between two human users who speak different languages (in this case, the dialogue system also performs translation between languages). Although the accuracy of interactive translation and dialogue systems is improving, they may still suffer from errors and inaccuracies.
For example, both monolingual and bilingual systems may have trouble understanding a user input. One common instance of this is when a user wants to use a word that is currently unknown to the system. The word may be synonymous with a word already known to the system (e.g., the user uses the term "Madras" for a location that the system knows as "Chennai") or may be completely unknown to the system.

Method and apparatus for adding new vocabulary to interactive translation and dialogue systems


A method determines a path of a tool machining a pocket shape in a workpiece. The pocket shape is defined by a closed curve in an x-y plane. The method determines positions and velocities of a motion of an oscillator having an energy defined by a function that is positive within a boundary of the pocket shape and equals zero on the boundary of the pocket shape. The method determines coordinates of the path of the tool based on corresponding pairs of position and velocity values of the motion, wherein a position value of each pair represents an x coordinate of the path of the tool in the x-y plane, and a velocity value of each pair represents a y coordinate of the path of the tool in the x-y plane.

NC Machining
Simulating numerically controlled (NC) milling or other types of machining is of importance in computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM). During simulation, a workpiece model interacts with a computer representation of a tool and its motions.
The workpiece model and tool representation can be visualized during the simulation to improve productivity, tool path planning, detect potential collisions between parts, such as the workpiece and the tool holder, and to verify the final shape of the workpiece. The tool motions are typically implemented using numerical control programming language, also known as preparatory code or G-Codes, see, e.g., the RS274D and DIN 66025/ISO6983 standards.
During milling, the tool moves relative to the workpiece according to a prescribed tool motion, referred to herein as a tool path. The path contains information about the relative position, orientation, and other shape data of the tool. As the tool moves along the tool, the tool carves out a "swept volume." During milling, as the tool moves along the path, a portion of the workpiece that is intersected by the swept volume is removed. This removal of the material can be modeled computationally as a constructive solid geometry (CSG) difference operation.
Swept volumes can be represented and approximated by polygonal methods, Z-buffer, depth pixel (dexel) method and voxel-based representations. Swept volumes of simple shapes moving along simple paths can sometimes be represented analytically, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,617. However, those methods do not generalize to complex shapes and complex tool paths.
Models of polygonal shapes can be encoded in a spatial hierarchy for efficient editing via CSG operations. The accuracy of those methods is limited by the size of the smallest voxel used to represent the swept volumes. Thus, those methods may either have limited accuracy or have prohibitive processing times and memory requirements for generating high precision models of swept volumes, or both. In addition, methods that approximate the swept volume as a series of discrete time steps have limited precision between the discrete time steps, and are subject to aliasing artifacts.
Distance fields are an effective representation for rendering and editing shapes, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,396,492, 6,724,393, 6,826,024, and 7,042,458. Distance fields are a form of implicit functions that represent an object. In particular, a distance field is a scalar field d that gives a shortest distance to the surface of the object from any point in space. A point at which the distance field is zero is on the surface of the object. The set of points on the surface of the object collectively describe the boundary of the object, also known as the d=0 iso-surface. The distance field of an object is positive for points inside the object, and negative for points outside the object.
Adaptively sampled distance fields (ADFs) use detail-directed sampling to provide a much more space and time efficient representation of distance fields than is obtained using regularly sampled distance fields. ADFs store the distance field as a spatial hierarchy of cells. Each cell contains distance data and a reconstruction method for reconstructing a portion of the distance field associated with the cell. Distance data can include the value of the distance field, as well as the gradient and partial derivatives of the distance field. The distance field within a cell can be reconstructed only when needed to reduce memory and computational complexity.
Alternatively, the edited shape can be represented implicitly as a composite ADF (CADF). The CADF is generated to represent the object, where the CADF includes a set of cells arranged in the spatial hierarchy. Each cell in the CADF includes a subset of the set of geometric element distance field functions and a reconstruction method for combining the subset of geometric element distance field functions to reconstruct a composite distance field of a portion of the object represented by the cell. Each distance field in the subset of distance fields forms a part of the boundary of the object within the cell, called the composite boundary.
High speed machining is important in the fields of die and mold manufacturing, aerospace and automotive industries. Characteristics of high speed machining are high spindle speed (rotational speed of cutting tool), high feedrate (rate at which the cutting tool moves), high machining efficiency and accuracy. The mechanical parts can include faces parallel or normal to a plane and free-form parts require a 2.5D rough milling of a workpiece, making pocket milling an important milling operations. In pocket milling, the material is removed from a predefined shape (pocket) with defined dimension layer by layer by flat-end mill tool.
The feedrate depends on the geometry of the tool path, thus the path strongly influences manufacturing time and cost. The general objective in pocket milling and material removal processes in general is to find a good/optimal tool path.
Two commonly used methods for tool path generation, based on zigzag and contour-parallel paths milling, are described in "A mapping-based spiral cutting strategy for pocket machining," Xu, Int J Adv Manuf Technol, 2012 and "High speed machining tool path generation for pockets using level sets," Zhunag, International Journal of Production Research, 2009.
Another method described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,158 uses the solution of Laplace's equation defined for the pocket region. A level sets of the principal eigenfunction to define a smooth low-curvature spiral path in a pocket interior to one that conforms to the pocket boundary. The spiral tool path generation method based on solving the partial differential equation has difficulty in controlling the distance between two level-set curves. The method is based on finite element solutions of a PDE (Partial Differential Equation) including discretization of the pocket region into a triangular mesh with many elements, which result in the complicated way to connect concentric closed curves.
Another method described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,158 forms a spiral tool path by determining a plurality of relatively low-curvature nested contours that are internal to the boundary of the pocket to be formed, and spiraling between the contours. The nested contours arc determined from a mathematical function. Some methods described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,451,013, 7,577,490, 7,831,332 and 8,000,834 use constant engagement milling for generating a tool path for milling a pocket based on controlling engagement angle. However, such milling strategies force the milling cutter to execute sharp turns resulting in widely varying cutter engagement. Such variations in tool engagement cause spikes in tool load producing undesirable effects such as shorter tool life, chatter vibrations and even tool breakage.
The method described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,877,182 for creating spiral swath patterns for convex polygon shaped field boundaries a computationally efficient method for generating a spiral swath pattern for a region of a field bounded by a convex polygon is described. The method automatically generates curved portions for the swept trajectory having radii of curvature greater than a minimum turning radius based on the minimum turning radius and a definition of the field boundary.
In high performance milling, the technology described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,295,972 and U.S. Application 20100087949 for milling selected portions of a workpiece by a cutting, tool of a numerical control machine is described in order to reduce machining time and load. When milling along a path of constant curvature with a constant feed rate, a constant material removal rate is established.
However, determining the path of the tool machining the pocket shape remains a difficult problem in the art of NC machining.

Oscillator-based path planning for machining of a pocket shape in workpiece

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


A pair of gardening shears include two cutting blades pivotally connected with each other, two movable members each having a first side mounted on a respective cutting blade, two fixing members each mounted on a second side of a respective movable member, two locking bolts each extended through the fixing members, the movable members and the cutting blades, and two locking nuts each screwed onto a respective locking bolt. Thus, the cutting blades are limited by the fixing members and the locking bolts so that the cutting blades are juxtaposed to each other closely without producing a gap between the cutting blades, thereby facilitating a user operating the gardening shears.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting tool and, more particularly, to a pair of gardening shears for cutting and trimming a plant, such as a tree, flower and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A pair of conventional gardening shears in accordance with the prior art shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 comprises two cutting blades 10 pivotally connected with each other by a screw 13 and a nut 14, two handles 11 each mounted on a lower end of a respective cutting blade 10, and two limit posts 15 each mounted on a respective handle 11 and movable to abut each other. Each of the cutting blades 10 is formed with a through hole 12 to allow passage of the screw 13. Thus, the cutting blades 10 are pivoted about the screw 13 which functions as a pivot fulcrum of the cutting blades 10. However, the screw 13 is easily unscrewed from the nut 14 due to a frequent friction so that the cutting blades 10 are easily loosened from each other, thereby producing a gap 1 between the cutting blades 10, thereby causing inconvenience to the user when operating the cutting blades 10. In addition, the screw 13 functions as a pivot fulcrum of the cutting blades 10 so that the cutting blades 10 only has a single pivot fulcrum and are easily jammed during a pivot movement of the cutting blades 10.

Gardening shears without producing a gap between two cutting blades of the gardening shears


The present invention discloses a method including: providing a silicon wafer; forming a buried oxide (BOX) in the silicon wafer below a silicon body; and reducing a thickness of the silicon body by chemical thinning.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, and, more specifically, to a method of thinning a silicon body of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Gordon Moore originally suggested in 1964 that the pace of technology innovation would result in the doubling of the number of transistors per unit area on an IC chip every 12 months. By 1975, the trend had changed to a doubling every 18 months. Over the ensuing decades, the semiconductor industry has adhered closely to Moore's Law in improving the density for every generation of devices. Maintaining such an aggressive schedule has required the scaling down of the transistors in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits by using steeper retrograde wells, triple wells, more abrupt source/drain (S/D) junctions, thinner gate dielectric layer, shorter channel length, and more highly-doped channels.
However, doping the channel to a concentration higher than about 1018 atoms/cm3 degrades carrier mobility and junction characteristics. Tunneling of electrons through the gate dielectric layer also becomes a problem when the thickness of the gate dielectric layer is about 1.5 nanometers (nm) or less. Consequently, beginning with the 90-nm technology node and continuing through the 65-nm technology node, the scaling of planar metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) that are fabricated in a bulk silicon substrate has become increasingly hampered by short-channel effects (SCE), such as leakage and threshold voltage, Vt, stability.
Thus, even more drastic changes have been required in the device structure and the manufacturing process in order to address SCE. One significant change is substrate enhancement, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. An SOI device is a device that is formed in a thin layer of semiconducting material, such as a silicon body, located over a layer of insulating material, such as an oxide, that is embedded in a substrate, such as a silicon wafer.
SOI can lower parasitic capacitance and reduce substrate leakage thereby enabling faster switching speeds and lower-voltage operation. A device built in SOI has a higher drive current, Ion, and a lower off-state leakage current, Ioff compared with a device built in bulk silicon. Lowering the threshold voltage allows the thickness of the SOI to be reduced. Reducing the SOI thickness allows much better control over SCE. Threshold voltage, Vt, also becomes more consistent for devices with varying channel lengths of 0.6 micron (um) and below.
An SOI device is considered to be partially-depleted when the depletion region in the channel below the gate electrode does not extend completely through the thickness of the silicon body. However, the performance advantage of a partially-depleted SOI device over a bulk-silicon device diminishes when the dimensions are scaled down. A partially-depleted SOI device is also subject to a floating body effect (FBE) which may increase the complexity of the design of the IC.
An SOI device is considered to be fully-depleted when the depletion region in the channel below the gate electrode extends all the way through the thickness of the silicon body. A device built in SOI will be fully-depleted across a range of operating conditions when the thickness of the silicon body is about 40 nm or less. A fully-depleted SOI device has a shorter channel length and displays a more ideal transistor function, such as very sharp turn-on characteristics.
A chemical-mechanical polish (CMP) process may be used to reduce the thickness of the silicon body for an SOI device. However, the thickness of the silicon body may become very non-uniform due to fluctuations in polish pressure or slurry distribution, especially when the SOI device is fabricated in a large substrate, such as a 300-millimeter diameter wafer.
A process alternating between oxidation and etch may be used to reduce the thickness of the silicon body for an SOI device. However, many cycles are required to remove a large amount of silicon.
Thus, what is needed is a method of thinning a silicon body of an SOI substrate.

Chemical thinning of silicon body of an SOI substrate


An output driver for enhancing initial output data using timing includes a selection signal generation unit for generating a selection signal, a reference data generation unit for generating reference data, and a selection unit. The selection signal is activated at the transition point of the input data, generated after being maintained in a same logic state during a number of bit periods that is equal to or greater than a predetermined duration number. The reference data is delayed from the input data by a delay time shorter than one bit period. The selection unit is driven to transition the logic state of the output data depending on the transition of the logic state of any one of the input data and the reference data in response to the selection signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data output driver and output driving method, and more particularly to an output driver and output driving method, which compensate for the attenuation of transmission data during data communication.
2. Description of Related Art
Transmission data generated by a transmission device is transmitted to a reception device through a transmission line. The transmission device is typically provided with an output driver for outputting the transmission data. Transmission data is composed of a plurality of data bits to be consecutively transmitted. In the case of a data bit having a logic state differing from that of a previous data bit, there may occur a phenomenon where a rising or falling edge of the data bit is not sufficiently developed. The phenomenon, due to the previous data bit, may be referred to as Inter-Symbol Interference (hereinafter referred to as "ISI"). Due to ISI, attenuation of transmission data may occur. The ISI may further increase when the data bit having the logic state differing from that of the previous data bit is transmitted immediately after several data bits having the same logic state have been transmitted.
Various types of output drivers for compensating for the attenuation of transmission data caused by ISI have been developed.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an output driver. FIG. 2 is a timing diagram showing the signals of the output driver of FIG. 1.
In an output driver 10 in FIG. 1, a bit shifter 11 shifts input data IDAT1 by one bit period and generates shifted data SDAT1. Further, a data adder 13 performs an operation of Equation [1] and generates output data ODAT1,V(ODAT1)−a*V(SDAT1)   [1]where V(ODAT1), V(IDAT1) AND V(SDAT1) denote the voltage levels of the output data ODAT1, the input data IDAT1 and the shifted data SDAT1, respectively. Further, "a" denotes a positive constant.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the output data ODAT1, the swing range of one bit value increases whenever the logic state of the output data ODAT1 is transitioned. Therefore, the attenuation of the output data ODAT1 is mitigated due to the increasing swing range.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of an output driver. FIG. 4 is a timing diagram showing the signals of the output driver of FIG. 3.
In the output driver 20 of FIG. 3, a delay unit 21 delays input data IDAT2 and generates delayed data DDAT2. Further, a data adder 23 performs an operation of Equation [2] and generates output data ODAT2,V(ODAT2)=V(IDAT2)−b*V(DDAT2)   [2]where V(ODAT2, V(IDAT2) and V(DDAT2) denote the voltage levels of the output data ODAT2, the input data IDAT2 and the delayed data DDAT2, respectively. Further, "b" denotes a positive constant.
As shown in FIG. 4, the initial voltage level of the output data ODAT2 is intensified whenever the logic state of the output data ODAT2 is transitioned. The attenuation of the output data ODAT2 is mitigated due to the intensified initial voltage level.
In the output drivers shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the input data IDAT1 and IDAT2 and the output data ODAT1 and ODAT2 operate at a high voltage higher than a voltage level Vh in a logic H state, and at a low voltage lower than a voltage level V1 in a logic L state. The output drivers of FIGS. 1 and 3 need to include circuits for generating the high voltage and the low voltage.
Therefore, a need exists for an output driver and output driving method that compensate for the attenuation of transmission data during data communication without circuits for generating the high voltage and the low voltage.

Output driver and output driving method for enhancing initial output data using timing


Various embodiments employ a graphics tiering approach that utilizes multiple different tiers, each of which defines how a user interface is presented to a user. In accordance with at least some embodiments, a higher end tier is provided and utilizes a combination of both bitmaps and realtime window geometry computations to provide a user interface that can include both transparent and blurred user interface elements. In addition, at least some additional tiers repurpose the higher end tier by incorporating an opaque element behind the transparent element to satisfy the limitations associated with the additional tiers.

There are many different types of computing devices and software packages that are available for consumers.
For example, high end devices typically come with sophisticated processing capabilities, e.g. graphics and video presentation processing capabilities, which can provide a robust user experience. On the other hand, lower end devices often do not possess the same sophisticated processing capabilities. Perhaps these devices have different, less robust video cards and/or limited graphics or video memory. Accordingly, the user experience is somewhat different from that of the high end devices. For example, while the higher end devices may be able to render video and graphics content in a robust manner, the lower end devices might, for example, render content in some compromised fashion, such as at a lower frame rate.
With regard to software packages, many times a particular software package will be offered at different price points. For example, a lower price point package may not have all of the sophisticated video and graphics processing capabilities as a higher price point package.
Against this backdrop, challenges remain with regard to finding solutions to help "graduate" graphics presentations from the high end scenarios to the low end scenarios that are, from a user's perspective, seamless, and which preserve, along the way, various elements that convey a desirable user interface "look and feel". Such a desirable "look and feel" may, for example, manifest itself in a desire to preserve a brand identify across a diverse product line.

Graphics tiering strategy incorporating bitmaps and window geometries


In a semiconductor device having a capacitor and a method of fabricating the same, the semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate and an insulating layer on the semiconductor substrate, a contact plug electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate and formed in the contact hole, a buffer conductive layer pattern electrically connected to the contact plug and formed on the insulating layer and the contact plug, an etching stopping layer formed on the buffer conductive layer pattern, a gap between the buffer conductive layer pattern and the etching stopping layer, a capacitor lower electrode electrically connected to the buffer conductive layer pattern and formed on the buffer conductive layer pattern. The gap is filled by a portion of the capacitor lower electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a fabrication method thereof. More particularly, this application relates to a semiconductor device having a capacitor and a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, semiconductor memory devices, in particular, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices, have capacitors for storing data in unit cells. More particularly, a unit cell of a DRAM device consists of a cell capacitor and an access transistor which is directly connected to the cell capacitor.
However, corresponding to the continuous increase of the semiconductor device's integration density, the unit cell area has been decreased dramatically. As a result of the decreased capacitor size, the capacitance of the unit cell capacitor becomes smaller. This results in a decrease of the capability for storing a data in a unit cell. Specifically, sometimes the unit cell may lose the data which was stored in the cell, and the memory device may make functional errors. Therefore, capacitance of a unit cell capacitor must be maintained in order to maintain proper device function in a high density device.
It is well known to increase surface area of a unit cell capacitor's storage node to increase capacitance of the unit cell capacitor. For example, in the case of a stacked storage node or a cylindrical storage node, the capacitance of the unit cell can be increased by increasing the height of the unit cell capacitor.
However, increasing the height of the storage node can result in several problems. For example, as the height of the storage node is increased, it may be very difficult to pattern conductive layers as storage nodes. Also, electrical bridges between adjacent storage nodes will be increased significantly due to leaning phenomena of the storage nodes.
A cylindrical capacitor storage node and a fabrication method are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,683 by Kohyama et al., entitled "Semiconductor Memory Device and Manufacturing Method Thereof Which Make it Possible to Improve Reliability of Cell-Capacitor and Also to Simplify the Manufacturing Processes."
Kohyama et al. described a semiconductor memory device having a cylinder type storage node and a manufacturing method thereof. In Kohyama, et al., an isolation region defining active regions is formed on a semiconductor substrate. Each of the active regions has a major axis and a minor axis, and the active regions are separated by a given distance. An insulating layer is formed on the semiconductor substrate. Contact plugs which are connected to the active regions are formed in the insulating layer. Cylinder type storage nodes having an elliptical shape and protruding from the contact plugs are formed on the contact plugs.
Major axes of the above elliptical cylinder storage nodes are parallel to the major axes of the active regions. However, because of the increase of the devices' density, the space between the minor axes of the capacitor storage nodes may be narrower. As a result, the possibility of a bridge being formed between the storage nodes increases. Therefore, recently, a circle type storage node instead of the elliptical type storage node has been suggested.
Unfortunately, the circle type storage node has less capacitance than the elliptical type storage node because total surface area of the circle type storage node is lower than that of the elliptical type storage node.
Therefore, now, in order to increase the surface area of the capacitor storage node and to prevent the electrical bridge, the storage nodes may be formed having a portion which is not connected to the contact plugs at their bottom surface. As a result, a buffer conductive layer is formed on the contact plug to increase the contact area between the storage nodes and the contact plugs.
FIGS. 1A through 1E are cross-sectional views illustrating a conventional method of fabricating a semiconductor device having a cylindrical storage node.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an insulating layer 105 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 100. A contact hole 110 is formed in the insulating layer to expose a portion of the semiconductor substrate by patterning the insulating layer. A conductive layer made of polysilicon is formed on the insulating layer and in the contact hole. A contact plug 115a is formed in the insulating layer, and a buffer conductive pattern 115b is formed on the insulating layer 105 and the contact plug 115a by patterning the conductive layer. The buffer conductive pattern 115b prevents a bad contact profile between the contact plug 115a and a storage node which will be formed on the contact plug 115a.
Referring to FIG. 1B, an etching stopping layer 125 made of silicon nitride is formed on the insulating layer 105 and the buffer conductive layer 115b. A first mold layer 130 and a second mold layer 135 are formed on the etching stopping layer 125. The first mold layer 130 should have a different and higher etching rate compared with the second mold layer 135. For example, if the first mold layer 130 is a BPSG (Boron Phosphorous Silicate Glass) layer, the second mold layer 135 may be a PE-TEOS (Plasma Enhanced-Tetraethylortho Silicate) layer.
A storage node contact hole 140 is formed to expose the buffer conductive layer 115b by patterning the first and second mold layers 130, 135 and the etching stopping layer 125. A portion of the bottom area of the storage node contact hole 140 is not formed on the buffer conductive layer 115b such that the buffer conductive layer 115b is at least partially exposed.
Referring to FIG. 1C, the semiconductor substrate having the storage node contact hole 140 is cleaned with a cleaning chemical solution. A natural oxide layer and any defects which are formed on the surface of the buffer conductive layer are removed by the cleaning process. Generally, the cleaning chemical solution comprises Hydrogen Fluoride (HF). Thus, the first and second mold layers 130, 135 are also etched isotropically by the cleaning chemical solution. The first mold layer 130 is etched more than the second mold layer 135 because the first mold layer 130 has a higher etching rate in the HF chemical solution than the second mold layer 135. Accordingly, an enlarged storage node contact hole 140a is formed in the first mold layer 130. The enlarged storage node contact hole 140a is relatively close to the etching stopping layer 125 formed on an adjacent buffer conductive layer 140 as illustrated in the circle W1 of FIG. 1 C. The proximity of the storage node contact hole 140a is affected by the duration of the cleaning process. Generally, the longer the cleaning process is performed, the greater amount the first mold layer 130 is etched, and, therefore, the smaller the gap between the etching stopping layer 125 formed on the adjacent buffer conductive layer 115b and a storage node layer which will be formed the conductive layer will be.
A storage node layer 145 is formed on the second mold layer 135 and the storage node contact. The storage node layer 145 generally consists of a polysilicon layer having a good deposition characteristic. A passivation layer 150 is formed on the storage node layer 145 to fill in the storage node contact. The passivation layer 150 is an oxide layer, a BPSG (Boron Phosphorus Silicate Glass) layer, or a PSG (Phosphorous Silicate Glass).
Referring to FIG. 1D, a planarizing process is performed to form storage nodes 145a which are separated from each other by polishing or etching the passivation layer 150 until the second mold layer 135 is exposed.
Referring to FIG. 1E, the first and second mold layers 130, 135 and the passivation layer 150 are removed to expose the inner and outer sidewall of the storage nodes 145a. A dielectric layer 155 is formed on the surface of the storage nodes 145a. As shown in the circle W2 of FIG. 1E, the dielectric layer 155 formed on the storage nodes can be connected to the adjacent dielectric layer formed on adjacent buffer conductive layer 115b.
It is also possible for the storage nodes 145a to be connected to the etching stopping layer 125 when the first and second mold layers 130, 135 and the passivation layer 150 are removed if the storage nodes 145a lean to the etching stopping layer 125 formed on the adjacent buffer conductive layer 115b. Hence, in this case, the capacitance of each storage node will be reduced because the total surface area of each storage node 145a is reduced. The thickness of the storage nodes 145a may be reduced to prevent the dielectric layer 155 formed on the storage nodes 145a from connecting to the adjacent dielectric layer 155 formed on the adjacent buffer conductive layer 115b. Unfortunately, in this case, the storage nodes can easily lean by a large amount. Because of these and other problems, improved storage node structures and methods of forming the same are required.

Semiconductor device having a capacitor and a fabrication method thereof


A nursing bed is provided that has a height adjustable base, in which a rotary hinge is attached in a substantially countersunk arrangement. The rotary hinge connects the base to an intermediate frame on which the actual reclining frame is installed. In this way, a bed framework is obtained, which, after subtracting the height of support feet, has a very small structural height, so that in the lowest position, the distance from top edge of the mattress from the floor corresponds to the length of a lower leg, while simultaneously there is still space underneath the base.

From practice, a rotary bed is known, in which a reclining frame is arranged on a height adjustable base. The reclining frame is connected to the base by means of a rotary hinge. The reclining frame is essentially separated into three sections: a back section, a central section, and a leg section. The leg section is divided into a proximal and a distal lower section.
With the aid of electromotive drive devices, the reclining frame can be converted from a more or less elongated reclining or bed position into a seat position. For this purpose, the reclining frame is brought 90° from the reclining position into a position perpendicular to the base with the aid of the rotary hinge. The back section of the reclining frame is raised while the distal lower section of the leg section is lowered downward. The central section and also the proximal leg lower section form a sitting surface for the patient.
The distance of the upper edge of the sitting surface to the floor (increased by the thickness of the mattress, if necessary) corresponds to human anatomical proportions. This means that the distance may not be greater than the distance from the back of the knee to the floor, because otherwise the feet of a patient sitting on the bed would not contact the floor. This would thereby make standing up more difficult.
In these known beds, the rotary hinge comprises a circular ring made from an L shaped angle profile arranged on the head of the base. Underneath the circular ring runs a bracing cross, which contacts a bearing socket aligned vertically at the interface of the braces. A rotary peg, which is connected to a frame of the rotary hinge, is seated in this bearing socket so that it can rotate. The frame of the rotary hinge comprises spars, which are arranged along the edges of a square, where the edge length corresponds to the diameter of the circular ring. In the middle of the longitudinal spars, rollers are supported, which run on the top side of the circular ring. The spars of the intermediate section of the reclining frame are rigidly connected to the square frame of the rotary hinge by means of posts. When a load is applied to the reclining frame, the rollers take up the compression forces, while the tensile forces are introduced into the base via the axial peg and the socket.
The structural height of the rotary hinge is relatively great, which requires that the base contact the floor directly without any free clearance. The base cannot be further compacted for two different reasons: the braces forming the base have certain minimum cross sections, so that they are able to receive forces without causing deformation when a load is applied to the bed. At any rate, the bed must be dimensioned for a patient weight of approximately. 180 kg. The other initial condition preventing the base from being further compacted is the applied forces on the drive device. The more the base is compacted, the shorter the lever arms on the individual crank levers, with the aid of which the base is elongated by the drive device.
Further increase of the structural height in the known rotary bed construction is produced from the fact that spacing, in which the drive devices for the leg section and the back section are to be accommodated, must be provided between the reclining frame and the frame of the rotary hinge. The required drives are located above the frame of the rotary hinge because its interior is likewise filled with a bracing cross for holding the axial peg.
These issues prevent the base from being set on feet in the known rotary bed; instead the bed must directly contact the floor with the lower spars or braces. However, such an arrangement is unfavorable ergonomically since care personnel must maintain a spacing corresponding to the size of their feet from the reclining frame. At best, the care personnel can place their feet directly on the base, which results in a considerable spacing between the lower leg of the care personnel and the edge of the reclining frame. The care personnel cannot be supported with the lower leg or knee against the edge of the bed when caring for the patient in the bed, so that ergonomically unfavorable proportions are created.

Rotary bed comprising an improved rotary hinge


The disclosure relates to a multi-functional printer. The multi-functional printer comprises an automatic document feeder member located in a scanner device and being movable between a unlifted position and a lifted-up position; a pen door located in a printer device and being movable between an open position and a closed position; and a link mechanism positioned between the automatic document feeder member and the pen door, such that when the automatic document feeder member is moved between the unlifted position and the lifted-up position, the pen door moves with the automatic document feeder member to open or close the pen door.

A wide variety of devices are available for producing hardcopy documents. Such devices include printers, copiers, and multi-functional printers (also referred to as combined printer/copiers) that are equipped with both a printer device for printing documents and a scanner device for receiving image information.
These multi-functional printers commonly include an automatic document feeder member located in the scanner device. A pen door (also referred to as printer cartridge door) is often provided in the printer device, so that users can replace printer cartridges or ink pens and clear paper jams.

HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.


Disclosed herein is a liquid zoom lens. The liquid zoom lens comprises a cylindrical body including glass lenses respectively coupled at upper and lower openings to the body, an auto-focus lens part including a first liquid insulating layer and a first electrolyte layer stacked at a lower portion of the body to form an interface therebetween, and an optical zoom lens part including a second liquid insulating layer and a second electrolyte layer stacked on the first electrolyte layer to form an interface therebetween and a lens positioned in the second liquid insulating layer and fixed to the body with an outer peripheral surface of the lens closely contacting an inner peripheral surface of the body. The liquid zoom lens enables an auto-focus function and an optical zoom function to be performed simultaneously by means of a single liquid lens having a variable curvature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid zoom lens. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid zoom lens, which includes a cylindrical body filled with electrolyte and insulating liquid therein to form a plurality of interfaces, each having a curvature changed by application of voltage, and a disk-shaped lens positioned in the electrolyte provided at an upper side to embody both optical zoom function and auto-focus function by variation in curvature of the interfaces resulting from the application of voltage to the interface of the electrolyte via electrodes formed of metal coating layers on the body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as new types of mobile terminal, such as mobile cells or personal digital assistances (PDA), integrating a camera has been increasingly released in the market, a demand for a mobile terminal integrating a camera of a high pixel and various functions has been also growing. Such a mobile terminal camera comprises a lens affixed to an image pickup device such as charge coupled device (CCD), complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and the like, and is configured to pick up an image of an object through the lens and to allow data of a picked-up image to be recorded by means of a predetermined recording medium.
In order to provide capability of a mega-pixel level to the camera according to a recent trend, the lens must be designed not only to have sufficient resolving power, but also to have a greater size than those of sensors in consideration of assembly tolerance.
For a lens system mounted to the mobile terminal and used to pick up the image of the object, it generally suffers from various kinds of aberration, such as spherical aberration, astigmatism, distortion aberration, etc. causing deformation of the shape or the morphology of the image of the object due to influence of incident light having various wavelengths, which is incident on the lens upon image pickup of the object. Thus, it is necessary to have implementation which can suppress occurrence of the aberration as much as possible.
Such a lens system can implement zoom in order to have a variable focal length. A zoom function of the lens system can be generally achieved by adjusting a distance between lenses via the relative movement between a front lens having a positive refractive index and a rear lens having a negative refractive index. For a general camera, a wide angle lens or a telephoto lens capable of changing a focal distance between an existing lens and an added lens is additionally affixed to the camera to maximize the zoom function, thereby allowing a user to take a picture at various viewing angles at one place without moving.
The zoom is generally divided into an optical zoom and a digital zoom. The optical zoom refers to a state where the image of the object is magnified by a variable focal distance by relatively moving an optical lens affixed to the camera. The digital zoom refers to a state where the image of the object is magnified in the CCD and displayed thereon, as an image is magnified in a graphic program such as Photo-Shop and the like.
For the digital zoom, the image of the object is magnified in the CCD, so that a space for movement of the lenses according to variation in focal distance is not necessary. As such, the digital zoom is advantageous in terms of miniaturization and compactness, but has a problem in that clear resolution cannot be achieved upon image pickup by the zoom operation.
On the contrary, for the optical zoom, the zoom operation is realized by virtue of the variation in focal distance between the lenses, thereby requiring the space for movement of the lenses according to the variation in focal distance. Hence, the optical zoom is disadvantageous in that it requires a large space for a lens part and a lens barrel surrounding the lens part. However, it can be preferred to the digital zoom by consumers due to its merits in clear resolution upon the zoom operation, irrespective of its disadvantage of increasing the volume of the mobile terminal.
Nevertheless, a recent tendency of miniaturization and compactness in the market requires a decrease in space for changing the focal distance, and thus, manufacturers have mainly released mobile terminals which incorporate the digital zoom function therein rather than the optical zoom function. In recent years, the optical zoom type mobile terminals have also been released, which can embody the optical zoom function through a rear side of the mobile terminal.
Korean Patent Application No. 2003-0003984 discloses one of conventional mobile terminals which can embody the optical zoom function. The mobile terminal of the disclosure has an improved lens barrel structure for an optical zoom applicable to the digital camera and the like, and comprises a zoom camera, which has a small size and high resolution and can be easily manufactured, and which comprises a zoom lens assembly with the lens barrel structure.
The zoom lens assembly comprises a front lens, a rear lens having a negative refractive index, an inner barrel which has a helicoid groove formed along a surface of the inner barrel to guide a helical movement of the front and rear lenses, and an outer barrel capable of being inserted along the surface of the inner barrel and having an escape groove formed on an inner surface of the outer barrel to guide a vertical movement of the front and the rear lenses.
With the zoom camera constructed as above, the inner and outer barrels are positioned at one side of the mobile terminal in a telescopic manner such that a focal distance of the zoom camera can vary in relation to the movement between the lenses as the inner and outer barrels are sequentially spread out by driving of a motor inside the terminal, thereby realizing the optical zoom function. Consequently, the zoom camera of the disclosure has a disadvantage in that it requires a large space for the zoom operation within the camera.
In addition, since the motor of the camera is inevitably operated in such a way so as to push the inner and outer barrels having the plural lenses received therein to an outside of the zoom camera, loss of power during driving of the motor causes an increase in power consumption of a battery.
In order to solve the problems as mentioned above, a liquid lens has been developed, which occupies a small space within the mobile terminal and does not suffer from power consumption. The liquid lens comprises a electrolyte and an insulating liquid in a single lens barrel to form an interface therebetween, of which curvature is changed by application of voltage to the electrolyte through the lens barrel, in order to embody the zoom function.
One of the liquid lenses capable of embodying the zoom function is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-0033308, entitled "Zoom camera using the liquid lens for mobile phone, control system and method thereof," which will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional liquid lens. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional liquid lens includes a first group of lenses 310 composed of a first lens 311 with a positive refractive index and a second lens 312 with a negative refractive index, a first liquid lens 300 having an interface formed between a conductive liquid and a non-conductive liquid and varied in curvature in response to a control signal for a zoom function, a second group of lenses 330 composed of a third lens 331 having both aspherical sides with a positive refractive index and a fourth lens 332 having both aspherical sides with a negative refractive index, and an infrared filter 340 spaced a predetermined distance from the second group of lenses 330.
As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional liquid lens of the disclosure is operated on the basis of an electrowetting phenomenon, wherein the electrowetting phenomenon is caused by variation of the contact angle α resulting from change in surface tension of an interface by movement of charges residing on the interface. In particular, a thin insulating member is positioned on the interface to allow the interface to have a high potential difference, and the charges in the electrolyte have characteristics of moving towards an upper surface of the interface due to chemical properties.
At this point, when an electric field is applied to the interface from the outside, the characteristics of the charges are further intensified, and the concentration of the charges is significantly increased at a triple contact line where the interfaces overlap each other, increasing repulsive force between the charges, so that the surface tension is lowered at a corner of a liquid droplet.
Since the electrowetting phenomenon can be used to easily control a minute amount of liquid and fine particles in the liquid, various investigations have been undertaken in recent years for application of the electrowetting phenomenon to a variety of products, for example, liquid lenses, micro pumps, display devices, optical devices, micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), etc.
In particular, a liquid lens for auto-focus can have improved characteristics in view of small size, low power consumption and rapid response rate, compared with a conventional mechanical driving type lens.
The liquid lens constructed as above can embody the zoom function by virtue of the variation in curvature of the interface between the conductive liquid and the non-conductive liquid of the individual liquid lens within the single lens barrel in which the plural groups of lenses and the liquid lens are received, thereby solving the problem of spatial restriction by the conventional optical zoom lens which employs the telescopic lens barrel. However, irrespective of these merits, the conventional liquid lens has a problem in that the single liquid lens performs only the zoom function by the variation in curvature between the liquids contained in the barrel.
Furthermore, the conventional liquid lens has a problem of making the structure of the camera complicated. In particular, in order to allow the camera comprising the liquid lens to embody other functions, for example, an auto-focus (A/F) adjustment function, as well as the zoom function, an additional liquid lens to act as a front lens must be affixed to the camera, making the structure of the camera more complicated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A cam lock apparatus includes a carrier having a bezel with a locking cam handle. The locking cam handle is pivotally attached to the bezel by a pivot pin. A resilient member is compressed between the pivot pin and the locking cam handle, whereby the first end of the locking cam handle is biased to move relative to the bezel and the carrier.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a media carrier used in such systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Hard drive performance can be affected by rotational vibration of system components. To help manage degradation of hard drive performance, hot plug carrier precedent is to reliably mate installed hard drive carriers to a chassis hard stop feature using a compressive load. The accomplish this, a combination of pivoting handles and cams have been provided using compliant materials, e.g. plastics. These materials then must absorb mating chassis and carrier tolerance stack variations by intentionally interfering, sometimes referred to as over-mating. Factors contributing to tolerance stack variations include a combination of handle, bezel, carrier and chassis backplane tolerances.
The intentional interference tends to create excessive stress and strain on components under load. With continued use, the compliant materials under load, used in elements of the carrier, tend to creep away from compressive forces and approach a zero loading prematurely, during the life of the product.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved hard drive carrier absent the disadvantages discussed above.

Controlled compression of hard drive carrier CAM


Devices, compositions, and methods for handling, separating, packaging, and utilization of spermatozoa (1) that can be derived from previously frozen sperm samples collected from a male mammal. Specifically, techniques to uniformity stain (2) spermatozoal DNA even when derived from previously frozen sperm and separation techniques to separate and isolate spermatozoa even when derived from previously frozen sperm samples into X-chromosome bearing and Y-chromosome bearing populations having high purity.

Sperm can be collected from a great variety of mammals and then separated into X-chromosome bearing and Y-chromosome bearing populations based upon the difference in DNA content. In some conventional methods of spermatozoa separation, the DNA content of the spermatozoa to be separated can be stained with a fluorochrome(s) that upon excitation emit(s) a measurable amount of fluorescence. Because X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa contain a greater amount of DNA than Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa, each X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa has the capacity to bind a relatively greater amount of fluorochrome than the corresponding Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa. Comparison of the relative magnitude of emitted fluorescence upon excitation of the fluorochrome(s) allows the isolation of X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa from Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa as described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,759, hereby incorporated by reference.
Even though X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa and Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa have been differentiated by and separated based upon the difference in emitted fluorescence for many years, and even though there is large commercial market for isolated populations of X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa and Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa, there remain significant problems yet to be resolved.
A significant problem with conventional methods of separating X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa from Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa can be that each resulting population contains a significant number of incorrectly separated spermatozoa that belong in the other population. This problem in differentiating between spermatozoa can, in part, be attributed to the lack of uniformity in the amount of fluorochrome bound to the spermatozoal DNA. As such, a range in the amount of fluorochrome bound by X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa is generated and a range in the amount of fluorochrome bound by Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa is generated. When these ranges in the amount of fluorochrome overlap or yield some values that are similar, it can be difficult or impossible to classify those individual spermatozoa to one population or the other with any degree of certainty and cross contamination of the populations can occur.
This particular problem can be exacerbated with regard to spermatozoa obtained from frozen and subsequently thawed mammalian semen. The mean purity for separated Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa population derived from previously frozen-thawed semen can be 85% or less, and the mean purity for separated X-chromosome bearing spermatozoa population derived from previously frozen-thawed semen can be 82% or less.
Another significant problem associated with staining of spermatozoal DNA can be the detrimental effects on fertilization rates and subsequent embryonic development of fertilized oocyte(s) (oocyte, ootid, or ovum, or a plurality of same, as may be appropriate within a specific application). One aspect of this problem may be that the amount of stain bound to the DNA may effect the viability of the spermatozoa resulting in lower fertilization rates. Another aspect of this problem can be that the amount of time that elapses during the staining of the DNA may effect the viability of the sperm resulting in lower fertilization rates. Another aspect of this problem may be that the amount of time that elapses during staining of the DNA may lower subsequent cleavage rates of oocytes fertilized with such stained spermatozoa. A 20% decline in cleavage rates have been observed for oocytes when staining time requires 190 minutes as compared to when staining time requires 60 minutes. Another aspect of this problem may be that the percent of oocytes fertilized with stained spermatozoa that proceed to blastulation may be lower as described in the journal article entitled "In vitro Fertilization with Flow-Cytometrically-Sorted Bovine Sperm", Theriogenology 52: 1393-1405 (1999), hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Another significant problem may be that cryopreserved sperm may demonstrate increased capacitation, and the length of time such spermatozoa are viable may be shortened. As such, if previously frozen spermatozoa are to be separated into X-chromosome bearing and Y-chromosome bearing populations that are to be subsequently used in applications such as in-vitro fertilization, in-vivo artificial insemination, or the like, then routine staining procedures may have to be abbreviated to maintain suitable number of viable sperm cells.
As relating to the problems of staining spermatozoa uniformly, even when spermatozoa are obtained from previously frozen-thawed semen; maintaining sperm viability; separating stained spermatozoa into X-chromosome bearing and Y-chromosome bearing populations, even when the spermatozoa being separated are obtained from previously frozen semen; generating populations of X-chromosome bearing and Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa having high purity; and successfully using separated spermatozoa for artificial insemination, surgical insemination, and in-vitro fertilization techniques it can be understood there are significant problems with conventional technology which are addressed by the instant invention.

System to separate frozen-thawed spermatozoa into x-chromosome bearing and y-chromosome bearing populations


A generator mechanism for generating an administration framework for server systems. In one embodiment, the administration framework may be generated from meta-information that describes elements of configuration data and relationships among the elements. The mechanism may provide automatic generation of the administration framework. In one embodiment, the administration framework may be a stack on an administration server that includes several layers each including one or more generated components. In one embodiment, the generation mechanism may generate management beans of a management layer, representing business logic of the server; configuration beans of a data representation layer; and a presentation layer for accessing and administering generated components. The data representation layer may provide transparency to the persistent store for the other layers. A production generation of the administration framework may be performed and instances of generated components may be deployed on other servers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer networks, and more particularly to a dynamic administration framework for distributed server systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
An application server is a server program in a computer in a distributed network that provides the business logic for an application program. The application server is frequently viewed as part of a three-tier application, consisting of a graphical user interface (GUI) server, an application (business logic) server, and a database server. More descriptively, it can be viewed as dividing an application into:                A first-tier, front-end, Web browser-based graphical user interface, usually at a personal computer or workstation;        A middle-tier business logic application or set of applications, possibly on a local area network or intranet server;        A third-tier, back-end, database and transaction server, sometimes on a mainframe or large server.
Older, legacy application databases and transaction management applications are part of the back end or third tier. The application server is the middleman between browser-based front-ends and back-end databases and legacy systems.
A Web server is a program that, using the client/server model and the World Wide Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), serves the files that form Web pages to Web users (whose computers contain HTTP clients that forward their requests). Every computer on the Internet that contains a Web site must have a Web server program.
In servers based on the J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) distributed computing model, the business presentation is typically represented using servlets and/or Java Server Pages (JSPs), and the business logic typically runs in the form of distributed components such as Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs).
J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) is a Java platform designed for the mainframe-scale computing typical of large enterprises. Sun Microsystems (together with industry partners such as IBM) designed J2EE to simplify application development in a thin client tiered environment. J2EE simplifies application development and decreases the need for programming and programmer training by creating standardized, reusable modular components and by enabling the tier to handle many aspects of programming automatically. J2EE includes a number of components, including:                The Java Development Kit (JDK) is included as the core language package.        Full support for Enterprise JavaBeans. EJB is a server-based technology for the delivery of program components in an enterprise environment. It supports the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and has enhanced deployment and security features.        The Java servlet API (application programming interface) enhances consistency for developers without requiring a graphical user interface (GUI).        Java Server Pages (JSP) is used for dynamic Web-enabled data access and manipulation.
The J2EE Application Programming Model is the standard programming model used to facilitate the development of multi-tier, thin client applications. The J2EE Platform includes policies and APIs such as the Java servlets and Java Message Service (JMS).
The Sun™ One Application Server provides a robust J2EE e-commerce platform for the development, deployment, and management of application services to a broad range of servers, clients, and devices. The Sun™ One Application Server maximizes application re-use and developer collaboration and demonstrates the potential of leveraging Java for large-scale web and wireless applications.
The Sun™ One Web Server is a software product for developers engaged in building dynamic Web applications for e-commerce sites. Multiplatform support makes it possible for developers to work in the operating system environment of their choice. The product works with Java™ Servlet and JavaServer Pages™ technologies to generate personalized content and speed development. Its centralized server management, content management, and rapid application development features combine to deliver a powerful means for enterprises to move their businesses to the Internet.
Java™ Management Extensions (JMX) is an open technology for management and monitoring for deployment across industries wherever management and/or monitoring may be needed or desired. JMX may be used, for example, for adapting legacy systems, implementing new management and monitoring solutions and plugging into future solutions. JMX may provide tools for building distributed, Web-based, modular and dynamic solutions for managing and monitoring devices, applications and service-driven networks.
A bean may be defined as a component, a reusable program building block that may be combined with other components in the same or other computers in a distributed network to form an application. Examples of components include, but are not limited to, buttons in a graphical user interface and interfaces to a database manager. Components may be deployed on different servers in a network and may communicate with each other for needed services. A component may run within a context called a container. Examples of containers include, but are not limited to, pages on a Web site, Web browsers, and word processors.
A managed bean, or MBean, is a Java object that represents a JMX manageable resource. MBeans may follow the JavaBeans™ components model, thus providing a direct mapping between JavaBeans components and manageability. Because MBeans provide instrumentation of managed resources in a standardized way, they can be plugged into any JMX agent.
The open source schema2beans library (schema2beans jar file) allows the generation of a set of java bean classes from a DTD or XML Schema file. This set of beans may be used to represent an XML file as a graph of java beans. Elements of the graph may be added, changed and/or removed, graphs may be merged and compared, and events may be generated and obtained on any change in the graph. The graph may be written back as a DTD or XML Schema file. The package of this library is includes a schema2beans runtime and schema2beans generator, both part of the same schema2beans jar file.
XPath is a language that describes a way to locate and process items in documents (e.g. Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents) by using an addressing syntax based on a path through the document's logical structure or hierarchy. This makes writing programming expressions easier than if each expression had to understand typical XML markup and its sequence in a document. XPath also allows the programmer to deal with the document at a higher level of abstraction. XPath is a language that is used by and specified as part of both the Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) and by XPointer (SML Pointer Language). It uses the information abstraction defined in the XML Information Set (Infoset). Since XPath does not use XML syntax itself, it may be used in contexts other than those of XML.

Generation of Administration framework for server systems


A method of cleaning is disclosed. The method includes providing a cleaning tool having a handle having a top and bottom and an opening allowing access into the bottom from the top and a cleaning pad support pivotally attached to the handle portion. The method further includes the steps of placing a cleaning pad onto the cleaning pad support, inserting a fluid dispenser into the fluid dispenser cradle, positioning the cleaning pad onto a surface to be cleaned and moving the cleaning pad on the surface to be cleaned. Liquid may be selectively applied to either the surface to be cleaned or the cleaning implement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cleaning devices such as hand held dusters and dust mops. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of cleaning using a system having a handle defining a cradle for receiving a fluid reservoir attached to a support arm for mounting a cleaning implement, the entire system capable of either wet, damp or dry cleaning or dusting.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
For decades, hand held feather dusters, dust rags and other cleaning implements have been used as cleaning tools for the removal of dust adhering to furniture such as dressers and coffee tables, electrical appliances such as computers, lights, interior walls, lintels and the like. Thus, it is generally well known to remove dust or dirt from floors, furniture, and other household surfaces by rubbing a dust rag, cloth or other cleaning implement against the surface such that the dust or dirt adheres to the cleaning implement.
Throughout the last half-century, new cleaning implements have been developed to assist the individual in dusting and similar cleaning chores. While hand held dusters and other cleaning implements are generally well known in the art, numerous drawbacks exist with the current commercially available designs. For example, US Application Pub. No. US 2004/0034956 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,801, U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,784 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,092, hereby expressly incorporated by reference, disclose variations of hand held cleaning devices incorporating a disposable cleaning pad. These devices, while somewhat suitable for the desired application, exhibit notable limitations. For example, none of the above-cited references provide a convenient storage configuration. Rather, in order to store most prior art hand held cleaning implements, the handle must be physically disassembled from its cleaning pad support member. Additionally, the attachment portions of these known devices often comprise a press fitted member that may weaken over time resulting in the support member disengaging from the handle portion during cleaning.
In addition, a suitable retention means has not been developed to adequately maintain the cleaning pad on the support member, during dusting or other cleaning. For example, the handy mop disclosed in US Application Pub. No. US 2004/0034956 A1, discloses arcuate protrusions along the lateral sides of the parallel attachment plates. The arched surfaces and spacing of these protrusions does not always adequately maintain the dust pad on the plates during cleaning. As one performs the normal dusting or cleaning motion, the pad often slides off the plates.
In general, the majority of improvements to hand held dusters and mops have been directed at improving the basic mechanical components of the cleaning device. These improvements have been directed at providing an inexpensive yet robust implement for dry dusting or cleaning. However, notably absent in the prior art is any attempt to provide a hand held cleaning implement that allows for selective wet, damp or dry dusting.
The addition of water or other cleaning solution to most cleaning pads or systems has been known to increase the efficiency of the cleaning device in absorbing dust and other debris. Despite this knowledge, there are presently no hand held cleaning systems that include an attached water or cleaning fluid reservoir accessible on the cleaning implement to allow a user to single handedly alternate between wet, damp or dry dusting. To date, prior art dusting and cleaning devices require a user to obtain a separate spray bottle or other liquid application means if one desires wet dusting or cleaning. In light of the need for a wet or damp dusting or cleaning system and methods, there is an additional need for improvements in the cleaning solution associated with such systems and methods.
Further, there is a need to improve the cloths associated with such systems and how they are used. Many of the known disposable dusting or cleaning cloths include fabrics that do not adequately absorb water and dust. While some improvements to dusting cloths are disclosed in the art, there remains a need for an improved cleaning fiber and orientation that maximizes the wet and dry absorbency of the dusting pad, while at the same time fully facilitating the advantages of the liquid in the cleaning system.

Method of cleaning using a device with a liquid reservoir and replaceable non-woven pad


A radio system demodulates a continuous phase modulation waveform with a pulse count demodulator. The use of a pulse count demodulator reduces the receiver complexity and reduces power consumption, which makes such a system well suited for hand held or mobile units. The pulse count demodulator delays the CPM signal by a time increment t0, and subtracts the delayed signal from the original signal creating a difference signal. The difference signal is rectified and low pass filtered resulting in an average signal representing the phase change. In non-square wave CPM signals, the signal is first clipped removing the amplitude information.

Rapidly growing markets for wireless voice, data, and multimedia services, as well as expanding applications, will place severe demands upon radio frequency spectrum in the next few years. In order to meet the projected demand, physical layer communications equipment will require higher bandwidth efficiency than is achievable today. In addition, it is expected that the cost and power consumption of mobile equipment will remain at least where they are today, these features being particularly important in hand held radios, where size and power supplies are limited.
Quadrature amplitude modulation("QAM") may be used to address the need for high spectral efficiency but the envelope of the transmitted signal is not constant and its use with non linear (low cost) power amplifiers opens up problems of spectral regrowth, adjacent channel interference, and intersymbol interference. When used with non-linear power amplifiers QAM is sometimes used with the predistortion-based amplifier linearization (at the transmitter) and equalization (at the receiver) however both increase cost and power consumption. A known approach is to avoid the nonlinearity by using a continuous phase modulation waveform ("CPM") which allows the transmission of many bits per symbol while maintaining a constant envelope suitable for linear and non-linear amplification. Constant envelope waveforms such a CPM are ideally suited for high efficiency, low power amplifiers because of the negligible peak to average ratio that allows non-linear amplifiers to be used for this application.
In many lower power communication systems compromises are made reducing the size of the power amplifier and minimizing waveform complexity. It is desired that many existing waveforms be extended across all of the various radio platforms from high power high frequency transmitters to low power handheld radios. Traditionally, the size of the handheld radio has limited its ultimate power output and receiver complexity.
CPM waveforms are typically demodulated in super heterodyne receivers. Super heterodyne receivers require the signal to be within a certain dynamic range, to this end they employ automatic gain controllers ("AGC") which consumes physical space and power within the receiver. Such receivers also must utilize fast analog to digital converters ("ADC") which can limit the symbol rate of the received signal and also consume limited physical space and power.
Embodiments of the present invention, as an alternative to prior art systems, use a pulse count demodulator ("PCD") for CPM waveform demodulation and information extraction. While pulse count demodulation has been used for FM voice and non-coherent binary frequency shift keyed systems they have not previously been applied to CPM waveforms. The embodiments of the present invention apply in a coherent system where the incoming frequency samples are reinterpreted and integrated to provide a large performance gain associated with CPM waveforms.
Thus the pulse count demodulator according to embodiments of the present invention is ideal for the handheld environment, many single chip solutions are available and pulse count demodulators do not require automatic gain control circuits to provide dynamic range or fast ADCs anywhere in the receive path. This results in a decrease in size, cost and power requirements of the RF portion of the receiver while maintaining the advantages attributed to CPM waveforms. Hand held radio receivers for square wave CPM waveforms in the UHF frequency band as specified in MIL-STD-188-181B, incorporated by reference herein, and used predominately in military systems are especially suitable for employing a pulse count demodulator as described in the embodiments herein. An article entitled "Low Power Method for demodulation of continuous Phase Modulated waveforms." MILCOM2002, Oct. 7, 2002, by the inventor presents simulated results of a PCD with CPM wave forms. The contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
For these and other reasons it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel improvement to a mobile radio receiver for receiving a continuous phase modulation CPM waveform containing information symbols. For a mobile radio receiver comprising a super heterodyne demodulator, an automatic gain controller and a high rate analog to digital converter, one embodiment of the present invention replaces the super heterodyne demodulator, AGC and ADC with a pulse count demodulator for demodulating the CPM waveform to extract the information symbols.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a novel hand held radio system with a limited power supply for receiving information from a continuous phase modulation waveform signal. One embodiment of the present invention comprises a hand held radio system including a delay circuit delaying the CPM signal by a time increment t0 and a subtractor creating a difference from the CPM signal and the delayed CPM signal. The radio system also includes a half-wave rectifier for rectifying the difference and a low pass filter integrating the rectified difference to obtain an average signal. Where the amplitude of the average signal represents a phase change from which received information can be extracted.
It is still an object of the present invention to provide a novel low power method of demodulating a constant envelope waveform signal. Embodiments of the method include the steps of providing a constant envelope waveform signal containing information symbols, clipping the constant envelope waveform to create a square wave signal, and delaying the square wave signal in a delay circuit to obtain a time-delayed square wave signal. The time-delayed square wave signal is subtracted from the square wave signal to create a difference signal. The embodiments also include rectifying the difference signal to create a half wave rectified signal, integrating the rectified signal to create an average signal, and extracting the information symbols from the constant envelope waveform based on the amplitude of the average signal.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved method of demodulating a constant envelope waveform encoded with information symbols. An embodiment of the present invention includes the step of demodulating the constant envelope waveform with a pulse count demodulator to extract the information symbols.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal or the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments

System and method of low power demodulation of continuous phase modulated waveforms


In the case of a vehicle seat (1) with a first seat rail (5), a second seat rail (8) which can be moved and locked relative to the first seat rail (5), by way of which the longitudinal seat position of the vehicle seat (1) can be adjusted, an adjustable fitting connected to the second seat rail (8), a seat back coupled by way of the fitting, and a seat cushion carrier (28) coupled to the second seat rail (8) by way of a pivotable support member (30), whereby the vehicle seat (1) can be can be converted from a use position by releasing the fitting and pivoting the seat back relative to the seat cushion carrier (28) to a floor position, a device (33) is provided which queries the relative position between pivotable support member (30) and second seat rail (8) and in dependency on that releases the seat rails (5, 8).

The present invention relates to a vehicle seat, in particular a motor vehicle seat, with at least one first seat rail, at least one second seat rail which can be moved and locked relative to the first seat rail for the purpose of adjusting and securing the longitudinal seat position of the vehicle seat, at least one adjustable fitting connected to the second seat rail, one seat back coupled by means of the fitting, and one seat cushion carrier coupled to the second seat rail by means of at least one pivotable support member, whereby the vehicle seat can be can be converted from a use position by releasing the fitting and pivoting the seat back relative to the seat cushion carrier to a floor position.
With known vehicle seats of the type described immediately above, there can be a problem in the case of a short distance between the rows of seats. The problem is that when pivoting the seat back forward, its head rest comes into contact with the seat row arranged in front, and thereby the seat back is prevented from reaching the floor position, or there are damages. The seat back must then be pivoted back again in order to remove the head rest.


An apparatus for displaying a scene with light in a range of infrared wavelengths, includes: an array of elements configured to emit light in a range of infrared wavelengths, each element having one or more nanotubes; a stimulator configured to apply a stimulus to each element in the array in order for each element to emit light in the range of infrared wavelengths; and a processor configured to send a signal to the stimulator in order to apply the stimulus to one or more selected elements in the array to display the scene.

The present disclosure relates generally to displays and, more particularly, to displays generating scenes with electromagnetic radiation in a range of infrared wavelengths.
Infrared imagining sensors image form an image of received light in a range of infrared wavelengths. Calibration and testing of an infrared imaging sensor requires simulated infrared imagery or scenes in real time. Typically, the infrared imagery or scenes are dynamic and depict movement, thus, requiring rapid imaging of many consecutive still scenes that will depict the movement. In general, increasing the rate of image acquisition by the imaging sensor will increase the accuracy of imaging the movement. Accordingly, an infrared scene simulator or display may be required to display scenes or images in a range of infrared wavelengths at a refresh rate that is compatible with the image acquisition rate of the infrared imaging sensor.
Generating infrared scenes depicting movement using conventional techniques has proven to be a challenge. A typical manner of providing such scenes involves heating and cooling resistive elements in an array to provide infrared irradiance. Unfortunately, the thermal inertia of these elements limits the rate at which the scene can be refreshed and often results in artifacts in the scene. In addition, the resistive elements do not produce true infrared spectrums. The limited refresh rate and spectrum in addition to artifact introduction can consequently interfere with the calibration and testing. Hence, improvements in displays for displaying infrared dynamic scenes would be well appreciated in the infrared imaging sensor industry.


A turbine rotor blade formed from a main support spar and having a thin thermal skin bonded or formed to the support spar to form the outer airfoil surface of the blade. The main support spar is formed from a plurality of ribs arranged to form a cooling air supply cavity near the leading edge region, a plurality of impingement chambers and a plurality of spent air collector chambers arranged along the pressure side and suction side of the airfoil to form a series of impingement chambers and collector chambers to provide near wall cooling for the thermal skin. A row of exit cooling holes located along the trailing edge discharges the cooling air from the last collector chamber. In another embodiment, some of the collector chambers are connected to rows of film cooling air to discharge film cooling onto the outer airfoil surface. The thermal skin includes micro pin fins on the inner wall to enhance the cooling effect of the impinging cooling air. The entire blade comprises a spar support structure, a thin thermal skin, external coating formed using a metal molecular depositing process to build up the blade as a single piece but with multiple material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gas turbine engine, and more specifically to a light weight and highly cooled turbine rotor blade.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A gas turbine engine includes a turbine section in which a very high temperature gas flow passes through multiple rows or stages of rotor blades to drive the rotor shaft and other parts of the engine or, in the case of an industrial gas turbine engine, an electric generator to produce electrical power. Engine designers are constantly seeking ways to improve the engine performance, such as increasing the turbine inlet temperature (TIT) or providing more advanced airfoil cooling and preferably with less cooling air flow. Improved materials can also be used to allow for greater temperature exposure of the engine parts exposed to higher temperatures such as the airfoils in the stator vanes and rotor blades.
Current prior art rotor blades and stator vanes are formed as a single piece with the internal cooling passages formed into the airfoil. The investment, casting process is used to produce, for example, a turbine rotor blade from a nickel based superalloy in which the internal serpentine flow cooling circuit is formed by a core that is leached out during the manufacturing process. Film cooling holes are then drilled into the airfoil surface to provide for the discharge of film cooling air to provide additional cooling protection to the airfoil. This type of blade can be very heavy and expensive to produce. The investment casting process for a turbine airfoil results in a large number of defective castings because of the very fine and small internal cooling passages required in the airfoil. These passages are formed by the ceramic cores, and these small and fine ceramic cores often break during handling or the casting process. When a blade is cast, the molten metal forms the passages around the ceramic core. If a piece in the core that represents a cooling passage is broken, then the passage that forms around the metal will be incomplete or not even connected.

Light weight and highly cooled turbine blade