A vacuum thermal annealing device is provided having temperature control for use with various materials, such as semiconductor substrates. A vacuum is used to remove air and outgas residual materials. Heated gas is injected planar to a substrate as pressure is quickly raised.

Semiconductor device manufacturing has evolved into a delicate and sophisticated process requiring state of the art processing equipment, sophisticated clean room facilities and precise and accurate metrology equipment. Semiconductor devices are typically manufactured by successively depositing and patterning layer after layer of ultra-pure materials on a substrate. These layered materials are often as pure as one part per million and are often deposited with thicknesses as precise as a few Angstroms. The deposition process is usually performed according to by some well understood process such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), ion beam deposition (IBD), plating, etc. Semiconductor devices are built up by depositing these thin films onto substrates made of an elemental semiconductor (e.g., silicon or germanium) or compound (e.g., gallium-arsenide or indium-phosphide) semiconductor, patterning the films using photolithography and etching processes, and then repeating the same processes using different materials and patterns. In addition to thin film deposition and photolithography processes, there are other processing steps such as annealing, burning-in, and electrical testing, which are required to make semiconductor devices. Modern processing techniques in most of these areas have been developed to manufacture semiconductor devices with dimensions so small that an instrument, such as an atomic force microscope, is required to observe the different details of millions of devices on the substrate. The degree of difficulty in manufacturing semiconductor devices has significantly increased over the years because of both this miniaturization and increased complexity of semiconductor devices.
For example, in modern manufacturing environments, allowable levels of contaminating particulates in process equipment and clean rooms are often less than one particle per cubic foot, compared to several hundred particles per cubic foot few years ago. Process gas purity of five-nines (i.e., 99.999%) or better is now required to run most processes, as compared with three-nines (i.e., 99.9%) purity in the past. Further, thin film thicknesses are often controlled to within a few Angstroms across the entire substrate, as opposed to a few nanometers. Additionally, processing windows have become extremely narrow, requiring Cpk values (statistical process capability indices) of four sigma or better. In order to achieve these stringent manufacturing requirements, semiconductor-processing equipment has become more sophisticated. One process area, which has been forced to adapt to these new high levels of performance, is the annealing process. Requirements on temperature control and uniformity across the substrate, reduction in particulates on the substrate, reduction in gas contamination, and improved cleanliness has imposed more stringent requirements for furnace performance and design.
Annealing processes have a direct affect on the texture of a copper or other metal-film layer such as grain of the layer are controlled by the annealing process, and are critical to the electrical performance of the metal-film layer. This is especially so in microcircuits with very small line-widths that include deep and narrow trenches.
In addition, advancements in the development of copper interconnects has brought about the inclusion of other metals such as bismuth and magnesium as composites within the copper thin film. This requires additional thermal annealing treatments or alloying for homogenizing the composites, electrically activating the composites, and to provide contacts to other layers within the microcircuit.
Annealing processes are typically performed by furnaces such as a Rapid Thermal Processor (RTP) 100 displayed in FIG. 1. Typically, the RTP 100 includes a process chamber 110, a substrate stage 120, a heating lamp assembly 130, a process chamber door 140, and a motor shaft assembly 150. The RTP 100 radiantly heats wafers or other substrates in a vacuum environment. Once a substrate is loaded into the RTP 100 process chamber 110, the process chamber 110 is evacuated with a vacuum pump (not shown) and the heating lamp assembly 130 is powered on. Disadvantageously, substrates heat up very quickly and temperature is difficult to control, especially at lower temperatures. Furthermore, temperature uniformity across a substrate is difficult to control because different lamps radiate with different intensities. In fact, non-uniform heating becomes a larger problem as lamps degrade and intensity differences between lamps increase. If a lamp burns out, the heating uniformity across the substrate becomes unacceptable for proper processing to occur.
In addition to non-uniform heating problems, conventional furnaces have proven to be inadequate for annealing newer materials used in semiconductor devices such as copper, titanium, and tantalum. Although new techniques for this film deposition have been developed which make, for example, copper thin film deposition feasible, there has been little advancement in other processes, such as the annealing process. As a result, the transition from aluminum conductors to copper conductors has been very slow.
Since copper is more difficult to process than aluminum, there are many problems that must be overcome before copper conductors completely replace aluminum conductors. Some of the problems associated with using copper include difficulty in producing fine copper patterns found in integrated circuits, difficulty in polishing and planarizing a copper coated substrate, copper migration, and copper contamination. Annealing conditions directly contribute to all of these problems because copper is extremely sensitive to high temperatures, and as a result, needs to be annealed at a relatively low temperature (100° C. to 400° C.). These low temperature annealing conditions make the RTP 100 as well as other semiconductor furnaces unsuitable for processing advanced materials.
Although the RTP 100 or diffusion furnaces have conventionally been used to anneal copper, these furnaces are incapable of properly annealing the copper at a controlled low temperature. One disadvantage of conventional diffusion furnaces is that temperatures ramp up and down slowly, thus requiring an extended period of time for the annealing process. Another disadvantage of conventional diffusion furnaces is non-uniform heating of substrates from a substrate center to an outer edge (this non-uniform heating is referred to as "RTD" or Radial Thermal Delta). This non-uniform heating causes the copper on the outer edge of the substrate to anneal more quickly than the center (assuming a higher temperature on the edges relative to the center), creating poor uniformity across the substrate.
Although the RTP 100 heats rapidly, unlike the diffusion furnace, the RTP 100 also has disadvantages. The RTP 100 heats substrates rapidly to elevated temperatures by activating heat lamps, which have a tendency to heat very rapidly. These heat lamps are ineffective at low temperatures. Further, the RTP 100 lacks the capability of temperature control, which is required for proper copper annealing.
Hotplates may also be used for quick annealing associated with the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process used in copper electroplating. This type of annealing system fits into the mechanical schemes of the electroplating systems. A substrate is set on the hotplate where it is annealed. Certain hotplate systems isolate the substrate from the plate with a blanket of inert gas. Hotplates, however, can produce "hot spots" on the substrate, which can produce a non-uniform anneal that can cause hillock peaks that make the planarization process less effective.
Accordingly, there is a need for a vacuum thermal annealer. There is a more specific need for a thermal annealer with proper temperature control for use with high conductivity materials such as copper.

Abstract: Concurrent with the heated gas flow, a chamber wall heater is turned on and maintains a temperature for a proper annealing time. Upon completion of the annealing process, the chamber wall heater shuts down and air is forced around the chamber wall heater. Additionally, cool gas replaces the heated gas to cool the substrate.


The method for a communication device, wherein the communication device functions under a 1st language mode and a 2nd language mode, when the 1st language mode is selected by the user, the commands by which the communication device is operated are displayed by utilizing the 1st language data, and when the 2nd language mode is selected by the user, the commands by which the communication device is operated are displayed by utilizing the 2nd language data.

The invention relates to communication device and more particularly to the communication device which is capable to communicate with another communication device in a wireless fashion.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20040054745 is introduced as prior art of the present invention of which the summary is the following: 'A communication system and method for supporting multiple languages for a mobile communication terminal. The system and method include a mobile communication network, a multiple language contents provider server (MLCPS) connected to the mobile communication network and having multiple language contents, and a mobile communication terminal wirelessly connected to the mobile communication network. The mobile communication terminal connects to the MLCPS through the mobile communication network, and transmits language package request data including at least one string set version and one font set version to the MLCPS according to request of a user. The mobile communication terminal also receives language package information provided by the MLCPS, divides the received language package information into a string set and a font set corresponding to languages and manages the string set and the font set, and displays menus and messages on a display window of the mobile communication terminal by a language selected by a user using the managed string set and font set. The MLCPS forms a corresponding language package in response to reception of the language package request data and transmits the language package to the mobile communication terminal through the mobile communication network.' However, this prior art does not disclose the method for a communication device, wherein the communication device functions under a 1st language mode and a 2nd language mode, when the 1st language mode is selected by the user, the commands by which the communication device is operated are displayed by utilizing the 1st language data, and when the 2nd language mode is selected by the user, the commands by which the communication device is operated are displayed by utilizing the 2nd language data.
For the avoidance of doubt, the number of the prior arts introduced herein (and/or in IDS) may be of a large one, however, applicant has no intent to hide the more relevant prior art(s) in the less relevant ones.


Methods for forming a tunnel oxide structure device and methods for forming the structure are described. A structure comprising nitrogen is formed on a semiconductor substrate. The structure is oxidized. Nitrogen of the oxide structure is redistributed to form a region of concentrated nitrogen. Oxidizing the structure and redistributing the nitrogen is performed via radical oxidation. Nitrogen is added to the oxide structure. The region of concentrated nitrogen helps to regulate the depth of the added nitrogen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor process. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for forming a tunnel oxynitride structure of non-volatile memory.
2. Description of Related Art
Non-volatile memory devices rely on a tunnel oxide structure, which should be sufficiently thin so that carriers can tunnel through the tunnel oxide under a sufficiently high electric field. The quality and stability of the tunnel oxide structure are important issues, since the charge retention capability and other important characteristics of non-volatile memory devices are closely related to these properties.
Many methods provide for improving the quality and stability of a tunnel oxide, which often utilize nitrogen doping of silicon oxide. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,885,870 and 6,380,033 disclose a method for forming a tunnel oxide structure, where NO or N2O-annealing is performed to add nitrogen to the tunnel oxide structure. The added nitrogen yields benefits such as reducing both the leakage current induced by Fowler-Nordheim stress induced leakage current (FN-SILC) and the threshold voltage (Vg) shift of a non-volatile memory device. However, with such methods, the nitrogen atoms tend to pile up at the bottom interface of the tunnel oxide structure, so that the carrier mobility and the integrity of the periphery gate oxide of the non-volatile memory device are degraded.
Accordingly, it is desirable to manufacture a non-volatile memory device with nitrogen added to the tunneling oxide without piling up all the nitrogen at the oxide interface.


A voice-activated mobile phone in the form of jewelry includes a necklace element for suspending the phone around the neck of a user, a phone element being a part of the necklace and a pendant hanging from the necklace. The phone element is voice activated so that a user can send and receive calls without having to physically manipulate the phone. The phone element may be disguised as a part of the necklace by virtue of a fancifully designed cover that fits over the phone portion of the device.

Cell phones are well known in the art, as are voice-activated cell phones. Frequently it may be difficult to carry and use a cell phone when carrying other items such as shopping or grocery bags. For this reason, there is a need for a cell phone that remains close to a user's head in the event of a call, and which can be voice activated when the user's hands are otherwise occupied.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 2009/0013719 to Loving, et al. discloses a cell phone necklace. Although this device allows a user to wear a cell phone as necklace, the device serves only as a holder for "flip" style phones that fold closed on a support held by the necklace.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,428,429 to Gantz et al. discloses a hands-free personal communication device to be worn about a user's neck. This device comprises an elastic neckband that forms different neck-anchoring shapes according to user preference. While this device comprises a cellular phone, it does not take the form of a necklace and therefore cannot blend in with other accoutrements worn by a user. The device also lacks a voice control feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,236,751 to Ono discloses a strap worn around the neck with input buttons for controlling attached portable devices. While this device supports telephony, it requires a complicated plug and cord mechanism to attach a conventional cell phone to the neck strap which controls the phone. Furthermore, other than the connecting cable, the cell phone is not attached to the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,142,826 to Oliver et al. discloses a portable radiotelephone and communication system for use by persons in an emergency who cannot access a phone. The device interfaces with a cordless phone through which it communicates. Although this device comprises a necklace phone, it lacks the ability to communicate through cellular networks and is not voice activated.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,954,659 to Tushinski, et al. discloses a fashion accessory with a wireless signal alerting device. While the Tushinski device is capable visually identifying the presence of a mobile communication signal, it has no other telephonic function.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,370 to Anderson discloses a wireless personal communication apparatus in the form of a necklace. Although this device contains a cell phone within the necklace, it requires users to wear a wireless earpiece which remains in communication with the device.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D590,290 to Lopez discloses decorative jewelry for a cell phone. This device comprises pendant type jewelry to be affixed to the phone in order to accent its appearance. While incorporating both jewelry and a cell phone, the device fails to claim a necklace worn by a user comprising a phone.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a necklace phone comprising a necklace and cell phone to be worn around a user's neck. A further object of the present invention is to provide a voice-activated cell phone obviating the need for physical contact with the phone to send and receive calls. A further object of the present invention is to provide a voice-activated cell phone necklace that may be worn as an ordinary piece of jewelry. These and other objects will be more fully developed in the following Summary, Description and Claims.


The invention provides polyelectrolyte inks comprising a solvent, a cationic polyelectrolyte, dissolved in the solvent, and an anionic polyelectrolyte, dissolved in the solvent. The concentration of at least one of the polyelectrolytes in the solvent is in a semidilute regime.

Three-dimensional structures with micron-scale features have many potential applications, for example as photonic band gap materials, tissue engineering scaffolds, biosensors, and drug delivery systems. Consequently, several assembly techniques for fabricating complex three-dimensional structures with features smaller than 100 microns have been developed, such as microfabrication, holographic lithography, two-photon polymerization and colloidal self assembly. However, all these techniques have limitations that reduce their utility.
Two-photon polymerization is capable of creating three-dimensional structures with sub-micron features, but from precursors that are not biocompatible. Many techniques have been developed to fabricate three-dimensional photonic crystals, but they rely on expensive, complicated equipment or time-consuming procedures. Colloidal self-assembly has also been utilized to make three-dimensional periodic structures, but controlling the formation of defects is difficult.
One fabrication technique relies on the deposition of viscoelastic colloidal inks, usually by a robotic apparatus. These inks flow through a deposition nozzle because the applied pressure shears the interparticle bonds, inducing a breakdown in the elastic modulus. The modulus recovers immediately after leaving the nozzle, and the ink solidifies to maintain its shape and span unsupported regions. The particles in the ink have a mean diameter of about 1 micron, meaning that it would be impossible for the ink to flow through a 1 micron diameter deposition nozzle without clogging or jamming. In practice, nanoparticle inks (mean diameter ˜60 nm) also tend to jam nozzles smaller than 30 microns, limiting the applicability of viscoelastic colloidal inks to this length scale.
Polymeric solutions are used in nature to fabricate thin filaments. Spiders, for example, derive their silk fibers from a concentrated protein biopolymer solution that solidifies as it is drawn to form an extremely strong filament. The extensional flow of the solution aligns liquid crystal sheets in the polymer, and the solution gels by adding ions as it leaves the spinneret. This process was artificially recreated by the deposition of the recombinant spider silk biopolymer into a polar "deposition bath" to produce filament fibers with comparable properties.

Directed assembly of three-dimensional structures with micron-scale features

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


Rigid, non-woven fibre panels that are used as privacy screens, partitioning, room dividers or as workstation surrounds, for example, are described. The panels are strong and may be self supporting, have good acoustic properties, and preferably have a substantially smooth surface. They are made from a single, substantially homogeneous, layer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibres, of which a substantial proportion may be of recycled PET. The panels are generally produced by mixing PET fibres into a web, which is then carded, cross-lapped, needle punched, calendered and thermally bonded, preferably using a heated roller.

Room dividers and partitioning are traditionally made as screens constructed from panels of MDF (Medium-Density Fibreboard), particleboard, fibreboard, pressed metal or similar materials. These panels are often covered with padding to allow for papers to be attached to their surface using pins, and to absorb noise in the work environment. The panels usually have an attractive surface covering, such as a layer of woven fabric that can be selected to match the room's décor. The panels are often held in a frame, and can be used to partition an open-space office, or to provide a partial surrounding for desks and workstations to provide some privacy and sound absorption.
These traditional panels are relatively expensive to manufacture, having to be constructed from a number of materials that must be combined and then fixed together. They are also not particularly satisfactory environmentally. Partitioning tends to have to be replaced frequently due to wear and tear or churn, which creates a problem in finding a good method for disposing of the old partitioning materials. The traditional materials are difficult to recycle, as considerable effort is required to separate the components, which often cannot be easily re-used. As a result this rarely happens in practice.
Partitioning is utilised to improve the aesthetics of office presentation, and to provide the workers with some privacy by partially enclosing their work area and absorbing noise. The partitioning can be fixed in place, or be temporary in nature as movable screens that can easily be rearranged. Partitioning and screens can be attached to, combined with, or positioned behind, furniture such as desk, tables, workstation carrels, for example. The screening may be full to provide a wall, or partial to provide only an open barrier. The screens can either fully or partially close off the area between the floor and the ceiling. Furthermore, such partitioning generally has useful acoustic properties to reduce noise in a workspace by providing a sound absorbing buffer between work areas. The partitioning is also often used as pin-boards. Any framework that supports the partition paneling may also be used to support shelves, or similar features.
Traditionally, perhaps the most commonly produced screens employ metal vertical supports configured to hold the edges of adjacent screen panels. A number of panels are arranged in this manner to provide partitioning that partly enclose a work area. Similarly, a line of the panels can be arranged at the front or rear of the work area or behind office furniture.
The panels can be of any suitable size. Partitioning may commonly be one to two meters wide and between one and three meters high. The partitioning is relatively expensive to produce. The panels are generally composed of metal or wood, typically in the form of MDF or other compressed boards or particleboards, where a pair of sheets of the material, such as wood, are cut to appropriate sizes and are arranged opposite each other. A metal frame, cardboard section or dowel or some other type of spacer is used to space the sheets a certain distance apart to define a void between the two wood sheets. The outer surfaces of each wood sheet is then normally painted, or covered with cloth material, or otherwise decorated.
Often, foam backing is used behind the cloth material covering to provide a softer surface and improve the acoustic properties. An edging, often of metal, may then be used to cover the edges of the wood sheets and the recess between them. When cloth is used to cover the surfaces of the wood sheets, the edging conceals the edges of the cloth. The cloth covering is held in place by tacking, stapling or gluing its edges within the recess. The cloth is select to have an attractive colour, for its environment.
These traditional screens are complex to produce because they require many steps, and they are even more complex to mass-produce where constant tolerances are required and considerable human effort is required to assemble the screens from their starting materials. Furthermore, some countries require that a significant portion of the screens is able to be recycled, which is also a desirable feature, anyway. For example, in Japan, 49% of the material comprising the screen needs to be recyclable. This therefore increases the cost of producing the screens, and for processing it once its lifetime is reached in order to recycle its components.
Furthermore the traditional partitioning materials are difficult to shape. The panels made from sheets of wood can only easily be made with a flat surface. It would be advantageous to have partitioning made from materials that can easily be shaped, to include folds, or indents, or the like features in the panels, to enhance their appearance, and to add to the strength of the panels, which normally is the result of shaping the panels in such a manner.
Furthermore there is often a problem arising from the off-gassing of volatile organic compounds from traditional partitioning panels due to the presence of glues and paint finishes. It would therefore be useful to enable partitions to be manufactured without the need for such volatile components to be used in their manufacture.
It would therefore be advantageous to have a partitioning material that is environmentally sound, which can easily be recycled, and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.


Disclosed is a system and method for integrating email, SMS, and social media based transactions with interactive television or standard cable with Internet access to make payments. Disclosed is a method to tie together a vendor and a cable provider with an e-commerce system leveraging each entity's customer information to streamline the payment process. Also disclosed are multiple methods to allow customers to make messaging based payments via interactive cable television features. The messaging allows for payments based on various levels of convergence between Internet and cable television experiences.

Cable providers deliver cable and Internet access to their customers. The barrier between cable and Internet is diminishing and promises to continue to lessen in the future. Customers favor the capacity to navigate between cable and Internet and to do so using more than one device. However, making payments with ease and efficiency in both has yet to be defined. A system that allows for payments to be made via messaging in cable and Internet would represent a great convenience for the customer.
Currently, cable providers deliver a limited level of interactivity to their customers. Vendors can promote their products to customers through the cable provider by having the customer access additional information and request a sales contact via the converter box. Vendors can retrieve customer information and then contact them about their product. A system that can streamline this process and contact the customer immediately by email, SMS or social media with an option to make a purchase would be welcome in the market place.

System and method for interactive television with messaging based payments


Disclosed is a method and apparatus for electrostatically shaping a membrane suitable for use in antennas or the like, comprising an electrically conductive thin membrane where the periphery of said membrane is free to move in at least one direction, a first charge on the electrically conductive thin membrane to electrostatically stiffen the membrane, a second charge which shapes the electrostatically stiffened thin membrane and a restraint for limiting the movement of at least one point of the thin membrane relative to the second charge. Also disclosed is a method and apparatus for adaptively controlling the shape of the thin membrane by sensing the shape of the membrane and selectively controlling the first and second charge to achieve a desired performance characteristic of the membrane.

Aerospace applications that require precise surface shapes for pointing or focusing signals are widespread. In satellite communications, microwave antennas require smooth surfaces of certain geometric shapes for long distance information transmissions. Although these surfaces can be manufactured on earth with precise tolerances, in space, such environmental hazards as large thermal gradients and space debris cause unacceptable surface distortions. From a mechanical viewpoint, today's space-based antennas are fixed-shape structures that deploy. Among the antenna's performance objectives, the most significant are that small thermally induced deformations be maintained, that the system mass be minimal and that the antenna be deployed reliably. Toward that end, low density, high strength, low coefficient of expansion materials are selected, shrouds reduce thermal gradients, and configurations are optimized to reduce deformations. Still, the inherent trade-offs between low mass and small deformations in a thermally varying environment limit the performances achieved. Also, mechanical deployment mechanisms continue to suffer in their performance. This is due to the trade off between the desire to minimize clearances to reduce slop, and the desire to maximize clearances to reduce the chance of contact surface sticktion. (See "1.4 Billion Dollar Galileo Mission Appears Crippled", Washington Post, Dec. 18, 1991).
Previous attempts to develop antenna reflectors using electrostatics involved suspending an electrically conductive material in a support structure. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,351 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,594. The support structure of these antennas defined the shape of the periphery of the antenna and the material was then electrostatically tensioned against this structure. These efforts exhibited the same limitations as mechanically shaped antennas in the thermally varying space environment in that the relative size of the tension forces quickly overcame the electrostatic forces to limit the ability to shape the conductive material. Furthermore, these efforts were limited in that the support structure must be moved to retarget the antenna and any changes in the swath of the antenna are limited.
Indeed, the varying shape capability of electrostatically shaped membranes is greatly expanded when the limitations of an external supporting structure are removed and when the characteristics of an antenna employing the teachings of the present invention are employed. The expanded capability allows the antenna to transmit and to receive information from ground swaths that vary in size, to retarget, to refocus, to vary focal length and to rapidly scan.
It is, therefore, one objective of the present invention to provide an electrostatically shaped membrane suitable for use in space-based electrostatic antennas, capable of varying its shape and electrostatic deployment unlike present fixed shape mechanically deployed antennas.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an ultra low weight antenna by providing an electrostatically shaped membrane which may be retargeted, refocused, the ground swath varied or scanned rapidly without disturbing the satellite dynamics.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide an electrostatically shaped membrane suitable for electrostatic deployment which does not suffer from the inherent trade-offs that limit the performance of mechanical mechanisms. Increased reliability in deployment enables deployment and retractment to be carried out repeatedly and thereby allows for a stowed antenna which is protectable from such environmental hazards as high dose radiation exposure, space debris and destructive interception.
It is another objective of the present invention, and one of particular practical value, to provide an electrostatically shaped membrane for use in an antenna which may serve as a multifunction system replacing functions otherwise carried out separately by as many as five or more antennas.


An electrical contact assembly for a roller (10) having at least one single-bevel end portion (13) has a first electrical contact formed by a thermally sprayed band (29) of a nickel alloy, a second electrical contact (30) formed by an annular contact structure (57, 37, 38, 30) assembled to the roller (10) and a bridging contact formed by an extension coil spring (33) which extends around the tapered end (24) of the roller (10) in a location where it will make bridging contact between the first electrical contact (29) and the second electrical contact (30) and provide spring pressure to maintain such contact.

In recent years a new type of ceramic heater roller, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,263, has been developed for use instead of steam-heated, oil-heated and induction-heated rollers in the papermaking, printing, and the paper, film, and foil converting industries. Such rollers have been used as web heating rollers, drying rollers and drums, laminating rollers, embossing rollers, and cast film extrusion rollers.
These rollers operate in machines in which electrical connections must be made to the roller. In a prior published PCT patent document WO 96/31088, based on a prior U.S. application Ser. No. 08/414,430, an electrical contact assembly used a metal contact which directly contacted a conductive layer that extended down a tapered end of the roller. The end of the roller included a double bevel or double taper construction, a first O-ring which was located above the contact region, and a second O-ring which was located below the contact region, to seal the contact region against contaminants and fouling due to the formation of oxides.
The prior construction required contact pressure, and precise alignment and fit between the contact and the band on the roller. The O-rings also required some careful handling during assembly for proper fit and operation. The entire assembly had numerous parts which involved cost in manufacture and assembly. The prior construction also used the "double bevel" form of tapered roller ends, which are more difficult to manufacture and maintain against cracks in the ceramic layers of the roller than a single bevel construction.
The present invention is directed to improved constructions of electrical contact assemblies for use with ceramic heater rollers.

End cap contact assembly for a heater roller


A crane mat stand device comprises a base component with integrated moveable support components. The crane mat stand device organizes and stores a plurality of crane mats, minimizes damage to the load or forklift machine, and maximizes safety during transport.

A crane machine, or simply crane, is used to lift and move a load of heavy items. The surface on which a crane machine is positioned is critical for stabilizing the crane. A soft or unlevel surface may destabilize the crane causing it to tip over. Hence, crane mats are used to provide a solid, even surface creating a steady foundation during crane operation. Crane mats additionally distribute concentrated loads. Crane mats are extremely heavy and are usually transported using a forklift machine. Often times a forklift operator positions cribbing under or beneath the load of one or more crane mats to effectively move them. However, this may damage the load or the forks of the forklift machine.
What is needed is a device that organizes and stores a plurality of crane mats. Further, there is a need for a device that minimizes damage to the load or forklift machine and maximizes safety during transport. The invention satisfies these needs.


An automatic sheet loader for sheets of photographic film or the like is provided. A first drive assembly is used to drive a sheet of imaging material from a supply toward an imaging station. A second drive assembly, independent of the first drive assembly, drives the sheet of imaging material into the imaging station and subsequently retrieves the sheet from the imaging station. An ejection solenoid is used to eject the sheet from the imaging station for retrieval. During a loading cycle, the first and second drive assemblies are actuated to load the sheet into the imaging station. During a retrieval cycle, the ejection solenoid and second drive means are actuated to retrieve the sheet from the imaging station and drive it into an exposed sheet chamber without loading another sheet into the imaging station. A solenoid actuated light trap is provided between the supply and exposed sheet chambers and the imaging station.

The present invention relates to apparatus for loading and unloading sheets of imaging material (e.g., photographic film) from the imaging portion of an image recorder such as a still camera or film recorder.
One type of photographic apparatus that uses photosensitive film is a film recorder. In a conventional film recorder, a light beam from a cathode ray tube ("CRT") or the like is controlled by a deflection system to scan across a stationary frame of photographic film to expose the film with an image. Typically, the images are generated by a computer for the production of slides, transparencies, photographs or the like. Alternatively, the images can comprise natural images acquired by a scanner or television camera for subsequent processing by a computer.
Known film recorders, such as those sold under the trademarks "SOLITAIRE" and "SAPPHIRE" by Management Graphics, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A., typically include a light source such as a CRT for producing a beam, a deflection system for scanning the beam across the face of the CRT, a system control and central processor unit ("CPU") for controlling the deflection system, and a camera (i.e., "film transport"). The latter component may include a film transport body, lens, lens mounting assembly, aperture plate, film plate, and film transport mechanism. The film may be provided in rolls or strips, or in individual sheets.
The present invention relates to the automatic feeding of individual sheets of film to the exposure area ("imaging station") of a film recorder or other imaging equipment. The term "large format" refers to cameras that use sheet film, typically four inches in width and five inches in height or larger. Large format cameras offer better quality, less graininess and a much greater range of tonal values than smaller film, such as 35 millimeter film. However, the use of sheet film requires the loading of single sheets, one at a time, into the camera for each exposure and subsequent removal of each sheet before the next sheet of film can be loaded. During this inconvenient process, the sheets of film must be protected from light.
An automatic sheet feeding film holder has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,112. The patented apparatus can be attached to or inserted into a processing area, such as a camera or enlarger, and is capable of holding a stack of sheets of photographic film, both before and after exposure. Sheets are fed one at a time from a supply stack into a processing area, and then retrieved while a new sheet is being loaded. The apparatus disclosed in the patent has various drawbacks. For example, a common input/output drive roller is used to load a new sheet into the processing area while an already exposed sheet is being retrieved from the processing area. As a result, if it is desired to expose fewer than all of the sheets in the supply stack, there is no convenient way to prevent an unexposed sheet from being loaded into the processing area when the last exposed sheet is retrieved therefrom. This may result in the wasting of a sheet of film, if the apparatus is removed from the camera to be taken into a darkroom, in which case the sheet of film currently in the exposure area of the apparatus will be exposed to light and destroyed.
The apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned patent also has a cumbersome structure for allowing a photographer to insert a fresh stack of film sheets in the apparatus and to retrieve a stack of exposed sheets.
It would be advantageous to provide an improved automatic single sheet feeder for photographic apparatus, that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. The present invention provides such apparatus.

Automatic sheet loader for imaging apparatus


A clockwise helical groove is formed on the outer periphery surface of a rigid roller toward one end from the center position in the axial direction. A counter-clockwise helical groove is formed on the outer periphery surface of the roller toward the other end from the center position in the axial direction. The roller rotates, accompanied by a magnetic tape. The clockwise groove of the roller gives a regulating force, which points toward the center position, to the magnetic tape. The counter-clockwise groove of the roller gives a second regulating force, which points toward the center position, to the magnetic tape. The magnetic tape is given the regulating forces simultaneously that point toward the center position in the axial direction of the roller. The magnetic tape is restrained from swinging to one end or the other end in the axial direction of the roller, and the tape traveling becomes stable.

The present invention relates to a guide roller of a magnetic tape drive, and more particular to a technique of a guide roller for guiding a magnetic tape for use in a half-inch cartridge magnetic tape drive.
Conventionally, the guide roller has been used for the purpose of carrying the magnetic tape into a precise position in the magnetic tape drive (JP-U1989-174735A, JPP1993-135444A, and JP-P1996-329564A).
The guide roller was described in JP-U1989-174735A that was composed of a roller rotatably supported by a supporting shaft, and flanges mounted on said supporting shaft so as to be positioned in both of the upper and lower ends of this roller. And, a spiral-shaped groove section was formed on the outer periphery surface of the roller.
Also, there is the description with regard to the guide roller in JP-P1993-135444A as well. This guide roller is composed of a fixed section, which does not rotate against a rotating center shaft, and two rotating rollers that are rotatable. The fixed section is arranged in the center in the tape-width direction. The rotating rollers are arranged in both ends of the fixed section in the tape-width direction. Thereby, a force, which causes the tape to approach toward the fixed section arranged in the center that does not rotate, always occurs. For this reason, a regulating force from the flanges that exist in both ends is alleviated. A result is that stable tape traveling, which causes less damage to the tape, materializes.
Furthermore, there is the description with regard to the guide roller in JP-P1996-329564A as well. A number of grooves for delivering the magnetic tape, which are spaced circumferentially, and extend in parallel to each other, are formed on the outer periphery of a feed roller. These grooves for delivering the magnetic tape are configured so that the directions of forces for delivering the magnetic tape point toward the center from both ends in the axial direction of the feed roller, and yet ahead in the rotating direction. This is a configuration for maintaining the status that the magnetic tape is arranged in the center in the axial direction of the feed roller.
However, the guide roller described in JP-U1989-174735A had the problem that the traveling direction of the tape did not stabilized in the event that the tape traveling changed drastically. This is because the tape has direction dependency of moving to one end or the other end depending upon the direction of the tape traveling, due to the spiral-shaped groove formed on the outer periphery surface of the roller only in the one-way direction.
Also, the guide roller described in JP-P1993-135444A had the problem that working efficiency in processing the guide roller dropped. This is because the parts item became numerous, and the manufacturing step and the assembling man-hour became numerous, due to the rotating rollers provided in the both ends with the fixed section interposed.
The guide roller described in JP-P1996-329564A has the roller of which at least the outer periphery surface was configured of an elastic member. And, for the purpose of realizing the stability of the tape traveling, the linearly symmetric groove is formed on the outer periphery surface of the roller in double-end direction.
However, in the event that the roller was configured of a rigid member, when forming the groove having the identical shape to that of the foregoing on the roller is intended, a special tool is required in some cases, and the problem existed that the working efficiency in processing the roller dropped.


In a stagnation-judgment device, a work history-acquiring unit acquires work history of actions taken by an operator to handle an enquiry. A correlation-deriving unit derives correlation between actions of the operator and stagnation based on the work history regarding past enquiries. A stagnation-judgment unit judges whether the operator is in a state of stagnation by checking the work history regarding a current enquiry and the correlation derived by the correlation-deriving unit. A warning unit issues a warning when the operator is in the state of stagnation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stagnation-judgment device and a computer product.
2. Description of the Related Art
For efficient management of a call center, enquiries from customers are assigned according to skills of individual operators. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-253149 discloses a conventional technology in which, because a high-skilled operator takes shorter time to answer an enquiry than a low-skilled operator, the skill of the operators is judged from past records of time and other factors.
Even if assignment of enquiries is done effectively, the operator to whom an enquiry is assigned is not always able to finish the enquiry in appropriate time period. Because the range of contents of enquiries from the customers is wide, it is not always easy for an operator to reply an enquiry even if the skill level of the operator is comparatively high in the technological area corresponding to an enquiry.
Generally, when an operator realizes that he is not able to handle the enquiry, he transfers the enquiry to another operator with better skills. However, if this judgment is delayed, it undermines efficiency of the call center, prolongs waiting period for the customer, and undermines customer satisfaction.
A situation called stagnation occurs when the operator does not transfer the enquiry that he is not able to handle, and keeps the enquiry pending. It is necessary to avoid occurrence of stagnation to improve efficiency of the call center, and for better satisfaction of the customers. The conventional technology described above does not contribute to improvement of operation after the enquiry is assigned. Therefore, it is not possible to avoid occurrence of stagnation.

Stagnation-judgment device and computer product


An image forming apparatus, including: an electrophotographic image forming unit which forms an image on a recording medium; a fixing unit which thermally fixes the image; an insulating chute disposed between the image forming unit and the fixing unit, including: a guide face and a back face, and configured to guide the image-formed recording medium to the fixing unit; and a planar metal member disposed on the back face and expanding to a first end edge portion as an edge portion of one of end portions of the chute nearer to the fixing unit. The metal member includes a second end edge portion that is an edge portion of one of end portions of the metal member nearer to the fixing unit. The second end edge portion has an acute angle in cross section as viewed in a widthwise direction of the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including an electrophotographic image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording medium and in particular to an image forming apparatus including a mechanism for guiding a recording medium after image forming to a fixing unit for thermally fixing the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known an electrophotographic image forming apparatus configured to form an image on a recording medium such as a sheet using a developer such as toner, and in such an image forming apparatus, the recording medium after the image forming is guided to a fixing unit constituted by, e.g., a heated roller and a pressure roller, to thermally fix the image. However, since a large amount of charges are on the recording medium after the image forming, electric discharge may be caused between the recording medium and, e.g., the heated roller of the fixing unit, causing the developer to fly to disturb the image. As an image forming apparatus proposed to solve this problem, there is known an image forming apparatus that includes a chute for guiding a recording medium after image forming to a fixing unit and that is designed such that the chute has an opening formed in its face opposed to the recording medium, and needle-like grounded electrodes are exposed through the opening. In this design, the recording medium after the image forming can be guided to the fixing unit after the saw-toothed electrode eliminates electricity, suppressing occurrences of the image disturbance due to the electric discharge in some degree.


Systems for synchronizing data between a first-database and a second-database are presented including: a memory; and a client configured for determining whether a retrieval request requires a synchronization of the second-database before processing the received retrieval request, where the system partially synchronizes the second-database from the first-database with only that portion of the first-database associated with the retrieval request in response to determining whether synchronization is required and for processing the retrieval request from the second-database.

In order to improve the performance of a system including databases, there is a method using multiple in-memory and back-end databases. The in-memory database is also called in-core database or main memory database. The in-memory database is to store data in a semiconductor memory instead of a hard disk drive. The back-end database is a main database that includes data as the source of the in-memory database. The in-memory database holds all or part of data of the back-end database, and is used as a cache for the back-end database. The in-memory database processes database I/O on the semiconductor memory without reading from or writing to the hard disk drive. Therefore, in the in-memory database, data read or written by an application is held in a cache on the memory by means of the in-memory database, accessing the database of the hard disk drive by a process totally independent of the application. From the standpoint of the application, SQL is issued to the in-memory database in a way without any difference from the database on the hard disk drive. Then, a query request from the application is processed by the in-memory database. Using the in-memory database, a data set is retrieved from the in-memory database. This results in reducing the load on the back-end database and improving the processing speed as the database dramatically.
Data in the back-end database is updated. Therefore, the in-memory database needs to reflect the update therein. The in-memory database has to load data from the back-end database to perform the update. Typical conventional methods for achieving the reflection include a periodic synchronization method and a real-time synchronization method.
Periodic Synchronization Method
The periodic synchronization method is a method of applying a data set of the back-end database to the in-memory database collectively on a periodic basis to update the data set of the in-memory database. This update provides synchronization between the back-end database and the in-memory database. In general, processing data collectively in a large batch imposes less load on the database than processing data in small batches. Therefore, the periodic synchronization method enables replication from the back-end database to the in-memory database while reducing the load on the back-end database. However, the data set of the in-memory database is a data set at the time of periodic synchronization, not the latest data set. Thus, the periodic synchronization method has a problem that the database users cannot issue, to the in-memory database, such a search or retrieval request that requires the latestness or currency of data.
As a retrieval technique to solve the above-mentioned problem of the periodic synchronization method, there is pass-through retrieval. The pass-through retrieval is a retrieval technique that has already been put to practical use as one of in-memory database techniques. The method using the pass-through retrieval is executed concurrently with the above-mentioned periodic synchronization method. In the pass-through retrieval, if such a retrieval request that requires data currency is issued to the in-memory database, this retrieval request is transmitted to the back-end database. Therefore, the system searches the back-end database. However, if the search criteria are complicated, since the load on the back-end database increases, the performance of the entire system will be reduced.
2. Real-Time Synchronization Method
The real-time synchronization method is a method in which the system transmits, in response to an update of the back-end database, the updated data set of the back-end database to the in-memory database to update the data set of the in-memory database promptly. This update provides real-time synchronization between the back-end database and the in-memory database, thus resolving the above-mentioned problem of the periodic synchronization method. However, in the real-time synchronization method, if the frequency of updates to the back-end database is high, the system will perform replication from the back-end database to the in-memory database frequently in small batches. Such frequent replication attempts increase the load on the back-end database, resulting in a further reduction in the performance of the entire system. In addition, the above-mentioned replication is performed regardless of whether the currency of data to be retrieved from the in-memory database is required. However, when many of retrieval requests to be issued to the in-memory database do not require data currency, it is less likely that the updated, latest data set will be required. Therefore, the replication could be useless processing that merely reduces the performance of the entire system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of synchronizing data between databases, and computer system and computer program for the same

International Business Machines Corporation


In one embodiment, an apparatus and method are described for constructing a repair path in the event of non-availability of a routing domain component of a routing domain comprising, as components, links and nodes. The apparatus is arranged to receive respective network repair addresses from each of the far-side and near-side advertising node for use in the event of non-availability of a routing domain component between the advertising node. The apparatus is further arranged to advertise the near-side advertising node network repair address to one or more far-side nodes via a path external to the routing domain.

The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
In computer networks such as the Internet, packets of data are sent from a source to a destination via a network of elements including links (communication paths such as telephone or optical lines) and nodes (for example, routers directing the packet along one or more of a plurality of links connected to it) according to one of various routing protocols.
One routing protocol used, for example, in the internet is Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). BGP is used to route data between routing domains such as autonomous systems (AS) comprising networks under a common administrator and sharing a common routing policy. BGP routers exchange full routing information during a connection session for example using Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) allowing inter-autonomous system routing. The information exchanged includes various attributes including a next-hop attribute. For example where a BGP router advertises a connection to a network, for example in a form of an IP address prefix, the next-hop attribute comprises the IP address used to reach the BGP router.
Edge or border BGP routers in a first AS communicate with eBGP peers in a second AS via exterior BGP (eBGP). In addition BGP routers within an AS exchange reachability information using interior BGP (iBGP). As a very large number of routes may be advertised in this manner an additional network component comprising a route reflector is commonly provided which sets up a session with each BGP router and distributes reachability information to each other BGP router.
The border routers in respective AS's can advertise to one another, using eBGP, the prefixes (network destinations) reachable from them, the advertisements carrying information such as AS-path, indicating the AS's through which the route advertisement has passed including the AS in which the advertising border router itself is located, and a BGP Community attribute indicating the manner in which the advertisement is to be propagated. For example if an eBGP advertisement is received with Community attribute No-Advertise, then the border router receiving the advertisement does not advertise the route information to any of its peers, including other routers in its AS. When the routes are advertised internally, additional information such as a local preference and a nexthop field are included. The local preference attribute sets a preference value to use of that particular route for example for a given set of prefixes such that where more than one route is available to other border routers in the AS they will select the route with the highest local preference. The next-hop attribute provides the IP address used for the link between the border router in the AS and its eBGP peer.
To reduce the amount of iBGP messages further, route reflectors may only advertise the best path for a given destination to all border routers in an AS. Accordingly all border routers will forward traffic for a given destination to the border router identified in the best path advertisement. Forwarding of packets within the AS may then simply use Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) as described in more detail below where the IGP forwarding table will ensure that packets destined for the eventual destination will be forwarded within the AS towards the appropriate border router. Alternatively an ingress border router receiving incoming packets may tunnel the packets to the appropriate egress border router, that is, encapsulate the packets to a destination egress border router for transit across the AS for example using IP or MPLS tunnels. The packets are then decapsulated at the egress border router and forwarded according to the packet destination header.
Within each AS the routing protocol typically comprises an interior gateway protocol (IGP) for example a link state protocol such as open shortest path first (OSPF) or intermediate system—intermediate system (IS-IS).
The link state protocol relies on a routing algorithm resident at each node. Each node on the network advertises, throughout the network, links to neighboring nodes and provides a cost associated with each link, which can be based on any appropriate metric such as link bandwidth or delay and is typically expressed as an integer value. A link may have an asymmetric cost, that is, the cost in the direction AB along a link may be different from the cost in a direction BA. Based on the advertised information in the form of a link state packet (LSP) or link state advertisement (LSA) each node constructs a link state database (LSDB), which is a map of the entire network topology, and from that constructs generally a single optimum route to each available node based on an appropriate algorithm such as, for example, a shortest path first (SPF) algorithm. As a result a "spanning tree" (SPT) is constructed, rooted at the node and showing an optimum path including intermediate nodes to each available destination node. The results of the SPF are stored in a routing information base (RIB) and based on these results the forwarding information base (FIB) or forwarding table is updated to control forwarding of packets appropriately. When there is a network change an LSP representing the change is flooded through the network by each node adjacent the change, each node receiving the LSP sending it to each adjacent node.
As a result, when a data packet for a destination node arrives at a node the node identifies the optimum route to that destination and forwards the packet to the next node along that route. The next node repeats this step and so forth.
According to the approach described in Shand et al "not-via" addresses are used in a manner which can be understood with reference to FIG. 1 which is a schematic diagram showing an autonomous system network 100. The network includes nodes S and P, reference numerals 102, 104 which are joined by a link 106. Node S is connected to nodes B and D, reference numerals 108, 110, by links 112, 114 respectively. Nodes B and D are connected to nodes A and C respectively, reference numerals 116, 118 by links 120, 122 respectively. Node P is connected to nodes E and G, reference numerals 124, 126 via links 128, 130 respectively and nodes E and G are connected to respective nodes F and H, reference numerals 128, 130 via respective links 132, 134.
In order to repair a failure in the network each node adjacent to the failure acting as instigating repair node computes a repair or backup path around the failure. Then when a failure is detected an instigating repair node will forward subsequent packets which otherwise would have traversed the failure, via the repair path to a receiving repair node. For example where link 106 fails between node S and P and node S detects the failure then packets subsequently received for node E, F, G or H, which otherwise would have gone via link 106, are forwarded according to the pre-computed repair path (using connectivity not shown in FIG. 1). This approach is sometimes termed fast reroute. The manner in which the repair path is constructed and propagated is by giving each node/interface (ie its connection to each link to adjacent nodes), in addition to its normal address, a propagatable repair address which is reachable via a repair path notvia the failure component, the "notvia address". For example node P may have repair addresses P notvia S (represented here as Ps). Each other node will have computed its nexthop for each of the notvia addresses. Hence when node S detects failure of link 106 it tunnels subsequent packets for node P to address Ps. Its nexthop, having precomputed its nexthop for Ps will forward accordingly and so forth. It will be noted that node S can forward the packet to Ps in any appropriate way for example by tunneling it to that address. Similarly any packets received at node S for node E, F, G, H will also be tunneled to Ps. Upon decapsulation of the packet at node P it will then be forwarded normally from node P to node E, F, G or H as appropriate following the original path.
Shand et al further discloses various manners of reducing the SPF calculation overhead using incremental iSPF. Incremental SPF's will be well known to the skilled reader and are not described in detail here but merely summarized for the purposes of explanation. In particular as a first step, only a partial SPF is computed for the not-via address once the SPT branch attached to the failed component has been excised. All addresses no longer attached are recomputed and reattached, however the incremental calculation is terminated when all of the addresses previously reached via the affected component are reattached. A further advantage is achieved according to Shand et al by ensuring that, whilst a repairing node upon detecting a failure affecting an incoming packet for a normal address will tunnel that packet to a not-via address, it will not attempt to repair an incoming packet itself already destined for a not-via address, that is, a packet that has already been repaired. In particular this provides a loop prevention strategy for example where two nodes adjacent a failure might otherwise try to repair a packet which could cause it to loop back and forth between them. According to the approach described in Shand et al the repairing node can continue to tunnel packets to a not-via address until the network has reconverged at which point the repairing node can revert to normal forwarding.
It is important to minimize packet loss in the case of network component failure, both intra-domain (IGP) and inter-domain (eBGP). For example in the case of intra-domain link failure, ISPs use various techniques to react quickly to the failure while convergence is taking place including handling of the failure by other layers or implementing fast reroute techniques for example of the type described in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/064,275, filed Feb. 22nd, 2005, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Constructing a Repair Path Around a Non-Available Component in a Data Communications Network" of Mike Shand et al, ("Shand et al"), the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
However problems arise with existing approaches when a failure partitions an IGP domain such as an autonomous system. Partitioning of the autonomous system occurs when a failure means that there is no path from one side of the failure to the other, sometimes termed a "single point of failure". For example in such circumstances, using the approach described in Shand et al it is no longer possible to reach destinations in one partition from the other when repair is implemented as the computation of the FIB entries for not-via addresses will be unable to find a route across the partition. Importantly, it is also no longer possible to forward transit traffic, that is inter-AS traffic through the AS. One approach to this problem is described in International Standard ISO/IEC10589 which describes a method of partition repair for intermediate system-intermediate system (IS-IS) as IGP where a partition in a level 1 area is repaired using the level 2 domain. However there is no mechanism for repair of the level 2 domain itself.

Constructing a repair path in the event of non-availability of a routing domain


The present invention relates to a medical delivery device comprising a tubular distal housing; a tubular proximal housing; a medicament container arranged inside said tubular proximal housing; a threaded hollow plunger rod; a spring force means pre-tensioned arranged within said plunger rod; activation means arranged to be movable between a non-medicament delivery state and a medicament delivery state; dose setting means being threadedly arranged to said threaded hollow plunger rod and arranged to be rotationally moved between a stop position and a set dose position, whereby upon activation of said activation means from the non-medicament delivery state to the medicament delivery state, said threaded hollow plunger rod is linearly displaced due to the force of the pre-tensioned spring means such that the dose setting means is also linearly displaced from the set dose position to the stop position.

There are on the market a large number of medicament delivery devices such as injectors having a number of different features and/or functions to be able to deliver a certain dose quantity to the user in a safe, reliable and reasonably simple and intuitive manner.
One drawback that many delivery devices suffer from is that the number of components tends to increase dramatically when the number of functions and features are increasing, where the functions could be any or several of mixing, priming, penetration, medicament delivery, withdrawal and covering of the injection needle.
The added complexity regarding the number of components and their interaction in order to perform the desired functions may make it difficult to actually have a reliable functionality without undue precision and tolerance demands and or expensive choice of material, which of course adds to the cost of the medicament delivery device.
Some attempts have been made in order to try to keep the number of components on reasonable levels and yet have a reliable device with a number of functions. The document WO 2005046770 discloses a medicament delivery device arranged with a dose setting drum that is threaded onto a threaded section of a plunger rod for setting a dose. Dose quantity indications are arranged on the dose setting drum. However, in order to obtain an injection operation after a set dose, a number of components are required, for instance for preventing the dose setting drum from rotating relative the plunger rod.


A substrate holding device has a substrate holding unit and supporting elements movable to protrude from a substrate-holding surface of the substrate holding unit. The substrate holding unit holds the substrate in a predetermined state with a first holding force after relative positions of the substrate and the substrate holding unit are adjusted while the supporting elements lift the substrate off the substrate-holding surface. Before the relative positions of the substrate and the substrate holding unit are adjusted, the substrate holding device holds the substrate with a second holding force that is smaller than the first holding force and includes a zero holding force. Thus, the substrate holding device is able to align and hold the substrate in a short time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate holding device that holds a substrate, such as a wafer, during semiconductor fabrication and, in particular, a substrate holding device included in an exposure system for fabricating a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An exposure system used in fabrication of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device includes a substrate holding device that holds an original plate, such as a mask or a reticle, and a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate, which is an object to be exposed (hereinafter simply referred to as "a substrate").
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. JP2001-044093 discloses an example of such a known substrate holding device. In general, a wafer transferred to a stage is coarsely pre-positioned, and is thereafter fine positioned. In the above-described publication, a wafer is transferred to a wafer chuck after pre-alignment, and deviation from a reference alignment mark is calculated. If the resultant correction value of the wafer exceeds a maximum operating distance of a XYθ stage, the XYθ stage is moved to the maximum position, and the wafer is then transferred from the wafer chuck to a wafer receiving chuck (hereinafter referred to as "pins"). The XYθ stage moves back to the original position, and the wafer is then transferred back from the pins to the wafer chuck. This operation is repeated until the position of the wafer is corrected.
This substrate holding device, in which a wafer is transferred from the wafer chuck to the pins for every alignment correction of a deviation of the wafer, must wait until the wafer is released from the wafer chuck, since the wafer chuck always holds the wafer as tightly as it does during exposure. Also, if the pins strongly push up the wafer in order to reduce the waiting time, there is a possibility of the wafer being considerably offset from the proper position.

Substrate holding device, substrate processing apparatus using the same, and method for aligning and holding substrate


An arrangement and a method for a combustion engine for self-ignition of a fuel mixture. A first device supplies a first partial quantity of the fuel mixture to the combustion space, and a second device supplies a second partial quantity of the fuel mixture to the combustion space, which second partial quantity of the fuel mixture is at a different fuel concentration from the first partial quantity of the fuel mixture. The devices supply the first and the second partial quantities of the fuel mixture as to create in the combustion space at least one region which is at a higher fuel concentration than other regions and in which the self-ignition of the fuel mixture is intended to start.

The present invention relates to an arrangement and a method for causing self starting of ignition in a combustion engine by separation of fuel quantities in a combustion space.
The invention is related to the type of combustion engines usually called HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) engine. An HCCI engine may be regarded as a combination of an Otto engine and a diesel engine. In an HCCI engine, a homogeneous mixture of fuel and air is compressed in a combustion space until self-ignition of the fuel mixture occurs. Advantages of HCCI engines are that they produce low discharges of nitrogen oxides NO, and soot particles while at the same time having a high degree of efficiency.
The combustion of the homogeneous fuel mixture usually takes place very rapidly, since all of the fuel mixture self-ignites at substantially exactly the same time. The relevant components are therefore subject to relatively large mechanical stresses while at the same time a loud noise occurs.

Arrangement and method for a combustion engine


A storage device for coupling at least one box and at least one cover having a carrier grip, together is formed by a lock or a snap lock, which is provided in one gable or side wall of the cover or the box, while a locking pin is provided in the opposite gable or side wall. The snap lock is adapted to engage a gripper flange, which is provided at the top of the gable or side wall of the box or the cover, while the locking pin is adapted to engage a locking edge, which is provided in the opposite gable or side wall of the box or the cover.

The invention relates to a storage device comprising two parts, such as two boxes or a box and a cover, which parts may be stacked and coupled together, wherein each part has two opposed gables and a coupling means at each gable for detachably coupling the two parts together in a stacked state, wherein the coupling means at the one gable of the one part is arranged to cooperate with the coupling means at the one gable of the other part, wherein the coupling means at the other gable of the one part is arranged to cooperate with the coupling means at the other gable of the other part, and wherein the coupling means of both parts at the one gable are formed by a first coupling means having a snap lock function. The invention moreover relates to use of the storage device.
Boxes having covers which may be coupled together are provided in several embodiments and sizes and are used in a multitude of connections. In particular for use as tool boxes, there are many types which are configured with various gadgets.
Boxes having covers are known, wherein covers and boxes may be coupled together in a mutual order by means of snap locks provided in the covers, and may thus be adapted to various needs.
The box systems thus known are extremely flexible, but may be vitiated by the drawback that the release of boxes and covers from each other is performed in that a user grips the snap locks in the gables of the boxes and/or the covers by both hands, which means that the weight of the boxes and the covers being released is transferred to the snap locks. To prevent breaking of these, they must therefore be made very sturdy.

TANOS GMBH VERPACKEN ORDNEN PRASENTIEREN


A device and method is disclosed for allowing a combine operator, from the operator's station, to automatically transversely position a pinch-point of a concave relative to a rotor of a combine in accordance with the clearance spacing set between the concave and the rotor, thereby minimizing operator effort without sacrificing combine performance.

Field of the Invention—The present invention relates generally to a mechanism and method for automatically transversely positioning a pinch-point of a concave relative to a rotor of a combine according to the clearance spacing set between the concave and the rotor, the mechanism and method minimizing operator effort without sacrificing combine performance.
Agricultural combines are well known in the art for harvesting and threshing a number of various agricultural crops, including for example wheat, soybeans, corn, etc. Usually, agricultural combines include a harvesting apparatus, an infeed mechanism, and a separating apparatus. In operation, the harvesting apparatus reaps the crop, which is planted in the ground. After reaping, the infeed mechanism feeds the crop to the separating apparatus.
Typically, the separating apparatus in a rotary combine includes at least one rotor, which can extend axially or transversely within the body of the combine, and which is surrounded at least in part by a perforated concave having a plurality of apertures. As shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,239 titled "Rotary Combine" and issued Feb. 6, 1996 to Case Corporation, the same assignee as for the present application, the concave can include a series of concave inserts arranged in a side-by-side configuration, with each concave insert extending partially circumferentially around the rotor. Generally, it is desirable to provide for an adjustment of the concave relative to the rotor of the combine.
To optimize the threshing potential of different crop types and threshing conditions, a combine operator must set the appropriate clearance spacing between the concave and the rotor. Additionally, the operator must also transversely pivot the concave relative to the rotor to properly position the "pinch-point" (e.g. the primary area where the rotor threshes the crop grain against the concave) according to the type of crop grain to be threshed.
For example, for the "hard threshing" of wheat, it is beneficial for the pinch-point to be positioned at the "lead in" section of the concave so that the rotor will contact the crop grain immediately upon its downward rotation toward the concave. In contrast, for the "easy threshing" of corn, it is advantageous to position the pinch-point at the "lead out" section of the concave so that the rotor will contact the crop grain upon its upward rotation away from the concave. Accordingly, proper positioning of the pinch-point maximizes threshing potential.
While the benefits and advantages of properly positioning the pinch-point of a concave are known, current positioning mechanisms and methods prove cumbersome and inefficient. For example, current mechanisms and methods do not allow a combine operator to seamlessly switch between the threshing of "hard" crop grain and the threshing of "easy" crop grain. Instead, the operator must first stop and exit the combine and adjust the concave pivot I-bolts before switching to the threshing of a different type of crop grain. Such a process can be physically demanding and time consuming and can increase machine setup complexity and reduce overall machine capacity.
Accordingly, the drawbacks of the currently known mechanisms and methods for adjusting and positioning the pinch-point of a concave relative to the rotor of a combine have been known within the industry without any marked improvement to date. Thus, the need exists for the present invention, which provides a mechanism and method for automatically positioning the pinch-point of a concave in accordance with the clearance spacing set by the operator.
It is accordingly the primary objective of the present invention that it provide an improved transverse concave pivot assembly mechanism and method for optimizing threshing potential for different types of crop grain and different threshing conditions.
It is another objective of the present invention that it provide at least one transverse pivot axis for allowing automatic transverse positioning of the pinch-point of a concave in accordance with the clearance spacing set between the concave and the rotor.
It is yet an additional objective of the present invention that it be efficient and effortless so as to minimize operator effort without sacrificing combine performance.
The transverse pivot assembly mechanism and method of the present invention must also be of a construction which is both durable and long lasting, and it should also require little or no maintenance to be provided by the user throughout its operating lifetime. In order to enhance the market appeal of the transverse pivot assembly mechanism and method of the present invention, it should also be of inexpensive construction to thereby afford it the broadest possible market. Finally, it is also an objective that all of the aforesaid advantages and objectives be achieved without incurring any substantial relative disadvantage.

Mechanism and method for automatically transversely positioning the pinch-point of a concave


An Asynchronous Transfer Mode switch and method which facilitate point-to-multipoint transmission are disclosed. The switch includes a bandwidth arbiter, and each input port within the switch includes a switch allocation table ("SAT") which controls bandwidth allocation between input and output ports. Each SAT includes a plurality of sequentially ordered cell time slots and a synchronized pointer which is directed to one of the slots such that at any given point in time each of the pointers is directed to the same slot location in the respective SAT with which the pointer is associated. To execute point-to-multipoint operation the bandwidth arbiter maintains a list of connections and bit vectors indicating the designated destination ports for a point-to-multipoint cell. The list maintained by the bandwidth arbiter is then compared to an unassigned output port bit vector generated from the SATs to determine matches therebetween, at which point-to-multipoint transmission may be made by utilizing instantaneously unused bandwidth within the switch while arbitration distributes bandwidth among competing point-to-multipoint connections. The bandwidth arbiter may also assign priority to connections in the list.

Telecommunications networks such as asynchronous transfer mode ("ATM") networks are used for transfer of audio, video and other data. ATM networks deliver data by routing data units such as ATM cells from source to destination through switches. Switches include input/output ("I/O") ports through which ATM cells are received and transmitted. The appropriate output port for transmission of the cell is determined based on the cell header.
One problem associated with ATM networks is loss of cells. Cells are buffered within each switch before being routed and transmitted from the switch. More particularly, switches typically have buffers at either the inputs or outputs of the switch for temporarily storing cells prior to transmission. As network traffic increases, there is an increasing possibility that buffer space may be inadequate and data lost. If the buffer size is insufficient, cells are lost. Cell loss causes undesirable interruptions in audio and video data transmissions, and may cause more serious damage to other types of data transmissions.
In point-to-multipoint transmission a cell is transmitted from a single input to multiple outputs across the switch fabric. In order to execute such a transmission, each of the designated outputs must be available to receive the cell from the transmitting input, i.e., have adequate buffer space. However, the likelihood that each of the designated outputs will be simultaneously prepared to receive the cell when the cell is enqueued decreases as traffic within the switch increases. In some circumstances this may result in delayed transmission. In the worst case, cells will be delayed indefinitely and incoming cells for that connection are discarded. It would therefore be desirable to facilitate point-to-multipoint transmission by reducing or eliminating delays and cell loss.


A measuring assembly for detecting the wall thickness of a pipe, including an ultrasonic probe and a testing head with a main element which receives an ultrasonic probe and the lower face of which defines a main element support surface is provided. The testing head has two wing elements, the lower face of each of which defines a wing element support surface and which are held on the main element in a pivotal manner about pivot axes extending substantially parallel to one another in a longitudinal direction such that the wing element support surfaces can be moved towards each other and away from each other. The wing elements are connected via synchronizing means such that the pivotal movements of the wing elements about the corresponding pivot axes are carried out in a synchronous manner. An associated method is also provided.

It is basically known from the prior art to detect the wall thickness of a pipe by means of ultrasound. In this context, various measuring arrangements are known which normally have a main body which receives an ultrasound probe and which, at its underside, defines a main body support surface which, in order to detect the wall thickness of a pipe, is mounted onto the outer side of the pipe. Such a main body with integrated ultrasound sensor is commonly also referred to as testing head. The principle of the ultrasound measurement is known to a person skilled in the art, and this will therefore not be discussed in any more detail below.
A problem in the detection of the wall thickness of a pipe using a measuring arrangement of the type mentioned in the introduction consists, owing to the rounding of the pipe, in holding the main body support surface normal to the surface of the pipe, which is necessary in order to achieve correct measurement results. In the case of easily accessible pipes, this problem can duly be substantially eliminated through corresponding training of the personnel carrying out the measurement. However, in the detection of the wall thickness of poorly accessible pipe portions, or of pipe portions which are not visible, carrying out correct wall thickness measurements is scarcely possible even by trained personnel.
Proceeding from this known art, it is an aspect of embodiments of the present invention to provide a measuring arrangement of the type mentioned in the introduction, by means of which correct positioning of the main body support surface on the surface of a pipe to be tested is easily possible even for untrained personnel. A further aspect of embodiments of the present invention furthermore consists in creating a measuring arrangement of the type mentioned in the introduction with which even wall thicknesses of poorly accessible pipes or pipe portions, and/or of pipes or pipe portions which are not visible, can be easily detected.

Ultrasound measuring assembly and method for detecting the wall thickness of a pipe


An additive for an alkaline zinc or zinc alloy electroplating bath medium, the additive comprising a random co-polymer comprising the reaction product of: (i) one or more di-tertiary amines including an amide or thioamide functional group, and (ii) optionally, one or more saturated second di-tertiary amines and/or one or more second di-tertiary amines including an unsaturated moiety, with (iii) one or more saturated or unsaturated linking agents capable of reacting with said di-tertiary amines (i) and (ii), provided that, where all the linking agents are saturated, an unsaturated di-tertiary amine must he present. Preferably, the polymer has the general formula n(2x+2y+zEp)j-.

The present invention relates generally to improvements in the electrodeposition of zinc and zinc alloys from aqueous alkaline plating baths and to new additives for use in such electrodeposition processes.
Electrodeposition of zinc and zinc alloys, based for example on sodium zincate, has been known for many years. It is not possible to produce a commercially acceptable deposit from a simple sodium zincate electrolyte as the deposit is powdery and dendritic. For this reason, various additives have been proposed to provide improved deposition, such as cyanides (which have obvious environmental problems) and polymers of amines and epichiorohydrin which act as grain refining additives. These polymers are limited to usage in baths having relatively low concentrations of zinc because it is not possible to prevent uncontrolled deposition of zinc at higher metal concentrations. Also, electroplating processes using these additives tend to have poor cathode efficiency, a narrow bright range, a narrow operating window and tend to produce pitted and "burnt" deposits.
More recently, additives have been proposed which allow higher zinc concentrations to be used, which have significantly reduced burning and pitting and which allow a wider range of operating parameters. Further, the additives enable an excellent deposit distribution (that is, evenness of the deposit across the article being plated, irrespective of its shape in particular areas). This maximises the efficiency of zinc usage. These additives are based generally on polyquaternary amine compounds and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,898 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,523, which also provide further discussion of the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,898 describes polymers for use as additives in the electrodeposition of zinc and zinc alloys, the polymers having the general formula:
where R1 to R4 may be the same or different and are, inter alia, methyl, ethyl or isopropyl and Y may be S or O. R5 is an ether linkage such as (CH2)2—O—(CH2)2.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,523 claims ureylene quaternary ammonium polymers in general as brightening agents in zinc alloy electroplating baths. The preferred and exemplified polymers include units of the general formula:
where A may be O, S or N and R may be, inter alia, methyl, ethyl or isopropyl. In the preferred polymers, these units are linked by units derived from, for example a bis(2-haloethyl) ether, a (halomethyl) oxirane or a 2, 2′-(ethylenedioxy)-diethylhalide. Ethylene dihalides such as ethylene dichloride and ethylene dibromide are also suggested but not exemplified.
Further known additives are polycationic compositions based on polymerisation of dimethyl-diallyl ammonium chloride with sulphur dioxide as described in DE 19,509,713.
However, the overall cathodic efficiency of these processes can be low and the resultant deposits may be unsatisfactory in terms of brightness and levelling.
A recent patent application PCT/GB00/00592 provides improved polymers for use as additives in the electrodeposition of zinc and zinc alloys. In particular, this application suggests that by avoiding an ether-type linkage such as R5 in the prior art above, a brighter deposit can be obtained to which it is also easier subsequently to apply conversion coatings.
Another very desirable feature of the electrodeposition of zinc is that the adhesion of the deposit to the substrate must be excellent. This is because zinc has a very low permeability for hydrogen. Thus hydrogen, which is absorbed into the substrate (particularly steel) during the deposition process, may subsequently accumulate at the interface between the substrate and coating and give rise to the formation of "blisters". Such blistering can occur when using the additives in accordance with the above prior art.
WO 00/14305 describes polymers of the general formula:

The applicants have investigated polymers of this type as plating additives and have found that that the overall cathode efficiency remains low and the resistance of the resulting deposit to post-plate blistering is still relatively poor.

Zinc and zinc alloy electroplating additives and electroplating methods