A wafer guide for preventing a wafer breakage in a semiconductor cleaning apparatus includes a lower supporter, side supporters, fixing units and stoppers. The lower supporter is provided with a plurality of slots formed with the same interval in a length direction to vertically stand a plurality of wafers thereon. The side supporters are structured and arranged in parallel at each side above the lower supporter. The side supporters support side end parts of the wafers. The fixing units are adapted to support both end parts of the lower supporter and the side supporters, and may be fixed to a bath. The stoppers are individually coupled to each of the fixing units. The stoppers are operable to generate an error in a close operation of holder units of the robot chuck when the robot chuck deviates from a normal alignment range, so as not to perform a wafer chucking, thereby preventing a wafer breakage during the wafer chucking.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor cleaning apparatuses, and more particularly, to a wafer guide for use in a semiconductor cleaning apparatus, which is capable of preventing a wafer breakage and process error.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices are becoming larger in size and higher in density. As a result, impurity particles or micro-pollution particles of a wafer generated in etching or ion implantation, diffusion processes, etc., considerably influence a production yield. Accordingly a cleaning process for eliminating various pollution materials of wafers produced in semiconductor manufacturing processes is essential to the manufacturing of semiconductor devices.
Conventionally, a wet cleaning process may be used to remove micro-pollution particles such as metal impurities and organic materials from wafers. The wet cleaning process may remove pollution materials by soaking wafers in baths filled with ultra-pure chemicals such as sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and ammonium, etc.
Wafers are generally transferred by a robot chuck. For example, about 50 sheets of wafers grouped as a batch unit from a cassette are chucked and transferred to respective baths using the robot chuck. The grouped wafers are chucked and transferred as a batch unit to a wafer guide adapted inside the respective baths. Specifically, the wafers chucked in batch from a cassette are transferred to a wafer guide that is adapted within a bath using the robot chuck, and a cleaning process is performed in the wafer guide using the chemicals. Then the wafers are transferred to a subsequent process using the robot chuck.
Slots are formed in respective support arms to support wafers of the robot chuck and the wafer guide. The slots are formed with substantially the same interval and in the same number, and each wafer sheet is inserted into each slot, respectively. That is, slots of the same number as the batch unit are formed in the support arm of the robot chuck and the wafer guide to support wafers in the batch unit.
In the robot chuck, support arms are adapted at both sides in parallel with each other so as to individually and simultaneously rotate pivotally on one side thereof in mutually opposite directions. Thus, lower end parts of both support arms become mutually near or far in distance during an open/close operation.
In the robot chuck, support arms of both sides first perform an open operation so as to approach the wafers, and then the support arms of both sides perform a close operation so as to chuck the wafers therein. While in the state of having chucked the wafers therein, the support arms move to approach a wafer guide or cassette. Subsequently, the wafers are transferred in a batch unit to the wafer guide or cassette by again performing an open operation of both support arms.
However, when the robot chuck moves to the wafer guide where previously cleaned wafers are stacked, the support arms of the robot chuck and the wafer guide must be located so that slots are placed on the same vertical lines. For example, when the robot chuck deviates from a predetermined loading position, the slots of the robot chuck and the wafer guide are not precisely matched to one another. Thus, in a chucking step of unloading wafers from the wafer guide by the robot chuck, a portion of the wafers may not be exactly inserted into slots of the robot chuck, and the wafers abnormally chucked in the robot chuck may be broken. The wafers may break in a wafer guide side by a strong chucking pressure of the robot chuck.
Further, for example, when the process continues in the state where the broken wafer remains intact in the wafer guide, wafers that are subsequently loaded into the wafer guide by the robot chuck are transferred to the wafer guide. As a result, additional wafers cannot be sufficiently inserted into slots due to the broken wafer parts remaining in the wafer guide. This causes a relatively severe process defect.
When the process is interrupted owing to such wafer breakage and process defect, much time is consumed to recover the interrupted process. In addition, defective products are created, thereby causing a decrease in productivity.

Wafer guide for preventing wafer breakage in semiconductor cleaning apparatus


In accordance with an embodiment, a circuit includes a mixer having a signal input port, a local oscillator input port and an output port, a lowpass filter circuit having an input coupled to the output port of the mixer and a terminal configured to be connected to a shunt capacitor, and a difference circuit having a first input coupled to the output port of the mixer, and a second input coupled to an output of the lowpass filter. The output of the difference circuit substantially rejects a DC signal component at the output port of the mixer.

Homodyne receivers in which a radio frequency (RF) signal is downconverted using a single frequency conversion have become pervasive in many applications due to the reduced complexity of the RF components used to implement such systems. In comparison to a heterodyne receiver that downconverts a RF signal to an intermediate frequency (IF), filters the IF signal, and then performs one or more additional frequency conversions to downconvert the IF signal to baseband, a homodyne receiver may be implemented using a single frequency conversion stage, thereby eliminating one or more mixing and filtering stages and their associated circuitry.
One issue faced by homodyne mixers is self-mixing of the LO signal which may lead to significant DC offset voltages in the downconverted baseband signal. In some cases, the amplitude of these DC offset voltages may exceed the amplitude of the received signal in radio receivers. In such systems, the DC component at the output of the single conversion mixer is removed by using a highpass filtering network that includes a series capacitor used that blocks DC signals.
In systems in which the received baseband signal has appreciable low frequency content, the cutoff frequency of the DC blocking network may be selected to allow the low frequency content to pass. In some cases, the value of series DC blocking capacitor may be a relatively large value and occupy an appreciable amount of silicon and/or circuit board area.


Systems (100) and methods (600-900) for adaptively controlling a transmitter field in an EAS detection system. The methods comprise: detecting the presence of a first person located in proximity to a first pedestal of the EAS detection system using a first proximity sensor disposed on the first pedestal; determining a first distance value representing a distance from the first pedestal to the first person whose presence was previously detected using distance information obtained from the first proximity sensor; using the first distance value to select a criteria for use in determining whether the alarm issuance should be inhibited; and adaptively controlling the alarm issuance if the criteria which was previously selected is met based at least on a first amplitude of a security tag signal received at the first pedestal.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to Electronic Article Surveillance ("EAS") detection systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to implementing systems and methods for adaptively controlling alarm issuance.
2. Description of the Related Art
EAS detection systems generally comprise an interrogation antenna for transmitting an electromagnetic signal into an interrogation zone, markers which respond in some known electromagnetic manner to the interrogation signal, an antenna for detecting the response of the marker, a signal analyzer for evaluating the signals produced by the detection antenna, and an alarm which indicates the presence of a marker in the interrogation zone. The alarm can then be the basis for initiating one or more appropriate responses depending upon the nature of the facility. Typically, the interrogation zone is in the vicinity of an exit from a facility such as a retail store, and the markers can be attached to articles such as items of merchandise or inventory.
One type of EAS detection system utilizes AcoustoMagnetic ("AM") markers. The general operation of an AM EAS detection system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,510,489 and 4,510,490, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The detection of markers in an AM EAS detection system by pedestals placed at an exit has always been specifically focused on detecting markers only within the spacing of the pedestals. However, the interrogation field generated by the pedestals may extend beyond the intended detection zone. For example, a first pedestal will generally include a main antenna field directed toward a detection zone located between the first pedestal and a second pedestal. When an exciter signal is applied at the first pedestal it will generate an electro-magnetic field of sufficient intensity so as to excite markers within the detection zone. Similarly, the second pedestal will generally include an antenna having a main antenna field directed toward the detection zone (and toward the first pedestal). An exciter signal applied at the second pedestal will also generate an electromagnetic field with sufficient intensity so as to excite markers within the detection zone. When a marker tag is excited in the detection zone, it will generate an electromagnetic signal which can usually be detected by receiving the signal at the antennas associated with the first and second pedestal.
One limitation of EAS detection systems is the detection of tagged items in the back-field area behind the pedestal antennas. Tag detection in this area will trigger alarms that are considered false, since the customer carrying the merchandise is not exiting the store. One method used to reduce back-field is to change the antenna's transmit and receive patterns from transceivers (transmit and receive simultaneously) to transmit or receive only. This method is effective in reducing back-field alarms. However, this method reduces the systems performance in the valid detection area. Other methods which compare received amplitudes between multiple antennas have been successful in reducing back-field false alarms. But, these algorithms could be unreliable due to their dependence on noise amplitudes.

Systems and methods for adaptively controlling alarm issuance


The system for edge direction detection for spatial deinterlace comprises an ignored region detector and an edge direction detection unit. The ignored region detector is configured to receive a first type field of a video frame and to define a search region based on the first type field. The edge direction detection unit is configured to select an edge direction within the search region. The edge direction is associated with an interpolated pixel located on one of a plurality of second type lines of a second type field, where the search region is smaller than the first type field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for spatial deinterlace, and more particularly to a system and method for edge direction detection for spatial deinterlace.
2. Description of the Related Art
Deinterlacing is a process of converting interlaced video into a non-interlaced form. However, deinterlacing will produce some image degradation since it ideally requires "temporal interpolation," which involves guessing the movement of every object in the image and applying motion correction to every object. Interlaced display draws only half of the lines on the screen for each frame, that is, odd lines or even lines alternatively. When video is displayed on a display that can support so high a refresh rate that flickers are not perceivable, interlaced video can be deinterlaced for better viewing. Likewise, when a display must draw the entire screen each time, the video signal must be deinterlaced before it is shown. Right now, all displays except for CRT screens require deinterlace.
One of the popular methods for deinterlace is field combination deinterlacing, which requires interpolation between different fields. In many situations, the interpolation step is done by prediction based on the current field. For example, it is common to determine the direction of edges on the basis of spatial information of the odd field (line 1, line 3, line 5, etc.), and then interpolates data in even lines, such as line 4 according to the edge direction. The display quality of the interpolation partly depends on the search range for the prediction of the edge direction. If the search range is too broad, the determination will be interfered with, and some undesired noises occur. If the search range is too narrow, the determination will probably be wrong.
Because the edge direction detection for spatial deinterlace obviously affects the quality of the display, providing a suitable system and method to process the detection is a very important issue.

System and method for edge direction detection for spatial deinterlace


A primary fuselage structure for an aircraft, including circumferential frames, a floor structure having lateral ends connected to the circumferential frames, at least one strut supporting the floor structure and including a lower end fixed on a circumferential frame and an upper end fixed on the floor structure, and at least one failure-initiating element associated with the strut, including a first arrangement for fastening the strut to a circumferential frame, at a distance from the lower end of the strut, as well as a second arrangement for attaching the circumferential frame to the strut, away from the ends of the strut. A fuselage segment and aircraft, such as an airplane, including the primary fuselage structure are also provided.

The primary fuselage structure of airliners is mainly composed of skins reinforced by circumferential frames and longitudinal stiffeners.
This primary structure comprises a lower floor structure connected at its lateral ends to the circumferential frames and supported by a lattice of struts, sometimes called rods. The aforementioned lower floor is generally called the cargo floor.
The primary structure also comprises a passenger cabin floor structure connected by its lateral ends to the circumferential frames and also supported by struts. The passenger cabin floor is called the main floor in the following.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical example of such a primary fuselage structure 10 seen in cross-section, and shows in particular a circumferential frame 12, a beam 14 of the lower floor structure 16, a lattice of struts 18 each having a lower end fixed to the circumferential frame 12 and an upper end fixed to the beam 14 of the lower floor structure 16 so as to support it, as well as a beam 20 of the main floor structure 22, and two struts 24 each having a lower end fixed to the circumferential frame 12 and an upper end fixed to the beam 20 of the main floor structure 22 so as to support it. The lower floor structure 16 makes it possible to support the floor of the baggage hold 26 of the airplane, while the main floor structure 22 makes it possible to support the floor of the passenger cabin 28.
FIG. 2 illustrates a second typical example of a primary fuselage structure 10, viewed in cross-section, which differs from the primary structure of FIG. 1 in that the passenger cabin comprises a lower deck 30 and an upper deck 32, such that the primary structure also comprises an upper floor structure 34 designed to support the floor of the upper deck.
In certain cases of an airplane crash occurring under low speed conditions, particularly as regards the vertical component of that speed, it is desirable that the impact energy associated with that vertical component be optimally dissipated by a lower portion of the primary structure, defined below the main floor structure 22, such that the repercussions of the vertical impact suffered by the passengers in the cabin area remain below regulatory limits.
To this end, it is desirable, during a first phase immediately following a vertical impact, that a first portion 36 of the primary structure, defined under the lower floor or cargo floor, crushes while transmitting a low level of force to a second portion 38 of this primary structure, defined above the lower floor. This first phase, which typically lasts on the order of 150 milliseconds, has the aim of allowing maximum energy absorption by the first portion 36 of the primary structure. This first phase is normally followed by a second phase during which the second portion 38 of the structure deforms while absorbing the surplus energy that the first portion was unable to absorb.
It is therefore desirable to limit the level of the forces transmitted to the second portion 38 of the primary structure by its first portion 36 during a crash, with the purpose of ensuring that the second portion 38 does not begin deforming prematurely, which would limit the crushing of the first portion 36 and hence the quantity of energy absorbed by the entire lower portion of the primary structure. Limiting the force level transmitted to the second portion 38 of the primary structure during the aforementioned first phase is also desirable for reducing the capacity for resisting these forces required of said second portion 38, and thus limiting the mass of the elements constituting this second portion such as the struts 24 supporting the main floor structure and the circumferential frames 12.
However, a large portion of the forces applied to the first portion 36 of the primary structure during a crash are transmitted to the lower floor structure 16 by the struts 18 supporting it. These forces pass through the lateral ends of the lower floor structure and thus reach directly regions of the circumferential frames 12 which are situated at the base of the second portion 38 of the primary structure, causing premature deformation of this second portion.
Reducing the stiffness of the struts 18 supporting the lower floor structure 16 would allow a reduction in the level of the forces transmitted to the second portion 38 of the primary structure in the event of a crash, but this solution is not satisfactory because it necessarily results in a reduction of the permissible load on the lower floor during normal operation of the airplane.
Another solution which was proposed by the applicant is described in international patent application WO 2009/101372 A1. In this document, a floor structure is supported by struts in the form of compression beams made of composite material, oriented in the vertical direction and each fixed to a circumferential frame. These struts each support at their upper end a gusset able to cut the strut under the influence of a high-level compressive force such as that resulting from a crash.
However, this solution requires that each strut be capable of resisting the cutting means of the corresponding gusset when the strut is subjected to a compression force induced by the loading on the floor, in normal operation, so that the cutting of the strut occurs only in the event of a crash.
Thus this solution necessitates overdimensioning of the struts, which leads to an undesirable increase in the overall mass of the primary structure of the fuselage.
In addition, as explained above, the impact energy resulting from a crash can be largely absorbed by the lower portion of the primary structure of the fuselage of the airplanes.
In fuselages having a metal primary structure, made of aluminum for example, absorption of impact energy results from a plastic deformation of the metal elements constituting the primary structure. The metal elements that deform are in particular the skin, the longitudinal stiffeners, the struts 18 supporting the lower floor structure 16, the struts 24 supporting the main floor structure 22, and a lower portion of each circumferential frame 12 defined below the main floor structure.
However, the use of composite materials in airplane construction is becoming general due to the fact that these materials allow great stiffness to be obtained with low mass, offering the airplane using these composite materials a performance surplus compared with an airplane made of metallic materials.
It has thus been proposed to use such composite materials to construct the main elements of fuselage primary structures, particularly the circumferential frames, the skins and the longitudinal stiffeners.
However, use of these composite materials does not allow these structural elements to deform plastically as elements made of metal do. On the contrary, when they are subjected to a large impact, these elements generally undergo explosive failure, resulting in a relatively low level of absorbed energy.
The use of primary fuselage structures of known type, the main elements whereof are made of composite materials, thus considerably reduces the quantity of energy that can be absorbed by the structure in a crash, particularly in the case of an impact located at the belly of the fuselage, vertically below the central longitudinal axis of that fuselage, which corresponds to the scenario generally used by certification authorities.

Primary fuselage structure for aircraft including struts capable of early failure to increase the absorption of energy in the event of a crash


A system to access one or more user profiles that govern one or more vehicle functions. The system cooperates with a processor and verification module which are adapted to verify, using one or more of biometric information, gesture recognition, facial recognition and device identification information, that a user has authority to access the one or more user profiles, where the one or more profiles are stored in one or more of a vehicle, a cloud and a communications device. An edit module is further provided and adapted to allow the user to make one or more edits to the one or more user profiles.

Whether using private, commercial, or public transport, the movement of people and/or cargo has become a major industry. In today's interconnected world, daily travel is essential to engaging in commerce. Commuting to and from work can account for a significant portion of a traveler's day. As a result, vehicle manufacturers have begun to focus on making this commute, and other journeys, more enjoyable.
Currently, vehicle manufacturers attempt to entice travelers to use a specific conveyance based on any number of features. Most of these features focus on vehicle safety or efficiency. From the addition of safety-restraints, air-bags, and warning systems to more efficient engines, motors, and designs, the vehicle industry has worked to appease the supposed needs of the traveler. Recently, however, vehicle manufactures have shifted their focus to user and passenger comfort as a primary concern. Making an individual more comfortable while traveling instills confidence and pleasure in using a given vehicle, increasing an individual's preference for a given manufacturer and/or vehicle type.
One way to instill comfort in a vehicle is to create an environment within the vehicle similar to that of an individual's home. Integrating features in a vehicle that are associated with comfort found in an individual's home can ease a traveler's transition from home to vehicle. Several manufacturers have added comfort features in vehicles such as the following: leather seats, adaptive and/or personal climate control systems, music and media players, ergonomic controls, and, in some cases, Internet connectivity. However, because these manufacturers have added features to a conveyance, they have built comfort around a vehicle and failed to build a vehicle around comfort.

Parental control over vehicle features and child alert system


At a first step, initial groups are assigned to buttons of an input portion and they are displayed on the display. One initial group is specified in response to the pressed button. At a second step, complex initials and predetermined syllables are assigned to the buttons and they are displayed on the display. One complex initial or one predetermined syllable is specified in response to the pressed button. At a third step, finals are assigned to the buttons and they are displayed on the display. One final is specified in response to the pressed button and a syllable is determined by connecting the specified final with the initial in the specified complex initial. The predetermined syllable specified at the second step or the syllable determined at the third step is determined as an input syllable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Chinese character input method with limited number of buttons.
2. Prior Art
A conventional Chinese input method converts an input syllable into a Chinese character. In the main land of China, a syllable is input by Pinyin. In Taiwan, a syllable is input by Zhuyin.
Every Chinese character consists of one syllable. For the Pinyin method, one syllable is represented by one through six alphabetic character(s). Therefore, even if a keyboard that has twenty-six buttons corresponding to twenty-six alphabetic characters is used, one through six keystroke(s) is (are) required.
Further, a Chinese syllable consists of an initial corresponding to a consonant part and a final corresponding to a vowel part. An initial consists of a single consonant and a final consists of three parts at the maximum. A semi-vowel (transition vowel) may intervene between an initial and a final. A semi-vowel may belong to the initial by connecting with a consonant (in the specification, a combination of an initial and a semi-vowel is referred to as a "complex initial"), or a semi-vowel may belong to the final. On the other hand, when a consonant follows the vowel in the final, the consonant belongs to the final.
An input method using such a structure of a Chinese syllable has been known. In this method, an operator determines a syllable by one keystroke to specify an initial and one keystroke to specify a final. However, this method requires a keyboard having about thirty buttons for inputting the initial and the final.
The above-described Chinese input methods are designed for a general computer having a full-keyboard. In recent years, a Chinese input method for an information device having about twelve buttons such as a cellular phone and PDA is required. In response to the requirement, various methods have been developed to input a Chinese syllable with the fewest possible number of keystrokes using small numbers of buttons.
For example, a input method used in a cellular phone on the market requires a first keystroke to select an initial group containing a plurality of initials, a second keystroke to select an initial vowel of a final, a third keystroke to select a final (a plurality of finals may be assigned to a button), and fourth and subsequent keystrokes to specify a desirable Chinese character from the candidates that belong to the syllables defined by the selected initials and the selected finals.
However, the input method used in a cellular phone cannot specify a syllable with three keystrokes for all kinds of syllables. In some cases, since the three keystrokes merely extract the syllables as candidates, an operator must specify the target character from many candidates, which complicates the input operation.
U.S. patent application No. 20020193984 discloses the Chinese language input system that enables to specify a syllable with three keystrokes using nine through twelve buttons as the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, a first keystroke selects an initial group, a second keystroke selects the initial and a final group, and a third keystroke selects the final. The publication also discloses the Chinese input method that specifies a syllable with two through four keystrokes as the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, a first keystroke selects a sound group, a second keystroke specifies a syllable that consists of an initial and a simple final (a final having a single vowel), a third keystroke specifies a syllable that consists of an initial and a final without a semi-vowel, and a fourth keystroke specifies a syllable that consists of an initial and a final with a semi-vowel. The input method of the second embodiment can specify a syllable that consists an initial and a simple final with only two keystrokes.
However, the Chinese input method of the first embodiment disclosed in the publication can specify all kinds of syllables with three keystrokes, while it cannot specify any syllables with two keystrokes. On the other hand, the method of the second embodiment of the publication can specify a syllable that consists of an initial and a simple final with two keystrokes, while it requires four keystrokes to specify a syllable that consists of an initial and a final with a semi-vowel.
Further, the final groups are symbolized by different symbols in the first embodiment disclosed in the publication. That is, the simple final is symbolized by "?", a complex final transcribed with letters without a semi-vowel is symbolized by "*", a complex final with a semi-vowel "i" is symbolized by "i*", a complex final with a semi-vowel "u" is symbolized by "u*", and a complex final with a semi-vowel "v" is symbolized by "v*". Therefore, a user must understand the meanings of the symbols "?" and "*".

Chinese input method, Chinese input device, and computer-readable medium


An image forming apparatus includes a control unit that changes a ratio between an execution time for executing printing and a stop time for stopping the printing according to any one of a stop control number that is the number of times that an operation of the printing is stopped, a stop control time that is the time during which the operation of the printing is stopped, a printing execution time that is the time during which the printing is executed, and a printing execution control number that is the number of times that the printing is executed, in an intermittent mode that operates by switching between executing the printing and stopping the printing.

When the toners used in an image forming apparatus are excessively affected by heat, the toners stick to each other and are fixed. When a printing operation is performed in this state, the fixed toners may be caught in a doctor blade of a developing device and appear as a blank image or a white spot image. In order to solve such problems, two methods have been taken in the related art.
The first method is a method of reducing the temperature of the toner inside a developing device and the doctor blade by applying cooling air to the developing device case and the doctor blade to improve the convection heat radiation efficiency. However, in this method, it is necessary to provide a cooling structure in the image forming apparatus, and space is limited due to recent miniaturization of image forming apparatuses.
The second method is switching to intermittent printing when the temperature in the image forming apparatus becomes high during printing. In the intermittent printing in which the printing operation and the stoppage of the printing operation are repeatedly executed, the temperature rise can be suppressed by stopping the printing.
However, the temperature may continue to rise even after the transition to the intermittent mode depending on the transition timing to the intermittent mode and the stoppage time during the intermittent mode. In such a case, an image defect may occur.

Image forming apparatus and method of operating an image forming apparatus with intermittent printing modes


A vehicle seat assembly with an extendable front panel is provided to increase the effective length of a vehicle seat cushion. The panel is deployed from a stowed position to a forwardly extending position in response to a predetermined deceleration occurring during a front impact collision of the vehicle. By extending the effective length of the seat cushion, a seat occupant will be prevented from falling to the vehicle floor forward of the seat cushion where additional injuries can be incurred.

The present invention relates to a vehicle seat assembly and in particular to a seat assembly with a front panel to automatically extend the effective length of the vehicle seat cushion in the event of an accident.
Current automobile design standards require that the vehicle contain features to protect unbelted occupants as well as belted occupants. The most well known features to protect an occupant are airbags and automatic belt systems. The airbags or automatic belts are used to restrain the upper torso of a vehicle occupant. The lower torso of an occupant is restrained by knee bolsters in the vehicle instrument panel. However, for the bolsters to be effective, the knees of the occupant must be fairly close to the bolsters before the vehicle collision.
Since the driver's seat must be adjusted to a position that enables the driver to reach the vehicle control pedals, the driver's knees will be positioned fairly close to the instrument panel knee bolsters. However, for occupants seated in the passenger seat of the vehicle, it is not uncommon for the seat to be adjusted too far rearwardly for the knee bolsters to be effective in preventing the occupant from moving forward, off the seat cushion during a frontal impact collision. Without restraint to prevent a seat occupant from moving forward, the occupant can move forward, off the seat cushion. With the legs bent at the knees, the occupant's torso will then fall to the floor forward of the seat cushion between the instrument panel, the airbag (if the vehicle is so equipped) and the front edge of the seat cushion. This can cause severe back injuries as well as facial and head injuries.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a support panel for extension from the front of the seat cushion, during a front impact collision, to increase the effective length of the seat cushion and thereby prevent an unbelted occupant from falling down in front of the seat cushion.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a panel which is rotatably mounted at the front of the seat cushion and stored in a position where the panel forms the front of the seat cushion. During a frontal impact resulting in a deceleration of the vehicle greater than a predetermined level, the panel is automatically deployed to a support position extending forward from the seat cushion. The panel is automatically locked in place to support a seat occupant who has moved forward, onto the panel. Before the occupant can slide forward off the panel, the occupant's knees will strike the knee bolster. This prevents the occupant from dropping down in front of the seat cushion and prevents injuries resulting therefrom. A bias spring urges the support panel to the deployed position. An inertia release latch holds the support panel in its stowed position until the seat experiences the predetermined deceleration necessary to deploy the panel.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Vehicle seat assembly with a front panel


An organic peroxide consisting of 1 to 30 repeating units represented by the formula ##STR1## wherein R stands for one group selected from the class consisting of ethylene, acetylene, cyclohexylene, and phenylene groups and one of 1 and m stands for an integer of at least 1 and 1+m stands for an integer in the range of from 6 to 220. Polymerization initiator for a vinyl monomer consisting of the organic peroxide mentioned above. A method for polymerizing a vinyl monomer by using the polymerization initiator mentioned above.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel organic peroxide, use of the organic peroxide as a polymerization initiator, and a method for the polymerization of a monomer by the use of said organic peroxide as a polymerization initiator. More particularly, a high molecular polymer can be obtained with high efficiency by polymerizing a vinyl monomer in the presence of the organic peroxide as a radical polymerization initiator for the vinyl monomer. The polymer thus obtained has high strength and excels in flexibility and flowability. This invention further relates to a method for polymerization which is characterized by using the organic peroxide as a polymerization initiator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of polymer materials in a wider range of fields in recent years has created a demand for polymers possessing various physical properties. It is known to the art that radical polymerization of a monomer effected by the use of a special initiator produces a modified polymer. As initiators of this sort, such polyfunctional polymerization initiators as 1,1-bis(t-butylperoxy)cyclohexane (Japanese Patent Public Disclosure SHO 54(1979)-107994, tris(t-butyl-peroxy)triazine (Japanese Patent Public Disclosure SHO 58(1983)-83008, and tri-t-butyl ester of pertrimellitic acid (Japanese Patent Public Disclosure SHO 61(1986)-231005 and such polymeric polymerization initiators as polyperoxy phthaloyl ["Journal of Industrial Chemistry", vol. 69, page 718 (1966)] have been disclosed. Further, Japanese Patent Public Disclosure HEI 3(1991)-174460 discloses modification of a resin by the use of a low-temperature decomposition type diacyl type organic peroxide possessing a repeating unit represented by the formula (1): ##STR2## (wherein 1 and n independently stand for an integer in the range of 1 to 20, m stands for 0 or an integer in the range of 1 to 5, and R.sub.1, R.sub.2,R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 independently stand for a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group of 1 to 5 carbon atoms, a cyclohexyl group, or a phenyl group).
To be specific, it is known that the use of such an initiator as 1,1-bis(t-butylperoxy)-cyclohexane enables a monomer to give rise to a polymer improved in resistance against heat and shock and that the use of an initiator such as tris(t-butyl-peroxy)triazine or tri-t-butyl ester of trimellitic acid enables production of a polymer having a backbone of the shape of a pentacle and exhibiting high strength and ideal flowability. It is further known that an attempt is being made to produce a block polymer possessing new physical properties by the use of such polymeric initiators as polyperoxy phthaloyl and that the use of a low-temperature decomposition type diacyl-based organic peroxide possessing a special structure enables production of a polymer with improved in brittle fracture behavior and strength which can resist repeated shocks.
In recent years, however, polymers have been put to a wider range of uses In many cases the quality required of the article shaped from the polymer has reached the point where the conventional method used for the production of the shaped article is no longer satisfactory. For the enhancement of the mechanical strength of a polymer, for example, it is known to use a method for giving the polymer an increased molecular weight by the use of such a special initiator as described above. Generally, however, the polymer produced suffers from degraded formability. In other words, a polymer which enjoys high mechanical strength and, at the same time, excels in formability cannot be obtained by merely increasing the molecular weight of the polymer. Even in the case of the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure HEI 3(1991)-174460, the effect cannot be called fully satisfactory in light of the severe requirements of the market. It is desired to develop a polymer which excels in formability and moreover enjoys higher mechanical strength than that of the conventional polymer and to perfect a polymerization initiator capable of enabling production of such an improved polymer.


An ultrasound imaging system may include a probe, a transmitting circuit which may excite the probe to transmit ultrasound beams towards a scanning target in at least three ultrasound propagation directions; a receiving circuit and a beamforming unit which may respectively receive the echoes of the ultrasound beams in the ultrasound propagation directions to obtain the echo signals in each of the ultrasound propagation directions; a data processing unit which may obtain velocity vectors of target points in the scanning target using the echo signals in each of the ultrasound propagation directions and obtain ultrasound images of at least a portion of the scanning target using the echo signals; and a display which may display the velocity vectors and the ultrasound images.

In medical ultrasound imaging, it is beneficial to obtain velocity vectors of moving objects in an organism (e.g., moving tissues, blood or other fluid, etc.). However, by traditional Doppler ultrasound imaging, only a velocity in the transmitting direction of the ultrasound waves (i.e., the propagation direction of the ultrasound waves) can be obtained. Even if a velocity vector can be obtained by synthesizing two velocities in two angles, it can only represent the velocity of fluid in a two-dimensional plane, but the magnitude and direction of the actual velocity in a three-dimensional space cannot be truly provided. Furthermore, in a traditional method for measuring a velocity of a moving object using focused ultrasound waves, since the time resolution is limited and the transmitting of the focused ultrasound waves is performed line by line, it is hard to ensure the spatial continuity of the velocity measurement, especially when a moving object with high velocity is measured.

SHENZHEN MINDRAY BIO-MEDICAL ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


Novel processes for the preparation of peripheral opioid antagonist compounds and intermediates thereto. The compounds prepared by the present processes may be useful, for example, as antagonists to the mu, kappa and delta opioid receptors, and thereby may be useful in the treatment of gastrointestinal motility disorders, and in preventing peripheral opiate induced side effects. The present processes may offer improved yields, purity, ease of preparation and/or isolation of intermediates and final product, and more industrially useful reaction conditions and workability.

The trans-3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidines are an important class of compounds which exhibit opioid antagonist activity as a result of the 3-methyl substituent. Alvimopan (i.e., (+)-2-[(S)-benzyl-3-[4(R)-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3(R),4-dimethylpiperidin-1-yl]propionamido]acetic acid), shown below, represents an example of this class of opioid antagonists. This compound is a peripherally-active antagonist which has a high affinity for the μ-opioid receptor in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract and is useful in the treatment of gastro-intestinal motility disorders. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,270,328; 5,250,542; 5,159,081; and 5,434,171.

A synthesis of Alvimopan, partially outlined in FIG. 1, has been described in Werner et al., J. Org. Chem., 1996, 61, 587. The drug product was prepared in 12 steps and 6.2% yield from 1,3-dimethyl-4-piperidone as starting material. The synthesis includes the preparation of a (3R,4R)-3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-piperidine nucleus (A), which was achieved in seven steps and 14.4% overall yield. While the next step, involving the Michael addition of (A) to methyl acrylate to produce intermediate (B), proceeds in good yield (96%), alkylation of the dianion of (B) with benzyl bromide proceeds with poor diastereoselectivity (47:53 mixture of the (3R,4R,αS)- and (3R,4R,αR)-isomers of the alkylation products, respectively). Consequently, the diastereomers require separation by recrystallization of their hydrochloride salts from methanol, resulting in low yields of intermediate (C) (34%). The poor diastereoselectivity of the alkylation step contributes to the low overall yield for the synthesis of Alvimopan.
In view of the importance of Alvimopan and related trans-3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidine derivatives and intermediates in the treatment of gastrointestinal motility disorders and other conditions involving μ-opioid receptors, improved syntheses are needed. Such improvements may include, for example, one or more of the following: enhanced diastereoselectivity of individual reaction steps, increased product yields, use of lower cost starting materials, lowered energy consumption (e.g., avoidance of reactions conducted at very high or low temperatures or pressures), reduction in the number of synthetic steps, improved scale-up conditions, and the like. The methods and compositions of the present invention are directed to these, as well as other important needs.

Processes for the preparation of peripheral opioid antagonist compounds and intermediates thereto


When a terminal is moved to an area covered by a different switching node RNC of a radio access network, degradation of speech quality is prevented by returning a transcoder insertion connection to a transcoder-free-operation connection. When the terminal is moved and the switching node RNC of the radio access network is changed, a relocation is performed by inserting the transcoder, re-confirmation of parameter information of a bandwidth-compression coding system is requested for a local side switching node RNC and a remote side switching node RNC and, when the transcoder can be bypassed according to the confirmation, the transcoder is removed to return to the transcoder-free-operation connection mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interface between a network for transmitting a bandwidth-compressed signal and a network for transmitting non-bandwidth-compressed signal. Particularly, in an interface between a switching node of a radio access network for transmitting a bandwidth-compressed audio signal and a switching node of a core network for transmitting a non-bandwidth-compressed audio signal opposing to the radio access network in a communication network to which the radio access network and the core network are connected, the present invention relates to an insertion/removal control of a transcoder provided in the switching node of the core network for decoding the bandwidth-compressed audio signal transmitted in the radio access network. The switching node of the radio access network is referred to as RNC (Radio Network Controller). As the switching node of the core network having a transcoder, a MSC (Mobile Switching Center) having a switching function and a MGW (Media Gateway Server) having a gateway switching function are known. Although the MSC and MGS are different from each other in view of their functions in the core network, the MSC and MGS operate in the same way in view of the insertion/removal control of the transcoder. Therefore, in the following description, the MSC will be described as a typical example of the switching node of the core network, which includes the transcoder.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a new mobile communication system, a system, which is constructed with a core network constructed as a fixed network for performing a position control, a call control and a service control and a radio access network for terminating a radio technology and having an interface between the switching node RNC of the radio access network and the switching node MSC of the core network defined as Iu interface, has been proposed. The Iu interface is defined as a hierarchic structure including a control plane for exchanging control signals between switching nodes and a user plane for exchanging transmission signals and control signals between users. The user plane is constructed with a transmission portion for transmitting a transmission signal such as an audio signal and/or data as AAL2 cell in ATM and a control signal portion for performing a negotiation between users. When a communication is performed between a calling terminal and a called terminal, the audio signal and/or the data signal is transmitted as a packet signal in ATM after a negotiation between the terminals is performed through the user plane.
The audio signal is transmitted as a 64 kbps PCM signal within the core network, since, in the core network, there are communications with a fixed cable telephone network and communications with other radio access networks. This is because the audio signal is standardized such that it is transmitted as the 64 kbps PCM signal by taking the cable telephone network and the interface with respect to other networks into consideration. On the other hand, in order to effectively utilize radio frequency, which is finite resource, the audio signal to be transmitted is bandwidth-compressed. A codec for bandwidth-compressing the audio signal is provided in each terminal so that the audio signal is transmitted in the radio access network as a narrow band signal of, for example, 9.6 kbps. Therefore, a transcoder (TC) for converting a bandwidth-compressed audio signal into a 64 kbps PCM signal, transmitting the latter to the side of the core network or converting a 64 kbps PCM signal into a bandwidth-compressed audio signal and transmitting the latter to the radio access network is provided in the switching node MSC of the core network to perform the conversion between the bandwidth-compressed audio signal and the 64 kbps PCM signal. FIG. 9 shows a construction for converting the bandwidth-compressed audio signal into the 64 kbps PCM signal and transmitting the latter signal.
In FIG. 9, DHT (Diversity Handover Trunk) is provided in the switching node RNC on each of a calling side and a called side to play a hand-over function in a state of diversity.
Assuming that the called side is a radio terminal utilizing the same audio compression coding system, the audio signal is coded/decoded by at least four coding/decoding devices in the passage from the calling side to the called side, that is, a codec of the calling terminal, a transcoder of the switching node MSC on the calling side, a transcoder of the switching node of the called terminal and a codec of the called terminal. Therefore, distortion of the transmission signal due to the coding/decoding method is accumulated, resulting in a degraded audio signal quality. If transcoders are inserting into all channels of the switching node MSC, the cost therefor becomes high and a signal delay may occur due to the signal conversions.
In a case where one audio compression coding system is used in the mobile communication network, the calling and called terminals have identical codecs. Therefore, there is no need of converting the bandwidth-compressed signal into the 64 kbps PCM signal by using the transcoder of the switching node MSC. That is, there is no problem if the audio signal is transmitted as a bandwidth compression coded, narrow band signal within the core network without using the transcoder. In such case, it is possible to reduce the installation cost of transcoders and, further, the quality of the audio signal can be improved since the number of coding/decoding steps to be performed in the communication is reduced. Therefore, in the mobile communication network using one and the same compression coding system, a system has been employed in which a bandwidth-compressed audio signal is transmitted as it is by bypassing the transcoder in the switching node of the core network. This system is referred to as Transcoder Free Operation (TrFO).
FIG. 10 shows a connection for the Transcoder Free Operation.
In the above mentioned new mobile communication system, it has been proposed to use an AMR (Adaptive Multi Rate Codec) as the compression coding system. The AMR can determine its conversion rate dynamically in a range from 4.75 kbps to 12.2 kbps, for example. Further, the class of AMR is assigned dependent upon tolerable error rate and the assignment of the coding frame of the AMR is performed by transmitting a RFCI (Rab sub-Flow Combination Identifier) information assigning a SDU (Service Data Unit) size of a table describing the conversion type between users by using the user plane and negotiating mutually between the calling terminal and the called terminal.
As mentioned, in the Transcoder Free Operation using the AMR compression coding system, the RFCI information for compression-coding is determined by users in the user plane of the interface between the switching node MSC of the core network and the switching node RNC of the radio access network. Therefore, when the transcoder is inserted in a communication path, the switching node MSC of the core network must insert the transcoder by executing initializing procedures between the switching node MSC and the switching node RNC of the radio access network.
It is assumed that a communication between a calling terminal and a called terminal is performed by bypassing a transcoder in a switching node MSC using the TrFO connection. In such case, one of the terminal, which is moving, enters into an area covered by a switching node RNC of a different radio access network while switching a base station by the hand-over. This state is shown in FIG. 9. In this case, there may be a case where the terminal moves to a switching node RNC of a different communication carrier. For example, in Europe, there may be a communication crossing national boundaries. In such case, when relocation is performed to a switching node RNC of a different carrier, it may be impossible to continue the TrFO connection since the same RFCI information is not always used.
In such case, it is necessary to initialize a local side switching node MSC, that is, the relocating terminal side, of a core network by inserting a transcoder, convert an audio signal into a standard 64 kbps PCM signal, further convert the latter into a bandwidth-compressed signal corresponding to a remote terminal side and transmit the bandwidth-compressed signal to the remote terminal side. This is because there is no guarantee that the same RFCI information for the bandwidth-compression as that previously used can be used for a new switching node RNC.
As described, when a terminal moves to a switching node RNC of a new radio access network under the TrFO connection, a transcoder is inserted by performing an initialization of transcoder with respect to the switching node of the new radio access network.
Therefore, when the terminal enters into the area covered by the new switching node RNC and the transcoder in the switching node MSC is inserted, it is necessary to insert at least four coding/decoding devices as mentioned previously and degradation of tone quality can not be avoided.
In order to solve this problem, a method has been proposed (Through Connection and Iu User Plane Initialization during TrFO establishment 2000.7.16 Siemens 3GPP TSG CN WG4#03 TdocN4-00476). In the proposed method, a TrFO connection between a switching node RNC of a radio access network on a remote side in which a terminal is not moved and a switching node MSC of a core network is kept continued and a negotiation is performed between the switching node MSC of the core network and the switching node RNC of the new radio access network on the side of the moving terminal by inserting a transcoder to inquire of the new switching node about RFCI information. When the RFCI information is the same as that used in the previous communication and satisfies the TrFO condition, the system is controlled such that it is shifted to the TrFO.
In this proposal, however, the procedure for shifting the TrFO by inserting/removing the transcoder is complicated, compared with the system in which the negotiation is performed after the re-initialization is performed once. That is, when a negotiation is performed between the new switching node RNC of the radio access network and the switching node MSC of the core network and the RFCI information is different from that used for the previous TrFO connection, a re-initialization including the remote side switching node RNC becomes necessary, so that the procedure therefor becomes complicated.

Communication system and alignment method of transcoder


A method for inhibiting the formation and/or agglomeration of clathrate hydrates in a petroleum fluid stream containing water is disclosed. The disclosed method uses predetermined inhibitors having a guest group, a polymer backbone, and an anchor group positioned between the guest group and the polymer backbone. The inhibitor predetermination method comprises selection of the polymer backbone, anchor group and guest group using several types of criteria. The polymer backbone should produce a substantially water soluble polymer in combination with the anchor group and the guest group. The anchor group should be a hydrophilic moiety with between one and four hydrogen bonding atoms. The guest group should be either a hydrophobic or amphiphilic moiety with a carbon atom to heteroatom ratio greater than or equal to about two to one and an average van der Waals diameter between about 3.8 angstroms and about 8.6 angstroms. Some inhibitors selected using the disclosed predetermination method have produced a subcooling temperature of about 30.0.degree. F. Of 56 predetermined inhibitors, 18 have produced a subcooling temperature .gtoreq.24.0.degree. F., 22 have produced a subcooling temperature <24.0.degree. F. but .gtoreq.15.0.degree. F., and 16 have produced a subcooling temperature <15.0.degree. F. but >10.0.degree. F.

Carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and various hydrocarbons, such as methane, ethane, propane, normal butane and isobutane, are present in natural gas and other petroleum fluids. However, water is typically found mixed in varying amounts with such petroleum fluid constituents. Under conditions of elevated pressure and reduced temperature clathrate hydrates can form when such petroleum fluid constituents or other hydrate formers are mixed with water. Clathrate hydrates are water crystals which form a cage-like structure around guest molecules such as hydrate forming hydrocarbons or gases. Some hydrate forming hydrocarbons include, but are not limited to, methane, ethane, propane, isobutane, butane, neopentane, ethylene, propylene, isobutylene, cyclopropane, cyclobutane, cyclopentane, cyclohexane, and benzene. Some hydrate forming gases include, but are not limited to, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and chlorine.
Gas hydrate crystals or gas hydrates are a class of clathrate hydrates of particular interest to the petroleum industry because of the pipeline blockages that they can produce during the production and/or transport of natural gas and other petroleum fluids. For example, at a pressure of about 1 MPa ethane can form gas hydrates at temperatures below 4.degree. C., and at a pressure of 3 MPa ethane can form gas hydrates at temperatures below 14.degree. C. Such temperatures and pressures are not uncommon for many operating environments where natural gas and other petroleum fluids are produced and transported.
As gas hydrates agglomerate they can produce hydrate blockages in the pipe or conduit used to produce and/or transport natural gas or other petroleum fluid. The formation of such hydrate blockages can lead to a shutdown in production and thus substantial financial losses. Furthermore, restarting a shutdown facility, particularly an offshore production or transport facility, can be difficult because significant amounts of time, energy, and materials, as well as various engineering adjustments, are often required to safely remove the hydrate blockage.

Method for predetermining a polymer for inhibiting hydrate formation


A plastic floor board processing technology using digital printing, aiming to solve the problem relating to the high production cost, comprising the steps of: preparing a base material; blending the base material; extruding the blended base material into a mold to form a stone-plastic base material; adjusting a gap between a surface embossing roll and a bottom embossing roll to enable the stone-plastic base material to pass through the gap; generating embossing patterns and positioning marks at equal intervals on a surface of the stone-plastic base material; cooling the stone-plastic base material; cutting the stone-plastic base material into plastic floorboards; using a digital printer to print the plastic floorboards. According to the present disclosure, patterns are directly printed on the surface of the stone-plastic base material, which avoids the processes of arranging a color film and a wear layer, lowers the production cost and improves the production efficiency.

With the raise of people's environmental awareness, developing eco-friendly products has become important for floor enterprises. Presently, PVC floorboards have become increasingly popular because of prominent properties that conventional floor decoration materials do not have. The advantages of PVC floor boards, including good decorating performance, effortless installation, convenient maintenance, easy recycling, environmental protection, comfortable foot feeling and high safety, etc., enable them to be widely used in construction projects and become the users' primary choice among floor decoration materials.
To ensure the necessary properties of floor boards, the conventional processing technology of floor boards roughly comprises material preparation, injection molding, shaping and cutting, and to make the floor boards more aesthetically pleasing and durable, patterns resembling wood grains are embossed on the floor board surface by embossing rolls. Moreover, to reveal a color like wood floor board, a color film needs to be customized and laid on the embossed patterns, and a wear layer needs to be arranged after laying the color film, which sharply increase the production cost.
Thus, it is urgent for those skilled in the art to provide a novel method.

Plastic floorboard processing technology using digital printing

ZHEJIANG KINGDOM NEW MATERIAL GROUP CO., LTD.


A starting system for a small-sized engine is described which achieves downsizing, light-weight, and cost reduction of the system, prevents entry of dust or foreign substances at the time of assembly, and achieves easy assembly of a motor. The starting system for a small-sized engine includes a recoil starting system and a motor starting system integrated in a starter case, in which the motor starting system has a configuration in which a pinion is mounted on an output shaft of a reducer motor by an one-way clutch of a needle bearing and the pinion is engaged with a starting gear 6 of an engine, and the starter case has a configuration in which an inner lid is secured to a crankcase of the engine together by a screw and the inner lid has a joint portion with respect to the crankcase and a mounting seat for the reducer motor on the outside thereof.

In the related art, in the starting system for a small-sized engine, a configuration is known such that a rotor gear is penetrated through a spindle of a recoil starter and is engaged with a reduction gear of an electric starter motor juxtaposed with the recoil starter, and the rotor gear rotates only in one direction by a reel of the recoil starter and a one-way clutch provided on the reduction gear to transmit the rotation to a crankshaft (for example, see Patent Document 1).
The above-described starting system is also comprised of a pinion having the one-way clutch mounted on an intermediate shaft to which the rotation is transmitted from the starter motor via the reduction gear, and the pinion is engaged with a start gear of the engine. A starter case is upsized and the weight is increased correspondingly, thereby increasing the cost. In addition, since the starter case has an opened structure having no inner lid, dust or foreign substances enters easily at the time of assembly, and hence there arises a problem of difficulty of motor assembly.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2521096


A concentric-shaft rotational drive system for an articulated arm transfer device adaptable for imparting movement to an assembly inside a vacuum chamber wherein rotary movement is imparted to rotors inside the vacuum chamber by means of magnetic fields produced by stators outside the vacuum chamber

1. Field of the Invention
The apparatus of the present invention relates generally to material transfer devices. The material transferred might include, but not be limited to, semiconductor wafers, such as Silicon and Gallium Arsenide, semiconductor packaging substrates, such as High Density Interconnects, semiconductor manufacturing process imaging plates, such as masks or reticles, and large area display panels, such as Active matrix LCD substrates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The transfer of delicate silicon wafers or the like between a plurality of work stations or locations in the manufacture of semiconductor devices presents unique handling problems. The silicon wafers are very delicate and have highly polished surfaces. When the wafers are abruptly moved, they tend to slide. This sliding action can cause the silicon wafers to abrade or alternatively can cause damage to their edges if they collide.
There are numerous devices described in the prior art for transferring silicon wafers. For example:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,836 discloses an apparatus which includes a supply carrier with a plurality of ledges to hold the silicon wafers and a withdrawal device having a vacuum chuck. The vacuum chuck is attached to an elevator which raises and lowers the chuck. A horizontal transfer arm coupled to the vacuum chuck is used to transfer the silicon wafer from the supply carrier to a desired work station.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,595 discloses a wafer transfer handling apparatus having an indexable carrier for transferring wafers to and from work stations. Wafers enter and leave the wafer carrier on an air slide with the aid of a wafer ejector acceptor arm having directional air jets. The wafer ejector acceptor arm controls the driving of the wafers into or out of the carrier from or onto the air slide, which moves the waters to or from a work station.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,062,463, 3,874,525 and 4,208,159 also disclose wafer transfer devices which include either pneumatic components or gripping devices for handling the wafers.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,666,366 and 4,909,701 disclose wafer transfer handling apparatus having an articulated arm assembly which extends and retracts in a "froglike" motion to transfer an object such as a wafer between a plurality of locations. Two articulated arms are operatively coupled such that when one arm is driven by a motor the articulated arms extend and retract in a "froglike" or "frogkick" type of motion. A platform is coupled to the arms and has the object to be transferred disposed thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,601 discloses wafer transfer handling apparatus having an articulated arm assembly which includes a concentric-shaft, rotational drive system. However, such drive system requires rotary seals which can contaminate the vacuum chamber. In the drive system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,601 the inner shaft 98 is mounted on a drum 111 which is rotated by a cable 113 mounted on a drive 115 which is rotated by a belt. It appears that the drive 115 rotates in an aperture in the vacuum chamber, thus requiring a rotary seal. The hollow middle shaft 96 is mounted on a drum 101 which is rotated by a cable 103 mounted on a drive 100 which is rotated by a belt. It is not clear which components are inside the vacuum, but it seems clear that some rotating member must rotate in an aperture in the vacuum chamber, thus requiring a rotary seal. The device of the present invention has no such rotary seals. All bearings of the present invention are entirely within the vacuum, and all rotating parts are entirely within the vacuum.


Electrostatic chucks are disclosed for holding a wafer or other substrate during microlithographic transfer of a pattern from a reticle to a surface of the substrate using a charged particle beam or other energy beam. The chucks are configured especially to hold the substrate easily and completely for better substrate planarity and better conduction of heat from the substrate to the chuck during exposure. An embodiment of the chuck includes a base plate including a first region and a second region. The first region includes a central region and a peripheral segment region, and the second region includes a general peripheral region that, in combination with the peripheral segment region, surrounds the central region. An insulating layer overlies the base plate and defines a wafer-mounting surface. First and second electrode sets are situated between the base plate and insulating layer. The first electrode set is located in the first region so as to occupy the central region and peripheral segment region, and the second electrode set is located in the second region so as to occupy the general peripheral region. When initiating attachment of the substrate to the chuck, the first electrode set is energized before energizing the second electrode set.

This invention pertains to microlithography (transfer of an image of a pattern, defined by a reticle or mask, to a sensitive substrate using an energy beam). Microlithography is a key technique used in the manufacture of microelectronic devices such as integrated circuits, displays, and the like. More specifically, this invention pertains to microlithography performed using a charged particle beam, wherein pattern-image transfer is performed in a vacuum chamber. Even more specifically, the invention pertains to an electrostatic chuck to which the substrate (e.g., semiconductor wafer) is mounted during transfer of the pattern to the substrate.
Charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography is performed in a vacuum chamber, with the substrate (xe2x80x9cwaferxe2x80x9d) mounted to the surface of an electrostatic wafer chuck. Specifically, the underside of the wafer is mounted to an upstream-facing mounting surface of the chuck to present the resist-coated upstream-facing surface of the wafer for microlithography. Desirably, the wafer chuck holds the wafer such that the resist-coated surface is planar during microlithography. To such end, an attractive force between the mounting surface and the wafer typically is produced electrostatically. The electrostatic force is generated by electrically energizing electrodes situated beneath the mounting surface.
The wafer chuck should hold the wafer firmly and completely during microlithographic exposure. In actual practice, however, mounting difficulties can arise whenever the wafer is warped or otherwise deformed. For example, if the central region of the wafer domes xe2x80x9cdownwardxe2x80x9d (toward the mounting surface of the chuck), then the central region of the wafer is attached easily to the mounting surface of the chuck by energizing the electrodes. Also, as the more peripheral regions of the wafer are drawn progressively to the mounting surface, the center of the wafer tends to flatten. In contrast, whenever the central region of the wafer is domed xe2x80x9cupwardxe2x80x9d (away from the mounting surface of the chuck), the initial strong attraction of the periphery of the wafer to the mounting surface of the chuck tends to prevent the central region of the wafer from being drawn toward the mounting surface of the chuck. As a result, the wafer, when mounted to the chuck surface, does not present a planar upstream-facing surface for microlithography.
A conventional electrostatic chuck configured to solve such a problem is disclosed in Japan Kxc3x4kai Patent Document No. Sho 60-95932. In this electrostatic chuck, an electrode situated on a round insulated base plate is covered with an insulation layer. The external upstream-facing surface of the insulation layer serves as the mounting surface of the chuck. The electrode is divided into a circular central region surrounded by a peripheral region. A voltage is applied first to the central-region electrode to draw the central region of the wafer under-surface toward the mounting surface of the chuck. After a specified delay time, a voltage is applied to the peripheral-region electrode to attach the peripheral region of the wafer under-surface to the chuck.
The following Equation (1) defines attachment force (xe2x80x9cchuck powerxe2x80x9d) P per unit of surface area of the mounting surface of the chuck:
P=∈0∈*2V2/[2(d+∈*x)2]xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
wherein ∈0 s the dielectric constant of a vacuum, ∈* is relative dielectric constant of the dielectric used to make the insulation layer of the chuck, V is the voltage applied to the chuck electrode (chuck voltage), d is the thickness of the insulation layer, and x is the thickness of a vacuum layer situated between the mounting surface of the chuck and the under-surface of the wafer.
As is apparent from Equation (1), a vacuum layer (having a thickness x) situated between the wafer and the mounting surface causes the effective thickness of the dielectric layer to be increased to greater than d. This causes a local corresponding decrease in chuck power P. To obtain maximal attachment force of the wafer to the mounting surface of the chuck, the vacuum layer ideally has a thickness x=0.
With a conventional electrostatic chuck, if the wafer periphery is warped downward to an extent not exceeding a certain threshold, then by applying a sufficiently high voltage to the electrodes of the chuck the wafer can be xe2x80x9cflattenedxe2x80x9d sufficiently (by the central region of the wafer being attracted to the mounting surface) to cause substantially the entire under-surface of the wafer to contact the mounting surface. However, if such peripheral warping of the wafer exceeds the threshold, then a substantial vacuum-layer thickness x persists between the central region of the under-surface of the wafer and the mounting surface of the chuck. The vacuum layer causes a substantial decrease of chuck power P in the central region of the wafer, leaving the central region of the wafer actually not contacting the mounting surface. Meanwhile, even though the peripheral region of the wafer is attached to the mounting surface, the persistent vacuum layer beneath the central region of the wafer prevents, during exposure of the wafer, heat in the central region of the wafer from being conducted away by the chuck. Consequently, the wafer temperature rises sufficiently to cause significant thermal deformation of the wafer, making accurate pattern transfer very difficult or impossible to perform.
In view of the disadvantages of the prior art as summarized above, an object of the invention is to provide electrostatic wafer chucks configured to achieve easy and ready attachment of the entire downstream-facing surface of the wafer to the mounting surface of the chuck. Such attachment is achievable with comparatively small respective voltages being applied to the chuck electrodes, even whenever the wafer periphery is warped downward toward the mounting surface (i.e., whenever the central region of the wafer is domed away from the mounting surface). Another object is to provide charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography apparatus that comprise such a wafer chuck. Yet another object is to provide wafer-holding methods for CPB microlithography, including use of such a chuck.
To such end and according to a first aspect of the invention, electrostatic wafer chucks are provided. An embodiment of such a wafer chuck comprises a base plate, an insulating layer, and first and second electrodes. The base plate comprises a first region and a second region. The first region includes a central region and a peripheral segment region, and the second region includes a general peripheral region that, in combination with the peripheral segment region, surrounds the central region. The insulating layer overlies the base plate and defines a wafer-mounting surface of the chuck. The first and second electrode sets are situated between the base plate and insulating layer. The first electrode set is located in the first region so as to occupy the central region and peripheral segment region, and the second electrode set is located in the second region so as to occupy the general peripheral region. The chuck also includes a power supply connected to the first and second electrode sets. The power supply is configured, when starting energization of the chuck to hold a substrate to the wafer-mounting surface electrostatically, to electrically energize the first electrode set before energizing the second electrode set.
With such a wafer chuck, whenever the peripheral region of the wafer or other substrate (generally referred to herein as a xe2x80x9cwaferxe2x80x9d) is warped toward the wafer-mounting surface, the peripheral region is attracted to the wafer-mounting surface. According to the invention, by electrically energizing (i.e., applying voltage to) the first electrode set in the first region before energizing the second electrode set in the second region, any gap between the wafer and the wafer-mounting surface is reduced automatically. I.e., a region on the periphery of the wafer is drawn strongly to the wafer-mounting surface, which tends to draw the central region of the wafer toward the wafer-mounting surface. Then, when the second electrode set is energized subsequently, the remainder of the periphery of the wafer is drawn to the wafer-mounting surface, thereby completing full contact of the wafer with the wafer-mounting surface. According to Equation (1) above, the chuck power P is increased substantially in the central region of the wafer compared to conventional wafer chucks. Also, since every part of the wafer is drawn into contact with the wafer-mounting surface, thermal conduction of heat from the wafer to the chuck is improved substantially compared to conventional wafer chucks. Consequently, thermal warping of the wafer is reduced and microlithographic-exposure accuracy is improved correspondingly.
Desirably, each of the first and second electrode sets comprises respective first and second electrodes. One of the electrodes in each electrode set is connected to a positive-voltage output of the power supply and the other electrode in each electrode set is connected to a negative-voltage output of the power supply. Further desirably, the first and second electrodes of the first electrode set have planar profiles that are mirror images of each other and have similar surface areas. Similarly, the first and second electrodes of the second electrode set have planar profiles that are mirror images of each other and have similar surface areas.
To achieve the temporal delay in energization of the second set of electrodes relative to the first set of electrodes, a delay circuit can be connected between the power supply and the second set of electrodes.
According to another aspect of the invention, charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography apparatus are provided. An embodiment of such an apparatus comprises an illumination-optical system, a projection-optical system, and an electrostatic wafer chuck as summarized above. The illumination-optical system is situated and configured to direct an illumination charged particle beam to a pattern-defining reticle so as to illuminate a region of the pattern on the reticle. The projection-optical system is situated and configured to direct an imaging beam, generated by passage of the illumination beam through the illuminated region of the reticle, from the reticle to a sensitive substrate. The wafer chuck is situated to hold the sensitive substrate as the sensitive substrate is being exposed with the pattern by the imaging beam.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, methods are provided, in the context of performing CPB microlithography of a pattern, defined by a reticle, onto a sensitive substrate, for holding the substrate. In an embodiment of such a method, an electrostatic wafer chuck is provided that includes a base plate, an insulating layer, and first and second electrode sets as summarized above. When initiating attachment of the substrate to the wafer chuck, the first electrode set is energized before energizing the second electrode set. To continue holding the substrate to the wafer-mounting surface, energization of both sets of electrodes is continued.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Electrostatic wafer chuck, and charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus and methods comprising same


A device to mount a control lever to a bicycle handlebar includes a bracket, an expanding bolt, and a fixing member. The bracket is configured to be connected to the control lever and includes an inlet opening with a center axis, a first tapered portion extending along an axial direction, and at least one tapered outer serration formed on the first tapered portion. The expanding bolt includes a tubular portion and a second tapered portion extending along the axial direction. The tubular portion includes an outer threaded surface. The fixing member is disposed on the tubular portion of the expanding bolt. The first and second tapered portions are configured to operate so as to push the fixing member against an inner surface of the bicycle handlebar when the device is mounted to the bicycle handlebar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device to mount a control lever to a bicycle handlebar.
2. Discussion of the Background
U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,772 discloses an embedding typed handbrake apparatus configured to be installed in an end section of a bicycle handlebar. The contents of this patent are incorporated herein, by reference, in their entirety. This handbrake apparatus includes an operating lever pin-joined to a positioning seat that is sequentially joined to a stopping ring, a spring, and a locking seat through a locking bolt. A first end of a brake sleeve is thread into the body of the bicycle handlebar, via a cable entrance hole, and is fixed to the locking seat. A second end of the brake sleeve is coupled to a brake assembly mounted to a wheel of the bicycle. A brake wire is thread through the operating lever, via an axial through hole of the locking bolt, and inserted into the brake sleeve. The brake wire passes through the brake sleeve and connects to the brake assembly. As such, actuation of the operating lever causes a tension within the brake wire to increase or decrease. Variation of the tension manipulates the brake assembly.

Device to mount control lever to bicycle


An integrated circuit module in which an error detection circuit compares data generated internally on module with data generated externally from another substantially identical module. An error detect output is asserted upon the condition that data generated internally on module and data generated externally from module do not match. A circuit alters the internally generated data by injecting a zero bit and then a one bit data into the internally generated data to thereby generate altered data. Error anticipation control logic generates a test condition, which corresponds to the expected error condition caused by altered data, by first expecting to detect the effect of the injected zero bit and then expecting to detect the effect of the injected one bit. An error-0 comparison circuit compares the actual error detect output with expected error detect output for the zero bit. An error-1 comparison circuit compares the actual error detect output with expected error detect output for the one bit. An error output is asserted if the actual error detect output and the expected error detect output do not match in either of the two cases.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data processing systems, and more particularly, to means for continuously checking for failures in error checking logic.
2. Description of the Related Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,258 of Daniel Jackson, granted on Nov. 27, 1979 and assigned to Intel Corporation, detection of errors is accomplished by a redundancy method known as functional redundancy checking (FRC). In this method, an integrated circuit component is duplicated and output signals from the two identical components are compared in an FRC logic. An error condition is reported if the output signals do not match one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,955 of Johnson et al., granted on Dec. 20, 1988 and assigned to Intel Corporation, describes a way of recovering from an error detected by the FRC logic where one of the components is found to be faulty. This is done by splitting the components apart so that the faulty one is disengaged from the system and the operative one continues in use, but without the FRC checking capability.
In these prior circuits, if the FRC logic itself is not working correctly error conditions may go unreported. Because the FRC logic is what the system relies on to correctly identify errors, it is important that the FRC logic itself be tested during normal operation of the system. This need gave rise to U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,270 of Johnson et al., granted on Feb. 20, 1990 and assigned to Intel Corporation, which describes a redundant module checking system in which the error checking logic continuously performs a check on itself in order to ascertain that it is working correctly. This is accomplished by providing an integrated circuit module in which an error detection circuit compares data generated internally on the module with data generated externally from another substantially identical module. An error detect output is asserted upon the condition that data generated internally on module and data generated externally from module do not match. A circuit alters the internally generated data by injecting erroneous data into the internally generated data to thereby generate altered data. An error anticipation control logic generates a test condition, which corresponds to the expected error condition caused by the altered data. A comparison circuit compares the actual error detect output with the expected error detect output. An error output is asserted if the actual error detect output and the expected error detect output do not match. This circuit has the advantage that malfunctions in error detection circuitry can be detected during normal operation of the components. The disadvantage is that for some time the test circuitry could induce many other errors that could mask whether the FRC is working correctly.
It is an object of the invention to provide a circuit which is uniform across all pins being checked and that will check the checking circuitry but will not induce other errors that mask whether the FRC is working correctly.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a circuit that will check the output
It is a further object of the invention to provide a circuit that will check the output pins of a chip to ensure that the output drivers actually drove the data presented to them.

Apparatus utilizing dual compare logic for self checking of functional redundancy check (FRC) logic


A hydroxysafflor yellow A sodium compound as shown in a formula (I) and preparation as well as medicinal application thereof are provided. According to the present invention, the safflower is utilized as a raw material. A monomer pharmaceutical compound, the hydroxysafflor yellow A sodium, is obtained by sufficient processes, and a purity thereof is surely above 98.5%. Therefore, the hydroxysafflor yellow A sodium is a monomer compound, which is safer, more effective, more stable and more controllable than hydroxysafflor yellow A, for treating blood circulation disorders such as platelet aggregation, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris and acute cerebral ischemia. Furthermore, the hydroxysafflor yellow A sodium has sufficient solubility and human tolerance.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a compound, and more particularly to a hydroxysafflor yellow A sodium compound, and a preparation method as well as medicinal application thereof. The present invention also relates to a field of natural pharmaceutical chemistry.
2. Description of Related Arts
Chinese medicine safflower is dried flower of Carthamus tinctouius L., which is a common Chinese medicine for activating blood and dissipating blood stasis, and is applicable for treating blood circulation disorders such as coronary heart disease and angina pectoris. Hydroxysafflor yellow A is a compound with a mono-chalcone glycoside structure, and is a water-soluble portion of the safflower with the most effective pharmacological effect, which can inhibit platelet aggregation and release induced by platelet activating factors, and competitively inhibit combination of the platelet activating factor and the platelet receptor. Therefore, the hydroxysafflor yellow A is an effective ingredient of the safflor yellow for activating blood and dissipating blood stasis. According to research results, the hydroxysafflor yellow A has many pharmacological effects on cardiovascular such as anticoagulant, promoting fibrinolysis, anti-thrombosis, and improving microcirculation.
The conventional technologies have disclosed the hydroxysafflor yellow A, a various of extraction, separation and purification methods thereof, and hydroxysafflor yellow A injection (comprising freeze-dried powder injection). However, a purity and stability of the conventional hydroxysafflor yellow A products are not sufficient. Judging from the purity of the conventional safflor yellow, the impurity content is basically above 10%. Furthermore, structure and property of the impurity are indefinite, and quality is not completely controllable. And impurity spectrums of the safflor yellow extracted from the safflower are not consistent.
Chinese patent application CN102675379A disclosed a method for extracting refined hydroxysafflor yellow A from safflower, and particularly disclosed five steps: extracting from safflower; purifying by alkalescent ion-exchange resin; purifying by macroporous resin with medium chemical polarity; purifying by nonpolar macroporous resin; and freeze-drying; wherein a content of the hydroxysafflor yellow A is above 80%, a turnover rate is above 20%.
Chinese patent applications CN101195647A, CN101215307A and CN1475272A disclosed a method for extracting refined hydroxysafflor yellow A from safflower, wherein a content of the hydroxysafflor yellow A is above 90%.
However, because stability of the hydroxysafflor yellow A is not sufficient, the purity thereof will decrease after long-time storage, and the medicinal effect is decreased, which leads to medication safety problem of the hydroxysafflor yellow A.
Medicinal research mainly focuses on medicine safety, effectiveness, stability and controllability, none of the four aspects can be omitted. Because the safflor yellow injection produced and clinically utilized is pharmacodynamically tested and clinically evaluated, safety and effectiveness of the hydroxysafflor yellow A compound has been proven. However, due to the extraction process of hydroxysafflor yellow A and compound stability, the impurity content is basically above 10% according to the purity of the raw material of the hydroxysafflor yellow A which is commercially available. Furthermore, structure and property of the impurity are indefinite, and quality is not completely controllable. And impurity spectrums of the safflor yellow extracted from the safflower are not consistent. Therefore, stability and purity of the effective ingredients of the conventional hydroxysafflor yellow A medicine, especially injection, are still the main restrict or influence of safety and improvement of quality controllability.

Hydroxysafflor yellow A sodium and preparation as well as application thereof


An output circuit sends out, to an input circuit, a control pilot signal generated by a voltage source. A voltage transformer is provided to a control pilot line on the output side of the output circuit, and a communication unit transmits and receives communication signals via the voltage transformer. A voltage transformer is provided to the control pilot line on the input side of the input circuit, and a communication unit transmits and receives the communication signals via the voltage transformer. A low-pass filter is provided to the control pilot line between the input circuit and the voltage transformer.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a communication system for performing communication between a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle and a power feeding device for feeding power to the vehicle, and to a communication device constituting the communication system.
Description of Related Art
In recent years, environmental technology has increasingly attracted attentions as a technique for addressing global warming. Such environmental technology includes, for example, an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, which has been put into practical use, with a motor employed as a drive unit instead of a conventional engine consuming gasoline.
A vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle described above has a structure in which a charge plug connected to an external power feeding device is further connected to a connector at a power feeding port provided on a vehicle so that a secondary battery may be charged from the outside of the vehicle.
An interface between a vehicle and a power feeding device (charging station) in feeding power to the vehicle has already been standardized. For example, a signal line called a control pilot line is provided between an output circuit located on the power feeding device side and an input circuit located on the vehicle side, a rectangular wave signal (control pilot signal) of a predetermined frequency is output from the output circuit to the input circuit, and a voltage level at a predetermined portion of the input circuit is changed, allowing both the power feeding device and the vehicle to recognize information on the charge state of the vehicle and the like (see SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers International), SURFACE VEHICLE RECOMMENDED PRACTICE, 2010-01).
Meanwhile, such a communication system has also been discussed that is able to further perform transmission and reception of various kinds of information between the power feeding device and the vehicle by superimposing a communication signal onto a control pilot line.

Communication system and communication device


Various systems and apparatuses are provided for a turbulence member for an annular seal cavity in a fluid handling device. In one example, the turbulence member includes an inner face positioned to cooperate with a seal assembly in the annular seal cavity to define an inner channel. The turbulence member also includes an outer face positioned to cooperate with a housing to define an outer channel in the annular seal cavity. The turbulence member also includes a front face extending between the inner face and the outer face, and a rear face spaced from the front face and extending between the inner face and the outer face. The turbulence member is configured to disrupt fluid flow within the annular seal cavity and inhibit formation of an air pocket adjacent to the seal assembly.

Fluid handling devices, such as centrifugal pumps, may be used in a variety of applications to move fluid through a system. A centrifugal pump includes a rotating impeller that receives a fluid flow along its rotating axis, and accelerates or pushes the fluid radially outward through an outlet. In certain centrifugal pumps, a mechanical seal is utilized in the location where the rotating shaft that carries the impeller passes through a stationary housing. In some examples, the mechanical seal may be located in a seal cavity defined by the impeller, a portion of the stationary housing, and a gland plate.
In normal operation, a portion of the fluid that is being moved by the centrifugal pump will flow into the seal cavity and contact the mechanical seal. Such fluid may thereby provide lubrication and cooling to the mechanical seal. However, in some cases the centrifugal forces generated by the impeller in the seal cavity may pull fluid away from the mechanical seal, and one or more air pockets may form adjacent to the mechanical seal. The formation of such air pockets can increase local friction and temperatures of the mechanical seal components, thereby causing accelerated wear of such components and correspondingly reducing the useful life of the seal. Such increased heat may also affect other regions of the pump such as, for example, causing compression set in elastomeric O-rings leading to leaks and failures in adjacent areas.

Turbulence member, system and fluid handling device for protecting a seal assembly