A semiconductor device having a capacitor containing an insulator material having a high dielectric constant and high charge storing capability of the following formula: (A.sup.1).sub.x (A.sup.2).sub.2-x (D).sub.d (B.sup.1).sub.y (B.sup.2).sub.1-y O.sub.4 where A.sup.1 and A.sup.2 are cations, B.sup.1 and B.sup.2 are anions, 0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.2 with the proviso that A.sup.1 and A.sup.2 are different types of atoms when 0<x<2, and 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.1 with the proviso that B.sup.1 and B.sup.2 are different types of atoms when 0<y<1, and D is an optional dopant in a total amount of 0.ltoreq.d.ltoreq.0.1.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to semiconductor devices incorporating high dielectric constant insulator materials, and, more particularly, to the use of such materials in microelectronics storage applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor DRAM cells have been developed for storing bits of information in volatile memories. An unrelenting goal in DRAM designs has been to minimize the surface area of the cell and its interconnections in order to achieve very high density memories. However, another important goal in DRAM development has been to maximize the capacitance and storage charge of the storage element. It is important to maintain the magnitude of storage charge despite any reductions in cell sizes to avoid read problems and data integrity problems. Also, an additional emphasis in DRAM development has been to maximize capacitance of the storage element, while still minimizing the overall size of the cell, so that the access time of the storage capacitor, as well as the magnitude of the line signal, is less susceptible to being adversely affected by the parasitic capacitances of the drive lines. Accomplishing both goals of minimizing cell size while increasing storage charge and capacitance has proven challenging from a design standpoint.
As one prior approach to achieve both goals, the cell size has been reduced while increasing capacitance and storage charge by providing a thinner dielectric insulator layer between the capacitor plates. However, punch-through problems have limited the extent to which the conventional dielectric layers can be made thinner. In other prior approaches, further reductions in cell size have been obtained while maintaining the charge holding capacity and capacitance of the storage elements by forming three-dimensional capacitor configurations which construct the capacitor in a location out of the plane of the transistors, such as in so-called stacked, trench, and folded capacitors. These three-dimensional capacitor configurations provide an increase in capacitance without incurring a penalty in area.
As one type of conventional capacitor design, a capacitor can be formed by etching a vertical or nearly vertical deep trench of an aspect ratio of greater than 30:1 into a semiconductor surface of a DRAM integrated circuit and depositing a dielectric material, such as Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5, SiO.sub.2, or SiN.sub.x, on the side walls and bottom of the trench. A trenched DRAM cell structure of this sort is shown in FIG. 1 where trench dielectric material 10 lines the walls of trench 11, where conventionally used dielectric materials 10 in this regard have been Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5, SiO.sub.2, or SiN.sub.x, or a combination of these materials. The trench 11 is then filled with doped polysilicon 12 which forms the second electrode of the capacitor.
In another type of conventional capacitor structure, a stacked capacitor design is shown in FIG. 2, including a substrate 23 having diffusion region 24 formed in its surface and an insulation layer 22 (e.g., silicon dioxide) having a conductive plug 21 (e.g., doped polysilicon or tungsten) formed therein capped with a barrier layer 25 (e.g., WSi.sub.x, TaSiN, TiN, or TiAlN). The bottom electrode 26 (e.g., Pt, Ir, Ru, polysilicon, noble metals, or conductive oxides of noble metals) has its exterior surfaces conformally covered by a dielectric material 27, which, in turn, is covered by top electrode 28, which can be formed of the same materials as described for the bottom electrode 26. As dielectric material 27, SiO.sub.2, SiN.sub.x, or Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 has been described, or high dielectric materials 27 have also been in the form of various perovskite dielectrics, namely, as BaTiO.sub.3 or SrTiO.sub.3, or other like materials of the perovskite family. The SiO.sub.2 or SiN.sub.x dielectric materials are typically are used in conjunction with polysilicon electrodes, while the perovskite dielectric materials, viz., (Ba,Sr)TiO.sub.3 are used with the other above-mentioned electrode materials.
However, to meet the continuing demands in the industry for even further reductions in the surface area of memory cells, the semiconductor field would be greatly interested in new types of capacitor dielectrics endowed with high capacitance and enhanced charge storage capability as a way of compensating for cell surface area reductions.
A doctoral dissertation by Van S. Nguyen, entitled "Preparation and Photoelectronic Properties of the System Cd.sub.2 Ge.sub.1-x SiO.sub.4 and the Crystallographic and Magnetic Properties of Dispersed Nickel Particles on Spherocarb Supports", Brown University, June 1981, published by UMI Dissertation Services, Bell & Howell Co., Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106, teaches use of an n-type semiconductor material Cd.sub.2 Ge.sub.1-x SiO.sub.4 for preparing a photoanode for photoelectrolysis of water using sunlight. The Nguyen dissertation also teaches Cd.sub.2 GeO.sub.4, Cd.sub.2 SiO.sub.4, Fe.sub.2 GeO.sub.4, and Fe.sub.2 Ge.sub.1-x Si.sub.x O.sub.4 dielectrics which were prepared, or were proposed for future study, for purposes of determining their photo-electronic properties under photoelectrolysis conditions. The Nguyen dissertation does not teach or pertain to microelectronics storage applications such as DRAM device designs.

Semiconductor device with high dielectric constant insulator material

International Business Machines Corporation


A document processor for capturing data and images from checks and other financial and payment-related documents includes a document track and a plurality of processing devices located along the document track. The plurality of processing devices includes an ink jet rear endorser. A manual ink jet cleaning and capping station is built into the track wall directly in front of the ink jet rear endorser. The station includes a movable track wall portion that is movable between first and second positions and includes an opening and a cap. When the track wall portion is in the first position, the cap engages the endorser to prevent any liquid ink on the endorser from drying. When the track wall portion is in the second position, the opening aligns with the endorser to allow the endorser to print on passing documents.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to document processing, to compact, desktop document processors for capturing data and images from checks and other financial and payment-related documents, and to rear endorsement wherein an inkjet cartridge is used to print information on documents.
2. Background Art
Historically, banks processed large volumes of paper checks in centralized locations, either a central bank or a clearing house. Document processing machines in such locations were large, processing up to 2000 documents per minute. These machines were supported by dedicated, trained operators.
However, centralized processing costs banks typically three days in clearing a document. The "Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act" or the "Check 21 Act" was enacted by Congress to facilitate check truncation by authorizing substitute checks, to foster innovation in the check collection system without mandating receipt of checks in electronic form, and to improve the overall efficiency of the Nation's payments system. The Check 21 legislation has driven the demand for decentralized check imagers and sorters in financial institutions. Check 21 gives equal legal validity to electronic data obtained from documents, and has made it possible for banks to distribute document processing to speed the clearing process. Check 21 has made it advantageous for banks to convert paper checks to electronic data as early as possible.
In the recent past, banks have partially converted paper check information to electronic data. In some cases this partial information was used internally. In other cases two banks would agree on standards for electronic data transfer. In either case, the paper check was still the only legal document for the transaction. Check 21 has standardized these agreements across the banking industry, and given the electronic data legal merit, if the electronic data meet the requirements set forth in Check 21.
Since Check 21 theoretically allows the destruction of paper checks after conversion to electronic data, Check 21 requires all data on the paper check to be recorded. As noted, it is advantageous for banks to convert paper checks to Check 21 valid electronic data as early as possible. Accordingly, compact, desktop document processors have been developed. These document processors are capable of obtaining the full suite of data required for Check 21. As well, an existing desktop document processor may perform rear endorsement as a document is processed.
In one example, a non-impact, 600-dpi ink jet rear endorser prints as many as four lines of text or graphic information. The endorser is located in the track before the rear image scanner.
The ink jet cartridge as used in document processing equipment is inserted into a carrier that can be adjusted to one or more heights. Other than that the cartridge does not otherwise move. As documents pass in front of the ink jet cartridge (endorser), information is imprinted on the document. As the inkjet cartridge is used, spurious ink drops collect on the face of the cartridge and must be removed to maintain good print quality. User documentation has described various methods of cleaning such as using a lint free cloth. This involves physically removing covers from the product, removing the cartridge from the carrier and using a cloth (dry or pre-wetted) to clean the cartridge. In lieu of the cloth, a rubber squeegee type tool can be used as well. These methods can be messy for the operator and involve labor and time. The operator might not clean the cartridge as often as necessary to maintain good print quality. The removal of the cartridge itself puts wear and tear on the cartridge carrier and the delicate dimpled flex circuit which provides the electrical interface between the cartridge and control electronics.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a document processor that implements an improved approach for cleaning the ink jet cartridge.

Manual ink jet cartridge cleaning and capping station


A cargo reminder for a driver of a vehicle includes an accelerometer, a controller to detect an acceleration change in the vehicle based on output signals from the accelerometer, and an alarm connected to the controller. Different types of alarm may be used, including a visual alarm, an audio alarm, a plug-in vibrator clip, or a combination of these alarms. In use, the alarm is triggered by the controller when the acceleration change is larger than a preset acceleration threshold. The cargo reminder may also include an acceleration threshold input to allow the driver to input the preset acceleration threshold, a delay setting input to allow the driver to input a time delay between first and second alarm triggers, and an inclinometer. A method for reminding the driver of a vehicle of an external cargo being transported is also within the scope of the instant invention.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle cargo reminders and, more particularly, to a non-intrusive cargo reminder having an alarm triggered by a change in acceleration of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is not an uncommon occurrence for drivers of vehicles transporting roof-mounted cargo, towing high profile trailers, or simply having an oversized height to be involved in accidents in which an overhead obstruction is hit because the driver was unaware, or forgot, about the cargo being transported, or the characteristics of the vehicle being driven or of the trailer being towed.
Examples of devices designed to remind a driver of cargo being transported include a drop down flag or sign attached to a garage door that hangs down when the garage door is opened. Another is a spring-loaded magnetic device with a popup warning that the driver attaches to the hood of his or her car. When the car is driven at speeds above a certain minimum, wind resistance forces the spring-loaded warning down from the view of the driver. When the speed of the car falls below the minimum value, the popup warning is brought up by the action of a spring or other similar actuator. Several problems exist with both of these systems. The first device is limited to warn the driver only when parking a car in the garage installed with the device. Both the first and second devices have to be disabled manually by the driver when no cargo is being transported.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,960, issued on May 18, 2004, discloses an automatic reminder alarm for a recreational equipment vehicle rack having a transmitter placed in proximity of a garage, a receiver located inside the car, an alarm connected to and triggered by the receiver, and an actuating device that automatically activates the receiver when recreational equipment is mounted in the vehicle rack. The receiver triggers the alarm when it is in range of the transmitter and the actuator has activated the receiver. The high cost associated with the need for two transducers, i.e., a receiver and an actuating device, makes this system unattractive. In addition, the need to have a transducer located outside of the vehicle is also unappealing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,912, issued on Feb. 14, 1995, illustrated a truck clearance anti-collision system that uses an ultrasonic wave transmitter and an ultrasonic wave receiver for receiving waves generated by the ultrasonic wave transmitter reflected off an object disposed vertically above the vehicle. The device is mountable on a portion of a vehicle for transmitting substantially vertical ultrasonic waves. A computer device operatively associated with the ultrasonic wave transmitter and receiver calculates the vertical difference between the object and the height of the truck and provides human-recognizable information to the operator of the truck as to the vertical clearance available between the object and an uppermost portion of the vehicle. The cost of this system is also relatively high because of the different transducers needed and the need for professional installation and maintenance.
An overhead warning detector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,713, issued on Jun. 13, 1995. The disclosed detector includes a terminal box positioned on top of a truck cab. The terminal box has a rotating member having a vertically extending antenna, or feeler. The antenna or feeler is adjustable in height to an elevation corresponding to the elevation of the highest point of the trailer of the truck. A control panel connected to the terminal box has an alarm that is actuated when the rotating member is turned when the vertically extending member contacts an obstacle having a clearance lower than the highest point of the trailer. Such a system is cumbersome to use because the user has to physically adjust the height of the vertically extending antenna each time the maximum height of the vehicle changes.
Therefore, in view of the above-noted brief summary of prior art inventions and their associated limitations, a need exists for an inexpensive cargo warning system that requires no professional installation, no external transducers, and little maintenance.

Carrying cargo reminder and method of reminding about transportation of external cargo

The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama


A grounding electrical connector system includes first and second mateable connector modules each having dielectric blocks mounting a plurality of terminals and a ground plate. The ground plates of the connector modules interengage with one another in a cross-shaped grounding configuration therebetween. The terminals of the connector modules are located in spaced dispositions such that a pair of mating terminals from each connector module is located in each of four quadrants defined by the cross-shaped grounding structure of the interengaging ground plates.

Electrical connectors are used to interconnect signal transmission lines to printed circuit boards, other electronic devices or to other complementary connectors. The transmission lines transmit signals through a plurality of conductors which, preferably, are physically separated and electromagnetically isolated along their length.
In the electronics industry, particularly the computer industry, the predominant system embodies a plurality of plug-in type connectors in mating engagement with receptacle connectors on the computer, its main printed circuit board or other electronic devices. The transmission lines typically include coaxial electrical cables, either in round or flat form, and round cables are presently being used predominantly in relatively high frequency applications between various system components.
Classical coaxial designs derive their characteristic impedance from the geometrical relationship between the inner signal conductors and the outer shield member and the intervening dielectric constant. For a given impedance, signal conductor size and dielectric material, an overall outside dimension is defined. In order to increase signal density and reduce the overall outside dimensions of a transmission line connector system, alternate geometries and/or dielectric materials are required.
For data processing purposes, cables usually utilize twisted pairs of conductors to achieve the necessary characteristics, particularly impedance control and cross talk control. Coaxial cables are used in singular conductor configurations in high frequency applications, such as to a high-speed video monitor. Most often, the lower speed data transmission lines are separated from the high speed signal transmission lines. Consequently, different electrical connectors are often used for the lower speed data transmission lines than for the high speed signal lines. This adds to the problem of requiring multiple connectors in ever-increasing miniaturized and high density applications.
Solutions to the above problems were addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,353 to Brunker et al. dated Apr. 7, 1992 and assigned to the assignee of this invention. That patent discloses an electrical connector which terminates both high speed signal transmission lines and the slower data transmission lines in a unique manner providing a common ground for the signal transmission lines.
The present invention is directed to further improvements in such connectors by providing novel grounding terminal modules having interconnectable ground plates, the modules being components of complementary mating electrical connectors.


The timepiece escapement includes first (3) and second (4) impulse pallet stones secured to the balance (2) directly cooperating with the teeth of the escape wheel set (1) and a brake lever (5) periodically driven by the balance, the brake lever being provided with first (6) and second (7) locking pallet stones arranged for cooperating with the teeth of the escape wheel set (1).

Most known escapements comply with the very general description that has just been given.
This is the case of the Swiss lever escapement wherein the balance launching and wheel set locking means are united in a pallet assembly including two pallet stones, each of which fulfil both the function of launching the balance and locking the escape wheel set. In this system, the balance receives two impulses by oscillation, not directly, but via the lever assembly inserted between the escape wheel set and the balance.
This is also the case of the coaxial escapement and the single wheel escapement disclosed in the work entitled "La Montre: principes et méthodes de fabrication", by George Daniels, Scriptar Editions S.A., La Conversion, Lausanne 1993, pages 240 to 248. In these escapements, the means for locking the escape wheel set are formed by a pallet assembly including two locking pallet stones. The balance launching means are formed on the one hand by a first impulse pallet stone, arranged on the pallet assembly and on the other hand by a second impulse pallet stone arranged on the balance roller. In these systems, the balance also receives two impulses per oscillation, one indirect via the first pallet stone arranged on the pallet assembly and the other direction via the second pallet stone arranged on the roller.


A security arrangement has an intrusion detection information input unit for receiving intrusion detection information from an intrusion detection device for detecting an intruding entity entering a predetermined area; and a network communication unit for communicating with an in-vehicle terminal device which is mounted in a vehicle through a communication network. When the intrusion detection information input unit receives the intrusion detection information from the intrusion detection device, the network communication unit transmits information related to the detected intruding entity to the in-vehicle terminal device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a security arrangement for managing a home security system or the like, and an in-vehicle terminal device as an information processing system for the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
An option to mount various kinds of information processing systems in a vehicle has recently become popular. Car navigation systems are representative of these type of information processing systems. In car navigation systems, map data recorded in DVD-ROM or the like are read out, the current position of a vehicle is displayed on a map by using GPS (Global Positioning System), and road guidance and other processing are carried out by inputting a destination, for example.
Furthermore, there has been proposed a system in which a hard disk is used as a recording medium for map data, etc., and a wireless communication function is included in the car navigation system to renew the map data through data communications. In addition, there has been also proposed a system in which a personal computer function is included in the car navigation system so that an Internet browser and electronic mail software are usable.
As described above, various proposals concerning high functionalization of the information processing system in a vehicle have been made. However, there has been a problem that utility of such an information processing system is relatively limited.
For example, there are still lots of people who do not have a vehicle particularly in urban areas of Japan because of restricted, expensive parking space, relatively well developed transportation facilities, etc. Even when people do possess vehicles, most of them use trains and busses for everyday commuting, and the time for which these people use vehicles is relatively short. Accordingly, even when a highly functional information processing system is made available, it is rare that the car owner installs it because of the few opportunities for users to actually use the same.
Furthermore, people in continental countries such as the U.S. considered vehicles to be merely a means of transport and have little motivation to spend money on such arrangements. Therefore, in these type of continental countries, expensive information processing arrangements do not enjoy a high popularity. With respect to car navigation systems, an inhibition to wide-spread used resides in that people can relatively easily drive to their destinations without using any navigational assistance.
On the other hand, particularly the United States of America, people have developed a high interest in home security and crime-prevention related products have become more popular than in many other countries.

Security arrangement with in-vehicle mounted terminal


Both a method and apparatus are provided for sizing and operating enable groups of thermal elements in a thermal printer to allow the printer to be operated by power sources having outputs too small to operate all of the thermal elements simultaneously. Prior to the printing operation, the maximum number of thermal elements that can be actuated by the output of the power source is determined, and then divided into the total number of thermal elements. Next, the resulting quotient is rounded up into the nearest integer in order to ascertain the number of enable groups. The number of enable groups is then divided into the total number of thermal elements to determine the size of each enable group. During the printing operation, streams of non-actuating data are multiplexed into the stream of image data to create virtual enable groups wherein the number of thermal elements actuatable by the image data is no greater than the number of thermal elements in any of the enable groups at any time during the printing operation, thereby preventing the power source from being overtaxed.

This invention generally concerns a method and apparatus for dynamically sizing and operating enable groups of thermal elements in a printer to allow it to operate with a variety of power sources having different outputs.
Thermal printers include a single row of thermal elements for printing a single line of an image onto a print medium such as paper. Each thermal element is in reality an electrical resistance heater that fuses dye from a donor onto the print medium. As such, each element draws a significant amount of electrical current whenever it is actuated. As the number of thermal elements in the printhead of such a printer may number between 512 to several thousand, a large capacity power source is necessary if all of the thermal elements are to be driven simultaneously. To obviate the need for such a large capacity power source, it is known in the prior art to wire the thermal elements so that they are divided into two or more enable groups which may be operated at different times. The use of such enable groups allows the printhead to be driven by a power source whose maximum output is insufficient to actuate all of the thermal heating elements at once. In operation, current from the power source is sequentially multiplexed to the thermal elements in each of the enable groups, each group of which is small enough to be actuated by the power source without overtaxing it. The division of the thermal elements into such enable groups advantageously allows the printer to be powered by a smaller and less expensive power source than would otherwise be necessary at the expense of a longer printing time.
Unfortunately, there are a number of shortcomings associated with the hard wiring of the thermal elements into a fixed number of enable groups. However, before these shortcomings can be fully appreciated, some background as to the overall structure and operation of such thermal printers is necessary.
The thermal elements in such printers are intermittently connected to the power source via switches in the form of NAND gates. The NAND gates either connect or disconnect their respective thermal elements to the power source in response to "0" or "1" data bits received from a latch circuit. Each of the latch circuits is in turn connected to a one-bit wide gate of a shift register which receives a stream of image data from a microprocessor. In operation, the shift register serially loads data bits from the stream of image data into the latch circuits through its gates in accordance with clock pulses supplied by the microprocessor. In a six-bit printer, 64 possible data in the form of "1s" and "0s" are admitted through each shift register gate for every line printed by the thermal printhead, which in turn allows the printhead to generate 64 different shades of a color per pixel.
In a printhead having 512 resistive printing elements, each of the elements requires approximately 48 milliamps at 24 volts every time it is actuated by a "1" signal relayed to its respective NAND gate via a latch circuit. If all of the thermal elements were actuated simultaneously, the load on the power source would be 24.6 amps. As many power sources are not capable of delivering such a current, the thermal elements in some prior art printheads were divided into enable groups which were sequentially operated in order to reduce the load on the power source. For example, if it was desired to utilize a power source having a 6.5 ampere capacity at 24 volts, the 512 thermal elements of the printhead would be hard-wired into four enable groups of approximately 128 elements each. In operation, current from the power source would be serially multiplexed to each of the four enable groups to complete a line of printing before the paper and the dye donor were moved relative to the printhead in anticipation of the printing of the next line of the image.
While the hard-wiring of the switching circuits into a specific number of enable groups allows a printhead to operate off of a smaller and less expensive power source, it also complicates both the structure and operation of the printhead. For the smaller-capacity power source to sequentially activate the thermal elements in a particular enable group, the base lead of each of the NAND gates must be connected to different wires to allow the multiplexing of electrical power. The microprocessor needs to generate not only the NAND-gate controlling image data stream, but also the multiplexing commands necessary to sequentially operate the enable groups. Most importantly, such hard-wiring creates a fixed number of enable groups that limits the use of the printhead to a particular power source. Such prior art printheads cannot be used at all with a power source that does not have the capability of operating at least one of the enable groups. This is particularly problematical in prior art printheads that have few or only one enable group. Conversely, if such a prior art printhead is used in conjunction with a higher capacity power source, it may not be possible to increase the speed of printing even by modifying the multiplexing signals generated by the microprocessor.
Clearly, there is a need for a thermal printhead which is not only capable of being used by power sources having substantially different outputs, but which also makes optimal use of the power received in terms of print speed when connected to a higher output power source.

Method and apparatus for dynamically sizing and operating enable groups of thermal elements in a printer


A method of forming a self-aligned contact of a DRAM cell includes providing a substrate having a MOS transistor. The MOS transistor includes a gate and a source/drain region. A first insulating layer, a second insulating layer and a third insulating layer are formed over the surface of the substrate in succession. The third insulating layer is planarized. A contact window mask is formed above the third insulating layer. Using the contact window mask as a cover, the third insulating layer is removed using anisotropic dry etching and isotropic wet etching. Then, a portion of the second insulating layer and a portion of the first insulating layer are removed sequentially to expose the source/drain region so that a self-aligned contact is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a method of making integrated circuits (ICs), and more particularly to a method of forming a self-aligned contact of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell. The method improves the electrical connection between a substrate and a wireline by improving the process of etching the self-aligned contact.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional manufacturing process of DRAM cells, after a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor is formed, the forming of insulating layers, the etching of contact windows, and the construction of interconnections are successive and important processes. A widely used technique, known as the self-aligned contact (SAC) technique, is typically used to connect a substrate and a wireline together. The SAC technique further includes the planarization of an upper insulation layer.
FIGS. 1 through 6 illustrate the conventional manufacturing process of forming a self-aligned contact for a DRAM cell. Referring to FIG. 1, a substrate 11 having a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor thereon is illustrated. The MOS transistor includes a gate 13 of doped polysilicon, and source/drain regions 16a, 16b. A gate oxide layer 12 is formed under the gate 13. A cap oxide layer 14 is formed on the gate 13. A spacer 15 is formed on the sidewall of the gate 13. The source/drain regions 16a, 16b have a lightly doped drain structure (LDD). Further, other components of the DRAM cell are formed on the substrate 11, for example, a field oxide layer 17, wirelines 18, a cap oxide layer 19 formed on a respective wireline 18, and a spacer 20 located around the respective wireline 18. An interpoly dielectric (IPD) layer 21 is deposited over the structure described above. The IPD layer 21 is preferably comprised of silicon oxide having a thickness of between 1500 .ANG. and 2500 .ANG..
Referring to FIG. 2, a silicon nitride layer 22 is deposited over the IPD layer 21 using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to a thickness of between 300 .ANG. and 600 .ANG.. Then, a thicker oxide layer 23 is deposited over the silicon nitride layer 22 using CVD to a thickness of between 5000 .ANG. and 8000 .ANG.. The oxide layer 23 is planarized by etching back. Alternatively, the planarized oxide layer 23 can be replaced with a layer of borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) deposited by CVD which is planarized by reflow. A layer of photoresist 24 is spun-coated on the top of the planarized oxide layer 23, and then developed and fixed, leaving the region above the source/drain region 16a exposed.
Referring to FIG. 3, using the layer of photoresist 24 as a mask, the oxide layer 23 is etched away. The traditional method of etching the planarized oxide layer 23 uses the silicon nitride layer 22 as a stop layer. The oxide layer 23 is etched using anisotropic dry etching, as indicated by the arrows 25 in FIG. 3. Because of the planarization of the oxide layer 23, the thickness of the oxide layer 23 above the source/drain region 16a is not uniform. Further, dry etching has a low selectivity (the dry etching selectivity rate of nitride to oxide is normally 1:10.about.1:12). As such, over-etching occurs easily. For example, the etching process may etch a portion of the stop layer 22, as shown by the dotted line region 26 in FIG. 3; or else, some residues may remain after the etching process is completed, such as the residuary silicon oxide 27 shown in FIG. 3.
The etching of the silicon nitride layer 22 and the IPD layer 21 is performed successively using conventional anisotropic dry etching. Because of spacers 15, 20 and cap oxide layers 14, 19, the etching processes described above will self align with the source/drain region 16a to form a contact window 29, without etching the regions of the gate 13 or the wirelines 18. Because of residues formed, during the previous process, on the bottom of the contact window 29, that is, on the surface of the source/drain region 16a, some etching residues 28 may remain, as shown in FIG. 4. Then, the photoresist 24 is stripped to form the structure shown in FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 5, a doped polysilicon layer 30 is deposited over the structure shown in FIG. 4. Then, a photoresist layer 31 is formed on the doped polysilicon layer 30 using a conventional photolithography process to cover the upper region of the contact window 29. The polysilicon layer 30 is etched using anisotropic dry etching, as indicated by the arrow 32 in FIG. 5.
Referring to FIG. 6, a wireline 33 is formed by stripping the photoresist layer 31 to connect the source/drain region 16a. Thus, the entire manufacturing process of the self-aligned contact is performed.
Due to the low selectivity of anisotropic dry etching used in the known manufacturing processes, and because over-etching of the silicon nitride layer 22 is to be avoided, the etching of the oxide silicon layer 23 results in residues. The residues will narrow the self-aligned contact window 29, resulting, in a possible disconnection between the wireline 33 and the source/drain region 16a.

Method of forming a self-aligned contact of a DRAM cell


Systems and techniques for adaptive automatic acknowledgment handling are described. A described system includes a memory structure to store a data rate (DR) adaptation mode indicator, a frame check sequence (FCS) adaptation mode indicator, a preset DR parameter, and a preset FCS parameter; an extractor to extract a DR parameter from a received frame to produce an extracted DR parameter and extract a FCS parameter from the received frame to produce an extracted FCS parameter; a selector to select between the preset DR parameter and the extracted DR parameter based on the DR adaptation mode indicator to produce a selected DR parameter and select between the preset FCS parameter and the extracted FCS parameter based on the FCS adaptation mode indicator to produce a selected FCS parameter; and a generator to generate an acknowledgment to the received frame based on the selected DR parameter and the selected FCS parameter.

Various wireless communication standards describe protocols for data frame transmissions and acknowledgment frame transmissions. Upon receipt of a data frame, an acknowledgment frame is generated and transmitted. In some protocols, an acknowledgment frame is generated and transmitted if the received data frame was successfully received. A wireless communication standard can specify communication parameters for transmissions. For example, a standard can specify one or more modulation schemes, one or more coding schemes, or both.


A public transportation control system controls a suitable distance between public buses traveling on a road with traveling data of the buses through collection of the traveling data of the buses and transmission of transportation information of a target bus based on the traveling data to the target bus, and transmits the transportation information of the bus to respective bus stops on the basis of the collected traveling data of the bus in order to provide guidance of arrival schedule of the bus at the bus stops to passengers waiting for the bus, thereby preventing clumping of the buses and allowing the passengers to efficiently use a bus wait time through guidance of accurate transportation information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and a method for controlling public transportation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and a method for controlling public transportation, which can control a suitable traveling distance between public buses traveling on a road using traveling data of the buses through collection of the traveling data of the buses and transmission of transportation information of an associated bus based on the traveling data to the associated bus, and at the same time, can transmit the transportation information of the associated bus to respective bus stops on the basis of the collected traveling data of the bus in order to provide guidance of an arrival schedule of the associated bus at the bus stops to passengers waiting for the bus, thereby preventing clumping of the buses, and allowing the passengers to efficiently use a time for waiting for the bus through guidance of accurate transportation information.
2. Description of the Related Art
A public transportation management system has been already applied to the field of the art. However, the conventional public transportation management system is limited to management of traveling information of public buses only through information such as traveling times of the public buses, arrival and departure times of the buses for destinations on a line, current drivers of the buses, and the like, which can be collected only through on-board terminals after separating them from the stopped buses.
Thus, the conventional public transportation management system has problems in that speeding, deviation from the line, excessive stoppage at the bus stops, etc. of the buses are not absolutely managed by the system, causing frequent traffic accidents.
In addition, in order to keep traveling schedules under the conventional transportation management system, the drivers of the buses are inevitably forced to pass the bus stops irrespective of presence of passengers waiting at the bus stops, to intentionally delay traveling of the buses, or to arrive at the bus stops early or late, thereby increasing dissatisfaction of the passengers, resulting in decreased profits of bus companies.
In order to solve the problems as described above, some conventional public transportation management systems employ a satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS). However, even in this case, there is a problem in that accuracy of information as to traveling locations of the buses is decreased in an urban area due to skyscrapers.
In other cases, some public transportation management systems employ Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), but in this case, there is a problem in that communication costs are increased. In addition, when the public transportation management system employs Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), information of traveling locations is discontinuous due to many shaded areas in the line, and rapid collection of information as to emergencies through the system is difficult. Thus, there is a difficulty in application of these systems to entire lines.
Moreover, since the conventional public transportation management systems described above are limited to the function of simple management of the transportation information, such as guidance of the traveling distance between the buses on the road, storage of the transportation information of the buses, etc., there is a problem in that the traveling distance between the buses becomes inconsistent if any one of the drivers drives without considering the transportation information. Thus, even when the circumstances as described above occur on the road, it is difficult to transmit instructions to the buses in order to correct the traveling disturbance between the buses. In addition, even if the transportation information is transmitted to the buses, the information has not been substantially used by the drivers due to severe errors in that information.
Furthermore, a currently commercialized radio base station has a problem in that transmission and receipt of the transportation information cannot be carried out in an area deviated from a communication region of the radio base station, resulting in failure of guidance for the public transportation of the entire lines.

System and method for controlling public transportation


The invention provides a liquid ejection head equipped with an energy generating element generating energy utilized for ejecting a liquid, a liquid supply port provided at a surface on which the energy generating element is provided for supplying the liquid to the energy generating element, a liquid flow path for supplying the liquid to the energy generating element from the liquid supply port and a rib extending from the liquid supply port toward an inlet of the liquid flow path, wherein an end portion of the rib on the side of the liquid flow path is provided at a position deviated from a center line of the liquid flow path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection head for ejecting a liquid such as an ink to conduct recording.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink jet recording system is generally known as a recording system in which a liquid is ejected to conduct recording. This ink jet recording system includes a method utilizing a heating resistor element (heater) as an ejection energy-generating element used for ejecting a liquid such as an ink and a method utilizing a piezoelectric element (piezo). Both elements permit controlling the ejection of the liquid by an electric signal. In a recording head using the heating resistor element, thermal energy is applied to a liquid from the heating resistor element by supplying an electric pulse which is a recording signal to the heating resistor element to bring film boiling (bubbling) to the liquid. A bubble pressure generated at this time is utilized to eject the liquid from a minute opening, thereby conducting recording on a recording medium.
FIG. 5 is a partially broken perspective view illustrating a general construction of a liquid ejection head which is a recording head using the above-described heating resistor element. The liquid ejection head illustrated in FIG. 5 is equipped with a substrate 11 and an ejection orifice forming member 12 joined to one surface of the substrate 11. A through-hole as a liquid supply port 13 is formed in the substrate 11. A plurality of heating resistor elements 14 are arranged on both sides of an opening portion of the liquid supply port 13 on the surface of the substrates 11 to which the ejection orifice forming member 12 is joined.
In addition, FIG. 6A illustrates a plan view of the liquid ejection head when viewed from the side of the ejection orifice forming member 12. FIG. 6B illustrates a sectional view taken along line 6B-6B in FIG. 6A. As illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the ejection orifice forming member 12 is equipped with pressure chambers 15 arranged accordingly to the respective heating resistor elements 14, a plurality of liquid flow paths 17 for supplying a liquid such as an ink to the respective pressure chambers 15, a common liquid chamber 18 collectively communicating the plural liquid flow paths 17 with said one liquid supply port 13 and ejection orifices 19 communicating with the respective pressure chambers 15. The liquid flow paths 17, the common liquid chamber 18 and the ejection orifices 19 are formed of hollow portions such as grooves or holes formed in the surface of the ejection orifice forming member 12 on the side of the substrate 11.
Since the ejection orifice forming member 12 is equipped with the hollow portions such as the liquid flow paths 17 and the common liquid chamber 18, the member is a member brittle against external force. Therefore, a beam-like structure (hereinafter referred to as a beam 20) having a plurality of reinforcing ribs 20a is provided at a position of the common liquid chamber 18 facing the liquid supply port 13 in the ejection orifice forming member 12, thereby improving the rigidity of the ejection orifice forming member 12. The beam 20 and the reinforcing ribs 20a are formed in the form of a projecting line and brought into close contact with the substrate 11.
In addition, the reinforcing ribs 20a extend with a fixed thickness in the vicinity of an inlet of an optional liquid flow path 17 from the beam 20. At this time, the reinforcing ribs 20a are each formed on a line extending from a center line Y passing through a center of a flow path width d of the liquid flow path 17.
The fact that the beam 20 and the reinforcing ribs 20a are formed for improving the rigidity of the ejection orifice forming member 12 as described above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-283501.
In the construction illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B, however, it has been found that when a bubble is generated in the vicinity of a side wall (hereinafter referred to as an end wall) on the side opposite to the liquid flow path 17 among side walls of the pressure chamber 15, the bubble is hard to be discharged from the pressure chamber 15.
A cause for this is as follows. Since a center line of the reinforcing rib 20a conforms to a center line Y of the liquid flow path 17 as understood from FIG. 6A, two gaps located between an end portion in a longitudinal direction of the reinforcing rib 20a and two side wall portions 17a of the liquid flow path 17 have the same size. In this case, liquid flows flowing toward the pressure chamber 15 from the two gaps through the liquid flow path 17 are flows having uniform velocity over the flow path width d of the liquid flow path 17. A bubble located in the vicinity of the end wall of the pressure chamber 15 is thereby pressed against the end wall and cannot be moved, so that there is a possibility that the bubble may stay in the pressure chamber for a long period of time.
In addition, the end portion in the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing rib 20a is arranged in the vicinity of the inlet of the liquid flow path 17, so that a flow resistance in the vicinity of the inlet of the liquid flow path 17 becomes high, and the force of the liquid flowing into the liquid flow path 17 becomes weak.
For the reason described above, the bubble generated in the vicinity of the end wall of the pressure chamber 15 is hard to be discharged from the pressure chamber 15. In addition, when the bubble stays in the pressure chamber 15, the growth of a bubble upon bubbling of the liquid is inhibited, and so stable bubbling cannot be conducted, and there is a possibility that ejection failure may be caused.


A fixing apparatus, applied to a diffuser plate of a backlight unit (BLU), comprises a receiving portion and a positioning portion. The receiving portion is symmetrically formed at a first centrosymmetric line of the diffuser plate, a first pair of edges of the receiving portion set at two sides of the first centrosymmetric line. The positioning portion is located within the receiving portion, and a first distance is formed between the positioning portion and the first pair of edges. The first distance is determined according to a mechanical tolerance of the diffuser plate. Movement of the diffuser plate along a direction of a second centrosymmetric line perpendicular to the first centrosymmetric line, is constrained by the positioning portion. The receiving portion and a positioning portion may comprise a fixing hole and a positioning pin. Alternatively, the receiving portion and the positioning portion comprise a fixing groove and a positioning piece.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to displays, and in particular to a fixing apparatus for reducing the undesired noise inside the backlight unit, particularly noise of the diffuser plate or other optical sheets of the backlight unit when the LCD module is shaken.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advantages of handy size, light weight, low power consumption and no radiation contamination, liquid crystal displays ("LCD") have been widely used in recent years. In the commercial market, the LCD applications include the portable products such as personal digital assistants (PDA), regular size products such as monitors of laptop or desktop computers, and large size products such as 30″˜40″ LCD-TVs.
The LCD is assembled by a display unit and a backlight unit housed in a case with a mold frame. The display unit comprises a display panel, a printed circuit board for processing the signals, and a tape carrier package (TCP) for providing mechanical support. The backlight unit disposed under the display unit provides a uniform light to the display unit of the LCD.
Backlight units are generally divided into two types: a side edge backlight and a direct type backlight, according to the disposition of the light source. Generally Speaking, the side edge backlight unit is applied to the small or regular size (about 20″ or less) LCD, and the direct type backlight unit is applied to the large size LCD or TV monitor. The side edge backlight unit, for example, comprises a light source such as the cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) or the spot light disposed near the sidewall, a light guiding plate, a diffuser plate (for amplifying the light) and the optical sheets for illuminating the light uniformly and increasing the lighting efficiency. The LCD TV requires higher standard at brightness and wide viewing angle; thus, the direct type backlight unit having more lamps disposed below the display panel becomes widely used in the large size LCDs or TV monitors. Also, only the diffuser plate and the optical sheets are required in the direct type backlight unit, it is no need to use the light guiding plate since the light straightly comes from the bottom of the backlight unit. Accordingly, the direct type backlight unit requires fewer components than the side edge backlight unit.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a cross sectional view of a conventional direct type backlight unit. The direct type backlight unit at least comprises a casing 10, a reflective plate 12, the light source 14, a diffuser plate 16 and several diffuser films 18. The light source 14 (e.g. U-shaped Lamp) arranged in the casing 10 emits the light upward, and the light is uniformed by the diffuser plate 16 and the diffuser films 18. The reflective plate (e.g. an aluminum plate) disposed at the bottom surface of the casing 10 is used for minimizing the loss of light and increasing the light efficiency. The backlight unit is further assembled with the display unit (not shown in FIG. 1) to complete a LCD.
When the product having the backlight unit is in use, the diffuser plate 16 and the diffuser films 18 are thermal and moist expanded; thus, it is important to make a space between the diffuser plate 16 (diffuser films 18) and the frame 11 of the casing 10. Otherwise, the diffuser plate 16 (diffuser films 18) is deformed and bended upward to press the display unit after thermal or moisture expansion. This in turn has a bad influence on the display quality of the LCD.
Such thermal expansion (ΔLt) is given by the equation (1):ΔLt=L×ΔT×α1  (1)where L is total length, ΔT is temperature difference and α1 is thermal expansion coefficient.
The moisture expansion (ΔLm) is given by the equation (2):ΔLm=L×α2  (2)where L is total length and α2 is moisture expansion coefficient.
Take a 30″ diffuser plate made by polycarbonate (PC) as an example. The space g1 saved for the 30″ diffuser plate and relating to the length of the diffuser plate can be determined by the following calculation.
It is assumed that the temperature is changed between 25° C. (room temperature) and 70° C. The 30″ diffuser plate is 664.8 mm in length. The thermal expansion coefficient α1 of polycarbonate is about 6˜8×10−5 mm. The moisture expansion coefficient α2 of polycarbonate is about 0.08%. The mechanical tolerance of polycarbonate is about 1.0 mm.
The thermal expansion (ΔLt) and the moisture expansion (ΔLm) are:ΔLt=L×ΔT×α1=664.8×(70−25)×7×10−5=2.09 (mm)ΔLm=L×α2=664.8×0.08%=0.53 (mm)Thus, the space g1 saved for the 30″ diffuser plate and relating to the length of the diffuser plate is:g1=(2.09+0.53+1.0)/2=1.81 (mm)
Similarly, the space g2 saved for the 30″ diffuser plate and relating to the width of the diffuser plate can be determined by using the equations (1) and (2).
According to the description above, the LCD in larger size requires the larger diffuser plate and the spaces (g1 and g2) saved for adapting the expansion of the diffuser plate. However, the diffuser plate 16 and the diffuser films 18 of the conventional backlight unit are stacked instead of fixing on the frame 11. After the display unit is assembled with the frame 11, the diffuser plate 16 and the diffuser films 18 in a stack can be kept within the LCD. If the LCD is moved or shaken, the diffuser plate 16 and the diffuser films 18 will strike the edges of the frame 11 due to the existence of the spaces (g1 and g2), so as to make the abnormal sound (i.e. noise). The larger diffuser plate (which means it is bulky) causes the bigger noise. Also, the larger spaces saved for the larger diffuser plate amplifies the noise defect.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for improved display apparatuses.

Fixing apparatus for reducing noise of backlit unit


A dosage form is disclosed comprising means for lessening the tackiness and/or irritation of the components of the dosage form to mucosal tissue. The dosage form provides means for forming in the dosage form a floc comprising a drug, which floc, when delivered from the dosage form, lessens the tackiness and/or irritation of the mucosal tissue of a warm-blooded recipient.

Osmotic delivery systems for administering a beneficial drug to a biological, fluid environment of use are known to the prior medical and veterinary arts. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,770 issued to Theeuwes and Higuchi, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,899 issued to the same patentees, a novel device is disclosed comprising a wall that surrounds a compartment comprising a beneficial agent. The wall is permeable to the passage of fluid, and it comprises a passageway that is preformed during manufacture of the device, or is formed during its use through the wall for delivering the beneficial drug from the device. The devices disclosed in these patents release the beneficial drug by fluid being imbibed through the wall into the compartment at a rate determined by the permeability of the wall and the osmotic pressure gradient across the wall. The fluid imbibed into the device mixes with the beneficial drug to form an aqueous solution comprising the drug that is dispensed through the passageway from the device at a controlled rate over time. The devices of these patents are extraordinarily effective for delivering a beneficial drug that is stable and soluble in aqueous and biological fluids and exhibits an osmotic pressure gradient across the wall against the fluid. The devices are effective also for delivering a beneficial drug that is mixed with an osmotically effective solute soluble in fluid and exhibits an osmotic pressure gradient across the wall against an external, aqueous fluid.
A pioneering improvement in osmotic devices was presented to the pharmaceutical dispensing art by inventor Theeuwes in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,111,202; 4,111,203; and 4,203,439. In these patents, the delivery kinetics of the devices were enhanced for delivering therapeutic drugs possessing differing degrees of solubility in aqueous fluids. The kinetics were improved for these devices, by manufacturing the devices with a drug compartment separated by a flexible film from a push compartment. The devices deliver the beneficial drug by fluid being imbibed through the wall into the push compartment to fill the compartment with fluid that acts as a driving force and causes the film to move. The film moves against the beneficial drug compartment and the driving force thereby pushes the beneficial agent through a passageway from the device.
A quantum advancement in osmotic delivery devices was made by Cortese and Theeuwes in U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,725 and by Wong, Barclay, Deters and Theeuwes in U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,008. The devices disclosed in these patents comprise a semipermeable wall that surrounds a compartment. The compartment comprises a beneficial drug formulation and a hydrogel. These devices operate by imbibing fluid into the compartment, wherein it contacts the biologically active drug formulation and forms a dispensable aqueous formulation, and wherein it contacts the hydrogel causing it to expand and push the dispensable aqueous formulation through a passageway from the device.
The delivery devices disclosed in the above patents operate successfully for their intended use, and the devices can deliver many beneficial drugs for their intended therapy. While these devices represent an advancement in the art, their use often is limited in therapy. For instance, presently delivery devices do not lend themselves for the fast delivery of a drug over a short period of time, because devices made with a thin wall, needed for such fast drug delivery, are subjected to cracks and wall ruptures attributed to high osmotic and hydrodynamic pressures generated within the device. Also, in some instances, devices comprising a viscous, sticky polymer used for transporting a drug from the device to a mucosal tissue, can lead to unwanted effects such as the device sticking to mucosal tissue that may cause mucosal irritation or ulceration of the mucosal tissue.
It will be appreciated by those versed in the dispensing arts, that if a delivery system is provided for administering a drug at a fast controlled rate over a short period of time, such a delivery system would have a positive value and represent an advancement in the dispensing arts. Likewise, it will be self-evident to those versed in the dispensing arts, that a pressing need exists for a delivery system that is essentially-free of stickiness and essentially-free of mucosal irritation and mucosal ulceration, and that if such a delivery system is provided, the delivery system would have a practical application in the field of human and veterinary medicine.


One aspect of the invention is a cooling pillow comprising a flexible pouch and thermal transfer fluid composition hermetically filled in the pouch. A second aspect of the invention is a cooling device which comprises a pad having a flexible pouch and a thermal transfer fluid composition hermetically filled in the pouch, and means for holding the pad therewith to bring the pad in contact with the human body. The fluid composition comprises a mixture of fine particles of hard or graphitic carbon having good thermal conductivity and water. Sodium chloride, surface active agents, bactericides and preservatives may be further added to the composition. Since the carbon particles have good thermal conductivity, the fluid readily reaches a temperature close to ambient temperatures and can gently cool the human body. Long use allows the body to be continuously cooled down to a temperature close to the ambient temperature.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a cooling device having a cooling substance contained in a pillow or holder which are used for direct contact with the human body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There exist various types of pillows including a grass pillow, a wooden pillow, a stone pillow, a porcelain pillow, etc. which are used on beds. However, since these pillows feel hard to a user's head, there has been employed recently a stuffed pillow which fills various materials in a bag-shaped cloth and a flat pillow. The cloth used in the pillows is normally a cotton cloth and is filled with cotton, buckwheat hulls, adzuki beans, tea grounds and rice hulls.
The pillow has been variously designed to carry out a so-called "cooling head and heating leg" which is familiar as a key to health and long life. A water pillow is typical. There is a pillow having a body formed of a bundle of tubes through which air passes and a pillow having a plate body attached to the inside of the pillow in which the plate body is formed of a plurality of ceramic plates connected to one another in lengthwise and crosswise, etc.
In case of the water pillow, since it is filled with ice, the cooling effect relative to the head is very strong at the beginning which is used when the user injures his health and is feverish. However, it is not always useful for health care. Furthermore, ice should be refilled frequently since water radiates less heat when ice melts and the temperature of the pillow becomes gradually close to the body temperature and the cooling effect is lost at last.
Moreover, in the pillow having a bundle of tubes or the pillow having the plate body, a high keeping-cool property can not be attained although the heat exchange is effected due to air circulation or thermal transfer. Furthermore, these pillows can not be used comfortably since they feel hard to the user's head.
As a typical known holder for a cooling purpose, there is a type of band for cooling a head therewith, i.e. a so-called "Edison band". Nothing other than the cooling band is known as having been specifically developed. In order to mitigate a bruise or inflammation, it is usual to employ a sticking plaster which makes use of a poultice applied onto a pad cloth. For administration of first aid, cooling storage materials are held against the affected part through a towel or the like.
The head cooling band is made of a band tied around the head and a number of ceramic pieces attached to the band in a checkered pattern. The body heat is absorbed with the ceramic pieces, thereby cooling the head.
Since the known band tied around head has hard ceramic pieces, it is uncomfortable against the head. Especially, when one's head is sightly fastened with the band, pain is felt, making it impossible to use the band because it is comfortable.
The poultice plaster is applied by attachment to the affected part and is not uncomfortable. However, an odor of the ingredients contained in the poultice is relatively strong, inconveniently emanating the odor therearound. In addition, the ingredients sometimes stimulate the skin, causing a rash, an itch or an eruption to appear on or in the skin. On the other hand, cooling storage materials do not have a good thermal transfer rate and thus, the cooling time is long. However, once the stored cooling energy is lost, the cooling ability is lost completely with the problem that any further cooling effect cannot be expected.


A transmission device includes a data generation unit to generate a data symbol, a linear processing unit to generate an additional symbol, a power conditioning unit to perform power conditioning on the additional symbol, a frequency-domain multiplexing unit to arrange the additional symbol after the power conditioning and the data symbol along a frequency axis, a conversion unit to convert a signal arranged along the frequency axis by the frequency-domain multiplexing unit into a time domain signal, and a transmission processing unit to transmit the time domain signal. The linear processing unit generates the additional symbol to cause a data portion in a predetermined position in a block, which is a transmission unit of the time domain signal, to be set as a predetermined data group.

A digital communication system may suffer from frequency selectivity and temporal variation in the transmission channel due to multipath fading caused by reflection of transmission signal on a building and/or the like, or due to Doppler shifts caused by movement of a terminal. A multipath fading environment makes a reception signal a signal subject to interference between a transmitted symbol and a symbol arrived after a delay time.
To achieve a best reception characteristic in such a frequency selective transmission channel, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission scheme (see, e.g., Non-Patent Literature 1 listed below) is used which provides multi-carrier (MC) block transmission.
Non-Patent Literature 1 listed below discloses a technology of placing a unique word (UW), which is a fixed sequence, in a transmission signal in the OFDM transmission scheme to avoid inter-symbol interference.

Transmission device, receiving device, transmission method, control circuit, and recording medium


A force sensor has a measuring diaphragm adapted to undergo a deflection in response to a force being applied thereto. The force sensor further has a test deflection device operatively coupled to the measuring diaphragm for effecting a test deflection thereof independently of any force external to the force sensor being applied to the measuring diaphragm.

The invention relates to a force sensor, and especially to a compressive force sensor, such as a pressure sensor.
It is known in the art to produce conventional compressive force sensors according to a so-called ceramic multilayer technique disclosed in DE 44 41 487.0. The technique involves applying a number of pastes, or "green films", to a substrate, and bonding the pastes to the substrate by a firing process, such as sintering. In order to carry out the above process, the layers are arranged such that they define at least one diaphragm extending over a recess in the sensor. As a result of the above configuration, a force applied to the diaphragm, for example, a pressure force external to the sensor, causes a deflection of the diaphragm which is proportional thereto. In the process disclosed in DE 44 41 487.0, diaphragms such as the one described above may be produced which are both largely stress-free and crack-free.
Furthermore, it is known in the prior art to integrate passive and/or active electronic components into force sensors such as the one described above. These electronic components supply a measuring signal which is proportional to a deflection of the diaphragm in response to a force being applied thereto from the exterior of the sensor, that is, in response to an external force. For the above purpose, piezoresistive resistors may be used which change their resistance value as a result of the deflection of the diaphragm. Alternatively, capacitive devices are known which change their capacitance likewise as a function of the deflection of the diaphragm. The measuring signals resulting from the deflection of the diaphragm are fed to an evaluating circuit, which in turn generates a signal analog to the external force and/or triggers a reaction, as is well known.
A disadvantage of the force sensors according to the prior art is that they are subject to an ageing process during the course of their intended use, which ageing process affects their reliability. The prior art does present measures for subjecting a conventional force sensor, at selectable intervals, to a functional test. According to the above functional test, a check is performed as to whether the force sensor being tested generates a sensor signal in response to an external force being applied thereto. However, one disadvantage of the above is that possible changes in the sensor signal resulting from an ageing of the force sensor are not accounted for.

Force sensor having test deflection device


Statistical models for identifying associations are described herein. By way of example, a system for identifying associations between variables can include a model builder and an association identifier. The model builder can receive observations about the variables and generate a null model and a non-null model. The association identifier can assess the strength of the association between the variables by determining how much the non-null model better explains the observed data than the null model. Additionally or alternatively, the structure of the observed data can be inferred simultaneously with the statistical model.

The search for correlations in many types of data, such as biological data, can be difficult if the data are not exchangeable or independent and identically distributed (IID). For example, a set of DNA or amino acid sequences are rarely exchangeable because they are derived from a phylogeny (e.g. an evolutionary tree). In other words, some sequences are very similar to each other but not to others due to their position in the evolutionary tree. This phylogenetic structure can confound the statistical identification of associations. For instance, although a number of candidate disease genes have been identified by genome wide association (GWA) studies, the inability to reproduce these results in other studies is likely due in part to confounding by phylogeny. Other areas in which phylogeny may confound the statistical identification of associations include the identification of coevolving residues in proteins given a multiple sequences alignment and the identification of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) alleles that mediate escape mutations of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Identifying associations using graphical models


The magnetic recording medium includes: recording elements formed as the convex portions of the recording layer formed in the predetermined concavo-convex pattern over a substrate; and a filling elements with which a concave portions between the recording elements are filled. A surface concave portion is formed in a surface of the magnetic recording medium above the recording element. The surface concave portion has a cross-sectional shape of which a portion corresponding to a center of the recording element lying thereunder in a width direction thereof is recessed deepest toward the substrate, and has a width monotonically increasing with increase of a distance from the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium including a recording layer formed in a predetermined concavo-convex pattern in which recording elements form convex portions, and a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus including that magnetic recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk, various types of development such as miniaturization of magnetic particles forming a recording layer, change of a material for the magnetic particles, and miniaturization of head processing have been made to largely improve areal density of the recording layer. The improvement of the areal density is expected to continue. However, many problems including the limitation of the magnetic head processing, improper recording of information onto a track adjacent to a target track caused by broadening of a magnetic field, crosstalk during reproducing, and the like are made apparent. Thus, the improvement of the areal density by the conventional development approach has reached the limit.
Therefore, a magnetic recording medium such as a discrete track medium and a patterned medium, that includes a recording layer formed in a concavo-convex pattern in which recording elements form convex portions, has been proposed as a candidate of a magnetic recording medium that enables further improvement of the areal density (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 9-97419, for example). As the areal density becomes higher, the magnetic gap between a magnetic head and a magnetic recording medium becomes smaller. Thus, in case of a magnetic recording medium that is expected to have the areal density of 200 Gbpsi or more, such as a discrete track medium or a patterned medium, a guideline is issued that the magnetic gap between the magnetic head and the magnetic recording medium should be set to 15 nm or less.
Moreover, in a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk, flatness of its surface is important in order to suppress crash of the magnetic recording medium against the magnetic head. The flatness of the surface is more important especially in a discrete track medium or a patterned medium that has high areal density and a small magnetic gap. Thus, it is preferable to fill concave portions between recording elements with a non-magnetic filling element and flatten a top surface of the recording elements and filling elements. Deposition methods such as sputtering, CVD(Chemical Vapor Deposition), and IBD (Ion Beam Deposition) can be used for filling the concave portions with the filling element. Moreover, processing methods such as CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) and dry etching can be used for flattening the top surface of the recording elements and filling elements (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 12-195042 and Japanese National Publication of PCT application No. 14-515647, for example).
However, when the surface of the magnetic recording medium is excessively flat, stiction of the magnetic head onto the surface of the magnetic recording medium can easily occur and therefore crash of the magnetic recording medium against the magnetic head can easily occur. In order to prevent the crash caused by the head stiction, according to the conventional technique, a texture process is performed for a surface of a substrate and a recording layer and other layers are sequentially deposited over that surface, thereby forming a fine concavo-convex pattern on the surface of the magnetic recording medium to follow the texture pattern on the substrate (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,499,731, 5,714,207, for example). Moreover, in case of a discrete track medium or a patterned medium, a structure is known in which a step is provided between the top surface of the recording elements and the top surface of the filling elements (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 1-279421, for example). This step provides a texture effect.
However, when the fine concavo-convex pattern is formed on the surface of the magnetic recording medium by performing the texture process for the substrate, distortion like undulation having a period of about 100 nm to about 2 μm occurs on the surface of the magnetic recording medium. It is difficult for the magnetic head to follow and fly above the undulation-like distortion having the above period. Moreover, that distortion directly leads to variation in the size of the magnetic gap. In a magnetic recording medium of an earlier generation for which the magnetic gap of 25 nm or more is ensured, the aforementioned variation in the size of the magnetic gap does not matter practically. However, in a magnetic recording medium having the magnetic gap of 15 nm or less, the aforementioned variation in the size of the magnetic gap has effects that are practically unacceptable.
Moreover, even if the texture process is performed for the surface of the substrate, when spaces between the recording elements are filled with the filling element and the top surface of the recording elements and filling elements is flattened, the fine concavo-convex pattern following the texture pattern on the substrate is removed. Thus, it is difficult to form a fine concavo-convex pattern in a desired manner on the surface of the magnetic recording medium by using the technique of performing the texture process.
Furthermore, in the technique of forming the steps between the top surface of the recording element and the top surface of the filling element, the flying of the magnetic head becomes unstable because the rigidity of an air layer between the magnetic head and the surface of the magnetic recording medium becomes excessively small. Thus, the flying height of the magnetic head can be easily and largely changed by external disturbance and therefore sufficient reliability cannot be achieved.

Magnetic recording medium with recording layer having a predetermined concavo-convex pattern and magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus


A printer for printing indicia upon media with print head and platen assemblies with ease of exchange and re-alignment features. The print head may be coupled to a print head bracket, the print head bracket removably coupled to the top cover of the printer by, for example, guide tabs of a print head support structure which mate with guide slots of the print head bracket. The print head bracket having alignment forks for aligning the print head with the platen. The printer also includes a platen bracket for maintaining the platen in the printer. The platen bracket being easy to remove to replace the platen.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to printers, and more specifically, the invention relates to a cost effective printer having a print head and/or platen with improved alignment and ease of installation and removal of same.
2. Description of Related Art
Printers have been adapted for extended operation via increased media capacity. With media exchange delayed by the increased media capacity, ease of exchange and re-alignment of printer wear components has increased significance with respect to reducing overall printer downtime and operating costs.
Thermal print heads are a wear component. The individual thermal elements and or the media contact surface of the print head that encloses the individual thermal elements degrade with use, eventually requiring removal and exchange of the print head.
For repeatable high quality printing, the print head is closely aligned with respect to the printer platen. However, each time the media is exchanged, the alignment between the print head and platen is disturbed to allow loading of the media between them.
Prior printers have incorporated relatively complex and therefore expensive to manufacture and service print head to platen alignment mechanisms with spring loaded cams, levers and or multiple guide surfaces. Other printers may be designed to trade ease of re-alignment and overall alignment precision for lowered manufacturing costs. In addition to the mechanical linkages, the print head is typically keyed to the platen shaft by a pair of fork arms that engage the platen shaft. While the fork arms are useful for alignment along the platen longitudinal axis, they typically provide only a limited side-to-side alignment function.
The platen is also a wear component. Further, the platen may also be fouled by media jams and or damaged by untrained operators attempting to clear media jams with sharp objects that gouge and or cut the relatively soft platen roller material. Because the platen is typically gear driven, mounted directly to the printer frame and buried under the print head alignment structures, removal of the platen for cleaning and or exchange may require printer disassembly beyond the capabilities of the typical user.
Competition in the printer industry has focused attention upon improving ease of use and print quality while reducing manufacturing materials and operations costs. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a printer that overcomes deficiencies in such prior art.

Printer with quick release print head and platen to promote installation and removal of same


A disposable lint removal device that is a ring shape with a flat square, rectangular, circular or other shaped piece of adhesive mounted onto it. Any finger slides into the ring with the mount piece either on top or bottom of the hand. A protective layer is removed from the adhesive mount, and then the sticky piece of adhesive is repetitively brought in and out of contact with the article to remove any particulate matter. Messages may be stored on the device for later retrieval.

Fabrics, including clothing and other garments, typically retain an electrostatic charge. This charge assists in attracting and collecting lint, hair, dust and other particulate matter. It is typically undesirable to have lint or debris of any sort on clothing. However, it is sometimes difficult or impossible to simply wipe lint or debris off clothing and other fabric items, especially under conditions where the act of wiping generates additional static electricity, resulting in additional attraction and collection.
Washing and dry cleaning provide a lint removal solution. Washing and drying cleaning are inefficient, time consuming and expensive. Typically, the need for removing lint is immediate in both time and location, where the lint needs to be removed without removal of the clothing and the task needs to be accomplished quickly, such as moments before being seated at a social function or being introduced to others.
Many other devices have been created to remove debris from fabrics using an adhesive. Notable examples follow from U.S. Pat. No. 2,607,711 of Aug. 19, 1952 to Hendricks, assigned to Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,726 to Wolfrum teaches improvements to the adhesive-coated roll dispensed on a roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,453, RE 25,435 of Aug. 13, 1963 to Norman teaches a mitt-like dispenser with tacky-substance coated paper and a non-detachable protective cover sheet. In the alternative, Norman teaches a multi-finger holder for the dispenser, including the non-detachable protective cover sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,558 to Sundberg teaches a bag-like device worn by the hand, the outer surface of the bag having an adhesive suitable for collecting particulate matter such as lint.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,623 to Thill teaches a hand-sized sheet held by one or two finger apertures. One or more of the user's fingers protrude through the apertures to be positioned in front of the adhesive surface, the fingers contacting the fabric or material being cleaned. A portion of the adhesive surface sticks to the fingernail backs of the inserted fingers. The hand-sized sheet is extracted from a bulk pad with the assistance of a release liner. The preferred square shape is dimensioned to approximately 4.5 inches by 5 inches.
These devices all suffer from lack of discreteness, in that all come with considerable bulk and size. Some of these devices claim to be disposable and portable, however none are small enough to justify carrying in a pocket or purse. The present invention dispenses with the need for a tool, such as a roller, and bulky reservoir, such as a pad of sheets. In particular, the present invention also dispenses with the requirement of the use of two or more fingers to hold the dispensing device, and further dispenses with the use of a non-detachable protective cover sheet. The present invention does not require the user's hands or fingers to contact the adhesive material. Further, none of the devices present themselves to efficiently communicate and store a message for later recollection or retrieval.


An access catheter for percutaneously connecting to a subcutaneously implanted port comprises a catheter body having a distal end and a proximal end. A needle or other access tube is connected to the distal end of the catheter body through a fitting, optionally at a right angle relative to the catheter body. A compressible element impregnated with an antiseptic, antibiotic, anesthetic, or other active agent, is provided adjacent the distal end of the catheter body and surrounding the needle. When the needle is percutaneously introduced to the port, the compressible element will be compressed to express the agent onto the skin surface surrounding the penetration site.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the design and use of medical devices, and more particularly to the design and use of a needle assembly for percutaneously accessing an implantable port connected to a patient's vascular system or other body lumen.
Access to a patient's vascular system can be established by a variety of temporary and permanently implanted devices. Most simply, temporary access can be provided by the direct percutaneous introduction of a needle through the patient's skin and into a blood vessel. While such a direct approach is relatively simple and suitable for applications, such as intravenous feeding, intravenous drug delivery, and which are limited in time, they are not suitable for hemodialysis and other extracorporeal procedures that must be repeated periodically, often for the lifetime of the patient.
For hemodialysis and other extracorporeal treatment regimens, a variety of implantable ports have been proposed over the years. Typically, the port includes an internal chamber and an access region, such as a septum, while the chamber is attached to an implanted catheter which in turn is secured to a blood vessel. In the case of veins, the catheter is typically indwelling and in the case of arteries, the catheter may be attached by conventional surgical techniques.
Of particular interest to the present invention, implantable ports typically include a needle-penetrable septum which permits the percutaneous penetration of a needle into the internal chamber. The chamber, in turn, is connected to one end of the catheter, and the other end of the catheter is indwelling in the blood vessel. While workable, such designs suffer from a number of problems. Repeated penetration of the septum often leads to degradation over time, presenting a substantial risk of small particulates entering the blood stream and/or need to periodically replace the port. The fragility of the septum has necessitated the use of relatively small bore needles, typically 19 gauge needles (having an outside diameter below 1.08 mm and a bore diameter below 0.94 mm) or smaller. Such small needles significantly limit the flow volume that can be delivered to and from the port. While this may not be problematic in drug delivery, it is of concern in high volume applications, such as dialysis, hemofiltration, and the like.
As an alternative to septum-based implantable ports, the assignee of the present application has developed an implantable port having a mechanical valve which replaces the septum component on the septum ports. The valve is actuated by the percutaneous introduction of the needle through an aperture on the valve housing. Since the septum has been eliminated, the needle used to access and actuate such ports having mechanical valves can be much larger than those used to penetrate septums, typically having a size of at least 16 gauge (having an outside diameter of 1.66 mm and a bore size up to 1.5 mm), preferably higher. The use of a larger access needle will permit a much higher volumetric transfer rate for blood or other liquids to be transferred, such as infusates, perfusates, dialysis fluids, and the like.
Heretofore, the assignee of the present application has generally utilized straight needles for accessing the implantable ports having mechanical valves. By "straight needle," it is meant that the needle is aligned parallel to or coaxial with the distal end of the catheter to which it is attached. Such a straight needle attachment can be problematic, particularly since it results in a "high profile" catheter attachment to the skin. The needle or other access tube inserted into the port will generally be oriented in a direction normal to the patient's skin. Thus, the catheter will generally project straight out from the patient's skin, making immobilization of the catheter during use problematic.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide access catheter systems capable of vertically accessing an implantable port and incorporating large bore needles to accommodate high fluid transfer rates. Such catheters should be inexpensive to produce, have highly reliable designs, and be compatible with other aspects of the present invention as described below.
A second problem with access catheters and needles relates to the maintenance of sterility. Generally, the patient's skin will be swabbed with alcohol or other disinfectant prior to percutaneous introduction of a needle or other access tube. While such precautions are generally sufficient to prevent infection, the need to repeatedly access the same percutaneous insertion site presents significant risk of infection to the patient.
It would thus be desirable to provide improved access catheters and methods which enhance sterility and inhibit infection resulting from percutaneous needle access. Such apparatus and methods will preferably be capable of delivering a desired antiseptic, antibiotic, anesthetic, or other active agent to the tissue location through which the needle is inserted. Preferably, the apparatus and methods will provide for a prolonged delivery of the desired agents over time, preferably over the entire time period over which the needle is to be maintained in the access port.
At least certain of these objective will be met by the invention described below.
2. Description of the Background Art
Hypodermic needles having absorbent pads carrying an antiseptic are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,243,035; 3,134,380; and 2,693,186. Needles having compressible sheaths for maintaining sterility are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,775,369 and 2,847,995. Needles and other access tubes for percutaneously accessing implanted ports are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,617, as well as co-pending application Ser. Nos. 08/539,105; 08/724,948; 60/036,124; and 08/856,641 (Attorney Docket No. 17742-001700; filed on May 15, 1997), assigned to the assignee of the present application, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Needles and other structures connected and/or connectable to catheters at generally right angles for accessing implanted ports are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,421,814; 5,041,098; 4,955,861; 4,710,174; 4,645,495; 4,464,178; and 4,569,675.

Catheter assembly for percutaneous access to subcutaneous port


A palladium(II) complex which catalyzes the Sonogashira coupling reaction efficiently under aerobic condition and a method of employing the palladium(II) complex to synthesize internal alkynes. The palladium(II) complex is an effective catalyst for the coupling reactions of aryl iodo and diiodo compounds with unactivated alkyl alkynes and terminal dialkynes to produce various novel symmetrical dialkynes and disubstituted internal alkynes in excellent yields.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a palladium(II) complex which catalyzes the Sonogashira coupling reaction efficiently under mild reaction conditions and a method of employing the palladium(II) complex to synthesize internal alkynes.
Description of the Related Art
The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
The Sonogashira coupling of aryl halides with aryl and alkyl alkynes provides a powerful tool for construction of the carbon-carbon bond between acetylenes and alkenes/arenes (Lui, C.; Bao, F.; Ni, Q. Arkivoc xi, 2011, 60. Guan, J. T.; Weng, T. Q.; Yu, G.; Liu, S. H. Tetrahedron Lett. 2007, 48, 7129. Komaromi, A.; Novak, Z. Chem. Comm. 2008, 4968. Huang, H.; Liu, H.; Jiang, H.; Chen, K. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 6037. Gu, Z.; Li, Z.; Liu, Z.; Wang, Y.; Liu, C.; Xiang, J. Catal. Comm. 2008, 9, 2154. Casado, M. A.; Fazal, A.; Oro, L. A. Arab. J. Sc. Eng. 2013, 38, 1631, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). Alkynes are important because they are found in a wide range of natural products and other biologically active substances, and they are versatile intermediates for the production of materials for advanced engineering applications such as conducting polymers, non-linear optical devices and liquid crystals (Leadbeater, N. E.; Tominack, B. J. Tetrahedron. 2003, 44, 8653. Hamajima, A.; Isobe, M.; Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 1205. Mujahidin, D.; Doye, S. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 2689. Hajipour, A. R.; Zade, Z. S.; Azizi, G. Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2014, 28, 696, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).
The development of methods for incorporating C—C triple bonds into molecules remains an important area of research (Mathias, E.; Gregory, C. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 13642, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). In general, the Sonogashira coupling, which is the most commonly used method for the production of internal alkynes, is catalyzed by palladium complexes in combination with copper salts, and a large excess of an amine base (Chinchilla, R.; Najera, C. Chem. Rev. 2007, 107, 874, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). However, the presence of copper(I) co-catalysts can result in the in situ formation of copper(I) acetylides leading to the oxidative homocoupling of alkynes (Siemsen, P.; Livingstone, R. C.; Diederich, F. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 2633. Bakherad, M.; Keivanloo, A.; Bahramian, B.; Jajarmi, S. Appl. Catal. A: General 2010, 390, 135, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). To avoid homocoupling reactions, serious efforts have been made, including the employment of new, active palladium complexes as catalysts. However, there are problems associated with the copper-free systems such as the frequent requirement for high palladium catalysts loading, excess of base and rigorously dried organic solvent (Hundertmark, T.; Littke, A. F.; Buchwald, S. L.; Fu, G. C. Org. Lett. 2000, 2, 1729. Eckhardt, M.; Fu, G. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 39, 2632, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).
Through a comparison of available literature reports describing the use of phosphorous ligands in copper-free Sonogashira reactions, it was found that there are limited studies on the use of palladium-nitrogen catalyst systems (Tykwinski, R. R. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2003, 42, 1566. Feuerstein, M.; Doucet, H.; Santelli, M. Tetrahedron Lett. 2004, 45, 8443. Liang, Y.; Xie, Y.; Li, J. J. Org. Chem. 2006, 71, 379. Valishina, E. A.; Silva, M. F. C.; Kinzhalov, M. A.; Timofeeva, S. A.; Buslaeva, T. M.; Haukka, M.; Pombeiro, A. J. L.; Boyarskiy, V. B.; Kukusukin, V. Y.; Luzyanin. K. V. J. Mol. Catal. A: Chemical. 2014, 395, 162. Soheili, A.; Walker, J. A.; Murry, J. A.; Dormer, P. G.; Hughes, D. L. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 22, 4191. Liang, B.; Dai, M.; Chen, J.; Yang, Z. J. Org. Chem., 2005, 70, 391. John, A.; Shaikh, M. M.; Ghosh, P. Dalton. Trans. 2009, 10581. Dash, C.; Shaikh, M. M.; Ghosh, P. Eur. J, Inorg. Chem. 2009, 1608, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). Moreover, such catalyst systems utilize a high temperature, a longer reaction time, a relatively high palladium catalyst loading, a phosphine ligand, copper as co-catalyst, or a phase transfer agent (Najera, C.; Motto, J. G.; Karlstrom, S.; Falvello, L. R. Org. lett. 2003, 5, 1451. Buchmeiser, M. R.; Schareina, T.; Kempe, R.; Wurst, K. J. Organometal. Chem. 2001, 634, 39. Wang, D.; Denux, J.; Astruc, D. Adv. Synth. Catal. 2013, 355, 129. Lin, B-N.; Huang, S-H.; Wu, W-Y.; Mou, C-Y, Tsai, F-Y. Molecule 2010, 15, 9157. Aljarin, M.; Leonardo, C. L.; Lorente, P. L.; Raja, R.; Bautista, D.; Orenes, R-A. Dalton. Trans. 2012, 41, 12259, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). Furthermore, many of the reported phosphine-free and copper-free systems are limited to the coupling of aryl iodides with aryl alkynes (Ghiaci, M.; Zarghani, M.; Moeinpour, F.; Khojastehnezhad, A. Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2014, 28, 589, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).
Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a palladium(II) catalyst effective for Sonogashira coupling reactions which are carried out in the absence of copper(I) catalysts and phosphine ligands. It is a further object to provide a method of employing the palladium(II) catalyst.

Palladium(II) complex for catalyzing sonogashira coupling reactions and a method thereof

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals