Enable a read command of a first flash memory. After the read command of the first flash memory is enabled, a ready/busy signal of the first flash memory enters a busy waiting time, and a read command of a second flash memory starts to be enabled. Start to read data of the first flash memory when the busy waiting time is over. Enable the read command of the first flash memory again upon completion of reading the data of the first flash memory. Start to read data of the second flash memory after the read command of the first flash memory is enabled again. And enable the read command of the second flash memory again upon completion of reading the data of the second flash.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a method for operating flash memories, and particularly to a method for operating two flash memories on a bus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a timing diagram illustrating a ready/busy signal R/B, a read enabling signal RE, and a chip enabling signal CE when a host reads a flash memory. As shown in FIG. 1, when a read command of the flash memory is enabled, the ready/busy signal R/B enters a busy waiting time T2. The host starts to toggle the read enabling signal RE when the busy waiting time T2 is over. The host reads data of the flash memory according to a data storing address included by the read command once each time the read enabling signal RE is toggled. When the host starts to toggle the read enabling signal RE, a chip enabling signal CE of the flash memory is changed from high to low. In addition, in an operation specification of a flash memory, a time interval T3 of reading data is longer than the busy waiting time T2, and the busy waiting time T2 is longer than a time interval T1 of the read command.
Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a timing diagram illustrating the host utilizing a time interval of the busy waiting time to read two flash memories simultaneously according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, when a read command A corresponding to a first flash memory on a bus ends, a ready/busy signal ch0AR/B corresponding to the first flash memory enters a busy waiting time BWT1, so that the host can utilize a time interval of the busy waiting time BWT1 to enable a read command B corresponding to a second flash memory. When the busy waiting time BWT1 ends, the host starts to read data F1Data stored in the first flash memory. When the host finishes reading the data F1Data stored in the first flash memory, a time interval of a busy waiting time BWT2 corresponding to the second flash memory also ends, so that the host can immediately start reading data F2Data stored in the second flash memory. The host can enable the read command A of the first flash memory again upon completion of reading the data F2Data stored in the second flash memory. Thus, the host can operate two flash memories on a bus by repeating the above mentioned steps.
However, as shown in FIG. 2, data transmitted on the bus are not compact; that is to say, the bus has some idle time. Therefore, operation efficiency of the prior art does not achieve the best efficiency for operating two flash memories on a bus.

Method for operating flash memories on a bus


An apparatus for mapping a gaze point of a subject on a scene image to a gaze point in a reference image, wherein said scene image and said reference image have been taken by a camera from a different position, said apparatus comprising: A module for executing a feature detection algorithm on said reference image to identify a plurality of characteristic features and their locations in said reference image; a module for executing said feature detection algorithm on said scene image to re-identify said plurality of characteristic features and their locations in said scene image; a module for determining a point transfer mapping that transforms point positions between said scene image and said reference image based on the locations of said plurality of characteristic features detected in said reference image and said scene image; a module for using said point transfer mapping to map a gaze point which has been determined in said scene image to its corresponding point in said reference image.

The problem to be solved is finding the point or the object or more specific the part of an object's surface that a (possibly moving) person gazes at. There are existing solutions to this problem described below which can be split into separate parts.
At first the gaze direction of the person (or a representation thereof like a pupil/CR combination, cornea center and pupil/limbus etc.) is to be found.
This gaze direction is mapped to an image of the scene captured by a head-mounted scene camera or a scene camera at any fixed location. The head-mounted scene camera is fixed with respect to the eye, and therefore such a mapping can be performed, once a corresponding calibration has been executed.
The next step is to map the gaze point in the scene image as captured by the head-mounted camera, which can change due to the movement of the subject, to a point in a (stable) reference image which does not move and which corresponds to a "real world" object.
For determining the gaze direction eye trackers can be used. Eye Trackers observe features of the eye like the pupil, the limbus, blood vessels on the sclera or reflections of light sources (corneal reflections) in order to calculate the direction of the gaze.
Any kind of eye tracker can be used if it allows mapping the gaze direction into images of a head-mounted scene camera.
If the head of the subject does not move, once the calibration is done the determination of the gaze direction directly gives the gaze point on the reference image. The calibration in this special case when the head does not move gives the mapping of a gaze direction from a point in the scene image to a point in the reference image, because the scene image and the reference image are identical as the head-mounted camera does not move but has a fixed location with respect to the reference image.
If, however, the head and the eye move, it becomes more complicated to determine the gaze point in a reference image which does not move based on the detection of the gaze direction with respect to a certain scene image as taken by the head-mounted camera after the head has moved, as the scene image then is not anymore identical with the reference image which was used for calibrating the gaze direction with respect to the corresponding gaze point in the reference image.
One possible approach of determining the point gazed at is to intersect the gaze direction with a virtual scene plane defined relative to the eye tracker. WO 2010/083853 A1 discloses to use active IR markers for that purpose, which are fixed at certain locations, e.g. attached to a bookshelf. The locations of these markers are first detected with respect to a "test scene" which acts as a "reference" image obtained by the head-mounted camera, by use of two orthogonal IR line detectors which detect the two orthogonal angles by detecting the maximum intensity of the two line sensors. The detected angles of an IR source correspond to its location in the reference image. Then the angles of the markers are detected for a later detected scene taken by the head-mounted camera from a different position, thereby detecting the location of the IR sources in the later scene image. Then there is determined the "perspective projection", which is the mapping that transforms the locations of the IR sources as detected in an image taken later (a scene image), when the head-mounted camera is at a different location, to the locations of the IR light sources in the test image (or reference image). With this transformation a gaze point as determined later for the scene image can also be transformed into the corresponding (actual) gaze point in the test image.
The mapping of the gaze point from the actual "scene image" to a stable reference image which is time invariant becomes possible by defining the plane on which the gaze point is mapped in relation to scene stable markers instead of to the eye tracker (ET). This way the plane of the reference image becomes stable over time and gazes of other participants can also be mapped onto it so that the gaze point information can be aggregated over time as well as over participants like it could only be done before with eye trackers located at a fixed position.
For that purpose the prior art as disclosed in WO 2010/083853 A1 uses IR sources as artificial markers the locations of which can be detected by orthogonal IR line detectors to detect the angles of maximum emission.
The usage of using IR sources as markers for determining the transform of the gaze point from a scene image to a reference image is complicated and inconvenient. It requires artificial IR light sources to be mounted, and it makes it necessary to have an additional IR detector comprising two orthogonal line sensors. It is therefore desirable to provide an approach which can determine a gaze point mapping even if the head-mounted scene camera moves without such external markers.

Method and apparatus for gaze point mapping

SENSO-MOTORIC INSTRUMENTS GESELLSCHAFT FUR INNOVATIVE SENSORIK MBH


A closure with a drain back for a container of liquids is disclosed. The closure includes a closure body having an upper deck. A skirt depends from the upper deck and is configured to secure to a neck of a container. An inner annular wall depends from the upper deck within the skirt. The inner wall has a downwardly sloped bottom wall with an edge forming an opening therethrough, forming a drain back for liquid into the container. A tubular spout extends from the bottom wall. The spout has a dispensing orifice. The spout and dispensing orifice configured for fluid communication with the container to dispense liquids therefrom. The closure may further include a sealing cap connected to the closure body via a living hinge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present patent document relates generally to dispensing closures for bottles containing liquids and more particularly to a closure having a spout with a pour lip and a drain back to minimize spillage.
2. Background of the Related Art
Containers that hold liquids to be dispensed on demand can have the disadvantage of creating messes when the liquid contained therein drips down the side of the container after being dispensed. Consumer products, like vegetable oil and the like, can be especially messy. Consumers must frequently wipe down the container after use to prevent the liquid from making a mess. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a closure that prevents drips from running down the side of the container.


A gaming medium includes a wireless tag on a white side thereof, a wireless tag on a black side thereof and a high magnetic permeability member. Each wireless tag stores information to be read magnetically. The high magnetic permeability member is placed between the wireless tags, prevents a magnetic field from affecting the wireless tag on the black side at a time when the information stored in the wireless tag on the white side is magnetically read from the white side, and prevents a magnetic field from affecting the wireless tag on the white side at a time when the information stored in the wireless tag on the black side is magnetically read from the black side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming medium to be used in various games and a gaming system using the gaming medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent documents 1 (Japanese Published Unexamined Application No. 2004-105321) and 2 (Japanese Published Unexamined Application No. 2004-102953) disclose a technique in which, when an X-array antenna and a Y-array antenna emit radio waves, a magnetic field is generated in an upward direction vertical to a table at a cross point where the X-array antenna crosses the Y-array antenna, so as to read information stored in a wireless tag embedded in a gaming chip placed on the cross point. The technique carries out the reading operation by each batting region on the table in series.
Patent document 3 (Japanese Published Unexamined Application No. 2007-050225) discloses a technique in which reversing a gaming medium on a table is recognized by optically reading electronic watermark of the gaming medium into which a barcode is embodied. The technique carries out different output operations between the front side and the back side of a gaming medium.
In reading of information stored in a wireless tag embedded in a gaming medium, in order to recognize that either one of the front side and the back side of a gaming medium is turned up, it is considered that one wireless tag for the front side and another wireless tag for the back side are embedded in the gaming medium.
However, when the magnetically reading operation is carried out with respect to two wireless tags embedded in the gaming medium, it is possible that two pieces of information stored in two wireless tags are simultaneously read or any pieces of information stored in two wireless tags is not read. Namely, when a magnetic field generated by a reading device affects the gaming medium, electric power is supplied to two wireless tags. This allows two signals from two wireless tags to simultaneously return to the reading device. On the other hand, when a magnetic field generated by the reading device affects the gaming medium, change in inductance and/or change in resonance frequency are/is generated in two wireless tags. This prevents electronic power from being supplied to two wireless tags, which causes no signal to return to the reading device.

Gaming medium and gaming system using gaming medium


A hearing aid comprising a data memory includes a plurality of semiconductor memory cells. The semiconductor memory cell has a gate insulating film formed on a semiconductor substrate, on a well region provided in the semiconductor substrate, or on a semiconductor film deposited on an insulator; a single gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film; two memory functional units formed on both sidewalls of the single gate electrode; a channel formation region formed under the single gate electrode; and first diffusion regions disposed on both sides of the channel formation region. The semiconductor memory cell is constituted so as to change an amount of currents flowing from one of the first diffusion regions to the other first diffusion region according to an amount of charges retained in the memory functional unit or a polarization vector when a voltage is applied to the gate electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hearing aid. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hearing aid which is provided with a semiconductor memory cell including a field effect transistor having the function of converting a change in an amount of charges or polarization to an amount of currents, and to a hearing aid capable of adjusting its characteristics in accordance with a user and a usage environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 26 shows the configuration of a conventional hearing aid having a digital signal processing function. This hearing aid 50 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 56, a data memory 57, a digital processing circuit 53, an A/D converter 52, a D/A converter 54, an amplification circuit 55, an output circuit 58, a microphone 51 and a loudspeaker 59. When a sound is inputted to the hearing aid 50 from the microphone 51, a sound signal outputted from the microphone 51 is amplified by the amplification circuit 55, converted from the analog signal to a digital signal by the A/D converter 52, processed by the digital processing circuit 53 to be suited to user's characteristics, converted from the digital signal to an analog signal by the D/A converter 54, and outputted to the loudspeaker 59 through the output circuit 58. Further, on the basis of a series of parameters that determine hearing aid characteristics stored in the data memory 57, the CPU 56 controls the digital processing circuit 53. In the above-described hearing aid 50, the digital processing circuit 53 converts an output level relative to an input level for each frequency band.
Following the recent improvement of the performance of the hearing aid, the hearing aid can be adjusted to a user's usage environment. Accordingly, there have been proposed an adjustment method of adjusting the hearing aid by connecting the hearing aid to a personal computer and transferring adjustment data from the personal computer to the hearing aid.
In FIG. 26, components that are required to connect the hearing aid 50 to an external adjustment apparatus (e.g., a personal computer) following the adjustment are not shown. For example, a terminal extending from the personal computer is connected to a battery contact, whereby the personal computer is connected to the CPU 56 shown in FIG. 26.
At the time of adjusting such a hearing aid, the personal computer creates the adjustment data for adjusting the characteristics of the hearing aid to be suited to the user's characteristics and transfers the adjustment data to the hearing aid 50. The adjustment data transferred to the hearing aid 50 is stored in the data memory 57. The CPU 56 controls the digital processing circuit 53 on the basis of the adjustment data stored in this data memory 57. The digital processing circuit 53 processes the sound signal so as to be suited to the user's characteristics. The hearing aid user can, therefore, listen to the sound suited to his or her characteristics.
The data memory 57 includes a rewritable semiconductor memory cell. Normally, as the rewritable semiconductor memory cell, an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) is employed in many cases. Literatures that disclose related techniques are, for example, as follows: Japanese Patent No. 2638563, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-148899.
However, if the hearing aid includes the above-described digital processing circuit and the like, the size of the hearing aid is made large and, also, the cost thereof increases. Among the components of the hearing aid, the cost of the data memory 57 particularly occupies most of the overall cost of the hearing aid 50. Therefore, the cost hike of this data memory 57 poses a significant problem.


A method for scheduling data burst is provided. The method is adapted for a mobile apparatus. The method includes the following steps. Firstly, a data burst is generated, and a maximum delay time is calculated according to a delay constraint of the data burst. Next, whether to receive a downlink data burst before the maximum delay time is determined. If yes, a base station is requested to schedule the data burst to at least one available scheduling time near the downlink data burst. Afterwards, the data burst is sent according to the at least one available scheduling time.

In the communication systems, since the mobile apparatuses that are of mobility use limited power of batteries as the primary power source, IEEE 802.16e/m provides different types of power-saving mode corresponding to different traffic properties in order to reduce power consumption of the mobile apparatuses. More specifically, a mobile apparatus may have to negotiate with the base station if the mobile apparatus intends to enter the sleep mode. In addition, the base station determines whether the mobile apparatus is allowed to enter the sleep mode, the type of power-saving mode in use, and the relevant parameters. The mobile apparatus entering the sleep mode may turn off the receiver/transmitter to save power. If further adjustments are made with consideration of the above and the quality of service that are acceptable to the customers, unnecessary power consumption may be further reduced.
In the 4G communication system, the operation of sleep mode is highly related to the time duration of sleep. Based on the above, various studies and patents regarding different power-saving mechanisms have been proposed. However, the studies and patents merely focus on the applicable conditions of unicast multi-connections without proposing an effective power-saving scheduling mechanism to allow the mobile apparatuses to keep the quality of service (QoS) while maintaining the power-saving function.

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology


Very high magnetic flux density grain-oriented electrical steel slab containing 2.5 to 4.0 weight percent silicon as an essential component and having a very high magnetic flux density B.sub.8 of not less than 1.92 tesla, in which by area not less than 80 percent is accounted for by matrix secondary recrystallization grains having a diameter not larger than 100 mm and not smaller than 10 mm in a direction of cold rolling and not larger than 50 mm and not smaller than 5 mm in a direction perpendicular to the cold rolling direction, and in which, moreover, of the grains in said matrix, not fewer than 50 percent by ratio of number are fine secondary recrystallization grains having an average diameter not larger than 5 mm.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to grain-oriented electrical steel sheet and material having very high magnetic flux density for use in the cores of transformers and the like in which {110} <001> Goss texture orientation is promoted to a high level, and a method of manufacturing same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a soft magnetic material, grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is used primarily for the core material of transformers and other electrical devices, and with respect to magnetic properties therefore has to have good excitation and core loss characteristics. Usually a B.sub.8 (magnetic flux density at a magnetic field strength of 800 A/m) value is used to express excitation characteristics numerically and core loss properties are expressed as a W.sub.17/50 (core loss per kilogram of material that has been magnetized to 1.7 tesla at 50 Hz) value.
In recent years there has been a sharp increase in societal demands for energy saving and resource conservation, which has brought increased demands for lower core loss values and improved excitation properties in grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, with the demand for lower core loss properties being particularly strong.
Core loss consists of hysteresis loss and eddy current loss. Hysteresis loss depends on such factors as crystal orientation of the steel sheet (in other words, magnetic flux density), purity and internal stress, while factors such as electrical resistance, sheet thickness, grain size, magnetic domain size and steel sheet coating tension contribute to the eddy current loss.
After a long history of careful consideration in terms of production technology the limit has been more or less reached with respect to purity and internal stresses and the like. The silicon content of steel sheet has been raised in an attempt to increase electrical resistance and reduce eddy current loss, but a limit has been reached inasmuch as raising the silicon content degrades workability with respect to manufacturing processes and products. A number of attempts have been made to reduce eddy current loss by decreasing the thickness of the steel sheet, but in addition to the inherent difficulty of achieving the secondary recrystallization needed to obtain a Goss orientation there are a number of other problems involved, with respect to the manufacture of transformers and the like, and as for the same core loss thicker sheet is industrially preferable to thinner sheet, there is also a limit to how much sheet thickness can be reduced.
JP-B-51-12451 and JP-B-53-28375 describe methods for improving the core loss characteristics that a tension coating imparts to steel sheet, but the tensioning effect of these depends on the product orientation, which is to say, the magnetic flux density, and as described in pages 2981 to 2984 of the Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 41 No. 7 (June 1970), the higher the magnetic flux density B.sub.8 the greater the tensioning effect becomes. Thus, with commercial high magnetic flux density electrical steel sheet with a B.sub.8 of around 1.92 tesla, there is a limit to how much the core loss characteristics can be improved. Techniques for lowering core loss by artificially fining domain size have been described by JP-B-58-5968 and JP-B-58-26405, but in these methods the core loss reduction effect depends on the magnetic flux density and is limited with respect to the degree of magnetic flux density in current commercial products.
Among the quickest ways to reduce core loss is by fining of secondary recrystallization grains, which was proposed by one of the present inventors in JP-B-57-9419. However, the fact that it is difficult to obtain high magnetic flux density when the size of secondary recrystallization grains is fined limits the use of secondary recrystallization fining as a means of reducing core loss. As the remaining means of reducing core loss, in JP-B-58-50295 the present applicants proposed a method of raising the magnetic flux density B.sub.8 from the current level of around 1.92 tesla to a more ideal 2.03 tesla (the saturation magnetic flux density of 3% Si--Fe steel). For the first time this method stably provided a product with a stable magnetic flux density B.sub.8 that far exceeded 1.92 tesla. However, the fact that the method involves the application of a temperature gradient during secondary recrystallization, and that application of the method to mill coil form sizes is accompanied by a large loss of thermal energy as one end is heated as the other end is being cooled, are major problems with respect to commercial implementation.

Grain-oriented electrical steel sheet and material having very high magnetic flux density and method of manufacturing same


The present invention provides methods of identifying a substance that down-regulates or up-regulates an immune response and kits used for the identification methods. A method of this invention comprises detecting a substance that inhibits or enhances the interaction between CD26 and caveolin-1. Another method comprises detecting a substance that inhibits or enhances the interaction between caveolin-1 and Tollip. Still another method comprises detecting a substance that inhibits or enhances the interaction among caveolin-1, Tollip, and IRAK-1. The present invention also relates to immunoregulatory agents comprising a substance that down-regulates an immune response, such as siRNA against caveolin-1 or Tollip. The invention further provides immunoregulatory agents comprising a substance that up-regulates an immune response. These agents are useful for treating inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, or other immune-mediated disorders.

The immune system functions are one of the biological function systems most essential to understanding the phenomenon of life. Essentially divided into self and non-self, the immune system is a biological defense mechanism with more than a trillion cells that control the maintenance of the living body by complex and dynamic processes, and without a tissue structure. However, because of this complexity and subtlety, failure of these functions generates a variety of diseases, including therapeutically difficult diseases. It is important to understand the inflammatory reactions in infectious diseases, auto-immune diseases accompanying tissue destruction, and rejection during transplantation.
Antigen invasion into cells in the first stages of inflammation is nonspecific, or occurs via antibody and complement receptors. Antigens taken up into cells are processed into peptide fragments, and presented to T cells as a complex with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules. In these antigen presenting cells (APCs) are dendritic cells, macrophages, B cells, Langerhans cells, interdigitating cells, monocytes in peripheral blood, and so on; that is, the so-called professional APCs. Depending on differences in the expression levels of the coreceptor molecules CD80 and CD86, and differences in the type of cytokines that are produced, a bias will arise in subsequent helper T cell (Th cell) divisions. Th2 types, which are mainly concerned with humoral immunity under the influence of IL-4, are dominant over Th1 types, which play a large role in cellular immunity under the influence of interleukin-12 (IL-12). In this way, primary effector cells are activated, or antibody production is induced, and sensitization is established. At the same time, memory T cells and memory B cells are produced. Primary effector cells, starting from Th1 cells, include cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), mast cells, monocytes, macrophages, basophils, neutrophils, NK cells, platelets and the like. The action of cytokines, chemokinds, chemical mediators and such, which are produced by the activation of primary effector cells, activates vascular endothelial cells in the inflamed area. The activation of secondary effector cells, such as monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils and so on, is induced, and inflammation arises. Finally, the inflammation reaction is suppressed by phagocytosis of causative substances or effector cell apoptosis by Fas/Fas-L at the inflamed region, and transduction of immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) inhibition signals by CTLA-4 and FcγRIIB and so on.
The onset mechanism of autoimmune diseases is still unknown, however, research is progressing into where the cause of the above-mentioned process may lie. Despite the fact that in inflammation induction in post-organ transfer rejection and graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) is very clearly caused by the invasion of foreign antigens, these diseases are still not completely controlled.
Other than Th cells and CTL cells, as mentioned above, auto-antibody production and a variety of effector functions of complements, cytokines and the like contribute to the inflammation reactions accompanying tissue destruction that occurs with immune abnormalities such as autoimmune disease and rejection, GVHD and so on. To control these effector functions for disease therapies, a number of immunesuppression therapies have been attempted. Many of these targeted T cells, and thus, the focus in controlling immune abnormalities is becoming control of effector T cells. Therefore, the study of T cells as inflammation effector cells can be said to be extremely important for the treatment of immune abnormalities.
Based on the above, the present inventors focused on studies of CD26. CD26 positive T cells are Th1 type cells, a subset that very easily migrates to the inflamed region. They contribute to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and immune abnormalities such as rejections and GVHD, and are known to accumulate in diseased regions. Thus, by furthering the understanding of CD26 positive T cells, more pathology-specific therapeutic methods can be established.
CD26 is a widely distributed 110-kDa cell surface glycoprotein consisting of 766 amino acids with known dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV, EC220.127.116.11) activity in its extracellular domain (Morimoto, et al., 1998; von Bonin et al., 1998). This enzyme is capable of cleaving amino-terminal dipeptides with either L-proline or L-alanine at the penultimate position. The expression of CD26 is enhanced after activation of T cells in a resting state. In addition, the CD4+CD26high T cells respond maximally to recall antigens such as tetanus toxoid (Morimoto, et al., 1989). Accumulating evidence suggests that DPPIV enzyme activity plays a role in the immune response (Oravecz et al., 1997; Iwata, et al., 1999). Crosslinking of CD26 and CD3 with solid-phase immobilized monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can induce T cell costimulation and IL-2 production by either human CD4+ T cells or Jurkat T cell lines transfected with CD26 cDNA (Tanaka, et al., 1992; Fleischer, et al., 1994). In addition, anti-CD26 antibody treatment of T cells leads to a decrease in the surface expression of CD26 via its internalization, and such modulation results in an enhanced proliferative response to anti-CD3 or anti-CD2 stimulation as well as enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of signaling molecules such as CD3ζ and p56-Lck (Hegen, et al., 1997). Moreover, DPPIV enzyme activity is required for the CD26-mediated T cell costimulation (Tanaka, et al., 1993). A recent report showed that internalization of CD26 after crosslinking is mediated in part by the mannose-6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor II receptor (M6P/IGF-IIR), and that the interaction of CD26 and M6P/IGFIIR plays a role in CD26-induced T cell costimulation (Ikushima, et al., 2000).
Maximal T cell activation requires both an antigen (Ag)-specific stimulus provided by an MHC peptide complex and a costimulatory signal (Lenschow, et al., 1996). Engagement of CD28 on the surface of T cells by B7-1 (CD80) or B7-2 (CD86) expressed on antigen presenting cells (APC) provides a potent costimulatory signal (Yokochi, et al., 1982; Azuma, et al., 1993; Freeman, et al., 1993; Lenschow, et al., 1996; McAdam, et al., 1998). CD28-B7 interactions lead to T cell proliferation, differentiation, and cytokine secretion (McAdam, et al., 1998; Chambers, 2001). In contrast, engagement of CTLA-4 on activated T cells by B7-1 or B7-2 results in an inhibition of T cell responses (Croft, et al., 1992; Walunas, et al., 1994; Krummel, et al., 1995). However, only CD28 is constitutively expressed, and hence it has an important role in the generation of T cell immune response (Fraser, et al., 1992; Caux, et al., 1994; Hathcock, et al., 1994; yi-qun, et al., 1996; Hakamada-Taguchi, et al., 1998; Manickasingham, et al., 1998).
Recombinant soluble CD26 (rsCD26) reportedly enhanced proliferative responses of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) to stimulation with the soluble antigen tetanus toxoid (TT) (Tanaka, et al., 1994). Amore recent report demonstrated that the target cells of rsCD26 were the CD14 positive monocytes in the peripheral blood, and that rsCD26 could upregulate CD86 expression, but not CD80 or HLA-DR antigen levels on monocytes (Ohnuma, et al., 2001). M6P/IGF-IIR is thought to be one of the platform molecules for CD26 interaction with APC. However, while both DPPIV-positive and DPPIV-negative rsCD26 were taken up by monocytes via M6P/IGF-IIR, only DPPIV-positive rsCD26 displayed an effect of CD86 upregulation on monocytes, thus suggesting that additional factors may interact with CD26 to directly induce CD86 upregulation on monocytes. Moreover, the molecular mechanism for the maximal response of CD4+CD26high T cells to the memory antigens has not yet been clarified.
Caveolin-1 is the primary coat protein of caveolae, and is involved as a regulator of signal transduction through binding of its scaffolding domain to key signaling molecules in various cells (Smart, et al., 1999; Peiro, et al., 2000; Carver, et al., 2003). Although CD26 was present in caveolae of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (Riemann, et al., 2001), its direct binding or signaling event was not demonstrated in immune cells.

Methods of identifying immunoregulatory agents, immunoregulatory agents, and uses thereof


A method for holding elements, such as wires, during assembly of a wire harness is for use with a device which includes a partially longitudinally extending slot. The width of the slot is larger than the diameter of the cylindrical elements, so that the elements can be dropped into the slot. However, the width of the slot is small enough, such that upon loading the cylindrical elements into the slot the elements lie in substantially a row. The method includes dropping the elements into the slot, so that the elements are aligned in substantially a row.

Wire harnesses are large bundles of wire used to interconnect the electrical components of a vehicle to their respective controls and power source. The assembly of wire harnesses is a complex task. It is often not feasible to fully automate the assembly process due to the number of components and connectors being attached, the variety of harnesses assembled in a single factory, and the degree to which wire harnesses vary to accommodate different option packages within a given model vehicle.
An automated wire termination machine is problematic and includes a movable table, at least one die attached to the table, a cutting machine attached to the table, a payoff device for feeding the wire to the cutting machine, and a reel holder. The cutting machine cuts insulated wire into segments, strips the insulation off the ends of the wire segments. The reel holder includes a beam extending from the table, and a spindle rigidly attached to the beam. Typically, the terminals come in the form of strips on a reel. The reel is rotatably mounted on the spindle. The stripped ends of the wire segments and the strips of terminals are continuously fed to the die. The die crimps the terminal around the stripped end of the wire resulting in an electrically conductive connection between the two elements. The termination machine drops the completed wires into a tray. The wires are transported to an assembly area within the factory where the wires are laid onto a jig, and connected to other electrical components or arms of the wire harness by inserting the terminals into mating connectors. Typically the terminals are small delicate components.
Since the wires can get tangled during transportation within the factory, the operator prepares the wires for transportation by manually bundling the wires. First by aligning the ends of the wires in a flush manner, then using some material, such as film, to secure the ends together. Although bundling the wires in this way reduces tangling of the wires when they are moved, this method is problematic.
The terminals are small and include tabs for securing the terminals in mating the connectors. The tabs bend and break fairly easily. Since the film is wrapped over the terminals under tension, this causes deformation and damage to the terminals, which increases the costs of manufacturing. Furthermore, the materials used to secure the ends often are not biodegradable, thus not environmentally friendly. Some countries do not allow such materials to be disposed of there. The added cost of shipping this material elsewhere for disposal increases the operating costs of the factory. In addition, removing the material from the terminals can deform the tabs or unlatch the terminal, once either of these events occurs the terminal cannot be used because it will not meet the necessary requirements.
To ease the manual process of forming wire harnesses, stands are used in the assembly area to assist the worker in both separating and holding the wire supply during assembly. Typically these stands have separate areas for each type of wire, and allow the bundles of wires to be laid there so that the ends of the bundle are not in contact. After the bundles are transported to the proper assembly area, they are unwrapped, and placed on the stands. The assembly person removes each circuit as necessary during assembly by pulling the wire off the stand by the proximate end. This method is problematic because the distal end of the chosen wire must be pulled through all the other wires, which can cause the wires to tangle and/or cause deformation and damage to the distal terminals. In order to decrease tangles and damage to the terminals during assembly, the terminal least likely to tangle is placed at the distal end of the bundle. Although this orientation decreases tangles and damage, orienting the wires this way may decrease the efficiency of the operator since he may be required to rotate the circuit prior to use.
Therefore, an improved method for manufacturing wire harnesses and an improved device for holding wires during assembly are sought. These improvements minimizing tangling of the wires during assembly, decreasing the number of terminals damaged and deformed during manufacture, eliminating the use of wrapping materials, and allowing the wires to be held in an orientation which does not decrease the efficiency of the assembly person.

Device for holding elements during assembly of a wire harness


An apparatus and method for efficiently calculating an intermediate value between a first end value such that the area and time required to implement this operation is minimized is described. The apparatus and method may be used to efficiently multiply a value by a fraction. A fraction is involved in calculating an intermediate value and also for multiplying by a fraction. When the denominator of the fraction is odd, the binary representation of the blending function, which is used to calculate an intermediate value, exhibits special characteristics. The special characteristics allow the present invention to, among others, avoid the use of multipliers, which require a large number of gates to implement. The method and apparatus described exploit this and other special characteristics in order to efficiently implement in hardware the blending function and to efficiently multiply a value by a fraction.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer technology, and more particularly, to efficient hardware design.
II. Background Information
Calculating intermediate values between two numbers is a common task. For example, intermediate values are required to blend colors in video processing applications. In addition, calculating intermediate values is common in hardware compression and decompression algorithms. Since the task of calculating intermediate values involves multiplying by a fraction, it consists mainly of dividing by the denominator of the fraction. Every fraction whose denominator is odd has an endless sequence of digits in the fraction's binary representation. For example, 1/7=0.001001001 . . . binary, ⅓=0.010101 . . . binary, and ⅖=0.011001100110 . . . binary. When the denominator is an odd number, the division might be inaccurate even when using common rounding techniques, since the binary fraction is an endless sequence of digits. A binary number is a base 2 number (i.e., 1001=20+23=9).
One method for rounding the result is to add ½ (0.1binary) to the total and truncating the remaining digits after the decimal point, so that fractions greater than or equal to ½ are rounded up, and fractions less than ½ are rounded down (i.e., the value is not changed). For example, 1.1binary would round up to 2 (1.1binary+0.1binary=10.0binary), whereas 1.01binary would round down to 1.0 (1.01binary+0.1binary=1.11binary and the remaining digits after the decimal point are truncated).
Adding ½ and truncating is not accurate enough when the denominator is odd so one method for improving accuracy is to add a lookup table to round the result, placed either before or after the division required to calculate the intermediate value. The problem with this and other methods for improving accuracy is that implementing them requires a large number of gates which is costly in terms of the chip area and processing time.
A blending function calculates an intermediate value. The blending function has the following formula: round(P*X+(1−P)*Y), where X and Y are integers, and P is a fraction between 0 and 1. The blending function is used, for example, to blend colors of three dimensional ("3-D") objects.
Referring to the figures in which like numerals indicate like elements, FIG. 1a shows the hardware involved in a typical, intuitive implementation of the blending function. A multiplier 100 (in the figures, the multiplier is abbreviated to "mul" in order to conserve space and maintain clarity) is used to multiply the inputs together producing a multiplier output. An adder 110 is used to add the inputs together producing an output. The ½ is added to round off the result.
FIG. 1a shows how the typical hardware implementation for the blending function calculates a result given that X and Y are 12-bit inputs, and P is a fraction with a denominator of 5 and a numerator between 0 and the denominator (i.e., 1, 2, 3, or 4). In FIG. 1a, multiplier 100 to the left of adder 110 and is the top-most is used to multiply X and P's numerator. P's numerator can be either 1, 2, 3, or 4. Multiplier 100 to the left of adder 110 and to the bottom is used to multiply Y and (1−P)'s numerator. (1−P)'s numerator can be either 4, 3, 2, or 1. Adder 110 adds the results of these two multiplications together and sends the result of the addition to multiplier 100 located to the right of adder 110. This multiplier multiplies the result from adder 110 with the binary representation for ⅕ which is approximately 0.0011001100110011. Note that the result from this multiplication is accurate to 12 bits. One-half is added to this result for rounding purposes. The digits after the decimal point can be truncated to produce a rounded whole number result.
The blending function and numerous other functions multiply a value by a fraction. Multiplying a value by a fraction uses the formula: round(P*X) where X is a binary integer, and P is a fraction between 0 and 1. The same problems that hinder the implementation of the blending function also hinder the implementation of multiplying a value by a fraction (e.g., the implementation requires an excessive number of gates).
FIG. 1b shows the hardware involved in a typical, intuitive implementation for multiplying a value by a fraction. FIG. 1b shows how this hardware cooperates in order to multiply a value by a fraction given that the value, X, is a 12-bit input, and the fraction, P, has a denominator of 5 and a numerator between 0 and the denominator. In FIG. 1b, multiplier 100 on the left side multiplies together X and P's numerator which can be either 1, 2, 3, or 4. Multiplier 100 on the right side multiplies this result with the binary representation for ⅕ which is 0.0011001100110011. One-half is added to this result for rounding purposes. The digits after the decimal point can be truncated to produce a rounded whole number result.
The area required for the most efficient hardware implementation of the blending function shown in FIG. 1a is estimated to require 2415 gates (a gate on average has about 4 transistors). Multiplier 100 requires a much larger number of gates than adder 110. The computation time to perform the operation in FIG. 1 a is determined by the path from X or Y through multiplier 100 on the left side of the page, adder 110, and multiplier 100 on the right side of the page. Multiplier 100 is usually implemented using several adders in series thus resulting in a long computation time. Therefore, in general, a hardware implementation of an operation using adders is more efficient in terms of space and computation time than a hardware implementation using multipliers.

System and method for efficient hardware implementation of a perfect precision blending function


A method and path planner for planning a path of a vehicle comprising a perimeter training module for identifying a border of a region associated with a work area. A definer for defining a reference row having a reference path that tracks at least a majority of the border. A generator generates tracking rows that track the reference row. The tracking rows comprise at least one inner tracking row and an outer tracking row. Each inner tracking row having at least one inner curve with a lesser radius than an outer tracking row having a corresponding outer curve with a greater radius.

A path planner may be used to determine one or more path plans for a vehicle to cover a work area. The work area may represent a field for growing a crop or other vegetation. The vehicle may need to traverse the entire work area or a portion thereof to plant a crop (or precursor thereto), to treat a crop (or precursor thereto), to harvest a crop, or to perform another task associated with the crop or vegetation, for example. If the path plan is limited to linear rows, the execution of the path plan may consume more energy than desired to traverse sloped terrain or to cover a given work area in an energy efficient manner. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and a method for applying a path plan with a spiral component for the vehicle to the work area.

Path planner and method for planning a path plan having a spiral component


An additive manufacturing system and method for forming a part of dissimilar materials. The additive manufacturing system may include a build platform, a recoater for dispensing build powder onto the build platform, an energy source, a foil feed assembly, and a controller for controlling actuation of these components. The method of forming the part may include the steps of depositing a layer of build powder onto the build platform surface, melting selected portions of the layer of build powder, applying a sheet of foil over the layer of build powder, melting selected portions of the sheet of foil onto the layer of build powder, removing the sheet of foil from the layer of build powder, and then lowering the build platform surface to prepare for deposition of a next layer of the build powder. These steps are then repeated one or more times, thereby forming the part.

Additive manufacturing, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a process for building 3D objects by adding layer-upon-layer of material. The material is traditionally plastic, however metal, concrete, and other materials may also be used in some cases.
Current additive manufacturing techniques do not allow an easy insertion of sensors, conductive devices, and other dissimilar materials into parts as they are being manufactured. For example, additive manufacturing techniques that use conductive inks generally cannot lay down both the substrate and the conductive trace in the same process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Foil deposition onto an additive manufactured substrate

Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, LLC


A cranberry harvesting machine (20) including a main frame (22) supported by a wheel assembly (24) is provided. A harvesting assembly (26) is attached to the forward end of the main frame (22). A motor (M) is supported by the main frame (22) and includes a rotational output via a drive wheel (30). The drive wheel (30) drives both the harvesting assembly (26) and the wheel assembly (24). To accomplish this, a separate drive assembly (32) is interconnected between the drive wheel (30) and the wheel assembly (24) in order to operate the wheel assembly (24) independently of the harvesting assembly (26). The separate drive assembly (32) includes a transmission (34) having multiple operative modes and variable rotational output speeds.

Cranberries are grown in bogs having relatively flat bottom surfaces that are surrounded by dikes. During harvesting, these bogs may be flooded with water to facilitate picking or they may be kept relatively dry for certain types of harvesting operations. The cranberry vines are rooted in the bottom of the bog and form a tangle of vines reaching approximately one foot high. The cranberries themselves are attached to the ends of tips or tendrils that extend from the base of the vines roughly every six to eight inches.
A conventional technique for harvesting the cranberries is to push a harvesting machine over the vines. The machine lifts the vines that are near the bottom of the bog and cuts them to allow new growth to form. Simultaneously, the machine separates the cranberries while leaving the tips intact. It is conventional for the machine to include conveying means that convey the cranberries to sacks or boxes located alongside the machine.
Conventional harvesting machines suffer from a number of disadvantages. First, it is difficult to maneuver these devices around corners and edges of the bog, and especially when wanting to reverse the machine's motion of travel. Currently, an operator must shift the drive motor to neutral, disengage the machine's wheels, and back the machine up and turn it to the opposite direction. A second problem is in that the pruning knives are often powered by the same systems used to propel the machine through the bogs. Typically, the motor drives the machine wheels, and from the same linkage, drives the pruning knives as well. Although it is desirable to operate the knives only while the machine is moving forward, there are times when it would be helpful to be able to keep the pruning knives operating at a constant speed while having the capability to speed up or slow down the machine's translational speed. Thus, a need exists for an improved cranberry harvesting device that avoids the above-described problems.


A formation method of a contact/through hole is provided, which is able to form a contact or through hole without raising such problems related to a resist mask. After forming a dielectric layer on a semiconductor substructure having a lower electrical conductor, a metal layer is formed on the dielectric layer. A patterned resist film is formed on the metal layer. Then, the metal layer is selectively etched using a patterned resist film as a mask to transfer the pattern of the resist film to the metal layer, forming a hole pattern to penetrate the metal layer. The patterned resist film is removed from the etched metal layer. The dielectric layer is selectively etched using the etched metal layer as a mask to thereby transfer the hole pattern of the metal layer to the dielectric layer. Thus, a contact/through hole is formed to penetrate the dielectric layer and to extend to the lower electrical conductor. The metal layer serves as a mask having a sufficient etch selectivity for the dielectric layer during the etching step. The metal layer is subject to negligible thickness reduction with respect to its initial thickness due to an etching action.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a formation method of a contact/through hole and more particularly, to a formation method of a contact hole or a through hole for electrically interconnecting an upper electrical conductor with a lower electrical conductor through a dielectric layer intervening between the upper and lower conductors, which is applicable to fabrication of an Ultra-Large-Scale Integrated circuit (ULSI).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various patterning processes for electrically-conductive or dielectric layers are performed in a ULSI fabrication sequence.
With a typical patterning process of this sort, a wanted Pattern of geometrical shapes is formed in a resist film using a lithography technique. Then, unnecessary materials are selectively removed by an etching process using the resist film with the pattern as a mask. This mask serves to protest an underlying layer or layers with respect to the mask during this etching process.
In a formation process of a contact or through hole penetrating an interlayer dielectric layer to electrically interconnect an upper electrical conductors with a lower electrical conductor, two known masking techniques may be utilized.
A first one of the masking techniques utilizes a patterned photoresist film as a mask. A second one of the masking techniques utilizes a hard mask layer made of an inorganic material such as polycrystalline silicon (i.e., polysilicon).
When a contact or through hole is formed to penetrate an interlayer dielectric layer using the first masking technique, it is sufficient to pattern the photoresist film by a lithography technique, forming a window or hole pattern penetrating through the photoresist film. The patterned photoresist film thus obtained serves as a mask during a subsequent etching process, in which a penetrating hole serving as the contact or through hole is formed in the interlayer dielectric layer at a corresponding location to the window of the photoresist film.
To maintain the critical dimension control of the pattern on the photoresist film within a specific range, an etchant for this etching process needs to have a sufficient etch selectivity between the photoresist film and the interlayer dielectric layer so that the thickness of the photoresist film is kept approximately unchanged even after completion of this etching process.
Subsequently, the patterned photoresist film is removed by contacting this photoresist film with an oxygen (O.sub.2) plasma that incinerates the photoresist film and/or a solvent in which the photoresist film is soluble.
Further, the contact or through hole formed in the interlayer dielectric layer is filled with an electrically-conductive material, resulting in an electrically-conductive plug that electrically interconnects an upper electrical conductor with a lower electrical conductor.
When a contact or through hole is formed in an interlayer dielectric layer using the second masking technique, first, the photoresist film is patterned by a photolithography technique, forming a window or hole pattern penetrating through the photoresist film. Next, the pattern of the photoresist film thus formed is transferred to an underlying hard mask layer (i.e., a first hard mask layer) by an etching process, forming a hole penetrating the hard mask layer at a location corresponding to the window of the photolithography film. The patterned photoresist film is then removed.
At this stage, if it is determined that the transferred hole onto the first hard mask layer is excessively large, a thin mask layer (i.e., a second hard-mask layer), which is made of the same material as that of the first hard mask layer, is formed on the first hard mask layer to have the same contour as that of the transferred hole. The second hard mask layer thus formed is then removed during a subsequent anisotropic dry etching process.
During this anisotropic dry etching process, although the second hard mask layer is removed from the horizontal surfaces such as the hole bottom of the hard mask layer and the hole top thereof, it is left unchanged from the vertical surfaces such as the hole sidewall of the hard mask layer. As a result, the initial size of the hole of the first hard mask layer is reduced by approximately twice the thickness of the second hard mask layer.
The second mask layer serves as a mask during a subsequent etching process, in which a penetrating hole serving as the contact or through hole is formed in the interlayer dielectric layer at a corresponding location to the hole of the second hard mask layer.
To maintain the critical dimension control of the pattern on the second hard mask layer within a specific range, an etchant for this etching process needs to have a sufficient etch selectivity between the second hard mask layer and the interlayer dielectric layer so that the thickness of the second hard mask layer is kept approximately unchanged even after this etching process.
A most-popular hard mask layer for contact-hole formation is made of polysilicon having a comparatively-high etching resistance during a reactive-ion etching (RIE) process for silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2). In this case, after an etching process for a contact hole is completed, a polysilicon hard mask layer is left on the surface of a semiconductor wafer. In addition to using polysilicon in the polysilicon hard mask layer, a polysilicon plug layer is commonly used for plugging a contact hole formed in a SiO.sub.2 layer.
To further miniaturize each of the semiconductor devices and elements on the ULSI, for the upper electrical conductor a conductive layer or layers with an electrical resistance lower than the polysilicon hard mask and plug layers must be used. Hence, after depositing the polysilicon layer to form the plug, both the polysilicon hard mask layer and the polysilicon plug layer must be isotropically etched to either reduce their combined thickness or completely remove them from the wafer surface leaving the polysilicon in the contact hole intact. Since both layers are polysilicon, the etching process is simple. The lower-resistance electrically conductive layer is then deposited on top of the plug. As a result, the polysilicon-plugged contact hole is formed to penetrate through the SiO.sub.2 layer in such a way that the underlying SiO.sub.2 layer is exposed in the vicinity of the top end of the polysilicon-plugged contact hole.
A first typical example of the conventional formation methods of a contact hole using a polysilicon hard mask is shown in FIGS. 1A to 1H.
First, as shown in FIG. 1A, an impurity-doped region 202 is formed in a surface area of a silicon (Si) substrate 201. Next, an interlayer dielectric layer 203 of SiO.sub.2 is formed on the substrate 201 to cover the impurity-doped region 202. A hard mask layer 204 of polysilicon is formed on the interlayer dielectric layer 203.
A patterned photoresist film 205 is formed on the hard mask layer 204. This photoresist film 205 has a window or contact-hole pattern 205A formed by a photolithography technique. The state at this stage is shown in FIG. 1A.
The hard mask layer 204 is selectively etched by an RIE process using the patterned photoresist film 205 as a mask, forming a hole pattern 206 penetrating the hard mask layer 204. The photoresist film 205 is then removed. Thus, the contact-hole pattern 205A of the photoresist film 205 is transferred to the hard mask layer 204, as shown in FIG. 1B.
Subsequently, the interlayer dielectric layer 203 is selectively etched by an RIE process using the polysilicon hard mask layer 204 as a mask, forming a contact hole 207 penetrating the dielectric layer 203, as shown in FIG. 1C. The contact hole 207 exposes the underlying impurity-doped region 202.
A polysilicon layer 208 for an electrically-conductive plug is formed on the hard mask layer 204 to bury the contact hole 207 by a Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) process. The contact hole 207 is filled with the polysilicon of the layer 208, as shown in FIG. 1D.
The polysilicon plug layer 208 and the polysilicon hard-mask layer 204 are removed by an isotropic RIE process, resulting in a polysilicon plug 209 in the contact hole 207, as shown in FIG. 1E. The contact hole 207 is fully filled with the plug 209.
An electrically-conductive layer 210 is deposited on the SiO.sub.2 interlayer dielectric layer 203 and the polysilicon plug 209, as shown in FIG. 1F. A patterned resist film 211 is formed on this layer 210 by a lithography technique, as shown in FIG. 1G.
Using the patterned resist film 211 as a mask, the electrically-conductive layer 210 is selectively etched by an RIE process, transferring the pattern of the resist film 211 to the electrically-conductive layer 210. Thus, an upper electrical conductor 212 is formed on the interlayer dielectric layer 203 and the plug 209, as shown in FIG. 1H. The upper electrical conductor 212 is contacted with the polysilicon plug 209 and is electrically connected to the impurity-doped region 202 in the substrate 201 through the plug 209.
A second typical example of the conventional formation methods of a contact hole using a polysilicon hard mask is shown in FIGS. 2A to 2H.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, an impurity-doped region 202 is formed in a surface area of a silicon substrate 201. Next, an interlayer dielectric layer 203 of SiO.sub.2 is formed on the substrate 201 to cover the impurity-doped region 202. A hard mask layer 204 of polysilicon is formed on the interlayer dielectric layer 203.
A patterned photoresist film 205 is formed on the hard mask layer 204. This photoresist film 205 has a window or contact-hole pattern 205A formed by a photolithography technique. The state at this stage is shown in FIG. 2A.
The hard mask layer 204 is selectively etched by an RIE process using the patterned photoresist film 205 as a mask, forming a hole pattern 206 penetrating the hard mask layer 204. The photoresist film 205 is then removed. Thus, the contact-hole pattern 205A of the photoresist film 205 is transferred onto the hard mask layer 204, as shown in FIG. 2B.
The above processes are the same as those in the first conventional method shown in FIGS. 1A to 1H.
Subsequently, unlike the first conventional method, a thin polysilicon layer 227 is deposited on the patterned polysilicon hard-mask layer 204, as shown in FIG. 2C. The thin polysilicon layer 227 is contacted with the interlayer dielectric layer 203 in the hole pattern 206.
The thin polysilicon layer 206 is then etched by an anisotropic RIE process to be selectively left on the side face of the hard mask layer 204 in the hole pattern 206. Thus, a polysilicon sidewall 228 is formed in the hole pattern 206 of the hard mask layer 204, as shown in FIG. 2D. Thus, the size of the hole pattern 206 is reduced by the sidewall 22B by approximately twice the thickness of the sidewall 228.
The interlayer dielectric layer 203 is selectively etched by an RIE process using the polysilicon hard-mask layer 204 and the polysilicon sidewall 228 as a mask, forming a contact hole 229 penetrating the dielectric layer 203, as shown in FIG. 2D. The contact hole 229 exposes the underlying impurity-doped region 202.
A polysilicon layer 208 for a plug is formed on the hard mask layer 204 to bury the contact hole 229 thus formed by a LPCVD process. The contact hole 229 is filled with the polysilicon of the layer 208, as shown in FIG. 2E.
The polysilicon plug layer 208, the polysilicon hard-mask layer 204, and the polysilicon sidewall 228 are removed by an isotropic RIE process, resulting in a polysilicon plug 229 in the contact hole 229, as shown in FIG. 2F. The contact hole 229 is fully filled with the plug 209.
An electrically-conductive layer 210 is deposited on the SiO.sub.2 interlayer dielectric layer 203 and the polysilicon plug 209, as shown in FIG. 2F. A patterned resist film 211 is formed on this layer 210 by a lithography technique, as shown in FIG. 2G.
Using the patterned resist film 211 as a mask, the electrically-conductive layer 210 is selectively etched by an RIE process, transferring the pattern of the resist film 211 onto the electrically-conductive layer 210. Thus, an upper electrical conductor 212 is formed on the interlayer dielectric layer 203 and the plug 209, as shown in FIG. 2H. The upper electrical conductor 212 is contacted with the polysilicon plug 209 and is electrically connected to the impurity-doped region 202 in the substrate 201 through the plug 209.
The above-described first and second conventional methods using the polysilicon hard mask layer are sufficient for the present ULSIs. However, for the future ULSIs that will be further miniaturized, these methods have the following problems.
A first problem is that the conventional hard-mask technique is unable to be applied to the contact or through holes in the future ULSIs. The reason is as follows.
When each semiconductor device or element on the ULSI is further miniaturized to increase the number of the chips per wafer, each contact or through hole penetrating an interlayer dielectric layer will be further miniaturized. Consequently, the ratio of depth to width (i.e., the aspect ratio) of the hole will become larger. On the other hand, the aspect ratio of a corresponding hole pattern of a resist mask will not become large, because the resist mask needs to be thinner with the decreasing size of the semiconductor devices or elements. The thinner resist mask has a lower etching resistance.
To form the deep contact or through hole in the interlayer dielectric layer using the resist mask, an etching period of time is required to be set as longer. However, in this case, the resist mask is entirely etched away before the hole is completely etched in the interlayer dielectric layer because of the reduced etching resistance of the resist mask.
Accordingly, the above-described conventional hard-mask techniques have a limit for the further-miniaturized future ULSIs.
A second problem is that the conventional hard-mask techniques are readily applicable to only the case where the subsequent plugging method of a contact or through hole using a polysilicon plug includes deposition and etching processes of polysilicon. The conventional hard-mask techniques are not applicable to the future ULSIs with a minimum feature size of a quarter (1/4) .mu.m, because an impurity-doped polysilicon plug filled into a hole with a large aspect ratio does not have a sufficient low electric resistance. Therefore, a metal plug needs to be filled into the hole instead of the polysilicon plug.
In this case, however, the polysilicon hard mask is unable to be s electively removed without etching the exposed silicon substrate at the bottom of the contact hole prior to deposition of a metal for the plug. On the other hand, if the polysilicon hard mask is left intact until deposition of the metal layer for the plug, and then removed during etching of the metal to form the upper electrical conductor, the required etching to remove the metal and polysilicon layers will become more complicated.
Further, the deposition temperature of polysilicon produced by a LPCVD process is typically 500 to 700.degree. C. An electrically-conductive layer located under the interlayer dielectric layer has an insufficient heat resistance against the high temperature of 500 to 700.degree. C. For example, an aluminum alloy will melt at a temperature ranging from 500 to 700.degree. C. Therefore, the polysilicon hard mask is unable to be used to form a through hole in the interlayer dielectric layer.
To solve the above first and second problems, silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) may be used as the hard mask layer instead of polysilicon. Alternately, Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 may be used as an etch stop layer located on the SiO.sub.2 interlayer dielectric layer to utilize a high etch selectivity between Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 and SiO.sub.2. However, in this case, there arises another problem that the leakage current through a transistor junction increases because of a high stress of Si.sub.3 N.sub.4.
There arises a further problem that Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 is unable to be used as a hard mask for a through hole because of a comparatively high deposition temperature of Si.sub.3 N.sub.4.

Formation method of contact/ through hole


A rocker arm formed of material in a shape of sheet has a pair of side wall portions, a connection portion for a valve stem receiving portion and a connection portion for a pivot receiving portion which interconnect the side wall portions, and an open portion for arranging a roller which is formed between the two connection portions. A distance between outer side surfaces of the pair of side wall portions in the connection portion for the valve stem receiving portion is reduced in a direction from upper edges to lower edges in a step-like shape having two or more step differences, whereby a first outer side surface and a second outer side surface are formed.

The rocker arm serves for opening and closing a valve which is provided on a cylinder head of an engine of an automobile or the like, and has a pair of side wall portions opposed to each other, a connection portion for a valve stem receiving portion which interconnects inner side surfaces of the pair of side wall portions at one end in a longitudinal direction, a connection portion for a pivot receiving portion which interconnects inner side surfaces of the pair of side wall portions at the other end in the longitudinal direction, and an open portion for arranging a roller which is formed between the connection portion for the valve stem receiving portion and the connection portion for the pivot receiving portion. Specifically, the rocker arm has such a complicated three-dimensional shape that the pair of side wall portions and the connection portion for the valve stem receiving portion form a substantially H-shape in section, the pair of side wall portions and the connection portion for the pivot receiving portion form a substantially U-shape in section, and the pair of side wall portions interposing the open portion for arranging the roller form a substantially II-shape in section.
In this rocker arm, a valve stem of an engine comes into contact with the valve stem receiving portion which is formed in the connection portion for the valve stem receiving portion, a pivot of a lash adjuster of the engine comes into contact with the pivot receiving portion which is formed in the connection portion for the pivot receiving portion, and a cam of the engine slides along the roller which is rotatably provided in the open portion for arranging the roller.
Recently, for the purpose of complying with requests for energy saving, high speed rotation of the engine, and cost cutting, it has been endeavored to make the rocker arm lightweight and rigid, and to develop a new process for producing the rocker arm. The inventor and his group have successfully developed a production process in which the complicated three-dimensional shape as described above can be formed only by plastically deforming a piece of metal sheet, and a metal flow can be continued between the pair of side wall portions and the connection portion for the valve stem receiving portion (within the substantially H-shaped section), and have disclosed this process (Refer to Patent Document 1, for example).                Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2004-25240 (Page 4, FIG. 8)


A spray control device for controlling the lateral discharge of spray generated by the rotation of a wheel of a wheeled vehicle during its forward movement over a wet surface, comprises a hollow body mountable to a sidewall of the vehicle above and laterally outwardly in relation to the wheel of the vehicle. The hollow body has a vertically elongated forwardly opening inlet at a forward end thereof for intaking air into the hollow body during forward movement of the vehicle, a horizontally elongated laterally inwardly directed outlet at a lower edge of the body, and at least one channel extending from the inlet to the outlet for directing air flow from the inlet to the outlet, which channel decreases in cross-sectional area from the inlet to the outlet whereby air flow speed is increased to create a high velocity air screen directed inwardly above and across the wheel toward the center of the vehicle. According to another embodiment, a spray control device comprises a hollow body mountable to the vehicle for extending over the wheel of the vehicle. The hollow body has a bottom fender wall with a downwardly curved rear end portion for concentric disposition with the wheel of corresponding diameter and at least one channel extending from an inlet to an outlet. The bottom fender includes a plurality of eductor openings communicating with the channel, and the channel decreases in cross-sectional area from the inlet to the outlet whereby air flow speed is increased to create a corresponding pressure drop operative to draw water spray through the eductor openings for discharge through the outlet in a downward and inward direction. A further embodiment combines features of the other embodiments.

A common problem encountered during highway driving is the visibility obscuring water spray that is generated by trucks, tractor-trailer rigs and other large wheeled vehicles. As the wheeled vehicle moves over a wet surface, the rotation of its wheels generates a water spray of a mist-like consistency that is turbulently discharged from the vehicle in a direction generally transverse to the direction of vehicle movement. In many cases this lateral discharge of spray can so obscure visibility as to make it extremely hazardous to drive past such a vehicle under wet road conditions.


A semiconductor device in which damages to an element such as a transistor are reduced even when external force such as bending is applied and stress is generated in the semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a first island-like reinforcement film over a substrate having flexibility; a semiconductor film including a channel formation region and an impurity region over the first island-like reinforcement film; a first conductive film over the channel formation region with a gate insulating film interposed therebetween; a second island-like reinforcement film covering the first conductive film and the gate insulating film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, in particular, a semiconductor device in which damages of an element such as a transistor provided in the semiconductor device are reduced even when an external force is applied.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a technique for providing an integrated circuit including a transistor or the like over a flexible substrate such as a plastic substrate has attracted attention. A semiconductor device formed by providing an integrated circuit over a flexible substrate can be reduced in weight, cost, or the like as compared to the case of using a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate. Since a flexible semiconductor device can be bent for example, it is expected to be applied to various fields and places (Reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 4015002, Reference 2: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2006-232449, and Reference 3: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2007-150179).
However, when external force such as bending is externally applied to a semiconductor device including an integrated circuit provided with an element such as a transistor over a flexible substrate, stress caused in the semiconductor device might damage the element such as a transistor which is included in the semiconductor device and adversely affect characteristics of the element. Further, in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device, the element such as a transistor is stressed and therefore the element might be damaged, which results in reducing the yield of products.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


Techniques are presented herein for switching between a software decoder and a hardware decoder in a hybrid decoder. A video bit stream is received. The video bit stream is analyzed to determine whether or not the video bit stream can be decoded by the hardware decoder. When the video bit stream can be decoded by the hardware decoder, the video bit stream is routed to the hardware decoder and also stored in a first buffer. The video bit stream is decoded by the hardware decoder and when a reference frame is decoded, the reference frame is stored in a second buffer. When the video bit stream cannot be decoded by the hardware decoder, the video bit stream is routed to the software decoder for decoding. When an instantaneous decoder refresh (IDR) frame is decoded by the software decoder, the IDR frame is stored in the first buffer.

Many microprocessors use a hardware accelerator to perform coding for video encoding and decoding. The hardware accelerator, however, is fixed to a particular coding and decoding (codec) standard and cannot be used for new codec standards and certain abstractions from the codec, e.g., variations provided by a Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) that are used to provide variable bandwidth and network customization options under the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunications standardization sector (ITU-T) H.264 advanced video codec (AVC) standard. The AVC standard is defined, in part, in Motion Pictures Expert Group version 4 (MPEG-4), part 10. As a result, some coding tasks for network abstraction can not be performed in hardware, and in many instances can be performed in software.
In general, codecs implemented using an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) are faster and more energy efficient than codecs implemented in software and executed on a central processing unit (CPU). For example, many chip manufacturers provide H.264 AVC hardware decoding units as part of a graphics processing unit (GPU). To facilitate hardware decoding, several public application programming interfaces (APIs) have been provided by hardware manufacturers and software Operating System (OS) providers, e.g., DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) is provided by Microsoft Corporation while Video Decode Acceleration Framework (VDA) is supplied by Apple, Inc. For royalty-free mobile platforms, OMX™ Integration Layer (IL) is provided by the Khronos Group. The above mentioned APIs can be used by setting decoder parameters or by sending NAL data to the hardware decoding unit. The hardware decoding unit preprocesses the video bit stream along with API calls. However, in many circumstances the hardware decoding unit will fail during NAL processing thereby resulting in a poor user experience.


A vehicle occupant protecting device, includes: an multidirectional airbag that is accommodated in a headrest, and that receives a gas supply from an inflator and inflates and expands, and that protects a head portion of a vehicle occupant from at least a front side and left and right both sides, and at which a front expanding portion, which protects the head portion from a front side, passes above the head portion in a process of inflating and expanding; and a vehicle cabin ceiling at which a reinforcing portion as an expanding direction regulating means is provided at an interference region which the front expanding portion interferes with in the process of inflating and expanding, and that, by the interference, directs an expanding direction of the front expanding portion toward a front side of the head portion.

The airbag device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2013-018378 has a pair of airbags for the head portion that inflate and expand toward the front from the left and right end portions of the headrest of a seat and that are joined together in front of the head portion of a vehicle occupant, and an auxiliary airbag for the head portion that inflates and expands toward the front from the central portion of the headrest of the seat and that is joined to the airbags for the head portion. Due thereto, the head portion is surrounded and protected from the front side, the left and right both sides, and the upper side.


An archery bow and bowstring dampener is disclosed. The dampener comprises at least one sleeve and at least one piston. The sleeve is formed with a first end adapted attached to a bow and a second end with at least one flared arm extending therefrom. Each sleeve is configured to matingly receive at least one piston therein. Each piston has at least one gripper extending therefrom on one end. The grippers flare outwardly from each piston and are mounted to each piston such that the grippers move inwardly when impacted by the bow limb(s) and/or bowstring and when each piston enters its sleeve, thereby grasping the bow limb(s) and/or bowstring, and outwardly when each piston exits its sleeve, thereby releasing the bow limb(s) and/or bowstring.

The present invention relates generally to archery bows and their components and accessories. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for dampening the vibration of a bowstring to reduce the sound produced by the bowstring during the release of the bowstring when shooting the bow, as well as, in some embodiments, for dampening the vibration of the bow limb (or bow limbs) to reduce the sound produced by the limb(s) when the bow is shot.
As recognized by those skilled in the art, a bowstring on an archery bow will produce a characteristic noise upon release of the bowstring to launch an arrow. This characteristic noise is associated with the vibrational pattern created by the bowstring, and is colloquially referred to as a "twang."
In addition to the sound produced by the bowstring, the bow itself, or, more precisely, the bow limb(s), also may produce a sound when the bowstring is released. This sound is created as the tensioned limb(s) snap back towards a "dead" or "static" (or "neutral") position and resonate until movement of the limb(s) ceases. Any bow can produce such a sound, but compound bows, in particular, can be highly susceptible.
While theses sounds do not affect the accuracy of a shot, the sounds travel faster than the arrow and, therefore, the sounds may startle the target and reduce the likelihood of an accurate hit. There have been numerous solutions proposed to these problems, many of them basing their effectiveness on the attachment of some device to the bow (the handle/riser and/or the limbs) and/or the bowstring to "interfere" with the oscillating movement of the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring and thereby reduce the associated noises created by the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,269, issued to Saunders, discloses a bowstring sound dampener having a support arm with one end mounted to a bow, and a cushion member on a second end of the support. The cushion member is formed of a resilient material which absorbs the energy of movement of the bowstring upon release of the bowstring after launching an arrow, thereby dampening the sound emitted by the string.
In another example, United States Patent Application Publication No. US2011/0214656, published on Sep. 8, 2011, and concurrently owned with the present application, discloses a Bowstring Sound Dampener having a sleeve and piston with grippers that at least partially surround a bowstring when the piston moves into the sleeve. This design results in numerous advantages as described in the patent application, and the contents of the patent application are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,314, issued to McPherson, discloses a limb-mounted bowstring vibration and noise suppressor. The vibration and noise suppressor is carried by a support having an attachment device at one end for attaching the suppressor to a limb of a bow.
In yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,432, issued to Andrews et al., discloses an archery bow having at least one dampener configured to reduce noise and vibration of the bow. The dampener is connected to a limb or to a riser or handle portion of the bow to reduce vibrations transferred to the riser by the limb.
Additional examples of bow limb dampening devices are found in: United States Patent Application Publication No. US2004/0077440 for an Archery Bow Limb Construction With or Without Built In Limb Dampeners by Kronfeld; U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,870, issued to Land, for a Split Limb Archery Bow Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,172, issued to Sanders, for an Archery Bow Limb Shock Cushioning Means Having a Bracket with Pivotally Mounted Weighted Extended Arms; U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,201, issued to McPherson et al., for a Bow Vibration Dampener; and, U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,449, issued to Wright, for Limb Dampeners.
Each of the patents and published patent applications identified in the preceding paragraph generally disclose devices that attach to, or that are formed integral with, the bow limb(s), and that are designed to dampen the movement or vibration of the bow limb(s) to improve the performance and longevity of the bow and, in some cases, to reduce the noise produced by the bow upon release of the arrow.
While the preceding prior art devices perform well, they generally involve the bowstring and/or the bow limb(s) impacting a relatively immobile surface, thereby creating additional noise when the bowstring and/or bow limb(s) impact the surface, or they generally result only in resonant movement of the bowstring and/or bow limb(s) being reduced or slowed, but not eliminated or nearly eliminated.
Therefore, what is needed is a archery bow and bowstring dampening device that offers not only an improved ability to trap the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring to prevent the bow limb(s) and/or the bowstring from oscillating after the shot and creating unwanted noise, but that also reduces the noise created upon impact of the bow limb(s) and/or bowstring, thereby providing additional benefit. The claimed dampener invention satisfies this need.


A document stream operating system and method is disclosed in which: (1) documents are stored in one or more chronologically ordered streams; (2) the location and nature of file storage is transparent to the user; (3) information is organized as needed instead of at the time the document is created; (4) sophisticated logic is provided for summarizing a large group of related documents at the time a user wants a concise overview; and (5) archiving is automatic. The documents can include text, pictures, animations, software programs or any other type of data.

Conventional operating systems frequently confuse inexperienced users because conventional operating systems are not well suited to the needs of most users. For example, conventional operating systems utilize separate applications which require file and format translations. In addition, conventional operating systems require the user to invent pointless names for files and to construct organizational hierarchies that quickly become obsolete. Named files are an invention of the 1950's and the hierarchical directories are an invention of 1960's.
Some conventional operating systems employ a "desktop metaphor" which attempts to simplify common file operations by presenting the operations in the familiar language of the paper-based world, that is, paper documents as files, folders as directories, a trashcan for deletion, etc. Also, the paper-based model is a rather poor basis for organizing information where the state of the art is still a messy desktop and where one's choices in creating new information paradigms is constrained [1].
Thus, conventional operating systems suffer from at least the following disadvantages: (1) a file must be "named" when created and often a location in which to store the file must be indicated resulting in unneeded overhead; (2) users are required to store new information in fixed categories, that is directories or subdirectories, which are often an inadequate organizing device; (3) archiving is not automatic; (4) little support for "reminding" functions are provided; (5) accessibility and compatibility across data platforms is not provided and (6) the historical context of a document is lost because no tracking of where, why and how a document evolves is performed. "Naming" a file when created and choosing a location in which to place the file is unneeded overhead: when a person grabs a piece of paper and starts writing, no one demands that a name be bestowed on the sheet or that a storage location be found. Online, many filenames are not only pointless but useless for retrieval purposes. Storage locations are effective only as long as the user remembers them.
Data archiving is an area where conventional electronic systems perform poorly compared to paper-based systems. Paper-based systems are first and foremost archiving systems, yet data archiving is difficult in conventional desktop systems. Often, users throw out old data rather than undertaking the task of archiving and remembering how to get the data back. If archiving and retrieval of documents is convenient, old information could be reused more often.
Reminding is a critical function of computer-based systems [2] [3], yet current systems supply little or no support for this function. Users are forced either to use location on their graphical desktops as reminding cues or to use add-on applications such as calendar managers.
A solution to these disadvantages is to use a document stream operating system. One such system is outlined in a 1994 article [4]. However, this article fails to address many of the disadvantages of conventional operating systems.


A creeper apparatus for use on rough uneven terrain includes body means having an anterior portion and a posterior portion, wherein the anterior portion and the posterior portion are spaced in an angular relationship at a juncture between the anterior and posterior portions; axle means fixedly connected to the body means in close proximity to the juncture between the anterior and posterior portions, the axle means having a first end and a second end extending transversely outwardly from the body means; wheel means including a pair of opposing wide tread resilient wheels, one rotatable mounted on each of the first and second ends of the axle means; and stabilizing means connected to the posterior portion of the body means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to accessories for vehicles and more specifically, without limitation, to accessories for repairing and maintaining vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles are essential to almost every aspect of everyday life. From time to time, those vehicles require various types of repair or maintenance. Some of the vehicle components requiring such repair or maintenance is readily accessible. Other components may require the use of jacks or hydraulic lifts to elevate the vehicle in order to provide access to the underside of the vehicle.
A commonly available implement for obtaining limited access to the underside of a vehicle is a platform supported on four swivel-mounted wheels, commonly referred to as a creeper. The wheels of such creepers are rigid and have a relatively small diameter so the platform is spaced in close proximity to the underlying floor to thereby enable a user to maneuver a portion of his body under the vehicle while lying face up on the creeper. Unfortunately, due to the small diameter of the wheels, the use of such creepers is limited to areas having a relatively smooth hard surface, such as a concrete floor for example. As a result, such creepers cannot be used on soft surfaces or rough or uneven terrain because the weight of the user bearing down on the creeper causes the wheels to be submerged in the soft underlying surface or unable to surpass even relatively small obstacles.
A not unusual situation is for an off-road vehicle to need repair or maintenance at a location remote from a smooth hard surface floor or a hydraulic lift, wherein work is needed on the underneath side of the vehicle. Since it would be fruitless to transport a prior art creeper to the site of the stranded vehicle because of its inability to operate in such terrain, about the only alternative would be to tow the vehicle to a hydraulic lift or to a smooth hard surface where a prior art creeper could be used.
What is needed is a creeper that can be easily used not only on hard surfaces but also on soft or rough or uneven terrain.

Creeper apparatus for use on rough uneven terrain


An annealing apparatus includes a heater plate and a cooler plate disposed in a chamber, a delivering robot, a sensor and circuitry. The delivering robot is configured to deliver a wafer between the heater plate and the cooler plate in the chamber. The sensor is located on the delivering robot and configured to output a first signal in response to a motion of the delivering robot. The circuitry is coupled to the sensor and configured to detect whether an abnormality of the delivering robot occurs according to the first signal.

In a semiconductor manufacturing process, one or more metal layers are formed within microelectronics fabrications. Thermal treatments are often applied to modify electrical properties of the one or more metal layers.
For example, a thermal annealing process is often applied to the metal layer. In annealing, atoms migrate in the crystal lattice and the number of dislocations decreases, leading to a change in ductility, hardness, or other electrical properties of the metal layer.

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


A front wheel assembly for a scooter. The scooter has a head tube provided at a front end thereof, a stem extending through the head tube, and a handlebar provided on a top of the stem. The front wheel assembly has a seat mounted at a lower end of the stem. A longitudinal bar is pivotally mounted in the seat. A first wheel is provided at a front end of the longitudinal bar. An axle is pivotally provided at a rear end of the longitudinal bar. A pair of second wheels, one of the pair of wheels mounted at each end of the axle. Whereby, when a user turns the handlebar, the scooter can follow a twisting path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a scooter, and more particularly to a front wheel assembly for the scooter.
2. Background Art
A scooter generally has a platform mounted between a front wheel and a rear wheel, and a handlebar provided above the front wheel for a user to maintain balance. The user steps on the platform with one foot, and pushes the scooter forward by the other foot thrusting against the ground. However, the scooter only can move along a straight path, so the user will soon lose interest in the monotonous play mode.
Therefore, the invention provides a front wheel assembly for a scooter to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problem.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a front wheel assembly which can assist a scooter to follow a twisting path.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


An object is to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor and having improved electric characteristics. The semiconductor device includes an oxide semiconductor film, a gate electrode overlapping the oxide semiconductor film, and a source electrode and a drain electrode electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor film. The method includes the steps of forming a first insulating film including gallium oxide over and in contact with the oxide semiconductor film; forming a second insulating film over and in contact with the first insulating film; forming a resist mask over the second insulating film; forming a contact hole by performing dry etching on the first insulating film and the second insulating film; removing the resist mask by ashing using oxygen plasma; and forming a wiring electrically connected to at least one of the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode through the contact hole.

A technique by which a transistor is manufactured using a semiconductor thin film formed over a substrate having an insulating surface has been attracting attention. The transistor is applied to a wide range of electronic devices such as an integrated circuit (IC) or an image display device (a display device). A silicon-based semiconductor material is widely known as a material for a semiconductor thin film applicable to a transistor. As another material, an oxide semiconductor has been attracting attention.
For example, a transistor whose semiconductor layer used for a channel formation region is formed using an amorphous oxide including indium (In), gallium (Ga), and zinc (Zn) and having an electron carrier concentration lower than 1018/cm3 is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device