A mail gateway generates an identifier for each attached file included in the e-mail addressed to a user and held in a mail server, and notifies a mail terminal belonging to the user of a list of generated IDs. When the user selects attached files that the user wants to attach to the e-mail from the list of IDs that is notified from the mail gateway, the mail gateway constructs e-mail including the selected attached files and the mail server transmits the constructed e-mail to addresses of the receivers of the e-mail.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an e-mail transmission/reception system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for the transmission/reception of e-mail with attached files.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The Internet is basically available through terminals provided at offices and homes. Recently, however, new usage patterns of the Internet such as "mobile computing" and "mobile Internet" are becoming common. In the mobile computing, the Internet is accessed by cellular phones and Personal Handyphone Systems (PHS) connected to personal computers or Personal Digital Assistants (PDA). The mobile Internet (e.g., Internet service for cellular phones) refers to a usage pattern that combines mobile machines, which are free from restrictions on time and space, and the Internet, which contains information from all over the world. As the mobile computing and the mobile Internet become widespread, we become able to easily send and receive e-mail at anytime and anyplace. However, when sending e-mail with attached files to cellular phones and PHSs, the attached files are automatically deleted in most of the mobile Internet services.
Meanwhile, there are some mobile Internet services for storing attached files in the server and forwarding them to another receiver's address. For instance, a service named "MOZIO e-mail" provided by ASTEL group including TOKYO TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK CO., INC, stores an attached file included in the received e-mail in a mail server, and adds a message of "The mail includes an attached file" to the e-mail from which the attached file has been removed so as to inform a subscriber of the existence of the attached file. Then, if the subscriber forwards the e-mail with such a message from the PHS to another address that is available from a personal computer or the like, the mail server attaches the stored file to the e-mail and sends the e-mail to the other address. Thus, the subscriber can receive the e-mail with the attached file by means of the personal computer.
In addition, a similar technology is disclosed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-175419. This application discloses an e-mail transmission/reception system in which, when forwarding an e-mail with an attached file from a mail terminal to another receiver's address, there is no necessity to transmit the attached file from the mail terminal to a mail server.
This e-mail transmission/reception system is composed of a mail terminal which is equipped with Mail User Agent (MUA), a mail gateway that relays e-mail between the mail terminal and a mail server, and the mail server which is equipped with Mail Transport Agent (MTA).
Here, the MUA is a program for providing a user interface to read and write e-mail, and the MTA is a program for delivering e-mail.
When receiving an acquisition request for the e-mail, which is received by the mail server, from the mail terminal, the mail gateway acquires the e-mail from the mail server, separates an attached file from the e-mail, stores the separated file having a mail ID, and manages the file. When receiving e-mail (consisting of the main body and a mail ID for identifying the original mail) that should be forwarded to another address from the mail terminal, the mail gateway attaches the stored and managed attached file to the e-mail on the basis of the mail ID for identifying the original mail and sends the e-mail consisting of the main body and the attached file to the mail server.
In this way, the above-mentioned system enables the mail terminal to send e-mail with an attached file to a forwarding address only by sending e-mail having a mail ID for identifying the original mail to the mail gateway.
However, according to the above-mentioned conventional system, when a plurality of attached files are included in the mail, there is a problem in that a file to be attached cannot be selected from the plurality of attached files but all files included in the e-mail are unconditionally attached to the e-mail, because mail IDs are used for linking e-mail and attached files. That is, in the conventional system, it is impossible to send e-mail including an attached file that a user selects from among a plurality of attached files without attaching the attached file by the mail terminal. The same goes for the above-mentioned service "MOZIO e-mail."

System for transmission/reception of e-mail with attached files


A method of forming a thin film, the method including: disposing a resist portion on a substrate, the resist portion including: a first region including a first upper surface; and a second region including a second upper surface, the first upper surface disposed higher than the second upper surface and forming a step; disposing a first protection layer covering the resist portion; exposing the first upper surface; removing the first region; disposing a first thin film on the substrate; disposing a second protection layer covering the first thin film; exposing the second upper surface; removing the second region; disposing a second thin film on the substrate; and removing the first protection layer and the second protection layer.

Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to a method of forming a thin film and a method of manufacturing an organic light-emitting display device using the same.
Discussion of the Background
A semiconductor device, a display apparatus, and other electronic devices generally include a plurality of thin films. A thin film may be formed by various methods including a photolithography process. The photolithography process conventionally includes an exposure process using a mask. In this regard, for the photolithography process, masks and exposure equipment are separately or additionally used, and may have a limitation in forming a thin film having micro patterns by the exposure process.
An organic light-emitting display device is a self-emitting device and thus, an additional light source is not required. Accordingly, the organic light-emitting display device may be driven at a low voltage and formed thin and light. Recently, the organic light-emitting display device has been recognized to have beneficial properties such as a wide viewing angle, a high contrast ratio, and a quick response time.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the inventive concept, and, therefore, it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method of forming thin film and method of manufacturing organic light-emitting display device


An automotive headlamp bulb provides the two light or three filament sources in a single bulb. One source may be used to generate a standard headlamp beam, while the second source may be used to generate an augmenting side beam in response to a turning signal. A similar third filament may provide an augmenting beam to the opposite side, or farther to the same side. The single bulb eliminates the need for a second bulb, or a second reflector in an advanced headlamp system with turning light augmentation.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electric lamps and particularly to electric lamps. More particularly the invention is concerned with lamps with a plurality of enclosed filaments.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Advanced forward lighting headlamp systems (AFS) are being developed to light the road on the side a vehicle is turning to. The first AFS headlamp systems used one lamp and one reflector or projector lens. The beam control was achieved by rotating the entire lamp to the right or left with a stepper motor. This is a mechanically complex and expensive system. Alternative systems were devised using a first lamp to generate a forward beam and a second lamp to generate an augmenting side beam in response to a turning signal. By tuning between the two sources one can aim the beam. The two lamp AFS systems may use either or both two light sources, and two reflectors. The cost of the extra material for the lamps and the reflectors, the space and volume for the second lamp, and the additional labor in mounting, and aiming the duplicative systems makes the enhanced lighting system expensive.

Bending beam headlamp with multi-filament bulb


A method and structure is presented for a display with reduced size pixels while retaining the transmissive approach. This enables continued use the least expensive transmission optics available. In an embodiment, it employs back-end-of-the-line vertical cells built on top of the row and column x, y lines of the pixels. In a PDLC type display embodiment each vertical cell is filled with PDLC which operates in a normally black mode known as the PDLC reverse mode. When the pixel control voltage is set ON, the liquid crystal is perpendicular to the light path resulting in a light pass through providing a bright state. When the control voltage is set OFF, the liquid crystals are randomly oriented, only the scattered light goes through the cell, so the pixel is in its OFF state. PDLC used here has two advantages. Firstly, the PDLC requires no rubbing. It is difficult to rub individual cell walls. Secondly, the use of both polarizations by the PDLC increases its luminous efficiency. Various embodiments are described for implementing vertical active electrodes and common ground electrodes. Advantages are described for employing the vertical electrodes with various implementations of a hidden storage capacitor.

Scientists continue to strive to find ways to reduce the cell size of liquid crystal displays for a variety of developing applications. This becomes important when considering the small cell size dictated by monochromatic head-mounted or optical projection displays required for a UXGA form factor. These require provision of 1600.times.1280 pixels with a cell size of 18.times.18 .mu.m.sup.2. A comparable colored display requires a cell size of 6.times.18 .mu.m.sup.2 for each primary color. Display cell structures that are based on the transmissive liquid crystal technologies are well developed and their continued use allow the scientists to take advantage of their simple and low cost optics. In these prior art display techniques, as the display cell size is made to shrink to less than 20 microns the LCD electrode width becomes comparable in size to the LCD layer thickness. This layer thickness provides the gap between the LCD control electrodes. In this situation, the ability to regulate the light transmitting properties of each pixel becomes less and less controllable. This is due to the 3D-effect inherent in liquid crystals. The 3D-effect causes irregular switching control when the LCD ratio of electrode width to gap thickness becomes small. Typical displays employ a safe LCD ratio of greater than five to one to effectively eliminate the 3D-effect.
FIG. 1 shows a pixel within a typically assembled liquid crystal display 100. It shows a lower substrate 130 upon which the semiconductor circuit 132 and the lower electrode 135 is formed. The upper substrate 110 is separated from the lower substrate 130 by a liquid crystal layer 120. The liquid crystal layer 120 is covered with the upper electrode 115. The liquid crystal ON/OFF state control voltage is connected across the lower 135 and upper 115 electrodes. When the control voltage is present the liquid crystal is in one light transmitting state, and when the control voltage is not present the liquid crystal is in the opposite light transmitting state.
In prior art liquid crystals the thickness `y` 140 of the liquid crystal layer 120 is generally greater than 6-8 microns. The width `x` 150 of the horizontal lower layer electrode 135 is usually greater than 40 microns. This results in an LCD pixel aspect ratio of at least 5:1. In order to achieve a smaller size pixel using this technique, the width `x` 150 of the horizontal lower layer electrode 135 must be reduced. This leads to the 3D effects problem in controlling the ON/OFF state of the liquid crystal.
Typically a PDLC material requires a cell gap thickness of 6 to 8 microns so that light passing through the material is sufficiently scattered in the OFF state. Prior art techniques use horizontal electrodes. In this case, as the width of the electrodes is reduced the ratio of the electrode width `x` 150, to cell gap thickness `y` 140, becomes perilously small. For example, a 6 micron width electrode with a 6 micron cell gap seriously suffers from the aforementioned 3D electrical field effects. In this situation, the cell does not completely switch from the `OFF` to the `ON` state. Also, near the edges of the cell insufficient field strength exists to adequately align the PDLC material to efficiently pass the light. Additionally, light passing through the cell at angles off the display normal are scattered and lost due to the insufficiency of the field strength.
The present invention overcomes this problem by using vertical electrodes. Back-end-of-the-line vertical cells are built on top of the x, y lines. Each vertical cell is filled with PDLC (polymer dispersed liquid crystal). By forming and aligning the electrodes in a vertical manner the 3D-effect problem is solved in a way that allows small pixel sizes to be used. This is achieved without loss of pixel contrast while still maintaining relatively complete switching from dark to bright states. Another problem overcome by the present invention is sustaining the efficiency of light transmission through each pixel. This is accomplished by maintaining an aperture ratio of greater than 20 percent even when the pixel edges are in the order of 6 microns transmitting the light.
As cell size is reduced by the use of vertical electrodes another problem becomes apparent. This is the problem that the percentage of clear pixel area or aperture ratio of the prior art designs becomes unacceptably low. This is due to the light obscuring properties of the opaque areas within each pixel taken up by the row and column lines, the thin-film-transistor and the storage capacitor.
A display should provide an aperture ratio of greater than 30%. In liquid crystal displays having relatively large pixels, the storage capacitor obscures about 10 to 20% of the region through which light is transmitted in the transmissive display. As the pixel cell size is reduced the percentage of area obscured by the storage capacitor becomes intolerable. It causes a severe reduction in the amount of available light transmitted through the pixel.
None of the known existing transmissive liquid crystal cells on poly-Si or c-Si can be scaled to such small cell sizes while maintaining a greater than 30 percent aperture ratio. Two alternatives have been suggested. One method is to use reflective cells. This approach requires more expensive optical components. The other approach calls for self-luminous cells such as the LED, electroluminescence, or organic-LED cells. All self-luminous cells face the differential aging problem that is a material-related unknown at the present time.
One aspect of the present invention also solves this problem by using a vertical trench capacitor which is hidden under the row and column lines. In this way, the opaque area of each pixel is limited to the areas taken up by a single transistor and the row and column x,y lines.

Transmissive cell for ultra small pixel applications

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention broadly includes a screen assembly including a U-shaped channel, a plurality of channels, and a plurality of retainer clips. Each channel in the plurality of channels includes respective first and second walls forming an L-shape and a respective third wall hingedly connected to the respective first wall. The respective first, second, and third walls form a U-shape when the respective third wall is in a closed position. The plurality of channels are arranged to receive a screen frame when the respective third wall is in an open position and the plurality of channel elements is arranged to restrain the screen frame when the respective third wall is in the closed position. The plurality of retainer clips is arranged to releasably engage the plurality of channels to maintain the respective third wall in the closed position.

Hurricanes generate high winds that can result in wide-spread and extensive damage. Damage is particularly prevalent for structures that are not as robust in construction, e.g., screened patios. Even in instances when screened patios are built under strict construction codes, hurricanes carry enough power to severely damage those patios.
Damage to screened structures is in part due to the inherent structure of a screen, i.e., the ratio of air permeable surface area versus air impermeable surface area. Common screens typically have sixty five percent (65%) air permeable surface area and thirty five percent (35%) air impermeable surface area. Thus, in this instance, thirty five percent of the screen's surface area is impermeable to wind and rain, which during a hurricane may exceed sixty miles per hour. It general follows that wind and rain striking this impermeable surface area can impart a large force against the screen thereby causing the screen or a frame attached to the screen to fail.
Further complicating the circumstances is the fact that certain types of debris can effectively turn a screen into sailcloth. Paper or fabric blown about by winds can be pinned against the screen thereby increasing the air impermeable surface area. Additionally, dirt may collect on the screen, increasing the amount of impermeable surface area. In severe situations, dirt may entirely impede all passage of air through the screen. In such situations, a significant amount of pressure may be imparted on the screen and thus the frame of the patio, thereby causing structural damage or collapse.
In addition to the permeability ratio, screens are not resilient to debris and projectiles. Objects thrown about during a hurricane often collide with and subsequently shred screens. For example, screens offer little defense against pieces of wood projected at high speed towards it. In these instances, one of two outcomes is likely to occur, either the screen material fails and becomes shredded or the force of the projectile causes the frame to which the screen material is attached to fail. Either outcome is undesirable as they increase the cost of cleanup and repair after a storm.
Screen assembly designs permit the removal and replacement of screen frames, however this act is often difficult and cumbersome. Often screen frames can be bent or damaged merely by attempting to remove them from the screen assembly. Hence, people are often hesitant to attempt to remove a screen frame, due to the drawbacks present in known screen assemblies.
As can be derived from the variety of devices and methods directed at providing means to remove a screen frame from a screen assembly, many means have been contemplated to accomplish the desired end, i.e., quick and simple screen removal and installation, without sacrificing window aesthetics and cost, and thus resulting in better screen assemblies. Heretofore, tradeoffs between cost and functionality were required. Thus, there has been a longfelt need for a screen assembly that includes means to quickly and easily remove and install a screen frame therein.


Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for use in spin dispensing a process liquid onto a surface of a wafer. The wafer is supported and rotated by a rotatable chuck attached by a shaft to a spin motor. A dispense assembly is positioned to dispense process liquid, such as photoresist, onto the wafer support by the chuck. The apparatus further includes a bowl having a bottom and a side defining an interior region, the bottom containing an opening in which the shaft is movable. An air ring is disposed in the interior region around said chuck to define an upper plenum in fluid communication with a lower plenum. The air ring further includes at least one flow path through the air ring to said lower plenum, preferably in the form of a plurality of holes in a circumferential groove. Also in a preferred embodiment, a top ring is provided having a bottom face and an inner lip having dimensions smaller than the outer rim and larger than the wafer. The top ring is preferably seated on the side of the bowl and with the air ring further defines the upper plenum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to containers and methods for use in dispensing process liquids onto a surface. More particularly, the present invention relates to a bowl and method for use in a spin coating apparatus for the coating of wafer shaped semiconductor material.
2. Description of the Invention Background
Integrated circuits are typically constructed by depositing a series of individual layers of predetermined materials on a wafer shaped semiconductor substrate, or "wafer". The individual layers of the integrated circuit are in turn produced by a series of manufacturing steps. For example, in forming an individual circuit layer on a wafer containing a previously formed circuit layer, an oxide, such as silicon dioxide, is deposited over the previously formed circuit layer to provide an insulating layer for the circuit. A pattern for the next circuit layer is then formed on the wafer using a radiation alterable material, known as photoresist. Photoresist materials are generally composed of a mixture of organic resins, sensitizers and solvents. Sensitizers are compounds, such as diazonapthaquinones, that undergo a chemical change upon exposure to radiant energy, such as visible and ultraviolet light resulting in an irradiated material having differing salvation characteristics with respect to various solvents than the nonirradiated material. Resins are used to provide mechanical strength to the photoresist and the solvents serve to lower the viscosity of the photoresist so that it can be uniformly applied to the surface of the wafers. After a photoresist layer is applied to the wafer surface, the solvents are evaporated and the photoresist layer is hardened, usually by heat treating the wafer. The photoresist layer is then selectively irradiated by placing a radiation opaque mask containing a transparent portion defining the pattern for the next circuit layer over the photoresist layer and then exposing the photoresist layer to radiation. The photoresist layer is then exposed to a chemical, known as developer, in which either the irradiated or the nonirradiated photoresist is soluble and the photoresist is removed in the pattern defined by the mask, selectively exposing portions of the underlying insulating layer. The exposed portions of the insulating layer are then selectively removed using an etchant to expose corresponding sections of the underlying circuit layer. The photoresist must be resistant to the etchant, so as to limit the attack of the etchant to only the exposed portions of the insulating layer. Alternatively, the exposed underlying layer(s) may be implanted with ions which do not penetrate the photoresist layer thereby selectively penetrating only those portions of the underlying layer not covered by the photoresist. The remaining photoresist is then stripped using either a solvent, or a strong oxidizer in the form of a liquid or a gas in the plasma state. The next layer is then deposited and the process is repeated until fabrication of the semiconductor device is complete.
Photoresist and developer materials are typically applied to the wafer using a spin coating technique in which the photoresist is dispensed on the surface of the wafer as the wafer is spun on a rotating chuck. The spinning of the wafer distributes the photoresist over the surface of the material and exerts a shearing force that separates the excess photoresist from the wafer thereby providing a thin layer of photoresist on the surface of the wafer. Spin coating operations are performed in a clean room environment, and it is necessary to contain not only the excess coating material that is separated from the wafer, but also the vapor resulting from the evaporation of the solvent. In addition, photoresist materials are generally very expensive, ranging from $500 to $2300/gallon, therefore, reducing the amount of coating material used in the process can significantly reduce the overall cost of producing semiconductor devices. Also, a build up of excess coating material in the bowl requires additional downtime to remove and clean the bowl that further increases production costs.
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a typical bowl 200 and a porous wafer support chuck 202 of the prior art, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,222 issued Feb. 22, 1994 to Hurtig. The wafer support chuck 202 is supported by a shaft 204 that passes through a hole 206 in the bowl 200 and attaches to a spin motor 208 in a motor compartment 209. A wafer 210 having a top and a bottom surface, 212 and 214 respectively, is placed on the wafer support chuck 202 and is secured using a vacuum (not shown). The wafer 210 is spun and coating material, such as photoresist or developer, is dispensed onto the top surface 212 of the wafer 210. The rotation of the wafer 210 causes the coating material to distribute over the top surface 212 and exerts a shear force on the coating material that separates excess coating material from the surface 212.
Some of the solvent in the excess coating material vaporizes upon leaving the surface producing dry aerosol particles of the coating mixed with the liquid drops which accumulate over time on wall 216 of the bowl 200. Also, the excess coating material has a tendency to creep around the edge of the wafer 210 and contaminate the bottom surface 214. If the coating material on the bottom surface 214 migrates to the chuck 202 a loss of vacuum could occur and the wafer 210 will be released, possibly damaging the wafer. A solvent spray nozzle 218 is attached to the bowl 200 and is directed toward the edge of the wafer 210 to rinse the bottom surface 214, thereby preventing a buildup of coating material. Solvent spray holes (not shown) are also provided in the bottom 217 of the bowl 200 to rinse the coating solution from the bottom surface.
The excess liquid coating and liquid solvent are drained from the bowl 200 using drain line 220 and the solvent vapors are purged from the bowl 200 with air through air purge line 222. Solvent vapors are exhausted from the motor compartment 209 through a safety exhaust line 224. The drain line 220, the air purge line 222 and the safety exhaust line 224 are connected to an exhaust manifold and the vapor and liquid are separated and either reclaimed or disposed accordingly.
One problem that exists with the prior art design shown in FIG. 1 is that in the region between the bottom surface 214 of the wafer 210 and the bottom of the bowl 217 a low pressure zone is created that results in a recirculation zone being formed that increases the amount of contamination that reaches the bottom surface 214 of the wafer 210, the bottom of the bowl 217, the chuck 202, and the motor 208. The recirculation zone results in a lower production yield due to contamination of the wafers and an increase in the overall processing time due to the increased downtime required to clean the bowl 200.
One prior art effort to eliminate the recirculation zone, shown in FIG. 2, employs a bowl 200 having a bottom 217 that is in close proximity to the bottom surface 214. While this design does eliminate the recirculation zone beneath the bottom surface 214, the pressure differential between the edge of the wafer and the axis of rotation and the proximity of the bottom 217 to the bottom surface 214 produces a wicking effect that draws coating material in toward the center of the bowl 200. The proximity of the bottom surface 214 to the bottom 217 of the bowl 200 also makes it more difficult to rinse the coating material off the bottom surface 214 using the solvent spray nozzle 218.
Another problem is that prior art bowls are generally segregated, such as by divider 226, to prevent the excess coating material from getting splashed or drawn onto the bottom surface 214 of the wafer 210. While this design is effective for that purpose, the solvent is also segregated from the excess coating material that is removed from the wafer 210 and the dry aerosol particulates that are produced as the solvent in the coating evaporates, all of which makes it more difficult to remove the liquid and solid coating material from the bowl 200. The problems of the liquid coating drying and forming a build up occurs not only in the bowl, but in the drain lines leading to the exhaust manifold, which, of course, leads to increased downtime to clean the bowl and the drain lines. The amount of downtime required to clean the bowl in the prior art is further increased by the fact that in order to fully clean the bowl or the chuck and motor or to perform maintenance, the bowl and chuck have to be disassembled to separate the components. Thus, it is apparent that a need exists for an improved spin coating bowl design and method of using the same which overcomes, among others, the above-discussed problems so as to provide a spin coating bowl that requires less maintenance and the maintenance that is performed requires less overall downtime.


A dosing apparatus 1 includes a material flow control arrangement 2 including vertical ducting 4 having co-axial therewith a vertically reciprocatory rod 5 mounting at its ends inlet and outlet valve closure plugs 6a and 6b. The upper and lower end zones of the ducting 4 define respective circular-cylindrical inlet and outlet 13a and 13b bounded by respective circular-cylindrical valve seats 14a and 14b in which the plugs 6a and 6b are sliding fits. Mounted on at least one horizontal extension piece 4d of the ducting 4 is at least one dosing pump 16. When the outlet 13b is closed by the plug 6b, the cross-section of the inlet 13a is unobstructed; similarly, when the inlet 13a is closed by the plug 6a, the cross-section of the outlet 13b is unobstructed. Furthermore, in an intermediate position of the rod 5, the cross-sections of both the inlet 13a and the outlet 13b are unobstructed, so that passage of a cleaning fluid through the ducting 4 is facilitated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an arrangement and a method for control of flow of material, particularly as applicable to an apparatus and a method for dosing the material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,909 discloses a positive displacement pump for liquid or semi-liquid food products. The pump is controlled by a spool-type valve and includes a product dosing cylinder into which product is drawn and then expelled by a piston. A chamber is provided within a housing of the valve having an outlet in which is secured a nozzle having an internal chamber communicating with the remainder of the valve chamber. The nozzle chamber has upper and lower cylindrically shaped portions of given diameter separated by an intermediate section which tapers outwardly from both upper and lower portions to an expanded diameter portion at a level between the upper and lower portions. The valve spool has a lower plunger section reciprocating within the valve housing and nozzle chambers, and the plunger section has upper and lower portions matching in diameter and axial separation the respective upper and lower nozzle chamber portions. The intermediate portion of the plunger section tapers inwardly from both upper and lower plunger portions to a diameter smaller than the diameter of the upper and lower plunger portions. The piston and the spool are reciprocated in timed relationship so that, during a product intake stroke of the piston, the spool is in a lowermost position wherein both upper and lower plunger portions are positioned in sealed relationship with the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the nozzle chamber, and an upper plunger section of the valve spool is below a cylindrical inlet of the valve chamber of matching diameter while, during a discharge stroke of the piston, and when the valve spool is in its uppermost position, the upper plunger section seals in the cylindrical inlet and the upper plunger portion is positioned above the upper nozzle chamber portion, while the lower plunger portion is positioned just below the nozzle chamber upper portion, clear of the lower nozzle portion. The valve spool is initially moved upwardly from its lowermost position before the piston begins its product discharge stroke. A constricted annular opening is thereby defined through which product passes at an increased velocity to prevent air bubbles from rising upwardly in the outwardly moving product. The portion of the nozzle chamber below the lower plunger section of the valve spool provides an enlarged chamber when the valve spool is in the uppermost position, to reduce the velocity of the product as it is discharged from the nozzle into a container therebelow to minimize splashing. The valve spool includes a valve stem extending vertically from the lower plunger section to the upper plunger section and thence upwards towards a drive device. In the open condition of the inlet, its cross-section is obstructed by that valve stem and, in the open condition of the outlet, its cross-section is greatly obstructed by the lower plunger section.
WO88/06552 discloses a dosing system for filling containers with a particulate/liquid mixture and which includes three piston-and-cylinder devices, of which a first device delivers the mixture downwards to containers advanced beneath it, a second device feeds a thick particulate/liquid mixture via a conduit to the first device, and the third device feeds a thin liquid via a conduit to the first device. A liquid supply port is disposed peripherally in the cylinder of the first device, and a conduit in continuous communication with the port extends through the piston to a lower axial end of the piston. A thick mixture supply port is also disposed peripherally in the cylinder of the first device and is swept by the piston thereof. Each of the second and third devices comprises an inlet valve in the form of a rotary plug valve and a dosing piston-and-cylinder arrangement.

Material flow control arrangement and method


Attaching an elliptical excisional skin biopsy punch to an appropriately designed hand held electrically powered handle can quickly produce a sharply demarcated wound that is the same shape and size as the elliptical punch that was used. The biopsy specimen obtained in this manner can be obtained within 1-2 seconds and thus is a much faster method than the more laborious method of rocking the elliptical punch back and forth by hand. In addition, only slight pressure is required to complete the biopsy thus minimizing the crush effect on the biopsy specimen.

This invention involves a modified technique to produce a more efficient use of an approved medical device—the elliptical excisional skin biopsy punch. Commercially available elliptically shaped skin biopsy punches have been available for decades. However, due to the elliptical shape of the cutting blade of this type of punch, it cannot be rotated back and forth like a round punch to do a skin biopsy. Instead the manufacturer recommended technique advises the insertion of one of the angled ends of the elliptically shaped blade into the skin and then forcibly rocking the blade back and forth to cut through the skin. This technique requires heavy pressure and prolonged rocking back and forth to cut through the skin. Even so, this technique produces poor quality biopsy specimens without clean edges and with increasing crush effect with the smaller size punches. This technique also obviates the main advantages of an elliptically shaped excision which are to produce a wound that is easier to surgically close and to produce a more pleasing cosmetic scar than that produced by a round punch biopsy.
This invention describes a modified technique that makes the elliptical excisional biopsy punch fast and efficient in producing a sharply demarcated elliptically shaped wound by attaching the handle of the punch to a hand-held battery powered driver unit. This driver unit produces very rapid and short, back and forth oscillations of the attached elliptical punch blade in an almost vibratory motion which allows it to quickly slice completely through the involved skin in 1-2 seconds. Also, the resulting biopsy specimen has sharp edges with little crush effect and the resulting wound maintains the shape and size of any sized punch that is used.
Identifying part numbers (in parentheses) used in the application and in each Figure remain the same throughout.

Method of making an elliptical skin punch


An edge-covering based greedy method for shared filter ordering includes receiving a plurality of queries, wherein each query is a conjunction of filters, and each filter is shared across multiple queries of the plurality of queries, evaluating a unit price of each filter, evaluating, sequentially, each filter in order of a lowest to a highest unit price, to determine a value for each filter, and changing an ordering of the filters according to the values. An edge-covering based harmonic method for shared filter ordering includes receiving a plurality of queries, wherein each query is a conjunction of filters, and each filter is shared across multiple queries of the plurality of queries, evaluating a weight of each filter, evaluating, randomly, each filter having a probability inversely proportionally to its weight, to determine a value, and changing an ordering of the filters according to the values.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to approximation algorithms and more particularly to a system and method for processing general overlapping queries.
2. Description of Related Art
In relational databases, the problem of multi-query optimizations has been viewed with a focus on relational operators. Continuously Adaptive Continuous Queries (CACQ) seek to optimize the evaluation of continuous queries defined on data streams by sharing relational operators (selections and join state) across queries. It also adapts to changes in operator costs and selectivities over time. Different grouping mechanisms may be used for continuous queries in order to optimize a large number of continuous queries in the Internet. Optimization of a single query with expensive filters (also known as pipelined filter ordering) has been considered. Ordering shared filters which are part of overlapping queries (as considered in this work) is a generalization of ordering pipelined filters that are part of a single query. Shared filter ordering has been identified as a probabilistic generalization of a set-cover problem, which is NP-Hard and hard to approximate within a factor of o(log n) of the optimal solution, where n is the number of queries. The special combinatorial structure in the case of pipelined filter ordering makes it possible to devise algorithms with strong theoretical guarantees: Designing approximation algorithms for the shared filter ordering problem with non-trivial performance guarantees in the case of arbitrarily correlated filters is an open problem.
Efficient evaluation of multiple overlapping queries over data streams has received attention in the context of content-based publish-subscribe systems, wherein they assume that filter evaluations are cheap. This significantly alters the flavor of the problem as the goal becomes one of optimizing the runtime efficiency of the query evaluation algorithm. For example, systems represent stream items using attribute-value pairs, and queries using conjunctions of predicates. These predicates can be evaluated relatively quickly by examining the item, which typically contains small-sized structured text data. Predicate evaluation in semantic pub/sub systems can be accomplished by comparing the arguments (subject and object) of a predicate with the attributes of a stream item. Several systems represent items using XML documents and subscriptions using XPath expressions or its variations. Again, these XPath expressions can be evaluated by examining the item. Since predicate evaluations are not expensive in these systems, their overarching goal is to optimize the runtime efficiency of query resolution algorithms rather than ordering the evaluation of predicates optimally.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for processing general overlapping queries in an efficient manner.

Processing overlapping continuous queries

International Business Machines Corporation


A semiconductor package includes an encapsulated semiconductor device and a redistribution structure. The encapsulated semiconductor device includes a semiconductor device encapsulated by an encapsulating material. The redistribution structure overlays the encapsulated semiconductor device and includes a plurality of vias and a redistribution line. The plurality of vias are located on different layers of the redistribution structure respectively and connected to one another through a plurality of conductive lines, wherein, from a top view, an angle greater than zero is included between adjacent two of the plurality of conductive lines. The redistribution line is disposed under the plurality of conductive lines and connects corresponding one of the plurality of vias and electrically connected to the semiconductor device through the plurality of vias.

Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other electronic equipment. Semiconductor devices are typically fabricated by sequentially depositing insulating or dielectric layers, conductive layers, and semiconductor layers of material over a semiconductor substrate, and patterning the various material layers using lithography to form circuit components and elements thereon. Many integrated circuits are typically manufactured on a single semiconductor wafer. The dies of the wafer may be processed and packaged at the wafer level, and various technologies have been developed for wafer level packaging.

Semiconductor package and method of manufacturing semiconductor package

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A dispensing means with a viewability of the container from which a liquid such as wine, olive oil or fresh juice is being dispensed and maintaining the liquid free from deterioration or contamination by use of inert gas relative to the liquid. A base unit (4) including an internal reservoir (8) to hold liquids has a top opening (22) that feeds to the reservoir (8) and able to receive the neck (12c) and outlet (12b) of an inverted replaceable bottle (12). A sealing means retains the bottle (12) in position. A dispensing outlet pipe (15) leads from the bottom of the reservoir (8) through an insulation case (7) to an external tap (15b). A gas input (14) leads through a top annular part (13a) on an inner container to the top of the reservoir (8) for supplying an inert gas such as nitrogen, nitrous oxide or argon to the liquid food product.

To date businesses such as restaurants, cafes, pubs and hotels, which are in the business of providing to customers wine by the glass ("wine resellers"), traditionally use 750 ml bottles or buy wine in bag in a boxes known in Australia as "cask wine". Wine resellers need to purchase large quantities of wine in 750 ml bottles. These are transported in boxes of 12 to the wine retailer's premises where they are stored. Therefore, a lot of the transport cost and weight is in the packaging. Each 750 ml bottle contains five "standard glasses" of wine. In businesses where wine is sold by the glass, each bottle must be opened, poured, corked and recorked manually each time a glass of wine is dispensed.
Once emptied the bottles are not reused because it is uneconomic to return each bottle rewash and refill and recork for such a small container.
Therefore, there are a number of disadvantages associated with the single 750 ml bottle method of wine supply, storage and dispensing ("the single bottle system"): 1. Because of oxidation, once a bottle of wine is opened the quality of the wine remaining in the open bottle decreases rapidly. This increases the potential for wastage for wine resellers using single bottle system to store and dispense wine; 2. The single bottle system requires that employees of wine resellers manually open, dispense and recork bottles each time a glass of wine is required which is an ineffective use of time and labour at the wine resellers expense; 3. High packaging costs are incurred due to single use packaging increasing costs for both the wine retailer and the environment; 4. High transportation costs are incurred by the wine retailer because of the need to replenish stock of single bottles.
It is not an acceptable alternative to deliver wine in large "bags in a box". It is also not acceptable to have large hidden reservoirs or use kegs in the same manner as beer, which is pumped up from the cellar to a tap on a bar. Wine is an exclusive product that needs to be treated carefully and to be presented properly. The wine purchaser needs to be assured of what is being served.
In a similar way, the dispensing of premium products such as olive oil and quality juices needs to be dispensed in a manner which gives the purchaser confidence of its quality without substantially increasing costs of dispensing.
It is therefore an object of the invention to maintain the benefits of wine storage in bottles and of the purchaser seeing the wine being dispensed from a bottle while overcoming the difficulties and expense of use of small bottles including standard 750 ml wine bottles.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved system and apparatus for dispensing liquid, which overcomes or at least ameliorates the problems of the prior art.


A vehicle includes an engine that powers a wheel through a drive train. The drive train includes a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and toothed gearing disposed between the CVT and the wheel. A release clutch is also disposed between the CVT and the wheel. A controller controls the release clutch so as to disengage the clutch when the engine is not running and engage the clutch when the engine is running. The controller includes a hydraulic cylinder that fluidly connects to the engine's oil system so that engine-generated oil pressure engages the release clutch. Disengagement of the release clutch makes it easier to push the vehicle when the engine is not running, for example, when the engine breaks down.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to drive trains for vehicles, and specifically relates to clutch mechanisms for vehicles that utilize continuously variable transmissions.
2. Description of Related Art
Various recreational vehicles (e.g., motorcycles, scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), snowmobiles, etc.) have drive trains that include continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) to transfer power from a propulsion unit (e.g., an internal combustion engine, electric motor, etc.) to a propelled device (e.g., a wheel(s), an endless track, etc.) to propel the vehicle. Such drive trains also typically include toothed gearing (e.g., additional reduction gears and/or a manually operated transmission) between the CVT and the propelled device.
In such drive trains, there is typically a constant driving connection between the propelled device of the vehicle, the gearbox, and the CVT, as well as possibly the engine. If the vehicle has to be pushed (e.g., if the engine is inoperable), rotation of the propelled device drives the belt of the CVT and the gears of the gearbox. The resistance of the gearbox and CVT to such rotation impairs the propelled device's ability to freely move, which makes it very difficult or even impossible to move the vehicle in difficult terrain, particularly if the vehicle itself is heavy.
In some vehicles, a centrifugal clutch is placed downstream on the drive train from the CVT (i.e., between the CVT and the propelled device). Consequently, the propelled device does not drive the CVT when the vehicle is being pushed. Unfortunately, such downstream centrifugal clutches are particularly difficult to design, manufacture, and install because they must operate at the low speeds and high torques that are present downstream from the CVT. Consequently, the centrifugal clutch must use very heavy fly-weights and an extremely rigid structure. The clutch must be very strong to endure the high torque that is present at both low and high speeds. The extreme operating conditions that the centrifugal clutch must endure produce fatigue and wear on the clutch, so that it is impossible to ensure long life and reliability. Finally, the addition of such a centrifugal clutch complicates assembly of the vehicle and makes the vehicle more expensive.


The DC power supply system has a separate controller connected to the AC power rectifiers via a control bus. Improved control features and modularity are achieved.

Batteries as principal or backup power sources have numerous applications in such industries as computer technology and telecommunications. In these applications, it is important that the battery be maintained at a fully charged condition in order to function properly when needed.
One particular application for batteries is as an emergency power source for telecommunications equipment located outdoors. If the regular power supplied by an AC source fails, the battery must be able to provide the necessary voltage until such time as the AC power is restored. It is common in such applications that a battery charger be connected across the batteries such that they are constantly maintained at the proper voltage levels. In a 48 volt DC battery string, the charge currents from the AC rectifier can be large enough that the voltage drop across the charging leads is noticeable. Since small changes in voltage at the batteries are significant in controlling the rate of charge, it has been found that minor errors in charge control are introduced when the battery voltage is measured across the battery terminals using long sense leads connected to the voltage measurement circuit.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,040 granted to Bourbeau, a networked battery monitor control system and charging method is disclosed in which individual battery conditions are detected for each battery in a string of batteries by electronic modules. The electronic modules produce a go/no-go signal for each of four battery conditions: over-voltage, under-voltage, over-temperature and float-voltage. The go/no-go signals are read by a network controller connected to each module via a single three-wire local area network (LAN). Over-voltage to any individual battery can be limited by connecting by-pass resistors across individual batteries. Charging current to the string of batteries can be adjusted by the controller in response to over-voltage detected by one or more of the modules connected to the individual batteries in the string. In Bourbeau, the battery charger current and voltage are not variably controlled in response to a variable battery voltage. The object of the Bourbeau reference is to provide a simplified networked battery monitor and control system in which the individual characteristics of each battery in a string of batteries can be monitored and compensated while allowing the battery string to be charged and discharged as a group.


A digital photographing apparatus including: a display unit for displaying a captured image; a position setting unit for setting a position on the display unit; an area setting unit for setting an area based on the position set by the position setting unit; a photometry unit for measuring luminance of the set area; an exposure value determination unit for determining an exposure value based on a photometric reference and a result of the measuring performed by the photometry unit. The digital photographing apparatus may capture a high quality image by properly adjusting exposure and white balance.

The various embodiments of the invention relate to a digital photographing apparatus.
When digital photographing apparatuses, such as digital cameras or camcorders, are used to photograph a subject, colors and luminance of a captured image may be different from those of the subject that is actually recognized by human eyes because an exposure value or a white balance gain may not be properly set. Accordingly, digital photographing apparatuses are required to have functions of adjusting an exposure value and white balance.


A process for stabilizing an ethylenically unsaturated monomer or oligomer from premature polymerization is disclosed whereby a stabilizing amount of an N-hydroxy substituted hindered amine is added to said polymerizable monomer or oligomer. The ethylenically unsaturated monomer or oligomer encompass vinyl monomers or oligomers bearing at least one polymerizable moiety. The N-hydroxy substituted hindered amine inhibits premature polymerization in the liquid and/or vapor phase.

The ethylenically unsaturated compounds which can be polymerized by free radical initiation are commonly called monomers. They constitute a major class of industrial chemicals. Because of the presence of the polymerizable double bond, the widespread sources of initiating radicals from peroxides, light and/or thermal generation, such monomers are prone to undesirable and premature polymerization at various stages during their manufacture, purification, storage, shipping, blending and use. Protection of such monomers from such premature polymerization is needed up to the point where polymerization is actually desired. If premature polymerization does occur, the monomer may suffer contamination by polymer, troublesome increase in viscosity, gelation and/or loss of reactivity. Fouling of distillation equipment including heat exchanger surfaces, storage vessels, transfer lines, pumps, shipping containers and application equipment can occur with ensuing costs of cleaning, downtime, loss of material and unnecessary labor costs. A particularly difficult situation is the preparation of polyol acrylates from polyols and acrylic acid since prolonged heating periods are required to complete the esterification. Premature polymerization can also constitute a safety hazard since uncontrolled exothermic polymerization can cause ruptured vessels, atmospheric contamination, and in extreme cases, explosions and fires. Deterioration of monomers in shipping and storage may also make necessary the use of costly refrigerated shipping and storage facilities.
A further problem is that of undesired polymerization of adventitious monomers, that is, radically-polymerizable unsaturated monomers which occur in commercial products such as hydrocarbon fuels and refinery streams. In these cases, polymerization accompanied by the incorporation of oxygen moieties leads to gum and sludge deposits which can foul carburators, engines, fuel tanks or fuel lines. In refineries, the adventitious monomers in hydrocarbon streams such as cracking products can foul pipelines, valves, pumps, heat exchangers, stills and storage vessels.
Another problem in regard to undesired polymerization of free radical polymerizable monomers is the case of polymerizations which are intentional, but which must be prevented from going too far. For example, the quality of poly(vinyl chloride) suspension polymer and of synthetic rubber made from olefins and dienes is superior (i.e. better molecular weight distribution, stability, and processing properties) if the polymerization is stopped short of complete consumption of the monomers. It is also desirable to have available in a plant conducting vinyl polymerization reactions some rapid and efficient means for stopping a runaway polymerization if other means such as cooling should fail.
It is known that the addition of certain compounds to monomers can retard or even prevent their undesired polymerization, and that when polymerization of the monomer is desired, the inhibitor can be removed or overridden by a deliberately-added polymerization initiator. Various aromatic compounds have been used as such inhibitors in the prior art. Typical ones are hydroquinone, monomethyl ether of hydroquinone (MEHQ), tert-butylphenols, phenothiazine, phenylenediamines and benzoquinones. These are usually used at a level of 50 to 1000 ppm. These inhibitors are not totally effective and even with such inhibitors present, it is often advisable to store such inhibited monomers in a cool place and for limited periods of time. Moreover, these aromatic inhibitors are a cause of serious discoloration problems in the monomers and in polymers deliberately prepared from such monomers. Typically these aromatic inhibitors produce quinoidal chromophoric groups with very high visible light absorbance. The use of stable nitroxyl radicals as inhibitors also leads to discoloration since such compounds are themselves highly colored, usually bright red.
In order to overcome these color problems, a diligent search was made to find alternative inhibitors which are both effective and not discoloring. This search led to the N,N-dialkylhydroxylamines and the N,N-diaralkylhydroxylamines. Some typical references are cited infra.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,222,334 and 3,878,181 disclose the use of N,N-dialkylhydroxylamines such as N,N-diethylhydroxylamine as short-stopping agents for emulsion polymerizations of butadiene/styrene rubber and chloroprene.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,148,225 and 3,697,470 disclose the use of N,N-dialkylhydroxylamines such as N,N-diethylhydroxylamine and N-alkyl-N-arylhydroxylamine such as N-ethyl-N-phenylhydroxylamine respectively as short-stopping agents and popcorn polymer inhibitors in processes for preparing synthetic rubber. The popcorn polymer formation is a serious problem encountered in recovering of monomers from such synthetic rubber operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,105 teaches the use of long chain N,N-dialkylhydroxylamines as stabilizers to prevent the premature gelation of unsaturated elastomer compositions such as styrene/butadiene copolymers or polybutadiene.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,408,422 describes the use of N,N-dialkylhydroxylamines such as N,N-diethylhydroxylamine and N,N-diaralkylhydroxylamines such as N,N-dibenzylhydroxylamine as stabilzers for preventing the premature gelation of unsaturated polyesters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,889 teaches the use of N,N-dialkylhydroxylamines such as N,N-diethylhydroxylamine or N,N-dibenzylhydroxylamine as stabilizers to reduce the thermal polymerization of organosiloxanes substituted by ethylenically unsaturated moieties.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,409,408 and 4,434,307 disclose the use of N,N-dibenzylhydroxylamine in combination with an alkylated diphenol (catechol or hydroquinone) as inhibitors to prevent the polymerization of styrene.
The use of stable nitroxyl radicals including those derived from hindered amine moieties has also been disclosed. Typical references are cited below.
Russian Published Application No. 1,139,722 describes the inhibition of styrene and comonomers such as butadiene using 1-oxyl derivatives of hindered amine compounds such as N,N'-bis(1-oxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-4-yl)adipamide. The elimination of popcorn polymer and of the clogging of equipment is touted as the result of using such 1-oxyl compounds.
Japanese Sho 60-36501 describes the use of hindered amines and their 1-oxyl and 1-alkyl derivatives as vinyl polymerization inhibitors to improve storage stability of monomers such as acrylate and methacrylate esters.
European Patent Application No. 178,168 and British Patent No. 1,127,127 describe the use of 1-oxyl substituted hindered amine compounds as stabilizers for inhibiting the polymerization of .alpha.,.beta.-ethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, such as acrylic acid, during its recovery by distillation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,131 teaches the use of 1-oxyl substituted hindered amine compounds as stabilizers for preventing the fouling of equipment for processing organic feed streams containing olefins by inhibiting the polymerization of said olefins.
In a theoretical study of the inhibiting effects of selected hindered amine compounds, Y. Miura et al., Makromol. Chem. 160, 243 (1972) disclose that 1-oxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-4-one is highly effective in retarding the onset of the polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate. By contrast, the corresponding 1-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-4-one is stated to have no effect in delaying the polymerization of styrene and only a weak retarding effect on said polymerization once begun.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,668,721 and 4,691,015 disclose the use of 1-hydroxy substituted hindered amine compounds as stabilizers for polyolefin compositions in combination with one or more other stabilizers such as phenolic antioxidants, ultraviolet light absorbers and the like.
None of these references describes or suggests that 1-hydroxy substituted hindered amine compounds are or could possibly be effective inhibitors to prevent the premature polymerization of monomers in either the liquid or vapor phase.

Process for stabilizing ethylenically unsaturated compounds and stabilized monomer compositions


A drive circuit includes a constant voltage circuit to supply a constant voltage to one terminal of a load, a constant current circuit to supply a predetermined constant current to another terminal of the load in accordance with a pulse signal input externally, and a first reference voltage generator to generate and output a first reference voltage in accordance with an output voltage at an output terminal of the constant current circuit. The constant voltage circuit controls so that the first reference voltage is proportional to the output voltage output to the load.

Recently, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have come to be widely used in a variety of types of electrical equipment, for example, display devices, optical disk apparatuses, and the like, because of their low power requirements and long life. The light emitting diode emits light by supplying an electrical current to the light emitting diode by a LED drive circuit.
The LED drive circuit generally employs a so-called LED-terminal-voltage-comparison method because it is possible to reduce total power consumption of the LED drive circuit in light of fluctuations in forward voltage of the LED caused by inconsistencies in the manufacturing process. In the LED-terminal-voltage-comparison method, a switching regulator that forms a constant voltage circuit to supply power to the LED is controlled in accordance with results of a comparison made between a voltage that is a terminal voltage between LED terminals and a reference voltage.
However, when lighting the LED is controlled in accordance with a pulse signal modulated by pulse width modulation (PWM) using this drive circuit, it is not possible to control the terminal voltage of the LED stably, especially when the LED is on. Therefore, the only alternative is to employ a so-called output-voltage-comparison method, in which an output voltage of the switching regulator is controlled in accordance with a voltage comparison result of a divided voltage obtained by dividing the output voltage of the switching regulator with respect to a predetermined reference voltage.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a circuit configuration of a known LED drive circuit. In FIG. 1, the LED drive circuit 100 includes a constant voltage circuit 101, a constant current circuit 102, and a reference voltage generator 103. The constant voltage circuit 101 outputs a predetermined constant voltage to a LED 110. The constant current circuit 102 supplies a constant current to the LED 110. The constant voltage circuit 101 forms a switching regulator and controls a switching transistor (not shown) to supply a predetermined constant voltage to the LED 110, so that a divided voltage obtained by dividing an output voltage of the constant voltage circuit 101 becomes a predetermined reference voltage Vref output from the reference voltage generator 103. A pulse signal Spwm is input to the constant current circuit 102 externally, and the constant current circuit 102 supplies a constant current to the LED 110 in accordance with the pulse signal Spwm.
However, in the LED drive circuit 100, the reference voltage must be determined in consideration of fluctuations in forward voltage of the LED caused by inconsistencies in the manufacturing process. Accordingly, the total power consumption of the LED drive circuit increases compared to the LED-terminal-voltage-comparison method previously described.
A typical forward voltage value of a white LED used for a display of a portable device is 3.2 volts (TYP), a minimum voltage value (MIN) is 3.0 volts, and a maximum voltage value (MAX) is 3.9 volts. Therefore, in the output-voltage-comparison method, the reference voltage Vref must be determined in consideration of the MAX voltage value, 3.9 volts which is the maximum voltage value of the forward voltage of the white LED due to the variation caused during the manufacturing process. Since the typical voltage value of the forward voltage of the white LED is 3.2 volts, the drive circuit needs to output a voltage for most of the LED devices that is higher by 0.7 volts than an output voltage for the typical LED device. When a higher output voltage is output, the power consumption of the total drive circuit increases. Further, large power consumption may cause a heat problem when the drive circuit is formed in a semiconductor integrated circuit.


An IC includes a substrate including metal levels thereon including a top and bottom metal level with at least a transmit (Tx) circuit and receive (Rx) circuit each having ≥1 isolation capacitor and an inductor. A scribe seal around the IC includes a first portion around the Tx circuit and second portion around the Rx circuit, utilizing ≥2 of the metal levels including at least an outer metal stack. The Tx and Rx circuits are side-by-side along a direction that defines a length for the scribe seal. The outer metal stack includes a neck region between the scribe seal portions including a shorting structure including metal level(s) for shorting together the outer metal stack of the scribe seal portions. An optional routing pass-through isolated from the shorting structure includes other metal layers connecting through the neck region between node(s) within the first and second scribe seal portion.

Some packaged semiconductor devices comprise a Multi-Chip Module (MCM) package which contains 2 or more IC die within the package. Electrical connections between the respective IC die when laterally positioned on die pads within a MCM generally include bond wires connecting to inner located bond pads on the different IC die including die-to-die bonds. One common MCM arrangement is a Small Outline Integrated Circuit (SOIC) package.
Some IC die have a circumscribing scribe seal located near the die edges, which serves to prevent cracks that are generated during die singulation (e.g., mechanical sawing) when in wafer form from propagating laterally through to the IC die that can otherwise reach and thus impair the functionality of the circuits (e.g., including transistors) of the IC die. Typical scribe seal designs comprise stacked electrically connected metal levels that can extend down to the metal 1 (M1) level which can be connected by a contact to the semiconductor surface for grounding.
Isolation of digital signals can be important in applications where common mode noise may be a problem, where high-speed data signal transmission may be subject to interference due to magnetic fields, and where the ground reference between two different devices (or systems) may not be compatible for a given application. For example, in motor control the motor side is generally at a very high voltage level as compared to the motor controller side. Digital isolators overcome many of the deficiencies of optical isolators, and are designed to galvanically isolate electronic systems.
One digital isolator arrangement comprises a first IC die and a second IC die generally including communication channels including a receiver on one IC die and a transmitter on the other IC die, where the respective IC die are coupled together by a bond wire, and at least one of the IC die includes at least one high voltage isolation (HV ISO) capacitor connected in the data channel path in series. This arrangement enables modulated data signals generated on the transmitter on one IC die to be passed to the receiver on the other IC die, but blocks high voltage (e.g., 500 or 1,000 volts) applied to the active circuitry on one IC die (e.g., the IC with the receiver IC) in its application from reaching the active circuitry on the other IC die (e.g., the IC die with the transmitter).
One type of MCM package comprises a multi-channel digital isolator that achieves low power operation by having an on-chip inductor-capacitor (LC) resonant circuit (generally called an LC tank) in the channel design in the transmit (Tx) and in the receive (Rx) circuitry. Each channel uses an on-chip inductor for both the Tx and the Rx circuitry to increase the passive gain through inductive tuning of the parasitic substrate capacitance of the HV ISO capacitors on each die. Passive gain enables a higher power efficiency reflected in a lower Iq, where Iq is the average current drawn from a power supply voltage, with the Iq value generally being expressed per cycle. One example multi-channel digital isolator device is the Texas Instruments' IS07041 which is a 2 IC die 4-channel digital isolator MCM having 3 forward channels (3 Tx circuits) and 1 reverse channel (1 Rx circuit), where 1 IC die has 3 Tx circuits and 1 Rx circuit, and the other IC die has 3 Rx circuits and 1 Tx circuit, where the Tx and Rx circuits in each channel each have an associated LC tank.

Integrated circuit with inductors having electrically split scribe seal


A refillable, unitary ink cartridge and carriage device including a refiner for refilling ink; guides cooperatively guiding the device along a rail; and a shaft insertion hole receiving a shaft on which the ink cartridge unit is reciprocally translated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer and, more specifically, to an ink cartridge unit for an ink jet printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an ink jet printer sequentially conveys, page by page, a plurality of cut sheets of recording papers from a paper feed tray to a printer head by a pick up roller and a finger. The recording papers pass beneath an ink cartridge which injects ink through a nozzle at a head thereof. Periodically, the ink cartridge must be refilled with the ink.
Exemplars of current designs include U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,018 for Prinithead-carriage Alignment and Electrical Interconnect Lock-in Mechanism, issued to Pinkerpell et al., referring to FIG. 6A, the invention provides for a separate ink cartridge and carriage. U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,270 for Facsimile Recorder with Acutel, Mounted Staggered Array Ink Jet Printhead, issued to Kurtin et al., referring to FIG. 1, the device includes a print head mounted on a carriage 101.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,294 for User Refillable Ink Jet Cartridge and Method for Making Said Cartridge issued to Ontawar et al., referring to FIG. 3, the invention provides for an ink cartridge having a sealing opening 20 which may be raptured with a filler tube, then plugged. U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,256 for Refillable Color Ink Jet Cartridge and Method for Making Said Cartridge, issued to Keen et al., referring to FIG. 4, the device provides for an ink cartridge including a removable cap 26. The device also has refill holes 20, 22 and 24.
I have found that structures such as these presents many problems. First, because the ink cartridge and the carriage are manufactured separately, the overall cost is competitively prohibitive. Second, the assembly of a substantial number of component parts increases the likelihood of defects present in the finished product. Third, assembly of multiple components adversely militates against miniaturization of products.


A joint comprises a tripod equipped with three spherical pivots, and a barrel with six cylindrical inner tracks. Intermediate elements comprise a cylindrical surface complementary with the spherical pivot and a surface of circular profile complementary with the circular profile of the tracks. The intermediate elements are blocks, the surface of circular profile of which is a cylindrical surface permanently bearing slidably in the tracks. The joint enables reducing the contact pressures, increasing the telescopic stroke, simplifying the form of the intermediate elements and making it possible to produce them from a material of moderate hardness.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telescopic universal transmission joint, especially for motor vehicles.
(2) State of the Prior Art
FR-A-2,607,883 makes known a homokinetic transmission joint comprising a tripod equipped with three arms arranged substantially radially relative to its axis and each partially surrounded by two roller segments, radially outer faces of curved transverse profile of which are in rolling contact with longitudinal tracks formed on the inner face of a hollow element of generally cylindrical, or "barrel", form, surrounding the tripod.
During operation, the axial component of the movements of each arm of the tripod in the barrel, such as result from the telescopic movement of the joint or from an operating mode at an angle, is, in principle, converted into a rolling without sliding of the roller segments on their respective track. This rolling movement is such that, when one arm of the tripod is directed towards either one of its axial stroke limits in the barrel, the associated roller segments move aside towards the rear of the arm in relation to the direction of the axial movement in question. This makes it possible, in principle, to give the joint a reduced axial bulk for a given capacity for axial and angular movement.
Furthermore, FR-A-2,607,883 teaches, as an improvement, to extend the toroidal rolling surface of the roller segments at each of its circumferential ends by a tangential cylindrical surface having the same transverse profile as the toroidal surface. At the end of rotation, this cylindrical surface comes to bear and slide on the rolling track with which it mates. This increases the effective expansion and contraction stroke of the joint.
FR-A-2,622,653 teaches various arrangements for compelling each roller segment to execute its rolling movement without sliding when the roller segment travels along the associated longitudinal track.
These known joints have notable mechanical qualities. The rolling without sliding in the longitudinal tracks of the barrel eliminates friction, whilst the pivoting/oscillation combination between spherical bearing surfaces of the roller segments and the arms of the tripod represents a movement without a stopping point which is very favourable to hydrodynamic lubrication and to the self-polishing of the surfaces.
However, the rolling surfaces, that is to say the toroidal outer surface of each segment and the corresponding longitudinal track of the barrel, are in Hertzian contact, that is to say a contact theoretically along a line and in practice over a small area adjacent to this line, under a relatively high pressure attributable to the load to be transmitted. This makes it necessary for these surfaces to be very hard. Moreover, the load reversals capable of abruptly breaking and remaking this contact can be noisy. To remedy this, a high production accuracy or pairing during assembly can be adopted, but of course this is more costly.

Telescopic universal transmission joint employing intermediate block elements having cylindrical and spherical bearing surfaces


A secure method for transmitting data on an isochronous network in which data is spread in successive frames in a manner known to the sender and receiver but unknown to other nodes on the network. In one embodiment, some or all bits which comprise a byte are transmitted in different channels (i.e. time slots) so that the bits which comprise a byte are spread over several channels in a pattern known to the sender and receiver but not to unauthorized parties on the network. This bit spreading can be performed in real time and without latency or performance problems. In another embodiment, the channel or channels assigned for communication between two nodes on the network change in a sequence known to the sending and receiving nodes but not known to unauthorized parties.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a secure method for transmitting data over an isochronous network, and more particularly to a secure method which is compatible with existing network protocols, hardware and software.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in any time division multiplexed (TDM) isochronous network, synchronous data is arranged and grouped into repeating units. These units are referred to as a cycle or frame. Each frame is divided into a fixed number of individual time slots. For example, FDDI-II has 1536 time slots per frame; a frame is generated every 125 used by a master station. Each frame has a header, and up to 96 bytes of circuit-switched data. One isochronous frame every 125 used consumes 6.144 Mbps of bandwidth for the 96 circuit switched channels with a maximum of 16 isochronous frames every 125 used allows up to the 1536 channels and uses 98.3 Mbps of band width.
FDDI-II is a high-performance, fiber optic, token ring LAN running at 100 MBS. FDDI-II is a successor to FDDI with a modification to handle synchronous circuit-switched pulse code modulated (PCM) data for voice or ISDN traffic, in addition to ordinary data. In addition to regular (asynchronous) frames for ordinary data, special frames are permitted for isochronous circuit switched data. These frames are generated every 125 microseconds by a master station. The FDDI-II cycle structure is defined in Section 5 of the ANSI FDDI Hybrid Ring Control standard (X3T9/89-43 Rev 6.3) and incorporated herein by reference. Each new cycle or frame consists of control and data bytes or octets. The master station adjusts the latency of the FDDI-II ring so that there are always an integral number of these frames or cycles on the ring. Each frame is partitioned into four parts: a preamble, a cycle header, a dedicated packet group, and sixteen, wideband channels (WBCs). Each wideband channel can be dynamically allocated to either isochronous or packet data use. For isochronous use, each wideband channel provides 6.144 Mbps of bandwidth, and consists of 96 octets interleaved across the cycle. Once a station has acquired one or more time slots in a frame, those slots are reserved for it until they are explicitly released. The allocation of bandwidth to isochronous users is defined in Section 9.3 of the ANSI FDDI Station Management-2 Isochronous Services (SMT-2-IS) standard (X3T9/93-122 Rev 3.0).
The FDDI-II ring is a collection of ring interfaces connected by point-to-point lines. Each bit arriving at an interface is copied into a buffer and then copied out onto the ring again. Isochronous WBCs can be subdivided into individual transmission channels. A transmission channel consists of a contiguous sequence of octets within a WBC. Each data octet of a transmission channel provides 64 kbps of isochronous bandwidth. A logical channel is a unit of allocation that may consist of one or more transmission channels. WBCs are subdivided into separate logical channels to permit simultaneous, independent isochronous dialogues.
An FDDI-II management agent, such as a call controller, receives an allocation of isochronous bandwidth before completing a connection between two or more isochronous users. It is the responsibility of a Channel Allocator (CA) to create logical channels and assign isochronous bandwidth to those channels for use by call control.
The TDM isochronous network allocates individual channels within the master cycle/frame, on a time slot basis. That is, channel i is assigned time slot(s) x, channel j is assigned time slot(s) y, etc. Usually the time slots hold the equivalent of a single byte. This is not always the case and is not material to the invention. However, a one byte wide time slot will be discussed as an exemplar and because it is the most common allocation.
Thus, the transmitter and receiver are told that they are to communicate by using a particular constant channel. For example, say that they were assigned channel 16, and that channel 16 corresponds to time slot 16. This is the same as byte number 16 in the master cycle. This means that the transmitter and receiver would start counting time slots (or bytes) at the start of each master cycle, and when they counted to time slot 16, the transmitter would put his data into that time slot/byte and that the receiver would pull the data out of that time slot. This would repeat every 125 microseconds and the communication channel would be established.
The problem is that someone on the network who wants to eaves drop or clandestinely listen to, or input false data, could easily lock onto this channel. That is, the channel is not secure.

Secure data transmission on a TDM isochronous network


We disclose a CIC digital filter having an arbitrary-integer decimation rate. The filter has a shifter connected to its input. The shifter receives a shift control input, where the shift control input is pre-computed as equal to the integer portion of 2 raised to the base-2 logarithm of the gain of the CIC filter. There is a multiplier connected between the input and the shifter. In other embodiments, the multiplier could be connected between the input and the shifter. Sequentially-connected integrator functions are connected to the shifter (or multiplier); a decimation function receives input from the integrator functions; and sequentially-connected differentiator functions receive input from the decimation function. The decimation function has a selectable rate equal to any integer between 1 and a number equal to the predetermined maximum decimation value. The multiplier is configured to compute the product of each input data sample by a correction factor; the correction factor being pre-computed as equal to the fractional portion of 2 raised to the base-2 logarithm of the gain of the CIC filter, so as to correct the gain of the CIC filter for decimation values not a power of 2.

CIC filters deployed to date are frequently used in digital down-converter applications, as they permit a more efficient hardware implementation than alternate finite-impulse response filters with decimation or a conventional averaging technique. If constrained to powers-of-two decimation values, the CIC can be implemented without multiply or divide operations, but must use very large bit width adders and accumulators for the large values of decimation or interpolation often required in current digital filtering applications.
The problem with the current approach is the granularity of the selectable output sample rate. As an example, consider a CIC filter with powers-of two decimation values from 8 to 16,384 (23 to 214). Thus, if the input sample rate is, for example, 16 MHz, the discrete output sample rates available are 2 MHz, 1 MHz, 500 KHz, . . . 3.91 KHz, 1.95 KHz, and 0.98 KHz. Since the output sample rate of the CIC is typically input to a digital filter, and to minimize the number of taps required for these follow-on filters, it is highly desirable to improve the granularity of the R values. As an example, an FIR filter with a sharp cutoff frequency at 250 KHz would, with powers-of-two decimation, require a sample rate of 1 MHz and require 507 taps to achieve 80 dB of attenuation with less than 1 dB of ripple. If integer R values were available, the sample rate could be set at 516 KHz (R=31) and the filter would require only 235 taps, improving filter latency and processing throughput and power requirements.

Cascaded integrator comb filter with arbitrary integer decimation value and scaling for unity gain