In a method for adjusting the power consumption of a communication device (1), at least a first operating voltage (VCC1, VCC2) is generated for the communication device (1), and the communication device (1) contains at least one processor (MPU, DSP) which is used to execute program commands of one or more applications. The execution rate of at least one processor (MPU, DSP) in the communication device is set with a clock signal (CLK) which is generated by a device (17) for generating a clock signal (CLK). The operating voltage for the device (17) for generating a clock signal (CLK) is provided by a second operating voltage (VCC2). A performance requirement is specified for the applications, wherein at least the first operating voltage (VCC1) of the communication device (1) is adjusted on the basis of the performance requirement of one or more applications which are being executed at a given time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the power consumption of an communication device, in which method at least one operating voltage is generated for the communication device containing at least one processor which is used to execute program commands of one or more applications. The invention also relates to a communication device whose power consumption is arranged to be controlled.
2. Description of Prior Developments
The features in wireless communication devices, such as mobile phones, are constantly increasing, and they typically include functions for storing e.g. telephone numbers of people and firms. As is well known, there are also devices available which contain two different user interfaces, for example the user interfaces of a wireless communication device and a PDA device. One such device is the Nokia 9000 Communicator. In this specification, the term communication device will be used for such a device. By means of the PDA user interface of such a communication device, it is possible to store various data in the device, to have a wireless connection to the Internet network, and to receive for example telecopy messages, and by means of the CMT user interface (Cellular Mobile Telephone) of the same it is possible to perform conventional mobile phone functions such as receiving a call and selecting a telephone number. The above-described communication device typically comprises separate keypads and displays for the different user interfaces.
For storing various information, there are known devices available, such as notebook microcomputers, small hand-held computers, or PDA devices (Personal Digital Assistant). In this specification, PDA devices refer to devices similar to the ones described above. In these devices, it is possible to store for example calendar data, notes, address data, telephone numbers or corresponding information entered by the user. This information can be reviewed by means of the display of the device. The data is typically entered in these devices by means of a keypad, but it is known that there are also devices available which are equipped with a touch screen so that the functions of the device can be controlled by touch. The performance of the PDA devices is constantly enhanced, and they already contain many features known from PC devices (Personal Computer).
In this specification, the aforementioned different functions will be called applications (calendar application, notebook application, video call application, etc). Correspondingly, in this specification, the aforementioned notebook microcomputers, PDA devices, wireless communication devices among which also a communication device can be classified, etc, will be called electronic devices. The applications are composed of program commands executed by one or more processors of the electronic device. Furthermore, the applications are typically supplemented with data sections, such as different set parameters. The execution of the applications is advantageously controlled by means of a so-called operating system. The operating system is composed of the program commands of the processor as well. The operating system is used to provide the applications under execution with execution time, and to control information transmission between the application and the functional parts of the communication device, for example reading the keypad and writing out on the display device. In this specification, the performance requirement of the application refers particularly to the rate in which the application executes program commands, i.e. its processing capacity. Other factors that affect the performance of the application can include for example the memory capacity required in the performance of the application.
Different applications used in connection with such an electronic device often have different performance requirements. For example, a video call conducted with a communication device requires a considerably greater capacity than the use of a calendar application. The video call can be implemented in such a way that a data call of two time slots is set up in the communication device, which for example in the GSM mobile communication network with channel coding of 14.4 kbit/s means a data transmission rate of 28.8 kbit/s. Furthermore, the communication device has to be capable of executing a video conference system application when necessary. A conventional audio call does not require as great a performance as the video call but, however, a greater performance than the calendar application. There are also known wireless telephones in which applications with different performance requirements are available, such as games, a calendar and a speech call.
In practical applications, for example in a communication device, one or more processors, part of the digital logics and a large part of the memory are integrated together in a single application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The power consumption of such an ASIC circuit can be described by means of the following simplified model:
P=V2xc2x7Cxc2x7Fxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
in which
V=operating voltage,
C=capacitance,
F=clock frequency,
The capacitance of the internal couplings in the ASIC circuit is determined according to the technology used in the implementation of the ASIC circuit, and this capacitance cannot be influenced during the use of the communication device. In a communication device of prior art, the operating voltage and the clock frequency of the ASIC circuit are set in such a way at the designing stage that the application requiring the highest performance will function sufficiently fast. This has the result that the use of applications requiring less performance will also consume as much power as the use of an application requiring great performance. The operating voltage and the clock frequency are connected with each other in such a way that a high clock frequency requires the use of a higher operating voltage than lower clock frequency. On the basis of the aforementioned formula, the power consumption increases as a square of the operating voltage, and thus enhancing the performance by increasing the clock frequency and, respectively, the operating voltage, considerably increases the power consumption of the ASIC circuit.
The performance requirement of the application can usually be estimated at the stage of designing the application. The use of the application can affect the performance required. For example real-time applications, such as calls of different types and the transmission of video information, require that certain operations are performed within set time limits. However, non-real-time applications, such as reading and writing a calendar, a notebook, or e-mails of a communication device, are not critical in view of the time of execution, but during the use of such applications, the processor of the communication device is waiting for the actions of the user for the most of the time.
Solutions have been developed in which at least part of the function of the ASIC circuit can be set in a so-called standby condition or inactive state when there are no applications to be executed. With this solution, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the communication device at least to a certain extent, but the power consumption is substantially increased into the maximum when the user starts up an application, such as a calendar application or a notebook application.
In some mobile communication systems, such as GSM, the wireless communication devices must use only one reference oscillator from which all necessary frequences are generated. Therefore, in prior art communication devices it has not been possible to change the clock frequency of the processors to adjust the power consumption of the communication device.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for adjusting the power consumption of a communication device dynamically on the basis of the performance requirements of the applications used in the communication device at a given time, as well as a communication device in which it is possible to adjust power consumption dynamically. The invention is based on the idea that in the communication device, the operating voltage and the clock frequency are adjusted simultaneously on the basis of the performance required by the application used at a given time. The method according to the present invention is a method for adjusting the power consumption of a communication device, in which method at least a first operating voltage (VCC1, VCC2) is generated for the communication device, the communication device contains at least one processor (MPU, DSP) which is used to execute program commands of one or more applications, the execution rate of at least one processor (MPU, DSP) in the communication device is set with a clock signal (CLK) which is generated by means for generating a clock signal (CLK), and the operating voltage for the means for generating a clock signal (CLK) that is provided by a second operating voltage (VCC2), characterized in that a performance requirement is specified for the applications, wherein at least the first operating voltage (VCC1) of the communication device is adjusted on the basis of the performance requirement of one or more applications which are being executed at a time, and that the second operating voltage (VCC2) is kept substantially constant during the change of at least the first operating voltage (VCC1). Whereas the communication device according to the present invention comprises means for generating a first operating voltage (VCC1), one or more processors (MPU, DSP) for executing the program commands of applications, means for generating a clock signal (CLK) for the processor, and means for generating a second operating voltage (VCC2) for the means for generating a clock signal (CLK), characterized in that a performance requirement is specified for the applications, that the communication device also comprises means (MPU, DSP) for examining the performance requirement of the application and means (CTRL, 22) for adjusting at least the first operating voltage (VCC1), wherein the first operating voltage (VCC1) is arranged to be adjusted on the basis of the performance requirement of one or more applications under execution at a given time, and that the second operating voltage (VCC2) is arranged to be kept substantially constant during the change of at least the first operating voltage (VCC1).
With the present invention, considerable advantages are achieved when compared with solutions of prior art. With the method according to the invention, it is possible to considerably reduce the power consumption of a communication device in comparison with communication devices of prior art, especially when using applications which require less performance. Reducing the power consumption does not, however, affect the functionality of the applications in the communication device. In addition to the increased operating time of the communication device, the smaller power consumption also entails the advantage that the generation of heat in the communication device is smaller than in communication devices of prior art. This reduces the failure probability. The life of the battery is also extended because the need to charge the battery is decreased with the smaller power consumption. With the method according to the invention, it is also possible to keep the processors in operation during the change of operating voltages. With the present invention it is possible to change the operating voltages in a very large scale and it is also possible to set the operating voltages into many different values. Further, the change of the operating voltages is preferably conducted by software of a processor of the communication device. In the communication device according to the invention there are means for generating an adjustable clock signal from one oscillator. Further, it is possible to adjust the operating voltages and clock signal frequencies almost independently from each other and to use many different voltage-frequency combinations in the communication device according to the invention.


There are provided stage circuits and a scan driver using the same, which can supply scan signals using a simultaneous method or an interlace method. Each of the stage circuits includes a progressive driver and a simultaneous driver. The progressive driver outputs a scan signal to an output terminal, corresponding to a plurality of clock signals supplied simultaneously or progressively, and the coupling between the progressive driver and the output terminal is blocked when a third control signal is supplied. The simultaneous driver outputs a scan signal to the output terminal, corresponding to first and second control signals which do not overlap each other, and the coupling between the simultaneous driver and the output terminal is blocked when a fourth control signal, which does not overlap the third control signal, is supplied.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to stage circuits and a scan driver using the same, and more particularly, to stage circuits and a scan driver using the same, which can supply scan signals using a simultaneous method or an interlace method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat panel display devices, including a liquid crystal display, a field emission display, a plasma display panel, an organic light emitting display, and the like, have been developed. Among these flat panel display devices, the organic light emitting display displays images using organic light emitting diodes that emit light through recombination of electrons and holes. The organic light emitting display has a fast response speed and low power consumption. In a conventional organic light emitting display, current corresponding to a data signal is supplied to an organic light emitting diode using a transistor formed in each pixel, so that the organic light emitting diode emits light.
The conventional organic light emitting display includes a data driver for supplying a data signal to data lines, a scan driver for progressively supplying a scan signal to scan lines, and a pixel unit having a plurality of pixels coupled to the scan lines and the data lines.
When a scan signal is supplied to a scan line, pixels included in the pixel unit are selected to receive a data line supplied from a data line. The pixels that receive the data signal generate light with a predetermined luminance corresponding to the data signal, thereby displaying an image.

Stage circuits and scan driver using the same


A method for improved ATE (automatic test equipment) timing calibration at a DUT (device under test). The method includes step of accessing a DUT component using an ATE component and performing physical calibration on a first portion of signal pathways coupling the ATE component to the DUT component. A simulation based calibration is performed on a second portion of signal pathways coupling the ATE component to the DUT component. The physical calibration results are combined with simulation based calibration results to calibrate timing propagation delay between the ATE component and the DUT component.

Modern digital integrated circuit devices are achieving very high data processing speeds. For example, many widely used serial communication integrated circuit devices routinely operate at data I/O rates of multi-gigabits per second (Gbps). Such ever increasing data rates have placed ever increasing demands on the automatic test equipment (ATE) used to test the devices. As operating speeds have increased, higher and higher ATE test timing accuracy is required. For example, to properly test I/O signals of a multi-gigabit signal, the ATE must reliably and accurately place test strobe edges for the signal with pico-second accuracy.
Prior art conventional ATE methods are loosing their ability to keep pace with the edge placement accuracy requirements of high performance integrated circuit devices. One reason for the deficiency of the prior art is the fact that the conventional timing calibration error mechanisms do not accurately apply to high speed applications. Assumptions about the error mechanisms for a conventional device-under-test (DUT) are increasingly inaccurate as signal data rates increase into the mult-Gbps range.
For example, the basic prior art deskew calibration method is acceptably accurate to calibrate the same speed grade ATE pins at the driver/comparator junctions, if data dependent timing error/jitter (DDJ) is negligibly small. DDJ is, however, one of the major error sources in multi-Gbps testing, and therefore needs to be properly accounted for, and calibrated out, for higher timing accuracy. For DDJ calibration, at-speed calibration measurement is essentially required, and therefore the prior art calibration methods, which necessitate calibration measurements at low speed, are not applicable.
Another problem is the fact that as signal data rates increase into the multi-Gbps range, the conventional prior art practice of modeling the ATE to DUT signals paths as simple transmission lines is no longer valid. At the multi-Gbps speeds, a number of different error sources quickly become significant and can no longer be ignored. Such error sources include, for example, DDJ timing error, pin-to-pin skew, and calibration errors at the DUT. These problems render the prior art testing methodology insufficient for modern high speed, high performance integrated circuit devices.
Thus what is required is a solution that can accurately and reliably test modern high speed integrated circuit devices. The required solution should be capable of accounting for error sources such as DDJ, pin-to-pin skew, and calibration errors in a testing and verification process for a high performance DUT. Another problem is the fact that as signal data rates increase into the multi-Gbps range, the conventional prior art practice of modeling the ATE to DUT signals paths as simple transmission lines with a few lumped parasitic capacitors and inductors is no longer valid.

Method and system for improved ATE timing calibration at a device under test


In a vibration cutting unit, a root portion of a holding member for supporting a vibration body is fixed on a fixed portion of a node portion which is common to axial vibration and bending vibration, on a jointless basis. Therefore, the node portion, namely, a vibration body main part is firmly fixed, thereby, the vibration body main part is supported stably, and vibrations of the vibration body main part is stabilized. In other words, vibrations under the mode where the vibration body main part cannot be controlled can be restrained, and works representing objects to be processed can be processed accurately.

The present invention relates to a vibration body for cutting, a vibration cutting unit and a processing apparatus which are used suitably for cutting operations of materials for forming a molding die for an optical element and others, as well as to a molding die made by using the processing apparatus, and to an optical element.
There is a technology to conduct cutting operations for materials including hard metal and glass which are cutting-resistant materials by vibrating a tip of a cutting tool such as a diamond tool, which is called vibration cutting. This technology is one to realize cutting operations causing less stress for both a cutting tool and a material to be cut, by the effects that a fine cut-in is carried out at high speed by vibration of a cutting edge, and chips generated in this case are bailed out by the vibrating cutting edge (for example, see Patent Documents 1, 2, 3 and 4). Owing to this vibration cutting operation, an amount of critical cut-in required for ordinary ductile mode cutting is improved to the level of several times, which makes it possible to conduct cutting operations for cutting-resistant materials at high efficiency.
In this vibration cutting operations, high speed vibration of 20 kHz or more is usually used for improving processing efficiency, because, if a frequency of vibration is enhanced, the aforesaid effects are also increased and cutting feed rate for the tool is enhanced in proportion substantially to the frequency. There is also an advantage that unpleasant noises are not generated from neither oscillator nor vibration body excited by the oscillator, because the aforesaid frequency of vibration exceeds a human audible zone.
As a method to generate the high speed vibration of this kind on a cutting edge of a cutting tool, steady vibration has been put to practical use as a standing wave by exciting a holding member that holds a tool with a piezoelectric element or with a super-magnetostrictor and by causing this holding member to resonate by bending vibration and axial vibration. In the method of this kind, the vibration body that supports a cutting tool is fixed with a flange-shaped supporting body provided on the outer periphery of the vibration body at a position of the vibration node or is clamped by screw-shaped supporting members at a position of the node portion of vibration to be fixed in a way that the vibration body is pressed by the pressure surrounding the vibration body.    (Patent Document 1) Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-52101    (Patent Document 2) Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-218401    (Patent Document 3) Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-309001    (Patent Document 4) Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-126901
However, when the vibration body is fixed with a flange-shaped supporting body provided on the outer periphery of the vibration body, especially the restraint against a bending vibration is too strong and problems is caused so that the vibration body cannot provides the specific performance, causes a large vibration energy loss, increases a heating value, and accordingly, it is difficult to employ the structure for a bending vibration. Therefore, a structure for fixing the vibration body by clamping the vibration body with screw-type supporting members in a way that the vibration body is pressed by the pressure surrounding the vibration body is desired.
However, when the vibration body is clamped by screw-shaped supporting members, rigidity for holding the oscillator is lowered, and when conducting high precision processing such as that for an optical surface, a problem of an irregularity pattern is caused on the processed surface by uncontrollable vibration called chatter marks.
Further, when the screw-shaped supporting members supporting the vibration body are loosened, or when a heavy load is applied on the oscillator, there have sometimes been problems where a position for supporting the vibration body is changed and the state of vibration of the vibration body is worsened.
In view of the aforesaid background, an objective of the present invention is to provide an vibration body for cutting operation having an appropriate restraint against bending vibration wherein generation of chatter marks can be controlled and a change in a position of supporting the vibration body can be controlled, a vibration cutting unit and a processing apparatus in which the vibration body for cutting operation is incorporated.
Further objective of the invention is to provide a molding die and an optical element made accurately by using the aforesaid vibration cutting unit.

Vibration body for cutting, vibration cutting unit, processing apparatus, molding die and optical element


Provided are an electrode additive coated with a coating material made of electrically conductive materials such as metal hydroxides, metal oxides or metal carbonates, and an electrode and a lithium secondary battery comprising the same. The electrode additive in accordance with the present invention can improve high temperature storage characteristics of the battery, without deterioration of performance thereof.

In order to keep pace with the continuing trend towards portabilization, miniaturization, and higher functionalization of a variety of electronic devices and instruments with development of the Information-Electronic Industry, higher capacity, smaller and lighter lithium secondary batteries are increasingly in demand. Recently, with diversification of functions of the electronic devices and instruments, there is also a strong need for realization of higher capacity, functionality, and performance of lithium secondary batteries, as a main power source. In addition, as the temperature range of lithium secondary batteries in use is also further extended, environmental conditions to which batteries are applied become more severe such that maintenance of initial performance without degradation in battery performance even when being maintained at higher temperatures of more than 80° C. for a prolonged period of time is required.
However, when material such as LiCoO2, LiMn2O4 or the like is used as a cathode active material for the lithium secondary battery, reaction between electrolyte and electrode surface leads to poor high-temperature characteristics, such as swelling and bulking in storage at a higher temperature of more than 80° C. Additionally, when charge/discharge cycles are repeatedly performed at the higher temperature, the electrochemical reaction continuously occurring at a cathode or anode surface contributes to production of decomposed by-products of the electrolyte and gas in the battery, thereby severely swelling the battery.
A variety of study and research has been made to solve those problems. Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-0057321 discloses a technique of forming a protective coating film using electrolyte additives such as vinylene carbonate, alkenylethylene carbonate and the like, wherein the electrolyte additives are used to inhibit electrolyte decomposition reaction of the cathode at higher temperatures, such that these additives are first decomposed at cathode potential, thereby forming the protective film. However, although such additives may effectively inhibit battery swelling at higher temperatures, the additives may result in reduction of battery capacity or deterioration of battery life characteristics. For these reasons, various kinds of additives should be utilized to improve one functionality of the battery, when such electrolyte additives are used.
In addition, Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-35700 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1998-255389 disclose techniques of improving battery life characteristics and high temperature storage characteristics by addition of metal oxides or metal hydroxides to an electrode (cathode). However, metal oxides or metal hydroxides are electrically non-conductive and thus, when they are used as additives, interfere with electrical flow in the electrodes, thereby resulting in decreased high rate discharge characteristics of the battery, as well as increased resistance thereof leading to lowering of battery life characteristics.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2003-86174 and 1997-22733 disclose a method of coating the cathode active material with an electro-conductive material such as conductive material using a mechanofusion apparatus and a binder. However, due to integration between the cathode active material and the conductive material in this method, it may be possible to improve battery capacity or diminish electrical resistance, thereby improving high rate discharge characteristics, but the conductive material coated on the surface of the cathode active material rather hampers migration of lithium ions, resulting in deterioration of battery performance.
Therefore, there is a strong need for an electrode additive that facilitates excellent high temperature storage performance of the lithium secondary battery and simultaneously does not inhibit high rate discharge and other battery performance characteristics.

Electrode additives coated with electro conductive material and lithium secondary comprising the same


The safety eyewear includes a one-piece molded lens frame, and left and right temple bar assemblies. The one-piece lens frame includes a brow bar portion, a central bridge portion, a nose piece portion, and left and right lens frame eyewires that cooperate with the brow bar and bridge to define left and right lens openings. An over-molded elastomeric material is also used to provide soft bumpers in the inner side of the brow bar and a soft cushion on the inner surfaces of the nose piece. The creative and selective use of the over-molded material thus provides both decorative and aesthetic features while also providing functional cushioned areas.

The instant invention relates to safety eyewear and more particularly to safety eyewear having a one-piece wrap-around frame, a replaceable lens, and over-molded elastomeric features.
Growing awareness of eye safety and the implementation of regulations requiring the use of safety eyewear by all persons within manufacturing facilities has recently prompted development of a variety of fashion conscious safety eyewear products. In the past, most safety eyewear was designed from a purely utilitarian outlook and thus the designs tended to be bulky, and not very pleasing from an aesthetic perspective. However, aesthetic appearance such as fashion, color, and sporty looks, as well as utilitarian factors, such as replacement of the lens(es) and comfort are now being taken into consideration in the design of safety eyewear.
One particular issue that has not been fully addressed to date is the "racoon-eye" appearance of some dual-lens safety eyewear having thick eyewire portions extending entirely around the lenses. Most of the current designs for dual-lens safety eyewear comprise a one-piece plastic injection molded frame. In some designs the dual-lens safety eyewear requires a substantially thick eyewire surrounding the lens to safely retain the lens in place and provide sufficient impact strength. Because of the dark colors selected for most frames, the thick eyewires stand out and tend to impart the appearance of large rings around the user's eyes, hence the expression "racoon-eye" appearance.

Safety eyewear with snap-in replaceable lens and over-molded bumpers and decorative trim

Bacou-Dalloz Eye & Face Protection, Inc.


A circuit package includes a circuit substrate having a cutout portion defined therein, an interconnect electrically coupled to the circuit substrate and an active circuit component disposed off the circuit substrate within the cutout portion and electrically coupled to the interconnect. An optical circuit includes a lead frame and an optical component electrically coupled to the lead frame. The lead frame includes a first lead portion at a first level having an upper surface and a lower surface, and a second lead portion at a second level lower than the first level and electrically connected to the first lead portion. The lower surface of the first lead portion is arranged to electrically connect to a surface of a circuit substrate. The second lead portion includes an upper surface and a lower surface. The optical component is disposed on the upper surface of the second lead portion.

Optoelectronic devices, such as optical receivers, optical transmitters and optical transceivers, for example, generally involve interconnection with a circuit substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB). For example, an optoelectronic device was connected to a printed circuit board by mounting the optoelectronic device on the PCB. The optoelectronic device was interconnected with the PCB by surface mounting techniques, such as flip-chip mounting, through-hole mounting or wire bonding, for example. In each case, the optoelectronic device was mounted on a surface of the PCB.
A component to be mounted on a PCB, whether electronic or optoelectronic, was generally provided with a lead frame package. The lead frame package either included electrical leads or did not include electrical leads, depending on the intended mounting technique. A leadless lead frame package included solder bumps or solder plates on a surface of the component which made electrical contact with electrically conductive traces disposed on, or embedded, in the PCB. A lead frame package with leads included various lead frame structures, including J-bend leads, gull wing leads and through-hole leads. A J-bend lead extended from the side of the component and curved beneath the component. The J-bend lead raised the component above the surface of the PCB. A gull wing lead extended from the side of the component, and curved down and away from the component. The gull wing lead also raised the component above the PCB or allowed the component to rest on the PCB surface. A through-hole lead extended from below or from the side of the component and extended through electrical vias in the PCB. The through-hole lead raise the component above the PCB surface or allowed the component to rest on the PCB surface.
In many cases, the circuit package of the component and the PCB, such as those described above, limited the profile of the circuit package. For example, flat-panel displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), generally used components having a thin profile in order to decrease the overall profile of the display panel. Likewise, laptop computers were generally designed and manufactured to have a low profile. Although the PCB and the optical component were manufactured to have a thin profile, the profile of the overall circuit package was still limited. In turn, the profiles of the display panel or laptop computer were limited.
In some cases, a PCB included a cutout and a passive electrical connector was positioned in the cutout, thereby reducing the profile of the combination passive connector and PCB. The passive connector, which was sometimes a passive pluggable connector, provided an interface between the PCB and an interconnect such as a cable. However, active components, such as active electrical components and active optoelectronic components, for example, remained mounted on the surface of the PCB thereby increasing the overall profile of the circuit package.

Apparatus for electrical and optical interconnection


A nanoporous dielectric film useful for the production of semiconductor devices, integrated circuits and the like, is provided, together with processes for producing these improved films. The films are produced by a process that includes (a) preparing a silicon-based, precursor composition including a porogen, (b) coating a substrate with the silicon-based precursor to form a film, (c) aging or condensing the film in the presence of water, (d) heating the gelled film at a temperature and for a duration effective to remove substantially all of said porogen, and wherein the applied precursor composition is substantially aged or condensed in the presence of water in liquid or vapor form, without the application of external heat or exposure to external catalyst.

The present invention relates to novel nanoporous silica dielectric films having improved mechanical strength, and to semiconductor devices comprising these improved films. The present invention also provides improved processes for producing the same on substrates suitable for use in the production of semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuits. The nanoporous films of the invention are prepared using silicon-based starting materials and polymers, copolymers, oligomers, and/or compounds, and are prepared by a simplified process that, in one embodiment, allows for aging or gelation without heating.
As feature sizes in integrated circuits approach 0.25 xcexcm and below, problems with interconnect RC delay, power consumption and signal cross-talk have become increasingly difficult to resolve. It is believed that the integration of low dielectric constant materials for interlevel dielectric (ILD) and intermetal dielectric (IMD) applications will help to solve these problems. While there have been previous efforts to apply low dielectric constant materials to integrated circuits, there remains a longstanding need in the art for further improvements in processing methods and in the optimization of both the dielectric and mechanical properties of such materials used in the manufacture of integrated circuits.
Nanoporous Films
One material with a low dielectric constant are nanoporous films prepared from silica, i.e., silicon-based materials. Air has a dielectric constant of 1, and when air is introduced into a suitable silica material having a nanometer-scale pore structure, such films can be prepared with relatively low dielectric constants (xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d). Nanoporous silica materials are attractive because similar precursors, including organic-substituted silanes, e.g., tetraethoxysilane (xe2x80x9cTEOSxe2x80x9d), are used for the currently employed spin-on-glasses (xe2x80x9cS.O.G.xe2x80x9d) and chemical vapor deposition (xe2x80x9cCVDxe2x80x9d) of silica SiO2. Nanoporous silica materials are also attractive because it is possible to control the pore size, and hence the density, mechanical strength and dielectric constant of the resulting film material. In addition to a low k, nanoporous films offer other advantages including: 1) thermal stability to 900xc2x0 C., 2) substantially small pore size, i.e., at least an order of magnitude smaller in scale than the microelectronic features of the integrated circuit, 3) as noted above, preparation from materials such as silica and TEOS that are widely used in semiconductors, 4) the ability to xe2x80x9ctunexe2x80x9d the dielectric constant of nanoporous silica over a wide range, and 5) deposition of a nanoporous film can be achieved using tools similar to those employed for conventional S.O.G. processing.
Thus, high porosity in silica materials leads to a lower dielectric constant than would otherwise be available from the same materials in nonporous form. An additional advantage, is that additional compositions and processes may be employed to produce nanoporous films while varying the relative density of the material. Other materials requirements include the need to have all pores substantially smaller than circuit feature sizes, the need to manage the strength decrease associated with porosity, and the role of surface chemistry on dielectric constant and environmental stability.
Density (or the inverse, porosity) is the key parameter of nanoporous films that controls the dielectric constant of the material, and this property is readily varied over a continuous spectrum from the extremes of an air gap at a porosity of 100% to a dense silica with a porosity of 0%. As density increases, dielectric constant and mechanical strength increase but the degree of porosity decreases, and vice versa. This suggests that the density range of nanoporous films must be optimally balanced between the desired range of low dielectric constant and the mechanical properties acceptable for the desired application.
Nanoporous silica films have previously been fabricated by a number of methods. For example, nanoporous films have been prepared using a mixture of a solvent and a silica precursor, which is deposited on a substrate suitable for the purpose. Broadly, a precursor in the form of, e.g., a spin-on-glass composition is applied to a substrate, and then polymerized in such a way as to form a dielectric film comprising nanometer-scale voids.
When forming such nanoporous films, e.g., by spin-coating, the film coating is typically catalyzed with an acid or base catalyst and water to cause polymerization/gelation (xe2x80x9cagingxe2x80x9d) during an initial heating step.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,263 describes forming a nanoporous silica dielectric film on a substrate, e.g., a wafer, by applying a composition comprising decomposable polymer and organic polysilica i.e., including condensed or polymerized silicon polymer, heating the composition to further condense the polysilica, and decomposing the decomposable polymer to form a porous dielectric layer. This process, like many of the previously employed methods of forming nanoporous films on semiconductors, has the disadvantage of requiring heating for both the aging or condensing process, and for the removal of a polymer to form the nanoporous film. Furthermore, there is a disadvantage that organic polysilica, contained in a precursor solution, tends to increase in molecular weight after the solution is prepared; consequently, the viscosity of such precursor solutions increases during storage, and the thickness of films made from stored solutions will increase as the age of the solution increases. The instability of organic polysilica thus requires short shelf life, cold storage, and fine tuning of the coating parameters to achieve consistent film properties in a microelectronics/integrated circuit manufacturing process.
As mentioned supra, there is a continuing need in the microelectronics industry to provide improved materials allowing for semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuits, with increased circuit density, and increased processing speed and power. This is coupled with a continuing desire to reduce the cost in time, money and manufacturing equipment of producing such semiconductor devices. Thus, there remains this ongoing need for further improvements in both the desirable properties of nanoporous dielectric films, as well as an ongoing need for further improvements in methods for producing such nanoporous dielectric films.
In order to solve the above mentioned problems and to provide other improvements, the invention provides novel nanoporous silica dielectric films with a low dielectric constant (xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d), e.g., typically ranging from about 1.5 to about 3.8, as well as novel new methods of producing these dielectric films.
Broadly, the dielectric nanoporous films of the invention are prepared by a method that includes the following process steps:
(a) preparing a silicon-based, precursor composition including a porogen,
(b) coating a substrate with the silicon-based precursor to form a film,
(c) aging or condensing the film in the presence of water,
(d) heating the gelled film at a temperature and for a duration effective to remove substantially all of the porogen.
Advantageously, in the above-described process steps, the precursor composition is substantially aged or condensed in the presence of water in liquid or vapor form, without the application of external heat or exposure to external catalyst.
The artisan will appreciate that the molar ratio of water to Si can be readily determined by the desired rate of condensation and the successful production of nanoporous silica dielectric films. In particular embodiments, the molar ratio of water to Si ranges, e.g., from about 2:1 to about 0:1.
Broadly, the silicon-based precursor composition includes a monomer or prepolymer according to Formula I:
Rxxe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94Lyxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(Formula I)
wherein
x is an integer ranging from 0 to about 2, and y is an integer ranging from about 2 to about 4;
R is independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, hydrogen and combinations thereof;
L is an electronegative moiety, such as, e.g., alkoxy, carboxy, amino, amido, halide, isocyanato and combinations thereof
The silicon-based precursor composition optionally includes one or more monomers or prepolymers of Formula I, as well as a polymer formed from the condensation of one or more different monomers or prepolymers according to Formula I. The polymer formed from Formula I has a molecular weight, for example, that ranges from about 150 to about 10,000 amu.
Useful monomers or prepolymers include, e.g., acetoxysilane, an ethoxysilane, a methoxysilane, and combinations thereof Particular monomers or prepolymers useful according to the invention also include, e.g., tetraacetoxysilane, a C1 to about C6 alkyl or aryl-triacetoxysilane, and combinations thereof. The triacetoxysilane is, for example, a methyltriacetoxysilane. Further monomers or prepolymers useful according to the invention also include, e.g., tetrakis(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)silane, tetrakis(trifluoroacetoxy)silane, tetraisocyanatosilane, tris(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)methylsilane, tris(trifluoroacetoxy)methylsilane, methyltriisocyanatosilane and combinations thereof.
Optionally, the water employed for the processes of the invention is added to the silicon-based, precursor composition prior to the application of the precursor composition to the substrate. Variations on this process include the addition of amounts of water to the silicon-based, precursor composition insufficient to fully condense or age the applied film, and completing the aging process by exposing the applied film to environmental water vapor. In one particularly convenient embodiment of the invention, no water is added to the silicon-based, precursor composition prior to application to the substrate. Instead, all of the water for aging the film is provided by environmental, e.g., atmospheric water vapor present in the controlled atmosphere of the processing facility. The atmospheric partial pressure of water vapor in the processing facility can be adjusted to range, for example, from about 5 mm Hg to about 20 mm Hg, The time required for achieving water-mediated aging depends on the materials selected, on the source of the water, e.g., mixed into the precursor or from environmental water vapor, and the desired degree of aging. The time period ranges, for example, from about 20 seconds to about 5 minutes, or more.
A useful porogen according to the invention is added to the precursor in an amount ranging from about 2 to about 20 weight percent. The porogen also has a boiling point, sublimation point or decomposition temperature ranging, e.g., from about 175xc2x0 C. to about 450xc2x0 C. The porogen also has a molecular weight ranging, e.g., from about 100 to about 10,000 amu, or more particularly, from about 100 to about 3,000 amu. In addition, the porogen is selected to be readily removed from the applied and aged film, e.g., by heating at a temperature ranging from about 175xc2x0 C. to about 300xc2x0 C., for a time period ranging from about 30 seconds to about 5 minutes to remove substantially all of the porogen.
A solvent is also optionally provided to reduce precursor viscosity and aid film spreading, as required. When a solvent is present, the silicon-based, precursor composition includes a solvent or mixture of solvents in an amount ranging, for example, from about 10% to about 90% by weight. The solvent has a boiling point ranging, for instance, from about 50 to about 175xc2x0 C. and is selected, for example, from hydrocarbons, esters, ethers, ketones, alcohols, amides and combinations thereof. However, to avoid undesirable interactions, the solvent is not an alcohol when the silicon based monomer or precursor comprises an acetoxy-functional group. To avoid cross-linkage of the solvent to the precursor, it should be noted that the solvent optionally does not include hydroxyl or amino groups. Nanoporous dielectric films prepared by the methods of the invention, as well as semiconductor devices and/or integrated circuits manufactured with such films, are also provided.

Simplified method to produce nanoporous silicon-based films


A machine for sharpening skates that can be operated by an individual through a coin-operated or credit card operated input, permits a person that wants skates sharpened to place the skate into the machine and have it automatically sharpened in a manner that is selected by the operator. The operator places a skate into a support and the machine centers and clamps the blade. The machine includes a grinding wheel that is dressed before each sharpening operation, to provide a wheel surface that gives the proper shape to the bottom surface of the ice skate blade, and after dressing, a skate held in the clamp is moved across the wheel so the bottom edge surface of the ice skate is sharpened uniformly along its operable length. The machine includes inputs so that either figure skates or hockey-style skates can be sharpened, and positive clamps that hold the blade directly during its sharpening operation. An access door for operators to put in skates is also interlocked so that operation cannot commence until the door is fully closed. The various operations are controlled primarily with fluid-pressure actuators, and the skate itself is centered in its position on the cradle support prior to clamping so that it is properly positioned for complete grinding across the bottom surface.

The present invention relates to a machine for automatically sharpening blades of ice skates under controlled, repeatable conditions.
Typical machines and methods for sharpening ice skates are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,534,134; 4,558,541 and 4,235,050. These machines, while permitting automatic sharpening of ice skates once the skates are clamped in position, have drawbacks in positioning and clamping of the skates, as well as the inability to select for either hollow grind or flat ground skate blade bottom edges.
An earlier machine for skate sharpening which moved the skates along a generally linear path with two skates arranged heel to heel is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,533. This machine was capable of being set to grind either figure skates or hockey skates.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,050 illustrates a skate sharpening machine for grinding the skate blades in a manner to compensate for the normal convex configuration of the blades from end to end, by providing a different biasing force for the wheel at the ends of the cut. The change in bias is controlled by sensing means that detect the grinding resistance of the work piece on the grinding wheel, so that when the grinding resistance decreases the biasing means will make an appropriate adjustment.


Embodiments described herein provide for a portable computer with a contact-sensitive display having a user-interface that is configurable through user-contact with the display. An active input area may be provided that is configurable in appearance and functionality. The contents of the active input area, its functionality, and the manner in which it is oriented, particularly with respect to a left or right handedness, are described herein.

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are typical of computers that utilize contact-sensitive displays. A PDA is small in size, usually suited to be held by a user on one hand and operated by another hand. The display of the PDA is used to provide additional input functionality in lieu of a large keyboard, a mouse or other input mechanism that is incompatible with the size and portability of the PDA.
PDAs often provide an active input area on the display, which is a designated region on the display where most of the user-contact and input is entered. One type of active input area used in PALM OS and POCKET PC devices provides for a handwriting recognition area to appear on the display. The user can form strokes on the region of the display where the handwriting recognition area is provided, and technology such as provided by GRAFFITI or JOT, is used recognize the strokes as characters.
Because the handwriting recognition area is often a frequent location of the user's attention, other input functionality is usually provided in conjunction with or next to the handwriting recognition area. This other input functionality is often in the form of icons and task bars that can be selected in order to cause the PDA to perform some function. In addition, electronic keyboards can be substituted on the display in place of the handwriting recognition area.
Recently, devices such as TABLET PCs have become popular. Such devices also utilize an immediate handwriting recognition square for recognizing contact strokes provided on a display as characters.

User-interface features for computers with contact-sensitive displays


A method for addressing multiple instances of a same type of slave device on a bus is provided that includes receiving a plurality of unique device addresses at each of the slave devices and overwriting a default device address in each of the slave devices with a different one of the unique device addresses.

An inter-integrated circuit (I2C) bus is a commonly used two-wire serial bus that has a simple, low-bandwidth, short-distance protocol. Using the addressing scheme associated with I2C, multiple devices may be linked together relatively easily without the need for chip select or arbitration logic.
I2C bus systems include at least one master device and one or more slave devices. With each transaction, the master device transmits the device address of the intended slave. Each slave device is then responsible for monitoring the bus and responding only when its address is transmitted with the transaction.
Each slave device generally has a predefined address, with the exception of the lower bits that may be configurable at the board level. Thus, the I2C addressing scheme limits the number of identical slave devices that may be supported on an I2C bus without contention based on the number of user-configurable address bits. This number is typically two bits, which limits the number of identical slave devices to four.
One solution to allow additional devices of the same type to have unique device addresses is to include additional address pins on the slave devices. However, this solution may be costly, especially when the number of identical devices is large. A second solution involves the use of a dedicated I2C multiplexer that breaks the system into sub-branches. However, this solution increases the system busing (adds a clock and a data line) for each multiplexer used, thereby raising the system cost and complexity.
Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms "include" and "comprise," as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term "or," is inclusive, meaning and/or; "each" means every one of at least a subset of the identified items; the phrases "associated with" and "associated therewith," as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term "controller" means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future, uses of such defined words and phrases.

Method and system for addressing multiple instances of a same type of device on a bus


A wheel assembly for use on wheeled devices such as in-line skates. The wheel assembly includes a hub having plurality of support elements radially extending from the exterior of the hub. Each of said plurality of support elements has a first end that is connected to the hub and second end that faces away from the hub. The second end of adjacent support elements are separated by a gap. A wheel is molded to the hub. The material of the wheel envelops the support elements. AS a result, certain sections of the molded wheel are reinforced by the support elements, while others are not. Preferably each of the support elements terminates on the circumference of a common imaginary circle, wherein the support elements account for between 20% and 75% of the circumference of the common imaginary circle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wheel assemblies for in-line skates. More particularly, the present invention is related to the hub structure of a wheel assembly and how the hub structure effects the performance of the surrounding wheel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years in-line skates have become increasingly popular. There now exist many professional and semi-professional sport activities where the players wear in-line skates. For example, there are roller hockey leagues, speed skating competitions and the like.
Like with many different sports, when the athletic abilities of different competitors are evenly matched, it is often the quality of that player's equipment that determines who will win and who will loose the competition. In sports that use in-line skates, it is commonly the quality of the skate that mostly effects the performance of the athlete.
One of the most important features of an in-line skate is the wheel assembly. The wheel assembly is comprised of a hub that spins on an axle and the wheel that is molded onto the hub. The wheel is the portion of the skate that actually contacts the ground. In order to preform well, the material of a wheel must embody two characteristics. First, the wheel must be able to grip the ground when a person is turning or stopping, thereby optimizing control. Secondly, the material of the wheel must minimize the drag of friction against the ground when a person is skating straight, thereby optimizing speed. The ability of the wheel to grip the ground when turning, yet be of low friction when skating straight are diametrically opposed properties. Consequently, most every wheel assembly design selects a compromise where neither speed nor control are optimized.
In the prior art, a common method of changing the performance of a wheel is to alter the composition of the material of the wheel. If a soft material were used in the manufacture of the wheel, the wheel would grip the ground well and the ability of the wheel to turn and stop would be greatly enhanced. However, soft materials typically do not wear well. Furthermore, the soft material would significantly slow the speed of the skates. If a hard material were used in the manufacture of the wheel, the wheel would have a low coefficient of friction and would wear well. However, the wheel would have a tendency to slide along the ground when a person tried to turn sharply or stop. It is for these reasons that most in-line skates used a medium hardness plastic composition for molding the wheels. A medium hardness plastic wheel have an average wear life, an average ability to turn and an average speed capacity.
In an attempt to optimize performance, wheel assembly designers have altered the shape of the hub in the center of a wheel assembly so that the hub shape effects the performance of the wheel. In such prior art designs, a relatively soft material is used in the manufacture of the wheel. However, the hub is designed to extend into the material of the wheel and limit the deflection of the wheel. As a result, the soft material provides good turning ability, while the hub prevents excessive deformation of the wheel and allows for greater speed. Such prior art wheel assemblies are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,418 to Chen, entitled Skate Wheel Structure, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,309 to Bekessy, entitled In-Line Roller Skate Wheel Assembly. Such prior art designs do improve the performance of the wheel assembly, however, both speed and turn performance are still greatly compromised.
A need therefore exists in the art for a wheel assembly for an in-line skate that comes closer to optimizing both speed and turning performance. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.

Hub and wheel assembly for an in-line skate


Operating section provided on a base is displaceable, in response to operation by a human operator, relative to the base with respect to at least one displacement axis, such as one linear-displacement axis and two rotary-displacement axes. A plurality of pivot axes are provided in corresponding relation to the displacement axes of the operating section. Different pieces of reactive force information are generated in correspondence with the individual pivot axes, and a plurality of motors, provided in corresponding relation to the pivot axes, are driven on the basis of the respective reactive force information, to thereby impart a separate or different reactive force to the operating section for each of the displacement axes. Displacement of the operating section is detected for at least one parameter from among parameters including a position, angle, velocity and acceleration, to output a detection signal corresponding to the detected parameter.

The present invention relates to a performance input apparatus provided with an operating section displaceable about one or more axes, and more particularly to a technique of imparting the displaceable operating section with a virtual reactive force responsive to input operation (input operating force), by a human operator, of the operating section. For example, the performance input apparatus of the present invention is suitable for use as input apparatus of electronic musical instruments, as well as input apparatus for various games, computer-aided designing (CAD), etc.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. HEI-10-177387 (hereinafter referred to as "prior art 1"), there is disclosed an apparatus which includes an operator operable by depression of a human operator, a cylindrical actuator for moving the operator and a sensor for detecting a position etc. of the operator. Driving of the actuator is controlled, on the basis of the position etc. of the operator detected by the sensor, to impart the operator with a reactive force responsive to an input operating force, by the human operator, of the operator.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. HEI-10-78778 (hereinafter referred to as "prior art 2"), there is disclosed a string-instrument type performance input apparatus operable with a bow-shaped operator, which includes a photo sensor for detecting an operating speed (or velocity) and angle of the operator. The performance input apparatus also includes a pressure sensor for detecting an operating pressure applied by the operator to a slider section so that a current performance style of the bow-shaped operator (i.e., how the bow-shaped operator has been operated by a human operator) can be detected on the basis of the detected operating pressure.
The performance input apparatus disclosed in prior art 2 permits performance input, by the human operator, imitating or simulating performance styles that are commonly employed in violin-type instruments operable with a bow-shaped operator. However, with this input apparatus, which is not provided with any mechanism for imparting the operator with a reactive force responsive to an operating force applied to the operator, it is not possible to virtually reproduce, for example, a feeling of actual string rubbing with a bow-shaped operator, so that the sensory performance operation feelings obtained by the performance input apparatus tends to be very poor. This is because structural inconveniences and limitations, imposed by the provision of the photo sensor as operation detection means, make it difficult to provide a reactive force imparting mechanism capable of achieving desired reactive force characteristics responsive to input operation of the operator. If an arrangement employing a cylindrical actuator as disclosed in prior art 1 is used as the reactive force imparting mechanism, then the operator movable by the actuator would be limited to a relatively small range, and thus such an arrangement is not suited for impartment of a reactive force corresponding to relatively great displacement, such as that caused by string-rubbing operation, of the bow-shaped operator. Besides, the arrangement employing the cylindrical actuator would significantly increase the overall size of the apparatus. For these reasons, it has been considered undesirable to apply such a reactive force imparting mechanism to the conventional string-instrument type performance input apparatus.


A system and method is described herein that includes a software-based functionality to assess the relationship between reliability, operational, maintenance and plant betterment activities and to determine the frontier of efficient spending and other measures of performance to achieve a level of reliability that is based on data from units of similar design and performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and method for comparative operational performance analysis of one or more units, such as those used in industrial, power generation, pipeline, or refining facilities, using computer software, computer hardware, graphical presentation of result and statistical frontier analysis.
2. Background Summary
Negative competition requires that units perform in the most cost-effective manner consistent with their intended use. This means achieving strategic levels of realistic reliability and expenditures on a consistent basis. The cost-effective element of this relationship is the hardest to achieve. To be effective, a unit's reliability goals and expenditures must be matched with competitive expectations. Defining what constitutes competitive goals requires critical assessments and comparisons, which can best be done using statistical benchmarking techniques.


Metal aminoboranes of the formula M(NH2BH3)n have been synthesized. Metal aminoboranes are hydrogen storage materials. Metal aminoboranes are also precursors for synthesizing other metal aminoboranes. Metal aminoboranes can be dehydrogenated to form hydrogen and a reaction product. The reaction product can react with hydrogen to form a hydrogen storage material. Metal aminoboranes can be included in a kit.

Hydrogen (H2) is currently a leading candidate for a fuel to replace gasoline/diesel fuel in powering the nation's transportation fleet. There are a number of difficulties and technological barriers associated with hydrogen that must be solved in order to realize this "hydrogen economy". The problem of inadequate storage systems for on-board transportation hydrogen is recognized as a major technological barrier.
One of the general schemes for storing hydrogen relates to using a chemical compound or system that undergoes a chemical reaction to evolve hydrogen as a reaction product. In principle, a chemical storage system is attractive, but systems that have been developed to date involve either: (a) hydrolysis of high-energy inorganic compounds where the evolution of hydrogen is very exothermic (sodium borohydride/water as in the Millennium Cell's HYDROGEN ON DEMAND®, and lithium (or magnesium) hydride as in SAFE HYDROGEN®, for example), thus making the cost of preparing the inorganic compound(s) high and life-cycle efficiency low; or (b) dehydrogenation of inorganic hydride materials (such as Na3AlH6/NaAlH4, for example) that release hydrogen when warmed but that typically have inadequate mass storage capacity and inadequate refueling rates.
Inorganic compounds referred to in (a), above, produce hydrogen according to the chemical reactionMHx+XH2O→M(OH)x+XH2  (1)where MHx is a metal hydride, and M(OH)x is a metal hydroxide. This reaction is irreversible.
Inorganic hydride materials referred to in (b), above, produce hydrogen according to the following chemical reactionMHx=M+x/2H2  (2)where MHx is a metal hydride, M is metal and H2 is hydrogen gas. By contrast to the first reaction, which is irreversible with H2, the second reaction is reversible with H2.
A practical chemical system that evolves hydrogen yet does not suffer the aforementioned inadequacies would be important to the planned transportation sector of the hydrogen economy. This same practical chemical system would also be extremely valuable for non-transportation H2 fuel cell systems, such as those employed in laptop computers and other portable electronic devices, and in small mechanical devices such as lawnmowers where current technology causes significant pollution concerns.
Any heat that must be input to evolve the hydrogen represents an energy loss at the point of use, and any heat that is evolved along with the hydrogen represents an energy loss where the chemical storage medium is regenerated. Either way, energy is lost, which diminishes the life-cycle efficiency. For most organic compounds, such as in those shown in equations 3-5 below, hydrogen evolution reactions are very endothermic, and the compounds are incompetent to evolve hydrogen at ambient temperature (i.e. thermodynamically incapable of evolving H2 at significant pressure at ambient temperature).CH4→C+2H2  (3)ΔH0=+18 kcal/molΔG0=+12 kcal/mol6CH4→cyclohexane+6H2  (4)ΔH0=+69 kcal/molΔG0=+78 kcal/molcyclohexane→benzene+3H2  (5)ΔH0=+49 kcal/molΔG0=+23 kcal/molFor temperatures less than about 250-400 degrees Celsius, the equilibrium pressure of hydrogen over most organic compounds is very small. As a consequence, most-common organic compounds require heating above about 250 degrees Celsius, and the continual input of high-grade heat to maintain this temperature, in order to evolve hydrogen at a useful pressure.
Most organic compounds have hydrogen evolution reactions that are endergonic (i.e. having a net positive standard free energy of reaction change, i.e. ΔG0>0) and their ambient temperature equilibrium hydrogen pressure is very low, practically unobservable. Thus, most organic compounds are unsuitable for hydrogen storage, based on both life-cycle energy efficiency and delivery pressure considerations.
Boranes have high hydrogen storage capacities and have attracted interest for use as hydrogen storage materials for transportation, but the difficulty of manufacturing borane compounds, and the life-cycle energy inefficiency of the chemical process presently used for their manufacture, has prevented their widespread use.
Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is a starting material typically used to prepare borane compounds such as diborane (B2H6), which is prepared by reacting NaBH4 with BF3. Borohydride compounds (i.e. compounds containing the BH4 anion or other anionic B—H groups) are generally prepared by reacting alkoxyborates with active metal hydrides e.g. NaH or NaAlH4. Sodium borohydride itself (NaBH4), for example, is commercially prepared using the known Schlessinger process, which involves reacting sodium hydride (NaH) with trimethoxyboron (B(OCH3)3). While convenient to practice on a small or intermediate laboratory or commercial scale, these reactions are not energy-efficient; the reaction of NaH with B(OCH3)3 is exothermic, and NaH is itself formed in the exothermic reaction of Na metal with H2, so overall, about 22 kcal of heat are released per B—H bond that is formed.
Ammonia borane (NH3BH3) is an attractive material for hydrogen storage. It is a solid, has a relatively low molecular weight and a very high hydrogen storage capacity of 19.6 percent by weight. Ammonia borane spontaneously releases a molecule of molecular hydrogen (H2) at temperatures above about 90 degrees Celsius. Ammonia borane can be dehydrogenated completely to form ceramic boron nitride (BN), but temperatures in excess of 500 degrees Celsius are required. Thus, while ammonia borane has a high molecular hydrogen storage capacity, only ⅔ of the stored hydrogen is readily accessible and the product after release of hydrogen is chemically difficult to hydrogenate.


A wireless multimedia content brokerage service can provide for real time selective content extraction in a manner that allows users to easily obtain, at a mobile device, one or more portions of a real time multimedia composite content presentation. The brokerage service ensures that the experience is transparent from the point of view of the user, and additionally does not require any specific interaction between the user and the display, or interaction between the user and the content service provider (or providers). Instead, the brokerage service handles the transactional details involved in subscribing to content and in obtaining, formatting, and forwarding content to the mobile device. Additionally, since the content of interest is not forwarded from the display itself and since some embodiments of the system do not rely on any interactivity at the display to identify the display device or content, relatively unsophisticated display devices can be used.

Hand held personal mobile terminals, such as cellular telephones, are becoming the constant companion of contemporary individuals who may encounter real time multimedia content numerous times a day. For example, a person may encounter multimedia content at an airport or other waiting room, at a cafeteria or restaurant, in a lounge, or such as at a hotel. Some of this publicly-viewable content may comprise real time broadcasts provided via large display devices and/or other display devices. In some instances, public or other display devices viewed by an individual may present composite multimedia presentations. Generally, a composite multimedia presentation can comprise multiple simultaneous streams of content. As an example, a single large display may feature multiple video streams which may or may not include accompanying audio.
An individual viewing content (referred to herein also as a "user") may desire to continue to view real time content, but may have any number of reasons to leave the area in which the display device can be perceived. Accordingly, the user may wish to view some or all of the content on a mobile device. If an entire composite multimedia presentation is simply mirrored on the mobile device, the content of the composite multimedia presentation may be difficult or impossible to fully view due to small screen size and/or low resolution of the mobile device. Furthermore, existing systems, such as video on demand systems, require effort on the part of the mobile user to locate the applicable content provider and, in some instances, to obtain a subscription or to perform other rights management activity before actually viewing the content. Thus, opportunities remain to improve the experience for users of mobile devices, such as by providing for partial content extraction onto a device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Wireless multimedia content brokerage service for real time selective content provisioning


A feeding device for an in-line screw machine with a shaft rotating in a feed container. A conveying screw is arranged in the direction toward the longitudinal axis of the rotating shaft. At least one disk wheel is allocated to each longitudinal side in the feed container. A separate drive is allocated to each disk wheel for purposes of rotational movement.

German patent specification DE 10 2008 020 41 B3 relates to a feeding device for in-line screw machines, in particular to avoid bridging in the medium to be conveyed. Generating unsymmetrical shear forces on opposing sides of the conveyor screw avoids the formation of textures in the medium that lead to bridging. This is realized by two disk wheels, which are driven by the conveyor screw. In addition, the disk wheels are equipped with strips that recirculate and/or loosen any material that might have dammed up in the feeding device.
Design patent DE 298 08 800 U1 discloses a feeding device for screw conveyors. In this configuration, the screw conveyor simultaneously serves as the drive for the catch element of the feeding device. The five depicted catch elements join together two wheels, the bearings of which are arranged on the same rotational axis. Since the catch elements engage into the screw flights, the feeding device rotates as soon as the conveyor screw operates. The advantage to this arrangement is that it requires no additional drive for the feeding device. However, there is little avoidance of the bridging expected to arise when conveying heavy conveying media.
The German translation DE 35 86 241 T2 of European patent specification EP 0 185 541 B1 describes a screw conveyor, in which two parallel, spaced apart conveyor screws rotate in a housing. To improve the way the product to be conveyed gets into or between the screw flights, draw-in rollers with wings are provided, arranged either one perpendicular or two parallel to the conveyor screws. The draw-in rollers with their movable wings that engage into the product are situated above the conveyor screws, and to the side of the latter in the dual configuration, and made to rotate independently of the conveyor screws of separate drives.

Feeding device having a double-disk feed having a separated drive and method for operating such a feeding device


The present invention relates to a phytandiol amine derivative represented by the following formula (I) and compositions for treating acne comprising the same:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel phytandiol amine derivatives and their use for treatment or prevention of acne. More particularly, the present invention relates to novel phytandiol amine derivatives and compositions for improving or alleviating acne comprising the above derivatives as active ingredient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Acne is inflammatory disease or disorder generally developed at sebum gland in hair follicle of skin, of which etiopathology, although unclear, is suggested as follows: Excess secretion of sebum triggered by testosterone, one of androgenic hormones, contributes to dyskeratinization of pilosebaceous canal, and in turn results in blockage in orifice for secretion of sebum, thereby accumulation of sebum in hair follicle. Excess accumulation of sebum is responsible for overgrowth of acne-causing bacteria, e.g. Propionibacterium acnes, in such follicle, and the lipase secreted from the bacteria hydrolyzes the accumulated sebum to form free fatty acids giving rise to inflammation through irritation of skin. Also, acne-causing bacteria, recognized as antigen, elicit immune reaction of individuals, resulting in inflammatory reaction. In accordance with such mechanism, papule and inflammatory acne are developed, and when aggravated, wall of the follicle is disrupted and sequentially tissues are injured, finally leading to lesions of vesicular and pustule.
In an effort to inhibit generation and development of acne, a variety of pharmaceuticals formulated in the form of oral-administered drug or external preparation have been developed and employed. Such pharmaceuticals are: (a) anti-androgen agent for regulating secretion of androgenic hormones; (b) non-steroidal antiphlogostic agent exhibiting antinflammtory function; and (c) antimicrobial agents such as resorcinol, benzoyl peroxide, erythromycin and tetracycline to inhibit a growth of acne-causing bacteria. Recently, it is commonly employed to treat acne using retinoic acid and vitamin A derivatives.
Most of therapeutics for acne, however, is unfortunately suffered from adverse effects including inhibition of growth of epiderm, irritation or dyskeratinization of skin, resistance to antimicrobial agents and applicability.
Therefore, the use of low-irritating antimicrobial extracted from several plants has been recently attempted for controlling acne-causing bacteria in the field of cosmetics. Unfortunately, recent attempts as above-mentioned have recognized some drawbacks: (a) low antimicrobial activity and (b) inefficiency of separation and purification of active ingredient from natural sources.
Under such circumstances, many researches have continuously focused on substances or compositions for treating acne disease or disorder with both better compatibility to human body and greater efficacy.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,798 discloses non-irritating compositions for treating acne and other skin conditions comprising salicylic acid as active ingredient, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,892 discloses a method of treating acne with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors such as finasteride.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,663 suggests compositions for treating acne containing benzofuran derivatives and U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,567 discloses benzoyl peroxide-quaternary ammonium lipophilic salicylate based pharmaceutical and cosmetic compositions and their use especially in treatment of acne.
Throughout this application, various patents are reference and citations are provided in parentheses. The disclosure of these patents in their entities are hereby incorporated by references into this application in order to more fully describe this invention and the state of the art to which this invention pertains.

Compositions for treating acne comprising phytandiol amine

Abstract: wherein each of Y and Z is OH with the proviso that X is NH2, each of X and Z is zOH with the proviso that Y is NH2, and each of X and Y is OH with the proviso that Z is NH2.


Soybean plants are provided that exhibit in the absence of induced mutagenesis naturally-occurring genetically-controlled glyphosate herbicide resistance that is not attributable to genetic engineering. Mature soybean seeds initially are soaked in a liquid comprising a glyphosate herbicide for a period of time sufficient for the herbicide to reach the embryos of the soybean seeds. Following such soaking the soybean seeds are planted to produce at least one soybean plant or a descendant thereof in a subsequent generation that displays resistance to glyphosate herbicide. The existence of the naturally-occurring glyphosate herbicide resistance in a soybean plant is confirmed by demonstrating the absence of a foreign gene for herbicide resistance that has been introduced by genetic engineering. Soybean seeds capable of forming the naturally-occurring genetically-controlled glyphosate herbicide resistance that is not attributable to genetic engineering also are provided. Such herbicide resistance can be reliably expressed and transferred to other soybean plants by conventional plant breeding methods.

Soybean plants of the genus Glycine max L. have long been recognized to be an important crop, which is being grown in many parts of the world. This crop is grown primarily for the seeds that are produced. These seeds may be used for planting or as a source of edible and industrial oils with the residue serving as a livestock feed supplement.
Modern agriculture practices are increasingly taking advantage of herbicides to eliminate unwanted weeds from soybean fields and to minimize the expense of tilling fields to remove unwanted weeds. Presently, there are no herbicides that kill on contact (post-emergent herbicides) that can be used with conventional soybean plants without causing excessive crop injury. The herbicide glyphosate is an effective non-selective post-emergent herbicide. Plant transformation/genetic engineering has been used in the past to modify soybean plants to incorporate resistance to the herbicidal effects of glyphosate.
Genetic engineering/plant transformation involves the incorporation of a gene for herbicide resistance into the chromosome of the soybean plant. Such procedures require special expertise and can be very costly. The "resistance" gene is part of a construct that is placed in the plant to impart herbicide resistance. In addition, the construct contains promoters that are responsible for activating the gene in select portions or in all parts of the plant. The presence or absence of these promoters is used to determine if the plant is the result of genetic engineering/plant transformation. The gene construct that is in commercially available in soybean plants includes the promoters, CaMV35S, and NOS marker gene. Representative prior publications that concern the use of genetic engineering to produce such herbicide resistance include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,971,908; 5,145,783; 5,312,910; 5,352,605; 5,530,196; and 5,858,742.
It also has been proposed in the past to attempt to create some sulfonylurea herbicide resistance in soybean plants through the use of induced mutagensis. See, for instance, (a) "Molecular Strategies for Crop Protection", by R. S. Chaleff et al., Pages 415 to 425 (1987), (b) "Soybean Mutants with Increased Tolerance for Sulfonylurea Herbicides", by Scott A. Sebastian et al. Crop Science, 27, Pages 948 to 952 (1987), and (c) "Semidominant Soybean Mutation for Resistance to Sulfonylurea Herbicides", S. A. Sebastian et al., Crop Science, 29, Pages 1403 to 1408 (1989). The resulting plants display no glyphosate herbicide resistance, often display limited resistant to sulfonylurea herbicide, and such herbicide is sometimes ineffective to kill weeds in view of acquired resistance to the sulfonylurea herbicide.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a new and reliable route for providing genetically-controlled herbicide resistance in soybean plants in the absence of induced mutagensis or the insertion of a foreign gene. A further objective of the present invention is to provide a soybean plant having genetically-controlled resistance that can be contacted with the herbicide in all stages of the life cycle of the plant and seeds capable of producing the same. The invention also provides a soybean plant that contains within its genome a naturally occurring genetic determinant that confers herbicide resistance that can be genetically mapped and physically isolated for use in breeding or biotechnological programs. Such genetic determinants represent novel genetic mechanisms for conferring herbicide resistance to host plants.
These and other objectives, as well as the scope, nature and utilization of the claimed invention will be apparent to those skilled in this area of technology from the following detailed description and appended claims.

Soybean seeds and plants exhibiting natural herbicide resistance


Apparatuses include a voltage divider that is connected to a current source, a humidity sensor within an internal humid location of an apparatus, and an amplifier connected to the voltage divider and the humidity sensor. The humidity sensor produces a current signal that increases with increases in the humidity level and the amplifier amplifies the signal produced by the humidity sensor to produce compensating output current. The amplifier provides amplification of the signal produced by the humidity sensor at a level that increases with increases of the primary output current. Thus, the amplifier provides the amplification of the signal produced by the humidity sensor at a level to make the compensating output current equal to the leakage current. This causes the electrical load element to receive the primary output current combined with the compensating output current as a power supply current that is unaffected by the leakage current.

Systems and methods herein generally relate to current leakage in circuitry and to correcting for current leakage in circuits that are used in humid environments.
For some high-voltage power supply applications, current leakage from the high-voltage output circuit should be limited because the amount of current leakage correspondingly reduces the amount of output current. One example of such an application is a high-voltage DC current source for charging a bias transfer roll (BTR) in an electrostatic printer. Typically, voltages of up to 6 kV are required in a bias transfer roll to obtain currents well below 100 uA. The current source in a bias transfer roll must also have an accuracy of uA's, so any current leakage can substantially decrease the performance of the bias transfer roll.
High-voltage circuits on printed circuit boards (PCB's) can easily leak current if they are situated in a humid environment. The PCB material has the ability to absorb water, which makes the surface relatively conductive, resulting in current leakage. Factors that contribute to current leakage are the material properties and the level of contamination of the surface (flux residue) of the PCB. Further, this effect is especially noticeable at high voltages and low currents, where operation relies on the insulating properties.
There are a number of methods used to prevent or reduce such current leakage. One method is to encapsulate the high-voltage circuit in a housing so that it is not exposed to the humid environment. These (potting) techniques are very effective, but relatively costly. If the high-voltage output must be available on the PCB for interfacing, this technique is not adequate.
Another method is to use shielding techniques, where the high-voltage (circuits) are surrounded or separated by conductive shields. The leakage current, picked-up by the shield, is measured and used for correcting the output current or voltage accordingly. This works best if the shield is nearby the high-voltage circuit and completely surrounds it. However, such shields increase the leakage and can potentially cause insulation breakdown (arcing/tracking). Also, on single-sided PCB's the leakage across the top side surface (where there is no shield) cannot be measured.
Another method, commonly used in printing machines, is to utilize a humidity sensor. With this, the relative humidity of the general machine environment is monitored and fed back to the processor unit for changing the setpoints required for maintaining the image quality. One of these setpoints is the BTR current. This approach does not take into account that the (relative) humidity in the area where the high-voltage power supply (HVPS) resides can be completely different. Also, the contamination degree of the HVPS PCB surface and the content of previously absorbed water in the PCB is not a constant factor over time. Furthermore, such methods rely on an HVPS manufactured with controlled PCB cleanliness.

Current leakage correction in humid environments


The invention is an improved yo-yo that features unique multi-piece sides. Each side has a removable disk that functions to affect the yo-yo's responsiveness via one or more tether engagement structures that can be contacted by the yo-yo's tether. When the removable disk is made of a resilient material, the disk can be compressed to change the yo-yo's responsiveness. Each removable disk may also form the associated side's rim and thereby functions to substantially define the side's shape. By replacing one set of removable disks with another, a user can quickly and easily change the yo-yo's shape and/or rim material and/or responsiveness.

Most yo-yos are in the form of two disk-shaped side portions that are rigidly connected to each other by some form of axle structure. The side portions are usually of unitary construction and are made out of plastic, metal or wood. The axle structure is secured to the center of both side portions and may be an assembly of multiple parts, or merely be in the form of a dowel or a riveted pin. In many modern yo-yos, the axle structure includes a center-located bearing or other member that is secured to, and rotatable on, an elongated axle pin.
The axle structure also forms an anchor for one end of a string-type tether. An end-located loop portion of the tether is positioned so that it encircles a center portion of the axle structure. The free end of the tether is usually tied to create a second loop portion that can be placed about one of a user's fingers to thereby secure the yo-yo to the user's hand.
When the tether is wound about the axle structure and the yo-yo is released, or thrown, from the user's hand, the yo-yo will begin to rapidly spin as it moves away from the user's hand and the tether unwinds from the axle structure. Once the tether is fully unwound, the yo-yo may "sleep" at the end of the tether, whereby the yo-yo's side portions continue to spin without the tether rewinding on the axle structure. Once the yo-yo is sleeping, there are a number of tricks, such as "walk the dog," that a person can perform with the spinning yo-yo. A sleeping yo-yo is also often used to perform tricks that involve temporarily placing the spinning yo-yo onto a portion of the tether intermediate of the tether's two ends.
At the completion of most yo-yo tricks, the user will make a quick tug/jerk on the tether. This will result in a brief tightening of the tether, which is then automatically followed by a temporary slackening of the tether. Once the tether goes slack, the tether's twist will cause one or more portions of the tether located proximate the axle structure to move, and thereby contact, a spinning portion of the yo-yo. Once contact has occurred, the tether portion can become locked to a spinning portion of the yo-yo in a manner whereby rotation of the spinning portion of the yo-yo causes the tether to wind about the axle structure. Winding of the tether on the axle structure makes the yo-yo return to the user's hand.
Every yo-yo has three crucial performance characteristics that determine the yo-yo's ability to perform tricks. They are the yo-yo's potential sleep time, its ability to return on command, and whether the yo-yo is smooth on the tether.
Concerning a yo-yo's sleep time, the longer the yo-yo can be made to sleep, the more time the user will have to complete any particular yo-yo trick. It is well known that by minimizing friction in the yo-yo's components, one can maximize the yo-yo's sleep time. Furthermore, it is known that whenever the tether even slightly rubs against a spinning portion of the yo-yo, the created friction will reduce the yo-yo's sleep time.
For a yo-yo to return on command, the structure and design of the yo-yo must be such that when the user causes the tether to briefly go slack, a portion of the tether can become locked to a spinning portion of the yo-yo in a manner whereby the yo-yo is caused to return to the user's hand. In most prior art yo-yos, the ability for the tether to become locked to a spinning portion of the yo-yo is usually enhanced through the use of engagement adaptations, such as raised ribs, located on an inner portion of the tether-facing surface of both of the yo-yo's side portions. The tether-facing surface of a side portion is herein defined as the surface of the side portion that faces a portion of the yo-yo's tether when said tether extends straight out from the yo-yo's string gap area. A yo-yo's string gap area is herein defined as the area located between the yo-yo's side portions. The ability of a yo-yo to return on command is also the common measure of a yo-yo's responsiveness.
Concerning a yo-yo's ability to be smooth on the tether, this refers to a yo-yo's ability, when it is sleeping at the end of the tether, to be temporarily placed on a medial portion of the tether without the tether becoming locked to a spinning portion of the yo-yo. An example of a trick that requires a yo-yo to be smooth on the tether is "man on the trapeze." If, during such a trick, the yo-yo can slide on the tether, the yo-yo is said to be very smooth on the tether/string. The ability of a yo-yo to be smooth on the tether is favored when the yo-yo's responsiveness is low. A yo-yo with an overly high responsiveness will transform even the slightest contact between the tether and a spinning portion of the yo-yo into an inadvertent rapid return of the yo-yo to the user's hand. When such an inadvertent return happens, the performance of a yo-yo trick will usually be cut short and thereby ruined.
Over the years, many different shapes have been employed for the yo-yo's side portions. Traditional yo-yos will usually feature substantially planar side portions that have a bulge in the area of the rim to provide an improved weight distribution that increases spin time and stability. Butterfly yo-yos feature side portions that are stretched outwardly, away from the center of the yo-yo, thereby increasing the width of the yo-yo and giving the yo-yo a butterfly shape when viewed in cross-section.
It is also known to use different materials for, or on, the rim portion of each of a yo-yo's side portions. For example, while most yo-yos have rim portions made of a hard plastic material, it is known to employ rubber either as the rim material, or in the form of an o-ring that is placed on the periphery of each of a yo-yo's side portions.
The different shapes and materials employed in a yo-yo's side portions not only make the yo-yo distinctive, they also affect the yo-yo's performance. For example, a user performing looping tricks with a yo-yo will usually prefer a traditionally shaped yo-yo that has substantially planar side portions. Such a shape is best at looping since the weight distribution is close to the tether's attachment point on the yo-yo, thereby enabling the yo-yo to flip over relatively easily during each loop. For yo-yo tricks in which the user attempts to catch the spinning yo-yo on a medial portion of the tether, a butterfly shaped yo-yo is preferred. The more widely spaced-apart side portions improve the yo-yo's stability whereby the yo-yo is less prone to tilt off the tether. Furthermore, the wider stance of a butterfly-shaped yo-yo facilitates a user being able to land the yo-yo on a medial portion of the tether.
To take advantage of the different yo-yo performance characteristics provided through the use of side portions of different shapes and/or materials and/or that have different tether engagement adaptations, many experienced yo-yo players will own a large variety of different yo-yos. This enables the player to pick a yo-yo from his or her collection that will work best for the particular trick(s) that the player wishes to perform. However, the costs involved in buying and maintaining a large number of yo-yos can be considerable. In addition, transporting a large number of yo-yos can be bothersome and is usually accomplished using a bulky and expensive transport case specially adapted for carrying yo-yos.