The present invention is an optical transmission system comprising an optical source, a first lens and a second lens, a multimode optical waveguide, and a phase-only filter. The optical source generates an optical signal having a predetermined wavelength which is received by the first lens. The signal is then sent from the first lens through the phase-only filter and then to the second lens. The second lens then focuses the signal into the multimode optical waveguide. The multimode optical waveguide has predetermined dimensions and has multiple modes. The phase-only filter excites a plurality of modes in the optical waveguide to approximate equilibrium modal power distribution as the optical signal is received into the optical waveguide.

The present invention relates to an optical transmission system. More particularly, the invention relates to a high reliability fiber optic mode scrambler utilizing a phase-only filter.
Guided optical transmission systems are well known systems for rapid and highly reliable transmission of information. The basic guided optical transmission system consists of a transmitter, a receiver, and a guided channel connecting the two. Typically, an optical signal is introduced to the guided channel by the transmitter, travels through the guided channel and is then detected by the receiver.
Furthermore, a typical guided optical transmission system will include multiple guided channels, such as optical fibers, which are connected with connector elements. Such fiber-to-fiber connections are needed for a variety of reasons. Several fibers must be spliced together for lengths of more than a few hundred kilometers because only limited continuous lengths of fiber are normally available from manufacturers. Also, moderate lengths of fiber are easier to install in most applications than are very long cables.
Transmitters in typical guided optical transmission systems are either light emitting diodes (LEDs) or laser diodes (lasers). An LED is a pn junction semiconductor that emits light when forward biased. LEDs are incoherent light sources. Typical LEDs do not emit great amounts of power and are relatively slow. On the other hand, lasers have significantly more power and can be operated much faster. Lasers are coherent light sources.
The guided channel in a typical guided optical transmission system is a step-index fiber consisting of a central core with a designated refractive index surrounded by a cladding with a lower designated refractive index. Step-index fibers have three common forms: a glass core, cladded with a glass having a slightly lower refractive index; a silica glass core, cladded with plastic; and a plastic core, cladded with another plastic. The core/cladding interface allows a properly oriented optical signal to propagate within the core of the fiber with nearly total internal reflection, that is, none of the signal leaks into the cladding. As long as the signal enters the core of the fiber at an angle less than the critical angle, nearly all of the signal will remain in the core of the fiber so that there is little loss in the optical signal.
The fiber in a guided optical transmission system can be a single mode fiber or a multimode fiber. The multimode fiber has a multitude of transmission modes in which an optical signal can travel while the single mode fiber has only one transmission mode for an optical signal. The advantage of a multimode fiber is that significantly more information can be transmitted through the multimode fiber. A single mode fiber, limited to a single mode of transmission, is able to transmit much less information than a multimode fiber.
Most applications in which optical transmission systems are used require the extremely rapid transmission of data. Often, speed considerations will dictate that a laser source is necessary, as is the use of a multimode fiber so that more information can be transmitted at the same time. In addition, as stated above, most practical applications will require multiple fiber lengths utilizing connectors. The combination of highly coherent laser sources with a multimode fiber utilizing connector elements presents several problems.
Modal noise is one difficulty in such guided optical systems. When highly coherent light sources such as laser diodes are used with multimode fibers, the coherent source excites very few modes in the fiber. However, the fiber modes then interfere with one another causing random variations in optic power. This random power variation is known as modal noise. With typical LED sources, mode interference is not a problem because the light is so incoherent that interference will not greatly affect the overall power detection. However, with highly coherent light sources such as lasers, the modal interference can be both additive and subtractive such that any one of the few modes transmitting the optical signal can have a very significant portion of the optical power concentrated in that one mode.
This concentration in a single mode becomes extremely significant in systems which utilize mode-selective loss elements such as connectors. These connectors between the fibers cause losses in the optical signal. It is very difficult to perfectly align the fibers, even with the use of connector elements. Even slight misalignment of the cores of the fibers will cause mode-selective loss. Elements such as connectors are therefore sometimes called mode-selective loss elements. Certain transmission modes are cut off or terminated by these elements. Thus, such connectors may cause a signal to lose its higher order modes. When the terminated modes are carrying a significant amount of the optical signal power, there will be signal error at the detector. Consequently, multimode fibers cannot be used in many high speed applications.
One approach to overcoming these problems has been to use mode scramblers with corrugated surfaces to microbend the fibers. Such corrugated mode scramblers physically bend the fiber such that the angle of reflection between the signal and the core/cladding interface will be altered as the signal passes through the portion of the fiber which is bent by the corrugated mode scrambler. In this way, the optical signal will be reflected into many more modes than the few in which the coherent laser source originally transmits the signal. Thus, the corrugated scrambler can approximate equilibrium power distribution in the fiber.
By approximating equilibrium power distribution the effect of mode-selective loss element such as connecters are greatly lessened. When there are only a few modes in which the optical signal is traveling, any modes cut off by the mode selective loss elements will greatly diminish the overall signal power and cause error in detection. When more modes are utilized, however, each mode terminated by the mode-selective loss elements has much less impact.
Despite the advantages of such corrugated mode scramblers, there are many limitations to these devices, and their usefulness is very limited. First, corrugated mode scramblers impose intolerable strain on the fiber. In order for the corrugated scrambler to be effective, significant strain must be put on the fiber. The corrugated scrambler alters the angle of reflection between the core/cladding interface by physically bending the fiber. This bending stretches one side of the fiber and places tension on the other. In most applications this strain is intolerable. Most fibers are comprised of glass or plastic. Any strain on these fibers increases the risk that they will break. Even slight bends in fiber can cause cracks. These cracks can affect the optical signal traveling through the fiber and will eventually lead to breakage of the fiber. A broken or cracked fiber will not properly transmit an optical signal.
Second, in order for the corrugated scrambler to effectively approximate equilibrium power distribution in the fiber, multiple bends in the fiber are necessary. The fiber must be subjected to a series of alternating bends. The package size needed to contain these plurality of bends is too large for many practical implementations. Consequently, the corrugated scrambler has limited practical usefulness.
The present invention is an optical transmission system which solves these and related problems in the prior art.


The invention relates to an injection device (1), designed in particular for injecting fluid into an exhaust tract of an internal combustion engine, having a valve needle (14), an injection chamber (12) having at least one injection opening (44), and a control chamber (20). The injection device (1) is designed such that a pressure differential between the injection chamber (12) and the control chamber (20) brings about a displacement of the valve needle (14) between an open position in which a fluid flow through the injection opening (44) from the injection chamber (12) is released, and a closed position, in which the injection opening (44) is closed off. The injection chamber (22) and the control chamber (20) are hydraulically connected to an inlet (40, 42; 9), such that a pressure rise in the inlet (40, 42; 9) results in a pressure rise in the injection chamber (12), and a pressure rise in the control chamber (20) delayed in time relative to the pressure rise in the injection chamber (12), and said pressure differential brings about a displacement of the valve needle (14) from the closed position into an open position.

The demands placed on the exhaust-gas quality of internal combustion engines, in particular of internal combustion engines for driving motor vehicles, have steadily increased in recent years. In the case of diesel engines in particular, NOx emissions constitute a problem, which is counteracted by means of so-called SCR catalytic converters. In an SCR catalytic converter, environmentally harmful NOx is converted with the aid of NH3, which is supplied to the catalytic converter generally in the form of an aqueous urea solution, into N2 and H2O.
To supply the urea solution to the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engine, a dosing system is required, which conventionally comprises an electrically operated pump and an electrically actuated dosing valve. Such dosing systems are cumbersome and expensive to produce, assemble and maintain.
EP 1 878 920 A1 discloses a liquid pump having an inlet, an outlet, a pump chamber for receiving the liquid, and an actuator which is movable between a first position and a second position and which is designed to pump liquid from the pump chamber into the outlet. The inlet and the outlet are fluidically connected to a supply passage when the actuator is in the first position. The supply passage runs around the actuator in order to permit a transfer of heat from the actuator to the liquid.
U.S. 2007/0295003 A1 describes a high-pressure dosing pump which is designed to provide a reducing agent to an exhaust-gas reduction system. The high-pressure dosing pump has an electromagnet for driving a piston which is arranged in a movable manner in an inner bore of a valve housing of the pump. The inner bore has a pressure chamber with an inlet one-way valve and with an outlet one-way valve. Movement of the piston causes reducing agent to be supplied at high pressure to an injection nozzle. The injection nozzle is arranged at a location which permits a maximum reduction of undesired pollutants in the exhaust gases.

Injection device for introducing a urea solution into the exhaust tract of an internal combustion engine


A drill guide assembly used to guide a drill into the jawbone of a patient during dental surgery includes at least one through going guide bore for guiding the drill, at least one attachment for securing a part of the drill guide assembly to the jaw of the patient during surgery, wherein the drill guide assembly includes a first part including the at least one first through going guide bore, the at least one first attachment and at least a first reference area for referring the first part to a first anatomical feature of the patient, a second part including a second reference area for referring the second part to a second anatomical feature of the patient, and a guiding structure for guiding the first part and the second into a desired configuration.

When performing dental implant surgery it is critical that the implant is placed correctly. This is necessary both to ensure that the restoration such as crown or denture can be placed in the correct position but also in order to ensure that the implant is anchored firmly and at the correct location in the bone structure of the jaw. Moreover, it is critical that nerves and arteries are not penetrated which can cause irrevocable damage to the patient.
In order to aid the surgeon drill guides have been produced with through going bores that guides the drill into the jawbone at the correct location and orientation. After the hole is provided an implant can be inserted whereon a restoration such as a crown, bridge or denture can be fixed.
These drill guides can be placed in different ways. Some are provided with reference areas that correspond to one or more dental feature in the jaw of the patient that allows for some precision during placement of the drill guide in the mouth.
However, there exists a need to be able to place drill guides at an even higher precision than done before. Moreover, there also exists a need to provide better access to the oral cavity in order to give the surgeon more room to operate instruments during surgery.


A method includes forming a first dielectric layer over a substrate; forming nanoclusters over the first dielectric layer; forming a second dielectric layer over the nanoclusters; annealing the second dielectric layer using nitrous oxide; and after the annealing the second dielectric layer, forming a gate electrode over the second dielectric layer.

1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to annealing a dielectric layer, and more specifically, to annealing a dielectric layer that can be used in a non-volatile memory device.
2. Related Art
Non-volatile memory (NVM) devices are advantageous because they retain charge when no power is applied. Typical NVM devices include a floating gate memory. However, nanocrystal or nanocluster memories have been found to be advantageous over floating gate memories because the nanocrystal memory has less charge leakage, which is created from gate dielectric defects. During hot carrier injection of electrons into the nanocrystals, some electrons may become trapped in the control oxide, which undesirably increases threshold voltage. Because it is not possible to erase the charge trapped in the control oxide, the electrons accumulate during operation and the threshold voltage continues to increase further. In addition, the charge in the control oxide can decrease reliability due to internal electric fields working concomitantly with an external bias. For example, electrons trapped in the control oxide can degrade data retention of nanocrystals programmed with electrons by accelerating tunneling loss through the portion of the dielectric under the nanocrystals. Thus, there is a desire for nanocrystal memories that do not have the problems discussed above.


Methods, uses, and animals for introgression of alleles between animals, including SNPs. One embodiment involves introducing a targeted targeting endonuclease system and a HDR template into a cell with a mismatch in the binding of the targeting endonuclease and the targeted site.

Since the first transgenic pig was created, more than 180 trials have been recorded to genetically engineer livestock in a variety of ways. Animal genetic engineering has traditionally been accomplished by random insertions of expression cassettes which suffered from low efficiency and unpredictable expression, or homologous recombination (efficiency lower than 1 in 104) with linked selection markers.

Efficient non-meiotic allele introgression


A miter saw includes a base, a rotatable table, a saw arm, a driver, a saw blade, and two supporters. The rotatable table is pivotally mounted to the base and is rotatable relative to the base. The rotatable table includes a support surface configured to receive a workpiece thereon. The saw arm is coupled to the rotatable table and is pivotable downwards towards the support surface. The driver is mounted on the saw arm. The saw blade is mounted on the saw arm and is driven by the driver to cut the workpiece. The two supporters are respectively pivotally mounted to the rotatable table and are configured to support the workpiece thereon while in a supporting position, and to be pivoted to an unobtrusive stowed position when not in use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a miter saw and more particularly, to a miter saw being able to firmly support a broader workpiece.
2. Description of the Related Art
The miter saws adopted to cut wood can be substantially distinguished into sliding miter saws and non-sliding miter saws, wherein sliding miter saws are able to cut workpieces with broader width.
The construction of a conventional sliding miter saw is summarized as follows:
A base 2 is pivotally mounted with a rotatable table 3, upon which is configured to receive a workpiece thereon, an extended arm 4 extends from the rotatable table 3, and a slot 5 extends from the rotatable table 3 to the extended arm 4. The length of the slot 5 corresponds to the sliding distance of a saw blade 6 for sliding forwards backwards and the slot 5 is configured to receive the saw blade 6 therein. A support arm 7 is coupled to the rear end of the rotatable table 3. A sliding arm 8 that is able to slide forwards backwards is coupled to the top end of the support arm 7. The front end of the sliding arm 8 is pivotally coupled with a pivot arm 9. The saw blade 6 is mounted on the pivot arm 9 and is slidable forwards and backwards relative to the rotatable table 3 via the sliding arm 8 and is rotatable upwards and downwards relative to the rotatable table 3 via the pivot arm 9 to perform a cutting operation.
However, when cutting a broader workpiece by the conventional sliding miter saw 1, the width of the workpiece is larger than the width of the rotatable table 3, and the workpiece juts out over the rotatable table 3 and extends over the extended arm 4, thus the sliding miter saw 1 supports the portion of the workpiece extending beyond the rotatable table 3 only by the narrow extended arm 4. During the cutting operation, the extended arm 4 cannot stably support the workpiece such that not only the cutting performance may be affected but may also increase the dangers of possible injury while cutting.


A method and apparatus includes a substrate, a foam that is applied to the substrate to form a least a portion of an interior trim part, at least one holder fixed to the substrate, and at least one reinforcement member supported by the at least one holder such that, when the foam is applied, the at least one reinforcement member is suspended within the foam.

Instrument panels traditionally include a substrate layer, a foam layer, and an outer skin that forms an external surface of the instrument panel. In some configurations, a reinforcement structure is positioned within the foam to provide increased rigidity. In one example, a wire reinforcement is positioned on an internal side of the outer skin after the outer skin is placed in a mold. When foam is introduced into the mold, the wire reinforcement member can be pushed against the outer skin such that the wire profile can be seen or read through the external surface of the outer skin. This provides an unpleasing aesthetic appearance for the instrument panel and leads to an increase in scrap.

Instrument panel with reinforcement member


There are provided methods and systems for facilitating international shipment of goods that enable centralized control of both the establishment of and any changes to international shipping requirements. Users can conveniently query the system through remote terminals. Requirement information is provided in a user-useful and friendly manner including matrices of core requirements relating to all shipments and country specific requirements relating to specified origination and/or destination countries. Compliance testing is provided by which a user can evaluate a particular international shipment for compliance with requirements particular to that shipment.

International shipping requires compliance with extensive, country-specific requirements. Countries may regulate such specifics as: packaging, marking, addressing and a multitude of other factors associated with shipping across jurisdictional borders. Each country has its own, individual set of requirements which may or may not be the same or similar to those of other countries. Failure to comply with shipping requirements may expose a shipper, for example an international company, to extensive fines and/or a moratorium on that company's ability to ship into or out of a particular country. In some instances, failure to comply with shipping requirements may even expose a company to criminal charges.
Various methods and systems are known for facilitating transactions involving the movement of products. U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,508 to Bain et al. Shows a label generating and data tracking system for processing purchase orders. Published international application WO 99/34272 (A2) by Pool et al. Shows a universal shopping center that facilitates international transactions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,369 to Nicholls et al. shows a logistics system for automating transportation of goods, while published international application WO 00/42553 (A2) by Harmony Software, Inc. shows a system for processing business information from multiple enterprises.
However, prior to the advent of the present invention, no good method or system was known to applicant for coordinating, distributing and updating the compliance requirements associated with the international shipment of products. In applicant's experience, systems for facilitating compliance with requirements for the international shipment of products suffer from significant drawbacks. In particular, they tend to involve the use of lengthy, often outdated or obsolete, uncontrolled collections of documents and guidelines. Applicant's experience has been that such deficient systems make compliance with international shipping requirements difficult at best and may place organizations, particularly large organizations, at risk for penalties for failure to comply.
It would thus be desirable to provide improved methods and systems for facilitating compliance with international shipping requirements. Such improved methods and systems would be of significant value in assisting organizations, large and small, that ship products across international borders.

Method and system for administering compliance with international shipping requirements

International Business Machines Corporation


A computer-implemented process, system, and computer readable medium are provided for administration and governance of fiat and cryptocurrency funds in a distributed computer system. In one example, a process includes, at an electronic device with one or more processors and memory, accessing a list of a plurality of participant nodes, which may include a fund administrator receiving a list of participants or nodes. The method further includes transferring crypto-currency (e.g., that is pegged to U.S. dollars, local currency, or the like) to one or more of the participant nodes. Each of the participant nodes may include an interface portal (e.g., a web-portal) for viewing transferred crypto-currency and for transacting (e.g., bidding, soliciting, etc.) with other participant nodes of the list of participant nodes with the crypto-currency.

Global demand for international development and humanitarian assistance funds continues to rise. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the market for humanitarian aid and international development is approximately $200 billion per year. However, difficulties governing and administering the flow of funds pose serious obstacles to aid missions. According to World Bank estimates, up to 30% of funds allocated for international development and humanitarian aid missions are lost to fraud, waste, abuse, and other forms of economic crime and ineffective governance. Further inefficiencies result from the cost and time required to move money through traditional banking systems. The cumulative effect of these difficulties has caused an erosion of trust and confidence that adversely affects the donor base and the citizen-state relations of countries that receive the funds.
As is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies offer a new disintermediated method of remittance that allows value to be transferred over the internet, with little or no reliance on the payment systems used by the traditional banking sector. At the same time, access to the internet and to mobile devices has been expanding rapidly to underbanked and unbanked populations around the globe, including the citizenry of countries that receive development and aid mission funds. These developments in technology present a unique opportunity to harness the collective properties of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, smart contracts, data analytics systems, and internet based application interface software to provide an unprecedented level of speed, security, and transparency to the systems that oversee, administer, and govern funds allocated for international development and humanitarian aid missions.
The present invention provides a system that enables these benefits of speed, transparency, and security to materialize in the context of development and aid projects, as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures. While the present invention is described in the context of international development and humanitarian aid, iterations of the present invention may be used in the context of various other types of public and private procurement projects.

Cryptoconomy solution for administration and governance in a distributed system


The process uses information from the scan sweeps of a laser scanner to obtain a stipulated area which approximates the top surface of the object, by successive samplings while the object is moved relative to the scanner. The volume is then obtained as the volume included between that surface and a bearing surface. The process accommodates the slope angles of the scan plane. The volume measurement may be taken at the same time as an optical code provided on the object is read.

This invention relates to a process for measuring the volume of an object by means of a laser scanner, and to an apparatus implementing the process.
A problem shared by many segments of industry and trade is that of assessing the volume of an object. In particular, the supply and shipment of goods demand that the volume of packages be measured in an automated fashion to provide an element of information which is valuable to the conduction of both the storehouse premises and the carrier means.

Process for measuring the volume of an object by means of a laser scanner and apparatus capable of performing said process


A process is provided for preparing polymer composites from compositions comprising i) a polyolefin, ii) a polymer selected from the group consisting of polymers having hydroxyl groups and polymers having amino groups and iii) a polar ethylene copolymer having copolymerized units selected from the group consisting of C4-C8 unsaturated anhydrides, monoesters of C4-C8 unsaturated acids having at least two carboxylic acid groups, diesters of C4-C8 unsaturated acids having at least two carboxylic acid groups and mixtures thereof. The process is suitable for use with recycle streams that contain polymeric materials that are laminates or composites of dissimilar polymers.

Many consumer and industrial products are formed from thermoplastic composite or laminate materials. Such materials include for example container walls and countertop materials. For a variety of aesthetic and functional reasons the composites or laminates may be composed of quite dissimilar polymers. For example, composite materials are often blends of two or more polymers that are present in discrete phases within the polymer matrix, due to the differing chemical properties of each polymeric component. Laminated materials often are designed to have particular barrier properties and contain plies made from dissimilar polymers. The polymeric materials of the various layers then act to transmit or prevent transmission of certain gases in a controlled manner. For example, a container lid or a fuel tank wall may be a laminated material that contains a polar polymer and a non-polar polymer in separate layers.
Some commonly used polymers that are present in laminated or composite materials include polyamides, polyolefins, polyesters and ethylene copolymers. Among this latter group are ethylene copolymers having polar comonomers, such as ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers, ethylene acrylic acid copolymers and ethylene methacrylic acid copolymers. Recycling processes have the potential to convert such laminated or composite materials into useful raw materials, but in many cases the basic incompatibility of the polymers in the recyclable product leads to production of non-homogeneous blends that have unacceptable physical properties. One solution to this problem is the use of additives that compatibilize dissimilar polymers. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,602 a process for recycling a mixture of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and a thermoplastic resin using a compatibilizer that is a mixture of a polyamide resin and an ethylene-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer or its metal salt is disclosed. Other compatibilizers are disclosed in K. Hausmann, "Compatibilizers, Polymeric (Recycling of Multilayer Structures)", Polymeric Materials Encyclopedia, CRC Press, NY, 1996, vol. 2, pp. 1364-1377.
Maleated polymers are a useful class of compatibilizing agents and toughening agents for thermoplastic polymers. Such polymers include maleic anhydride-grafted polyolefins and ethylene copolymers having copolymerized monomer units of maleic acid, maleic acid esters or maleic anhydride. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,164 discloses molding compositions comprising polypropylenes, polyamides and ethylene copolymers grafted with maleic anhydride. PCT Published Application No. WO 98/41576 discloses toughened polyamides that are blends of ultrahigh density polyethylene, polyamide and maleic anhydride graft copolymers. In addition, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,174,358 and 5,408,000 and PCT Published Application No. WO 03/099930A1 disclose various impact modifiers for polyamides that include maleated polymers.
Maleic anhydride grafted polyolefins are generally prepared on a commercial scale by grafting maleic anhydride onto a polymeric backbone material, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene-ethylene-butene-styrene triblock copolymer or polybutadiene. Maleated compatibilizers of this type include, e.g. Fusabond® MB 226DE and Fusabond® MD 353D adhesive resins, available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Another class of maleated compatibilizers includes ethylene dipolymers and higher order copolymers that contain copolymerized units of e.g. maleic acid.
Although maleated polymers have been used as compatibilizers for various resins, their potential as additives in recycling operations has not been fully utilized and optimized. It would be desirable to have a process available that makes more effective use of this class of compatibilizing agents in recycling processes. In addition, it would be useful to have a process available that could more effectively compatibilize dissimilar polymers made from virgin materials. Compositions produced by such processes would be economical raw materials for fabricating consumer and industrial goods.

Process for recycling polyolefin blend composition using an ethylene copolymer compatibilizing agent


A portable kit (20) in which is conveniently retained the materials required for a user to pulmonarily delivery inhaleable medication. The kit (20) includes a carrying case (22) in which a plurality of individual doses (5) of an inhaleable medication are removably mounted. An inhaler (40) is also mountable in the case (22), and when removed from the case (22) is operable to pulmonarily administer one of the medication doses (57) loaded by a user into the inhaler (40). A dosing guidance system (70) is also provided within the case (22) in registry with the plurality of individual doses (57) of medication, which dosing guidance system (70) provides a quick, visual reminder to assist the user in taking doses as prescribed by her physician.

The present invention pertains to portable kits used to administer medicine, and, in particular, to a portable kit including an inhaler for pulmonary administration of medicine.
In order to manage a variety of medical conditions, such as diabetes, patients often must self-administer their medication. For patients leading active lives, these medications frequently must be carried around by a patient for administration on the go and without the direct supervision of a health care professional.
The use of an assortment of different types of inhalers or inhalation devices is known to pulmonarily deliver inhaleable medications. To allow a user to conveniently carry around an inhaler, various cases have been developed. One such carrying case is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,066. The case includes a counter mechanism manually operable by the user to keep track of the number of doses dispensed from the inhaler storable in the case, such as a metered-dose inhaler. While the manual counter mechanism may be beneficial with a metered-dose inhaler, in which a canister with a large supply of doses is initially loaded, in that it helps a user gauge when that large supply is nearing exhaustion, the counter mechanism offers little if any reminder as to when the last dose was taken, and further the case does not organize additional medicine to be administered by the inhaler in such a way as to serve as such a reminder or indicator of the last taken dose.
One known portable kit for parenteral administration of insulin employs a reusable injection pen which can be stored when not in use within a complementarily shaped internal hollow provided in a clamshell type case. The interior of the case also provides separate hollows adapted to accommodate replacement needles for the pen, as well as a replacement cartridge, which cartridge holds multiple doses of medicine and is loadable into the pen when the medicine in the replaceable cartridge already loaded in the pen is exhausted. While useful for treating diabetes, this kit is not useful for pulmonary delivery of medicine, nor does visually observing the way the replacement cartridge is arranged in the case offer any indication of when the previous dose may have been administered.
Other carrying cases have been developed to hold packages of medicines, such as child-resistant containers intended to be loaded with blister packs. Furthermore, known ways of packaging medicine include providing instructions on the medicine's packaging and associated with blister packaged doses of that packaging. Alternate modes include removable labels on the packaging and associated with blister packaged doses of that packaging which can be applied to a calendar to remind a user to administer a dose. However, if used with a system for inhaleable medicine delivery requiring administration via an inhaler, the combination of case and packaging designs may require a user to separately keep track of the inhaler, which, if it becomes separated from the medicine, can be at minimum, inconvenient, and at worst, hinder appropriate compliance.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system that overcomes at least one of these and other shortcomings of the prior art.


The invention relates to a memory device electrode, in particular for a resistively switching memory device, wherein the surface of the electrode is provided with a structure, in particular comprises one or a plurality of shoulders or projections, respectively. Furthermore, the invention relates to a memory cell comprising at least one such electrode, a memory device, as well as a method for manufacturing a memory device electrode.

In the case of conventional memory devices, in particular conventional semiconductor memory devices, one differentiates between so-called functional memory devices (e.g. PLAs, PALs, etc.) and so-called table memory devices, e.g. ROM devices (ROM=Read Only Memory)—in particular PROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, flash memories, etc.—, and RAM devices (RAM=Random Access Memory or read-write memory), e.g. DRAMs and SRAMs.
A RAM device is a memory for storing data under a predetermined address and for reading out the data under this address later.
Since it is intended to accommodate as many memory cells as possible in a RAM device, one has been trying to realize same as simple as possible.
In the case of SRAMs (SRAM=Static Random Access Memory), the individual memory cells consist e.g. of few, for instance 6, transistors, and in the case of so-called DRAMs (DRAM=Dynamic Random Access Memory) in general only of one single, correspondingly controlled capacitive element (e.g. the gate-source capacitance of a MOSFET), with the capacitance of which one bit each can be stored as charge.
This charge, however, remains for a short time only. Therefore, a so-called "refresh" must be performed regularly, e.g. approximately every 64 ms.
In contrast to that, no "refresh" has to be performed in the case of SRAMS, i.e. the data stored in the memory cell remain stored as long as an appropriate supply voltage is fed to the SRAM.
In the case of non-volatile memory devices (NVMs), e.g. EPROMs, EEPROMs, and flash memories, the stored data remain, however, stored even when the supply voltage is switched off.
Furthermore, so-called "resistive" or "resistively switching" memory devices have also become known recently, e.g. so-called Perovskite Memories, Phase Change Memories, PMC memories (PMC=Programmable Metallization Cell), OUM memories (OUM=Ovonics (or Ovonyx, respectively) Unified Memories), hydrogenised, amorphous silicon memories (a-Si:H memories), polymer/organic memories, etc.
In the case of "resistive" or "resistively switching" memory devices, a material—which is, for instance, positioned between two appropriate electrodes (e.g. an anode and a cathode)—is placed, by appropriate switching processes, in a more or less conductive state (wherein e.g. the more conductive state corresponds to a stored, logic "One", and the less conductive state corresponds to a stored, logic "Zero", or vice versa).
In the case of PMC memories (PMC=Programmable Metallization Cell), for instance, when programming a corresponding PMC memory cell—depending on whether a logic "One" or a logic "Zero" is to be written into the cell—appropriate metal dendrites (e.g. Ag or Cu dendrites, etc.) are deposited between two electrodes by means of appropriate current pulses and by means of electrochemical reactions caused thereby (which results in a conductive state of the cell), or they are degraded (which results in a non-conductive state of the cell).
PMC memory cells are, for instance, known from Y. Hirose, H. Hirose, J. Appl. Phys. 47, 2767 (1975), and e.g. from M. N. Kozicki, M. Yun, L. Hilt, A. Singh, Electrochemical Society Proc., Vol. 99-13, (1999) 298, M. N. Kozicki, M. Yun, S. J. Yang, J. P. Aberouette, J. P. Bird, Superlattices and Microstructures, Vol. 27, No. 5/6 (2000) 485-488, and e.g. from M. N. Kozicki, M. Mitkova, J. Zhu, M. Park, C. Gopalan, "Can Solid State Electrochemistry Eliminate the Memory Scaling Quandry", Proc. VLSI (2002), and R. Neale: "Micron to look again at non-volatile amorphous memory", Electronic Engineering Design (2002).
In the case of Phase Change Memories, in a corresponding cell, a material positioned between two corresponding electrodes (i.e. an anode and a cathode) (e.g. an appropriate chalkogenide compound (e.g. a Ge—Sb—Te compound or an Ag—In—Sb—Te compound)) is placed in an amorphous, i.e. relatively weakly conductive, or a crystalline, i.e. relatively strongly conductive state by means of appropriate switching processes (wherein e.g. the relatively strongly conductive state may again correspond to a stored, logic "One", and the relatively weakly conductive state may correspond to a stored, logic "Zero", or vice versa).
Phase Change Memories are, for instance, known from G. Wicker, Nonvolatile, High Density, High Performance Phase Change Memory, SPIE Conference on Electronics and Structures for MEMS, Vol. 3891, Queensland, 2, 1999, and e.g. from Y. N. Hwang et al., Completely CMOS Compatible Phase Change Nonvolatile RAM Using NMOS Cell Transistors, IEEE Proceedings of the Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory Workshop, Monterey, 91, 2003, etc.
In the case of the above-mentioned hydrogenised, amorphous silicon memories (a-Si:H memories), in a corresponding cell, a hydrogenised, amorphous silicon positioned between two corresponding electrodes (e.g. corresponding Cr—, V—, Ni—, Al—, Au—, Mg—, Fe—, Co—, Pd-electrodes) is—after an appropriate forming step—switched to a high-resistance or a low-resistance state by appropriate electric pulses (wherein, again, e.g. the low-resistance state may correspond to a stored, logic "One", and the high-resistance state may correspond to a stored, logic "Zero", or vice versa).
Hydrogenised, amorphous silicon memory cells are, for instance described in S. Gangophadhyay et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 24, 1363, 1985, and e.g. in A. E. Owen et al., Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Solid State and Integrated Circuit Technology, 830, 1998, etc.
In the case of the above-mentioned Perovskite memory cells, a structure transition between a high-resistance state and a low-resistance state in a corresponding material (e.g. Perovskite oxides, oxidic insulating films with doped impurities, etc.) is achieved by means of charge carrier injection.
Perovskite memory cells are, for instance, known from S. Q. Liu et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 2749, 2000, and e.g. from W. W. Zhuang et al., IEDM 2002, etc.
Polymer/organic memory cells (e.g. charge-transfer-complex-based polymer/organic memory cells) are e.g. described in X. Wan et al., Phys. Stat. Sol. A 181, R13, 2000.
In the case of the above-mentioned "resistive" or "resistively switching" memory devices (Perovskite memories, Phase Change Memories, PMC memories, a-Si:H memories, polymer/organic memories, etc.), it is often tried to keep the layer thickness of the material positioned between the electrodes—which is correspondingly to be switched to a state of high or low conductivity—as small as possible.
This renders it possible to increase the field strengths achieved in the respective material, which may result in a correspondingly high switching rate.

Memory device electrode with a surface structure


Semiconductor Schottky barrier devices include a wide bandgap semiconductor layer, a Schottky barrier metal layer on the wide bandgap semiconductor layer and forming a Schottky junction, a current spreading layer on the Schottky barrier metal layer remote from the wide bandgap semiconductor layer and two or more diffusion barrier layers between the current spreading layer and the Schottky barrier metal layer. The first diffusion barrier layer reduces mixing of the current spreading layer and the second diffusion barrier layer at temperatures of the Schottky junction above about 300° C. and the second diffusion barrier layer reduces mixing of the first diffusion barrier layer and the Schottky barrier metal layer at the temperatures of the Schottky junction above about 300° C.

This invention relates to semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to Schottky barrier devices.
Schottky barrier devices are widely used in many consumer, commercial and other applications. A Schottky barrier is a potential barrier formed at a metal-semiconductor junction, which has rectifying characteristics. Many Schottky barrier devices use wide bandgap semiconductors, such as silicon carbide, gallium nitride and/or gallium arsenide, which may be used for high power, high temperature and/or microwave applications. Semiconductor Schottky barrier devices include Schottky diodes, High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) and MEtal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MESFETs). A HEMT is a field effect transistor that incorporates a junction between two materials with different bandgaps (i.e., a heterojunction) as the channel, instead of a doped region, as is generally the case in integrated circuit field effect transistors. A Schottky barrier gate is used to control a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) between a source region and a drain region. In a MESFET, a Schottky barrier gate is used to control conduction in a channel that is formed between source and drain regions.
A wide bandgap Schottky barrier device generally includes a wide bandgap semiconductor layer and a Schottky barrier metal layer on the wide bandgap semiconductor layer that forms a Schottky junction therewith. A current spreading layer is also provided on the Schottky barrier metal layer remote from the wide bandgap semiconductor layer. In order to reduce or prevent undesired mixing between the Schottky barrier metal layer and the current spreading layer, a diffusion barrier is often provided between the Schottky barrier metal layer and the current spreading layer. Thus, for example, in a gallium nitride-based device, the Schottky barrier metal layer may comprise nickel, the current spreading layer may comprise gold, and the diffusion barrier may comprise platinum.

Multilayer diffusion barriers for wide bandgap Schottky barrier devices


The invention relates to a control circuit and a corresponding method for controlling MOSFETs coupled to the control circuit. The MOSFETs are coupled to a load to couple the load to a power supply, or the MOSFETs are coupled to a generator. In case of inverted polarity, the control circuit switches the MOSFETs to their conducting state to prevent damaging the MOSFETs.

MOSFETs and particularly so-called power MOSFETs can be used as switches for coupling an electrical load to a power supply. For example a two-pole load can be coupled to ground by a first MOSFET and to a voltage or current source by a second MOSFET. If both of the MOSFETs are switched to their conducting state, the voltage is applied to the load thus enabling a current flow through the load. In another example the load may have four or more connection terminals for power supply, such that four or more MOSFETs are used to connect the load to a power supply. Each power supply or ground terminal of the load is coupled by one MOSFET to a power supply or ground respectively.
In conventional systems the MOSFETs may be used not only for supplying a load with DC current, but also for supplying a connected load with switched current. For example, in case the load is an AC-motor and the power supply is a direct current (DC) system, for example, a battery, then the MOSFETs can be controlled to provide alternating current as needed.
In this way MOSFETs are used conventionally in vehicles as switches for coupling a load to a power supply, wherein the power supply can be considered a battery. For example, in vehicles a battery and a generator powered by the vehicle's engine are used to supply the electrical system in the vehicle. Accordingly the electrical system is a direct current system and MOSFETs controlled by controller circuits are used as switches, wherein the MOSFETs may be arranged in pairs or in a bridge configuration using four or six or even more MOSFETs. An arrangement of MOSFETs for supplying the load conventionally is controlled by a corresponding control circuit, which may be implemented as an integrated circuit. For controlling the MOSFETs a comparatively small current is needed, such that all elements of a control circuit may be integrated into a single IC. The control circuit in turn may be coupled to another control circuit for receiving signals to switch the load on or off.
Each MOSFET comprises an intrinsic diode. Particularly the most common used N-MOSFETs comprise an intrinsic anti-parallel diode. If for any reason a voltage of inverted polarity is applied to a switched-off N-MOSFET, i.e., when there is no bias voltage applied to the gate of the N-MOSFET, the intrinsic diode will become conductive if the threshold voltage of the intrinsic diode is exceed. The current flowing through the intrinsic diode in connection with the voltage across the diode may result in a non-negligible power consumption, which heats up the MOSFET and may finally destroy the MOSFET. Particularly the intrinsic diode becomes more conductive with increasing temperature, such that a higher temperature builds up a higher current through the intrinsic diode which in turn affects a higher current. As a result one path of a bridge configuration may attract nearly the entire current thus destroying the MOSFETs in this path quickly.
In conventional systems several provisions have been developed to prevent the MOSFETs from being destroyed in case of inverted polarity. In a conventional solution an additional MOSFET is arranged in the power supply line, wherein the MOSFET is arranged such that its intrinsic diode is opposite to that of the MOSFET to protect. The additional MOSFET is switched on in normal operation and prevents a current flow through the MOSFET to protect in case of inverted polarity. In an alternative provision at least one diode is integrated into the power supply line preventing a current flow through the intrinsic diodes of the MOSFETs to protect.
However, a diode in the supply line causes a significant energy loss during normal operation. A solution comprising a MOSFET in a supply line at least needs some circuitry for controlling the MOSFET. Furthermore such a MOSFET, which shall protect power MOSFETs, must be designed as a power MOSFET itself, which makes it costly. Accordingly there is a need for an alternative solution.


Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a capacitance type sensor comprising an insert molding process for insert-molding, with an insulating material, a part of a lead wire of a leadframe and a range of the leadframe including the capacitance element electrode, the leadframe being formed by integrally forming with a frame the capacitance element electrode and the lead wire thereof in a predetermined pattern. The method comprises a cutting process for cutting the lead wire of the capacitance element electrode off the frame. It further comprises a conductive member arranging process for arranging, to a mold product obtained by the insert molding process, the conductive member at a distance from the capacitance element electrode. Also included is a movable electrode arranging process for arranging, to the mold product, the movable electrode to be in contact with the lead wire of the movable electrode at a distance from the conductive member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitance type sensor suited for use in detecting a force and to a method for manufacturing same.
2. Description of Related Art
The capacitance type sensor generally is used as a device for detecting a force by converting a magnitude and direction of a force applied by an operator into an electric signal. Particularly, the recent utilization is as a two-dimensional or three-dimensional sensor that can detect an applied force on a directional-component basis. For example, there is an input device of cellular phone incorporating, as what is called a joystick, a capacitance type sensor to input the operation in multi-dimensional directions.
Meanwhile, the capacitance type sensor is allowed to input, as a magnitude of a force applied by the operator, an operation amount having a predetermined dynamic range. Particularly, the capacitance type force sensor, having a capacitance element formed by two opposed electrodes and for detecting a force based on a capacitance value change resulting from an electrode spacing change, is in practical application in a variety of fields because of its merit by virtue of simple structure and possible cost reduction.
Particularly, it is possible to consider a structure as shown, e.g. in FIGS. 39 and 40, for the use as a joystick on a cellular phone. In this capacitance type sensor 701, capacitance elements are constituted respectively between two kinds of opposed electrodes, i.e., fixed capacitance element electrodes E701-E705 and a displacement electrode 712 for displacement. An insulating film 713 is formed between the displacement electrode 712 and the capacitance element electrodes E701-E705. Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 39, the capacitance type sensor 701 further possesses a substrate 720, a detection button 730 for the person to operate on the upper surface of the displacement electrode and externally apply a force thereon, a reference electrode (common electrode) E700 formed on the substrate 720, and a supporting member 760 fixingly supporting the detection button 730 and displacement electrode 712 on the substrate 720.
On the substrate 720, there are formed a capacitance element electrode E705 circular about an origin O, fan-shaped capacitance element electrodes E701-E704 outer thereof, and a reference electrode E700 further outer thereof and annular about the origin O, as shown in FIG. 40. Incidentally, signals including a clock signal are always inputted to the capacitance element electrodes E701-E705.
Now explanation is made on a method to detect a force by the capacitance type sensor 701. At first, in the case the detection button 730 undergoes an external force in Z-axis negative direction, the detection button 730 and the displacement electrode 712 displace together in Z-axis negative direction, to thereby change the spacing between the displacement electrode 712 and the capacitance element electrodes E701-E705. By the change in the electrode spacing, varied is the capacitance value of the capacitance element. Although the capacitance element electrodes E701-E705 are always inputted by signals as above, deviation in signal phase possibly takes place depending upon the change in capacitance value. Consequently, by utilizing such signal phase deviation, the force externally applied to the detection button 730 can be obtained based on the component in the X-axis, Y-axis or Z-axis direction.
According to the capacitance type sensor 701, the signal to the capacitance element electrodes E701-E705 is always inputted, i.e., not only upon operating the detection button 730 but also in the absence of operation. This results in wasteful consumption of power. As a method for reducing consumption power, there is a method that, when the detection button 730 is not operated for a predetermined time, a sleep mode is entered wherein signal input to the capacitance element electrodes E701-E705 is not allowed for power reduction to a possible low level whereas, when resuming the operation, the sleep mode is automatically canceled to resume the usual mode.
In order for automatic switching over between the usual mode and the sleep mode, it is a general practice to use an input device having a switch function of between on and off, together with a microcomputer control system. The output signal from the input device is a signal in a Hi-level at around a power voltage or in a Lo-level at around ground potential. The output signal, upon switching over, is turned from Lo-level to Hi-level or from Hi-level to Lo-level. Accordingly, in the input device, in the course of a transit from a non-operating state to an operating state, the output signal varies necessarily beyond a threshold voltage, a half of the power voltage. By monitoring the output signal, it is possible to securely detect an operation and correctly cancel the sleep mode. However, in the capacitance type sensor 701, there is a possibility that the output signal does not change beyond the threshold voltage depending upon a magnitude of a force applied to the detection button 730. Unless the output signal changes beyond the threshold voltage, it is impossible to securely detect an operation to the operation button 730 even when monitoring the output signal of the capacitance type sensor 701, resulting in a problem that the sleep mode is not to be properly canceled. Namely, there is a fear for the capacitance type sensor 701 not to properly effect a switching between the sleep mode and the usual mode, making it difficult to realize the reduction of consumption power.
By the mechanical nature of the displacement electrode 712 and under the influence of the mechanism supporting the displacement electrode 712, the displacement electrode 712 once deformed is not ready to restore fully the original position even when the force is released away, possibly suffering from some deviation at around the operation. Such deviation disadvantageously emerges as hysteresis on the output signal of the sensor. In the capacitance type sensor 701, there is always application of a voltage to the capacitance element constituted between the capacitance element electrodes E701-E705 and the displacement electrode 712 regardless of a presence or absence of operation to the detection button 730. Consequently, the charge stored on the capacitance elements is not negligible in amount even while the detection button 730 is not operated. The storage amount of charge on the capacitance elements is varied by operating the detection button 730. Because the amount even before operation is not negligible in magnitude, there is no sudden change in the course of a transit from an non-operating state to an operating state. Thus, where the change of charge amount is slight at around the operation, it is impossible to neglect a change of electrode spacing due to a positional deviation of the displacement electrode 712, increasing the hysteresis on the output signal.
Besides, the capacitance type sensor 701 can be suitably utilized as a device (force sensor) to recognize a force magnitude when the operator pushes down the detection button 730. However, it is not suited for the utilization as a device having a switch function for changing-over between different two states (e.g. on-state and off-state). Accordingly, where the capacitance type sensor 701 is built in an apparatus as a device having a switch function toward each direction, there is a difficulty in using the capacitance type sensor 701 as it is, requiring to separately provide a switch function corresponding to the directions.
Meanwhile, for manufacturing a capacitance type sensor 701, capacitance element electrodes E701-E705 and reference electrode E700 are arranged on a substrate 720 for example by printing and etching. After that, these electrodes E701-E705, E700 are covered by an insulating film 713, over which is provided a displacement electrode 712 of conductive rubber or the like. Then, a detection button 730 is set up and further the entire is fixed by a supporting member 760. Thus, a comparatively troublesome process is needed. Such a troublesome process is similarly required for the conventional other capacitance type sensors, besides the foregoing capacitance type sensor 701.

Method for manufacturing a capacitance type sensor with a movable electrode


Disclosed is a hollow plastic fishing weight comprising three separate bodies, which include a hemispherical body, a tapered cylindrical body and a concave lid. All three bodies are glued together to form a single piece of the hollow plastic fishing weight. An eye is attached on the hemispherical body and the concave lid at both ends of the fishing weight. A lead weight is placed inside the fishing weight that makes the lower part of the fishing weight heavier than the top part. A plurality of pellets are placed inside the fishing weight that produce sound to attract fish towards bait.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing weights. More particularly the invention relates to a fishing weight having three separate bodies: A top body, a central body and a bottom body, threaded glued to each other, thus, forming a single piece.
Description of the Related Art
Fishing weights, also called popping corks herein, are used to suspend bait at a predetermined depth. Fishing weights have the ability to carry lures to inaccessible areas of the sea, especially where the water current is strong. A fishing line extends from the top of a fishing weight and attaches to a fishing rod. A leader line extends from the bottom of a fishing weight which further connects the lure. The fishing weight also has pellets inside, which produce sound that attracts fish towards the bait. The up and down motion of the fishing weight indicates that a fish has been trapped in a hook.
The type and design of a fishing weight used for fishing depends on several factors, such as weather conditions, type and size of the fish sought, and the type of water body selected (e.g. river, lake, sea) for fishing. Waggler, Avon, Stick, Quill, and Bubble are examples of types of fishing weight existing in the art. Many a time, a fisherman has to go miles away from the shore into deep sea to catch specific types of fish. In deep waters, generally, winds are strong and waves are turbulent. For successful fishing in such weather conditions, a robust fishing weight is needed that will remain upright at all times. This can be achieved by using a fishing weight with a heavy bottom.
In an already existing art, there exists a fishing weight known as a popping weight or popping cork that is available in different shapes. The popping weight tends to remain at a constant location at all times while fishing. It also has a tendency to cause an unusual ripple at the surface of the water when the line connected to the popping weight is jerked, which in turn helps in attracting fish towards the bait. It has been found that this popping weight works well initially, but deteriorates after repeated jerking. Upon use, the popping weight tends to imitate a fish taking bait on the surface and an auditory "click" from the beads on the wire occurs during the jerking process. The fish are attracted by the sound and surface disturbance, then see and attack the jighead and swim bait hanging from 1 to 2 feet below. Jigheads and swimbait are a type of fishing lure which are attached to the line the cork is also on.
It is known in the art that not all popping corks are equal. Fishermen or anglers quickly learn what works best. It is known that relatively inexpensive or poorly manufactured popping corks bend out of shape due to inferior wires, central rods, or parts in general, which decrease the quality of the action and sound of the cork over time. Many have just a single ball bearing rattle on top and bottom and don't produce a good, loud "pop" or "click." The bearings themselves may be cheap plastic that produces a muted sound.
Many times the eyes of the popping cork are not firmly attached to the cork. Often the eyes are attached to the fishing weight via a central rod running through the center of the fishing weight. This serves as a disadvantage when a comparatively large fish has taken the bait. In a process of unhooking itself the fish can dislodge the eye from the fishing weight.
Often, popping corks are made of cork material and after repeated use, tend to deteriorate. Hence the plastic fishing cork became popular among anglers. However, the plastic cork or weight had other issues relative to causing entanglement of the fishing line when casting, and causing aerodynamic drag resulting in poor casting distance.
Hence, there continues to be a need for an improved popping cork or fishing weight which addresses the problems raised above. A need continues for improvements to popping corks, finding one which is robust and has significant strength, thereby preventing the cork from rupturing, and ultimately result in successful fishing.
U.S. D 562,934 S issued to Bryan S. Haney, discloses a fishing float.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,186,281 issued to R. D. Cochran discloses a popping cork.
US Patent Application Publication 2010/0031554 A1 for Gerald D. Brooks discloses a Plastic Fishing Cork.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,792 issued to Mark D. Noble, discloses a Float Fishing Apparatus.
WO 2010/0131036 A1 to Andrew Kitchener, discloses a Fishing Device.
Popping corks were discussed in the website:
http://www.bombersaltwatergrade.com/fishingguide/fishingarticles/redfish/poppincorktips wherein the cork featured contained three plastic beads on top and a pair of brass balls underneath to create a full, natural sound when twitched or popped. It was believed that this combination of clicks created a full, realistic sound that gets both redfish and speckled trout excited. The cork also contained a zinc washer on the underside of the cork that provides for longevity and prevents chipping and wearing of the underside of the cork. The wire used on the bombersaltwater cork is a heat-treated stainless steel that flexes but doesn't crimp.It was also located on the website: www.bombersaltwatergrade.com, a popper entitled Paradise Popper X-treme® This popper has a Styrofoam body with external beads of which are part metal and part plastic, a titanium wire through the core of the popper and no eyes since attachment of the popper is to the rod directly.
A need continues to exist for a modified fishing popper cork.


Provided are a method and apparatus for encoding and decoding an audio signal. According to the present application, a signal of a high frequency band above a preset frequency band is adaptively encoded or decoded in the time domain or in the frequency domain by using a signal of a low frequency band below the preset frequency band. As such, the sound quality of a high frequency signal is not deteriorate even when an audio signal is encoded or decoded by using a small number of bits and thus coding efficiency may be maximized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for encoding and decoding an audio signal such as a speech signal or a music signal, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for encoding and decoding a high frequency signal by using a signal or a spectrum of a low frequency band.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, signals of high frequency bands are regarded as less important sound to be recognized by humans in comparison with low frequency signal. Accordingly, when an audio signal is coded, if coding efficiency has to be improved due to a restriction of available bits, a signal of a low frequency band is coded by allocating a great number of bits, while a high frequency signal is coded by allocating a small number of bits.
Thus, when the high frequency signal is coded, a method and apparatus for maximizing the quality of sound to be recognized by humans by using the small number of bits are demanded.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for adaptively encoding and decoding high frequency band


An emergency battery converter system provides a low-cost emergency battery converter and lighting system. The battery converter system includes an emergency battery pack, a lighting driver, and an emergency luminaire. In certain example embodiments, the emergency battery pack is coupled to a power delivery system and is charged by the power delivery system. The lighting driver receives power from the battery pack and steps up and regulates the power to be suitable for use by the emergency luminaire. In certain example embodiments, the emergency luminaire illuminates an egress area.

In case of a power fault event in a power delivery system, such as a power outage, emergency lighting is often used to provide a basic level of lighting needed in an egress area. Traditionally, emergency lighting, such as emergency LED luminaires, are generally either connected to an emergency battery pack with LED emergency driver or to an emergency battery pack with 50/60 Hertz alternating current (AC) inverter. AC inverters are gaining popularity due to the complexity and variety of LED configurations, which makes it very challenging to provide a single universal LED emergency driver solution. Most commercial LED drivers utilize a diode bridge circuit to rectify the AC line voltage to DC bus voltage when there is either active regulation or passive filtering. If a high DC voltage that is equivalent to a rectified AC line potential is electrically connected to the line and neutral input leads of the typical commercial LED driver; the LED driver generally does not know the difference. Thus, the driver will operate as intended. However, inverting battery power to a 50/60 Hertz AC line voltage generally requires relatively bulky equipment due to the necessary components, such as a laminated steel transformer. Such systems also have relatively higher material cost and may be relatively inefficient.
The drawings illustrate only example embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, as the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The elements and features shown in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the example embodiments. Additionally, certain dimensions or positionings may be exaggerated to help visually convey such principles. In the drawings, reference numerals designate like or corresponding, but not necessarily identical, elements.


The invention provides a cyanide-free chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) composition useful for polishing a gold-containing surface of a substrate. The CMP composition comprises an abrasive, a gold-oxidizing agent, a cyanide-free gold-solubilizing agent, and an aqueous carrier therefor. The invention further provides a method of chemically-mechanically polishing a gold-containing surface of a substrate with the aforementioned polishing composition.

Compositions and methods for chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) the surface of a substrate are well known in the art. Polishing compositions (also known as polishing slurries) typically contain an abrasive material in an aqueous carrier. A surface of a substrate is abraded to polish the surface by contacting the surface with a polishing pad and moving the polishing pad relative to the surface while maintaining a CMP slurry between the pad and the surface. Typical abrasive materials include silicon dioxide (silica), cerium oxide (ceria), aluminum oxide (alumina), zirconium oxide (zirconia), and tin oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,423, for example, describes a method for chemically-mechanically polishing a metal layer by contacting the surface with a polishing slurry comprising high purity fine metal oxide particles in an aqueous medium. Alternatively, the abrasive material may be incorporated into the polishing pad. U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,233 discloses the use of polishing pads having a surface texture or pattern, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,794 discloses a fixed abrasive polishing pad.
Conventional polishing systems and polishing methods typically are not entirely satisfactory at planarizing semiconductor wafers. In particular, polishing compositions and polishing pads can have less than desirable polishing rates, and their use in the chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor surfaces can result in poor surface quality.
The difficulty in creating an effective polishing system for semiconductor wafers stems from the complexity of the semiconductor wafer. The performance of a given CMP composition generally will vary depending on the composition (e.g., type of metal, type of semiconductor, etc.) of the surface being polished. Semiconductor wafers are typically composed of a substrate, on which a plurality of devices has been formed. Integrated circuits are chemically and physically connected into a substrate by patterning regions in the substrate and layers on the substrate. To produce an operable semiconductor wafer and to maximize the yield, performance, and reliability of the wafer, it is desirable to polish select surfaces of the wafer without adversely affecting underlying structures or topography. In fact, various problems in semiconductor fabrication can occur if the process steps are not performed on wafer surfaces that are adequately planarized. Because the performance of a semiconductor wafer is directly associated with the planarity of its surface, it is crucial to use a polishing composition and method that results in a high polishing efficiency, uniformity, and removal rate and leaves a high quality polish with minimal surface defects.
Various metals and metal alloys have been used to form electrical connections between interconnection levels and devices, including titanium, titanium nitride, aluminum-copper, aluminum-silicon copper, tungsten, platinum, platinum-tungsten, platinum-tin, ruthenium, gold, and combinations thereof. Gold presents a particular challenge in that it is chemically resistant, making it difficult to remove efficiently through chemical-mechanical polishing.
CMP compositions for etching and processing gold surfaces generally include complexing agents that are highly toxic, such as cyanides, compounds that generate toxic materials, such as thiosulfates, which generates hydrogen sulfide, or oxidizers that are intensely colored, such as I2/KI, which can interfere with optical CMP endpoint detectors.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for CMP compositions and polishing methods that exhibit desirable planarization efficiency, uniformity, and removal rate during the polishing and planarization of gold-containing substrates without using highly toxic or highly colored oxidizers.
The present invention provides such a composition and method. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.


A humoral testing apparatus in which a measuring light is irradiated to a reagent area forming a color as a result of a reaction and an optical density of the reagent area is detected by a detecting operation of light intensity of the reflected light. The humoral testing apparatus enables a humoral test to be performed accurately in cases where nonuniformity occurs with the reaction of a reagent with a humoral sample within the reagent area, or in cases where fine dust is present within each detecting spot in the reagent areas. The light reflected from the reagent areas is detected with a two-dimensional photodetector. The independent light intensity detecting operations are performed with respect to the subareas of the reagent area of a reagent layer. A photo detection signal S, which represents the intensity of the reflected light is statistically processed with a signal processing section 51.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a humoral testing apparatus for use in performing tests on bodily fluids of humans and other animals.
2. Description of the Related Art
As blood testing units for use in performing tests of blood of humans and other animals, blood testing units having a slide-shaped support and a reagent layer carried on the slide-shaped support, which reagent layer is capable of undergoing a reaction with blood plasma or blood serum and forming a predetermined color, have heretofore been proposed. The blood testing units are proposed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,901.
In cases where the blood testing units described above are utilized, blood plasma or blood serum is spotted onto the reagent layer of the blood testing unit. Thereafter, light is irradiated to the reagent layer having formed a color, and an intensity of light reflected from the reagent layer is measured. In this manner, a concentration of a specific substance contained in the blood plasma or the blood serum, or the like, is capable of being quantitatively analyzed in accordance with the intensity of the reflected light. An example of an analysis apparatus for performing the blood tests in the manner described above is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,901.
With regard to the blood testing unit described above, in which the reagent layer is formed on the slide-shaped support, in cases where nonuniformity occurs with the reaction of the reagent with the blood sample within each of the reagent areas, or in cases where fine dust, or the like, is present within each of the reagent areas, adverse effects on specific results of the light intensity detection due to the nonuniformity in reaction, the fine dust, or the like, may degrade the accuracy of the blood test.
Problems basically similar to the problems described above may occur in cases of the blood testing unit for performing tests on bodily fluids other than the blood of animals, such as urine, sweat, or cerebrospinal fluid.


Stored duration information may be queried to determine duration of an action including a database operation. The querying may include specifying a subset of attributes of one or more relations. The relations may include a table with rows. The attributes may describe a subset of duration information including a start time of the operation. The querying may further include specifying conditions to be met, and retrieving, according to the conditions, the specified attributes of at least one row of the relations. The querying may include calculating a duration of the action based on the start time of the action.

Technical Definitions
A relation may be a two dimensional table. Also the relation may be a view, e.g. a materialized view. The relation includes rows and columns. The columns of the relation are named by attributes.
A view may be understood as a relation defined by a computation, e.g. a query over one or more stored relations (e.g. tables). A materialized view may be constructed periodically from a database, e.g. via a query, and stored in the database.
A database may be understood as a collection of data, possibly managed by a database management system (DBMS).
A schema or database schema may specify the logical structure of data in a database. The schema may specify one or more relations. The schema may also include one or more of the following: assertions, triggers, system defined data types or sets of values, and user defined data types.
The database may include one or more schemas, as well as object oriented functionality.
A database operation may include relational or object oriented database operations. The database operation may be understood as a command, possibly issued by a user using a data manipulation language, that affects either the schema or the content of a database; also or alternatively, the database operation could also extract data from the database. The database operation may be processed by a DBMS. Examples of database operations include queries made against the database, inserting rows in a relation, deleting or updating rows in a relation, etc.
An action may comprise one or more database operations. In some cases, the action may be a complex function carrying out significant application processing (e.g. synchronization) in addition to database operations.
An application database may be associated with multiple applications. An application database may also be associated with a single application.
Processing a request may include executing multiple applications, wherein each application performs a distinct set of functions and differs from any of the other applications. Each application may have a corresponding database that differs from any database associated with any of the other applications. Calculating the duration of a processed request may include determining how long each application is executed during the processing of the request as well as determining the duration of each action carried out by each of the executed applications.
A primary order identifier may be associated with all requests used to process an order. The primary order identifier may be a key, e.g. a unique key or primary key, of an application database. In a specific example, the primary order identifier may be implemented as a Siebel order ID. The primary order identifier may be used to track an order across a number of databases.
A request is received by an application. Processing the request may require performing one or more actions. Examples of requests are create order, create account, submit order, change order, and cancel order. Each type of request (e.g. create order may be considered a type of request) may require a different set of actions to complete. Some requests may be the same across multiple orders, other requests may differ for each order.
Processing an order may comprise fulfilling (or processing) a plurality of requests, where all requests fulfilled to process the order may be associated with the same primary order identifier.
A proper subset of a particular set is a subset that is strictly contained in the particular set. Accordingly, the proper subset necessarily excludes at least one member of the particular set. For example, the set of natural numbers is a proper subset of the set of rational numbers.
A condition may evaluate to true or false and may include comparison operators and logical operators. The condition may include further operators such as pattern matching operators.
A key may be implemented as a unique key or a primary key. Other implementations are also possible. The unique key uniquely identifies each row of a relation and comprises a single column or a set of columns. A primary key is a special case of unique key, such that a table can have at most one primary key and the primary key may not be null.
Times may be provided in a standard format, e.g. as timestamps. For example, a time may be represented as the number of seconds since the Unix epoch.


An apparatus for and a method of detecting a wobble signal in accordance with a time shift includes comparing a basic wobble signal with reference levels to detect pulses representing the time shift in an analog fashion, and digitally determining a code value for the basic wobble signal on the basis of the widths of the pulses using a channel clock signal and a wobble clock signal. The determined code value is accumulated and serves as a basis on which final wobble data is produced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive or an optical disk recording/reproducing system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of detecting a wobble signal, e.g., a harmonic modulated wobble (HMW) signal, in accordance with a time shift in an optical disk drive, e.g., a blue-ray disk (BD) drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Blue-ray disks (BDs), which are used in general digital broadcasting, can store a significantly large amount of data compared with laser optical disks, for example, compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs). In particular, an optical disk drive should be able to detect HMWs from a BD, land pre-pits (LPPs) from a DVD-read only memory (DVD-ROM), addresses in pre-grooves (ADIP) from a DVD recordable and rewritable (DVD+R/RW), and complementary allocated pit addressing (CAPA) from a DVD random access memory (DVD-RAM) to obtain an address, i.e., track position information, required to record information onto a blank disk.
FIG. 1 illustrates wobble information recorded to a general BD. Referring to FIG. 1, a track of the BD may be divided into a monotone unit, a reference unit, a synchronization unit including sync—0 through sync—3 units, and a data unit including a data—0 unit and a data—1 unit according to a minimum shift keying (MSK)-cosine variant and a HMW method. Each unit may include a MSK mark, a monotone wobble, a sawtooth wobble representing "0", and a sawtooth wobble representing "1". Each wobble in the BD may have a period of 69 T, where T is a channel clock signal.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a general BD drive 200. Referring to FIG. 2, the BD drive 200 may include a spindle motor 210, a sled motor 220, a pickup apparatus 230, a servo control unit 240, a recording and reproducing unit 250, a wobble signal detection unit 260, and a system controller 270.
A BD may be provided on a rotational shaft of the spindle motor 210 and rotates. The pickup apparatus 230 may read data from the BD or write encoded data to the BD under the control of the servo control unit 240. The servo control unit 240 may drive a tracking actuator (not shown) and a focusing actuator (not shown) which may be included in the pickup actuator 230. The system controller 270 may control the spindle motor 210, the sled motor 220 and the servo control unit 240 to achieve tracking control.
Audio or video data may be recorded in numerous forms, e.g., pits or spiral tracks of the BD having a structure as shown in FIG. 1. During reproduction, an optical device included in the pickup apparatus 230 may follow the spiral tracks and may produce a radio frequency (RF) signal RFO from data recorded on the BD. During recording, the pickup apparatus 230 may receive encoded data from the recording and reproducing unit 250, process the encoded data and record the processed data on the tracks of the BD, e.g., as pits. The system controller 270 may transmit data decoded by the recording and reproducing unit 250 to a postprocessor or data received from the postprocessor to the recording and reproducing unit 250.
The wobble signal detection unit 260 may process the RF signal RFO produced by the pickup apparatus 230 to generate a wobble signal WOBB, which is unique for each disk. When data is recorded to a blank disk, the wobble signal WOBB is used as accurate address information about a track currently being followed. The wobble signal WOBB may be provided to the system controller 270 and may serve as a base signal for producing a timing clock signal used to control the spindle motor 210, the sled motor 220 and the servo control unit 240. The wobble signal WOBB may also be used in executing ADIP.
A wobble detected from the BD may have the shape shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 3, a monotone wobble signal 31 may have a "cos {2π(fw)t}" waveform. A sawtooth wobble 32 representing "1" may temporally lead the monotone wobble signal 31 and has a "cos {2π(fw)t}+a*sin {2π(2fw)t}" waveform. A sawtooth wobble 33 representing "0" may temporally lag the monotone wobble signal 31 and has a "cos {2π(fw)t}−a*sin {2π(2fw)t}" waveform. Here, fw is a wobble frequency and "a" may be a constant smaller than 0.5.
Conventionally, to obtain "0" or "1" from the sawtooth wobbles 32 and 33, a difference between the amplitudes of the sawtooth wobbles 32 and 33, and the amplitude of the monotone wobble signal 31 has been used. To achieve this, the RF signal RFO produced by the pickup apparatus 230 may be sampled periodically, the sampled RF signal RFO may be converted into a digital signal, and a code for a sawtooth wobble may be determined according to a current sampled value of the digital signal. However, the wobble frequency fw has 956.52 kHz at a 1×speed. The above-described conventional determination requires a high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and cannot resolve data for speeds over a range from a low speed to a high speed.

Apparatus for and method of detecting a wobble signal in accordance with a time shift