A bone-screw or the like clamping coupling comprises two articulated half shells which must be bolted to each other for assembly to bone screws or the like. Articulation is via loosely pivoted interconnection of the half shells at one longitudinal end of the coupling, and one of the half shells carries ball-joint connection structure that is adapted for selectively detachable connection to an external fixator that has a coacting ball-joint connecting formation.

The invention relates to orthopedic-fixation devices and in particular to a clamping coupling for a fixator of the nature disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,336 (now Reissue Pat. No. Re. 31,809).
Said patent disclosed an external fixator having a central body part with clamping means at each of the respective ends of the body part. Each of the clamping means is developed (1) to receive and fix in place bone screws or pins and (2) to detachably achieve a ball-joint connection to the central body part, via a bayonet lock or via a threaded lock. In this way, the bone screws are connected to the central body part of the fixator.
More specifically, with respect to the clamping means for an external fixator, clamping action is achieved by and between elongate confronting faces of two half shells, the confronting faces having corresponding transverse grooves by which one or more bone screws, pins or the like are located when the half shells are bolted to each other to secure their clamped assembly to the bone screws or the like. The longitudinal end of one of these half shells carries ball-joint connecting means that is adapted for detachable connection to a coacting ball-joint connection at either of the two longitudinal ends of an external fixator.
Although bone-screw clamps of the character indicated have been generally adopted and are satisfactory, they do involve totally separable component parts and in certain cases exhibit manipulating inconvenience in the course of assembly to and/or disassembly from bone screws.

Clamping coupling for an external fixator


An apparatus for manufacturing a single crystal of silicon includes a crucible, a heater, electrodes, and a magnet. In addition to a plurality of heat generating portions and two main electrode portions, the heater has two or more auxiliary electrode portions. Two or more heater support members having an insulating property are further provided so as to support the heater through the auxiliary electrode portions. The number of heat generating portions which may be present between a heater support member and an electrode and between heater support members if adjacent to each other is equal to or less than 4. Each generating portion of the heater has a thickness of 25 mm or more. This structure makes it possible to produce a single crystal of silicon without causing breakage of a heater, even if a large electric current flows through the heater, even if a magnetic field of a high intensity is applied to a silicon melt in the crucible, and even if the heater has a large diameter.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a single crystal of silicon under application of a magnetic field. Particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus suitable for manufacturing a single crystal of silicon having a large diameter of 8 inches or more.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Single crystals of silicon used as a material for semiconductor device substrates are manufactured mainly by the Czochralski method (hereinafter referred to simply as the CZ method). Recently there has also been known a so-called MCZ method (magnetic field applied CZ method) as an improvement over the CZ method. According to the MCZ method, a single crystal of silicon is manufactured while a magnetic field is applied to silicon melt contained in a crucible in order to suppress natural convection of the silicon melt induced by heating of the melt.
Recently, single crystals of silicon as large as 8 inches or more in diameter have been demanded. In manufacturing silicon single crystals of such a large diameter, a large crucible is used, which is filled with a large amount of silicon melt. For example, 100 kg or more of silicon material is charged into the crucible to be melted therein, and a single crystal of silicon is then pulled. However, when such a large amount of a silicon melt is used, natural convection induced by heating becomes vigorous, causing the silicon melt to become more and more unstable and making it difficult to grow a single crystal of silicon. Adopting the MCZ method, which can suppress such natural convection of the silicon melt, is an effective way to avoid this difficulty.
In a silicon single crystal manufacturing apparatus used in the CZ method or the MCZ method, there usually is provided a cylindrical heater surrounding the outer periphery of a crucible for heating silicon melt contained in the crucible. This cylindrical heater is formed with alternating grooves extending downward from the upper e nd and grooves extending upward from the lower end. An electric current flows vertically through each segment defined by adjacent grooves.
In a silicon single crystal manufacturing apparatus used in the MCZ method there also is provided a magnet which usually applies a horizontal magnetic field to silicon melt contained in the crucible.
Consequently, in the silicon single crystal manufacturing apparatus used in the MCZ method, a force is exerted on each segment of the heater from interaction of the electric current flowing vertically through the segment and the horizontal magnetic field applied to the silicon melt. However, since the direction of that force varies depending on the direction of the electric current flowing through the segment, great distortion and breakage of the heater may result.
Particularly, for manufacturing silicon single crystals of such a large diameter as 8 inches or more, especially 10 to 16 inches which have recently been demanded, it is necessary to use a crucible of a large diameter as mentioned above and further necessary to use a heater which is also of a large diameter to match the crucible.
Into the crucible of a large diameter is then charged a large amount of silicon melt. For maintaining such a large amount of silicon melt at a constant temperature during growth of a single crystal of silicon, it is necessary to increase the calorific value of the heater. Consequently, the working electric power increases, resulting in an increase of the electric current flowing through the heater.
On the other hand, for suppressing the vigorous natural convection of such large amounts of silicon melt occurring within crucibles of such a large diameter, it is necessary to apply a magnetic field of a high intensity to the silicon melt.
For the growth of a silicon single crystal with a diameter as large as 8 inches or more it is necessary to supply a large electric current and a high intensity magnetic field, making the heater distortion more conspicuous and increasing the likelihood that distortion will cause breakage of the heater.
Further, the heater used in the manufacture of a silicon single crystal as large as 8 inches or more in diameter is itself very heavy causing distortion of the heater due to its own weight to also pose a problem.
Under these circumstances, development of an apparatus capable of manufacturing a single crystal of silicon without causing breakage of the heater used, even if a large electric current flows through the heater, even if a magnetic field of a high intensity is applied to the silicon melt in the crucible, and even if the heater is of a larger diameter, has been desired.

Apparatus for manufacturing single crystal of silicon


The invention relates to a microscopic cell observation and inspection system that uses a total internal reflection cell illuminator that is capable of freely changing an observation position without recourse to any special slide glass, makes sure high SN-ratio observation and facilitates sample manipulation, thereby making high-sensitivity, fast detection of a lot of cell reactions on the same slide glass. While, in response to a command from personal computer (80), step motors (53, 54) are driven to sequentially scan observation positions of cell sample (S) on slide glass (21), one of shutter units (71) and (72) is closed and the other is opened at high speed, whereby either one of illumination optical paths for a TIRF microscope and a drop fluorescence microscope is selected to illuminate cell sample (S) on that observation position. When the drop fluorescence microscope is chosen, filter unit (66) is driven to choose the wavelength of excitation light from drop fluorescence illumination light source (65), so that observation and inspection of cell sample (S) under the TIRF microscope and drop fluorescence microscope can be implemented in an alternate fast switchover way.

The TIRF microscope technique is a high SN-ratio observation method capable of local excitation on nano-scales. This technique has been widely used for observation of cell membrane activities and single-molecule events in the cell biological field (see Non-Patent Publication 1), and it has made much contributions to experimental revelation of the electrical properties (Non-Patent Publication 1) or Brownian movement of colloidal particles in the electrochemical field as well (Kihm, K. D. et al., Exp. in Fluids, 37, pp. 811-824, (2004). The most noticeable feature of this method is that for fluorescent observation, there are evanescent waves used as an excitation light source, which are generated in association with total internal reflection at an interface of two substances having different refractive indexes. FIG. 1 is illustrative of how the evanescent waves are generated; when, on the interface of a substance 1 having a refractive index n1 and a substance 2 having a refractive index n2, light is incident from the side of the substance 2 having a higher refractive index at an angle larger than the critical angle, the light is subjected to total internal reflection at that interface. However, there are some evanescent waves unavoidably generated from the interface to the side of the substance 1 having a lower refractive index, which waves attenuate exponentially. The evanescent waves are light showing up slightly from the total internal reflection interface to an area of about a few tens to a few hundred nm. In the TIRF technique, therefore, evanescent waves are generated at an interface of a sample stained with fluorescent dye and a slide or cover glass (hereinafter called the slide glass) to enable high SN-ratio fluorescent observation at only a limited sample site.
What is now commercially available and generally often used is mainly such an objective lens type TIRF microscope as shown in FIG. 14 (a). More specifically, an objective lens of the inverted type is positioned below the slide glass via an oil-immersion oil, and evanescent wave-generation laser light is obliquely incident from below the slide glass via that objective lens so that evanescent waves are generated near the interface with a sample placed on the slide glass. This arrangement performs well and is convenient because the space above the objective lens is freely accessible, and it gives a very bright fluorescent image as well. However, the principal requirement for use of a high-aperture, oil immersion objective lens is supposed to limit observation to one at magnifications of as high as 60 or greater.
A prism type TIRF microscope adapted to enter laser via a prism such as the one shown in FIG. 14(b) has been widely used, too. In this case, a sample is held between two slide glasses with the prism placed on one side glass, and evanescent wave-generation laser light is entered obliquely up in the upper slide glass to generate evanescent waves near the interface of the slide glass in contact with the sample. This arrangement is capable of high SN-ratio observation because of efficient incidence of laser light, and enables low-magnification observation to be easily implemented because of no restriction on magnification at all. However, the space above the objective lens is closed up, resulting in very poor specimen manipulation and more limited degrees of sample flexibility.
As described above, the TIRF microscopes are still far away from meeting the need of making simultaneous comparisons at a plurality of samples of reactions that cells exhibit to various chemicals applied in the process of experimentation. Thus, there is a mounting demand for the development of a TIRF microscope that makes sure good enough specimen manipulation and sample flexibility, facilitates combined use with other optical observation methods, and enables observation at low magnifications.
Past studies include Non-Patent Publication (3) wherein, as shown in FIG. 15(a), an entrance prism and a radiation prism are bonded to the underside of a slide glass; laser light is introduced from the entrance prism into the slide glass where it is subjected to multiple total internal reflection; during that multiple total internal reflection, evanescent waves are generated near the upper surface of the slide glass to excite a specimen; and the laser light guided by multiple total internal reflection goes out via the radiation prism, and Non-Patent Publication 4 wherein, as shown in FIG. 15(b), an end face of a slide glass is processed into an inclined one; laser light is introduced from that inclined end face into the slide glass to subject it to multiple total internal reflection; and upon that multiple total internal reflection, evanescent waves are generated near the upper surface of the slide glass to excite a specimen; and the laser light guided by multiple total internal reflection goes out from the opposite end face of the slide glass. These methods take hold of a free space above the sample and facilitates low-magnification observation, but because the slide glass is limited to a small thickness (0.17 mm in the former, and 0.2 mm in the latter), they offer some problems: a lot more multiple total internal reflections, the occurrence of scattered light due to total internal reflection, attenuation of guided light, the likeliness of the specimen to discolor due to fluorescence, and lower SN ratios. Further, the positions of incidence and radiation of laser light remain fixed, rendering it hard to adjust an optical path for laser light, and making sample manipulation not easy because of the need of moving the objective lens to change a specimen observation position. Yet further, much work is needed with decreased versatility, because of the need of bonding the prisms to the slide glass for each sample.
Non-Patent Publication 1                Axelrod, D., Traffic, Vol. 2, pp. 764-774, (2001)
Non-Patent Publication 2                Prieve, D. C, and Frej. N. A., Langmuir, 6, pp. 396-403, (1990)
Non-Patent Publication 3                Conibear, P. B. and Bagshaw, C. R., Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 200, Pt 3, pp. 218-229, (2000)
Non-Patent Publication 4                Teruel, M. N, and Meyer, T., Science, Vol. 295, pp. 1910-1912, (2002)

Microscopic cell observation and inspection system using a plurality of observation methods

National University Corporation Hamamatsu University School of Medicine


A piezoelectric resonator for an oscillator contained in an upper concave portion of an insulating case that has a metal lid with which the upper concave portion is air-tightly closed comprises a GND electrode being conductively coupled to an earth pattern of the piezoelectric resonator and provided on an outer bottom face of the insulating case, a piezoelectric connecting electrode being conductively coupled to an excite electrode of the piezoelectric resonator and provided on the outer bottom face of the insulating case, and an adjustment electrode being conductively coupled to the metal lid and provided on the outer bottom face of the insulating case in such a way that a regulator circuit in an IC part conductively contacts with the adjustment electrode if the IC part including the oscillation circuit is attached to the outer bottom face of the insulating case, wherein the metal lid serves as an adjustment terminal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric resonator for an oscillator and a surface mount type piezoelectric oscillator with which an inconvenience of adjustment work by using a small adjustment terminal provided on a side of a package is eliminated.
2. Related Art
In a mobile communication market, many manufactures of mobile terminal devices promote modularization of parts and components by their functions in consideration of assembly designs, maintenance and handleability of the electric components and compatibility of the components among devices. At the same time, there are strong requests for downsizing of the devices and low manufacturing costs with the advance of the modularization.
There is a trend of the modularization especially in circuit parts whose functions and hardware configurations are established and for which high stability and enhanced performance are further requested. As such circuit parts, a reference oscillation circuit, a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit, a synthesizer circuit and the like can be named. When these parts are modularized as a package, there is an advantage that a shielding structure can be more easily secured.
As the electric parts which are modularized and packaged with associated parts for surface mounting, for example, there are a piezoelectric resonator, a piezoelectric oscillator, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device and the like. For example, a module having a two-story structure as shown in FIG. 6 can be adopted in order to maintain performances of the electric parts and to further minimize the size of the module.
JP-A-2001-177346 and JP-A-11-355047 are a first example of related art. FIG. 6A is a longitudinal sectional view showing a structure of the two-story type module of a surface mount type piezoelectric device (a crystal oscillator) as the first example. A crystal resonator 100 and an under part member 107 (an IC parts unit) are shown in FIG. 6A. The crystal resonator 100 has a crystal resonant element 103 in a container consisting of a ceramic case body 101 and a metal lid 102. The under part member 107 has an IC part 106 that includes an oscillation circuit, a temperature compensating circuit and the like. The IC part 106 is assembled in a form of a bare-chip, placed in an empty space 105a in a case 105 that is attached to the bottom face of the crystal resonator 100, and sealed. As described in the first example, when such crystal oscillator is mounted on a printed wiring board, an external electrode 105b provided on the bottom face of the case 105 is soldered.
JP-A-2000-278047 is a second example of related art. FIG. 6B is a sectional view showing a structure of a two-story type module of the crystal oscillator as the second example. As shown in FIG. 6B, the empty space 105a in the under part member 107 is opened downward and the opening of the empty space 105a is closed with a bottom plate 105c if required. These are the different features from those of the above-described first example with reference to FIG. 6A.
In the above described first and second examples, an adjustment terminal 110 for adjusting a regulator circuit included in the IC part is provided on the outer surface of the case body 101. The adjustment terminal 110 is used, for example, for rewriting a value of an element (temperature compensation parameter) consisting the temperature compensating circuit in the IC part. This rewriting is conducted by making an unshown probe contact with the adjustment terminal 110 and then putting data through the probe. When a manufacturer of the oscillator supplies the crystal resonator 100 that is assembled with the case 105 containing the IC part 106 to an assembly company (for example, a cellular phone manufacturer), the oscillator manufacturer adjusts the element value by using the adjustment terminal then ships the oscillator to the assembly company. Therefore, the assembly company can use the piezoelectric oscillator without any adjustment work.
However, the size of the adjustment terminal 110 has to be small since it is provided on the side face of the small oscillator whose size is about some ten millimeter in length and width. Accordingly, the adjustment work with a probe becomes extremely delicate and an inefficient work. Moreover, the size of the adjustment terminal 110 cannot be made further smaller because a sufficient area with which the probe contacts has to be secured. This also puts a limit on the size of the oscillator, and this becomes a problem when there is a request for a smaller size oscillator. Solution to such problem is now strongly needed.
Meanwhile, assembly companies lately purchase less completed oscillators in which the crystal oscillator is assembled with the IC part in order to reduce costs. Instead, the assembly companies buy only the crystal resonator part of the oscillator and assemble it with the IC part by themselves. In this case, if the adjustment work is conducted by making the probe contact with the adjustment terminal provided on the side of a device such as a cellular phone after the completed oscillator is embedded in the device, it could be difficult to perform the adjustment work in such a way that other parts around the terminal provided on the side of the product hamper the work. In this way, the adjustment work could become difficult depending on layouts. Therefore, an enough space between the oscillator and the adjacent other parts should be secured for the probe to be interposed therebetween in order to perform the adjustment work. This space becomes a problem when the device is needed to be downsized.

Piezoelectric resonator for oscillator and surface mount type piezoelectric oscillator


The invention relates to a method for changing the trajectory of ink droplets generated by and emitted from a print head which operates in a continuous manner, the ink droplets being electrostatically charged and deflected in a plane out of an original trajectory by at least one electrical field in a first deflecting device, the ink droplets being deflected in the same plane by at least one electrical field in a second deflecting device. The invention further relates to an inkjet printing device for emitting, in particular in a continuous manner, electrostatically charged ink droplets in an original trajectory by means of a first deflecting device for deflecting the charged ink droplets in a plane out of the original trajectory, at least one second deflecting device being provided by which the ink droplets may be deflected in the same plane.

Continuously operating inkjet printing devices have been in commercial use for many years for labeling a large variety of products. In general, a technical distinction may be made between two variants having the same principle of operation, namely, the single-jet continuous printer and the multijet continuous printer.
The common principle of operation lies in the fact that an ink to be printed is conveyed at positive pressure via pumps from a supply container into a pressure chamber having a nozzle, in the actual print head. The nozzle may have an opening diameter in the range of 30 pm to 200 pm, for example. The ink jet is emitted from the nozzle, for example, initially as a continuous ink jet. This, however, is impractical for labeling because the characters produced by this method are composed of single dots, i.e., individual ink droplets. In order to disperse the ink jet into individual homogeneous ink droplets, a modulation element is provided at the pressure chamber which generates pressure fluctuations in the exiting ink jet, so that after being emitted from the nozzle the ink jet is dispersed into individual homogeneous ink droplets. Shortly before the ink droplets separate they are each provided with an individual electrical charge, the magnitude of the charge depending on the desired position of impingement on the product to be labeled.
It is also possible to use pulsed print heads which instantaneously generate individual ink droplets which may be charged or which are already charged.
To ensure the charging, the ink has a low electrical conductivity. On their initially linear course on an original trajectory, the electrically charged ink droplets enter the electrostatic field of a plate capacitor and, depending on their individual charge, are more or less deflected from their linear motion, and after leaving the electrostatic field they continue at a specified angle, which is a function of the charge, with respect to their original trajectory.
By use of this principle, various impingement positions may be selected on a surface to be labeled with individual ink droplets, this occurring only in one direction of deflection. To mask individual droplets from the typeface, or if the droplets are not to be printed, the ink droplets acquire a certain charge or remain uncharged, so that after exiting the electrostatic field of the plate capacitor they strike a collection tube from which they are pumped back to the ink tank. In this manner the ink circulates in the system in a circuit, which has led to the term "continuous inkjet printer."
In the second referenced system, the multijet printer, there are multiple nozzles from which ink droplets are emitted simultaneously, wherein it is possible to individually charge the single droplets in each jet. In this case, however, only two charge states are produced by which the droplets either strike the respective collection tube or strike a designated fixed position on the surface of the product to be labeled.
By operating multiple nozzles simultaneously and positioning the nozzles in a line in this case, horizontal lines of a character may be controlled in parallel, not in series as in the single jet continuous printer, thereby significantly increasing the speed. A disadvantage of the multijet continuous printer system is that only a fixed number of addressable positions, corresponding to the number of available nozzles, may be addressed.
A disadvantage of the single jet continuous printer design is that the trajectories of the ink droplets emitted from the print head diffuse in a fan-like pattern, so that the font size of a character changes with the distance between the surface to be labeled and the print head, and legibility is impaired as the distance increases.

Method and device for changing the trajectory of ink droplets


A software development system (SDS) (228) digitally signs software (230) developed on the system. The SDS (228) executes on a computer system (112) having a trusted computing platform. The platform includes protected areas (220, 226) that store data and cannot be accessed by unauthorized modules. A code signing module (232) executing in a protected area (226) obtains a private/public key pair and a corresponding digital certificate. The SDS (228) is configured to automatically and transparently utilize the code signing module (232) to sign software (230) produced by the system. End-user systems (114) receive the certificate with the software and can use it to verify the signature. This verification will fail if a parasitic virus or other malicious code has altered the software (230). Accordingly, the SDS (228) greatly reduces the risk of malicious code executing on the end-user computer system (114).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains in general to computer security and in particular to preventing malicious and/or unauthorized code from executing on a computer system.
2. Background Art
A parasitic computer virus typically infects a computer system by inserting viral code into other executable programs stored on the computer system. This code can infect other files and/or computer systems, destroy data on the computer system, or perform other malicious actions. Other types of malicious code, including Trojan horses, worms, keystroke grabbers, etc. can also damage computer systems. Thus, there is a strong desire to prevent viruses and other malicious code from infecting and/or executing on a computer system.
One technique for preventing virus infections and other attacks is to install anti-virus software on the computer system in order to detect the presence of viruses and other malicious code. Anti-virus software utilizes various tools, such as string scanning and emulation, to detect malicious code and prevent it from damaging the computer system. However, certain types of malicious code, such as polymorphic, metamorphic, and obfuscated entry point threats, are difficult for anti-virus software to detect.
Another technique for preventing attacks is to establish mechanisms for detecting whether software has been altered by a virus or other malicious code. Code signing is one technique for detecting alterations. Digitally signed code includes values in computer programs that the computer system can use to detect whether the code has been altered. Code signing thus prevents tampering with executable content.
However, existing digital signing schemes are cumbersome. A software developer must obtain a digital certificate from a certificate authority (CA) in order to sign code and this is often a costly and tedious process. Moreover, the developer must securely manage the digital certificate to keep it from being compromised. Since most software developers will not go to the trouble of obtaining such a certificate, most software is not signed. Therefore, most computer systems are configured to execute both signed and unsigned code, meaning that the systems are susceptible to parasitic viruses.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a mechanism that allows software developers to easily obtain certificates and digitally sign computer programs. Such a mechanism will significantly reduce the threat of parasitic virus infection and other attacks by making it easier for end-users to detect malicious code.

Securing executable content using a trusted computing platform


A bicycle frame assembly including a down tube and a monolithic down tube support. The down tube support preferably defines a pocket configured to receive an end portion of the down tube such that the tube support overlaps at least a portion of a side surface of the end portion of the down tube. In one embodiment, a weld bead joins both of the tube support and the down tube. Preferably, the down tube support also defines an opening configured to receive and support a pedal crank assembly relative to the bicycle frame. Furthermore, preferably the down tube support also includes a pivot mount portion configured to rotatably support a sub-frame of the frame assembly or a rear shock absorber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to bicycles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bicycle frame including an improved support for a down tube of the bicycle frame and a method for constructing such a bicycle frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
One type of bicycle frame is an assembly of multiple components assembled together into a desired shape. The individual components of such a bicycle frame may comprise metal tubes that are cut, shaped and joined together, typically by a welding process. In general, a bicycle frame is configured to support a seat assembly, a pedal crank assembly, a rear wheel and a steering assembly. The steering assembly typically includes a handlebar, front fork and front wheel coupled to one another and permitted to rotate relative to the bicycle frame. If the associated bicycle is intended for off road use, the bicycle frame may provide rear wheel suspension. Such a frame may include a main frame and sub-frame pivotally connected to the main frame. The sub-frame supports the rear wheel and a shock absorber may be connected between the main frame and the sub-frame to influence relative movement between the main frame and the sub-frame.
A central, lower portion of the bicycle frame typically defines a laterally extending opening configured to support the pedal crank assembly. Typically, the opening is defined by a tube referred to as a bottom bracket shell. The opening of the bottom bracket shell is configured to receive and support a bottom bracket assembly, which includes one or more bearings to rotatably support the pedal crank assembly.
In addition to supporting the pedal crank assembly, the bottom bracket shell is often used to connect a down tube of the main frame to a seat tube of the main frame. Typically, the ends of the down tube and seat tube are shaped, or mitered, to mirror an external surface of the bottom bracket shell. The mitered ends of the down tube and seat tube are butted against the external surface of the bottom bracket shell and welded in place. This type of connection between the tubes and the bottom bracket shell requires precision fixturing of the down tube and seat tube relative to the bottom bracket shell to ensure proper alignment of the frame, once the tubes are welded to the bottom bracket shell. The seat tube and down tube must be precisely positioned along the bottom bracket shell in a lateral direction and must be positioned radially along the bottom bracket shell at a desired angle from one another. Furthermore, if the bottom bracket shell is a cylindrical tube, as is common, the surface area available to receive and support the seat tube and down tube is limited. As a result, the diameters of the seat tube and down tube may be limited by the size of the bottom bracket shell, which generally is sized to receive an industry-standard bottom bracket assembly. In addition, the simple butted joint between the down tube and the bottom bracket shell often results in a welded connection that exhibits undesirable strength characteristics.


A light emitting module includes a light source, a light guide plate, and a reflecting mask. The light source includes a circuit board and a light emitting device fixed on the circuit board. The light emitting device includes a plurality of light emitting elements and a control circuit. The light guide plate receives light from the light emitting device and exits from the light guide plate, includes a plurality of light emitting sidewalls, a plurality of reflection walls, and a receiving hole defined in the light guide plate. The receiving hole includes a plurality of light incident sidewalls. The reflecting mask covers the receiving hole, including a bottom surface and a plurality of reflecting surfaces.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to light emitting modules, and particularly, to a light emitting module including a light guide plate.
2. Description of Related Art
Light emitting diodes (LED) provide many advantages, such as high luminance, low power consumption, good match with integrated circuits, long-term reliability and environmental friendliness. LEDs are thus preferred for use in the display devices over CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamp), with wide application as a backlight source in liquid crystal displays (LCD).
A typical light emitting module includes a light guide plate and an array of point light sources. Light from the point light sources is converted to surface light and provides illumination for the display devices. Each of the point light sources is usually unified. However, as development of the display devices become more diverse, some devices may require point light sources supporting various colors.
Therefore, what is desired is a light emitting module addressing the limitations described.

Light emitting module having light guide plate


A combustor cap assembly includes a cap plate and a cover panel. The cap plate defines an outer perimeter and fuel nozzle openings disposed through the cap plate. The cap plate has a hot side, and the cover panel has a cold side, which is attached to the hot side of the cap plate. The hot side of the cap plate and/or the cold side of the cover panel define a plurality of cooling microchannels extending in a transverse direction relative to a centerline of the combustor cap assembly. A first microchannel has a first channel outlet disposed along the outer perimeter of the cap plate, and/or a second microchannel has a second channel outlet disposed within one of the plurality of fuel nozzle openings. The cover panel may be coated with a bond coat and a thermal barrier coating.

Some conventional turbo machines, such as gas turbine systems, are utilized to generate electrical power. In general, gas turbine systems include a compressor, one or more combustors, and a turbine. Air may be drawn into a compressor, via its inlet, where the air is compressed by passing through multiple stages of rotating blades and stationary vanes. The compressed air is directed to the one or more combustors, where fuel is introduced, and a fuel/air mixture is ignited and burned to form combustion products. The combustion products function as the operational fluid of the turbine.
The operational fluid then flows through a fluid flow path in a turbine, the flow path being defined between a plurality of rotating blades and a plurality of stationary nozzles disposed between the rotating blades, such that each set of rotating blades and each corresponding set of stationary nozzles defines a turbine stage. As the plurality of rotating blades rotate the rotor of the gas turbine system, a generator, coupled to the rotor, may generate power from the rotation of the rotor. The rotation of the turbine blades also causes rotation of the compressor blades, which are coupled to the rotor.
Within the combustor, fuel nozzles located in the head end of the combustor deliver the fuel and air into a combustion zone defined by the combustor liner for burning. The fuel nozzles are supported by a cap assembly that defines an upstream boundary of the combustion zone. The fuel nozzles themselves are cooled by a first portion of air from the compressor, which is directed around the fuel nozzles and ultimately into the combustion zone.
Some conventional cap assemblies include an effusion plate. The downstream surface of the effusion plate, which is exposed to the high temperatures of the combustion zone, is cooled by passing air through effusion cooling holes and into the combustion zone.
In some instances, this cap assembly has experienced issues impacting its durability. First, the large number of effusion cooling holes may create stress concentrations that increase the risk for fatigue cracks in the cap assembly. Although coating the effusion plate with a thermal barrier coating could potentially mitigate this risk, achieving such a coating has been unfeasible because the effusion cooling holes are very small and because they are distributed in a large number across the effusion plate. As a result, coating the effusion plate tends to block the effusion cooling holes and necessitate the additional and difficult step of drilling through the thermal barrier coating to unblock the effusion cooling holes.
Additionally, the flow of fuel and air in an axial direction through the fuel nozzles may disrupt the film of cooling air provided by the effusion cooling holes, which may lead to hot spots. This potential problem is exacerbated if the effusion cooling holes are not properly located to provide a uniform film of cooling air. In some circumstances, combustion dynamics can reverse the flow of the combustion gases into the cap assembly, leading to a significant increase in cap assembly temperature.
Another challenge faced by gas turbine manufacturers is the paradoxical desire to operate the combustors at higher firing temperatures, while simultaneously reducing the volume of cooling air used to cool the components. Reductions in cooling air volume are directly linked to increases in gas turbine efficiency.
An improved cap assembly that addresses these issues would represent an advancement in the art.

Combustor cap assembly with cooling microchannels


An exercise apparatus including a seatless frame for simulating running without the stress producing loads associated with each stride. The exercise apparatus has at least one front wheel and at least one rear wheel, both of which are rotationally connected to the frame. The exercise apparatus includes two independent means for propelling the apparatus along a path of travel. The first means simulates a running motion via a pair of pedals that operate in an arcuate pattern. The second means for moving the apparatus along the path of travel includes a pair of hand actuated levers.

People who prefer running for exercise tend to enjoy running outside for the continuous change in view and fresh air. Unfortunately, runners can develop many problems with their joints over time. The runner's knees and ankles absorb harsh pounding on every stride. Other problems can also occur over time, such as shin splints and/or back problems due to the harsh nature of running on a hard surface.
A relatively new invention designed to solve this problem is the elliptical exercise machine. The elliptical machine simulates running motion, but eliminates the harsh pounding on the rider's joints because the rider's feet never leave the pedal. The pedals provide continuous force on the rider's feet which eliminates the shock loading. These stationary machines are used in exercise gyms as well as in the home and office. The problem with prior art elliptical machines is that the rider is confined to a stagnant indoor environment. It would be desirable to provide a simulated running exercise machine that prevents the stress and strain on the runner's legs while still allowing the runner to exercise outdoors.


An accessory holder that includes an arcuate holding element having a mounting arm that is operatively attached to mounting foot where the mounting foot can be disposed onto a lawn or beach chair having woven strips of material under which the mounting foot can be inserted to temporarily retain the accessory holder such that the accessory holder can be used for storage of items such as drinks, jewelry, and other loose items while a person is resting upon the lawn or beach chair.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
1. Field of Technology
The present disclosure relates to a special and unique device that provides a means by which drinks and other items can be stored in a holder that can be mounted to a beach chair or lawn chair that incorporates woven bands as the primary seat and back material for the chair.
2. Background of the Technology
The use of lawn chairs and beach chairs during a period of rest and relaxation is very common. Such chairs provide a way to allow a user to sit or even recline on a device so that the user has a way to rest without the need for complex and expensive furniture that might be easily damaged when used outdoors or in other potentially hostile environments.
Although such lawn and beach chairs give the user a means to rest, such devices do not generally provide the ability to temporarily store products. For example, a person sitting on a beach chair on the beach of an ocean or lake would normally desire to have some form of liquid refreshment available to drink. Alternatively, that person might also want to eat a snack or perhaps store items such as cell phones, jewelry or watches while the person is resting in the lawn or beach chair. Unfortunately, the standard lawn and beach chair does not incorporate any element that would normally be capable of providing a person with a way in which to hold such items.
In cases other than lawn and beach chairs, there have been many devices conceived that can be attached temporarily to a chair or chaise lounge that can hold drinks and other items. The ubiquitous cup holder is often used in such applications and they have become the standard device used when such accessory holders are needed. The cup holder line of devices, however, can only be used on chairs that have arm elements. This is because the cup holder incorporates a hanging element in the general shape of an "L" rotated 90 degrees horizontally such that the hanging element is intended to drape over and partially wrap around the arm of the chair. The widespread use of such cup holder devices suggests the success of cup holders that include hangers that drape over the arm of a chair.
Unfortunately, those types of cup holders cannot be used with the vast majority of lawn and beach chairs. Those types of chairs either have a very flimsy arm element that cannot support the weight being carried in a standard cup holder or in many cases simply do not have any arms at all. When a person is sitting in that types of lawn or beach chair there is an absence of viable means by which the person can store a drink or other type of items such as jewelry or watches.
Additionally, when the standard lawn or beach chair does not have an arm element capable of supporting a standard cup holder, there is usually no arm at all. Instead, all that remains on the outer edges of the seating area of the chair is the edge of a chair frame around which woven strips of various types of flexible materials such as nylon or plastic webbing are wrapped. Thus, there is no known currently viable method by which an accessory holding device can be securely mounted to, and supported by, a standard lawn or beach chair having woven bands of seat material.
It would be desirable to provide a device that can be used as an accessory holder that could be mounted temporarily to a lawn or beach chair having woven bands of material and that would allow the temporary storage of a drink, cell phones, jewelry, or other items while the person is resting in the chair.


An electronic device includes a set of programming terminals for receiving corresponding programming signals, and assignment circuitry for assigning an address to the electronic device according to the programming signals. The assignment circuitry includes circuitry for providing a set of comparison signals, with at least part of the comparison signals that is variable during a non-zero comparison interval, and comparison circuitry for determining the address according to a comparison between the programming signals and the comparison signals during the comparison interval.

1. Field of the Invention
The solution according to one or more embodiments generally relates to electronic devices. More specifically, such solution relates to the programming of electronic devices.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Electronic devices (e.g., integrated electronic devices) may be used in complex electronic systems for carrying out specific functionalities thereof. For such purpose, electronic devices present within an electronic system should be able to interact with each other; for example, in a typical electronic system, often an electronic device having control functions (such as a microcontroller) should interface with different peripheral electronic devices (e.g., memories, converters, sensors, and the like) for performing certain operations thereon.
In order to allow electronic devices within the same electronic system to communicate with each other, typically each one of such electronic devices is connected to a set of shared lines, called a bus, along which data, in the form of binary digits (or bits), and/or other electrical signals are exchanged.
In order to ensure that the communication among the electronic devices occurs correctly, it is necessary to establish a set of communication rules defined by a corresponding communication protocol.
For example, a widely used communication protocol, called I2C ("Inter Integrated Circuit"), allows communication among different electronic devices connected to each other through a same serial bus with two bi-directional transmission lines, i.e. a line carrying data (or data line) and a line carrying a synchronization signal (or clock line). Such I2C protocol also provides that there is at least one electronic device acting as a master able to request a communication towards one or more slave electronic devices addressed by it.
Therefore, it is important that each slave electronic device connected to the same bus is uniquely identifiable by a corresponding address. In particular, when a master electronic device wants to start a communication, it provides, through the data line, the address of the slave electronic device with which it wants to communicate to all the slave electronic devices connected to the same bus; the latter ones receive the address (through a corresponding communication interface, called I2C interface) and, according to a value thereof, enable or not the communication of the corresponding slave electronic device with the master electronic device.
In general, the address of the slave electronic device is defined by a string of bits. The address of the slave electronic device is usually programmed in field (so as to allow producing slave electronic devices equal to each other, which are programmed differently). For such purpose, the slave electronic device is provided with N programming pins, each one of which is connected to a ground line or to a supply line, for setting a corresponding bit of the address to the logical value 0 or 1, respectively. For addressing a number N of slave electronic devices, it is necessary to use an address with P=INT[log2N] bits, and hence an equal number of programming pins.
Although in principle the number of slave electronic devices connectable to the same bus may be relatively large, and depending substantially on bus parameters (e.g., capacity and speed of the same), typically such number is limited by the number programming pins that, consistently with size and functionality of the slave electronic devices, may be effectively used for programming the address.
For example, a relatively common version of the I2C protocol uses a 7-bit address; the 7 bits of the address of each slave electronic device are logically divided into two packets of bits, a packet including bits fixed by a manufacturer of the slave electronic device (most significant bits), and another packet including variable bits (least significant bits) actually programmed through the respective programming pins. For example, some recent versions of the I2C protocol provide that, among the seven bits of the address, the most significant bits are the first five, whereas the least significant bits are the remaining two; in this way, the two least significant bits, which may actually distinguish four different slave electronic devices connected to the same bus, involve the use of two programming pins for each slave electronic device.
However, in certain applications, the programming pins for each slave electronic device, although reduced in number, may involve a remarkable technological limit. In fact, with the more and more increasing trend toward miniaturization of the slave electronic devices, the latter are getting smaller and smaller, and thus they have a correspondingly limited total number of pins (given by the programming pins and by functional pins dedicated to functionalities of the electronic device). However, since the miniaturization of the slave electronic devices is usually contextual to an increase (or at least a non-reduction) of the functionalities of the same, the number of functional pins (affecting the functionalities of the slave electronic device) may not be reduced significantly; therefore, in such condition, the number of programming pins for each slave electronic device may have a significant impact in percentage on the total number of pins (so that even only two programming pins for each slave electronic device may be limiting).

Electronic device with address programmable through reduced number of terminals


A device transfer method includes the steps of: covering a plurality of devices, which have been formed on a substrate, with a resin layer; forming electrodes in the resin layer in such a manner that the electrodes are connected to the devices; cutting the resin layer, to obtain resin buried devices each containing at least one of the devices; and peeling the resin buried devices from the substrate and transferring them to a device transfer body. This device transfer method is advantageous in easily, smoothly separating devices from each other, and facilitating handling of the devices in a transfer step and ensuring good electric connection between the devices and external wiring, even if the devices are fine devices.

The present invention relates to a device transfer method of transferring light emitting devices such as light emitting diodes, which have been formed on a substrate, for example, a sapphire substrate, to a device transfer body such as a display panel, and to a panel on which the transferred devices are arrayed.
A known method of producing an LED (Light Emitting Diode) display using LEDs includes the steps of cutting an LED wafer, which is obtained by stacking semiconductor layers on a device formation substrate, into chips by a diamond blade or the like, and transferring the LED chips to a display panel or the like with a pitch larger than an array pitch of the LED chips on the device formation substrate.
The above-described cutting method, however, has problems. For example, blue light emitting diodes are produced by stacking gallium nitride based semiconductor layers on a sapphire substrate as a device formation substrate. In this case, sapphire used as the material of the substrate is as very hard, about 9 in Mohs' hardness. As a result, if the sapphire substrate is full cut into chips by a dicer such as a diamond blade, problems such as cracking and/or chipping tend to occur in the cut planes of the sapphire substrate which prevent the sapphire substrate from being smoothly cut into chips of desired shapes and sizes, the dicer itself may also be broken, and that since sapphire has no cleavage characteristic, it is difficult to cut the sapphire substrate into chips by forming scribing lines on the sapphire substrate and forcibly cutting the sapphire substrate along the scribing lines by an external force.
To solve the above problems, a method of cutting a sapphire substrate has been disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-315646. According to this method, as shown in FIG. 12, a gallium nitride semiconductor layer 61 formed on a sapphire substrate 60 is cut by a dicer to form grooves 62 deeper than a thickness of the gallium nitride semiconductor layer 61. The sapphire substrate 60 is thinned by polishing a back surface of the sapphire substrate 60. Scribing lines 63 are formed on the sapphire substrate 60 via the grooves 62 by a scriber. The sapphire substrate 60 is then forcibly cut into chips by an external force. This document describes how the sapphire substrate can be smoothly cut into chips without occurrence of cracking and/or chipping in the cut planes of the sapphire substrate 50. However, such a cutting method, requires several steps including the labor intensive step of polishing the sapphire substrate 60. In other words, the above method of cutting a sapphire substrate 60 is expensive and time consuming.
If a larger number of LED devices are obtained from one device formation substrate, the cost of one LED device can be reduced and the cost of a display unit using such LED devices can be also reduced. In the method disclosed in the above document, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-315646, LED devices each having a size of 350 m per side are obtained from the sapphire substrate having a diameter of two inches. If LED devices each having a size of several tens m per side are obtained from the sapphire substrate having a diameter of two inches and a display unit is produced by transferring the LED devices on a display panel, it is possible to reduce the cost of a display unit.
However, if the size of each LED device becomes as small as several tens of m per side, it becomes difficult to handle the LED device in the transfer step. Further, since an electrode of each device to be connected to a wiring layer of a base body of a display panel becomes small, the connection work becomes difficult and also a connection failure may often occur.


An image distortion correcting apparatus is provided with an image input section to input an image of a flat rectangular paper surface imaged by an imaging section, as an input image, an imaging position estimating section to estimate a relative imaging position of the imaging section with respect to the paper surface from four vertexes of the rectangular paper surface within the input image, a rectangular paper surface estimating section to estimate four vertexes of the rectangular paper surface within a three-dimensional space based on the imaging position, and an image correcting section to correct a perspective transformation distortion in the paper surface within the input image based on the imaging position and the four vertexes within the three-dimensional space, so as to output an output image.

This application claims the benefit of a Japanese Patent Application No.2002-193707 filed Jul. 2, 2002, in the Japanese Patent Office, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image distortion correcting methods and apparatuses and storage media for correcting distortion within an input image related to a document or book imaged (or picked up) by a digital camera, and more particularly to an image distortion correcting method for correcting the distortion within the input image by estimating an imaging position of the camera, an image distortion correcting apparatus which corrects the distortion within the input image by such an image distortion correcting method, and a computer-readable storage medium which stores a computer program for causing a computer to make such an image distortion correction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, digital cameras have become popular due to improved resolution and reduced cost. Hence, the digital camera is regarded as one suitable tool for inputting paper document information to a computer.
When the digital camera is used to input the paper document information to the computer, the user has more flexibility compared to the case where a conventional contact type image input apparatus such as an image scanner is used, because the user can input the necessary information on the paper to the computer while inspecting the paper or writing on the paper.
On the other hand, unlike a scanned image obtained by the scanner, the image obtained by the digital camera includes a three-dimensional distortion of the image. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image 200 which is obtained by imaging a flat paper surface from an oblique angle by the digital camera. In this case, since the paper surface is imaged from the oblique angle from above, a perspective transformation distortion caused by perspective transformation is generated in the image 200.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an image 202 which is obtained by imaging a relatively thick book, such as a dictionary, encyclopedia and handbook, which is opened, from an oblique angle by the digital camera. In this case, since the book is imaged from the oblique angle from above, a perspective transformation distortion caused by perspective transformation is generated in the image 202. In addition, a distortion caused by a curved paper surface of the opened book is also generated in the image 202. A composite distortion made of this latter distortion and the perspective transformation distortion will hereinafter be referred to as a "book distortion" in this specification.
In order to input the paper document information to the computer using the digital camera, it is necessary to correct image distortions such as the perspective transformation distortion shown in FIG. 1 and the book distortion shown in FIG. 2, so as to generate a paper surface image 204 shown in FIG. 3 having no distortion. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the paper surface image 204 which is obtained by imaging a paper document from an oblique angle by the digital camera but including no distortion. Accordingly, there are demands to develop a distortion correcting technique which can generate the paper surface image 204 having no distortion.
For example, a paper document may be bound or stapled at one corner. With respect to such a paper document bound or stapled at one position, an image reading apparatus has been proposed in a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-150532 to correct the image distortion. According to this proposed image reading apparatus, a three-dimensional shape of a contour line is used to measure a three-dimensional distortion of the paper surface. The three-dimensional shape is obtained from an image which is imaged by a scan of a line sensor which uses a CCD array.
In addition, a method of correcting a three-dimensional distortion with respect to a form sheet based on an image which is imaged from above has been proposed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-150532.
However, according to the image reading apparatus proposed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-150532, there was a problem in that an expensive apparatus is required exclusively for estimating the three-dimensional shape of the contour of the paper surface within the image. In a state where the document or book is placed on a document base, this exclusive apparatus generates a two-dimensional image by imaging line images of the paper surface at a plurality of positions by mechanically moving a line sensor which is arranged above the document base in a sub scan direction while electrically scanning in a main scan direction which is perpendicular to the sub scan direction.
Furthermore, the distortion correcting method proposed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-150532 has an advantage in that the distortion can be corrected based on a single image. However, an area CCD imaging element is used as an overhead reader (OHR) and fixed to a stand, so as to image the form sheet positioned below. Hence, it is a precondition that a center of the camera is determined in advance. This is also the case for the image reading apparatus proposed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-150532.
Therefore, there was a problem in that the image reading apparatus proposed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-150532 and the distortion correcting method proposed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-150532 cannot cope with a situation where the imaging position is unknown, such as a case where the user obtains the image of the paper document by the digital camera or the like from an arbitrary position.

Image distortion correcting method and apparatus, and storage medium


A frame, which is the data unit, is extracted without decoding MPEG audio data. Then, a scale factor included in the frame is extracted and an evaluation function is calculated based on the scale factor. If the value of the evaluation function is larger than a prescribed threshold value, the speed of the frame is converted. If the value of the evaluation function is smaller than the prescribed threshold value, the frame is judged to be a frame in a silent section and neglected. The speed conversion is made by thinning out frames or repeating the same frame as many times as required according to prescribed rules.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data reproduction device and a reproduction method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thanks to the recent development of digital audio recording technology, it is popular to record voice in an MD using an MD recorder instead of the conventional tape recorder. Furthermore, movies, etc., begins to be publicly distributed by using a DVD, etc., instead of the conventional videotape. Although a variety of technologies are used for such a digital audio recording technology and video recording technology, MPEG is one of the most popular technologies.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the format of MPEG audio data.
As shown in FIG. 1, the MPEG audio data are composed of frames called AAU (Audio Access Unit or Audio Frame). The frame also has a hierarchical structure composed of a header, an error check, audio data and ancillary data. Here, the audio data are compressed.
The header is composed of information about a syncword, a layer and a bit rate, information about a sampling frequency, data, such as a padding bit, etc. This structure are common to layers I, II and III. However, the compression performances are different.
The audio data in the frame are composed as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the audio data always include a scale factor, regardless of layers I, II and III. This scale factor is data for indicating a reproduction scale factor of a wave. Specifically, since audio data indicated by the sampling data of layers I and II or the Huffman code bit of layer III are normalized by the scale factor, actual audio data can be obtained by multiplying the sampling data or data that are obtained by expanding the Huffman code bit, by the scale factor. The scale factor is further divided and compressed into 32 sections (sub-bands) along a time axis, and in the case of monaural sound, at maximum 32 scale factors are allocated.
For the details of the MPEG audio data, refer to ISO/IEC 11172-2, which is the international standard.
FIG. 3 shows the basic configuration of the conventional MPEG audio reproduction device.
If MPEG audio data are inputted to an MPEG audio input unit 10, the data are decoded in an MPEG audio decoding unit 11 for implementing processes specified in the international standard, and voice is outputted from an audio output unit 12 composed of a speaker, etc.
If digitally recorded voice is reproduced, a reproduce speed is frequently changed. Therefore, in particular, the speech speed conversion function is useful for both content understanding and content compression. However, if the speech speed of MPEG audio data is directly converted, conventionally the speech speed was converted after the data were decoded.
MPEG audio data can be compressed into one several tenth. Therefore, if the speech speed is converted after MPEG audio data are decoded, enormous data must be processed after the compressed data are expanded. Therefore, the number and scale of circuits required to convert a speech speed become large.
As a publicly known technology for converting a speech speed after decoding MPEG audio data, there is Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 9-73299.

Data reproduction device, method thereof and storage medium


A trifunctional (meth)acrylate compound of general formula (I) is provided

Liquid crystals are applied to display media in which the reversible movement of liquid crystal molecules is made use of, such as display devices typically of TN or STN mode. Besides the application to display media, liquid crystals have been studied for applicability to optically anisotropic elements, such as a retardation film, a polarizer, a polarizing prism, a luminance-improving film, a low pass filter, and various optical filters, taking advantage of their anisotropy in physical properties, such as refractive index, dielectric constant, magnetic susceptibility, elastic modulus, and thermal expansion coefficient, as well as their aligning properties.
The above described optically anisotropic elements are obtained by, for example, uniformly aligning the molecules of a liquid crystal compound having a polymerizable functional group or a polymerizable composition containing the liquid crystal compound into a liquid crystal state and irradiating the compound or the composition while being in the liquid crystal state with energy rays, such as ultraviolet rays, to cause photopolymerization. It is required to fix the aligned state of the liquid crystal compound uniformly and semi-permanently.
When the polymerizable composition has a high liquid crystal phase temperature, photopolymerization induced by energy rays may be unintentionally accompanied by thermal polymerization, which will disturb the uniform alignment of the liquid crystal molecules, making it difficult to fix a desired state of alignment. In order to facilitate temperature control during cure, a polymerizable composition showing a liquid crystal phase at or near room temperature has been demanded.
A polymer film is obtained by polymerizing a polymerizable composition in the form of coating film applied to a substrate. If the composition contains a non-polymerizable compound, the resulting polymer film may have insufficient strength or contain residual stress-induced strain. Removing a non-polymerizable compound using, e.g., a solvent can result in a failure to retain film homogeneity and cause unevenness. To obtain a polymer film with a uniform thickness, it is therefore preferred to apply a polymerizable composition in the form of a solution in a solvent to a substrate. Hence, it is desirable for a liquid crystal compound or a polymerizable composition containing it to have good solubility in a solvent.
The above discussed optically anisotropic element is usually used not as a single film but as stacked on a substrate, such as glass, together with other functional material and is therefore required to have solvent resistance and high hardness so as not to interfere with applying the other functional material.
Polymerizable compounds having a (meth)acrylic group as a polymerizable functional group have been extensively studied for use as a monomer providing an optically anisotropic element because they exhibit high polymerization reactivity and produce highly transparent polymers. Inter alia, bifunctional or trifunctional monomers having two or three (meth)acrylic groups are known to be an effective means for providing polymers with improved heat resistance and solvent resistance. For example, patent documents 1 to 6 below propose trifunctional monomers. However, the problem with these monomers is that the resulting polymers can suffer from crystallization or be difficult to control to provide uniform molecular alignment.    Patent document 1: JP 2000-178233A    Patent document 2: JP 2004-043710A    Patent document 3: JP 2003-321430A    Patent document 4: JP 2004-059772A    Patent document 5: JP 2005-309255A    Patent document 6: WO2006/049111

Trifunctional (meth)acrylate compound and polymerizable composition containing same

Abstract: The compound is capable of retaining a liquid crystal phase at or below 30 ° C. Polymerizable compositions containing a compound of formula (I) are also provided.


A polymer is provided comprising recurring units having formulas (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) in amounts of 1-60 mol % (1), 1-60 mol % (2), 1-50 mol % (3), 0-60 mol % (4), 0-30 mol % (5), and 0-30 mol % (6), and having a Mw of 3,000-30,000 and a Mw/Mn of 1.5-2.5. R1, R3, R4, R7, R9, and R11 are H or CH3, Y is methylene or O, R2 is CO2R10 when Y is methylene and R2 is H or CO2R10 when Y is O, R10 is C1-C15 alkyl which may be separated by O, R5 and R6 are H or OH, R8 is a tertiary ester type acid-labile protective group, and R12 is OH-containing fluoroalkyl. A resist composition comprising the polymer has a high resolution and is improved in line edge roughness and I/G bias.

In the recent drive for higher integration and operating speeds in LSI devices, the pattern rule is made drastically finer. Active efforts have been made on the development of micro-processing technology using deep ultraviolet lithography and vacuum ultraviolet lithography. In particular, the ArF excimer laser as a light source of the generation next to the KrF excimer laser is recognized essential to the advanced semiconductor photolithography of 90 to 45-nm node.
One of resist material characteristics required for the photolithography using ArF excimer laser as the light source is a transmittance at wavelength 193 nm. Transparency is indispensable to achieve a high sensitivity and high resolution. For example, the base resins proposed thus far include poly(meth)acrylic acids and derivatives thereof having tertiary ester type acid-labile protective groups as typified by 2-ethyladamantyl and 2-methyladamantyl. They ensure a certain level of etch resistance attributable to a high carbon density of adamantyl group and the transparency of a single resin, achieving some advantages including a high sensitivity and a certain level of resolution. See JP-A 9-73173 and JP-A 9-90637.
However, since acid labile groups as typified by 2-alkyl-adamantyl have high rigidity and hydrophobicity in themselves, polymers having a large proportion of such compounds incorporated therein become very rigid and hydrophobic overall. This causes swelling of a resist film during development, leading to pattern fusion or collapse and pattern sidewall roughening, known as line edge roughness (LER). These polymers are thus impractical in the lithography because a further pattern rule reduction is needed in the future.
Recently proposed were polymers comprising as constituent units (2-adamantyloxy)-methyl methacrylate, 3-hydroxyadamantyl methacrylate, and a lactone structure-bearing methacrylate such as γ-butyrolactone methacrylate or norbornane lactone methacrylate (see WO 2005080473). They have a good sensitivity even when a weak acid is generated from the acid generator, succeeding in acquiring relatively good resist characteristics.
However, resins comprising norbornane lactone methacrylate have an increased LER due to swelling. Resins comprising γ-butyrolactone methacrylate have an increased acid diffusion and an increased size difference between isolated and grouped patterns (known as I/G bias). These resins are thus impractical in the lithography because a further pattern rule reduction is needed in the future.
It is confirmed that polymers comprising as constituent units adamantylmethoxymethyl methacrylate, 3,3′-dihydroxyadamantyl methacrylate, and a lactone structure-bearing methacrylate such as oxanorbornane lactone methacrylate or 9-methoxycarbonyl-4-oxatricyclo[4.2.1.03,7]nonan-5-on-2-yl methacrylate are certainly superior in process margin and exposure margin (see JP-A 2005-234449). However, since the effects for 3,3′-dihydroxyadamantyl methacrylate to impart certain rigidity to resin and restrain acid diffusion are offset by the effect for adamantylmethoxymethyl methacrylate to promote acid diffusion due to its side chain flexibility, it is difficult to suppress the I/G bias. These resins are thus impractical.
It is also confirmed that polymers comprising (1-adamantyloxy)methyl methacrylate and oxanorbornane lactone methacrylate are certainly superior in process margin and exposure margin (see JP-A 2005-234450). Since they lack 3-hydroxyadamantyl methacrylate and 3,3′-dihydroxyadamantyl methacrylate as found in the foregoing polymers, they fail to hold down acid diffusion by introducing a hydroxyadamantane structure as typified by 3-hydroxyadamantyl methacrylate and 3,3′-dihydroxyadamantyl methacrylate for imparting a certain rigidity to resins. In addition, these resins have a lower carbon density and hence, lower etch resistance and are thus impractical.
In summary, not only resolution and etch resistance are required, but it is also required to restrain line edge roughness (LER) and size difference between isolated and grouped patterns (I/G bias). The above problems become serious particularly at sizes less than the KrF exposure wavelength of 248 nm. Holding down acid diffusion is an effective method for reducing the I/G bias. However, minimizing acid diffusion gives rise to problems including the asperity of pattern sidewalls by standing waves and an increased LER. It is thus a difficult task to find a compromise between LER and I/G bias improvements. Enhancing the contrast of exposure dose dependence of a dissolution rate of resist film in developer (i.e., dissolution contrast) is effective not only for resolution, but also for LER improvement. In order to meet both minimal LER and minimal I/G bias while maintaining a high resolution, it is desired to have a resist material having a reduced acid diffusion length and a high dissolution contrast.

Polymers, resist compositions and patterning process


A tank 16 and a main hydraulic pump 17 are connected to head side actuator chambers 13 and rod side actuator chambers 14 of hydraulic actuators 12 via conduits 21, 22. A direction control valve 18 and a quick drop valve 36 are connected to the conduits 21, 22. A hydraulic circuit is provided with an electromagnetic switch valve 42, which switches the quick drop valve 36 from a non-quick drop position 37 to a quick drop position 38. When switching the direction control valve 18 from a neutral position 23 to a lowering operation position 25, if the manipulation speed of a manipulation lever 33 exceeds a criteria speed, an excitation signal is output from a control device 32 to an electromagnetic switch valve 42 to quickly drop a blade 11, and the quick drop valve 36 is switched from the non-quick drop position 37 to the quick drop position 38.

In general, a bulldozer blade is raised and lowered by a double acting hydraulic actuator. A work machine such as a bulldozer includes a hydraulic system for driving the hydraulic actuator. An oil tank and a hydraulic pump, which configure the hydraulic system, are connected to the hydraulic actuator via conduits. Also, a direction control valve is connected to the conduits. The direction control valve controls the moving direction of the blade, which is selectively raised and lowered. The direction control valve is switched by a manipulation lever between a position for raising the blade from a neutral position and a position for lowering the blade from the neutral position. When leveling a ground by the bulldozer, in order to increase operation efficiency, an operator rotates the manipulation lever for raising and lowering the blade to the maximum operation angle to quickly drop the raised blade using its own weight.
Since the blade is heavy, quickly dropping the blade creates negative pressure inside actuator chambers and pipes. When the inside of the actuator chambers and the pipes is under negative pressure, air bubbles are generated in pressurized oil, and the operation of the hydraulic system might cause failure. To eliminate the problem, a quick drop circuit disclosed in patent document 1 is provided with a quick drop valve located in conduits between a direction control valve and hydraulic actuators. The hydraulic actuators are hydraulic cylinders each provided with a piston, and each includes first and second actuator chambers located on both sides of the piston. The blade is raised when oil is supplied to the first actuator chambers of the hydraulic actuators, and lowered when oil is supplied to the second actuator chambers of the hydraulic actuators. When quickly dropping the load, compressed high pressure oil in the first actuator chambers is directly supplied to the expanded second actuator chambers via the quick drop valve. Accordingly, the blade is quickly dropped while preventing generation of negative pressure in the actuator chambers and the pipes.
Patent document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 7-167107

Working machine, and quick load-dropping method


A processing device and method applying the same for processing a coated or uncoated fibrous web is provided. The device comprises a belt configured to extend around a guiding element, at least one counter-element being disposed outside said belt to provide a contact area with the belt, such that the belt and the counter-element establish therebetween a web processing zone for passing a web to be processed therethrough. The processing zone length is defined by the disposition of the belt's guiding element and/or by the configuration of the counter-elements. The contact pressure applied to a web in the processing zone is within the range of between about 0.01 MPa and about 200 MPa.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing device and a method of operating the device for processing a coated or uncoated fibrous web, such as e.g. paper, board or tissue, comprising a belt adapted to extend around at least one guiding element, at least one counter-element being disposed outside said belt to provide a contact area with the belt, such that the belt and the counter-element establish therebetween a web processing zone for passing a web to be processed therethrough. In the concept of this application, the term 'web processing' refers to a variety of measures associated with the treatment of a fibrous web produced in a paper/board machine, such as pressing, drying, calendering, coating, sizing. The processing device may also be a finishing device for a fibrous web, such as e.g. a separate coating device, a printing device or a calender.
2. Description of Related Art
Various belt calender solutions have been disclosed previously e.g. in Finnish patent 95061, as well as in Finnish patent applications FI 971343 and FI 20001025. However, these belt calenders are only suitable for calendering certain grades of paper or board.
Paper and board are available in a wide variety of types and can be divided according to basis weight in two grades: papers with a single ply and a basis weight of 25-300 g/m2 and boards manufactured in multi-ply technology and having a basis weight of 150-600 g/m2. It should be noted that the borderline between paper and board is flexible since board grades with lightest basis weights are lighter than the heaviest paper grades. Generally speaking, paper is used for printing and board for packaging.
The subsequent descriptions are examples of values presently applied for fibrous webs, and there may be considerable fluctuations from the disclosed values. The descriptions are mainly based on the source publication Papermaking Science and Technology, section Papermaking Part 3, edited by Jokio, M., published by Fapet Oy, Jyväskylä 1999, 361 pages.
Mechanical-pulp based, i.e. wood-containing printing papers include newsprint, uncoated magazine and coated magazine paper.
Newsprint is composed either completely of mechanical pulp or may contain some bleached softwood pulp (0-15%) and/or recycled fiber to replace some of the mechanical pulp. General values for newsprint can probably be regarded as follows: basis weight 40-48.8 g/m2, ash content (SCAN-P 5:63) 0-20%, PPS s10 roughness (SCAN-P 76-95) 3.0-4.5 μm, Bendtsen roughness (SCAN-P 21:67) 100-200 ml/min, density 600-750 kg/m3, brightness (ISO 2470:1999) 57-63%, and opacity (ISO 2470:1998) 90-96%.
Uncoated magazine paper (SC=supercalendered) usually contains mechanical pulp to 50-70%, bleached softwood pulp to 10-25%, and fillers to 15-30%. Typical values for calendered SC paper (containing e.g. SC-C, SC-B, and SC-A/A+) include basis weight 40-60 g/m2, ash content (SCAN-P 5:63) 0-35%, Hunter gloss (ISO/DIS 8254/1) <20-50%, PPS s10 roughness (SCAN-P 76:95) 1.0-2.5 μm, density 700-1250 kg/m3, brightness (ISO 2470:1999) 62-70%, and opacity (ISO 2470:1998) 90-95%.
Coated magazine paper (LWC=light weight coated) contains mechanical pulp to 40-60%, bleached softwood pulp to 25-40%, and fillers and coaters to 20-35%. General values for LWC paper can be regarded as follows: basis weight 40-70 g/m2, Hunter gloss 50-65%, PPS s10 roughness 0.8-1.5 μm (offset) and 0.6-1.0 μm (roto), density 1100-1250 kg/m3, brightness 70-75%, and opacity 89-94%.
General values for MFC paper (machine finished coated) can be regarded as follows: basis weight 50-70 g/m2, Hunter gloss 25-70%, PPS s10 roughness 2.2-2.8 μm, density 900-950 kg/m3, brightness 70-75%, and opacity 91-95%.
General values for FCO paper (film coated offset) can be regarded as follows: basis weight 40-70 g/m2, Hunter gloss 45-55%, PPS s10 roughness 1.5-2.0 μm, density 1000-1050 kg/m3, brightness 70-75%, and opacity 91-95%.
General values for MWC paper (medium weight coated) can be regarded as follows: basis weight 70-90 g/m2, Hunter gloss 65-75%, PPS s10 roughness 0.6-1.0 μm, density 1150-1250 kg/m3, brightness 70-75%, and opacity 89-94%.
HWC (heavy weight coated) has a basis weight of 100-135 g/m2 and can be coated even more than twice.
Pulp-produced, woodfree printing papers or fine papers include uncoated—and coated—pulp-based printing papers, in which the portion of mechanical pulp is less than 10%.
Uncoated pulp-based printing papers (WFU) contains bleached birchwood pulp to 55-80%, bleached softwood pulp to 0-30%, and fillers to 10-30%. The values with WFU are highly unstable: basis weight 50-90 g/m2 (up to 240 g/m2), Bendtsen roughness 250-400 ml/min, brightness 86-92%, and opacity 83-98%.
In coated pulp-based printing papers (WFC), the amounts of coating vary widely in accordance with requirements and intended application. The following are typical values for once- and twice-coated, pulp-based printing paper: once-coated basis weight 90 g/m2, Hunter gloss 65-80%, PPS s10 roughness 0.75-2.2 μm, brightness 80-88%, and opacity 91-94%, and twice-coated basis weight 130 g/m2, Hunter gloss 70-80%, PPS s10 roughness 0.65-0.95 μm, brightness 83-90%, and opacity 95-97%.
Release papers have a basis weight within the range of 25-150 g/m2.
Other papers include e.g. sackkraft papers, tissues, and wallpaper bases.
Board making makes use of chemical pulp, mechanical pulp and/or recycled pulp. Boards can be divided e.g. in the following main groups according to applications thereof.
Corrugated board, comprising a liner and a fluting.
Boxboards, used for making boxes, cases. Boxboards include e.g. liquid packaging boards (FBB=folding boxboard, LPB=liquid packaging board, WLC=white-lined chipboard, SBS=solid bleached sulphite, SUS=solid unbleached sulphite).
Graphic boards, used for making e.g. cards, files, folders, cases, covers, etc.
Wallpaper bases.

Processing device and method of operating the device for processing a coated or uncoated fibrous web


A hinge assembly includes a body drive member (10) having an outer screw thread (12) on an outer periphery thereof, a cover drive member (20) having a first end surface (28) formed one end thereof, a follower (30) having a second end surface (34) formed on one end thereof, and an elastic element (40) abutting the follower. The cover drive member has an inner screw thread (26) formed in a cavity (22) of the cover drive member. The follower has a central hole (32). The body drive member extends through the cover drive member, the follower and the elastic element, thereby integrating the hinge assembly into a complete unit. The outer screw thread of the body drive member engages with the inner screw thread of the cover drive member, and the first end surface of the cover drive member engaging with the second end surface of the body drive member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hinge assemblies, and particularly to a hinge assembly for foldable electronic devices such as mobile telephones, electronic notebooks, and so on.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the development of the technologies of wireless communication and information processing, portable electronic devices such as mobile telephones and electronic notebooks are now in widespread use. These electronic devices enable consumers to enjoy the convenience of high technology services anytime and anywhere. Foldable electronic devices are particularly favored by consumers for their convenience.
Generally, foldable electronic devices have most of the electronics in one housing, called the body. The other housing, called the cover, normally contains fewer electronic components than the body. Other foldable electronic devices have all the electronics in the body, with the cover containing no electronics. Various types of hinge assemblies are used to join a body and a cover of a foldable electronic device, so that the cover can unfold up from and fold down upon the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,990 issued on Jan. 23, 2001 provides a hinge assembly used in a small-size foldable electronic device such as a portable telephone, a portable computer, an electronic notebook or the like. As represented in FIG. 7, the hinge assembly includes a shaft 100 provided with a discoid head 102 on a first end portion thereof, a fixing member 200, a fixed cam 300, a rotary sliding cam 400, and a compression spring 502. An opposite second end portion of the shaft 100 is passed through the fixed cam 300, the rotary sliding cam 400, the compression spring 502 and the fixing member 200 in that order, thereby integrating the hinge assembly into a complete unit.
The fixed cam 300 abuts the head 102 of the shaft 100, and is rotatable relative to the shaft 100. A pair of opposite recessed cam portions 302 is defined on an end face of the fixed cam 300. A pair of opposite projection portions 402 is formed on an end face of the rotary sliding cam 400, corresponding to the cam portions 302. With the engagement of the cam portions 302 and the projection portions 402, the fixed cam 300 and the rotary sliding cam 400 are axially movable relative to each other and rotatable relative to each other. The rotary sliding cam 400 is axially movable relative to the shaft 100, and rotatable with the shaft 100. The fixing member 200 is secured around the second end portion of the shaft 100. The compression spring 502 is elastically engaged around the shaft 100 between the rotary sliding cam 400 and the fixing member 200, and continually presses the rotary sliding cam 400 against the fixed cam 300.
When the projection portions 402 of the rotary sliding cam 400 are engaged with the cam portions 302 of the fixed cam 300, the foldable electronic device is in a closed position. When the foldable electronic device is opened, the projection portions 402 move out from engagement with the cam portions 302 onto coplanar end faces of the fixed cam 300. Once the foldable electronic device is opened to an angle of about 160°, the projection portions 402 snappingly engage into the corresponding cam portions 302 and are locked therein. However, during the process of the foldable electronic device being opened, a body and a cover of the foldable electronic device are directly subjected to force produced by the fixed cam 300, the rotary sliding cam 400 and the compression spring 500. This force is liable to cause damage to the body and the cover.
In view of the above-described shortcomings, a new, safer and more durable hinge assembly is desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention relates to a rivastigmine-containing patch having improved storage stability and proper release property.

Rivastigmine, (S)-N-ethyl-3-[(1-dimethylamino)ethyl]-N-methyl-phenyl-carbamate is used for treating Alzheimer's disease, and it is useful as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor in the central nervous system.
Such rivastigmine is commercially available in the form of a patch. GB Patent No. 2,203,040 discloses a transdermal composition in the form of a patch in Example 2, in which the patch is prepared by mixing rivastigmine with two polymers and a plasticizer to obtain a viscous composition, and applying the composition to a foil.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,335,031 discloses a composition for transdermal administration, containing rivastigmine or a salt thereof and an antioxidant as a stabilizer. According to this patent, conventional compositions for transdermal administration which contains rivastigmine are susceptible to degradation even in air-tight packaging due to oxidation by oxygen, making it difficult to secure the storage period required for commercial distribution. Accordingly, in order to solve the above problem, this patent discloses a composition for transdermal administration of rivastigmine, containing an antioxidant such as tocopherol, esters thereof, ascorbic acid, butylhydroxytoluene, butylhydroxyanisole and propyl gallate. Thus, tocopherol has been used as a stabilizer in commercially available products for transdermal administration of rivastigmine.
However, since tocopherol is susceptible to degradation by air or light, it must be kept in cold storage under an inert atmosphere, and since it is present in a liquid form, it is difficult to handle and store during commercial production. In addition, because tocopherol can act as an anticoagulant when administered in vivo, many drug-approved agencies have set a tolerable upper intake level. Therefore, in order to overcome these problems, there is still a need to develop a rivastigmine patch having improved stability.


In a radiographic image conversion panel including a photostimulable phosphor layer on a support, at least one layer of the photostimulable phosphor layer is formed by a deposition method and has a film thickness of 50 μm to 10 mm, and the support includes a plurality of layers of two or more kind.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a radiographic image (hereinafter also referred to as a radiograph) conversion panel and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In earlier technology, so-called radiography in which silver salt is used to obtain a radiological image has been utilized. However, the method for imaging a radiological image without silver salt has been developed. That is, the method of imaging by a phosphor absorbing the radial ray transmitted through a subject in a phosphor, thereafter, excited by certain type of energy, and radiating radiological energy accumulated in the phosphor as fluorescence, is disclosed.
A concrete example of a radiographic image conversion method is known, in which a panel comprising and a photostimulable phosphor layer provided on a support (hereinafter also referred to as base material) is applied, and both of/either visible light and/or infrared light is used as excitation energy (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,527).
A radiographic image conversion method using a photostimulable phosphor of higher luminance and sensitivity has been developed. A radiographic image conversion method using a BaFX: Eu2+ system (X: Cl, Br, I) phosphor disclosed in JP Tokukaisho-59-75200A, a radiographic image conversion method using an alkali halide phosphor disclosed in such as JP Tokukaisho-61-72087A, and an alkali halide phosphor containing metals of Tl+ Ce3+, Sm3+, Eu3+, Y3+, Ag+, Mg2+, Pb2+ and In3+ as a co-activator disclosed in JP Tokukaisho-61-73786A and 61-73787A are the examples.
In late years, in analysis of a diagnostic image, a radiographic image conversion panel having higher sharpness has been required.
As a method for improving the sharpness, for example, attempts of controlling the shape of photostimulable phosphor itself have been made in order to improve sensitivity and sharpness.
One of these attempts is, for example, a method of using a fine quasi-columnar photostimulable phosphor layer deposited on a support having a fine concavoconvex pattern, which is disclosed on JP Tokukaisho-61-142497A.
Further, the following methods and the like are also proposed; as disclosed in JP Tokukaisho-61-142500A, a method of using a radiographic image conversion panel having a photostimulable phosphor layer in which the cracks of a columnar photostimulable phosphor deposited on a support having a fine pattern are further developed with shock-treatment; as disclosed in JP Tokukaisho-62-39737A, a method of using a radiographic image conversion panel having a photostimulable phosphor layer cracked from the surface side to be quasi-columnar pattern; and, as disclosed in JP Tokukaisho-62-110200A, a method of forming a photostimulable phosphor layer having pores onto a support by deposition, subsequently the pores developped to be cracks with heat treatment.
Furthermore, as disclosed in JP Tokukaihei-2-58000A, a radiographic image conversion panel having a photostimulable phosphor layer in which elongated columnar crystals having definite angle based on a normal line of a support is formed by a vapor phase deposition method.
Every one of these methods of controlling the shape of a photostimulable phosphor layer can remarkably increase the sharpness of the photostimulated luminescence image, because a photostimulable phosphor layer is formed pillar shape so that photostimulated excited light or photostimulable luminescence is restrained to diffuse horizontally (a light reflects repeatedly on interface of cracks (of pillar crystal) to reach the surface of a support).
In late years, a radiographic image conversion panel using alkali halide such like CsBr as a base material is proposed. Especially when Eu is used as an activator, the improvement of X ray conversion efficiency, which has not achieved before, is expected (JP Tokukai-2002-72381A).
However, a deposition method for forming a membrane is required to form a CsBr: Eu phosphor layer. A base plate and a vapor source are located with high accuracy in order to control the membrane thickness distribution. Thus highly accurate membrane thickness distribution is achieved.
There is a problem especially in CsBr:Eu that Eu is distributed unevenly in the base material because vapor pressure of Eu in a vacuum state and predominant dispersion of Eu by heat is predominant. As a result, the structure of a deposition device and a location of a base plate and a vapor source highly affect the homogeneity of activator in a phosphor layer (For example, JP Tokukai-2002-72381A, 2002-20742A and 2002-6092A).
It is required that a board material with high rigidity is applied as an evaporation base board in order to improve accuracy of film thickness.
A stainless steel represented by Fe—Ni—Cr, a glass practically used in liquid crystal display and the like are known as base material with high rigidity. However, in relation to a radiographic image conversion panel using photostimulable phosphor that are used for X ray in medical use, the desired performance is not obtained since X ray is radiated from base material side (the opposite side of the phosphor side). As a result, there is a problem that the rigidity and X ray absorption of base material are incompatible.
For these reasons, the improvement of the homogeneity of activator in a phosphor layer has been required in order to improve the luminance and the sharpness of a radiographic image conversion panel, which are demanded from a market.