To provide a rolling mill in which work rolls being supported horizontally by static pressure bearings wherein, even under the action of an excessive horizontal force, preventing contact between the work rolls and the static pressure bearings to ensure the production of a strip product free of flaw and superior in its surface quality. Work rolls are supported by static pressure bearings through idler rolls. The amount of offset of the work rolls are changed respectively by moving devices through static pressure bearings. Further, pushing cylinders generate a certain force through the static pressure bearings to bear the force provided from the moving devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rolling mill and rolling method for rolling a plate. Particularly, the invention is concerned with a rolling mill and rolling method using work rolls of a small diameter and suitable for rolling a hard or ultra-thin strip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, working rolls of a small diameter have been used for rolling a hard or ultra-thin strip such as stainless steel strip. With a decrease in diameter of the work rolls, the flexural rigidity of the rolls becomes lower inevitably. Particularly, deflection in a horizontal plane poses a problem. This horizontal deflection causes a more marked disturbance in the shape (flatness) of the strip used. The horizontal deflection sometimes exceeds the correction capacity of a shape correcting device such as the work roll bender which has heretofore been used. If the rolls deflect vertically in opposite directions, the central portions of the upper and lower work rolls undergo forces acting in opposite directions, which forces promote the vertical opposite deflections in an accelerative manner. In this case, if the rolling load is set large, the rolls may be broken. In order to prevent the occurrence of such a trouble, the application of a large load must be avoided.
In view of the above points, there have been developed Cluster mill type rolling mills, including Sendzimir mill, as well as a rolling mill having a horizontal deflection preventing mechanism wherein the drum portions of work rolls are supported horizontally with support rolls such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No.18206/85. In these rolling mills, however, since the support rolls are divided in the direction of the roll drum length, the surface properties of the plate rolled are deteriorated due to mark transfer by the divided support rolls.
As a rolling mill which takes into account the prevention of such deterioration in the plate surface properties and which permits the use of work rolls of a small diameter, there has been developed such a rolling mill as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No.50109/93. In this rolling mill, horizontal support rolls are mounted outside the area through which the maximum width of the strip to be rolled passes, then a horizontal deflection of each work roll is detected and a horizontal bending force of the roll is controlled so that the horizontal deflection thereof becomes equal to zero. At the same time, the work rolls are each moved to a position where the horizontal force which causes the horizontal deflection is zero. Since a horizontal support device for the strip is not present in the area where the strip passes, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of surface properties attributable to such horizontal support device.
In the rolling mill disclosed in the above unexamined publication 50109/93, however, a limit has so far been encountered in reducing the diameter of each work roll. More particularly, if the work roll diameter is set below a certain value, the flexural rigidity becomes extremely low, and the responsivity in horizontal deflection control also encounters a limit, resulting in that it becomes no longer possible to make the horizontal deflection zero. Actually, in the rolling mill of the type described in the above unexamined publication, it is considered that a roll diameter of 10% or so of the maximum strip width is the limit in reducing the roll diameter. It has been difficult to make the roll diameter still smaller.
For the simplification of a rolling mill and for the reduction in diameter of working rolls, a rolling mill having a support mechanism which prevents the deflection of work rolls on an incoming side of the rolls is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open No.94509/84. The support mechanism is provided with a cooling means using adjustment of liquid pressure to prevent friction caused by the support. Each work roll is provided with a shifting mechanism so as to adapt itself to changes in rolling conditions (for example the plate to be rolled). According to such a technique, the deflection of work rolls can be prevented to some extent, but no consideration is given to diminishing the horizontal force. Besides, since the shifting mechanism is provided on the work roll itself, the deflection of the work roll is influenced by a shifting motion. It has so far been difficult to effect shifting while minimizing the deflection of each work roll.
Further, as a rolling mill suitable for preventing the foregoing deterioration of the strip surface properties and for attaining a further reduction in diameter of work rolls, a rolling mill provided with a horizontal support mechanism for work rolls, using static pressure bearings, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.13366/96. This rolling mill is constructed schematically as in FIG. 17 for example. As shown in the same figure, work rolls 102 and 103 for rolling a strip 101 are supported vertically by means of intermediate rolls 104,105 and back up rolls 106,107 and are supported horizontally by means of static pressure bearings 112,113,114 and 115 through idler rolls 108,109,110 and 111.
In the rolling mill disclosed in the Japanese patent publication 13366/96 such as that shown as an example in FIG. 17 in which the work rolls 102 and 103 are supported horizontally by means of static pressure bearings 112,113,114 and 115, there have been the following points to be further improved.
In the rolling mill shown in FIG. 17, the work rolls 102 and 103 are mounted centrally of the rolling mill. On the other hand, where the work roll diameter is reduced, it is impossible to drive the work rolls directly because a high strength of their driving shafts is to be ensured. It is unavoidable for the working rolls to be driven indirectly through back up rolls or intermediate rolls. Consequently, a tangential force acting in the horizontal direction is developed at the time of imparting a rolling torque to the work rolls through the back up rolls or the intermediate rolls. Under rolling conditions involving a large torque, the driving tangential force (horizontal force) also becomes large, so that an excessive force is also imposed on the static pressure bearings which bear the force. Therefore, if the fluid pressure fed to the static pressure bearings is not sufficient, it is impossible for the bearings to bear the horizontal force, with the result that the rolls and bearing pads of the static pressure bearings come into contact with each other and both are flawed. The flaws on the work rolls are inevitably transferred onto the strip being rolled, thus deteriorating the strip quality markedly. On the other hand, if the flaws on the bearing pads are left as they are, the fresh rolls after roll replacement will also be flawed. For this reason, it is necessary to replace the bearing pads themselves. This roll replacing work requires much time, thus leading to deterioration of the productivity. Besides, repair of the bearing pads costs much because the bearing pads require a high fabrication accuracy. Thus, the contact between the work rolls and the bearing pads of the static pressure bearings caused by the aforesaid excessive horizontal force results in great damage.
For preventing such an inconvenience as mentioned above, it is necessary to take an appropriate measure, for example, let the oil pressure fed to the static pressure bearings have a margin. To this end, it is inevitably required to use a pump and a tank, resulting in an increase of the equipment cost and of the power cost.


Multilayered interconnection of a semiconductor device and method for forming the same, which can reduce the contact resistance and improve the reliability of a semiconductor device and is suitable for high density integration of semiconductor devices, including a substrate, an underside interconnection layer formed on the substrate, an interlayer insulation film formed on the underside interconnection layer, an upperside interconnection layer formed on the interlayer insulation film, a contact hole formed extended both in the upperside interconnection layer and the interlayer insulation film, and a plug formed in the contact hole so that the plug is in contact with the underside interconnection layer at an upper part thereof and the upperside interconnection layer at sides thereof.. A surface of each of the sides in the contact hole where the upperside interconnection layer and the plug are in contact is rectangular of which area is related both to width of the contact hole and thickness of the upperside interconnection layer. A surface of each of the sides in the contact hole where the upperside interconnection layer and the plug are in contact is trapezoidal, with a side of the trapezoid at an upper surface of the upperside interconnection layer being greater than a side of the trapezoid at a lower surface of the upperside interconnection layer, of which area is related to a dimension of the contact hole at the upper surface and the lower surface of the upperside interconnection layer, and the thickness of the upperside interconnection layer.

This invention relates to a semiconductor device and, more particularly to a multilayered interconnection of a semiconductor device and a method for forming the same, which can reduce the contact resistance and improve the reliability of a semiconductor device and which is suitable for high density integration of semiconductor devices.
As the density of integration of a semiconductor device becomes higher with the minimum width of the semiconductor device submicronized to below 0.5 .mu.m, a contact hole for interconnecting an upperside connection layer and an underside connection layer has been also submicronized, with a ratio of the depth to the width of the contact hole increased.
Therefore, due to degradation of step coverage in the case where an interconnection layer is formed in the contact hole with a conventional physical deposition method of a sputtering method, there have been problems of increase of a contact resistance and reduction of an endurance by electromigration and stress migration.
As the methods of forming a plug in the contact hole for improving the step coverage of the contact hole, there are an art of forming the plug in the contact hole by depositing tungsten on an insulation film including the contact hole and subjecting the tungsten to etch back to a depth more than the deposited thickness, and an art of tungsten or aluminum selective growth in which a plug of tungsten or aluminum is selectively grown only in the contact hole.
FIGS. 1A to 1C show a conventional multilayered interconnection, wherein FIG. 1A shows a sectional view, FIG. 1B shows a plan view, and FIG. 1C shows a contact between an upperside interconnection layer and a plug.
Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, an underside interconnection layer 13 is formed to be in contact with the upperside interconnection layer 18 through a plug 17 formed in a contact hole. An interlayer insulation film 14 is formed between the upperside, and underside interconnection layers 13 and 18 for insulating them, and an underside insulation film 12 is formed between a substrate 11 and the underside interconnection layer 13 also for insulating them. The reference number 15' represents a contact.
The multilayered interconnection has the plug 17 for electric interconnection of the upperside and underside interconnection layers 13 and 18. Because the upperside interconnection layer 18 is in contact with the upper part of the plug 17, a contact area between the upperside interconnection layer 18 and the plug 17 is related to the dimension of the contact hole. If the dimension of the contact hole is a square of a.times.a, the area of contact A.sub.0 is A.sub.0 =a.times.a.
FIGS. 2A to 2E show processes for forming the multilayered interconnection of the semiconductor device of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2A, by forming an underside insulation film 12 on a semiconductor substrate 11, and forming and patterning a metal layer on the underside insulation film 12, an underside interconnection layer 13 is formed.
As shown in FIG. 2B, an interlayer insulation film 14 is formed on the underside insulation film 12 including the underside interconnection layer 13. A part of the interlayer insulation film 14 on the underside interconnection layer 13 is etched with a photoetching process to form a contact hole 15.
As shown in FIG. 2C, a conductive material 16 is deposited so as to fill the contact hole 15 with a blanket deposition A.sub.0 shown in FIG. 2D the conductive material 16 is, etched back into a plug 17.
In the plug formation process of FIGS. 2C and 2D, the plug can be formed by growing a conductive material in the contact hole with a selective growth method instead of the above method.
As shown in FIG. 2E, by forming and patterning a metal layer on the plug 17 and the interlayer insulation film 14, an upper interconnection layer 18 is formed. Thus, the upperside interconnection layer 18 and the underside interconnection layer 13 are electrically connected through the plug 17.
However, the foregoing multilayered interconnection has following problems.
First, since the conventional multilayered interconnection is in contact with the upperside interconnection layer only at the upper part of the plug, the contact area between the upperside interconnection layer and the plug is reduced as the dimension of the contact hole is reduced. Accordingly, the conventional multilayered interconnection has had a problem of increased contact resistance due to the reduced contact area.
Second, in cases when misalignments of a contact mask for forming the contact hole and/or of a mask for forming the upperside interconnection layer should happen, the upperside interconnection layer can not be in full contact with the upper part of the plug, and with the contact area reduced the more, there has been a problem of the more increase of the contact resistance. Moreover, since the incomplete contact between the upperside interconnection layer and the plug causes not only an incomplete electrical connection between the upperside interconnection layer and the underside interconnection layer, but also, sometimes, results in an opening between the upperside interconnection layer and the plug. This leads to a defective device and a problem of significant degradation of the device reliability.
Third, in the case where the plug is formed in the submicron contact hole with a blanket deposition process and an etch back process, at depositing a conductive material with the blanket deposition process, since a full filling of the conductive material into the contact hole is hardly obtainable, as shown in FIG. 3A, a seam opening, as shown in FIG. 3B, can be formed after the etch back process.

Method for forming multilayered interconnection of semiconductor device


A fine adjustment mechanism for a zoom lens assembly having a zoom mechanism and for lineally moving the zoom mechanism is disclosed to include a barrel and an adjustment ring sleeved onto the barrel. The zoom mechanism is axially moveably mounted to the barrel. The first adjustment ring is provided at an inner periphery surface thereof with an internal thread engaged with an external thread provided at an outer periphery surface of the barrel such that the adjustment ring is axially moveable along the barrel when the adjustment ring is rotated relative to the barrel. The adjustment ring has three protrusions equiangularly spaced on an end face thereof and supporting the zoom mechanism such that the zoom mechanism is driven by the adjustment ring to move axially relative the said barrel when the adjustment ring is rotated relative to the barrel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a zoom lens assembly and more specifically, to a fine adjustment mechanism for linearly adjusting the initial position of a zoom mechanism of the zoom lens assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
To fit different requirements for different depth of field and different visual field when taking pictures, a zoom mechanism is installed in the lens assembly to provide a continuously adjustable focal length.
However, because the parts of a zoom mechanism have a dimensional error during fabrication or installation, a relatively greater travel path is provided for the zoom mechanism to prevent a zoom failure due to the dimensional error. Although a zoom mechanism has a relatively greater travel path, for example the range between position A and position B in FIG. 1, the needed travel path of the zoom operation is the range between position a and position b in practice. Beyond the range between position a and position b, the lens cannot show the image clearly. Therefore, after assembly of a zoom mechanism, the manufacturer will use a locating ring to support the zoom mechanism, limiting the initial zoom position for the zoom mechanism. However, because the locating ring is directly affixed to the barrel that holds the zoom mechanism, the dimensional error of the related parts must be lowered to assure a satisfactory yield rate after assembly. Further, because the locating ring has the whole surface of one side thereof supporting the zoom mechanism, the parallelism is critical, and therefore the manufacturing of the zoom system is difficult.

Fine adjustment mechanism for zoom lens assembly


A light emitting device comprises: an LED chip mounted in a recess formed in a mounting substrate; a wavelength converting member that is disposed so as to cover the recess and the edge area around the recess and that is excited by light emitted from the LED chip to emit light of a wavelength different from an excitation wavelength; and an emission control member disposed at a light output side of the wavelength converting member so as to allow emission of light coming from an area of the wavelength converting member that corresponds to the recess and to prevent emission of light coming from an area of the wavelength converting member that corresponds to the edge area around the recess. This can prevent variations in color between light emitted from the central part of the wavelength converting member and light emitted from the part of the wavelength converting member that is located on the edge area around the recess of the mounting substrate, thereby reducing unevenness of color on the irradiation surface.

In these years, LED chips have been developed that emit blue light or ultraviolet light by a gallium nitride compound semiconductor. By combining such LED chips with various wavelength converting materials such as fluorescent pigment and fluorescent dye, attempts are being made to develop LED light-emitting devices that produce light of while or other color different from the color of light emitted from the chip. The LED light-emitting devices have the advantages of being compact and lightweight, and requiring relatively less power, and are currently in wide use as indication lights, alternatives to small light bulbs, light sources for liquid crystal panels, and so on. A general method for fixing a wavelength converting material in the above LED light-emitting devices is to form a light emitting portion by filling the part where a light emitting element is placed with a resin containing the wavelength converting material. However, the above technique has the problems that the process is complex and further, it is difficult to control the amount of resin dropped. Consequently, wide variations in color and amount of light may occur between resulting light emitting devices.
For reducing the problems, in a light emitting device disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2001-345482 (Patent Document 1) for example, there has been devised a technique of placing a light emitting element within a recess formed in a mounting substrate and disposing a resin portion containing a wavelength converting material which is excited by light emitted from the light emitting element to emit light of a wavelength different from the excitation wavelength, in such a manner that the resin portion covers the recess and the area around the recess on the mounting substrate.
FIG. 24 shows the schematic configuration of the light emitting device disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this light emitting device, an LED chip 1 is mounted on the bottom of a recess 2a formed in a mounting substrate 2. The recess 2a is filled with a light transmissive resin 111 (serving as the light emitting portion) for extraction of light. Further, a film-shaped wavelength convening member 5 or a light transmissive material containing a wavelength converting material such as a phosphor is disposed so as to cover the recess 2a. The mounting substrate 2 is provided with a wiring portion 114 for supplying electric power to the LED. The wiring portion 114 and the LED chip 1 are connected to each other via a bonding wire 112. In the above described light emitting device, since the wavelength converting member 5 containing the wavelength converting material is made as an independent member, it can be adjusted in size thereof and in density of the wavelength converting material or light absorber. Consequently, the process can be simple, and color variations and light output variations can be reduced between the light emitting devices.
However, as a result of detailed studies of light emitting devices having the above described structure, the inventors of this application have found that there is a problem in the case where such a light emitting device is one using the principle that visible light emitted from the LED chip 1 is converted by the wavelength converting member 5 into visible light within a wavelength hand different from that of the light emitted from the LED chip so that the visible light emitted from the LED chip 1 is mixed with the visible light produced by the wavelength converting member 5. It has been found that, in such a case, considerable difference in color (unevenness of color) may occur between light emitted through the central area of the wavelength converting member 5 and light emitted through the outer edge area of the member that is around the recess 2a of the mounting substrate 2.
A major possible cause of the above problem is that light emitted from the LED chip 1 cannot directly enter the edge area of the wavelength converting member 5 that is around the recess 2a of the mounting substrate 2 because the light is blocked by the recess 2a.
The cause of the unevenness of color is described in more detail. In the areas of the wavelength converting member 5 other than its edge area, light emitted by the LED chip 1 (primary light) can directly enter the wavelength converting member 5 through the interface between the wavelength converting member 5 and the airspace directly after the emission or after diffuse reflection by the inner wall of the recess 2a in the mounting substrate 2. Generally, light from an LED chip is distributed isotropically rather than locally. Therefore, the intensity of primary light does not vary so much depending on locations within the recess of the mounting substrate. Accordingly, there is also no great variation, depending on locations, in the intensity of the primary light entering the wavelength converting member 5 directly through the interface between the wavelength converting member 5 and the airspace. Emitted through the light output side of the wavelength converting member 5 are primary light that remains without being absorbed by the wavelength converting member and light (secondary light) that is produced by the wavelength converting member and has a wavelength different from that of the primary light. The color of the emitted light depends on a mixture ratio of the primary and secondary lights. Since the intensity of the primary light entering the wavelength converting member 5 through the interface between the wavelength converting member 5 and the airspace does not vary so much depending on locations the mixture ratio does not also vary so much depending on the locations so that light of an almost uniform color can be emitted.
On the other hand, the edge area of the wavelength converting member 5 is located outside the recess of the mounting substrate to be hidden when viewed from the LED chip. Due to the recess, primary light cannot enter the edge area of the wavelength convening member 5 via the interface between the member and the airspace. In this area, primary light that can be radiated to the light output side is only light that is scattered in the wavelength converting member 5 toward the edge area of the member after entering the wavelength converting member 5 through an area inside the recess. Therefore large part of the primary light emitted from the edge area toward the light output side has passed through a light path longer than that of light emitted from other areas in the member and thus has decreased in intensity due to more absorption by the wavelength converting member. As a result light emitted from the light output side of the edge area has secondary light larger in proportion than primary light, so that the mixture ratio is considerably different from that at the central area of the wavelength converting member 5. This may cause the unevenness of color between the central area and the edge area of the wavelength converting member 5.
A possible way for solving the problem except for the means disclosed below, is to eliminate the edge area of the wavelength converting member around the recess 2a by placing the entire wavelength converting member within the recess 2a so that there is no zap between the member and the side wall of the recess. However, in fact, the above way has the problem that the productivity cannot be increased with difficulty in automatic assembling due to dimensional tolerances of the recess 2a and the wavelength converting member and further due to tolerances in placing the wavelength converting member within the recess 2a.
FIG. 25 shows another conventional light emitting device using an LED chip. In the device, a plurality of mounting substrates 2 each having an LED chip 1 are mounted on a wiring board 3, which is disposed in a housing 10 of a lighting apparatus. There is a light control lens 40 disposed for the LED chips 1. The light control lens 40 is held on the housing 10 of the lighting apparatus with a retaining cap 12.
A light emitting device is also known that has a done-shaped lens to provide light from an LED chip with an appropriate emission angle and that is designed to have uniform brightness on the light emitting surface (see Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2000-58925 (Patent Document 2)). FIG. 26(a) shows a structure relatively similar to the light emitting device disclosed in Patent Document 2. In this structure, a light distribution control member is disposed over a mounting substrate 2 on which a LED chip is mounted. The light distribution control member shown in FIG. 26(a) is a member that combines light collection by a convex lens and light collection by total reflection, and it is called a hybrid lens hereinafter. The hybrid lens 41 is held by a cylindrical holder 60 made of a resin, which is fixed to a wiring board 3 with an adhesive 7. The holder 60 has a diameter substantially equal to the outline of the light control lens 41 and holds the lens 41 with a protrusion 41b, which is formed at the peripheral edge of the upper side of the lens 41, received in a groove 60a at the upper end of the holder 60. At the central region of the bottom, the holder 60 has a hole of substantially the same shape as the outline of the mounting substrate 2. By fitting the package 2 into the hole, the lens 41 and the package 2 are positioned and fixed. The lens 41 has the light emitting portion of the LED located adjacent to the focal point thereof so that the optical axis of the lens coincides with the optical axis of the LED (see Lumileds Luxeon Star/0).
In the above structure large pail of light emitted from the LED chip 1 enters the light control lens 41. Part of the light enters a downwardly convex portion at the under side of the lens and then enters an upwardly convex portion at the upper side of the lens. The part of the light is refracted at the surfaces of the two portions to exit for narrow angle light distribution. Part of the emitted light enters the lens through the inner wall around the convex portion at the lower side of the lens. The part of the light is refracted at the surface of the wall and then totally reflected by the side face of the lens to be in a narrow angle. Thereafter, the part of the light is further refracted at the top surface of the lens around the convex portion to exit for light distribution similar to that of the light exiting from the convex portion at the upper side of the lens.
However such a light emitting device as disclosed in the above Patent Document 2 has the following problem. A light beam emitted from the device is small as compared to a commonly used lamp. Therefore, the device is usually used white the light condensing is controlled. Further, the light input portion of the hybrid lens is of a size substantially equal to the light emission from the LED. In such an optical system, it is necessary to accurately keep the relative position between the LED and the lens. When the mounting accuracy is lowered (i.e., the optical axes of the two become misaligned or the distance between the two becomes large), the efficiency of entering of light into the hybrid lens is lowered or the exiting light becomes distorted.
With respect to the above, in the case where there is an uneven portion such as a pattern 3P on the wiring board 3 (unit) near the LED element in the above light emitting device, the holder 60 may be inclined as shown in FIG. 26(b). Accordingly, the optical axis A of the LED may be misaligned with respect to the optical axis B of the hybrid lens, thus causing the above described problem. Further, in general, the size of a hybrid lens is significantly larger than the size of the light emitting portion of an LED (for example, the diameter Φ of a lens is 20 mm while the diameter Φ of the light emitting portion of an LED is 5 mm). The holder 60 is of a cylindrical shape substantially identical in size to the lens 41 and has the bottom face closely in contact with the wiring board 3. Therefore, it is impossible to mount an electronic component on the part of the wiring board 3 that is occupied by the holder 60. Accordingly, the wiring board 3 needs to be increased in size so that electronic components can be mounted, which results in increase in size of the light emitting device containing the lens 41 and the holder 60.
FIG. 27 shows another conventional light emitting device having an LED chip or which the side toward a mounting substrate is encapsulated in a resin. The mounting substrate 2 of this light emitting device has a deep recess 2a that can entirely accommodate a light extraction increasing portion 15, which can reduce the difference in refractive index between the LED chip 1 and the airspace and reduce the total reflection at the interface between the portion and the airspace as far as possible. Placed in the recess 2a is an LED chip 1, on which the light extraction increasing portion 15 made of glass or a light transmissive resin such as silicone resin is placed so as to enhance the efficiency of extraction of light emitted from the light output surface of the LED chip 1. The LED chip 1 and the peripheral edge of the light extraction increasing portion 15 are encapsulated in a light transmissive resin 19 such as silicone resin so as to protect the LED chip 1, especially its active layer and electrodes and to fix the light extraction increasing portion 15 (see, for example, Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2003-318448 (Patent Document 3)).
In the above described conventional device, for encapsulation of the LED chip 1 and the light extraction increasing portion 15, the small amount of sealing resin 19 is dropped into the recess 2a formed in the mounting substrate 2 and cured. There is a difficulty for controlling the amount of sealing resin 19 dropped. Accordingly there is a problem that the height of sealing resin 19 covering the bottom part of the light extraction increasing portion 15 cannot be made uniform, and as a result, variations may occur in the light extraction increasing effects of light extraction increasing portions 15 and then in the light outputs of light emitting devices.

Light emitting device using light emitting diode chip


In a translation display apparatus, a display section displays a plurality of original sentences of a first language. A user designates an area of the original sentences to be translated on the display through a translation area designation section. An area extraction section extracts the original sentences in the area designated by the translation area designation section. A translation section translates the original sentence extracted by the area extraction section from the first language to a second language. The display section displays the translated sentences translated by the translation section in the area designated by the translation area designation section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a translation display apparatus and method for translating natural language text from a first language to a second language using a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of natural language processing techique using a computer, a machine translation apparatus for translating document from a first language (for example, English) to a second language (for example, Japanese) has been used.
Conventionally, the machine translation apparatus is used as a support system for effectively translating a large volume of documents. First, a large number of orignal sentences in the first language (for example, in English) are inputted to the machine translation apparatus. Then, the large number of original sentences are translated into the secord language (for example, Japanese) by unit of sentence order in sequence. However, it often happens that a user wants the translation of only a few sentences corresponding to a few original sentence after the large number of original sentences are inputted to the machine translation apparatus. In this conventional case, first, the large number of original sentences are displayed on an original sentence area of the display, where the display area consists of an original sentence area, a translated sentence area, and a command menu area. Then, the user traces one original sentence selected to be translated by using a mouse or pointing device, and designates a translation command by selecting from the menu. The selected original sentence (English) is processed by the machine translation program and translated to a translated sentence (Japanese). Last, the translated sentence is displayed on the translated sentence area of the display. In this conventional apparatus, there are two problems.
As a first problem, in the case of selecting the original sentence to be translated, the user must trace the original sentence exactly on the display and designate the translation command. In short, the user must input two kinds of operation. These operations impose a significant burden on the user.
As a second problem, the translation is displayed in the translated sentence area, which is in a different position from the original sentence area on the display. Accordingly, the user must move his viewpoint from the original sentence area to the translated sentence area and the user's eyes become tired while viewing the display.

Translation display apparatus and method having designated windows on the display


A mobile floor cleaning machine is provided having an integrated floor cleaning tool. In order to provide a floor cleaning machine of this kind with improved handling capability, the floor cleaning machine can include an accessory retainer for cleaning accessories, which has at least one accommodating part, which is fastened to the floor cleaning machine, and at least one retaining part, which can be connected to the accommodating part, for retaining the cleaning accessories.

In the present case, a mobile floor cleaning machine is understood to mean a floor cleaning machine having a chassis that has at least three wheels or rollers. The chassis can but need not be driven by motor. The floor cleaning machine may for example be a so-called walk-behind machine, which may be controlled by the user from behind, a so-called ride-on floor cleaning machine, or a so-called step-on floor cleaning machine, which may be controlled by the user standing on the machine.
An object underlying the present invention is to provide a floor cleaning machine of the type mentioned at the outset with improved handling capability.


In an image processing system, the imager gain and the exposure time are adjusted based on a predefined stepping sequence using a stepping table designed to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio in the image. This is achieved by providing a stepping sequence with each step having the largest suitable integration time (exposure) and an appropriate amplifier and digital gain setting, while achieving an equal relative percentage change in image brightness between adjacent sequence steps. The size of the executed AE steps is proportional to the distance between a current image luminance and the target luminance. This is achieved by the capability to skip one or more steps in the stepping sequence, if appropriate, for each relevant executed step, with the number of skipped steps, if any, being proportional to the magnitude of the deviation from the target brightness.

To achieve good image quality for both dark and bright scenes, image processing systems implement a variety of brightness adjustment procedures, commonly referred to as auto-exposure (AE). In typical image processing systems a number of factors can be controlled to affect the brightness (luminance) of the image. The most frequently controlled factors comprise variable optical integration time, variable gain settings of the amplifiers and variable reference voltages of the analog-to-digital converters in the system. In some systems, programmable digital gains are also available.
Many current systems provide for fast convergence to a desired or target brightness, but also greatly increase signal noise in the image, which results in poor image quality.
Given the number of controllable factors and their associated discrete increments of adjustment, there is a need for a method that would not only converge to the preset luminance level of the image, but would also optimize signal-to-noise ratio, provide an efficient speed of adjustment and be stable enough not to create frequent brightness adjustments in response to small or short changes in the scene illumination. Another important goal of an efficient AE method is that it should avoid "flicker" resulting from the oscillating light intensity of fluorescent illumination.

Method and apparatus for automatic gain and exposure control for maintaining target image brightness in video imager systems


A network game system is provided in which unfairness between players playing on first and second game machines can be corrected in a network game system in which the first game machine displays a game screen of a content corresponding to an operation executed in the first game machine and makes the second game machine display a game screen of a content corresponding to an operation executed in the second game machine by exchanging data with the second game machine through a communication network. A controlling unit (an operation information acquiring unit (34) and a display controller (36)) controls a length of a time period from a time when an operation is executed in the first game machine (game machine (12a)) to a time when a game screen of a content corresponding to the operation is displayed in the first game machine, based on data exchange time information related to a time period required for exchange of data between the first game machine and the second game machine (game machine (12b)).

A network game system is known which comprises a first game machine and a second game machine which are connected to a communication network, and in which the first game machine displays a game screen of a content corresponding to an operation executed in the first game machine and makes the second game machine display a game screen of a content corresponding to an operation executed in the second game machine by exchanging data with the second game machine via the communication network. As such a network game system, for example, a system is known which realizes a match of a soccer game by players of the first and second game machines.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-350910

Network game system, game machine, game machine control method, and information storage medium


According to one embodiment, one of two connectors, and a circuit board on which the other of the connectors is mounted are prepared. The one of the connectors has an engagement portion. The other of the connectors has an elastically deformable engagement detent. The engagement detent can go over the engagement portion and be engaged with the engagement portion. One of the connectors is fitted to the other of the connectors. A portion of the electric equipment is imaged by a camera. A piece of data which changes is measured from an obtained picture image. A deformation of the engagement detent occurs with going-up of the engagement detent onto the engagement portion. Whether or not the connectors are properly fitted is determined. Fitting of the connectors is performed again when it is determined that the connectors are not properly fitted.

Connectors are used for connecting electric wirings or optical interconnections. These wirings are connected by fitting a pair of two connectors. In an assembly process for mass-production, for example, a plurality of wiring connections are performed. Incomplete fitting of connectors even at one place results in deterioration of quality of a product as well as becomes a cause of an assembly defect. Thus, it is desired to perform fitting operation of connectors precisely and to ensure quality. However, the fitting operation of the connectors is performed by a human work so that a mistake can occurs inevitably.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-113907, for example, an inspection method is disclosed. According to the inspection method, whether or not two connectors are properly fitted is inspected. The connectors are a male connector and a female connector respectively. Engagement portions i.e. locking protrusions are provided on a fitting concave portion of the male connector. Engagement detents i.e. locking arms that are deformable elastically are provided on the female connector. The engagement detents are deformed elastically and go over the engagement portions so as to engage with the engagement portions. Through the engagement, the two connectors become in a properly fitted state. In order to perform the inspection, a holding member and a jig are employed. The holding member holds a male connector. The jig inserts a female connector into the fitting concave portion of the male connector. An optical sensor is provided at the jig. Further, a reference member having a mark is provided movably. The female connector is inserted into the fitting concave portion of the male connector. The mark is detected from a change in the amount of a received light by an optical sensor so that whether or not the two connectors are properly fitted is inspected.
According to the above-described method, whether or not the two connectors are properly fitted is determined by detecting the position of the mark. The dimensions of a plurality of places of the connectors in the fitting direction are involved in setting of the position of the mark. In particular, in order that the above-described engagement portion is engaged with the engagement detent, an allowance dimension is inevitably needed in the fitting direction of the connector.
Recent years, miniaturization of connectors has progressed, and such an allowance dimension becomes smaller as the sizes of connectors become smaller. Further, since dimension tolerances of connectors are also involved in setting of a position of a mark as well as the allowance dimension, setting a position of a mark becomes difficult. As a result, it is difficult to ensure inspection accuracy of a fitted state of the connectors.

Method of assembling an electric equipment having a first connector and a second connector


A clamping device for keeping conventionally tied shoe laces from becoming untied. The device has a top frame that contacts the top of the shoe laces and a bottom frame that contacts the bottom of the shoe laces. These two frames clamp the lace on both sides of a conventionally tied shoe lace knot and are connected by a hinge. The two frames are secured together by a latch. This device secures both the lace tension on the shoe and the knot.

Keeping shoe laces tied has been a problem since shoe laces were introduced. Many people have resorted to tying shoe laces using double knots but the laces are still susceptible to coming untied. Shoe manufacturers are now introducing alternative forms such as velcro, zipper or elastic bands to keep shoes secure while eliminating the nuisance of untied laces. However, the majority of shoes still use common laces that come untied.
An untied shoe lace is a tripping hazard and in hazardous occupations such as law enforcement, fire fighting and the military; untied laces can have extreme consequences. Athletes and children are particularly susceptible to having their shoe laces come untied.
Several attempts have been made to develop devices that keep shoelaces tied. The prior art can be divided into two categories depending on the required tying technique. A conventionally tied knot is referencing a shoe lace that is tied in the traditional manner into a bow knot with the bow loop and lace end extending from both sides of the centered lace knot. This could include both single or double knots. The device is then applied to these tied laces. The devices requiring the modification of the tying technique requires anything from cutting the laces, threading the laces through holes or slots in the bottom or sides of a device or pushing the laces through one way gripping devices that don't let them loosen up. The wearer has to learn a new technique of tying to use these devices.
A successful device not only keeps the shoe lace knot from coming untied but also keeps the tension of the lace on the shoe. This can only be accomplished by gripping the entire group of laces on both sides of the knot.
The first two patents to discuss allow the device to be applied to a conventionally tied shoe lace without having to modify the tying technique. U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,437 consists of an elastic band and a rigid tab. The tab is placed on top of the knot and the elastic band is placed under. The elastic band is stretched from a relaxed state to a stretched state and locks into a slot. The tension on the elastic band grips the lace. U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,246 B1 retains the laces on both sides of the knot using two small clamps connected together by a flexible extension and is permanently retained by the shoe.
The following patents require the user to modify the tying technique. U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,198 consists of a folding enclosure device that requires a coin or similar narrow object to unlatch it. This device requires the laces to be threaded through two openings and then tied. The drawing shows a clown design for child appeal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,127 consists of a unitary base and cover that requires the laces to be threaded through holes in the bottom portion and then tied. The drawings indicate a "turtle" design for child appeal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,589 is a device consisting of a base and a top that clamps the laces. This device is attached to the tongue of the shoe and uses elastic bands to provide tension to the upper and lower jaws to clamp the lace. The drawings indicate an "alligator" design for child appeal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,342 includes a three piece device with a cover, a base and a hinge. This design requires the shoe lace to be fed through both sides of a slot and then tied. The drawings indicate a "teddy bear" design for child appeal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,094 consists of a top and bottom portion with two side walls forming an enclosure for a shoelace knot. It has two ribs with serrations to clamp the bow and string end. It requires the laces be threaded through two slots in the bottom portion before or after tying. U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,021 includes components similar to the other patents including holes to thread the laces through before tying and a latching cover. This design has at least seven pieces to construct including both metal and plastic components. U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,214 is similar to the prior mentioned patents with a cover, hinge and latch that requires the laces to be threaded through holes in the base before tying.
The shortcomings of the prior art are bulkiness, complexity, modifying the conventional tying method, multiple parts, appealing only to children, questionable effectiveness and difficulty in latching and unlatching.
The reason in the first place for an invention of a shoe lace gripping device is to keep the laces from coming untied and retain the lace tension on the shoe. Some of the prior art has questionable effectiveness as evidenced by their use of elastic bands for the tension method. Over time, they will lose their elasticity. The method of using the contact of an elastic band against the lace as a means of holding is not as effective as gripping teeth. Others use holes with one way gripping devices to keep the laces from pulling back through the device. This keeps the tension on the laces of the shoe constant but does not address the bow coming untied which is the larger problem. The device (U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,094) that requires the laces be threaded through slots in the bottom portion does not clamp the entire shoe lace on both sides of the knot. It only retains the bow and loose string end and doesn't secure the part of the lace that keeps the tension on the shoe. A successful device needs to grip the entire laces on both sides of the knot to secure the knot and the lace tension on the shoe. To be able to withstand the rigors of athletics including kicking balls without coming untied requires a very robust clamp and latch.
The prior art is made from plastic, elastic bands or metal. Some use a combination of the three resulting in an expensive and complex device to construct. The molded designs are simpler and more cost effective than the more complex multiple part devices.
Some of the previous designs are very large and intrusive to the wearer. It would limit the commercial appeal of having something so large and complex on a shoe. The designs that show clowns, bears, turtules, alligators, etc. in their drawings for decorative purposes would be very cumbersome and distracting to the wearer. Some of the previous designs are completely oriented toward kids and would not have broad appeal for adults. The design with the laces being threaded through slots in the bottom portion is drawn as a large, rectangular box which would be cumbersome.
Some of the prior art are easy to install and some are quite complicated. Nearly every design requires the conventional tying method to be modified to accommodate the gripping device. The only devices that do not require modifying the tying technique are the elastic band and tab apparatus and the device consisting of two small clamps that are locked on both sides of the knot. The elastic bands lose tension over time and do not grip as well as a toothed design. The device consisting of two small clamps would be difficult or impossible to latch over large, round laces and require two clamping devices to be separately attached to the laces instead of one making this device inconvenient to use. The device that requires feeding the lace strings up through slots in the bottom portion before or after tying would require some finesse to install properly.
The present invention accommodates conventional single or double knot tying without having to modify the tying technique, is compact, works with any shoe lace thickness, requires only one clamping device be installed, appeals to kids and adults alike with space for themes of interest to the wearer, unquestionably keeps the laces tied and is easy to latch and unlatch overcoming all previous shortcomings in one unit. The device will be referenced as the "grip" throughout the description.
It is therefore an object of the invention to attach to a conventionally tied shoelace without having to modify the tying technique.
It is another object of the invention to grip all the laces on both sides of the knot so the lace tension on the shoe and the knot are secure.
It is another object of the invention to be very lightweight and unintrusive so as not to encumber the wearer.
It is another object of the invention to provide a tooth design that intermeshes the top and bottom teeth firmly grabbing the lace.
It is another object of the invention to provide a latching mechanism that can be easily squeezed open or shut by adults and children alike.
It is another object of the invention to provide an open center that uses the lace knot to keep the device centered while accommodating both single and double knotted laces.
It is another object of the invention to offer an area over the latch and the frame perimeter to promote themes such as trademarks, sports teams, etc improving the appeal of the unit.


An electric shock is avoided by prohibiting a finger or hand from touching an electrode portion of a liquid crystal backlight socket or a connector electrode of a backlight lamp. Further, the breakage of the backlight lamp, which would be otherwise caused due to vibration or shock transmitted through a structure in which the socket is rigidly fixed to a liquid crystal circuit board, is avoided. The backlight socket includes a pair of leaf spring contacts each having a backlight connector electrode connecting portion, an inner insulator and an outer insulator. Each contact is fixed to the inner insulator and the outer insulator so that the inner insulator is elastically supported inside the outer insulator by the pair of contacts. Further, the backlight connector electrode connecting portions of the contacts are disposed in a manner so as not to be exposed to the exterior of the inner insulator.

This invention relates to a liquid crystal display with a backlight, and, in particular, to a socket for the backlight.
In the prior art, there is known a liquid crystal display with a backlight. The liquid crystal display has a circuit board onto which sockets are mounted and electrically connected. The backlight is received by the sockets and is thereby electrically connected to a backlight power source in the liquid crystal display. The backlight is referred to as a liquid crystal backlight. The circuit board is referred to as a liquid crystal circuit board. The sockets are referred to as liquid crystal sockets.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional liquid crystal backlight socket, and FIG. 2 shows a lighting device incorporating a pair of conventional liquid crystal backlight sockets shown in FIG. 1, while a backlight lamp is detached from the lighting device.
As shown in FIG. 1, a backlight socket 110 is formed by blanking and bending a leaf spring metal plate in a given manner. The backlight socket 110 has a shape which is symmetrical both in a forward/backward direction and in a rightward/leftward direction. The backlight socket 110 comprises a pair of confronting retaining portions 110A arranged in the forward/backward direction at the center, and a pair of mounting portions 110B arranged at both sides.
As shown in FIG. 2, a lighting device comprises a pair of backlight sockets 110, a liquid crystal circuit board 120, a frame 130, a backlight reflector 140 and a U-shaped backlight lamp 150. On the circuit board 120, the pair of backlight sockets 110 are fixed, and the frame 130 is fixedly mounted. The backlight reflector 140 is disposed in the frame 130, and the backlight lamp 150 is disposed in the backlight reflector 140. A pair of connector electrodes 150A of the backlight lamp 150 are each retained between the retaining portions 110A of the corresponding backlight socket 110.
As seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, since each of the backlight sockets 110 is entirely exposed to the exterior, if a finger or hand touches the backlight socket 110 during feeding the power, an electric shock is caused. Since the backlight lamp 150 normally employs a cold cathode discharge tube which requires a high voltage for lighting up, it is dangerous.
Further, since the backlight socket 110 is rigidly fixed to the circuit board 120, when the stress is applied to the backlight socket 110 from the circuit board 120 due to vibration or shock, the stress is directly transmitted to the backlight lamp 150 which, thus, may be subjected to breakage.
Furthermore, in case of the backlight lamp 150 is a fluorescent tube, when each of the connector electrodes 150A of the backlight lamp 150 has been twisted by the stress transmitted via the backlight socket 110 from the circuit board 120, the backlight lamp 150 is apt to break.


An inventive pouring spout for containers of liquid, having a removable lid and a strip with magnets located thereon. The spout is selectively attachable and is fitted to the diameter of an opening of a particular container. In a preferred embodiment, the spout is fitted to the diameter of a paint can opening, where it may replace the typical lid of a paint can for the duration of its use. Essentially, the spout effectively prevents the entry of paint in the sealing groove of the paint can or on the sides of the can.

For both the professional and casual painter, typical paint cans feature a multitude of drawbacks. Most notably, the construction of a typical one-gallon size paint can makes it virtually impossible to pour paint out of the can into a paint tray or other container without paint trickling down the sides of the can after the paint is poured. Excess paint dripping down the exterior of the can may cause undesirable paint smears on walls, floors, furniture and other items when the dripping paint accidentally comes in contact with one or more of these surfaces or objects. Further, the problem of paint running down the side of the can is aggravated when a user rests a wet paintbrush horizontally across the top of the paint can, as many painters typically do overnight or during a break. Paint from a wet paintbrush drips down the side of the can, causing similar problems noted above.
Further, there are a number of other common occurrences that often irritate painters and present additional difficulties. For instance, after paint is poured out of the can, a certain quantity always remains at the opening of the can in its sealing groove. The paint in this sealing groove poses the following problems: first, if the metal paint can lid is placed onto the can top and into the groove before the paint in it dries, the paint acts as an adhesive, sealing the lid to the can and making it more difficult to remove later on. In addition, when the cover is subsequently re-installed, paint in the sealing groove spatters as the lid is tapped down, causing paint to be dispersed randomly on the painter or on a surface.
Similarly, these problems are also encountered when dipping a paintbrush in a paint can and then wiping the brush against the inner rim of the can to remove excess paint from the brush. Although painters are aware of this problem, they choose to wipe the brush against the inner rim since the alternative (i.e., spreading the excess paint over a given area) may ruin the job at hand, thereby entirely undermining their efforts.
Moreover, although it is good practice to replace the paint lid on the can overnight or during a lunch break to keep the paint fresh, many fail to do so and introduce paint to the side of the can lid and in its sealing groove.

Multifunction pouring spout and removable lid


Methods of fabricating nano-gap electrode structures in array configurations, and the structures so produced. The fabrication method involves depositing first and second pluralities of electrodes comprising nanowires using processes such as lithography, deposition of metals, lift-off processes, and chemical etching that can be performed using conventional processing tools applicable to electronic materials processing. The gap spacing in the nano-gap electrode array is defined by the thickness of a sacrificial spacer layer that is deposited between the first and second pluralities of electrodes. The sacrificial spacer layer is removed by etching, thereby leaving a structure in which the distance between pairs of electrodes is substantially equal to the thickness of the sacrificial spacer layer. Electrode arrays with gaps measured in units of nanometers are produced. In one embodiment, the first and second pluralities of electrodes are aligned in mutually orthogonal orientations.

Fabrication of conductive electrodes with molecular sized separations is required for the electrical characterization of single molecules. Electrical characterization of single molecules in turn is essential for the development of single molecular electronic devices, including chemical and biological sensors. Several methods have been demonstrated to fabricate electrodes having gap dimensions measured in units or tens of nanometers (which are also referred to as "nano-gap electrodes"). The methods include: fabrication of thin wires comprising mechanical break junctions; electromigration of metal to cause a break in a wire; electrochemical deposition techniques on planar substrates; shadow evaporation of metals onto planar substrates; focused ion beam etching of metallic structures on planar substrates; and e-beam lithography of metallic structure on planar substrates. Most of these approaches are, however, not easily controllable and suffer poor reproducibility, low yield, and low throughput. The e-beam lithography method is relatively controllable and reproducible. However well-controlled creation of <10 nm gap electrodes was achieved only by using elaborate e-beam overlapping and overexposure lithography techniques. The focused ion beam method can generate <10 nm gap electrodes using Ti mask patterns with focused ion beam etching. However focused ion beam systems are not readily available due to the extremely high cost of the apparatus used to generate such beams. Furthermore, all these previously demonstrated methods are not suitable for producing highly dense nanoelectrode arrays that are electrically addressable for chemical and biological sensor applications.
There is a need for highly dense nano-gap electrode array structures that are electrically addressable for chemical and biological sensor applications and for methods of fabricating such nano-gap electrode arrays.

Fabrication of nano-gap electrode arrays by the construction and selective chemical etching of nano-crosswire stacks

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


In a conventional self-healing material, although the resin properties after self-healing are restored to the same level as the initial refractoriness and strength of the resin, no further extension of life can be expected. A resin cured product according to the present invention includes: a first vinyl monomer having an ester bond; a second vinyl monomer having a hydroxyl group; a transesterification reaction catalyst; and a boron compound.

Materials used for products, parts, and the like are selected according to the required function, strength, usage environment, and the like considering the properties of each material. However, due to the loads from the long-term environment and the like and also as a result of continuous use, the material is externally damaged, deformed, degraded, or embrittled, for example, and thus fractured. The period of time until fracture varies depending on the usage environment, the kind of material, and the like, but there exists a "material life". In order to ensure the safety of the product or part, a material having a long material life, that is, high weather resistance, is desirable. For the purpose of extending the material life, resins having higher strength and higher refractoriness have been developed in the past.
For example, a thermoplastic elastomer rich in flexibility and also excellent in mechanical strength, oil resistance, and refractoriness has been developed (PTL 1). This elastomer uses a transesterification reaction. In recent years, a technology for imparting self-healing properties to a resin material has been developed. Techniques for imparting self-healing properties are mainly divided into physical healing methods and chemical healing methods. A physical healing method is a method that uses the molecular diffusion of a thermoplastic resin, and the present invention focuses on chemical techniques. For example, as chemical techniques, a self-healing material having a capsule containing a healing material (PTL 2) and a self-healing material using a living radical polymerization method (PTL 3) are known.

Resin cured product, electrical device, motor, transformer, cable sheath, mobile, structure, and method for healing resin cured product


A telescope-type stereomicroscope which is outfitted with an objective and two magnification changers arranged downstream of the objective. In this telescope-type stereomicroscope, the light from an object that is being examined enters the objective. Two light bundles of the light re-exiting from the objective, which are oriented parallel to one another, enter the magnification changers. The optical axes of the magnification changers are arranged at a fixed distance from one another. Each magnification changer has an entrance pupil for the light bundle associated with it. The entrance pupil has a diameter DEP that depends on the respective selected magnification, where the condition DEP>B/1.06 is met at the maximum selected magnification. Optionally, the stereomicroscope meets the condition tan(ω)≧0.16 with respect to the angle ω at which the light coming from an extra-axial point P at the object enters the magnification changers at the lowest possible magnification setting.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a telescope-type stereomicroscope which is outfitted with an objective and two magnification changers which are arranged downstream of the objective for selecting different magnifications while observing an object.
b) Description of the Related Art
In this type of construction of a stereomicroscope, two separate light channels are guided through one and the same objective in order to achieve the stereoscopic impression. Provided in sequence from the object are, first, the objective and, following that, in two beam paths which are oriented parallel to one another and which serve for separate observation by the left and right eye, a magnification changer which is generally afocal, a tube lens system, an image erecting system, and an eyepiece.
The sequence of the image erecting system and tube lens system may also be reversed depending on the construction of the stereomicroscope. Further, elements can be provided for reflecting illumination light and image information into and out of the beam path.
To an increasing extent, users of stereomicroscopes of this type of construction want the advantages of three-dimensional viewing combined with large visual fields and higher resolution. This enables an overview of an object and large object fields with high imaging quality and also detailed viewing of small object portions with high magnification without needing to change the objective when moving from one viewing mode to the other.
Further, a large free working distance between the object and objective is often desired so that the object can be manipulated with as little hindrance as possible.
Because of these demands, the microscope manufacturer is increasingly obliged to resolve the contradiction between decreasing the focal length of the objective in order to achieve higher resolution and ensuring large visual fields with a large free working distance.
One expedient for these conflicting requirements is to develop objectives in which the principal plane is advantageously positioned because a principal plane that is displaced in direction of the object results in an increased working distance. An objective of this kind is described in EP 1 369 729, for example.
However, this objective is relatively complicated to manufacture and therefore increases costs.

Stereoscopic microscope with high numerical aperture


A method of effectively manufacturing various types of wire harnesses of complicated wiring structure in which a predetermined number of connectors necessary for a unit wire harness are arranged on a movable pallet. The pallet is then moved so that crimp-style terminal of one of the connectors can come to a crimp connecting position of a rotatable crimp connecting press. An end of an electric wire is fed to the crimp-style terminal at the crimp connecting position. The end of the electric wire is then connected to the terminal by the rotatable crimp connecting press. Then, the pallet is moved again, and the other end of the electric wire is connected to a crimp-style terminal of a predetermined connector by crimp connection. The series of motions are repeated until all terminals necessary for the unit wire harness are connected to the electric wires by crimp connection. According to this method, a rotatable crimp connecting press has a plurality of different crimp connecting blades.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a wire harness for automobile use.
2. Discussion of Related Art
An example of the wire harness for automobile use is shown in FIG. 6, which is composed in such a manner that electric wires "a" are arranged in parallel with each other, connectors C are connected to appropriate portions of the electric wires in the longitudinal and the transverse direction, and the connectors C are covered with covers T if necessary.
From the viewpoint of enhancing the working efficiency, the electric wires "a" are frequently connected to the connectors C by means of crimp-style connection, also referred to herein as a crimp connection. As shown in FIG. 7, this crimp-style connection is conducted in the following manner. In the connector, there is provided a crimp-style terminal 41 having a groove 42, the width of which is somewhat smaller than the outer diameter of the electric wire "a". The electric wire "a" is fed into the groove 42 and pushed down by a crimp connecting blade not shown in the drawing, so that the electric wire "a" can be press-fitted into the groove 42. In the case of an electric wire "a" composed of a bundle of conductors 44 and covering material 43 which covers the bundle of conductors 44, the covering material 43 is torn by the wall of the groove 42 when the electric wire "a" is press-fitted into the groove, so that the bundle of conductors 44, which have been exposed, come into contact with the terminal 41 and electrically communicate with the terminal 41. At the same time, the electric wire "a" is fixed into the groove 42 by the action of spring-back of the terminal 41.
In this connection, an intensity of the spring-back action of the terminal 41 and a pushing distance of the electric wire "a" which has been pushed down are relatively related to each other. When the pushing distance of the electric wire "a" is increased, the intensity of the spring-back action of the terminal 41 is increased. However, when the pushing distance of the electric wire "a" is excessively increased, the terminal 41 is plastically deformed, and the intensity of the spring-back action is decreased or further decreased to zero. In the above case, the crimp connection becomes unstable, and the electric wire "a" is disconnected from the terminal 41 even if a low intensity of force is given to the crimp connecting section from the outside or even if the crimp connecting section is somewhat oscillated.
In the same manner, when the pushing distance of the electric wire "a" is too small, the intensity of the spring-back action becomes too low. Also, the crimp connection becomes unstable in this case.
In order to connect the electric wire "a" to the groove 42 with pressure in a stable state by the action of spring-back so that the electric wire "a" can be positively communicated with the terminal 41, it is necessary that the electric wire "a" is pushed into the groove 42 by an appropriate distance. When this crimp connection, in which the electric wire "a" is pushed into the groove 42 by an appropriate distance, is manually conducted by a worker, the pushing distance of the crimp connecting blade fluctuates, that is, when a different worker conducts the crimp connection by pushing the electric wire "a" into the groove 42, the pushing distance fluctuates.
Usually, a plurality of electric wires "a" are connected to one connector C as shown in FIG. 6. When the plurality of electric wires "a" are manually connected by a worker one by one, the pushing distance of the electric wire "a" for each terminal fluctuates even if the same worker conducts this connection.
When the number of electric circuits (the number of electric wires "a") increases, the number of crimp connections also increases. In accordance with the increase in the number of crimp connections, there is a possibility of the occurrence of erroneous wiring. In order to solve the above problems, this crimp connection has been automatized recently.
When an automatic crimp connecting machine is used in the manufacture of the wire harness, the aforementioned fluctuation of connection can be avoided and further the connecting speed can be increased. However, the following problems may be encountered. FIG. 8 shows an example of connections made by connectors and terminals, which are arranged as follows. The connector includes five connectors C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3, C.sub.4 and C.sub.5. Connector C.sub.1, has four terminals of T.sub.11 to T.sub.14, connector C.sub.2 has four terminals of T.sub.21 to T.sub.24, and connector C.sub.3 has four terminals of T.sub.31 to T.sub.34. Connector C.sub.4 has three terminals of T.sub.41 to T.sub.43, and connector C.sub.5 has three terminals of T.sub.51 to T.sub.53. Electric wire "a" includes four electric wires of a.sub.1, a.sub.2, a.sub.3 and a.sub.4, which are complicatedly connected to the connectors as shown in the drawing. In order to manufacture the above wire harness, the structure of the manufacturing apparatus becomes complicated and the size of the apparatus is increased. As a result, the manufacturing cost is raised. Therefore, it is impossible to apply the automatic connecting machine to a case in which a large number of types of products are produced, wherein a quantity of each type of product is small.
In an automobile factory in which the number of electronic parts to be incorporated into automobiles is increased day after day, it is an urgent necessity to manufacture various types of wire harness of complicated wiring effectively.

Method of manufacturing wire harness for automobile use

Harness System Technologies Research, Ltd.


A jogging weight having a body with a handle portion formed therein and a chamber formed in the handle portion of the body. The handle portion is suitable for the receipt of a human hand. The chamber has a generally cylindrical configuration. The chamber opens along a top surface of the body. The body has a trumpet area formed along a top portion of the body. This trumpet area extends generally transverse to the chamber. The trumpet area opens adjacent to an opening of the chamber and has a flared opening opposite the chamber. A canister of a repellent chemical is removably affixed within the chamber. The canister has a nozzle extending outwardly of the chamber so as to deliver a spray of repellent chemical through the trumpet area. An elastomeric member is interposed between the canister and the chamber so as to retain the canister within the chamber.

Jogging is a favorite exercise for millions of Americans. Typically, the jogger will cover large distances during his or her jogging activity. In many cities, such long distances will cause the jogger to pass through dangerous, or at least unsavory, neighborhoods. Many times, the jogger must pass through residential areas that have numerous dogs wandering about. Over the years, there has developed the need to provide the jogger with a means for self-defense during his or her jogging activity.
In recent years, a jogging device has been developed known as "Heavyhands". The "Heavyhands" strength endurance exercise system, described in the books "Heavyhands Walking" and "The Heavyhands Walking Book!", both by Leonard Schwartz, utilizes a weight that is held in an exerciser's hand. The weight has a strap that fits across the back of the hand and facilitates the exerciser holding the hand weight while the exerciser moves his or her arm in a prescribed fashion. Ideally, the strap only provides support which aids the exerciser in holding the hand weight but does not constrict the hand and thereby hinder blood flow through the hand. The "Heavyhands" system is a system of high repetition movements that involves heart, lungs, and every muscle group simultaneously. The "Heavyhands" system can be adapted so as to receive heavier weights by simply screwing the weights onto the ends of the handle. The "Heavyhands" can be employed during walking, jogging, dancing, bending and twisting activities. It has been found that three or four half hour workouts per week superbly condition the cardiopulmonary system and over ninety percent of the body muscle. The "Heavyhands" system burns calories and fat at enormous rates. In normal use, the "Heavyhands" system is employed by a large number of joggers during jogging activities. Unfortunately, the "Heavyhands" system is of minimal self-defense value. There has developed the need to enhance the ability to use the "Heavyhands" system during jogging exercise while still facilitating the ability to carry out self-defense, if necessary.
In the past, a large number of patents have issued that describe various hand held gas dispensers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,121, issued on Feb. 18, 1992, to J. E. Wallace shows a glove or mitten having a pocket in the palm thereof so as to hold the container of a chemical repellent, such as mace. The pocket can be attached to the hand by way of a glove or by way of a strap extending around the periphery of the palm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,005, issued on Oct. 16, 1984, to L. Martinez teaches a portable hand-mounted defense weapon system. This device utilizes a strap having VELCRO (TM) fasteners so as to allow the strap to be extended around the palm of the hand. A pocket is formed in the strap for receiving the mace canister.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,980, issued on Mar. 19, 1985, to D. M. Butcher, shows a security hand band which is formed of a strip of bright colored, waterproof cloth. The strip has a first opening adjacent one end so as to receive the user's thumb. Openings are provided so as to accommodate various sizes of hands. A VELCRO (TM) material is used in the palm of the hand of the user so as to receive a canister of mace. The strip also has reflectors on its end so as to reflect light at night.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,879, issued on Aug. 7, 1984, to G. C. Des Voignes teaches another type of attack repellent holder. This device includes an elastic strap that secures the repellent to the hand. The repellent is positioned adjacent to the thumb of the hand so that the actuator for the repellent canister is positioned adjacent to the thumb or fingers of the user.
Various jogging weights have been developed in the past so as to carry out the "Heavyhands" system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,740, issued on Jul. 23, 1991, to Schwartz et al. shows the hand weight as having a bolted arrangement on the ends of the handle so as to receive internally threaded weights. British Patent No. 21900, issued in 1903, shows an early embodiment of a jogging weight. U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,455, issued on Aug. 4, 1992. to King et al. describes a user-friendly dumbbell which includes a weight which is covered with a protective material.
Unfortunately, none of these prior art patents describes a "Heavyhands" system that includes the use of a repellent chemical. The prior art patents, that describe the use of gloves with attachments for the receipt of repellent chemicals, do not provide the weight of the "Heavyhands" system. As such, such configurations are not particularly useful for jogging purposes. The embodiments of weights which can be used in the "Heavyhands" system are useful for the jogging activities, but do not incorporate a means of self-defense, such as a chemical repellent spray. As such, a need has developed for the incorporation of a self-defense chemical system in a jogging weight.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a jogging weight that includes a means for the receipt of a self-defense chemical spray.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a jogging weight that enhances the quality of exercise of the jogger.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a jogging weight that includes a self-defense chemical spray that is conveniently positioned for use by the jogger.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a jogging weight that includes a self-defense chemical which is easy to use, easy to manufacture, relatively inexpensive and aesthetically pleasing.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.


A novel press-fit electrically-conductive contact member, as, for example, an electrically-conductive metal pin, characterized by a conforming section which has an elastically-deformable region which acts as a spring and which is adapted to engage a substrate hole in a press-fitting relationship. The conforming section comprises opposed beam members configured to accommodate a considerably larger hole tolerance yet still provide sufficient retention force to stabilize the pin during a soldering process that such substrates may typically undergo. The beam cross-sections are configured to allow them to occupy a side-by-side position. Contact members with the conforming section can be manufactured by a wire-forming process in which end-to-end connected pins are formed as a continuous strip needing no excess material for carrying the pins, nor are any air gaps formed between the pins, and thus the finished continuous strip of pins can be wound up on a reel.

Two types of press-fit techniques for mounting electrically-conductive contact members such as pins into the preformed typically plated-through holes in a PCB are known. In the first type, a solid pin is used, which has no spring energy. The solid pin is press-fitted into the non-elastically-deformable area of the plated-through hole, and thus requires soldering for long term reliability In a typical use for this method, to ensure reasonable retention force of the press-fitted connection prior to soldering, the plated-through hole tolerance for the solid pin is kept at .+-.0.002 inches or less, which increases PCB manufacturing cost to stay within such a tight tolerance. Further disadvantages include possible hole deformation and damage of the hole under-plating and trace circuit connections, which are initially undetectable and therefore detracts from long-term reliability.
The second type uses what is known as a press-fit compliant pin, which provides limited elastic deformation of a compliant section in the pin structure and does not require soldering. While this contact member can be removed, it cannot be reused due to permanent deformation of the compliant section. In a typical use for this method, the plated-through hole tolerance for the compliant pin is kept at .+-.0.003 inches or less, which still requires relatively high PCB manufacturing cost especially in punched versus drilled PCB holes. The tolerance is also hole-size related, which means that the smaller the hole, the tighter the tolerances required and the higher the fabrication cost. Examples of compliant pin constructions can be found described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,186,982; 4,464,009; 4,586,778; 4,740,166; 4,793,817.
The most common manufacturing method for both these types of pins is to stamp the parts from an unplated metal strip in a progressive die, utilyzing a carrier strip (ultimately removed as waste) to carry the pins through the manufacturing equipment. The carrier strip is used at times for continuous reeling of the pins for strip line plating and subsequent automatic placement (insertion into a connection housing or directly into the PCB). The customer-user is responsible for accommodating and ultimately disposing of the removed carrier strip. In the progressive die stamping process, a punch-in die removes metal between adjacent contacts pinned leaving sharp corners and rough surfaces. These conditions are difficult to eliminate due to the tooling not having effective access to the pin sides. As a result, when producing a press-fit pin in a progressive die from a metal strip, the press-fit section frequently causes PCB hole damage. Also, when there is a space between adjacent pins, the number of pins that can be packaged on a reel is reduced. Still further, it is desirable at times to produce press-fit pins that are round rather than square. Progressive die stamping cannot produce round pins.

Conforming press-fit contact pin for printed circuit board


A method for producing a high-strength galvanized steel sheet having excellent fatigue resistance properties. The method includes an oxidation processing in which a steel sheet is heated at a temperature of 400 to 750° C. in an atmosphere having an O2 concentration of 1000 ppm by volume or more and a H2O concentration of 1000 ppm by volume or more, and the steel sheet is heated at a temperature of 600 to 850° C. in an atmosphere having an O2 concentration of less than 1000 ppm by volume and a H2O concentration of 1000 ppm by volume or more. The method also includes reduction-annealing in which the steel sheet is heated at a heating rate of 0.1° C./sec or more to a temperature of 650 to 900° C. in an atmosphere having a H2 concentration of 5 to 30 vol % and a H2O concentration of 10 to 1000 ppm by volume.

These days, surface-treated steel sheets having corrosion protection properties imparted on the base material steel sheet are used in fields of, for example, automobiles, home appliances, and construction materials. Particularly, galvanized steel sheets and galvannealed steel sheets, which have excellent corrosion protection properties, are used. Moreover, from the standpoint of improving the fuel economy of automobiles and the collision safety characteristics of automobiles, the use of a high-strength steel sheet in automobiles has been promoted in an attempt to reduce the thickness of the vehicle body material by increasing its strength to achieve a weight reduction and strength increase of the vehicle body itself.
Typically, galvanized steel sheets are produced by subjecting a base material steel sheet to recrystallization annealing in an annealing furnace of a CGL and thereafter to hot-dip galvanizing processing. As the base material, a steel sheet obtained by, for example, hot rolling of a slab and cold rolling may be used. Galvannealed steel sheets are produced by performing hot-dip galvanizing and thereafter further performing alloying processing.
An effective way to increase the strength of a steel sheet is addition of Si and/or Mn. During continuous annealing, however, Si and Mn become oxidized even in a reducing N2+H2 gas atmosphere, in which Fe is not oxidized (in which Fe oxide is reduced), and form oxides of Si and/or Mn in the surface portion of the steel sheet. During galvanizing processing, oxides of Si and/or Mn decrease the wettability between molten zinc and the base steel sheet, and thus steel sheets containing Si and/or Mn often have bare spots. Even if no bare spots are formed, a problem of poor coating adhesion exists.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for producing a galvanized steel sheet including, as the base material, a high-strength steel sheet containing high amounts of Si and Mn. In the method, a steel sheet surface oxide film is formed and thereafter reduction-annealing is performed. According to Patent Literature 1, however, it is impossible to achieve good coating adhesion consistently.
On the other hand, Patent Literature 2 to 8 disclose technologies in which the oxidation rate and the amount of reduction are limited or an attempt is made to stabilize the effect by actually measuring the thickness of the oxide film in the oxidation zone and control the oxidation conditions and the reduction conditions based on the actual measurement results.
Furthermore, Patent Literature 9 to 11 limits the gas composition including, for example, O2, H2, and H2O of the atmosphere for the oxidation-reduction process.

Method for producing high-strength galvanized steel sheet


A lock structure for a flexible line in which one looped end and a contiguous intermediate section of the line are fitted in approximately V-shaped grooves formed in a pair of approximately trapezoidal lock halves. The lock halves are of synthetic resin and have sharp pointed projections formed within the grooves for securing the line therein. The lock members are aligned with one another by an arrangement of engaging projections formed on a first one of the lock halves which engage with a corresponding arrangement of receiving holes formed in the second one of the lock halves. The lock halves are securely joined to one another by welding so that the flexible line can be firmly maintained in the welded lock structure for a prolonged period of time without loosening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock structure for a long, flexible line such as a lead for a pet, a safety rope for a construction worker, an evacuation rope, a painter for mooring a ship, etc.
2. Discussion of Background
A rope, for example a dog lead in conventional use, is bent at one end into the form of a loop to be gripped by hand. The leading end of the dog lead is fastened to the side surface of an intermediate portion of the lead, and this portion is bound around with a strip of leather.
The conventional type of lead mentioned above, however, has the disadvantage that the lead is likely to get soft and broken at the leather after repeated use, with the result that the looped end of the lead will become detached from the intermediate portion. The lead, therefore, cannot withstand long-time use.