An electrical connector comprises: a base connector having a base housing and fixed to a print board, the base housing defining a recess having a plurality of plane opponent contacts; a socket connector having a socket housing that houses a plurality of socket contacts to be connected with the opponent contacts, the socket connector inserted into and removed from the recess; a plurality of lead wires extending in a direction substantially parallel to an attachment face of the print board; a pair of first locking mechanisms provided with the base housing and the socket housing, respectively, the first locking mechanisms engaging each other in a direction perpendicular to the direction of extension of the lead wires; and a pair of second locking mechanisms provided with the base housing and the socket housing, respectively, the second locking mechanisms engaging each other in a direction opposite the direction of extension of the lead wires.

1. Field of the Invention
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-317951, filed Nov. 1, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to an electrical connector. In particular, the invention relates to an electrical connector having a locking mechanism for maintaining engagement between two connectors, one of which is a base connector fixed to a print board and the other of which is a socket connector inserted into and removed from the base connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, a compact-sized portable electronic device such as DSC (Digital Still Camera), cellular phone, CD player, or MD player incorporates a battery. To supply electric power from the battery to a circuit board (print board) installed in said electronic device, an extremely small connector, so called CSP (Chip Size Package) type wire to board connector, has been employed.
An electrical connector has been invented in which one ends of lead wires extending from the battery are attached to a socket connector like the above-mentioned socket connector and a base connector like the above-mentioned base connector is fixed to a print board. Further, this electrical connector is designed to avoid a problematic situation where the insertion/removal directions of the socket connector and the direction of extension of the lead wires are different when the lead wires are pulled away to remove the socket connector from the base connector, thereby causing the connectors to tend to be broken by prying damage on these connectors (e.g., refer to Patent document 1).
In the electrical connector according to Patent document 1, when the lead wires are pulled away, the cam face of the base connector and the cam face of the socket connector act together to convert the pulling force to a force along the insertion/removal directions of the socket connector. Further, in the electrical connector, the socket connector is provided with socket contacts for applying a contact force in such a manner that a pair of contact strips on the socket contact sandwich a plane opponent contact from both sides of the opponent contact.
[Patent Document 1]
    Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2002-33150
FIG. 17 is a general perspective view of the base connector according to Patent document 1. Further, FIG. 17 of this application corresponds to FIG. 1 of Patent document 1. FIG. 18 is a general perspective view of the socket connector according to Patent document 1. Further, FIG. 18 of this application corresponds to FIG. 2 of Patent document 1. Moreover, FIG. 19 is a vertical cross-sectional view of both connectors in a mated condition in Patent document 1. In FIG. 19, hatching of the socket contact and plane connection terminals is omitted. Further, FIG. 19 of this application corresponds to FIG. 9 of Patent document 1. FIG. 20 is a front view of the socket connector according to Patent document 1. Further, FIG. 20 of this application corresponds to FIG. 8 of Patent document 1.
A conventional electrical connector (hereinafter, referred to simply as connector) 100 comprises a base connector 6 solder-bonded to an attachment face 51 of a print board 5 and a socket connector 7 forming a pair with the base connector 6 and inserted into/removed from a recess (space for insertion/removal) 61 of the base connector 6.
In FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, the recess 61 of the base connector 6 is open in a direction perpendicular to an attachment face 51 of the print board 5 and away from the attachment face 51 (corresponding to the removal direction X2 of FIG. 17), and is also open in one out of two opposite directions parallel to the attachment face 51, i.e., in a front direction Y. The socket connector 7 is inserted into and removed from the recess 61 of the base connector 6 in an insertion direction X1 and a removal direction X2 perpendicular to the attachment face 51. The socket connector 7 is provided with lead wires 9w as an electrical conductor extending generally in the front direction Y.
When the socket connector 7 is removed from the base connector 6, the lead wires 9w are in some cases pulled in a direction other than the removal direction X2. If the wires are pulled in that direction, a pulling force via the lead wires 9w is converted to a force in the removal direction X2 of the socket connector 7 in order to smoothly remove the socket connector 7 without having to pry off the connectors.
In FIG. 17, the base connector 6 is provided with a base housing 60 comprising a base 62 fixed along the attachment face 51, a pair of sidewalls 62a, 62b disposed in upright position on left/right sides of the base 62, and a rear wall 62c. The base 62, the pair of sidewalls 62a, 62b, and the rear wall 62c are combined to form the recess 61.
In FIG. 17, the recess 61 houses a plurality of (e. g., three) plane contacts 8 (hereinafter, referred to as plane connection terminals 8) parallel to the sidewalls 62a, 62b. In FIG. 19, the plane connection terminals 8 are inserted into fixing holes formed in the base 62 and held by the base 62 and the rear wall 62c. The plane connection terminal 8 includes a substantially rectangular main body 80 and a lead portion 8r extending from the lower end to rear side of the main body 80. The main body 80 has a contact portion 81 protruding into the recess 61 (refer to FIG. 19).
When both connectors 6, 7 are in a mated condition, the plane connection terminal 8 is sandwiched by a pair of contact strips 91a, 91b included in the socket contact 9 of the socket connector 7 from both sides of the terminal and held by the strips (refer to FIG. 20).
In FIG. 17, the rear wall 62c is provided with a pair of vertical grooves 64a, 64b along the pair of the sidewalls 62a, 62b. When both connectors 6, 7 are in a mated condition, the pair of vertical grooves 64a, 64b act as seats for a pair of vertical ribs, not shown, formed in the socket connector 7.
In FIG. 17, a pair of mating grooves 63a, 63b extending from the bottom to top of the recess 61 are provided in the inner faces of the pair of sidewalls 62a, 62b. The pair of mating grooves 63a, 63b act as seats for a pair of two-step ribs 73a, 73b formed on and protruding from both sides of the socket connector 7 (refer to FIG. 18). The pair of two-step ribs 73a, 73b include thick upper ribs 73a1, 73b1 and thin lower ribs 73a2, 73b2.
In FIG. 18, the pair of lower ribs 73a2, 73b2 are of a triangular shape and have a width gradually reduced from the top to bottom of the rib, and the inclined faces of the ribs form cam faces for slidable engagement with inclined faces (refer to FIG. 17) formed on the pair of mating grooves 63a, 63b. This allows conversion of a pulling force causing the socket connector 7 with the lead wires 9w to be pulled in the front direction Y into a force in the removal direction X1 of the socket connector 7.
In FIG. 17, a pair of mating projections 66a, 66b facing each other are provided on the upper front portions of the inner faces of the pair of sidewalls 62a, 62b. When both connectors 6, 7 are in a mated condition, the pair of mating projections 66a, 66b mate with a pair of mating depressions 76a, 76b (refer to FIG. 18) provided on both side faces 72a, 72b of a socket housing 70, thereby allowing both connectors 6, 7 in a mated condition to be held with a predetermined holding force. Further, the pair of mating projections 66a, 66b and the pair of mating depressions 66a, 66b form a locking mechanism.
Note that in FIG. 17, a pair of reinforcing tabs 67a, 67b as a metallic reinforcing member are pressed into press-fit grooves formed in the lower front portions of the base housing 60 and a part of the reinforcing tab is exposed from the corresponding side face of the base housing 60 so as to be solder-bonded to the attachment face 51 of the print board 5.
In FIG. 18, the socket connector 7 comprises in its front section a projection 72c provided on the upper face, i.e., a pressing face of the socket housing 70 and protruding so as to correspond to the position of the socket contact 9, and the above-described pair of two-step ribs 73a, 73b formed on and protruding from both side faces of the socket housing 70, respectively. Pressing the surface of the projection 72c allows the socket connector 7 to be mounted onto the base connector 6.
In FIG. 19, the base housing 60 of the base connector 6 is provided with the plane connection terminals 8. On the other hand, the socket housing 70 of the socket connector 7 is provided with the socket contacts 9. For example, the base housing 60 is provided with three plane connection terminals 8 disposed in parallel to one another and the corresponding three socket contacts 9 are disposed in parallel in the socket housing 70. The lead wires 9w press-bonded to pressing portions 92 of the socket contacts 9 extend from the socket housing 70.
In FIG. 19, the plane connection terminal 8 comprises the main body 80 pressed into the base housing 60 and fixed thereto, and the contact portion 81 protruding into the recess 61 formed in the base connector 6. On the other hand, the socket contact 9 is inserted into and held by a compartment 71 having the shape of a square pole. A portion of the compartment 71 corresponding to the contact portion 91 of the socket contact 9 is opened toward the recess 61.
In FIG. 19, the socket connector 7 is inserted toward the recess 61 formed in the base connector 6 and mates with the base connector 6. Then, the plane connection terminal 8 and the socket contact 9 forming a pair are electrically connected.
In FIG. 20, the socket contact 9 has a pair of contact strips 91a, 91b extending in parallel and facing each other, and the contact strips are provided with contact points 91c, 91d made of projections protruding so as to face the corresponding opposing face of the corresponding one of the pair of contact strips 91a, 91b.
In FIG. 20, the contact portion 81 (refer to FIG. 19) of the plane connection terminal 8 of the base connector 6 is inserted into a gap S between the pair of opposing contact points 91c, 91d and the plane connection terminal 8 is sandwiched and elastically held by the pair of contact strips 91a, 91b, thereby allowing for intimate contact between the plane connection terminal 8 and the socket contact 9.
However, it has been required that the socket connector 7 shown in FIG. 18 is mounted at a substantially lower height. Further, the mounting height of the socket connector 7 is substantially determined by the distance over which the pair of contact strips 91a, 91b provided in the socket contact 9 extend. It has been required that the structure of the socket contact is changed in order for the socket connector to be mounted at a substantially lower height.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the structure of the socket contact is changed to allow the socket connector to be mounted at a substantially lower height and further the base contact to be mounted at a substantially lower height. In this case, it becomes impossible to allow the recess provided in the base connector to have a sufficient depth. Further, when such connectors having a lower height are used, it would be undesirable and expected that the lead wires extending from the socket connector act to cause the movement of the socket connector about a point of support, which movement is associated with a pair of locking mechanisms installed at both sides of the socket connector. This implies that the movement of the socket connector eventually leads to contact failure.
Therefore, there is a need for a more reliable electrical connecter having a locking mechanism for securely maintaining engagement between both the extremely small connectors having a lowered height, one of which is a base connector fixed to a print board and the other of which is a socket connector inserted into/removed from the base connector and having lead wires. Thus, it can be concluded that the foregoing is the subject of the invention.
In consideration of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the invention is to provide a compact sized electrical connector having a low height and equipped with a locking mechanism for securely maintaining engagement between both connectors, one of which is a socket connector inserted into a recess formed in a base connector, without being affected by lead wires extending from the socket connector.


The support device includes a support and a pair of bars spaced apart from each other. The bars include a slot configured to enclose peripheral side edges of a flexible pouch. In one embodiment, the bars are wing shaped and include a first member and a second member. The first member is angled with respect to the second member. The slot extends inwardly from an inner surface of the bar and is disposed between the first and second member. The slot is configured to receive a peripheral side seal of the flexible pouch. The first and second members help keep the body of the pouch within the grips of the gripper. In a second preferred embodiment, the bars are an elongated member. The slot is disposed along the inner surface of the bars. The bars have a length sufficient to receive the side peripheral seal of the pouch.

Machines for forming and filling flexible pouches are currently known and used. Some machines include a turret and a rail generally concentric to the turret. A carriage is mounted to the turret. The carriage holds a plurality of grippers. The grippers are paired and each of the grippers includes ends configured to hold a top portion of the flexible pouch so as to position the pouch for pouch finishing operations such as filling, sealing, or fitment insertion. The turret is centrally located among a plurality of work stations.
Each work station may include a plurality of arms configured to perform various operations to the pouch. For instance, one of the work stations may be configured to apply a heat seal to the bottom edge of a pouch. Yet another work station may be configured to open the pouch, and yet another work station may be configured to fill the pouch. As the pouch progresses around the turret and through each of the individual stations, the pouch is filled, sealed, and then transferred to an end point for delivery to a distributor. It should be appreciated that a programmable controller may be in electrical communication with each of the work stations and carriage so as to automatically move the pouch progressively through the work stations. The machine may further include sensors. The sensors may be distributed throughout the work stations so as to inform the controller when a finishing process is complete.
It should be appreciated the pouch may be subject to centrifugal forces as the pouch progresses through the arcuate sections of the turret. In particular, as the pouch is being held at its top side edges by the grippers the centrifugal force of the pouch, as the pouch navigates through a turn, may cause the bottom portion of the pouch to become misaligned with the various stations. Accordingly, it remains desirable to have a support device configured to hold the bottom edges of the pouch in alignment with the grippers so as to maintain proper position of the pouch throughout the various stations, and to stabilize the pouch as the pouch is subjected to centrifugal forces, or forces caused by the stop and start of the pouch between the work stations.


An optical device includes: an optical component; a case air-sealed, and made of metal, the optical component being secured within the case; and a lens provided within the case, and positionally adjusted in consideration of a deformation of the case air-sealed, light emitted from the optical component passing through the lens or light traveling to the optical component passing through the lens.

There is an optical device including: a lens; and an optical component transmitting light to the lens or receiving light that has passed through the lens. The technology related to such an optical device is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-201939.
To modularize such a lens and an optical component, it is conceivable to provide the lens and the optical component within a single case and to air-seal the case. However, when the case is air-sealed, the case might be deformed before and after air-sealing. This deformation might cause the lens to be displaced from its desirable position.

Optical device and method of manufacturing the same


An apparatus comprising a processor and an interface. The processor may be configured to support system-on-chip debugging. The interface circuit may be coupled to the processor and configured to interface with an external bus. Reading and writing commands of the processor may be integrated with the system-on-chip debugging.

The present invention relates to a method and/or architecture for implementing a bus interface unit in a microprocessor core generally and, more particularly, to a method and/or architecture for integrating an EJTAG interface with an external bus.
High performance 32-bit and 64-bit Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processors are an important part of digital consumer electronics, information appliances, set-top boxes, and office automation applications. However, effective debug and development tools for high performance RISC processors remains a concern. Additionally, debugging and hardware/software integration is a significant burden to prototype development and ultimately to market opportunity window.
It would be desirable to provide a method and/or architecture that can reduce die space, complexity and design overhead in the design of integrated circuits.
The present invention concerns an apparatus comprising a processor and an interface. The processor may be configured to support system-on-chip debugging. The interface circuit may be coupled to the processor and configured to interface with an external bus. Reading and writing commands of the processor may be integrated with the system-on-chip debugging.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention include providing a method and/or architecture for implementing a microprocessor core with a bus interface unit implementing an integrated EJTAG interface that may (i) reduce die space, complexity and overhead; (ii) provide a non-intrusive development and debug technology; (iii) provide real time debug features; (iv) eliminate a need for an independent interface to an external bus; (v) simplify the bus interface unit; and/or (vi) simplify the EJTAG interface.


An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus is capable of suppressing occurrence of a problem caused by misalignment of the feeding speed at the time of delivery and receipt in the intermediate feeding roller with a simple configuration without increasing costs. The image forming apparatus includes a drive controller that controls the drive speed of an intermediate feeding roller that performs skew correction for the sheet, and a feeding speed information acquisition section that acquires information relating to the feeding speed of the sheet to be fed to the intermediate feeding roller. The drive controller drives the intermediate feeding roller at least three different speeds based on the information relating to the feeding speed acquired by the feeding speed information acquisition section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet to be supplied and, more particularly, to control of the drive speed of an intermediate feeding roller that feeds a sheet to a regist roller.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus, an intermediate feeding roller that feeds a sheet to a regist roller (roller that performs skew correction or timing adjustment for a sheet being fed) has roles of performing sheet feeding operation at the time when an image is formed onto the sheet in cooperation with the regist roller and receiving a sheet supplied from a sheet supply cassette or sheet, onto the first surface of which an image has already been formed, fed for image forming on the second surface thereof (fed for duplex printing).
It is preferable that the sheet feeding speed of the intermediate feeding roller having the above roles be synchronized with the sheet feeding speed of a feeding roller or regist roller which is a partner for the sheet feeding operation. The sheet feeding speed with which the intermediate feeding roller should be synchronized includes a sheet supply speed (speed at which a sheet supplied from the cassette is fed to the regist roller), a process speed (sheet feeding speed when a sheet is fed through the regist roller at the time of toner image forming), and an ADU speed (feeding speed of a sheet to be resupplied for image forming onto the second surface thereof).
As a method for allowing the intermediate feeding roller to realize a plurality of different sheet feeding speeds, one in which a pulse motor is used a lot for the drive of feeding rollers that perform sheet feeding in an apparatus and one in which a plurality of clutch mechanisms are used for them can be taken. However, these methods may increase cost.
Further, even in the configuration in which the clutch mechanism is adopted to drive the intermediate feeding roller, only two different sheet feeding speeds have been realized so far (refer to, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-130811).
In recent years, in order to increase sheet feeding efficiency, intervals between sheets tend to be short in the sheet feeding operation in which a plurality of sheets are sequentially fed. It is difficult to perform connection or stop of the clutch mechanism at a fraction of the time while performing the sequential sheet feeding operation with short sheet interval as described above. Further, misalignment in the feeding speed at the time of delivery and receipt of the sheet between rollers or the like may cause roller surface wear and sheet jamming.

Duplex image forming apparatus with feeding roller with at least three different speeds


The present invention designs and implements a high-speed PLL circuit and a high-speed synthesizer using the high-speed PLL circuit which has an increased switching speed, a reduced number of jitters and a reduced magnitude of spurious response. In order to achieve the above, the present invention provides a PLL circuit forming a closed loop wherein: one of the inputs of a phase comparator 1 serves as the input of the PLL circuit and the output of phase comparator 1 is connected to the input of a loop filter 2; the output of loop filter 2 is connected to the input of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 3; the output of the VCO 3 serves as the output of the PLL circuit; and the output of the VCO 3 is supplied to the other input of phase comparator 1 through a frequency divider 4. The circuit form and circuit constants of loop filter 2 are determined so that the transfer function of the closed loop becomes a Gaussian function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-speed phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit. In particular, the present invention relates to the configuration of a PLL circuit applicable to a frequency synthesizer employed typically in a digital portable wireless telephone or other communication equipment and also relates to a high-speed PLL suitable for a high-speed frequency synthesizer capable of responding quickly to a change in desired value of the controlled frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is generally known, a representative application of a PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) circuit is a PLL frequency synthesizer which works as a closed-loop control system comprising a phase comparator, a loop filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and a frequency divider.
With the portable telephone going digital, in the PHS (Personal Handy-Phone System) portable telephone, for example, there is demanded a high-speed PLL frequency synthesizer capable of switching 77 waves with different frequencies in the 1.9-GHz band with a bandwidth of 300 kHz from one to another in a time of the order of milliseconds or even microseconds.
As a technique of configuring a PLL frequency synthesizer embracing the conventional technology, in general, a technique whereby a filter known as a lag-lead filter is used is adopted. This technique is described in detail for example in a document called `Bell System Technical Journal`, May 1980, Pages 127 to 136. Characteristics of a PLL using a loop filter of a circuit disclosed in this document can not be said to be adequate when an application to the contemporary digital radio equipment is taken into account. This is because, normally, an attempt is made to increase the speed of the PLL by using the conventional technology starting with an assumed form of the configuration of a base circuit derived from the intuition and the experience of the design engineer. In this case, a technique is adopted whereby optimal values of elements constituting the configuration of the circuit are found from a numerical analysis carried out by using a computer. With such a technique, however, not only is increasing the speed to a maximum value impossible, but there is also no guarantee that optimal circuit constants can be found by using the numerical searching technique even if the form of the configuration of the base circuit is appropriate as long as the assumed form of the configuration of the base circuit itself can not be used to achieve a maximum speed. As a result, there is raised a problem that a PLL with a sufficiently high speed can not be realized.


The formation and manipulation of microbubbles, microdroplets and films of (preferably) flowable materials, such as liquids and gases, are used to beneficially control or modulate acoustic-energy propagation, electromagnetic-energy propagation or electrical potential and current application. A droplet, bubble or film causes at least one of reflection, refraction, diffraction, attenuation, sapping, scattering, dissipation, redirection, conversion or blocking of at least one component of the energy due to the droplet, bubble or film causing a propagation discontinuity, disruption or energy-barrier to the energy. The energy comprises at least one of acoustic, electrical, electromagnetic, magnetic, kinetic, mechanical, chemical, RF, thermal, pneumatic, hydraulic or non-visible optical energy.

Acoustic energy is increasingly utilized, directly or indirectly, in a large number of fields, including medical ultrasound diagnostic imaging, thermal bubble-jet inkjet personal printers, piezo-jet inkjet personal printers, non-destructive testing, sonar, and microphone technologies, to name a few. Distance sensors, mass-sensors, fluid-level sensors, and many security sensors also incorporate acoustic and ultrasonic devices. Emerging applications include the use of ultrasound to manipulate fluids or analyze samples on a microscopic scale within lab-on-a-chip devices. All of these involve the controlled application, passage or manipulation of acoustic waves created in a variety of manners.
Of substantial value would be the ability to switch, redirect or modulate the propagation of acoustic waves at low cost and on a fine scale amenable to micro-integration. This would allow reconfiguration of acoustic-based systems and components in a rapid dynamic manner on a grand scale, perhaps even in real time. This is not currently possible at low cost or on a fine scale. The acoustic waves we will manipulate are typically traveling in some sort of acoustic material or waveguide, such as in a gas-filled waveguide, liquid-filled waveguide, solid waveguide or in a substrate having technically useful acoustic or electroacoustic properties, such as lithium niobate. In any event, all such waves can be manipulated in accordance with the teachings of the invention in at least one of its embodiments. We also note that acoustic waves can take many forms such as bulk waves and surface waves of various well-known types, and the teachings of the present invention can be applied to one or more of these types separately or even simultaneously.
Likewise, RF (radio-frequency) energy and other high frequency electromagnetic waveforms are increasingly being employed in communications, radar, tracking devices, GPS (geopositioning systems), and in recent efforts to utilize terahertz electromagnetic energy to do medical diagnostic imaging and airport security screening. A similar means of inexpensively switching, modulating or redirecting such energies cheaply, and particularly on a fine scale, would be attractive. Potential applications include reconfigurable antennas, power-efficient personal communication devices, miniature security scanners, and self-healing electronic systems.
It would also be attractive to have a means of modulating electrical currents passing-through or potentials applied-to conductive-liquid microfluidic channels. Conductive liquids through which some electrical current flows, for example, are used in some continuous inkjet printers.
In these manners, one could implement networks or arrays of acoustic, electromagnetic or electrical-energy propagation switching, redirection and modulation devices using coplanar IC-style integration or other MEMs-like techniques in two- or three-dimensions. This would particularly have a large impact on what is possible in a consumer or mobile product. For RF devices, the present invention is seen as providing an additional tool with which to manipulate RF beyond existing FET switches and PIN diodes.
One prior art reference that we identified that may be relevant is "Switching Fiber-Optic Circuits with Microbubbles" by John Uebbing, appearing in Sensor Magazine in May 2003. In short, Uebbing utilizes thermally-formed microbubbles, such as the type employed in inkjet printing technology, to block or allow the propagation of light used in fiber-optic data lines-in the form of a bubble-based light switch. The bubbling-switch of their article is provided as a MEMS-based or micromachined bubble-array switch to compete with Texas Instruments DLMs™ or digital light mirrors, which are also useable as switch arrays for fiber-optic signals. Advantages are very high switching density at very low cost. As will be shown below, however, this reference is fundamentally different from our claimed invention.

Microbubble and microdroplet switching, manipulation and modulation of acoustic, electromagnetic and electrical waves, energies and potentials


A method of fabricating a semiconductor device by filling carbon nanotubes in a recess is disclosed. The method of fabricating the semiconductor device comprises patterning a mold on a substrate, coating carbon nanotubes on an entire surface of the recess and the mold formed by the patterning, filling the carbon nanotubes coated on the an entire surface of the mold in the recess, and removing the mold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device by filling carbon nanotubes in a recess.
2. Description of the Related Art
A carbon nanotube (CNT) used in the art to which the present invention pertains has been discovered by chance during a process of synthesizing fullerene (C60), one of allotrope of carbon. In the carbon nanotube, a carbon atom is combined with three peripheral carbon atoms by hybrid orbital sp2 to form a hexagonal honeycomb pattern and a graphene structure with the hexagonal honeycomb patterns is folded in a cylindrical shape to thereby form the carbon nanotube.
The carbon nanotube is fabricated as a single-wall nanotube (SWNT) and a multi-wall nanotube (MWNT) according to synthesizing conditions, and can be grown in various forms according to synthesizing methods. Several methods have been proposed to synthesize the carbon nanotube, of which an arc discharge method and a laser ablation method allow the carbon nanotube with relatively high purity to synthesize at a laboratory level and a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method of allowing a large amount of carbon nanotubes to synthesize is commonly used to be applied for a display and a nano device.
Each of the conventional methods will be described in detail.
The laser ablation method can synthesize only the SWNT, and it can obtain relatively high purity, compared to other methods. According to this method, a test sample obtained by mixing a transition metal and graphite powders at a predetermined ratio within a quartz tube of a melting furnace heated to a temperature of 1,200° C. is evaporated by using laser from outside, which is then moved to a cooler through argon, a buffer gas, and then collected.
The arc discharge method, the first introduced synthesizing method, is a fabrication method obtained by modifying an apparatus when the carbon nanotube was first discovered. In this method, carbon nanotubes are formed by discharging arc between two carbon bars. Herein, it is known that the largest amount of carbon nanotubes can be synthesized in an environment having a uniform pressure of 400 to 700 torr with helium gas and a uniform cooling speed.
The CVD is a method in which when a raw material gas comprising a desired material is injected into a reactor, it receives energy from heat or plasma to be decomposed. In this process, the desired material reaches a surface of a substrate to thereby form a film.
However, the conventional synthesizing methods have some problems with respect to their application in using the carbon nanotubes as follows.
The laser ablation method can provide only the SWNT and cannot control a SWNT having semiconductor characteristics and a SWNT having conductor characteristics. In addition, this method cannot synthesize a large amount of carbon nanotubes. Accordingly, this method is not suitable for commercializing carbon nanotube application products.
In case of the arc discharge method, since the carbon nanotubes are formed through an arc discharge between the two carbon bars, it cannot have high purity and can contain various impurities. Like the laser ablation method, this method also has a large structural difficulty in synthesizing a large amount of carbon nanotubes.
The CVD method allows a large amount of carbon nanotubes to synthesize with relatively high purity, and as shown in FIG. 1, carbon nanotubes can be formed at desired portions by patterning a transition metal, which is a metal catalyst. However, this method also has a problem that the carbon nanotubes are formed only in a vertical direction on the metal catalyst, and since the metal catalyst is requisite for formation of the carbon nanotubes, its application field is limited.
In addition, most of the synthesizing methods require a high temperature process (about 500° C. to 4000° C.). Accordingly, in order to selectively obtain carbon nanotubes, existent methods used in the semiconductor process are quite limited. Moreover, since most of the synthesizing methods cannot form the carbon nanotubes in a multi-layer configuration, their application is limited only to a planar structure.
Furthermore, since the carbon nanotubes synthesized in the directly patterned shape contain various impurities such as amorphous carbon and the metal catalyst, a purification process must be performed on the carbon nanotubes.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating sequential processes of a conventional CVD method.
As shown in FIG. 1, the structure obtained by performing the processes of the conventional CVD method comprises a substrate 1, a metal catalyst 2, a mold 3, and carbon nanotubes 5.
Processes of forming the carbon nanotubes on the substrate 1 by using the conventional CVD method will now be described.
Reference numeral 100A indicates a step of forming the mold 3 in the processes of the CVD method. In this step, the metal catalyst 2 is mounted on an upper surface of the substrate 1 and then the patterned mold 3 is mounted on an upper surface of the metal catalyst 2. The mold 3 is a sort of a photosensitive material such as photoresist.
Reference numeral 100B indicates a step of patterning the mold 3 mounted on the metal catalyst 2. In this step, infrared rays are applied onto the upper surface of the formed mold 3 for a predetermined time. Accordingly, a portion of the metal catalyst 2 that is received the infrared rays, except for the portion on which the mold 3 is mounted, can be patterned through a photolithography process.
Reference numeral 100C indicates a step of forming carbon nanotubes 5 on the upper surface of the metal catalyst 2 that is patterned through a high temperature (about 500° C. to 4000° C.) synthesizing method.
As afore-mentioned, the processes of the conventional CVD method have the problem that the carbon nanotubes are formed only vertically on the metal catalyst 2 and the metal catalyst 2 is requisite, resulting in a limitation of its application field.

Method of forming carbon nanotube on semiconductor substrate, method of forming semiconductor metal wire using the same, and method of fabricating inductor using the same

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


Coated titanium dioxide pigment having high UV absorption properties and use in polymer compositions, especially PVC for building and residential construction is described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coated titanium dioxide pigment with high ultraviolet (UV) absorption properties. This invention further relates to polymer compositions, especially polyvinyl chloride (PVC), incorporating coated titanium dioxide pigments with high UV absorption properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is inherently photoactive, acting as a photocatalyst initiating chemical reactions which break down polymer resins. This type of degradation on the surface of a resin is evident in chalking and loss of surface gloss. Therefore, for many applications, titanium dioxide is surface-treated by coating/encapsulating the TiO2 particles to reduce photoactivity, that is, to make the particles "durable". Surface treatments to encapsulate TiO2 particles include providing the particles with coatings of metal oxides, such as, silica, alumina, zirconia and the like, to suppress the photochemical activity. Such pigments are generally prepared by providing TiO2 pigment particles with a dense metal oxide coating. These pigments are used mainly in exterior applications or in uses that require some resistance to elements such as sunlight, temperature, humidity, etc. While dense metal oxide coatings enhance the durability of TiO2 pigment particles, there is still a need to limit the amount of UV light absorbed by the polymer.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,885,366 and 3,437,502 (also Re. 27,818) provide the basic teachings for making a durable titanium dioxide pigment having an amorphous silica coating followed by a coating of hydrous alumina. These patents are directed at providing durable TiO2 pigments for use in making paints.
There is further need for a TiO2 white pigment with improved UV absorption. UV absorption by TiO2 pigment protects polymer resins from direct UV degradation and discoloration. The higher the UV absorption of the TiO2 pigment, the greater the UV protection.
Titanium dioxide particles of small particle size, including "nano"-TiO2, are known to provide UV absorption when incorporated into polymer systems. However, due to their size, they can be beneficial for transparency but less beneficial for whiteness or opacity. In addition, small particles have large total surface area and require proportionately larger amounts of metal oxide surface treatment to suppress photocatalytic degradation inherent in TiO2.
Palmer, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,725, disclose use of ultraviolet scattering and absorbing metal oxide particles, such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide in polymer resins for the purpose of minimizing ultraviolet degradation of the resin and its underlying substrate. Palmer, et al., disclose use of particles in a size range of 0.001 micron to 0.20 micron, preferably, 0.01 micron to 0.15 micron, but are silent on how particle size is measured, and whether primary or agglomerates are being measured. Palmer teaches use of particles with low opacity to attenuate UV degradation in a surface layer to protect underlying polymer substrate from UV absorption.
Titanium dioxide of the prior art provides either good UV protection with transparency or low opacity, or it provides lower UV protection with good opacity. A titanium dioxide pigment combining both improved UV protection and good opacity is therefore desirable.
Polymer compositions tend to discolor, turning yellow, when exposed to UV light present in sunlight. The yellow coloring is unattractive and highly disfavored. Such compositions containing titanium dioxide pigments are widely used in building and residential construction materials, such as vinyl siding, door and window profiles, outdoor furniture and fencing. It is therefore, further desired to provide a polymer composition with improved UV stability.
The present invention meets these needs.

Titanium dioxide pigment and polymer compositions


The present invention provides microwave attenuating, filled composite materials which contain a polymer or ceramic matrix and metallic tubules and processes for making the same and devices which contain such materials.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to microwave-attenuating composite materials. The present invention also relates to methods for preparing such microwave-attenuating composite materials. The present invention also relates to intermediates useful for preparing such microwave-attenuating composite materials. The present invention further relates to devices containing such microwave-attenuating composite materials and methods for preparing such devices. The present invention additionally relates to methods for attenuating microwaves. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods for absorbing microwave radiation, for signal attenuation at appropriate wavelengths, and for isolating transmitting antennas and receiver components in radar sets.
2. Discussion of the Background
Electronic devices are becoming increasingly compact and complex. At microwave frequencies, cross-talk and ringing are becoming serious problems that need to be addressed. In particular, devices such as cellular telephones, pagers, and palm- or lap-size computers contain many circuits that require isolation from each other for maximum performance. In addition, military platforms such as ships and aircraft operate a variety of radio and radar systems that may interfere with each other, thus requiring isolation measures. These systems may consist of passive devices, active devices, or mixtures thereof. The number, sophistication, and cost of these systems continue to rise, while the demand for improved performance moves forward at an even a faster pace.
In order to prevent cross-talk, it is necessary to isolate the components of electronic devices. This may be accomplished by placing a material of defined and controllable shape, which absorbs interfering frequencies of radiation, between the components. However, the gap where the isolating material is placed may be small, complex in shape, and hard to reach. In addition, the isolating material is preferably dimensionally stable, compact and lightweight, chemically inert and mechanically robust, and unaffected by its operating environment.
At present, numerous microwave-absorbing composite materials are made from organic matrix resins and carbonyl iron powder. Typically, the carbonyl iron powder has a density near 7.9 g/cm3, and the composite has a density near 5 g/cm3. The high density of the conventional microwave-absorbing materials presents the serious drawback of imparting a dramatic increase in the weight of any device incorporating such a material, which is especially undesirable in portable, or hand-held devices, such as mobile telephones, lap-top computers, or aircraft.
Moreover, conventional microwave-attenuating materials are not as effective as desired. In this regard, it is noted that on a commercial or industrial scale even small improvements in absorbing microwave radiation, signal attenuation, and isolation of signal devices are economically significant.
Therefore, there remains a critical need for microwave-attenuating composite materials, which do not suffer from this drawback. There also remains a need for methods for preparing such microwave-attenuating composite materials and intermediates useful for preparing such microwave-attenuating composite materials. In addition, there remains a need for devices, which contain such a microwave-attenuating composite material, and methods for preparing such devices. There also remains a need for improved methods of attenuating microwaves.

Microwave-attenuating composite materials, methods for preparing the same, intermediates for preparing the same, devices containing the same, methods of preparing such a device, and methods of attenuating microwaves

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


An apparatus includes an inverter configured to be connected to a load, a driver having an output coupled to control terminals of transistors of the inverter and a control input configured to receive control vectors and responsively apply control signals to control terminals of the inverter, a desaturation detector configured to detect desaturation of the transistors, and a controller coupled to the control input of the driver and configured to apply at least one test vector that causes the driver to turn on selected ones of the transistors for a duration sufficient for the desaturation detector to detect desaturation of at least one of the selected transistors and to enable or inhibit further operation of the inverter responsive to the desaturation detector. The load may be a motor and the controller may be configured to apply the at least one test vector responsive to a command to start the motor.

The inventive subject matter relates to control of inverters, such as inverters used in adjustable frequency drives.
Adjustable frequency drives (AFDs) (also referred to as variable frequency drives and variable speed drives) are commonly used to control AC motor speed in motor drive applications. AFDs typically use inverters that are coupled to DC buses powered by an AC/DC converter (e.g., a rectifier). AFDs commonly use multilevel neutral-point clamped (NPC) inverters, particularly for applications in which relatively large output voltages are required. U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,892 to Lyons et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,031 to Lyons et al. describe motor drives that include multilevel NPC inverters.
AFDs typically include some sort of overload and short circuit protection. For example, many AFDs detect short circuits on the inverter output by detecting desaturation of power transistors in the inverter. Techniques for detecting desaturation of power transistors are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,935 to Rathke et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,616 to Ochi. Some AFDs include gate drivers that receive drive commands from a microprocessor or microcontroller and generate power transistor gate drive signals in response thereto. Such gate drivers may include integrated desaturation detection circuitry that measures a voltage (e.g., a collector-to-emitter voltage in an IGBT) across the power transistor and signals an overcurrent condition when the voltage exceeds a threshold indicating desaturation of the transistor. The AFD can then inhibit further operation of the inverter to prevent damage to the inverter transistors.

Apparatus, methods and computer program products for inverter short circuit detection


A spitting device for an inkjet head includes an array type inkjet head on which nozzle units are formed, and a platen which is disposed opposite to the nozzle units of the inkjet head. The platen includes ink outlets and printing medium guide ribs formed thereon, and supports a back surface of a printing medium. The platen includes a first platen unit and a second platen unit which is movably connected to the first platen unit and on which second printing medium guide ribs are formed. The spitting device can prevent the printing medium guide ribs from being contaminated by ink ejected from the nozzle units and allows the printing medium to be more stably fed during high-speed printing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive conceptrelates to a spitting device for an inkjet head of an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a spitting device for an inkjet head which can prevent printing medium guide ribs formed on a platen from being contaminated by ink ejected from nozzle units during a spitting operation and allows a printing medium to be more stably fed during high-speed printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet image forming apparatus can be used as a printer or as a multifunctional device including functions of a copier, a fax machine, and a scanner. When the inkjet image forming apparatus used as a printer, because printing is achieved in a non-impact manner, less printing noise is produced than in a case of a dot printer. Moreover, the inkjet image forming apparatus has advantages in that it can be made compact and light and can perform color printing using a multiple color ink cartridge. An inkjet head ejects fine ink droplets onto a desired position on a printing medium. The inkjet head has a cartridge form, is connected to an ink container, and installed in the inkjet image forming apparatus. The inkjet head uses heat energy or a piezoelectric element as a driving source for ejecting the ink. The inkjet head is fabricated to have high resolution by semiconductor manufacturing methods, such as etching, depositing, and sputtering.
Nozzle units formed on the inkjet head spray ink onto the printing medium. After printing, remaining ink and other substances are attached to a surface of the nozzle units of the inkjet head and harden in holes of the nozzle units over time. Consequently, a defective nozzle, which cannot eject ink droplets during printing, may occur, or an ejecting direction of the ink droplets may be altered, and thus the ink droplets are ejected onto an unintended position of the printing medium. Thus, to keep the surface of the nozzle unit of the inkjet image forming apparatus clean, the inkjet image forming apparatus includes a wiping element that wipes off ink remaining on the surface of the nozzle unit. In addition, to prevent nozzles from clogging, the inkjet image forming apparatus includes a spitting element that removes deposits in the holes of the nozzle units by ejecting ink, and a capping element that prevents ink from drying by covering the nozzle units during a standby state and protects the nozzle units from external particles.
The above wiping element, spitting element, and capping element are commonly referred to as a maintenance element. To miniaturize the inkjet image forming apparatus, a maintenance element of a small size and a simple structure is required.
An array type inkjet head, which includes nozzle units having a length corresponding to a width of printing medium and conveys the printing medium in a lengthwise direction of the printing medium, has a relatively long width. Therefore, a space where the maintenance element is installed is relatively large. During a maintenance operation, the inkjet head does not have to move to a maintenance region, because the wiping element, the spitting element, and the capping element alternately move to the nozzle unit fixed to a predetermined location and perform a predetermined maintenance operation.
The spitting element includes the nozzle units formed on the inkjet head, an ink outlet formed on a platen, and a waste ink container that stores ink which was ejected during a spitting operation and flows thereinto through the ink outlet of the platen.
On the platen, typically, a plurality of conventional printing medium guide ribs are formed to support a back surface of the printing medium. Some of ink ejected from the nozzle unit of the inkjet head during the spitting operation may not flow into the ink outlet but be dispersed around the ink outlet, thereby contaminating the conventional printing medium guide ribs. Moreover, after the spitting operation, the conventional printing medium guide ribs contaminated by the ink may contaminate the back surface of the printed printing medium.
Also, since, the conventional printing medium guide ribs are not installed on a portion where the ink outlet is formed and thus an area of the printing medium guide ribs that support the back surface of the printing medium is reduced, the printing medium is not reliably fed during high-speed printing.

Spitting device for inkjet head of image forming apparatus


Approaches for detecting network intrusions, such as malware infection, Trojans, worms, or bot net mining activities includes: identifying one or more threat detections in session datasets, the session datasets corresponding to network traffic from a plurality of hosts; determining a layered detection score, the layered detection score corresponding to a certainty score and threat score; determining a layered host score, the layered host score corresponding to a certainty score and threat score; and generating alarm data comprising the layered detection score and the layered host score. In some embodiments, the network traffic may be received passively through a network switch; for example, by “tapping” the switch. Other additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention are described in the detailed description, figures and claims.

Past signature and anomaly-based network security detection systems implement static approaches in determining the presence of a network threat or security event, such as a network attack or malware infection. In such systems, signatures are often assigned a static severity metric. For example, such static severity metrics may include predefined levels or alerts, such as Informational (e.g. general network update data), Low (e.g. low-threat), Medium (e.g. moderate-threat), High (e.g. high-threat), and Critical (e.g. severe-threat). When a security event occurs and an alert is raised, the assigned severity value may be reported.
However, the peculiarities and/or finer contextual details of an occurrence generally do not influence the severity level. For example, if a network security detection system detects a possible threat and issues a "Medium" alert, the alert data may lack information and/or context about the event. Conventional intrusion detection systems (IDS) often lack the ability to combine registered security events and assess their synergistic effect. Once reported, events exist in isolation and it is up to a human operator to analyze them and reconstruct a comprehensive view of the attack based on the operator's expert knowledge. The lack of information often forces a human operator (e.g. network administrator, security administrator) to make judgment calls in an informational vacuum; looking to estimate the real security threat and impact to their business caused by the event.
While some conventional detection systems have alert correlation capabilities—such as higher severity alerts superseding ones with lower severity in the same logical (e.g. detection) group—these measures are typically designed to reduce the noise level of the system and do not correct the problems caused by the lack of contextual information.
Additionally, in traditional network threat detection systems reported security events are often static in time. In these systems the sensors detect in "real-time", and as such only detect network threats that are happening at the detection time that register at a significant enough level to be detected.
As is evident, there is a need for improved approaches for determining the seriousness of a collection of network threats.

System and method for detecting network intrusions using layered host scoring


An article includes a substrate that is substantially opaque to visible light and a coating disposed on the substrate. The coating includes a coating material having an inherent index of refraction, wherein the coating has an effective index of refraction that is less than the inherent index of refraction, and wherein the effective index of refraction is less than 1.8.

The invention generally relates to protective coatings for components exposed to high temperatures within a chemically and thermally hostile environment. More particularly, this invention is relates to an anti-stick coating for components, e.g., gas turbine engine components, so as to inhibit the accumulation of deposits of adherent contaminants typically entrained in the flow of air through the components during service.
The operating environment within a gas turbine engine is well known to be both thermally and chemically hostile. The accumulation of sand, ash, sea salt, and other particulate foreign matter (herein referred to collectively as "dust") on the external and internal surfaces of metal components, such as compressor blades and vanes, exacerbates the problem posed by the aggressive operating environment. Accumulated dust on the walls of internal cooling passages (referred to herein as "internal surfaces") creates a thermally insulating layer that inhibits cooling of the component, thereby increasing the temperature at which the component is forced to operate. Externally accumulated dust can also degrade thermal performance of components; moreover, the adherent layer of dust may contribute chemical species that participate in subsequent corrosion reactions with the metal surface. Typically, dust is ingested along with air at intake ports and becomes entrained with the flow of gases through the engine. As the dust particles impinge upon the internal and external surfaces of components along the flow path, they may stick to the surface to create an undesirable layer of foreign matter on the component. This accumulation, and its associated degradation in component performance, leads to increased frequency of servicing, such as to remove accumulated dust or to refurbish or replace damaged components.
In view of the above, there is a need for improved coating systems that provide protection against dust accumulation in high temperature machine components.


The invention is directed to a model system for structure-activity analysis of peptide or protein molecules involved in important biological processes. Provided by the invention are combinatorial peptide libraries comprising disulfide-constrained cyclic peptides with sequences favorable for energy stabilized conformations. A preferred embodiment of the invention is directed to peptides containing β-turn tetrapeptide that form structured β-hairpin scaffold in solution. Methods of selecting and using such peptides are provided herein, which are useful for mimicking in vivo molecular interactions and designing therapeutic agents. Thus, the invention has profound utility for biological studies and drug development.

Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) study provides valuable insights for understanding intermolecular interactions between a protein or peptide and other biologically active molecules. In their natural environment, peptides or proteins adopt unique, conformationally-constrained structures in order to recognize and bind to their binding partners, and to form a molecular complex therewith, which in turn elicit particular activities. Examples of protein-protein binding partners include enzyme-substrate, ligand-receptor, and antigen-antibody. Determination of the conformation of a peptide in its native form, therefore, become crucial for closely mimicking its in vivo activity and rationally designing its analogues which may be useful as drugs.
Most small peptides are highly flexible and do not typically adopt unique solution conformations; in particular, they do not maintain the structure that the same sequence adopts in the native protein. The lack of fixed structure reduces the affinity the peptide might have for a target (for entropic reasons) and makes determination of the active conformation of the molecule extremely difficult. Because of this, many strategies have been described to introduce constraints into peptides (such as D-amino acids, disulfide or other crosslinks), or to replace parts of the peptide with more rigid non-peptide scaffolds. Indeed, such peptidomimetics have been widely used to perform structure-activity studies in a systematic way to provide information about the specific amino acid residues or functional groups in a peptide that are adaptable to a particular conformation and are important to biological activities.
Several constrained protein scaffolds, capable of presenting a protein of interest as a conformationally-restricted domain have been identified, including minibody structures (Bianchi et al. (1994) J Mol Biol 236:649-659), loops on β-sheet turns, coiled-coil stem structures (Myszka & Chaiken (1994) Biochem 33:2363-2372), zinc-finger domains, cysteine-linked (disulfide) structures, transglutaminase linked structures, cyclic peptides, helical barrels or bundles, leucine zipper motifs (Martin et al. (1994) EMBO J. 13:5303-5309), and etc. Of the identified protein scaffolds, β-turns have been implicated as an important site for molecular recognition in many biologically active peptides. Smith & Pease (1980) CRC Crit Rev Biochem 8:315-300. Consequently, peptides containing conformationally constrained β-turns are particularly desirable. The great majority of the identified β-turn bearing peptides are cyclopeptides which have been generated by the cyclization of a peptide similar to a sequence in the natural substrate. Milner-White (1989) Trends Pharmacol Sci 10:70-74. These cyclopeptides, however, may still retain significant flexibility. For this reason, many studies have attempted to introduce rigid, nonpeptide compounds which mimic the β-turn. Peptides with such nonpeptide β-turn mimic provide useful leads for drug discovery. Ball & Alewood (1990) J Mol Recog 3:55-64; WO 94/03494 (Kahn).
One of the revolutionary advances in drug discovery is the development of combinatorial libraries. Combinatorial libraries are a collection of different molecules, such as peptides, that can be made synthetically or recombinantly. Combinatorial peptide libraries contain peptides in which all amino acids have been incorporated randomly into certain or all positions of the peptide sequence. Such libraries have been generated and used in various ways to screen for peptide sequences which bind effectively to target molecules and to identify such sequences.
Many methods for generating peptide libraries have been developed and described. For example, members of the peptide library can be created by split-synthesis performed on a solid support such as polystyrene or polyacrylamide resin, as described by Lam et al. (1991) Nature 354:82 and PCT publication WO 92/00091. Another method disclosed by Geysen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,092 involves the synthesis of peptides in a methodical and predetermined fashion, so that the placement of each library member peptide gives information concerning the synthetic structure of that peptide.
Considerable effort has been devoted to introducing structural constraints into combinatorial peptide libraries so that the member peptides represent more closely to their native counterparts. Houston et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,483 describes a synthetic peptide library containing peptides featuring α-helical conformation and thus capable of forming coiled-coil dimers with each other. McBride et al. (1996) J Mol Biol 259:819-827 describe a synthetic library of cyclic peptides mimicking the anti-tryptic loop region of an identified proteinase inhibitor.
A complementary method for peptide library-based lead discovery is display of libraries on filamentous bacteriophages. This method allows the preparation of libraries as large as 1010-1012 unique peptide members, many orders of magnitude larger than libraries that may be prepared synthetically. In addition to large library sizes, advantages of phage display include ease of library construction (Kunkel mutagenesis), coupling of the binding entity (displayed peptide) to a unique identifier (its DNA sequence), a selection protocol for amplifying rare binding clones in a pool, and the high fidelity of biosynthesis (compared to synthetic methods). Furthermore, rapid and inexpensive selection protocols are available for identifying those library members that bind to a target of interest. However, only natural peptides composed of L-amino acids may be displayed on phage, so the problem of defining three-dimensional structure-activity relationships is more difficult than it might be for a constrained peptidomimetic containing non-naturally occurring peptides or nonpeptide compounds. One possible solution to this problem is to use the structural constraints of a folded protein to present small variable peptide segments. Indeed, several small, stable proteins have been proposed as peptide display scaffolds. Nygren & Uhlen (1997) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 7:463-469; Vita et al. (1998) Biopolymers 47:93-100; Vita et al. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:13091-13096; Smith et al. (1998) J. Mol. Biol. 277:317-332; Christmann et al. (1999) Protein Engng. 12:797-806. Unfortunately, it is not clear that protein ligands obtained by this approach could be transformed to small-molecule drug leads. Epitope transfer from proteins to small peptides or to non-peptide small molecules remains an extremely challenging problem. Cochran (2000) Chem. Biol. 7:R85-R94.
Therefore, despite of extensive studies of the rules governing conformational preferences in natural peptides and the existence of several peptide library systems, those features necessary for structural stability of natural peptides remain poorly understood. In particular, there has been little systematic or quantitative assessment of the effect of residue substitutions and non-covalent interactions on structure.

Structured peptide scaffold for displaying turn libraries on phage


A capacitance-based pressure detecting apparatus detects a pressure applied to a diaphragm based on a capacitance which varies depending on the change in portion of the diaphragm. The pressure detecting apparatus comprises a diaphragm which changes position depending on a differential pressure between a first pressure and a second pressure, a first electrode which is provided opposite a first plane of the diaphragm and forms, together with the diaphragm, a first capacitor, a second electrode which is provided opposite a second plane of the diaphragm and forms, together with the diaphragm, a second capacitor, a third capacitor altering a capacitance according to the first pressure, a detecting unit for detecting the capacitance of the first through third capacitors, and an operation unit for obtaining a pressure applied to the diaphragm based on the capacitance of the first and second capacitors, and amending the obtained pressure based on the capacitance of the third capacitor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure detecting apparatus for computing pressure by measuring a displacement of a diaphragm which changes depending on the pressure, and more specifically to a capacitance type pressure detecting apparatus for computing the pressure according to the displacement of the diaphragm detected based on the change in the capacitance formed between the diaphragm and an electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional capacitance-based pressure detecting apparatus is described in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 06-1228 (Tokko-hei No.06-1228). FIG. 1 shows a pressure detection unit 1 of the pressure detecting apparatus.
The pressure detection unit 1 comprises a diaphragm 2 made of silicon, first conductive plates 3a and 3b, insulator plates 4a and 4b, supporters 5a and 5b, glass joints 6a and 6b, and second conductive plates 7a and 7b. The first conductive plates 3a and 3b are provided opposite each other at a predetermined distance (d) from the diaphragm 2. The insulator plates 4a and 4b hold the first conductive plates 3a and 3b and the supporters 5a and 5b as insulated from the second conductive plates 7a and 7b. The diaphragm 2 is fixed to the supporters 5a and 5b through the glass joints 6a and 6b.
As shown in FIG. 1, pressure-introducing tubes 8a and 8b penetrate the first conductive plates 3a and 3b, insulator plates 4a and 4b, and second conductive plates 7a and 7b. The pressure-introducing tubes 8a and 8b introduce pressures P1 and P2 respectively to the center of the pressure detection unit 1. A conductive film 9 is provided on the inner surfaces of the pressure-introducing tubes 8a and 8b. The second conductive plates 7a and 7b are electrically connected to the first conductive plates 3a and 3b through the conductive film 9.
With the configuration of the pressure detection unit 1, the left and right portions of the diaphragm 2 function as capacitors having capacitances C1 and C2 respectively.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a pressure detector realized by the pressure detection unit 1. Incompressible fluid (a pressure conducting medium) such as silicon oil, etc. is sealed in portions 10 and 11 or pressure-receiving chambers 14a and 14b in a pressure detector 12. In the incompressible fluid, the pressure detection unit 1 is fixed to the case of the body at the pressure-introducing tube 8a side. When pressure is detected by the pressure detector, it is transmitted from seal diaphragms 13a and 13b to the diaphragm 2 through the incompressible fluid.
However, when the pressure detector is filled with the incompressible fluid such as silicon oil as described above, the capacitances C1 and C2 depend on the dielectric constant. Therefore, if the dielectric constant alters with a change in temperature or pressure, there arises a problem of error in measuring a pressure.
A method of amending the error can be to determine the pressure from a displacement .DELTA. of the diaphragm 2 after assigning the measured values of the capacitances C1 and C2 to the following equation (1), EQU (C1-C2)/{(C1+C2)-2Ck}=.DELTA./d (1)
where d indicates the space between the diaphragm 2 and the first conductive plates 3a and 3b, and Ck indicates the parasitic capacitance generated between the conductors other than the electrodes. PA1 where Ts, Tr, and Tb are determined by the following equation (6). ##EQU3## where Cp indicates the parasitic capacitance based on the stray capacitance, and Rf indicates the feedback resistance of a transmitter used in the measurement. PA1 .epsilon.: dielectric constant between electrodes PA1 S: area of the electrodes PA1 where the displacement .DELTA.d1 is proportional to the pressure, and therefore, the value of (C1-C2)/(C1+C2) linearly changes with the pressure P as shown in FIG. 4B.
The values of the capacitances C1 and C2 can be represented by the following equation (2) where S indicates the area of the electrode, .epsilon. indicates the relative dielectric constant of the pressure conducting medium (silicon oil), and .epsilon.0 indicates the dielectric constant in a vacuum (electric constant). Obtaining the pressure by the above described equation (1) removes the term relating to the dielectric constant of the pressure conducting medium, thereby successfully computing the change indicated by the diaphragm 2 without the influence of the dielectric constant (permittiuity) of the pressure conducting medium which alters with temperature or pressure. ##EQU1##
However, when a high-precision measurement is required, the following problems arise. That is, when a high-pressure is measured, the entire pressure detection unit 1 receives pressure and is externally compressed, and the space between the diaphragm 2 and the first conductive plates 3a and 3b is reduced with the capacitances C1 and C2 increased. Equation (2) can be represented by the following equation (3) where .delta. indicates the change in the space. ##EQU2## Therefore, equation (1) can then be represented by the following equation (4), and cannot remove .delta. which depends on pressure. EQU (C1-C2)/{(C1+C2)-2Ck}=.DELTA./(d-.delta.) (4)
If the temperature of the pressure conducting medium alters, the space between the diaphragm 2 and the first conductive plates 3a and 3b changes, and subsequently the capacitances C1 and C2 also change. Since not a small error occurs from these changes when pressure is to be detected with high precision, a temperature sensor or a secondary pressure sensor is required to make necessary amendments. In this case, such problems as increasing costs arise with an increasing number of required devices and signal processing circuits, etc.
A relatively simple pressure sensor for solving these problems is described in "Smart Pressure Sensors for Industrial Application, SENSORS June 1995, pp. 32, 33, 48, and 49".
FIG. 3 shows the corresponding pressure sensor.
In FIG. 3, 21 is a reference capacitor, and 22 is a sense capacitor. They are formed on a silicon substrate 23. In this apparatus, test pressure is applied to both sides of the reference capacitor 21 and one side of the sense capacitor 22. To the other side of the sense capacitor 22, a reference pressure is applied. A differential pressure is obtained based on the ratio of the capacitance of the reference capacitor 21 to that of the sense capacitor 22 (R=Cr/Cs where Cr and Cs respectively indicate the capacitances of the reference capacitor 21 and sense capacitor 22).
According to the above mentioned document, the ratio R is computed by the following equation (5). EQU R=Cr/Cs=(Tb-Ts)/(Tb-Tr) (5)
Although the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 can avoid the influence of the parasitic capacitance Cp commonly found in both reference capacitor 21 and sense capacitor 22, there is a problem with this apparatus that it cannot compensate for the effect of the parasitic capacitance and Cs and Cr themselves on the reference capacitor 21 and sense capacitor 22 caused by a change in temperature and pressure.
"Silicon Diaphragm Capacitive Vacuum Sensor, K. Hatanaka et al., Technical Digest of the 13th Sensor Symposium, 1995 pp. 37-40" describes a vacuum sensor in which two pressure sensors are used to sufficiently cover a measurement range. However, this example analyzes the relationship between the pressure applied to a sensor and the output of the sensor for each of the sensors, but does not disclose the technology for measurement covering a wide range with high precision by combining two sensor signals in pressure analysis.
A technology of processing output signals from a plurality of pressure sensors is described in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Tokkai-hei) No. 7-209122. This technology definitely and consecutively connects the characteristics curves of individual sensors by applying a weighting function in an intermediate range in which the pressure measurement ranges of two pressure sensors based on different measurement principles overlap each other.
However, in the method disclosed in this publication, the weighting function may weight only the output of the sensor indicating a larger change when the outputs of the sensors change with the influence of a disturbance such as a change in the ambient temperature, etc. As a result, there is the problem that a change in output with such a disturbance cannot be reduced. A similar problem arises when a disturbance affects the output from one sensor only, thereby influencing the specification of the characteristics of the intermediate range as well as the characteristics of the sensor. Thus, according to the above described technology disclosed in this publication, a reduction in the precision of a sensor output cannot be avoided.
Furthermore, the technology also has the following problems.
First, when a sensor signal is amended for temperature, etc., the amendment should be made to each of a plurality of sensor signals and amendment data should be prepared for each sensor, thereby causing an increase in costs. Since processes are always performed using a plurality of sensors, the outputs of all sensors should be always monitored and amended. Thus, the process speed is lowered and the consumption of electric power is increased. In particular, a long time is required to perform both a weighting process in an intermediate range and a process of amending outputs from the weighting process, thereby reducing the entire process speed and increasing the consumption of electric power. Furthermore, when a setting of a pressure measurement range is changed, an appropriate signal should be selected from a plurality of sensors, and the selected sensor signals should be smoothly coupled. In such cases, the processes become complicated and a desired precision cannot be easily guaranteed.
The pressure detecting apparatus detects a change made by a difference in pressure as indicated by a diaphragm by a change in capacitance. The problems with this apparatus are, for example, that the transformation characteristics of a detection signal are non-linear because of the stray capacitance or parasitic capacitance generated in the sensor unit, that a measurement error occurs, etc.
Methods of solving these problems are disclosed by the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Tokkai-sho) No. 64-71211 and the Japanese Patent Publication (Tokko-hei) No. 4-12813. According to the former, the influence of the parasitic capacitance can be reduced by using the ratio between two capacitances. According to the latter, the influence of the parasitic capacitance can be removed by using a fixed capacitance equivalent to the parasitic capacitance.
However, since the capacitance indicates a change in a quadratic curve in response to a pressure according to the former, an amending process such as a linearizing process, etc. becomes complicated. As a result, it is hard to detect pressure with high precision and the measurement range is limited. This is described below by referring to FIGS. 4A through 4C. FIG. 4A simply shows a capacitor portion, and FIGS. 4B and 4C show the relationship between the pressure and capacitance ratio.
As shown in FIG. 4A, in the apparatus in which a movable electrode ELV is provided for two fixed electrodes ELF, the capacitances C1 and C2 between the electrodes indicate changes such that one capacitance increases while the other decreases, if the movable electrode ELV moves left or right when a change in pressure is applied thereto. Assuming that d indicates the space between the movable electrode ELV and the fixed electrode ELF, the capacitances C1 and C2 can be computed as follows, when the movable electrode ELV indicates a change in portion (displacement) of .DELTA.d as indicated by the broken line shown in FIG. 4A. EQU C1=.epsilon.S/(d1-.DELTA.d1) EQU C2=.epsilon.S/(d2-.DELTA.d2)
According to the method disclosed in the Japanese Laid-Out Patent Publication (Tokkai-sho) No. 58-21104), a change in portion of the movable electrode ELV is computed by the following equation. EQU (C1-C2)/(C1+C2)=.DELTA.d1/d1
In the method disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 64-71211, the relationship between the capacitance ratio and the change in pressure is represented by the following equation. EQU C1/C2=(d1+.DELTA.d1)/(d1-.DELTA.d1)
Although the change .DELTA.d1 is proportional to the pressure, a measurement error occurs because the relationship between the capacitance ratio and the pressure indicates a change in a quadratic curve.
As disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-12813, a parasitic capacitance changes with a change in temperature when the parasitic capacitance is canceled using a fixed capacitance equivalent to the parasitic capacitance. Therefore, it is difficult to eliminate the parasitic capacitance over all temperature ranges using a specific fixed capacitance. Furthermore, an output voltage V is obtained based on the following equation using a power-supply voltage E. EQU V=(C1-C2)/(C1+C2).times.E
In this case, the power-supply voltage E may alter, and any noise on this voltage will affect a detected signal and make it unstable. Such noise may also badly affect digital signal processing.

Pressure detecting apparatus for measuring pressure based on detected capacitance


A pneumatic support having a body (112) which can be pneumatically pressurised and which, when under operating pressure, operationally holds a compression member (96, 128 to 131′) which extends substantially over the length of the body and a tensile member (98, 138 to 141′) which likewise extends substantially over the length (I) of the body at a distance from each other, wherein the compression member (96, 128 to 131′) and the tensile member (98, 138 to 141′) are connected to each other at the end in connection nodes (91), and wherein the body which can be pneumatically pressurised has pneumatic drop-stitch transverse fibre pressure panels (100, 165, 113 to 116).

Pneumatic supports of the mentioned type are known and are based on a cylindrical basic shape according to WO 01/73245. This basic shape has been further developed to a spindle-shaped support according to WO 2005/007991, among other things.
The advantage of such pneumatic supports is their low weight as well as the extremely small transport volume, because the inflatable body is foldable and the tensile members can be embodied as cables. It is a disadvantage of such pneumatic supports that even though they can support high area loads, thus are suitable for many intended purposes, they are only suitable to a limited extent for asymmetrical loads as compared to the possible area load, which prevents in particular the use as bridge, because an axle, for instance of a truck, which rolls over a bridge, represents a particularly unfavorable case in this regard.
It is a further disadvantage of such pneumatic supports that the inflatable bodies are subject to being damaged in the operating state.
FIGS. 1a to 1d show, in an exemplary and schematic manner, pneumatic supports according to the prior art, which, for the sake of clarity, are illustrated with exaggerated thickness. FIG. 1a shows a pneumatic support 1 according to WO 2005/042 880 comprising a compression member 2, a tensile member 3, and an inflatable pneumatic body 4, which is illustrated by means of dashes is arranged between compression member 2 and tensile member 3, and which is inflated to operating pressure and thus keeps the compression member 2 and the tensile member 3 at a distance from one another.
The pneumatic body 4 preferably consists of a gas-tight, flexible, substantially inextensible material, which forms a sleeve, which can be folded for transport, and which, when under operating pressure, takes a shape, which is matched to the respective pneumatic support.
On its ends 6, 7, the support 1 is supported via bearings 8, 9, the compression member 2 and the tensile member 3 are also connected to one another there via a node 10, 11. A schematically suggested paneling 12 allows to use the support 1 as bridge here.
The following concept can explain the mode of operation of the support:
If a load 13 acts on the paneling 11 and thus on the compression member 2, the latter is supported by the inflatable body 4, which is under operating pressure, but which, in turn, rests on the tensile member 3, which thus does in fact support the load 13. The tensile member 3 thus strives to escape downwards, which is not possible, however, because the compression member 2 holds the common end nodes 10 and 11, thus also the ends of the tensile member 3, at a distance from one another. Those regions, in which the compression member 2 and the tensile member 3 are operationally connected to one another, are referred to as end nodes 10, 11. Force from the compression member 2 is transferred into the tensile member, and vice versa, force from the tensile member 3 is also transferred into the compression member 2 by means of the end nodes 10, 11. The end nodes 10, 11 thus represent force introduction points for both the compression member 2 and the tensile member 3.
It follows that the tensile member 3 is substantially only subjected to axial tension, and the compression member 2 is substantially only subject to axial pressure, so that the tensile member 3 can be embodied as cable, and the compression member 2 as thin rod. A pressurized thin rod, however, is at risk of buckling, with the result that the buckling limit of the compression member 2 determines the load-bearing capacity of the support 1.
A reduced risk of buckling results in the case of an area load, which is distributed symmetrically over the length of the support, as is the case, for instance, in the case of roof structures, because a buckling in a direction against the load application is reduced by the load itself, and a buckling caused by the bearing of the compression member on the pneumatic body 4 is prevented in the load direction.
In the case of an asymmetrical load, however, the compression member sinks in the body 4 to an increasing extent at the location of the load 13, and instead bends upwards at a different location, with a tendency to bend beyond the bearing surface on the body 4 and to thus lift off therefrom, which results in an increased buckling risk and in a load-bearing capacity of the support 1, which is relevantly reduced thereby.
Connecting elements, embodied as pure tensile members 14, which connect the compression member 2 to the tensile member 3, are thus preferably arranged vertically (i.e. in the load direction and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support 1). The tensile members 14 are suitable to prevent to a certain extent that the compression member 2 lifts off the body 4 at a non-loaded location and thus buckles, in the case of an asymmetrical load. The horizontal distance of the tensile members 14 is to be optimized by the person of skill in the art with regard to the concrete case.
The connecting points between the tensile members 14 and the compression member 2 and also the tensile member 3, in turn, represent force introduction points or connecting elements, respectively, for these elements.
FIG. 1b shows a pneumatic support 15 according to WO 2015/176 192, which also rests on bearings 16, 17 and has two end nodes, which are embodied as ramp-shaped barriers 18, 19, and three pneumatic segments 20 to 22, wherein each of the pneumatic segments has a compression member 23 to 25, which is embodied for example as pressure rod, a tensile member 26 to 28, which is embodied here for example as tensile rod (a tensile cable would also be possible), and a pneumatic body 29 to 31, wherein each pneumatic body 29 to 31, in turn, operationally holds the respective assigned compression member 23 to 25 and the respective assigned tensile member 26 to 28 at a distance from one another by means of its operating pressure. By means of two connecting elements 32, 33, which run in a zigzag-shaped manner through each segment 20 to 22 in a gapless manner (and thus in a gapless manner through the pneumatic support formed by the shown arrangement) at an angle of preferably 45°, a structure is formed, which is suitable and stiff in particular for asymmetrical loads, i.e. which only still sags downwards insignificantly under operating load, for example with respect to the support of FIG. 1a from the straight (unloaded) target position.
The connecting points of the nodes 18, 19 also form force introduction points in the compression members 23 to 25 and in the tensile members 26 to 28 with the respective compression member 23, 25, tensile member 26, 28, and the connecting points of the compression members 23 to 25 as well as of the tensile members 26 to 28 with the connecting elements 32, 33.
FIG. 1c shows a carrier 40, also according to WO 2015/176 192, which is constructed analogous to the support 15 according to FIG. 1b, here has four pneumatic segments 41 to 44, and has a modified longitudinal cross section, i.e. an only slightly convex upper side and a strongly convex lower side.
FIG. 1d shows a support 45, also comprising a plurality of pneumatic segments 46 to 50, comprising a further modified longitudinal cross section in such a way that it can be loaded in the manner of a vaulted structure.
The supports 1, 15, 40, 45 have the common advantage that, being disassembled, they can be transported easily and assembled on location in that the end nodes, compression members, tensile members, and possible connecting elements are assembled, the pneumatic bodies are then inflated and are pressurized to an operating pressure. It is a disadvantage that the supports 1, 15, 40, 45 increasingly curve during the pressure buildup and finally, under operating pressure, but load-free, assume a position, which is curved in an arc-shaped manner, and assume their stretched target position shown in FIGS. 1a to 1d only under a load, and finally bend strongly under the operating load in the case of a support in the manner of the support 15 shown in FIG. 1a, and only to a reduced extent in the case of a support in the manner of the supports 15, 40, 45 shown in FIGS. 1b to 1d.
The curvature (i.e. the unwanted deformation, which still results when inflating the pneumatic supports 4 and 29-31 without load) thereby occurs in the direction of the stronger curvature of the compression member or of the tensile member, respectively, so that the supports of FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 1d are curved upwards without load, and the support according to FIG. 1c is curved downwards. In the load-free state, the end nodes thus shift against one another accordingly, which is unwanted.
The curvature of the supports 1, 15, 40, and 45 is illustrated schematically in FIGS. 1e to 1h by means of the longitudinal center lines thereof, wherein the longitudinal center lines 55 to 58, which are illustrated in a dashed manner, corresponds to the target position, as it is illustrated in FIGS. 1a to 1d. The solid center lines 59 to 62 are illustrated in an extrapolated and only qualitative manner according to the actual position under operating pressure, but load-free (i.e. according to the curvature). The dot-dashed longitudinal center lines 58 to corresponds to the actual position under operating pressure and operating load, i.e. the load deformation, wherein, for the sake of simplicity, a load is assumed in each case, which, to simplify the figure, is not illustrated, and which applies in the center of the support 1, 15, 40, and 45.
It can be seen from FIG. 1e that the pneumatic support 1 illustrated in FIG. 1a displays a comparatively large curvature and additionally a comparatively large sag. The entire shift of the longitudinal center line is too large for many applications.
It can be seen from Figure if that the pneumatic support 15 illustrated in FIG. 1b shows a center curvature and additionally an only small, insignificant sag under load. The only center curvature is caused by the fact that the center segment 21 (FIG. 1b) is symmetrical to its longitudinal center line, thus substantially does not curve (except for an asymmetry, which originates, for example, from manufacturing tolerances).
It can be seen from FIG. 1g that the pneumatic support 40 illustrated in FIG. 1c displays a comparatively large downwards curvature and additionally a comparatively large sag under load.
It can be seen from Figure if that the pneumatic support 451 illustrated in FIG. 1d displays a comparatively large curvature, but low sag under load.
The above-discussed ratios for a support according to FIG. 1d can be seen from FIG. 1h.
Depending on the intended use, curvature or sag, respectively, play or do not play a role—the curvature is unfavorable, for example in the case of a bridge, which should be as flexurally stiff as possible. It is thus particularly disadvantageous when a bridge, formed of supports according to FIG. 1b, is extremely flexurally stiff and would thus be particularly suitable for its use, but has to be navigated steeply at the ends due to the curvature, and then acts in a spongy/flexible manner up to its target position (line 18 of FIG. 1f). The advantage of the flexural stiffness thus displays its advantage only to a reduced extent.
Depending on the intended use, this also applies analogously for other pneumatic supports, for example according to FIGS. 1a to 1h.
It is thus the object of the present invention to create a pneumatic support, which only displays the phenomenon of the curvature to a reduced extent or which avoids it.
It is a further object of the present invention to create a pneumatic support, which, regardless of the phenomenon of the curvature, maintains a load-bearing capacity even in the case of damages to the pneumatic body with associated pressure loss.
The object with regard to a load-bearing capacity, which is to be maintained, is solved according to the characterizing features of the present disclosure.
Due to the fact that the pneumatic body has pneumatic transverse fiber pressure panels, it can be assembled easily from numerous segments in such a way that, in the case of loss of the functionality of one or a plurality of segments, the support still remains load-bearing and thus operational.
The invention will be described in more detail below on the basis of the figures, in which