A split mold is closed to define a cavity. The mold has in its lower portion a gate communication with the cavity. A stoke is connected at its upper end to the gate, while its lower end is immersed in a bath of molten metal in a holding furnace. The pressure of the bath is increased, or the pressure of the cavity decreased, whereby the molten metal is introduced into the cavity. The molten metal in the cavity is allowed to solidify to yield a cast product. The product is cooled and removed from the mold. The stoke and the cavity are filled with an inert gas before the molten metal is introduced into the cavity. In order to introduce the molten metal into the cavity, a pressure difference is created between the bath and the cavity at a rate of 0.001 to 0.006 kgf/cm.sup.2 /s. The molten metal is kept at a temperature which is higher than its melting point by 50.degree. to 80.degree. C., or the mold is kept at a temperature of 350.degree. to 430.degree. C. The inert gas is also supplied into the stoke to separate molten metal therein from the solidified product. The surface of the separated molten metal in the stoke is kept above that of the molten metal in the holding furnace when the product is cooled and removed from the mold.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for differential pressure casting, and more particularly, to one which can produce castings of improved quality.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a casting is produced from an easily oxidizable material, e.g., aluminum or its alloy, by e.g., a low pressure casting process, it is necessary to prevent the oxidation of molten aluminum or its alloy in a stoke, or to remove aluminum oxide therefrom. It has been usual for the low pressure casting of aluminum or its alloy to provide a gate in the lower portion of mold with a wire net for removing aluminum oxide. Although the wire net may retain coarse oxide particles, it allows the passage of fine oxide particles into a mold cavity, where they contact air and undergo further oxidation. The net needs to be changed to a new one after each casting operation. Moreover, the net adheres to a scrap of aluminum or its alloy cut from a cast product in the gate and thereby disables the effective use of the scrap.
There has been proposed a process for differential pressure casting in which an inert gas is supplied into the mold cavity prior to the pouring of molten metal thereinto for preventing its oxidation, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application laid open under No. Sho 48-49625, or Hei 3-71964. This process makes it possible to prevent the oxidation of molten metal without relying upon any wire net provided in the gate. Japanese Patent Application laid open under No. Hei 1-104457 discloses a process for differential pressure casting which employs a stoke comprising an inner cylindrical wall having an upper end connected to the gate in the mold and a lower end kept above the surface of molten metal in a holding furnace, and an outer cylindrical wall having an upper end connected to the inner wall and a lower end immersed in the molten metal. Thus, the stoke has a cylindrical space having a closed upper end and an open lower end defined between the inner and outer walls. Further, the stoke has a hole communicating the cylindrical space with the outside of the stoke. Using this stoke an inert gas, that is heavier than air, is supplied through the hole to remove air from the stoke, gate and mold cavity, then the molten metal is introduced from the holding furnace into the mold cavity by a difference of pressure created therebetween.
The necessity of saving energy has been recently arousing greater efforts to achieve a reduction in weight of automobile parts. For example, aluminum alloy has come to be used instead of steel for making disk wheels. The demand for e.g., lightweight wheels has grown to the extent. However, it is necessary to consider even a reduction in thickness of aluminum alloy wheels. The mere reduction in thickness of aluminum alloy wheels results also in a lowering of their mechanical strength. It is, therefore, essential to be able to produce aluminum alloy wheels which are small in thickness and yet high in mechanical strength.
The process as proposed in Japanese Patent Application laid open under No. Sho 48-49625, or Hei 3-71964 can produce casting containing a smaller amount of oxide and therefore, having an improved mechanical strength. Their strength is, however, still insufficient for allowing any further reduction in thickness. The process disclosed in Japanese Patent Application laid open under Hei 1-104457 has a drawback of being unable to prevent the oxidation of the molten metal completely, insofar as the surface of the molten metal remains exposed to air until the inert gas is supplied into the stoke. The application contains a statement to the effect that the unsolidified part of the molten metal which has been raised from the holding furnace falls back into the furnace upon elimination of the difference of pressure maintained for raising the molten metal into the mold cavity. The space made open by the falling of the molten metal cannot be vacuum, but necessarily contains air. The purging of the space with the inert gas, which relies upon its specific gravity higher than that of air, requires a certain length of time. And whatever quickly the gas may be introduced, the surface of the molten metal in the holding furnace remains exposed to the air. The oxidation of the molten metal to some extent or other is, therefore, unavoidable. Moreover, the elimination of the difference of pressure does not result in the immediate falling of any and all unsolidified metal, since the gate is sealed by the metal without being completely solidified remaining in the upper portion of the gate. This brings about a delay in the cooling of a cast product near the gate which has an adverse effect not only on the efficiency of production, but also on the formation of a fine metallurgical structure.


A flat panel image sensor includes a thin film transistor (TFT) and diode array, a conformal insulating layer on a top surface of the TFT and diode array, a planarized dielectric layer on a top surface of the conformal insulating layer, a first metalized via in the planarized dielectric layer and the conformal insulating layer to contact a metalized portion of the TFT and diode array, a second metalized via in the planarized dielectric layer and the conformal insulation layer to contact a diode portion of the TFT and diode array, and a passivation layer over the first and second vias and an upper surface of the planarized dielectric layer.

Imaging arrays and, in particular, large area amorphous silicon imaging arrays are adversely impacted by parasitic capacitances along the data and gate lines of the device. Currently, the inter-layer dielectric, which separates the data and gate lines, on digital imaging arrays is deposited by using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The topography of this layer over the array is highly varied/conformal, or non-planar. This non-planarity/conformality lends itself to thinner areas at data to gate crossovers leading to higher parasitic capacitances and degraded array performance. This non-planarity also contributes to lower reliability of the arrays by allowing moisture to penetrate through a seam that is propagated through each CVD process.
Referring now to FIG. 23, a prior art imaging array is shown including a glass substrate 302, a chrome metallization layer 304, a thin film transistor (TFT) including an island 306 and a gate 308, an amorphous silicon photodiode including an n+ layer 310, an intrinsic layer 312, a p+ layer 314, and an Indium Titanium Oxide (ITO) layer 316, and a conformal insulating layer 318. The prior art imaging array includes a first metalized via 322 for contacting the chrome metallization layer 304 and a second metalized via 324 for contacting the ITO layer 316 of the photodiode. The first and second vias 322 and 324, as well as other patterned metal areas on the surface of the conformal insulating layer 318 comprise a trilayer metallization including a Titanium-Tungsten (TiW) layer 326, an aluminum layer 328, and a Titanium-Tungsten (TiW) layer 330. The entire imaging array is passivated with a conformal passivation layer 332. The problem with the imaging array shown in FIG. 23 is that there is an ingress path 334 for moisture, which can damage the photodiode and decrease overall reliability.
What is desired is an amorphous silicon imaging array having improved reliability and addresses these problems in the prior art arrays.

Flat panel image sensor and method of manufacturing thereof


A system and method for communicating information between multiple locations. A computer receives, via a network, information signed and/or encrypted at a first location in accordance with a first signing and encryption methodology. The information is decrypted and the signatures of the information are validated using the first signing and/or encrypting methodology. The information is re-signing and/or re-encrypting with a second signing and encryption methodology such that the information can be decrypted and/or its signatures validated at a second location. The information is then transmitted to the second location via a network.

A method and apparatus for translating security information between computers is disclosed.
Communicating with computers, such as those of financial institutions or any corporation transferring secure information, requires that to transmit information from one computer to another, certain security measures are present. For example, the document being sent must be signed and encrypted in accordance with the rules of the corporation. Further, the protocol to transfer the file must be authenticated per the corporation's specifications.
When one corporation needs to transfer information to another corporation having different authentication and encryption requirements, one corporation must change its authentication methodology. Alternatively, one of the corporations may be required to adopt a special authentication methodology to enable communication. These changes can significantly increase the cost to the institution as it typically has specific authentication and encryption methods as part of its infrastructure.

Method and apparatus for translating information between computers having different security management


Embodiments of the invention contemplate a method, apparatus and system that are used to support, position, and rotate a substrate during processing. Embodiments of the invention may also include a method of controlling the transfer of heat between a substrate and substrate support positioned in a processing chamber. The apparatus and methods described herein remove the need for complex, costly and often unreliable components that would be required to accurately position and rotate a substrate during one or more processing steps, such as an rapid thermal processing (RTP) process, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, dry etching process, wet clean, and/or laser annealing process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of semiconductor processing, and more specifically, to supporting, positioning or rotating a substrate during semiconductor device fabrication in a processing chamber.
2. Background of the Related Art
In the fabrication of integrated circuits and displays, semiconductor, dielectric, and electrically conducting materials are formed on a substrate, such as a silicon substrate or a glass substrate. The materials can be formed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), ion implantation, plasma or thermal oxidation, and nitridation processes. Thereafter, the deposited materials can be etched to form features such as gates, vias, contact holes and interconnect lines. In a typical deposition or etch processes, the substrate is exposed to a plasma in a substrate processing chamber to deposit or etch material on the substrate surface. Other typical processes that may be performed on a substrate may include thermal processing techniques that may include RTP, flash lamp, or laser annealing processes.
Integrated circuits and display devices have evolved into complex devices that can include millions of transistors, capacitors and resistors on a single chip or region of the display substrate. The evolution of chip design continually requires faster circuitry and greater circuit density that demand increasingly precise fabrication processes. One fabrication process frequently used is ion implantation.
Ion implantation is particularly important in forming transistor structures on semiconductors and may be used many times during chip fabrication. During ion implantation, silicon substrates are bombarded by a beam of electrically charged ions, commonly called dopants. Implantation changes the properties of the material in which the dopants are implanted to achieve a particular level of electrical performance. Dopant concentration is determined by controlling the number of ions in a beam of energy projected on the substrate and the number of times the substrate passes through the beam. The energy level of the beam typically determines the depth at which the dopants are placed. These dopants are accelerated to an energy level that will permit the dopants to penetrate or implant into the film at a desired depth.
During ion implantation, the implanted film often develops a high level of internal stress. In order to relieve the stress and further control the resulting properties of the implanted film, the film is typically subjected to a thermal process, such as annealing. Post-ion implantation annealing is typically performed in a rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber that subjects the substrate to a very brief, yet highly controlled thermal cycle that can heat the substrate from room temperature to over 1000° C. in less than 10 seconds. RTP relieves the stress induced during implantation and can be used to further modify film properties such as changing the electrical characteristics of the film.
Generally, an RTP chamber includes a radiant heat source or lamp, a chamber body and a substrate support ring. The lamp is typically mounted to a top surface of the chamber body so that the radiant energy generated by the lamp impinges upon the substrate supported by the support ring within the chamber body. A quartz window is typically disposed in the top surface of the chamber body to facilitate the transfer of energy between the lamp and the substrate. The support ring is typically comprised of silicon carbide and extends from a bottom of the chamber body to support the substrate by its outer edge. An external motor is used to rotate the substrate and the support ring to compensate for variations in the radiant energy generated by the lamp impinging across the substrate surface that could heat the substrate non-uniformly. Typically, the RTP process is performed at atmospheric pressures or reduced pressures to minimize potential particle and chemical contamination of the substrate.
While RTP processes can heat and cool a substrate quickly, RTP processes often heat the entire thickness of the substrate. Uneven heating across the surface of the substrate can be a problem that is often experienced with RTP or other conventional substrate heating processes. For example, temperature variation often occurs in the area where the support ring contacts the outer edge of the substrate. Variation of substrate temperatures also may occur because the radiant heat source is applied to the top surface of the substrate which may include different device materials at various sections of the surface. The different device materials may have wide ranges of emissivities resulting in varying temperatures.
During the processes discussed above, the substrate is typically held on a substrate support having a substrate receiving surface. The support can have an embedded electrode that serves as a plasma generating device during processing and/or it may also be charged to electrostatically hold the substrate. The support can also have a resistance heating element to heat the substrate during processing, and/or a water cooling system to cool the substrate or to cool the support. One issue that arises is that as device sizes decrease the tolerance to variation across the substrate has become very low such that the alignment and positioning of a substrate relative to the substrate support, shadow ring, or other chamber components can have an affect on the uniformity of the process results achieved on the substrate. In some cases, one or more regions in a process chamber may be unable to uniformly generate a plasma (e.g., PECVD, PVD), uniformly deliver heat to the substrate (e.g., RTP, PECVD), and/or have regions of non-uniform gas flow due to the position orientation of the gas inlet or exhaust in the processing chamber, which commonly creates the need to rotate the substrate to average out the non-uniformities seen in different areas of the processing region of the processing chamber. Rotating the substrate is often a very expensive and complicated process to perform in a processing chamber that requires the substrate to be processed at subatmospheric pressures, to be processed at high temperatures and/or require one or more rotatable electrical connections to allow power to be delivered to one or more components in the substrate support (e.g., heater elements). The complexity and cost generally arises due to the need for high temperature rotational components (e.g., bearings) that are reliable and will not generate particles, precise and expensive motors, complex control systems, reliable rotating electrical connections, and reliable rotating vacuum seals.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved system adapted to support, position, and/or rotate a substrate during a substrate processing, which does not require direct contact with the substrate, is inexpensive to use and maintain, provides good process results, is reliable, and is easy to control.

Apparatus and method for supporting, positioning and rotating a substrate in a processing chamber


The present invention relates to a novel diamine, a novel acid dianhydride, and a novel composition containing a polyimide produced from such diamine and acid dianhydride. Specifically, the present invention relates to an acid dianhydride that has a photosensitive group bonded through the mediation of an alkylene group or a fluoroalkylene group, a diamine that has a reactive group bonded through the mediation of an alkylene group or a fluoroalkylene group, and a polyimide composition that contains a novel polyimide having at least one of such acid dianhydride residue and diamine residue in a molecule thereof. Particularly, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel polyimide that has both photoreactivity and thermoreactivity specific to the reactive group and whose reactive group is selected from the group consisting of: organic groups derived from cinnamic acid, chalcone, furylacryloyl, benzalacetophenone, stilbene, coumarin, and pyrone; allyl; propargyl; ethinyl; CH2═CH—; CH2═C(CH3)—; and skeletons derived therefrom, and it to provide a novel diamine and a novel acid dianhydride that may be contained in the polyimide composition.

Polyimides have been widely used, for example, in the field of electronic communication and OA appliances as well as in the field of aerospace because they have more excellent heat resistance than other organic polymers. The polyimides have recently been desired to have not only excellent heat resistance but also a variety of performance for a wide range of uses.
Photosensitive polymers can be prepared by reacting existing polymers with photosensitive groups so that the photosensitive group can function as pendant groups. A representative example of the photosensitive polymers prepared by this reaction is polyvinyl cinnamate invented by Minsk et al. of Eastman Kodak Company, which is disclosed in J. Appl. Polymer Sci., 2, 302 (1959). Polyvinyl cinnamate is prepared by the esterification of polyvinyl alcohol using cinnamic acid chloride. When this polymer is irradiated with light, it is cross-linked and cured to form cyclobutane rings.
However, polyimides with a cinnamoyl derivative skeleton at a side chain thereof are reported only in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. (Patent Kokai No.)55-45747 (1980).
Since a reactive group has a double bond or triple bond, it is conceivable to introduce it into polyimide so as to use the polyimide as thermosetting resin. However, there have been few cases where a reactive group is introduced into polyimide to use the polyimide as thermosetting resin.
If a photosensitive group is introduced into at least one of an acid dianhydride component and a diamine component, cross-linking density can be increased. However, there have been only a few cases where a photosensitive group is introduced into both of them.
Further, since polyimide has a relatively high water absorption, problems may arise when it is used in the aforementioned fields, and thus it has only limited uses. In order to solve such problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. (Patent Kokai No.) H05-346585 (1993) discloses that a fluoroalkyl group is introduced into a diamine component, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. (Patent Kokai No.) H08-220541 (1996) discloses that an alkyl group is introduced into a diamine component. However, a diamine with two groups selected from alkyl groups and fluoroalkyl groups in a molecule thereof is not known. Further, a diamine with a reactive group bonded to an end of the alkyl group or fluoroalkyl group is not also known.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel acid dianhydride and a novel diamine with a reactive group introduced thereinto and a novel reactive group containing polyimide having the acid dianhydride and the diamine as monomer components. Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide an acid dianhydride with a reactive group bonded through a C2 to C30 alkylene group and a C4 to C30 fluoroalkylene group, a novel diamine having two groups selected from alkylene groups having a carbon number of 6 to 30 and fluoroalkylene groups having a carbon number of 4 to 30 in a molecule thereof, and a diamine with a reactive group at the end of a side chain thereof.
Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a novel polyimide composition containing at least one of the aforementioned acid dianhydride and the diamine components in a molecule thereof. A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel polyimide composition having both photoreactivity and thermoreactivity specific to a reactive group selected from a skeleton derived from cinnamic acid, chalcone, furylacryloyl, benzalacetophenone, stilbene, coumarin, or pyrone, an organic group such as allyl, propargyl, ethinyl, CH2═CH—, and CH2═C(CH3)—, or a skeleton derived therefrom, and a novel diamine and a novel acid dianhydride to be contained in the novel polyimide.
The inventors of the present invention have studied intensively, found that their intended objects can be achieved by preparing a diamine and an acid dianhydride of a special structure and a polyimide containing such diamine and acid dianhydride, and consequently they have accomplished the present invention.

Diamine, acid dianhydride, and reactive group containing polyimide composition prepared therefrom and process of preparing them


A vehicle closure testing apparatus for opening or closing a vehicle door of any of a variety of vehicles under test includes a supporting structure, a door moving mechanism, and an assembly selectably configured to position the door moving structure. The supporting structure positions the vehicle closure testing apparatus in spaced relationship to the vehicle under test. The door moving mechanism engages and rotates the vehicle door when the door moving mechanism is activated. The assembly enables the door moving mechanism to be movably positioned into a functional position relative to a specific door of the variety of vehicle doors having a specific axis of rotation and enables the door moving mechanism to be re-positioned in a similar functional position relative to a different vehicle door having a different axis of rotation.

1. Scope of the Invention
The closure system testing apparatus described herein provides full vehicle testing of all body hardware closures. As explained in more detail below, the full vehicle test system according to the present invention simultaneously operates all handles and body closures in a manner that simulates human use of those handles and closures. In that regard, the system according to the present invention assures that no extraneous loads or added mass are imparted or added to the closures and handles.
The closure system testing apparatus can be configured to open and close the doors of any of a variety of vehicles thereby eliminating the need to customize a system for any particular vehicle. The apparatus incorporates modular and adjustable fixturing of various handle and closure actuators and cyclers attachable to various main and base frames. The ability to configure the apparatus, in turn, affords the system the ability to accommodate a wide range of vehicle sizes from compact vehicles to full size vans including pick-up trucks, avoiding the need to customize the apparatus to work with a particular vehicle.
2. Prior Art
It has been known to provide a vehicle closure testing apparatus for opening and closing particular vehicle doors having a particular axis of rotation of a particular vehicle under test having a supporting structure providing support for the vehicle closure testing apparatus. These known supporting structures have been configured to be positioned either on the outside of the vehicle under test or within the interior of the vehicle under test. The known outside supporting structures have also been configured to allow a particular, fully-operational vehicle under test to be driven onto the outside supporting structure and to support the particular, fully-operational vehicle under test including the vehicle's wheels and suspension. The outside and inside supporting structures are positioned relative to the particular vehicle under test such that the supporting structure is in a spaced relationship to either the exterior surface or the interior surface of the particular vehicle door, respectively.
Such known closure systems testing apparatuses also include a door moving mechanism disposed on the supporting structure that engages the vehicle door and rotates the vehicle door in an opening direction or a closing direction when the door moving mechanism is activated. It has been known to use an outside door moving mechanism to both open and close the particular vehicle door, an inside door moving mechanism to both open and close the particular vehicle door, and both inside and outside door moving mechanisms to open and close the particular vehicle door.
These known door moving mechanisms are movably disposed on the supporting structure at a position that enables the door moving mechanisms to engage an area of contact on the particular vehicle door and are designed to move in a first direction and a second direction counter to the first direction. The door moving mechanisms engage the area of contact on the particular vehicle door and move the door in either (or both) the opening direction and the closing direction such that the area of contact remains fixed while the door moving mechanism open and close the door.
The known vehicle closure testing apparatuses also include electric actuators operatively associated with the door moving mechanisms and cause the door moving mechanisms to engage and move the particular vehicle door in either (or both) the opening direction or the closing direction. The electric actuators are controlled by an electric actuator controller communicating with the electric actuators so as to transfer control signals to the electric actuators and to receive feedback signals indicative of door movements. The electric actuator controller can control the electric actuators to obtain a desired velocity profile in the movement of the particular vehicle door.


Jaws of a surgical clip applier with housings formed thereon and methods for manufacturing and use during a procedure to apply surgical clips to a vessel, duct, shunt, etc. are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a surgical clip applier is provided having jaws on a distal end thereof with a rigid internal frame and an outer housing formed around the internal frame. The jaws of the surgical clip applier can include a variety of features to facilitate placement of surgical clips, including features to align a clip with the jaws and to prevent clip fallout during formation.

A variety of surgical procedures require application of clips to seal and/or secure tissue, requiring a surgical clip applier for ligating a blood vessel, a duct, shunt, a portion of body tissue, etc. during surgery. The jaws of most surgical clip appliers are formed through a process of metal stamping or machining, which can limit the possible geometry of the jaws. For example, rails of the jaws are designed to hold a clip in a clip track, however sufficient clearance is required in order to accommodate varying clip heights or other deformities between clips. This clearance can result in surgical clips being free to shift or wiggle in the clip tracks, which could result in clip malformation or clip fallout.
Accordingly, there remains a need for clip appliers having an improved structure for formation and placement of clips during surgical procedures.


A milling tool includes a cylindrical base and a plurality of abrasive grain clusters. The cylindrical base is centrally formed with a through-hole, and has an annular surface extending around the through-hole, a peripheral surface extending perpendicularly to the annular surface, and an inclined or rounded surface connecting the annular and peripheral surfaces. The annular surface is formed with a circular recess groove coaxially with the through-hole for separating the annular surface into first and second planar areas that respectively are closer to and farther from the peripheral surface. The second planar area is higher than the first planar area. Abrasive grains are brazed on the annular surface. The abrasive grain clusters are brazed on the inclined surface at predetermined intervals, each cluster including a predetermined number of abrasive grains having substantially the same diameter, each cluster being positioned substantially on a circumference almost equidistant from one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a milling tool which is capable of simultaneously accomplishing rough milling and finish milling when a complex material comprised of a harder material and a softer material is milled.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a milling tool for milling a surface of cast alloy or ceramics, conventionally a tool was used that included an abrasive grain layer comprised of hard abrasive grains such as diamond. In such a surface milling process a, a high milling efficiency is required with a preferable finished surface roughness presenting a small number of scratches.
On the other hand, for instance, when a complex material comprised of iron and aluminum (hereinafter, referred to simply as "iron-aluminum complex material") to be used for automobile parts such as an engine and a gear is milled, it is sometimes necessary to carry out both rough milling and finish milling to accomplish the desired dimensions of a final product. Japanese Patent Application Publications Nos. 2002-263937 and 2007-152516 have suggested a milling tool that is capable of carrying out both rough milling and finish milling by use of a single tool.
The milling tool suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-263937 includes a cup-shaped base. Diamond abrasive grains are brazed on an end surface and a peripheral surface of the base to define a milling tool. A recess groove is formed at the end surface along a boundary between an outer area and an inner area. The recess groove prevents big chips generated when the outer area is roughly milled, from entering the inner area acting as a finish-milling tool, to thereby enhance a finish accuracy with which finish milling is carried out on a workpiece. Furthermore, the suggested milling tool can accomplish both rough milling and finish milling at a time.
A planar surface of the inner area is designed higher than a planar surface of the outer area, ensuring that abrasive grains arranged in the inner area can sufficiently bite a surface of the workpiece after the surface has been milled by means of the outer area. As a result, it is possible to efficiently mill the workpiece.
The milling tool suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-152516 is comprised of a grinding stone including a cup-shaped base. Diamond abrasive grains are brazed onto an end surface of the base to define an abrasive layer. A recess groove is formed at the end surface along a boundary between an outer area disposed closer to the end surface and an inner area disposed more distant from the end surface. The inner area has a planar surface higher than a planar surface of the outer area. The outer area has an inclined or rounded surface at an outer edge thereof. In a portion of the inner area close to the recess groove, an inclined surface is formed downwardly inclining towards the recess groove. The portion of the inner area and a portion of the outer area close to the recess groove are almost equal in height to each other.
Particularly high loads act on abrasive grains fixed in the inner area. The milling tool having the above-mentioned structure can disperse the loads to thereby allow the abrasive grains to wear uniformly, ensuring enhancement in both accuracy with which the milling tool mills a workpiece, and the lifespan of the milling tool.
When a workpiece composed of a material having a low hardness is milled by means of a milling tool including abrasive grains fixedly brazed to a base, the abrasive grains are often blocked by the chips chips generated during milling.
In order to prevent abrasive grains from being blocked by the chips, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-279851 has suggested a rotary disc cutter including a plurality of abrasive-grain clusters spaced away from one another by a predetermined distance, each of the abrasive-grain clusters being comprised of a centrally disposed single abrasive grain, and a plurality of abrasive grains disposed on a concentric circle around the central abrasive grain.
The above-mentioned iron-aluminum complex material is accompanied with a problem that since the material has different hardness, chips generated when a harder material (that is, iron) was milled flaw a softer material (that is, aluminum), resulting in reducing an accuracy with which a workpiece is milled.
The suggested milling tool is accompanied further by a problem in that free abrasive grain(s) having fell off a base during milling a workpiece flaws both a harder material (that is, iron) and a softer material (that is, aluminum).
In the milling tool suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-263937, abrasive grains disposed in the inner area can bite a workpiece well by designing a planar surface of the inner area to be higher than a planar surface of the outer area. However, since high loads act on abrasive grains disposed in the inner area in the vicinity of the recess groove, the abrasive grains are worn out irregularly, resulting in reducing both accuracy with which a workpiece is milled and a lifespan of the grinding stone.
Furthermore, abrasive grains are disposed one by one with a predetermined space between adjacent ones in the suggested milling tool. Hence, a high pressure acts on each of the abrasive grains while a workpiece is being milled, some abrasive grains are likely to fall out of the milling tool.
In addition, since abrasive grains deeply bite a workpiece, inevitably big chips are generated, causing chips resulted from a harder material to flaw a portion of the workpiece composed of a softer material.
In accordance with the milling tool suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-152516, since loads are dispersed to abrasive grains disposed in the inner area of an end surface, it would be possible to allow for the uniform wear of the abrasive grains. However, since abrasive grains are disposed one by one at an edge of the end surface, the problem that abrasive grains disposed at an edge on which a highest load acts are likely to fall is not yet solved.
In the rotary disc cutter suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-279851, the abrasive-grain clusters are disposed on a side surface of the rotary disc cutter. Each of the abrasive-grain clusters is comprised of a single abrasive grain, and a plurality of abrasive grains on a concentric circle around the single abrasive grain. In the rotary disc cutter, loads acting on one of the abrasive grains defining an abrasive-grain cluster while a workpiece is being milled are dispersed to the adjacent abrasive grains. Accordingly, since a force acting on each of the abrasive grains is smaller than a force acting on a singly disposed abrasive grain, the abrasive grains in the rotary disc cutter are not likely to fall off the milling center.
The inventors of the present invention tested milling workpieces composed of an iron-aluminum complex material through the use of a milling tool including the same abrasive-grain clusters suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-279851, resulting in failure in obtaining an adequate milling accuracy. In particular, it was found that a centrally disposed abrasive grain in an abrasive-grain cluster has fell at an outermost area of the milling tool.
It is considered that this is because a load acting on an outermost area of the milling tool while a workpiece is being milled is much greater than a load acting on an edge of the rotary disc cutter suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-279851 while a workpiece is being milled, and hence, a centrally disposed abrasive grain, that is, an abrasive grain brazed to a base with lowest bonding force among abrasive grains defining an abrasive-grain cluster falls.


A device of a vehicle for data transmission to a stationary beacon 91), which has a transceiver, comprising an on-board unit (2) with an antenna (6) for receiving a continuous signal (5), broadcast by the beacon (1), and for transmitting the received signal (5) back after modulation with a data signal (i(t)), is characterized in that the signal (7) transmitted back by the on-board unit (2) is a double-sideband signal. In that case, the on-board unit (2) can be designed as extremely simply and in the simplest case comprises a diode (9) connected to the base of the antenna (6).

Particularly for traffic control technology, a system is provided in which data transmission is done from a vehicle moving past a stationary beacon to that beacon. Since it is not practical to equip the vehicles themselves with a transmitter, provision is made for having carrier signals transmitted continuously from the beacon; these signals are then received by the vehicle moving past and are modulated with a data signal. The carrier frequencies in question are in the microwave range (such as 5.8 GHz). The carrier signal is received by the antenna of the vehicle moving past and is modulated with a data signal generated locally in the vehicle.
It is known for the modulation to be done at the base of the antenna at different frequencies provided for the two logical states of the data signal and for the carrier signal to be reflected in modulated form from the antenna, so that transmission power of its own need not be furnished by the vehicle. The modulation methods used are typically frequency-encoding ones, by which the carrier frequency is shifted by a different frequency as a function of logical "1" than as a function of logical "0" (this is known as frequency shift keying). To enable furnishing the on-board unit as mass-produced equipment with the least possible expense, the attempt has been made to design suitable encoders as simply as possible.

Vehicle device for data transmission to a stationary beacon, and resultant communication system


This invention is to shorten the time of white balance processing. In order to achieve this object, this invention provides an image sensing apparatus including an image sensing section which senses an object image and scans charge of pixels by interlaced-scanning to acquire image data of one frame by two fields, a memory which temporarily sequentially stores the image data output from the image sensing section, and a control section which reads out the image data in a first field and that in a second field from the memory and calculates a white balance coefficient before the image data in the second field is completely read from the image sensing section.

Conventionally, image sensing apparatuses such as digital cameras are commercially available, each of which senses a still image sensed with an image sensing element such as a CCD using a memory card having a solid-state memory element as a recording medium.
In these image sensing apparatuses, photographing processing is executed while temporarily writing output image data from the image sensing element in a buffer memory. Then, development/compression processing is executed in which image processing and compression processing are executed, and the image data is stored in the buffer memory again. After that, processing of writing the image data on a recording medium on a detachable card is generally performed.
White balance control in photographing processing in such an image sensing apparatus is conventionally executed in accordance with the following procedure. First, unprocessed raw data (to be referred to as RAW image data hereinafter) that is captured from the image sensing element into the memory is read out. Image data recognized as white in the readout image data is extracted in accordance with a predetermined algorithm, and a white balance (WB) coefficient is decided (this processing will be called WB calculation hereinafter). Chrominance signals are multiplied by the WB coefficient obtained as a result of calculation, thereby correcting white data.
When an image sensing element of frame read scheme in which image data is read by interlaced scanning on every other line is used, RAW image data of one frame is generated by two fields. If the color filters of the image sensing element have a Bayer matrix as shown in FIG. 7, only R and G signals are obtained by reading one field. That is, all pieces of color information cannot be obtained. For white balance calculation, at least R and B signals are necessary. In some cases, the WB calculation algorithm requires a luminance signal generated using all the R, G, and B signals. That is, when an image sensing element of frame read scheme in which image data is read by interlaced scanning on every other line is used, WB calculation is started after RAW data of two fields, i.e., one frame is written in the memory. For this reason, for the WB calculation, a time must be taken into consideration. This impedes the time between image sensing frames from shortening in, e.g., continuously photographing still images.

Image sensing apparatus, signal processing method thereof, program, and storage medium


A gas chromatograph includes a heating enclosure, an injection port extending through a wall of the enclosure, a capillary column within the heating enclosure and connected at a distal end thereof to a detector. The injection port is arranged to accept a carrier gas for gaseous components an analyte solution through the capillary column to the detector. An expansion chamber is located within the heating enclosure between the injection port and the capillary column. The expansion chamber is arranged such that it provides fluid communication between the injection port and the capillary column. First and second conduits are attached to the expansion chamber in fluid communication therewith. The first conduit is arranged to accept the carrier gas from outside the heating enclosure and the second conduit is arranged to vent excess vapor from the chamber to a point outside the heating enclosure.

A gas chromatograph (GC) is a powerful instrument for analyzing chemicals, particularly organic chemicals. This instrument, when coupled with a mass spectrometer or other specific detectors, is considered the analytical instrument of choice in many laboratories around the world.
All advanced GC systems currently commercially available are equipped with capillary columns. Over the last 30 years, addition of the capillary column has increased the power of this instrument. Previously, all GC were equipped with packed columns. These columns have inside diameter as large as 4 mm, and are only a few meters long, for example about ten meters long. To improve the separation power of the GC, instrument makers replaced the packed columns with capillary columns. These columns are much smaller in diameter than the original packed columns, for example with an inside diameter of about 0.3 mm, but may be as long as one-hundred meters.
With this capillary type of column, chemists have the power to separate closely related compounds, thus, greatly increasing their ability to identify and quantify chemicals. However, the capillary column has one significant drawback in that it is unable to accept large sample volume.
By way of illustration, during the introduction (injection) of a sample into a conventional GC via an injection port lined by an inlet sleeve, the sample is vaporized in the injection port, which greatly increases the volume of the sample. For the solvent hexane, for example, a typical injection of 1 microliter (.mu.l) will have an expanded volume of about 200.0 .mu.l. A 5.0 .mu.l injection will have an expansion volume of almost 1000 .mu.l
In a conventional GC, the largest inlet sleeve lining an injection port has a maximum volume of about 942 microliters. As all expanded sample gases have to enter the capillary column, the capillary column is flooded if a sample volume greater than 5.0 .mu.l is injected. The large expansion volume also leads to an increase in the pressure inside the injection port. This can lead to problems such as backflash and sleeve breakage.
The above-discussed drawback thus limits to few microliters the sample size which can be usefully injected into a conventional GC equipped with capillary column. Several GC manufacturers offer optional replacement injection systems to allow somewhat larger sample injections. Such replacement systems may increase the sample size capability only by about 250 .mu.l and the original injection system must be removed to accommodate the replacement. Accordingly, the cost of the optional equipment and the labor cost of replacement may be sufficiently high that such a replacement does not provide a cost effective way to improve an existing system.
There is a need for an "add-on" device that can be attached to an existing injecting system of a conventional GC, and allows for larger sample injection. Preferably such a device would allow the injection volume of a conventional capillary-column GC to be increased from a few microliters to over one milliliter. Increasing the injection volume to over one milliliter could improve the detection power of a conventional GC over 1000 times (depending on how large a volume is injected).

Large-sample accessory for a gas chromatograph


A micro-electromechanical device includes a first piezoelectric actuator and a second piezoelectric actuator. The first piezoelectric actuator includes a first beam fixed on a substrate and a second beam extended in parallel to the first beam from a first connecting end to a first working end. A second piezoelectric actuator includes a third beam, spaced from the first beam, fixed on the substrate and a fourth beam extended in parallel to the third beam from a second connecting end to a second working end. The second working end faces the first working end in a perpendicular direction to a surface of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a micro-electromechanical device using a piezoelectric actuator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an actuator fabricated by micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology has attracted attention. In such an actuator, a beam of the actuator is bent and displaced by a driving force, such as an electrostatic force, a thermal stress, an electromagnetic force, and a piezoelectric force.
Micro-electromechanical devices, such as variable capacitors and switches, which use an actuator, have been proposed. A variable capacitor or switch fabricated by MEMS technology includes a movable electrode provided on a beam of the actuator having an end suspended over the free space on a substrate, and a fixed electrode provided on a surface of the substrate. The movable electrode and the fixed electrode face each other in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate. The actuator is bent so as to vary in distance between the movable electrode and the fixed electrode.
In particular, in a MEMS variable capacitor having a piezoelectric actuator which uses an inverse piezoelectric effect or an electrostrictive effect as a driving force, a movable beam of the piezoelectric actuator may continuously and widely vary an interval between a movable electrode and a fixed electrode. Accordingly, a capacitance variation of the MEMS variable capacitor may increase. Moreover, since air or gas between the movable electrode and the fixed electrode are used as a dielectric, the MEMS variable capacitor advantageously has an extremely large Q value and the like.
Moreover, the structure of a MEMS variable capacitor may also be applicable to a MEMS switch. For example, in a capacitive type switch, a movable electrode is capacitively coupled with a fixed electrode across an extremely thin dielectric film. Alternatively, in a DC contact type switch, a movable electrode is brought into direct contact with a fixed electrode. Such a switch fabricated by MEMS technology has also attracted attention, since the switch has both a low on-state resistance and a high isolation capability in an off-state.
A piezoelectric actuator has a long and thin beam including a piezoelectric film sandwiched by top and bottom electrodes. The beam is suspended over the free space on a substrate by fixing an end of the beam on a substrate. Therefore, it is a serious problem that the beam is vertically warped due to as light residual stress in a material of the piezoelectric film. Hence, it is extremely difficult to adjust a capacitance value with an applied voltage to a MEMS variable capacitor as designed, or to set a drive voltage of a MEMS switch at a steady value.
For example, at an operation end in which the movable electrode is provided in the piezoelectric actuator, a displacement D of the beam due to the electrostrictive effect is approximated by the following expression:D˜E·d31·L2·t−1  (1)where E is an electric field applied to the piezoelectric film, d31 is a piezoelectric strain coefficient of the piezoelectric film, and L and t are a length and thickness of the actuator, respectively.
A warpage Dw of the piezoelectric actuator, which is caused by a residual stress Sr occurring on the deposited piezoelectric film and the like, is approximated by the following expression:Dw˜Sr·L2·t−1  (2)
As understood from a comparison between expression (1) and expression (2), both of the displacement D and the warpage Dw have a similar relation regarding the length L and the thickness t of the piezoelectric actuator. Specifically, the displacement D and the warpage Dw are proportional to a square of length L, and are inversely proportional to the thickness t. For example, in order to increase a drive range of the piezoelectric actuator, it is effective to increase the length L or to decrease the thickness t. In response, the displacement D may be increased, but also the warpage Dw is increased. Hence, in order to increase the drive range of the piezoelectric actuator while suppressing the warpage, geometrical modification for the actuator may have almost no effect. There will be no other way but to reduce an absolute value of the residual stress Sr compared to an absolute value of the piezoelectric strain (E·d31) due to the electrostrictive effect.
With respect to lead zirconate titanate (PZT) that is a piezoelectric material having a large electrostrictive effect, it is necessary to anneal a PZT film at about 600  C. after the PZT film is deposited at room temperature in order to obtain a good film quality. A contraction in volume may occur due to such annealing. Accordingly, a residual stress of the PZT piezoelectric film is inevitably increased. In addition, for a piezoelectric film, such as aluminum nitride (AlN), zinc oxide (ZnO), and the like, which can be deposited at around room temperature with a good film quality, it is possible to relatively precisely control residual stress by adjusting deposition conditions. However, an electrostrictive effect in the piezoelectric film, such as AlN, ZnO, and the like, is smaller than the PZT film by a factor of ten or more.
In the case of using a piezoelectric material having such a large electrostrictive effect in order to increase the piezoelectric strain of the piezoelectric film of the piezoelectric actuator, it is difficult to control residual stress in a piezoelectric film, and to suppress warpage of the actuator. Moreover, a piezoelectric material, in which the residual stress can be controlled relatively easily, has a small electrostrictive effect. In such piezoelectric material, a drive range of the actuator cannot be sufficiently increased in comparison with the warpage of the actuator. Due to the problems as described above, technological application of the piezoelectric actuator is precluded. The piezoelectric actuator is strongly warped by the slight residual stress due to a serious problem relating to such a structure of the piezoelectric actuator, that is, the thin and long beam structure. Therefore, it is difficult to fabricate a MEMS variable capacitor with a constant capacitance, or a MEMS switch with a constant operation voltage.
The present inventors have proposed an actuator having a folded beam structure, as a measure for reducing warpage due to a residual stress of a piezoelectric actuator (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2006-87231). A piezoelectric actuator having a folded beam structure includes first and second beams. This structure is obtained by folding the second beam, which is substantially identical in shape and dimension to the first beam, with respect to a first beam that is fixed at a fixed end. A working end of the second beam is placed adjacent to the fixed end. In this way, the warpage of the first beam may be cancelled by the warpage of the second beam. Moreover, by applying a drive voltage to either one of the first and second beams, or by applying opposite drive voltages to each of the first and second beams, a drive displacement due to the piezoelectric action is not be canceled. Thus, a sufficient drive range may be ensured.
Based on the proposal of the inventors, design trials of the piezoelectric actuator have been performed. As a result, it has been proved that, although the warpage in a longitudinal direction in which the beams are extended is very effectively cancelled, the warpage caused by the distance in a lateral direction in which the fixed end and the working end face each other still exists. The warpage in the lateral direction depends on a ratio between a length and a width of the piezoelectric actuator. However, in so far as the trials, the warpage in the lateral direction is about 10% of the maximal warpage at the folded point of the piezoelectric actuator.
The warpage in the lateral direction of the piezoelectric actuator is nearly equal to the drive range of the piezoelectric actuator. Therefore, it is difficult to control the displacement accurately and repeatedly, with the piezoelectric drive. In this way, the warpage in the lateral direction, due to the residual stress of the piezoelectric actuator, decreases the manufacture yield and performance of a micro-electromechanical device using the piezoelectric actuator.


Embodiments of the invention provide methods and apparatus for increasing the number of page attributes specified by a page table while minimizing an increase in size of the page table. According to embodiments of the invention, attribute index bits may be included within a page table and may be used to determine page attributes stored within an attribute index. Additionally, embodiments of the invention provide a plurality of new page attributes.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many computer systems blocks of memory or pages may be allocated to programs or processes executing on the computer system. Pages may be allocated in order to separate the memory space used by the various processes executing on the computer system. This separation ensures that one process does not overwrite data being used by or associated with another process. The address space assigned to a process may be a range of virtual memory addresses for pages of data which are mapped to physical locations of the data located within the main memory or disk memory of a computer system.
In order to locate page data within the computer system, the processor may use page tables to translate virtual memory addresses into physical memory addresses. Page tables may contain a plurality of entries which map virtual memory addresses to the physical memory addresses where the page data is located in memory (e.g., main memory or disk memory).
In addition to a virtual page address and a corresponding real page address, each page table entry or row may also contain status bits. The status bits may indicate the status of the page data located at the physical memory address. For example, one status bit may indicate if the page data corresponding to a virtual memory address is located in main memory or is located in disk memory.
Each page table entry may also include attribute bits. The attribute bits may indicate specific attributes associated with the page data for an entry. Specifically, the attribute bits may indicate how the data is handled by the processor when performing operations on (accessing) the associated page data.

Using an index value located on a page table to index page attributes

Internation Business Machines Corporation


This invention discloses a wireless compact disc stereo playback system for use in automobiles. An FM transmitter is employed which is connected at the output of a portable CD player, the FM transmitter thereby producing a stereo FM signal which is transmitted to be received by the automobile antenna. The automobile's FM system is tuned to play the output of the CD player through the FM radio system of the automobile. The output power of the FM transmitter and its bandwidth are selected so that the distance from the antenna to the FM transmitter will be sufficient to ensure effective sound production in standard automobiles and vans.

This invention relates to an automobile's sound system, and more particularly, to an adapter which allows a portable CD to be wirelessly connected through an FM radio in an automobile so that the CD plays through the FM radio.
The assignee of this application, Recoton Corporation, is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,897. That patent is directed to a cassette adapter which is connected at the output of a portable CD player, with the cassette adapter inserted into the tape player allowing the CD to play through the tape player and tape system of the automobile. Hard wiring is required between the CD and cassette adapter. It is preferable, in certain instances, to eliminate hard wiring and electrical conductors to prevent possible damage to the system and otherwise provide a more convenient transmission system enabling a portable CD to play through an automobile stereo system.
An object of this invention is to provide a CD adapter which allows a portable CD to play through the stereo system of an automobile.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a wireless adapter system which complies with FCC regulations.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a system whose power is sufficient to enable transmission between a CD adapter and the antenna of the automobile with the FM radio of the automobile tuned to a frequency not being used in the area of use.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide such an adapter which is made of integrated circuitry, is of substantial conventional components, is inexpensive, compact and has minimum power drain.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide such an adapter system allowing the CD to be placed anywhere within the interior of the automobile without affecting the quality of transmission and play of the adapter system.
Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become more apparent from the following description.


A semiconductor module is disclosed. In one example, the module includes a carrier, at least one semiconductor transistor disposed on the carrier, at least one semiconductor diode disposed on the carrier, at least one semiconductor driver chip disposed on the carrier, a plurality of external connectors, and an encapsulation layer covering the carrier, the semiconductor transistor, the semiconductor diode, and the semiconductor driver chip. The semiconductor transistor, the semiconductor diode, and the semiconductor driver chip are arranged laterally side by side on the carrier.

In many electronic systems it is necessary to employ voltage or current converters like AC/AC converters, AC/DC converters, DC/AC converters, DC/DC converters, or frequency converters in order to generate the currents, voltages and/or frequencies to be used by an electronic circuit like, for example, a motor driving circuit. The converter circuits as mentioned before typically comprise one or more half-bridge circuits, each provided by two semiconductor power switches, such as e.g. power MOSFET devices, in particular insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices, and further components such as diodes connected in parallel to the transistor devices, and passive devices such as resistors, inductors, and capacitors. The switching of the power MOSFET devices can be controlled by one or more semiconductor driver devices. The assembly of the aforementioned devices can in principle be accomplished by mounting and interconnecting the devices as individual components on a printed circuit board (PCB). There is, however, a general tendency to provide integrated semiconductor modules having short interconnections between the devices in order to reduce switching losses and parasitic inductances. A further aspect to be observed is an efficient heat dissipation of the devices.

Semiconductor module comprising transistor chips, diode chips and driver chips arranged in a common plane


A prosthesis for insertion into a long bone includes a stem which has been shaped so as to evenly distribute low stress to the bone. A synthetic resinous sheath surrounds the stem which effects a contact surface between the stem and the bone. The prosthesis includes an extension which extends outwardly of the bone and has a ball and socket thereon.

A first aspect of the present invention relates to designing prostheses in general and more particularly femoral head prostheses and acetabulum prostheses.
Prior art in this field comprise:
Article from Biomedizinische Technik, Vol. 30, Nr. 5, G. Giebel et al.: "Fertigung von Knochenmodellen nach Computer-Tomographie-Daten zur Verwendung in Chirurgie und Orthopadie" (pages 111-114);
Lecture during First European Congress of Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy, Apr. 9-14 1984, Berlin, issued by E. L. Trickey et al. Springer-verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, DE U. Munzinger et al.: "Biomechanics of Knee Prostheses" (pages 324-334);
U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,953 (Grobbelaar), column 3, pages 19-28, 56-61;
DE-A-2805868 (Engelbrecht et al.), FIG. 1;
GB-A-2096003 (Burstein), page 2;
EP-A-0149527 (Lee et al.), FIGS. 1, 2
GB-A-2045082 (Raab), page 1
It is a first object of the method according to the present invention to improve upon the prior art.
It is a further object to provide a method in which tensile, compressive and shear stresses acting on the interface between prosthesis and bone, whether or not provided with a cement mantel, are controllable. Theories exist that resorption or necrosis of bone are caused by stress shielding of the bone due to the prosthesis.
A preferred method according to the present invention concerns prostheses minimizing local normal and shear stresses between bone and prosthesis. Existing endoprostheses used in practice generally consist of a metal core surrounded by a mantle of an artificial material which is in direct contact with the bone. According to the present invention, a mathematical simulation model is made of such a construction, by means of the so-called finite element method. With this model the stresses which act on the connecting planes or at an interface area between the artificial mantle and the bone can be calculated. These stresses depend, amongst others, on the geometry of the prosthesis. By means of a mathematical search procedure that geometry can be determined which creates a prechosen stress pattern at the interface between bone and prosthesis.
The above-mentioned method was applied to a 2-D model of a femoral head prosthesis and a acetabular prosthesis.
A second aspect of the present invention relates to a femoral head prosthesis having a specific shape.
The characteristics of this shape are not known from the prior art, e.g.:
DE-A-3.243.861; DE-A-2.805.868; BE-A-2.247.721; GB-A-2.078.523; GB-A+2.045.082; EP-A-146.192; EP-A-12.146; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,865.
A third aspect of the present invention is directed to a method for the positioning of an endo-prosthesis in a bone as well as spacing or positioning elements.
From the prior art a more cumbersome method for introducing a femoral head prosthesis is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,909.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention an acetabular prosthesis having a characteristic shape is provided. Those characteristic shapes are not known from the prior art, viz. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,566,138 and 4,563,778.
Malfunctioning of a human joint due to arthrosis, arthritis, trauma conditions or any other cause reduces the well-being of the person concerned and is expensive for society at large. With increasing success, such defects are corrected by joint arthroplasty. Annually in the world, these procedures are carried out more than 500,000 times. Most defects concern the hip and the knee joints; however, ankles, toes, shoulders, elbows, wrists and finger joints can also be provided with artificial joints.
The known prostheses usually consist of a combination of a metal and a plastic. Most prostheses have a metal stem or plateau which is fixed within the bone by means of acrylic cement. Acrylic cement is a fast curing mixture of monomethyl-methacrylate liquid and polymethylmethacrylate powder. This viscous mass can be introduced into the intramedullary canal or into the trabecular bone of a bone. Subsequently, the prosthesis is inserted in the acrylic cement mass. After curing, a mantle of cement remains in between the metal core and the bone. The bone cement does not have any adhesive properties, and the connection between the cement and the bone is merely realized by mechanical interlock. A firm interlock is achieved by a sufficiently deep penetration of the cement into the trabecular bone. This penetration arises if the acrylic cement has a sufficiently low viscosity and is pressurized for some time.
In cases where no acrylic cement is used, the prosthesis is introduced directly into the bone. Such a prosthesis can be made out of metal completely, or can be composed out of a metal core and a coating. In this case there is not primary fixation between the prosthesis and the bone. Such a fixation can, however, be accomplished by the ingrowth of bone into the surface structures of the prosthesis.
A well-known long-term complication of surgical joint replacement is loosening of the prosthesis. This loosening mostly occurs at the interface between prosthesis and bone. It is known that the chances for this complication to occur increase with decreasing age of the patient at the time of the operation and an accordingly increased activity level. Loosening of the prosthesis leads to resorption of bone and finally to severe complaints of pain. These complaints can be so dramatic that a revision operation is indicated, in which the old prosthesis is removed and a new one is inserted. However, the long-term results of a revision operation are not as good as those of a primary joint replacement, and the revision procedure cannot be repeated an arbitrary number of times.
No common opinion exists presently on the cause or etiology of loosening. The following possibilities have been suggested: necrosis of the bone at the interface caused by toxicity of the cement monomer or excessive heat release due to the exothermally curing bone cement, fracture of the cement mantle due to mechanical loading, failure of the interface caused by local stress peaks, reduced loading of the bone caused by stress shielding, etc.
Further advantages, features and details of the invention will be clarified by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Endo-prosthesis, a femoral head prosthesis and an acetabulum prosthesis


An object of this invention is to make it possible to suppress early-stage oxidation of a substrate surface prior to oxidation processing, and to remove a natural oxidation film. For this reason, a method is provided comprising the steps of loading a substrate into a processing chamber, supplying a hydrogen-containing gas and an oxygen-containing gas into the processing chamber, and subjecting a surface of the substrate to oxidation processing, and unloading the substrate subjected to oxidation processing from the processing chamber. In the oxidation processing step, the hydrogen-containing gas is introduced in advance into the processing chamber, with the pressure inside the processing chamber set at a pressure that is less than atmospheric pressure, and the oxygen-containing gas is then introduced in the state in which the introduction of the hydrogen-containing gas is continued.

As the degree of integration of semiconductor devices has increased, an increase in wiring resistance has become a problem. The materials of gate electrodes primarily used in memory processes have shifted from conventional polysilicon doped with impurities to silicide films that make it possible to lower the resistance value and polymetal structures in which metal materials such as tungsten and the like are stacked on top of polysilicon. Here, silicide films (also referred to as silicate films) are films that are formed by the fusion of metals and silicon. Polymetal structures are structures in which metals are stacked on top of polysilicon, and are structures in which a barrier metal is inserted between the polysilicon and metal in order to prevent silicate formation.
The polymetal structures and silicide films mentioned above will be described using as an example the gate electrodes shown in FIG. 4g. These electrodes are parts of a flash memory or DRAM. Furthermore, FIGS. 4(a) and 4(c) show portions of the structures of flash memories, and FIG. 4(b) shows a portion of the structure of a DRAM.
FIG. 4(a) shows one example in which a polymetal structure is applied to the gate electrode (control electrode) of a flash memory. In order to form a polymetal structure, a surface of a silicon substrate 100 constituting a dynamic layer is thermally oxidized, and a silicon dioxide film (SiO2 film) 110 used for gate insulation is formed; a polysilicon film (poly-Si film) 120 used as a floating gate is deposited on top of this SiO2 film. A poly-Si film 140 used as a gate electrode is stacked on top of this poly-Si film 120, with an SiO2/Si3N4/SiO2 film (insulating film having an ONO structure) 130 or the like interposed as an insulating film. In order to lower the resistance, a tungsten nitride (WN) film 150 is formed as a barrier metal, and a tungsten (W) film 160 is deposited as a metallic thin film on top of this. Subsequently, the stacked films described above are patterned by a dry etching method, so that a structure having a polymetal gate 200 having a stacked structure is formed on the gate region between the source region 80 and drain region 90 as shown in FIG. 4(a).
FIG. 4(b) shows one example in which a polymetal structure is applied to the gate electrode of a DRAM. This example differs from FIG. 4(a) in that there is no poly-Si film 120 or insulating film 130 having an ONO structure; the remaining structure is the same. Furthermore, FIG. 4(c) shows an example in which a silicide film, e.g., a tungsten silicide (WSi) film 170, is used instead of the polymetal structure in FIG. 4(a). This example differs from FIG. 4(a) in that a WSi film 170 is deposited on top of the poly-Si film 140 formed on a surface of the insulating film 130 having an ONO structure.
The dry etching method used to pattern stacked films is a working operation in which a surface of the stacked films is physically shaved off by sputtering. In the polymetal gate structure shown in FIG. 4(a) as an example, damage is inflicted on the surface of the silicon substrate 100 in the source region 80, drain region 90, and the like, and on the side surfaces of the thermal oxidation film (SiO2 film) 110, poly-Si film 120, insulating film 130 having an ONO structure, poly-Si film 140, and the like, and this leads to an increase in the wiring resistance and an increase in the leak current.
In cases in which impurity-doped polysilicon is used as the material of the gate electrode, in order to recover from this damage inflicted on the surface of the silicon substrate 100 and side surfaces of the thermal oxidation film and the like by dry etching, and in order to form a protective film, the moisture generated on the outside of the processing chamber is usually supplied to the interior of the processing chamber at normal pressure or under reduced pressure, and a thermal oxidation film used for protection is formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 100 and the side surfaces of the thermal oxidation film and the like by this moisture (for example, see patent document 1).
Patent document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-110667

Manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, and substrate processing apparatus


A liquid crystal display module includes: a liquid crystal display panel, a surface light-emitting lamp irradiating light to the liquid crystal display panel by a surface light-emission, and a power source supplying an electric power to the surface light-emitting lamp. The surface light-emitting lamp includes a frame having a light-emitting space, a first barrier rib formed partitioning the lamp into light-emitting spaces and electrode pairs for generating electric fields in the light-emitting spaces, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display module, more particularly, to a liquid crystal display module having improved display quality and productivity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal display (hereinafter, LCD) devices trend towards gradually wider applications due to their lightness, thinness, and low power consumption. In accordance with this trend, LCD devices find use in office automation devices, audio/video devices and the like.
An LCD device adjusts the transmittance of light in accordance with an image signal applied to multiple control switches arranged in a matrix-type array in order to display desired pictures in a screen.
Generally, an LCD device includes a liquid crystal display module and a driving circuitry for driving the liquid crystal display module.
The liquid crystal display module includes a liquid crystal display panel having liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix between two glass substrates, and a backlight unit irradiates light onto the liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystal display panel and the backlight unit must engage with each other in an integral shape so as to prevent a light loss, and also be protected from damage caused by external impacts. To this end, a casing encloses the back light unit as well as the edges of the liquid crystal display panel.
There are two types of back light units for a liquid crystal display module: i) a direct-below-type, and ii) an edge-type.
The edge-type back light unit has a fluorescent lamp installed on the outside of a light guide plate, and thus the light from the fluorescent lamp is incident to the entire surface of the liquid crystal display panel by using a transparent light guide plate. The direct-below-type back light unit has a light source arranged at a rear surface of the liquid crystal display panel, and the light source directly radiates light to the entire surface of the liquid crystal display panel. Compared with the edge-type back light unit, the direct-below-type back light unit has advantages in that multiple light sources can be used to improve brightness and that the light-emitting surface can be widened.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view illustrating a related art liquid crystal display module employing a direct-below-type back light unit. FIG. 2 shows a sectional view representing the liquid crystal display module taken along line I-I′ in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the liquid crystal display module 1 employing the direct-below-type back light unit includes a main support 14, a back light unit and a liquid crystal display panel 6 stacked in an interior of the main support 14. A top case 2 encloses the edge of the liquid crystal display panel 6 and the side of the main support 14.
The liquid crystal display panel 6 includes a color filter array substrate 5 and a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate 3. Liquid crystal materials are injected between the color filter array substrate 5 and the TFT array substrate 3. The liquid crystal display panel 6 is provided with a spacer (not shown) that constantly keeps a gap between the color filter array substrate 5 and the TFT array substrate 3. The color filter array substrate 5 is provided with a color filter, a common electrode and a black matrix (not shown). Signal lines such as a data line and a gate line (not shown) are formed on the TFT array substrate 3 of the liquid crystal display panel 6. A thin film transistor (TFT) is formed at an intersection between the data line and the gate line. The TFT switches a data signal to be transmitted from the data line to the liquid crystal cell in response to a scanning signal (i.e., a gate pulse) from the gate line. A pixel electrode is formed at a pixel area between the data line and the gate line. A pad area is formed at one side of the TFT array substrate 3 and is connected to each of the data line and the gate line. A tape carrier package (not shown), having a driver integrated circuit mounted thereon for applying a driving signal to the TFT, is attached onto the pad area. This tape carrier package applies a data signal from the driver integrated circuit to the data line. Further, the tape carrier package supplies a scanning signal to the gate line.
An upper polarizing sheet attaches onto the color filter array substrate 5 of the liquid crystal display panel 6, and a lower polarizing sheet attaches onto the rear side of the TFT array substrate 3 of the liquid crystal display panel 6.
The main support 14 is made from a molded material, and its inner lateral wall surface is molded into a stepped coverage face. The stepped coverage face has a securing part formed therein in which the back light unit and the liquid display panel 6 are accommodated. The back light unit that irradiates light onto the liquid crystal display panel 6, and the liquid crystal display panel 6 that adjusts the transmittance of light irradiated from the back light unit to display a picture, are stacked inside the main support 14.
The back light unit includes multiple lamps 20 irradiating light onto the liquid crystal display panel 6, multiple lamp holders 22 on which the lamps 20 are fixedly mounted, a diffusion plate 10 that diffuses incident light received from the lamps 20 to irradiate the light onto the liquid crystal display panel 6, a lamp housing 18 arranged on the rear surface of the lamps 20, and multiple optical sheets 8 stacked on the diffusion plate 10.
A cold cathode fluorescent lamp is mainly used for the lamps 20. Each of the lamps 20 includes a glass tube, inert gases within the glass tube, and a cathode and an anode installed at the respective opposite ends of the glass tube. The inert gases are injected in the glass tube. A passivation film is formed on the inside wall of the glass tube, and phosphorus is applied to the inside wall of the glass tube. The light generated from the lamps 20 is incident to the diffusion plate 10.
The diffusion plate 10 directs the light received from the lamps 20 toward the front surface of the liquid crystal display panel 6, and the diffusion plate 10 diffuses the light to have a uniform distribution over a broad area, so that the diffused light is irradiated to the liquid crystal display panel 6. The diffusion plate 10 includes a transparent resin film having both surfaces coated with light-diffusion materials.
The lamp housing 18 includes a reflection sheet 12 and a bottom cover 16 arranged on the rear surface of the reflection sheet 12.
The bottom cover 16 has a bottom surface and an inclined surface extending from the bottom surface. That is, the bottom surface and the inclined surface of the bottom cover 16 are bent like a step. The reflection sheet 12 is stacked on the bottom cover 16.
The reflection sheet 12 is arranged on the rear surface of the lamp 20. The reflection sheet 12 is made of a light-reflecting material that takes the same shape as the bottom cover 16. Moreover, the reflection sheet 12 has a bottom surface that overlaps the bottom surface of the bottom cover 16 and also has an inclined surface correspondingly bent to the inclined surface of the bottom cover 16. The reflection sheet 12 adheres to the bottom surface and the inclined surface of the bottom cover 16 using a double-sided adhesive tape (not shown). The reflection sheet 12 reflects the light directed toward the rear surface and the side surface of the lamps 20 toward the liquid crystal display panel 6 to thereby improve the efficiency of the light irradiated on the liquid crystal display panel 6.
The light exiting from the diffusion plate 10 serves as diffused light that widens the viewing angle. The efficiency of the light incident to the liquid crystal display panel 6 becomes high when the incident light is perpendicular to the liquid crystal display panel 6. To this end, the optical sheets 8 are disposed on the diffusion plate 10. The optical sheets 8 make the light exiting from the diffusion plate 10 to project perpendicularly, thereby improving the efficiency of the light. According to the scheme, the light exiting from the diffusion plate 10 reaches the liquid crystal display panel 6 via the optical sheets 8.
The top case 2 has a square band shape having a plane part and a side part bent perpendicularly. The top case 2 encloses the edge of the liquid crystal display panel 6 and the main support 14.
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view illustrating a related art back light unit of the liquid crystal display module shown in FIG. 1.
High voltage generates heat in the glass tube of the lamp 20 used for a light source of the related art back light unit shown in FIG. 3. If the heat occurs in the glass tube, then an exhaustion amount of mercury gas filled inside the glass tube largely increases. As a result, the brightness of light emitted from the lamp 20 becomes uneven, thereby lowering the reliability and reducing the life span of the lamp 20. Further, if any one of multiple lamps 20 becomes damaged or is inferior, then the brightness of the back light unit suddenly decreases, and implementing a scanning back light driving method capable of improving the display quality of the liquid crystal display module 1 by controlling the brightness of each part of the back light unit becomes impossible. Also, the complex arrangement of the back light unit requires a lot of time to assemble the liquid crystal display module 1, which entails lower productivity.

Liquid crystal display module having electrode pairs in partitioned light emitting spaces, respectively


A flexible printed circuit board that electrically connects a main body and a rotary body to each other is twisted in advance through an angle that is a half of an angle of rotation through which the rotary body is rotated. One end of the flexible printed circuit board is fixed to the main body, and the other end thereof is fixed to the rotary body. The rotary body is rotated in a direction causing the twist of the flexible printed circuit board to diminish.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic apparatus including a rotary unit that is rotated horizontally relative to a main unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A compact electronic apparatus, for example, a portable cellular phone or a personal digital assistant is generally of a fold-down type and comprises a movable unit serving as a display unit that has a liquid crystal display screen and a main unit serving as a keyboard unit to input numbers and characters. In recent years, a portable cellular phone having a display unit that can be rotated 180° horizontally to a keyboard unit has made its debut. With the display unit closed, the keyboard unit is located under the display unit. When the portable cellular phone is opened, the display unit and keyboard unit are disjoined from each other at an angle of 180°. Unlike the fold-down type, the rotary type has the display unit thereof oriented forward. If the keyboard is not required to enter a phone number, telephoning or e-mail can be performed with the portable cellular phone left closed. Moreover, if the portable cellular phone includes a camera facility, the large display unit serves as a viewfinder. Moreover, if the portable cellular phone includes a facility for receiving television, viewing and listening can be achieved with the display unit left closed. The rotary type portable cellular phone is therefore expected to be widely adopted in the future.
The display unit of the portable cellular phone and the keyboard unit thereof are electrically connected to each other with a hinge between them. The fold-down type portable cellular phone adopts a flexible printed circuit (FPC) board having numerous signal lines printed on a flexible insulating plate (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-47968). However, the rotary type portable cellular phone whose display unit is rotated has signal lines, which pass through a shaft support via which the display unit is pivoted, twisted 180°. If the flexible printed circuit board is twisted through an angle exceeding 90°, a load on the flexible printed circuit board increases. This brings about the risk of breakage. Therefore, the flexible printed circuit board cannot be disposed in a place where the flexible printed circuit board may be twisted 180°. Consequently, there is difficulty in disposing the flexible printed circuit board in the shaft support for the purpose of electrically connecting the display unit and keyboard unit. Therefore, signal lines formed with thin cables are bundled and passed through the hinge in order to electrically connect the display unit and keyboard unit.


A welding-type apparatus has a control panel with enhanced viewability. The control panel may include LEDs, backlit LCDs, and other light-emitting indicators whose viewability by a user is enhanced when the control panel is subjected to relatively intense ambient light, such as direct sunlight. The control panel includes light reflecting, light refracting, light filtering, and/or light absorbing components to enhance the intensity of the light emitted by the light-emitting indicators relative to ambient light incident thereon.

The present invention relates generally to welding-type machines and, more particularly, to a light filtering assembly that improves detectability of light emitted by a light-emitting device or readability of a display. In this regard, the present invention is further directed to reflecting, refracting, absorbing, or otherwise dissipating ambient light incident on an indicator or display so as to enhance detectabilty of the emitted light or readability of the display when the light-emitting device or display is subjected to relatively intense ambient light, such as direct sunlight.
Welding-type machines, such as welders (power sources), plasma cutters, heaters, aircraft ground power units, wire feeders, generators, and the like, typically have liquid crystal displays (LCDs)or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to provide visual indicators to a user regarding operating conditions of the machine. For example, an engine-driven generator may include LEDs for an engine hour meter, a low fuel indicator, a low engine oil pressure indicator, a low battery indicator, and the like. A welding-type machine may also include an LCD designed to display one or more menus to a user.
To improve their viewability, LEDs and backlit LCDs are constructed and powered to emit relatively bright light. In this regard, a user can easily distinguish between a lit and a non-lit indicator. However, because of size, thermal, and power constraints, the brightness of the light is constrained. As a result, it may be difficult, in some situations, for a user to appreciate that a particular LED is lit or determine what is being displayed on an LCD.
For example, welders and other welding-type machines are commonly used in outdoor as well as indoor environs. When used in an outdoor environment, the intensity of the ambient light, i.e. sunlight, might be such that a user has difficulty in ascertaining whether a particular LED is lit or have difficulty in reading the alphanumeric characters of an LCD. As a result, increasingly, welding-type machines are being equipped with shades to ease a user's detectability of a lit LED or readability of an LCD when the machine is being used outdoors. While helpful, when the indicator is subjected to direct sunlight, shades have been shown to be inadequate.
It would therefore be desirable to have a indicator whereby a user can easily detect illumination thereof when subjected to direct sunlight.

Control panel for a welding-type apparatus


A plasma display includes a plurality of scan electrodes. A scan voltage is sequentially supplied to the plurality of scan electrodes, and a non-scan voltage that is higher than the scan voltage is supplied to scan electrodes to which the scan voltage is supplied. The non-scan voltage is generated by dividing a voltage that is higher than the non-scan voltage and the scan voltage. Thus, a voltage source for supplying the non-scan voltage can be eliminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display, a plasma display driver, and a method of driving a plasma display, and more particularly, to a driving circuit for driving a scan electrode of the plasma display.
2. Description of the Related Art
A plasma display is a display device that uses a plasma generated by gas discharge in discharge cells to display characters to images. Depending on its size, a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) of the plasma display includes more than several tens to millions of pixels arranged in a matrix pattern.
One frame of the plasma display is divided into a plurality of subfields. Each subfield has a brightness weight and includes a reset period, an address period, and a sustain period. The reset period is for initializing the status of each discharge cell. The address period is for selecting turned-on/turned-off cells among the discharge cells, and the sustain period is for causing the turned-on cells to continue to discharge for displaying an image.
In the plasma display, a discharge can be generated between two electrodes when a voltage difference between the two electrodes is greater than a predetermined voltage. Recently, the tendency has been to lower discharge voltages by using negative voltages since the discharge voltages are too high if all of the discharge voltages are set to positive voltages. Then, the discharge voltages can be lowered by using the negative voltages, but the number of voltage sources increase since the voltages of the reset period, the address period, and the sustain period are different.

Plasma display and plasma display driver and method of driving plasma display

Maetan-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


A device and method for measuring phase and power shifts in a simultaneous dual polarization radar system comprises an access port, a quadrature mixer, and a power detector. The access port is configured to couple to the simultaneous dual polarization radar system near the antenna of the simultaneous dual polarization radar system. The quadrature mixer is configured to mix a first signal from a first polarization and a second signal from a second polarization. The first signal and the second signal are sampled through the access port. The first power detector is configured to measure the power level of the first signal.

In a typical dual channel weather radar system, a transmission signal is generated in an amplifier or a power oscillator, then passed through waveguides, rotary couplers and possibly transmitters and power dividers before being transmitted from an orthogonal feedhorn and antenna into the atmosphere. When a reflected signal is received, the reflected signal is compared to the signal generated by the amplifier or oscillator to determine weather conditions. The power and phase of the signal, relative to the transmitted signal, are important in determining the weather characteristics. Thus, having an accurate depiction of the transmitted signal is necessary in forming an accurate picture of the weather conditions.
Components in a weather radar system may introduce delays in the signal (thus shifting the phase of the signal) and may also lose power from the signal prior to transmission. For example, as the signal is passed across rotary couplers in the transmission path to the antenna, some of the signal may be lost in the coupling, and may be delayed so that the phase and power of the signal changes after it passes through the coupling. Thus, any comparison of the transmitted signal to the received signal is more accurate if the comparison includes the delay and power loss through the coupler.
In single polarized signals, any shift in phase is not as important because the return transmission time, i.e., the reception interval, is much greater than any shift in phase created by the components in the system prior to transmission. However, in a dual channel weather system, a change in phase of the signal on one of the channels relative to the signal of the other channel introduces additional error because the analysis of a dual channel weather system includes analysis of the two received signals relative to each other. Thus, any change in phase due to delays within the system may effect the analysis of the signals.
Moreover, any delays in the system or loss in signal power also effects the range of the signal. If delays in the signal are present, then the interval between signals must be longer to allow for the delay. In order to maintain the same interval, then the range would effectively be limited by the delay, or estimated delay. In addition, the maximum range is proportional to the transmitted power raised to the ¼ power. Thus, signal delays and power loss may limit the range. Such delays may be minimized by a system that can accurately determine when components are causing delays and losses for replacement of components.

System and method for measuring phase and power variance