A snapshot backscatter radiography (SBR) system and related method includes at least one penetrating radiation source, and at least one substantially transmissive radiation detector. The substantially transmissive radiation detector is interposed between an object region to be interrogated and the radiation source. The substantially transmissive radiation detector receives and detects forward radiation from the radiation source before transmitting a portion thereof to interrogate the object region, wherein a portion of backscattered radiation provided by the object region is detected by the detector. A changeable collimating grid having a plurality of spaced apart radiation absorbing features is coupled to structure changing a position of the plurality of features and is disposed in at least one of the path of the forward radiation and the path of the backscattered radiation. An image of the object can be obtained by subtracting the forward radiation detected at the detector, or an estimate thereof, from a total of all radiation detected by the detector. Integrated circuit inspection, land mine detection, and luggage or cargo screening systems can all be SBR based.

In many industrial, military, security or medical applications, images of the internal structure of objects is required. Radiography is often used for imaging. Radiography generally comprises either conventional transmission radiography or backscatter radiography.
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating the configuration used for conventional transmission radiography. In conventional radiography, an image is formed by transmitting radiation from a radiation generator 105 through an internal detail 110 within object 130. Attenuated radiation is received by a radiation detector 115 which is disposed on the side of the object opposite to that of the radiation generator 105. In the case of tomography, the object 130 is generally rotated about axis perpendicular to the plane of the figure.
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating the configuration used for backscatter radiography. Unlike conventional radiography which relies on transmission, in backscatter radiography radiation is scattered by internal detail 210 within object 230. In backscatter radiography, the radiation generator 205 and radiation detector 215 are on the same side of the object 230. All backscatter radiography techniques allow one-sided imaging of the object since the radiation generator 205 and the radiation detector 215 are located on the same side of the object 230. This is the same imaging configuration that people and animals use for optical viewing of the surroundings. Because of the absence of a refraction process for the penetrating radiation in backscatter radiography, image-gathering lenses cannot be used.
In backscatter radiography, illumination of an entire region of the object to be interrogated in a single snapshot has generally only been possible using a pinhole, coded aperture, or a restriction positioned between the object and the radiation detector. This generally results in either extremely inefficient sensing of the radiation, or the introduction of substantial image-obscuring structured noise, thus requiring large exposure times for typical radiation sources. An alternative includes use of a scanning pencil or fan beam for illuminating a temporal sequence of points or lines on the object surface. This also yields long exposure times and decoding algorithms having long calculation times, besides requiring an expensive scanning apparatus.
The equivalent of an optical snapshot camera capable of implementation using relatively inexpensive components which would provide high image resolution and a short exposure time would be desirable for applications which require one-sided imaging of the internal structure of objects.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Snapshot backscatter radiography (SBR) systems including system having dynamic collimation

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


A method and apparatus are provided for analyzing cells in urine. A constricted zone through which various cells contained in a urine specimen flow in single file is irradiated with light having a light beam width in the direction of cell flow of between 1 .mu.m to 20 .mu.m. Scattered light and fluorescent light emitted by the cells is converted into scattered-light intensity data and fluorescent light intensity data. Preferably, the individual cells have been stained with a stain such that DNA will specifically emit fluorescence. Cell diameter data and peak-count data are also generated from the detected scattered light. Cell judgement values are stored in a memory device, and the cells in the urine specimen are classified based upon the cell judgement values.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus which uses flow cytometry to classify and enumerate cells such as leukocytes, erythrocytes, epithelial cells, casts and bacteria contained in urine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examination of urine content has long been carried out and is still of great importance. For example, a screening test for kidney failure can be conducted based upon the presence of erythrocytes, leukocytes, epithelial cells, casts and bacteria in urine. Measurement of erythrocytes is important in terms of determining whether hemorrhage has occured in the tract from the slomerulus to the urethra of the kidney. The appearance of leukocytes is considered to be a possible indication of a kidney disorder such as pyelonephritis, and detection thereof is important in early discovery of inflammation and infection. Furthermore, by examining cast and erythrocyte morphology, the origin of such inflammation and infection, namely the abnormal parts of the body, can be surmised.
In this specification, the word "cell" shall be used as a generic term for an erythrocyte, epithelial cell, cast and bacterium.
Conventional methods of analyzing cells in urine include (a) visual examination based upon microscopy and (b) automatic measurement using a combination of a flat sheath flow and image processing technology.
Method (a) involves centrifuging a urine specimen, preparing a slide sample of the matter of sediment and observing, classifying and counting cells under a microscope.
Method (b), an example of which is disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 57-500995 or USP 4,338,024, involves using a video camera to capture an image of a urine specimen made to flow as an extremely flat stream within a sheathing solution employed as an outer layer, and subjecting the still picture obtained to image processing, whereby the images of the cells in the specimen are extracted and displayed.
However, both of the foregoing methods exhibit certain drawbacks. Specifically, method (a) which relies upon a microscope entails considerable labor for such pre-treatments as centrifugal separation and staining. In addition, cells may be damaged in the centrifuging process and there are disparities in concentration from one specimen to another.
The apparatus which uses method (b) is itself high in cost owing to reliance upon image processing, and the processing speed is low. Furthermore, the advantage of automation afforded by the apparatus of method (b) merely displays the images upon roughly classifying the imaged components based upon their size, and it is required that classification process be performed by a human being while the display is observed. Thus, the automatic classification and enumeration of cell components is not possible.
Further, since the amount of the urine specimen measured according to the methods (a) and (b) is very small, a drawback is that casts, the discovery of the presence of which is very important, cannot be discovered in the urine sediment. Specifically, the low frequency of the presence of cast in such that usually only several tens thereof are present per milliliter.
Another problem is that since the types of components in urine sediment are numerous and differ widely in size from one specimen to another, and in view of the fact that the degree of cell damage can be considered to be large, it is understood that analysis of urine sediment is not possible using flow cytometry.
Still another problem is that a number of some cells such as bacteria in urine clumps to form a large cell diameter, thus making it difficult to distinguish between a clumping group of bacteria and a blood cell.

Apparatus and method for analyzing cells in urine


A terminal has a plurality of split solder portions inserted into through-holes in a printed circuit board. A first split solder portion has a cross-sectional shape such that four corners thereof contact an inner circumferential surface of the through hole for positioning, while a second split solder portion has a cross-sectional shape such that the portion is loosely inserted into the through hole without contacting an inner circumferential surface thereof. The plurality of split solder portions of the terminal are inserted into through holes having substantially equal diameters. The four corners of the first split solder portion contact the inner circumferential surface of the through hole for positioning and holding. The second split solder portion does not contact the inner circumferential surface of the through hole. The through holes are filled with solder to fix the split solder portions therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal directly mounted on a printed circuit board, a construction to directly mount a terminal to a printed circuit board, a printed circuit board to which a terminal is directly mounted, and an electric junction box that houses a printed circuit board or a printed circuit board on which a terminal is directly mounted. More particularly, the present invention relates to a terminal that is inserted in a through hole in a printed circuit board and soldered to the through-hole, and the terminal is positioned and fixed to the printed circuit board in a simple and secure manner without damage, thus enhancing alignment accuracy of the terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, terminals directly mounted on a printed circuit board include a press-fit terminal, which is pressed into a through-hole in a board and press-contacted on a conductor coated on an inner circumferential surface of the through-hole for connection; and a terminal that is inserted into a through-hole in a printed circuit board and soldered for connection with a circuit. The prior art also includes a terminal that includes an end portion split into a plurality of board connecting portions that are inserted into through-holes in a printed circuit board. The board connecting portions are inserted into respective through holes provided in the printed circuit board and soldered for electric connection.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2005-135698 discloses a press-fit terminal 1, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The press-fit terminal 1 includes an end portion split into two board connecting portions 2a and 2b, which are press-fit into printed circuit board 3 through holes 4a and 4b, respectively. The through holes 4a, 4b each include an inner wall plated with a conductor. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-272737 discloses a terminal 5 for high current, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The terminal 5 includes an end portion split into two board connecting portions 6a and 6b, which are inserted into printed circuit board 7 through holes 8a and 8b, respectively. The through holes 8a, 8b each include an inner wall plated with a conductor. Spaces between the through holes 8a, 8b and the board connecting portions 6a, 6b are filled with solder 9 for connection with a circuit on the printed circuit board 7.
However, the conductor on the inner wall of the through holes 4a, 4b is easily scratched when the press-fit terminal 1 is pressed in, thus causing a conduction failure in both board connecting portions 2a and 2b. Further, after insertion into the through holes 8a, 8b, the terminal 5 is pressed from above and held by a jig until soldered, thus easily causing terminal misalignment or deformation and requiring alignment adjustment. These problems associated with the prior art are not limited to high current terminals, but also occur in press-fit terminals and solder-mounted terminals that include a terminal connecting portion that is not split.


A hot wax system for conditioning one's hands that includes a wax that is meltable at a temperature below that which would be harmful to one's skin. The molten wax is placed into an elastic glove that is stretchable to at least 150% of its original length and rebounds to at least 20% of its original length. Thereafter, one's hand is placed into the glove and the glove is manipulated to disperse the wax over all the hand surfaces. The hand is kept in the glove until the desired result is achieved--normally about five to thirty minutes. The process may be repeated with the user's other hand and wax dispersement can be accomplished simultaneously in both gloves by repetitively pressing the gloved hands together. The wax may be conveniently enclosed in a heat resistant container or within the glove itself to facilitate storage, heating and to insure that the correct amount of wax is being utilized.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a process and an assembly for applying hot wax to one's skin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Application of hot wax is a known moisturizing and therapeutic dermal treatment, generally used on hands and fingers. In a conventional hot wax treatment, skin is moisturized by covering the entire hand with a molten wax mixture. The wax is then allowed to solidify, where it remains on the skin for a predetermined interval of time. Traditionally, a dermal cover such as a mitten or glove is placed over the treated skin area to preserve the layer of solidified wax for the desired interval of time.
Until this invention, the wax mixture has been too costly and difficult for consumers to self-administer at home or on an individualized basis. Typically, wax must be melted in large quantities to be economically viable for dermal treatment. A safe thermostatically controlled vessel is usually required to melt the large amounts of wax. As a result, hot wax treatments have previously been feasible only at commercial salons. Moreover, conventional dermal application of wax is difficult to self-administer to both hands at one time. As a result, the process frequently requires two people.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,675 to Sansonetti discloses a dual layered heated mitten for use in conjunction with hand cream. Although Sansonetti provides for self-administering hot liquid hand treatments, it fails to provide a mechanism for applying molten wax mixtures. More specifically, Sansonetti uses a localized heating source to warm and release liquid hand cream. Additionally, Sansonetti is ill-suited for hot wax treatment because the mitten described therein is not elastic. As such, the mitten is inadequate for administering a viscous molten wax mixture in a continuous layer over the entire hand. Moreover, Sansonetti relies on relatively expensive electrical mittens that may not be affordable for individual personal use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,298,368 to Charos discloses a heated gloved applicator for hand cream. As with Sansonetti, the patent fails to disclose an apparatus for applying hot wax treatments, which are more viscous than hand creams and must form a continuous coating over the hand.


A coated particle is described, which includes a metal fluoride particle and a polysiloxane coating on the surface of the particle. A dental composition is also described, which includes the coated particle, a polymerizable monomer, and a polymerization initiator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coated metal fluoride particle suited for use in dental materials for the prevention of caries by strengthening the tooth substrate, and to a dental composition incorporating the metal fluoride particle.
2. Discussion of the Background
The effect of fluoride ions to strengthen the tooth substrate in dental treatment is already well known, and the treatment of the tooth substrate with fluoride ions to prevent and/or inhibit tooth caries is performed routinely.
In recent years, restorative resins have been employed as materials for tooth restoration. However, in the unfortunate case that a gap forms between the tooth substrate and the restorative material, leaks can occur around the margins and bacteria can penetrate into the gap between the tooth substrate and the restorative material and cause secondary caries.
Dental restorative resins that contain a fluoride compound have been proposed with the aim of preventing secondary caries by strengthening the tooth substrate through the fluorination of the tooth substrate around the wall of the cavity by fluoride ions which elute from the fluoride compound (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Sho 48-80151 and No. Sho 50-49358).
Conventionally, metal fluorides such as sodium fluoride, fluorides of ammonium salts such as ammonium fluoride, and fluorine containing glasses such as fluoroaluminosilicate glass are known to release fluoride ions. However, with metal fluorides and fluorides of ammonium salts, although the amount of released fluoride ions is high and subsequent fluorination of the tooth substrate by the release of fluoride ions into the surrounding tooth substrate can be realized, there is the problem that a large decrease in the mechanical properties and adhesive performance of the restorative resin itself accompanies the elution of fluoride ions, causing further fracture and shedding of the restorative resin. On the other hand, with fluorine containing glasses, although there is no decrease in the mechanical properties or adhesion performance of the dental restorative resin incorporating the glass, there is the problem that the amount of fluoride ions eluted is small.
In order to provide a fluoride ion releasing dental composition having excellent durability and high practical value, there is a need to develop a fluoride ion releasing material which elutes fluoride ions in large amounts but which does not reduce the mechanical properties or adhesion performance of the restorative material itself.
The inventors of the present invention considered that when a fluoride compound is incorporated into a restorative resin to supply fluoride ions to strengthen the tooth substrate for preventing secondary caries, it is desirable that the fluoride compound elutes fluoride ions in large amounts. From this point of view, the inventors of the present invention selected in particular metal fluorides from the large number of different fluoride compounds, and studied their incorporation into dental restorative materials.
When the relationship between the amount of fluoride ions eluted and the decrease in mechanical properties and adhesion performance was investigated for dental restorative materials incorporating metal fluorides, it was observed that although the amount of fluoride ions eluted increased with an increasing amount of metal fluoride incorporated, the mechanical properties and adhesion performance is adversely effected with the increasing amount of metal fluoride incorporated. From these findings, it was considered that it would be possible to inhibit the decrease in mechanical properties and adhesion performance of the restorative resin by controlling the speed of elution of the metal fluorides incorporated therein.
However, if the sole objective is to simply control the speed of elution of fluoride ions from the dental restorative resin having the metal fluorides incorporated therein, it can be achieved by the conventional technique of microencapsulation. As described in "Kobunshi Daijiten" (1994, Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha) and "Shinpan Kobunshi Jiten" (1988, Asakura Shoten), microencapsulation involves coating the surface of a core material such as small solid particles, liquid drops, or gas bubbles to seal it, thereby protecting the core material from the external environment, and controlling the speed at which the core material is eluted to the outside. By adopting a metal fluoride as the core material and coating the surface thereof, it is possible to control the speed of elution of the metal fluoride.
The technique of microencapsulating fluoride compounds is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 2-31049. However, it is used there with the aim of preventing the elution of fluoride ions from the fluoride compound in order to inhibit reactions with other components in the same system. It is thus used as "protection for the core material" as mentioned in the above description of the microencapsulation technique, which is completely different from the objective in the present invention which requires that the coating acts to actively cause fluoride ions to be eluted.
Furthermore, there is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Sho 58-99409 a fluoride-containing aluminosilicate glass powder whose surface in coated with a soluble polymer. When a powder coated with a soluble polymer is used in a dental restorative material, under the damp conditions found inside the oral cavity, the soluble polymer is washed away by saliva or water taken into the mouth during eating and drinking, which necessarily limits its coating function with respect to the powder over a long period of time and is thus unable to fulfill the objective of the present invention, which is to ensure retention of mechanical properties and adhesion performance of a restorative material containing fluoride particles.
It is common for the fluoride compound to be incorporated into the dental composition in its powder form, rather than being dissolved in the dental composition (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Sho 48-80151 and No. Sho 50-49358). It is also common for the powder filler to be subjected to a surface treatment such as silane coupling treatment before being incorporated into the dental composition. Of course, the treatment of the metal fluoride with a silane coupling agent would easily be considered, and it can be anticipated that the treatment of the metal fluoride with a silane coupling agent would control elution of the metal fluoride. However, the effect desirable in the present invention cannot be achieved simply by subjecting the metal fluoride to silane coupling treatment.
Studies by the inventors of the present invention with respect to the problem of actively promoting the release of fluoride ions when incorporating a metal fluoride into a dental composition for preventing secondary caries via fluoride ions, whilst avoiding any decrease in the mechanical properties and adhesion performance of the dental restorative resin accompanied with the elution of fluoride ions, have shown that the two requirements cannot be satisfied at the same time with the fluoride compounds obtained by conventional techniques, and that there are thus problems with applying the conventional techniques to dental compositions in the present invention.
The inventors of the present invention carried out research into producing a fluoride particle by which the contradictory requirements in the prior art (i.e., avoiding any inhibition of the speed of elution of the fluoride ions whilst inhibiting the decrease in the mechanical properties and adhesion performance of the dental composition containing the fluoride compound) could both be satisfied. As a result, they found that this objective could be realized by a fluoride particle obtained by coating a metal fluoride with a polysiloxane.
At the start of their research, the inventors of the present invention anticipated that this would have the same result as the conventional microencapsulation technique, i.e., that the elution of the metal fluoride would be inhibited by coating the metal fluoride particle with a polysiloxane, whereby the decrease in the mechanical properties and adhesion performance would also be reduced. However, detailed studies by the inventors of the present invention showed that, contradictory to this expectation, the amount of fluoride ions eluted did not decrease when the metal fluoride was coated with a polysiloxane, and that in fact the amount of fluoride ions was rather increased by coating with a polysiloxane.
This favorable phenomenon that not only was it possible to inhibit any decrease in the mechanical properties and adhesion performance of the dental composition by microencapsulating the metal fluoride with a polysiloxane compound, but also that the amount of fluoride ions eluted could be increased, could not have been anticipated from conventional teachings.
Although the technique of coating inorganic powders with a polysiloxane is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publications No. Hei 7-331112 and No. Hei 8-3473, there is no mention whatsoever in these publications of using metal fluorides as the inorganic powder. Furthermore the teaching of these publications is that an improvement in the bonding force between the inorganic powder and the resin and another improvement in the adhesion between inorganic powder particles can be realized with a mixture of an inorganic powder and a resin, from which it would not have been possible to infer the objective of the present invention.

Coated metal fluoride particles and a dental composition containing coated metal fluoride particles


Introduced here is an attachable unit that connects to a base unit through a snap-fitting mechanism. The attachable unit can include a top housing structure and a bottom housing structure that are ultrasonically welded together. The top housing structure can include the toe portion that is integral with remaining portions of the top housing structure, where the toe portion is configured to provide the snap-fit with the base unit.

Technological advances (e.g., improvements in processors, wireless communication, and packaging materials, in terms of their processing power, power consumption, and size) allow for new perspectives, paradigms, and possibilities. One such example is the development of wearable devices, where devices are worn on the body of the users rather than being separately carried and tracked by users. Further, by being on the person of the users, the wearable devices can provide new features and advantages previously unavailable to carried devices.
However, along with the new possibilities come various new challenges. For example, in integrating with users' daily lives and routines, the wearable devices can be physically stressed in ways that are foreign to other carried devices. Further, wearable devices can encounter unique size and shape limitations associated with users' comfort and mobility, meanwhile being asked to provide ever increasing and more complicated features without increasing the physical size or the cost.
The drawings depict various embodiments for the purpose of illustration only. Those skilled in the art will recognize that alternative embodiments may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosed techniques. Accordingly, while specific embodiments are shown in the drawings, the disclosed techniques are amenable to various modifications.

Housing construction for snap-in retention


A stepping motor includes: a magnet; a coil arranged concentrically with the magnet and to be opposed to a magnet, a predetermined clearance being provided between the magnet and the coil; and a magnetic member that surrounds the coil and includes a magnetic pole interposed between the magnet and the coil.

The present invention relates to a stepping motor for driving, for example, a timepiece or an electric fan.
In a related art, a stepping motor for a timepiece is known as a stepping motor which can be driven by a low current(refer to, for example, Patent Reference 1 and Patent Reference 2).
Patent Reference 1: JP-A-49-56109
Patent Reference 2: JP-A-50-145806
However, a stepping motor for a timepiece of a related art is constituted by: a coil wired to an iron core and having a rectangular outer shape; a coil yoke for leading a magnetic circuit from the coil to a rotor magnet; and the rotor magnet arranged to be opposed to the coil yoke, and constitutes unsymmetric shape relative to an rotating shaft fixed with the rotor magnet. Further, an outer shape of the coil yoke is obliged to enlarge due to low-current formation and there is a limit in reducing an occupied area thereof. Therefore, when the stepping motor is attached to a timepiece or the like, the coil yoke is obliged to attach thereto by being deviated to one space (one side), and other space (the other side) constitutes a dead space which is inefficient.
Further, when the stepping motor is used for driving an electric fan having a small moment of inertia, there is a drawback that a path for convecting air is blocked by the coil yoke or the like.


A wireless device and method provides for adding nodes to a wireless mesh network by adjusting an antenna sensitivity pattern of one or more nodes in the wireless mesh network to exhibit spatial selectivity. The method transmits a query, and if a response is received within a predetermined time period, the wireless device receives the response and adds the responding wireless device to the mesh network. The wireless device can adjust the transmission pattern to enable the antenna sensitivity pattern to cover a predetermined spatial area, and the predetermined time period can be fixed. The wireless devices can adjust the antenna sensitivity pattern in a coordinated manner. A method for supporting data connections between three or more wireless devices includes adjusting the sensitivity pattern of an antenna on a first wireless device, communicating with a second wireless device, and further adjusting the sensitivity pattern of the antenna for more wireless devices.

Wireless networks are becoming more and more popular. With the popularity of wireless networks increasing, users also demand broader coverage from a wireless network, such as voice, video and data communication support. With the broader demands placed on wireless networks, more complex mechanisms are required for differentiated services.
One solution for meeting the broader demands of wireless networks resulted in an increased interest in mesh networking in the home. A typical audio/visual cluster in the home could include a collection of home entertainment appliances that need to connect with each other. Home entertainment appliances can include an instance in the living room, an HDTV, stereo speakers, possibly an amplifier, and a set top box for distribution. Another example is the PC cluster; such a cluster can consist of a PC with a DVD Jukebox, a tuner, a second DVD R/W, and a printer.
In metropolitan areas, the use of wireless access points is growing. Already the market is seeing the emergence of informal federation of access points to constitute larger coverage mesh networks. Each access point deployed can be considered a candidate node in proximity mesh networks, whether at the metropolitan scale or the scale of a homeowner's residence. These examples of mesh networking require reliable connectivity among the network nodes. Rather than the cumbersome wired connections, wireless connectivity with auto configuration results in a much better user experience and therefore an accelerated growth of a mesh networking footprint.
Wireless connectivity is an essential element to low cost, ease of use mesh networking. A promising wireless technology to enable the connectivity of these clusters is Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is a technology that operates in the unlicensed part of the radio spectrum and is based on the existing IEEE 802.11 Standard. The cost of Wi-Fi devices is dropping to become a commodity element in consumer electronics devices as well as an integral part of personal computers.
There is a critical issue that must be solved for wireless mesh networking to be a viable scenario: how to grow a mesh network which inherently is an unmanaged network in the traditional sense. Mesh networks tend to be "best effort" deployment, therefore locating and connecting to other nodes within a certain proximity requires a special act on the part of the access point which constitutes a node in an existing mesh network.
A problem with mesh networks is that changes in local connectivity, even brief incidental changes, such as a dog walking in front of an access point, can result in disruptions in connectivity. If only a small number of nodes are present in the network, this disruption in connectivity can interrupt some nodes ability to reach the greater internet.

Enhanced mode technique for growing mesh networks


A method and system for forwarding interrupt requests from a source device to a destination device. A controller bridge receives data, from a source device, for a destination device and stores the incoming data in a data queue. An interrupt request is received from the source device for the destination device and forwarded to the destination device in response to completing a transfer of the data from the source device to the destination device. If data received from the source device for the destination device are pending in the data queue, the interrupt request is rejected and the source may resubmit the interrupt request at a later time. If additional data are received from the source device for the destination device, the data may be rejected in response to an interrupt pending in the interrupt queue from the source device for the destination device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for forwarding interrupt requests. In particular, the present invention relates to a system and method for receiving interrupt requests from a source device and delaying delivery of the requests to a destination device until the delivery to the destination device of previously received data has been completed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Interrupt requests are a common means of communication between devices in computer systems. An interrupt is sent from a first device to a second device in order for the first device to "get the attention" of the second device before the first device sends instructions and/or data to the second device.
Devices may be connected to each other directly or the devices may be connected to each other through a data bus that connects multiple devices. In some instances, devices exchanging data may be located on two or more different busses; the busses themselves may be connected though a bridge controller. Bridge controllers typically include buffers or queues and are configured to receive and store data from a first device and subsequently send the data to a second device. In high data traffic situations, the bridge may store the data in the buffer and send the data to the destination device on a first-in-first-out basis and/or in response to an availability of the bus(ses) connecting the bridge controller to the destination device.
Interrupt requests typically are routed through direct lines between the devices, even in cases where bridge controllers control the flow of data. In the cases where a bridge (or a similar device) exists, a first device may, for example, transmit data to a second device through a bus or busses and one or more bridges, directly send an interrupt to the second device, and then send instructions (again through the bus or busses and one or more bridges)for the processing of that data. The interrupt may be sent from the first device in order to "get the attention" of the second device and ask the second device to process the data, for example. In many instances, however, the data may be delayed in the bridge and may reach the second device before the forwarding of the data to the second device has been completed. The second device would then receive an interrupt and wait for instructions to process data that the second device has not yet received.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method that could better manage the delivery of interrupts and data from one device to another. The system and method should provide a way of ensuring the completion of the data delivery to a device prior to sending an interrupt request, whose action depends upon the completion of the data transfer, to the device.

System and method for delaying an interrupt request until corresponding data is provided to a destination device

International Business Machines Corporation


A network is provided that includes a mobile device and a configurable stub having a stub configuration embedded in the mobile device non-transitory memory. An operating server has an operating server processor and the operating server is configured to send Short Messaging Service (SMS) messages. A processor controlled global service discovery server is configured to receive the stub configuration and to inform the mobile device about the operating server.

Mobile devices are used by many persons in many different countries and on many different carriers. Information such as the country of use and the carrier is important for mobile device traffic management systems.
Activation of a mobile device should be secure, while providing sufficient identifying information to identify the carrier, location, and other relevant information that a network service provider may need in order to provide efficient network management. This information is not ideally provided in an SMS body since SMS can be faked (spoofed).
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique that provides a secure way to deliver configuration upon activation.

Secure mechanism to deliver mobile traffic management configuration upon stub activation on a mobile device of a global service discovery server


A system and method which collects dynamic connectivity data from an area network interconnecting multiple computing devices. The connectivity data identifying the address of equipment connected to the network is combined with static network information such as the user""s identity stored in the system data bases to relate the connectivity data to the respective users and their respective privileges. The system permits the identification of users on the network for purposes of billing or for diagnosis purposes using standard database search capabilities.

The present invention relates to the network management of local and wide area networks. Specifically, a system and method are provided which will identify connections of users to a network for purposes of billing and diagnosing failures on the network.
The power of computing has been greatly expanded by the ability to network individual users with other digital devices located in the same or different facilities. In a typical local area or wide area network system, users are connected and disconnected from the network on an ongoing basis. The network topology therefore changes, so that it becomes increasingly more difficult to identify the users of a network and their particular port connection to the network. In order to effectively diagnose problems on the network, as well as provide appropriate billing to users of the network, it is necessary to know, on at least a monthly basis, user port connections.
Network trouble shooting is typically done by the technician employees of the network owner. When diagnosing problems on the network, a networking problem may be traced to a particular physical address of a device connected to the network. The identification of the user of the equipment having to the physical address involved in a network problem, however, is not immediately available. Locating a network port location of a particular user is even more difficult in an environment where users may move from office to office, or even building to building over time, so that connectivity information is constantly changing. Further, various sources of user information are often in different data bases, and not correlated to a user""s network port connection. For instance, in a typical wide area network configuration, separate data bases may be maintained, one which identifies an employee""s organizational information, i.e., department number, telephone number, and employee number, etc., and other data bases which may include authorization data and address information for the users, which are not linked to each other, making it difficult to learn all facts about a user""s connection to the network.
Accordingly, the present invention seeks to merge user connectivity data which is dynamic, in that it changes from day to day, with more static data located in various data bases which are maintained by the network manager.
The invention is directed to a system and method which collects dynamic connectivity data from an area network interconnecting multiple computing devices. The dynamic connectivity information is combined in a data warehouse with static network information, relating to the various users and their privileges. The combined data stored in a data warehouse permits the identification of each user and the various privileges of the user, correlated to its connection port.
The productivity data is collected using commands in the simple network management protocol (SNMP). SNMP commands query all network devices such as hubs, routers, and gateways to other networks to obtain port connectivity information such as the identity of the ports being used by each network user.
The dynamic connectivity data may be combined in a single data warehouse with static user information from other data bases, correlated to the collected dynamic information. Thus, every user of the system may be identified along with ports in use by the user, and any privileges which exist for the user to use other connected devices such as gateways to other networks.

System and method for collecting connectivity data of an area network

International Business Machines Corporation


The gambrel includes a center bar, a left hook bar and a right hook bar. The center bar is a flat metal plate with a pivot pin bore, a support line bore and a stop pin bore. The left and right hook bars are elongated flat bars each of which has a hook pivot bore a pivot end, and a hook end. A pivot bolt passes through the left hook bar, through the center bar and through the right hook bar. A pivot bolt nut holds the center bar between the left and right hook bars. A stop bolt passes through the stop pin bore between the hook pivot pin bore and the center bar lower end. The left hook bar rests on the stop bolt and the right hook bar rests on the stop bolt nut when the hook bars are in a carcass support position.

Large game including deer, elk, caribou and moose are at least partially cleaned shortly after they are killed by a hunter. The meat may taste better if the carcass is at least partially cleaned in the field shortly after the animal is killed. When hunting in remote areas it may be necessary to cut an animal carcass into multiple pieces to facilitate transport of the meat.
Gambrels are employed to hold a carcass up by the rear legs while it is cleaned and if necessary butchered. The gambrel is raised by a rope or cable after the rear legs are attached.
A substantial number of gambrel structures are known. Some gambrels do not fold up and therefore have relative large overall dimensions making them difficult to carry. Gambrels that fold or telescope generally have hooks some of which have sharp points or edges that may cause injury to individuals that carry or use them. Others have exposed hooks that catch on vines, bushes, or tree limbs and impede movement to and from hunting locations.
Folding gambrels with tension links as well as compression links are known. These gambrels have excessive numbers of parts that increase weight and may have reduced strength. Multiple pivot pins are required. Each pivot pin increases weight and cost. Multiple pivot pins also increase the potential for failures.


An automatic transmission control system for an automotive automatic transmission including a speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed of the vehicle, a load sensor for detecting a load acting on the driving torque generator, a torque sensor for detecting input torque transmitted to the automatic transmission from the driving torque generator, first working fluid pressure control communicating both a first friction coupling element's unlocking pressure chamber and a second friction coupling element's pressure chamber with the working fluid source in the hydraulic pressure control system for controlling supply of working fluid pressure to and from both the unlocking pressure chambers and a second working fluid pressure control in the fluid path communicating both the first friction coupling element's locking pressure chamber with the working fluid source for controlling supply of working fluid pressure to and from the first friction coupling element's locking pressure chamber. Thereby controlling the second working fluid pressure control such that, until a start of a substantial gear shift period of time from an appearance of the specific gear shift command signal, the level of the working fluid pressure supplied to the locking pressure chamber of the first friction coupling element being directly related to a level of the working fluid pressure supplied to the locking pressure chamber of the first friction coupling element during the substantial gear shift period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic transmission control system for an automobile, and more particularly, to an improvement of an automatic transmission control system in which shift control for a specific gear shift is performed by especially controlling a hydraulic working pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automatic transmissions for automotive vehicles, which typically comprise a torque converter and a transmission gear mechanism, are automatically shifted into desired gears by selectively locking and unlocking a plurality of friction coupling elements such as clutches and brakes to switch the torque transmission path of the transmission gear mechanism. Such an automatic transmission is provided with hydraulic pressure control systems which supplies a pressurized working fluid to and discharges a pressurized working fluid from the respective friction coupling elements to selectively lock and unlock them. This type of automatic transmission includes, in addition to regular types of friction coupling elements, a servo cylinder type of friction coupling element provided with a band brake. This servo cylinder type friction coupling element has a servo cylinder which is divided into two pressure chambers, namely a servo apply pressure chamber and a servo release pressure chamber, by means of a spring loaded piston ordinarily forced in such a direction as to move toward the servo release pressure chamber. The servo cylinder type friction coupling element is locked when only the servo apply pressure chamber is supplied with a pressurized working fluid, and unlocked when both servo apply pressure chamber and servo release pressure chamber are not supplied with a pressurized working fluid, when both servo apply pressure chamber and servo release pressure chamber are supplied with a pressurized working fluid, and when only the servo release pressure chamber is supplied with a pressurized working fluid.
Some of available gear shifts have a necessity of locking a specific friction coupling element simultaneously with unlocking another specific friction coupling element. For example, in the case where the servo cylinder type friction coupling element is employed as a 2-4 brake to be locked in a second gear and in a fourth gear, and a single pressure chamber friction coupling element is employed as a 3-4 clutch to be locked in a third gear and in the fourth gear, it is necessary for a 2-3 gear shift to lock the 3-4 clutch simultaneously with unlocking the 2-4 brake. In this instance, because the pressurized working fluid is simultaneously supplied to both 2-4 brake and 3-4 clutch, the hydraulic pressure control circuit has fluid paths which branch off from a common fluid path and lead to the pressure chambers of these 2-4 brake and 3-4 clutch, respectively and is provided with a single hydraulic pressure regulating valve, such as a duty solenoid valve, located at the junction between the branch fluid paths and common fluid path in order to control supply of the pressurized working fluid to the pressure chambers of the 2-4 brake and 3-4 clutch. Such a hydraulic pressure control system for an automotive automatic transmission is known from, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-21643.
In the prior art hydraulic pressure control system, while the 3-4 clutch is supplied with a pressurized working fluid (which is referred to as a clutch locking fluid pressure), the 2-4 brake at the servo release pressure chamber is simultaneously supplied with a pressurized working fluid (which is referred to as a servo releasing fluid pressure) to force the piston in such a direction as to release the 2-4 brake. It is hard for the hydraulic pressure control system to perform precise control of the pressurized working fluid during a movement of the piston, and hence it is impossible to perform precise gear shift control which causes the turbine speed to fall keeping the change rate of turbine speed in agreement with a target rate through the control of 3-4 clutch locking pressure during a gear shift.
In regard to this, it may be done to control the 3-4 clutch locking fluid pressure indirectly through the servo releasing fluid pressure by controlling a pressurized working fluid in the servo apply pressure chamber of the 2-4 brake (which is referred to as a servo applying fluid pressure). In this case, even while the piston moves in the servo cylinder of the 2-4 brake, it is enabled to control the 3-4 clutch locking fluid pressure so as to cause, for example, an appropriate change in turbine speed during a gear shift. When controlling the 3-4 clutch locking fluid pressure indirectly by means of the servo applying fluid pressure, the servo applying fluid pressure, which is at a relatively high pressure level and has been supplied to provide a second gear, is fallen once with an effect of causing smooth control of the 3-4 clutch locking fluid pressure, and kept at the fallen pressure level to provide a torque phase. Afterward, when the gear shift is actually activated, in other words when the gear shift control enters on an inertia phase during which the turbine speed falls, the control of servo applying fluid pressure is performed so as to cause a satisfactory 3-4 clutch locking action.
During this control of servo applying fluid pressure, a serious problem is encountered. Specifically, when the servo applying fluid pressure is fallen for the purpose of controlling the 3-4 clutch locking fluid pressure, it is set to a pressure level suitable for the 3-4 clutch to be smoothly locked which is a specific pressure level meeting to, for example, a turbine speed change rate yielded due to input torque to the 3-4 clutch and a locking action of the 3-4 clutch. In some cases, the specific pressure level is insufficient against input torque to the 2-4 brake, allowing slippage of the 2-4 brake in advance of initiation of the 3-4 clutch locking action. This advanced slippage of the 2-4 brake, which is significant especially in the case where, while the specific pressure level of 3-4 clutch locking fluid pressure is made low due to a low turbine speed change rate when the engine is operating in a range of lower speeds, the 2-4 brake input torque increases more than the specific pressure level of 3-4 clutch locking fluid pressure increases in accordance with engine loads as a result of having entered an operating range of higher engine loads, yields an engine blow.

Automatic transmission control system for automobiles


The present application relates to a system and method for providing autoregressive based residual echo suppression in the STFT domain in a bidirectional vehicle communications system including receiving, from a communications processor, a speaker signal for coupling to a speaker, receiving, from a microphone, a microphone signal wherein the microphone signal includes a voice signal and a residual echo signal, transforming the signals to the STFT domain generating an estimated power spectral density of the residual echo signal in response to a prior power spectral density of a prior residual echo signal, isolating the voice signal from the microphone signal by multiplying the estimated residual echo gain generated using the estimated power spectral density of the residual echo signal with the microphone signal, transforming the signals back to the time domain and coupling the voice signal to the communications processor.

The present disclosure relates generally to programming motor vehicle audio and sound suppression systems. More specifically, aspects of this disclosure relate to systems, methods and devices for autoregressive based residual echo suppression in the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) domain by performing an algorithm for suppression of residual echo in reverberant environments based on auto regressive model of signal energy decay.
Vehicle subsystems typically include noise and vibration constraints in order to reduce cabin noise and increase occupant comfort. For example, a rear differential control module may have noise and vibration constraints that lock clutches to avoid gear rattle or limit torque to avoid hypoid gear noises. In addition, vehicle cabin systems may monitor cabin noises and then generate noise cancelling sound waves or noise masking sounds to cover undesirable vehicle noises. Vehicle audio systems may increase in volume as the vehicle speed increases. Fans and other heating and air conditioning systems may change speeds when a mobile phone call is received by the vehicle communications systems.
To provide an effective hands-free telecommunications system in a vehicle, cabin noise must be reduced as much as possible to increase intelligibility of the phone conversation. In addition, an acoustic echo canceler (AEC) is a necessary component for a full-duplex hands-free telecommunication system to eliminate undesired echo signals that result from acoustic coupling between a loudspeaker and a microphone. In a reverberant acoustic environment, linear echo cancellation is unable to remove all echo components due to the long tail of the room impulse response and computation limitations. A nonlinear residual echo suppressor is additionally needed in order to achieve acceptable levels of echo. The above information disclosed in this background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Autoregressive based residual echo suppression


The methods described herein are directed at securing information in storage media such as optical discs, magnetic disks or a combination thereof. In particular the methods describe embedding a first stream of data in a second stream of data by modulating the location of transition edges in the second stream of data. A method for writing data to a storage medium includes the steps of representing the raw (first) data to be written to the storage medium as a sequence of bits in a format appropriate for writing to a storage medium; representing second data (supplemental data) as a second sequence of bits and writing the first sequence of bits to the storage medium as a corresponding sequence of pits along a track, wherein the location of the pits along the track represents the stored first data, and while writing the first sequence of pits, modulating the locations at which transition edges of the sequence of pits are written to embed the second data in the sequence of pits.

The need for storage is growing at an exponential rate, fueled by multimedia requirement for text, images, video and audio information. In order to meet this need storage systems include many diverse technologies, for example, magnetic disk drives, magnetic tape drives and tape libraries, optical disk drives and optical libraries.
Optical storage systems and devices, for example, compact disc (CD) and digital versatile disc (DVD), provide high storage capacity and low media cost. These qualities make optical storage devices attractive for distribution of information, for example, copyrighted content or to backup data. An optical disk includes a plastic or glass substrate having one or more thin-film layers coated upon its surface(s). The information may be pre-recorded on the surface of the substrate by the disk manufacturer, or it may be recorded on one or more of the thin-film layers by the user. The available optical disks include, for example, compact disk audio (CD), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk recordable (CD-R), CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, magneto-optical (MD), phase-change (PC) writable disks and write-once-read-many (WORM) media.
In certain types of optical disks some information, such as format marks and grooves, may be stamped onto the substrate itself, and then the substrate is coated with a storage layer that can be modified later by the user during recording of information. Typical storage layers are dye-polymer films for write-once application, tellurium alloys for ablative recording (also write-once), GeSbTe for phase-change rewritable media, and TbFeCo magnetic films for magneto-optical disks (also rewritable).
The availability of low cost CD and DVD writers has raised concerns of piracy and theft of secret data. Ideally, content providers and businesses could be protected from lost revenues due to illegal copying. Current US copyright laws allow users to make personal copies of content for backup and convenience. Various copy protection schemes have been devised to encode or encrypt the data stored on a disk to disable copying of content. Unfortunately, the existing copy protection schemes have been decoded since any personal computer (PC) can read the data stored on an optical disk and hackers learn to defeat the copy protection scheme. These schemes also violate copyright laws since often no legal copies are possible either.
In secure government, military and business applications optical disks can be a problem since large amounts of data can be mishandled or misappropriated on optical disks. Existing encryption schemes for data do not provide sufficient controls for secure data as many encryption schemes can be decoded or circumvented.
There thus remains a need for securing information stored on optical and/or magnetic media that cannot be decoded or circumvented by unauthorized users.

Apparatus and methods for securing information in storage media


A laminate, comprising an intermediate layer and a covering material A and a covering material B that are disposed on respective sides of the intermediate layer, the covering material A being disposed with an orientation direction at an angle of 20° or less with respect to an orientation direction of the covering material B.

A laminate having covering materials such as resin sheets, on respective sides of an intermediate layer, is used in various technical fields. For example, a wavelength conversion member having a layer including a quantum dot phosphor and covering materials disposed at respective sides of the layer is known as a means for improving color reproducibility of a display of image display devices such as liquid crystal display devices (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

Laminate, wavelength conversion member, backlight unit, and image display device


Disclosed is a contact-pressure adjusting method and a contact-pressure adjusting system, each of which automatically adjusts the contact pressure between two rotors, for a liquid application machine including: a first rotor to which liquid is supplied; a second rotor to which the liquid is supplied from the first rotor; and a contact-pressure adjusting unit for adjusting the contact pressure between the first rotor and the second rotor. By using a temperature measuring unit, measured is: the temperature of at least one of the surfaces of the first and second rotors; the temperature of at least one of the liquid on the surface of the first rotor and the liquid on the surface of the second rotor; or the temperature of at least one of the vicinity of the first rotor and the vicinity of the second rotor. The contact-pressure adjusting unit is adjusted in accordance with the measured temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a contact-pressure adjusting method and a contact-pressure adjusting system for a liquid application machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a printing press, after the start of printing, the temperature inside the printing press gradually increases with the operating time. Since each component of the printing press thermally expands due to the increase in temperature, the contact pressure (a nip pressure or a printing pressure) of every part of the printing press changes from a value that is set at the start of printing. For the purpose of compensating for the change, the printing press has the following structures. Specifically, it is possible to adjust the contact pressure between a form roller, which applies ink to a plate surface, and the plate surface, while the printing press is in operation. In addition, it is also possible to adjust the contact pressure between the plate surface and an impression cylinder, as well as the contact pressure between the plate surface and a blanket cylinder. Particularly in a relief printing, such a change in contact pressure causes printing troubles, such as the darkening of colors and the thickening of lines, near the raised portions. For this reason, the operator has to frequently adjust the contact pressure while checking printing products all the time. In addition, such an increase in temperature varies depending on various factors, such as printing patterns, printing systems, the number of colors to be used, and printing materials to be used. Minute changes in contact pressure due to these factors affect largely on printing products. Accordingly, for the purpose of compensating for the change in contact pressure, a printing press is provided with a contact-pressure adjusting system which adjusts the contact pressure during operation of the printing press. Examples of such a contact-pressure adjusting system are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open Publication Nos. Hei 1-171642, Hei 3-124838, Hei 4-128835, and Sho 63-141732, as well as Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Sho 63-264354.
However, in the contact-pressure adjusting systems disclosed in the above publications, it is necessary for the operator to manually adjust a contact pressure (a nip pressure or a printing pressure) very frequently. Accordingly, a heavy burden is imposed on the operator. In addition, since a contact pressure is adjusted in accordance with the operator's gut feeling based on his or her experience, the quality of printing products varies depending on the operators. Moreover, the changes, with the operation time, in contact pressures bring about changes of the quality of printing products.

Contact-pressure adjusting method and contact-pressure adjusting system for liquid application machine


An array substrate of a liquid crystal display includes data lines; scanning lines configured to cross with the data lines; a test line provided outside a display region of the array substrate for test of the array substrate; and a repair line provided outside the display region for repair of a defective data line. The test line is configured to be electrically isolated from the repair line when the repair is not carried out and is electrically connected to the repair line and the defective data line when the repair is performed. A method of repairing the array substrate and a liquid crystal display using the array substrate are also provided. According to the invention, the test line can be used as a part of a repair circuit for repair of the data lines, thereby greatly decreasing non-display area.

Liquid crystal displays are advantageous in being light, thin and low power consumption, and have been widely used in modern information devices such as notebook computers, mobile phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
FIG. 1 shows an array substrate of a conventional liquid crystal display. The LCD array substrate 110 comprises a signal introducing region 111 and a display region 112. Data line pads 121 and scanning line pads 131 are formed in the signal introducing region 111. A plurality of data lines 122 and scanning lines 132 are respectively connected to the data line pads 121 and the scanning line pads 131. A plurality of pixels P is defined in regions where the data lines and the scanning lines cross. External data signals and scanning signals are inputted via the data line pads 121 and the scanning line pads 131, and then transmitted to the respective pixels P in the display region 112 through the data lines 122 and the scanning lines 132.
In a conventional process for fabricating LCD array substrates, defects such as breakage and the like may occur in the data lines. As shown in FIG. 1, the data line 122 breaks at point D1 in the display region 112. In this case, data signals cannot be transmitted to the portion of data line below the break point D1, thereby causing a line defect.

Array substrate of liquid crystal display, method of repairing same, and liquid crystal display

Infovision Optoelectronics (Kunshan) Co., Ltd.


A method of surface sealing a porous fibrous substrate is provided. According to the method, a porous fibrous substrate possessing a moisture content and a surface with pores is provided. A sealant composition is applied to a surface of the porous fibrous substrate and permitted to penetrate the surface pores of the porous fibrous substrate and undergo cure while participating in a foaming reaction with the moisture content to establish a water-resistant polymeric foam sealant impregnated into the porous fibrous substrate. The water-resistant polymeric foam sealant contains a polyurethane and/or polyurea.

Man-made consolidated cellulosic articles, such as fiberboard, may be molded to have either planar or three-dimensional shapes and embossed with various designs and patterns, such as a wood grain appearance of natural wood. Fiberboards are a well known and widely used class of consolidated cellulosic articles that include such materials as hardboard, soft board, and medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Chipboards such as particleboard, medium-density particleboard, and oriented strandboard (OSB) constitute another useful class of consolidated cellulosic articles. Composite structures of these boards are also useful.
Various processes have been practiced to produce consolidated composite articles such as those mentioned above. The principal processes for the manufacture of consolidated composite articles include wet felted/wet pressed or "wet" processes; dry felted/dry pressed or "dry" processes; and wet felted/dry pressed or "wet-dry" processes.
Generally, in a wet process, cellulosic materials such as fibers (e.g., fibrillized wood fibers) are blended in a vessel with large amounts of water to form a slurry. The slurry preferably has sufficient water content to suspend a majority of the cellulosic fibers and preferably has a water content of at least ninety weight percent of the wood fibers. (All percentages disclosed herein are by weight, unless specifically stated otherwise.) The slurry is combined with a synthetic resin binder, such as for example a phenol-formaldehyde resin, and deposited onto a water-pervious support member, such as a fine screen, where much of the water is removed to leave a wet mat. The resulting cellulosic material has a moisture content, for example, of about fifty weight percent based on the dry weight of the cellulosic material. The wet mat is transferred from the pervious support member to a press and consolidated under heat and pressure to form the consolidated composite article, such as a door facing or other desired article.
A wet-dry forming process typically includes blending cellulosic raw material, e.g., wood fibers, in a vessel with large amounts of water having a pH of less than seven to form a slurry. This slurry is then blended with a resin binder. As in the wet process described above, the blend is then deposited onto a water-pervious support member, where a large percentage of the water is removed, thereby leaving a wet mat of cellulosic material having a water content of about fifty weight percent, for example. This wet mat is then transferred to an evaporation zone where much of the remaining water is removed by evaporation. The dried mat preferably has a moisture content of less than about thirty weight percent based on the dry weight of the cellulosic material. The dried mat is then transferred to a press and consolidated under heat and pressure to form the consolidated composite article.
In a dry process, the cellulosic material is generally conveyed in a gaseous stream or by mechanical means rather than a liquid stream. The cellulosic material may be first coated with a thermosetting resin binder, such as a phenol-formaldehyde resin. The cellulosic material is then randomly formed into a mat by air blowing one or more layers of the resin-coated cellulosic material onto a support member. The mat may optionally be subjected to pre-press drying. The mat, typically having a moisture content of less than about thirty weight percent and preferably less than about ten weight percent, is then pressed under heat and pressure to cure the thermosetting resin and to compress the mat into an integral consolidated article.
In the processes described above, the mat is typically consolidated in a press between upper and lower press platens. After compression, the resulting molded article may include a surface intended to be exteriorly disposed, such as a door facing exterior surface. The aesthetic appearance and physical properties of the exterior surface may play important roles in evaluating the quality and functionality of the article. However, the compression process sometimes results in an article having a surface with undesirable qualities. For example, the surface of the article removed from the press may possess imperfections such as cracks, voids and high porosity. Without wishing to be necessarily bound by any theory, it is believed that these defects are generated when the consolidated material "sticks" to the platens as the platens release. These imperfections not only adversely affect the aesthetic quality of the door skin, but also deleteriously affect important properties, such as reducing surface hardness. Even if sufficient press release is achieved, the surface quality of the article may still be inadequate, given the high surface porosity often present in a consolidated cellulosic article.
In order to provide the desired surface characteristics to the finished product, a sealer or finish coat may be applied to the molded article after removal of the molded consolidated composite article from the press. Often, the surface color is also desirably altered by the precursory step of applying a primer to the surface of the molded article, thereby providing a ready-to-finish surface on the composite articles conditioned to accept paint or stain, for example. However, conventional sealers do not adequately fill the relatively large surface cracks, voids, and pores sometimes present in consolidated cellulosic articles. As a result, the consolidate cellulosic articles, even after receipt of a surface treatment, may possess a poor surface seal and high water sensitivity and permit moisture penetration. Articles such as exterior door facings are often exposed to large amounts of water (e.g., rain and high humidity). The penetration of moisture into a poorly sealed surface of a consolidated cellulosic article can lead to fiber swelling, which can manifest as cosmetic blemishes and blistering, making the article commercially unacceptable to discriminating consumers.

Method of sealing a porous fibrous substrate, and method of making a door


Self-aligned trench filling is used to isolate devices in high-density integrated circuits. A deep, narrow trench isolation region is formed in a substrate between devices. The trench region includes two trench portions. A first trench portion, located above a second trench portion, is filled with a deposited dielectric. The second trench portion is filled with a grown dielectric. Filling the lower trench portion by growing a dielectric material provides for an even distribution of dielectric material within the lower portion. Filling the upper trench portion by depositing a dielectric material provides for an even distribution of material in the upper portion while also protecting against encroachment of the dielectric into device channel regions, for example. Devices can be fabricated by etching the substrate to form the trench region after or as part of etching one or more layers formed above the substrate for the device. This can ensure alignment of the gate and channel regions of a device between trench isolation regions.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to high density semiconductor devices, such as nonvolatile memory, and systems and methods for isolating components in high density semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits are constructed by electrically connecting multiple isolated devices that share a common substrate. When multiple devices are formed on or in a common substrate, it is necessary to isolate the individual devices using isolation technology. As the density of integrated circuits continues to increase, the space available for isolating devices tends to decrease. With decreased device dimensions, inter-device parasitic currents and charges can become more problematic, making isolation technology a critical component of integrated circuit fabrication.
For example, in nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices such as flash memory, many individual storage elements are constructed from a common substrate to form a memory array. These individual storage elements must be isolated from one another using isolation technology. In one example of a flash memory system, the NAND structure is used. The NAND structure includes multiple transistors arranged in series, sandwiched between two select gates. The transistors in series and the select gates are referred to as a NAND string. Isolation technologies are typically employed during the device fabrication process to provide electrical isolation between adjacent NAND strings sharing a common substrate.
Numerous techniques exist for isolating devices in NAND flash memory and other types of semiconductor devices. In Local Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS) techniques, an oxide is grown or deposited on the surface of a substrate, followed by the deposition of a nitride layer over the oxide layer. After patterning these layers to expose the desired isolation areas and cover the desired active areas, a trench is etched into these layers and a portion of the substrate. An oxide is then grown on the exposed regions. The grown oxide typically grows under the deposited nitride causing the encroachment of oxide into the active regions (often referred to as a bird's beak). This encroachment can cause stresses and ultimately defects in the silicon. Furthermore, the encroachment decreases the available active area for constructing devices which limits the density that can be achieved in the integrated circuit. Additionally, the LOCOS technique can cause alignment issues since the trench is formed prior to forming layers such as the conductive layer used to fabricate the floating gate of a device. The subsequently formed floating gate material may not properly align between two predefined trenches.
Improvements to these processes have been made by employing such techniques as sidewall-masked isolation (SWAMI) to decrease encroachment into active areas. In SWAMI, a nitride is formed on the trench walls prior to forming the oxide to decrease the oxide's encroachment and formation of bird's beaks. While this process provides an improvement to conventional LOCOS, the nitride in the trench rises during oxidation, causing encroachment into the active areas. This technique also yields excessive stress in the corners of the trench since oxide growth in that region is restrained. Moreover, the trenches are formed prior to device fabrication leading to the aforementioned alignment issues.
Accordingly, there is a need for isolation technology that can effectively isolate devices in high density semiconductor integrated circuits while addressing the shortcomings of the prior art identified above.

Memory with self-aligned trenches for narrow gap isolation regions


A charge pump includes a first capacitor, a first switch with adjustable on-state resistance, a second switch, a third switch, a fourth switch, a feedback loop, and an oscillator. The first switch is coupled between a first electrode of the first capacitor and an output node. The second switch is coupled between a second electrode of the capacitor and ground. The third switch is coupled between an input node and the second electrode of the capacitor. The fourth switch with adjustable on-state resistance is coupled between the input node and the first electrode of the capacitor. The feedback loop monitors a regulated voltage of the output node and generates a control signal to regulate resistances of the first, fourth switches. The oscillator generates a first and second pulse signals to switch the open and close states of the first, third switches and the second, fourth switches, respectively.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a charge pump, and particularly to a charge pump for converting a voltage at an input node into a regulated voltage and outputting the regulated voltage.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A charge pump is a kind of power supply circuit for converting a voltage at an input node into a regulated voltage and outputting the regulated voltage to loads. Referring to FIG. 6, a common charge pump 50 includes: a capacitor 51, a first switch 52 coupled between a first electrode 510 of the capacitor 51 and an output node VOUT, a second switch 53 and an adjustable resistor 58 both of which are coupled in series between a second electrode 512 of the capacitor 51 and ground, a third switch 54 coupled between the second electrode 512 of the capacitor 51 and an input node VIN, a fourth switch 55 coupled between the first electrode 510 of the capacitor 51 and the input node VIN, a feed back loop 56 for monitoring a voltage at the output node VOUT, and an oscillator 57 for respectively controlling open/close states of the first switch 52, the second switch 53, the third switch 54 and the fourth switch 55.
By switching open/close states of the switches, the charge pump 50 is alternatively charged and discharged, thereby the output node VOUT outputs a voltage which is 2 times the voltage at the input node VIN.
However, noises will be induced on incoming current IIN during the switching of open/close states, which leads to fluctuation of the incoming current IIN and instability of the outputting voltage.
Therefore, what is needed is a charge pump having reduced noises on the incoming current IIN and stable outputting voltage.