A MISFET is provided with a segmented channel comprising regions in which the channel is inverted by a first gate voltage and regions in which the channel is inverted by a second gate voltage. The MISFET is formed in a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type and the first inversion region of the channel has a first impurity concentration determined by the surface concentration of the substrate. The second inversion region of the channel has a second impurity concentration determined by doping an impurity to the region selected by a photolithographic process. The first and second inversion regions may be divided into a plurality of plane shapes and the threshold voltage of the MISFET is set to a desired value in accordance with the plane area ratio of the first and second inversion regions.

The present invention relates to a construction of a channel region of an insulating gate field effect transistor (hereinafter referred to as a MISFET) constituting a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit and more particularly to a semiconductor device in which a surface inversion voltage (threshold voltage) of the channel region which is determined by impurity concentrations and thicknesses of a gate insulating film of the channel region is controlled.
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit composed of MISFETs having a plurality of threshold voltages formed on the same substrate and to a manufacturing method thereof.
The present invention also relates to a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit having different conductive MISFETs on the same substrate and to a manufacturing method thereof.
The present invention further relates to a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit having high withstand voltage and low voltage MISFETs to which different gate voltages are applied on the same substrate and to a manufacturing method thereof.
The present invention furthermore relates to a semiconductor device comprising an analog circuit formed and a digital circuit on the same substrate and to a manufacturing method thereof.
The present invention relates additionaly to a semiconductor device formed on a thin film semiconductor provided on an insulating layer and to a manufacturing method thereof.
FIGS. 38A through 38C are schematic plan views representing MISFETs within a prior art semiconductor device of an integrated circuit.
Note that the explanation of the present specification is made exemplifying a MOSFET in which an insulating layer interposed between a metal gate electrode and a semiconductor substrate is a silicon oxide film, as a typical example of the MISFET.
FIGS. 38A to 38C schematically show a source, drain and gate of three kinds of transistors, and aluminum metallic wirings and other elements are omitted to simplify the description.
Transistors 1, 2 and 3 have each different threshold voltage (VTH).
FIG. 39 is a schematic section view illustrating the MOSFET within the prior art semiconductor integrated circuit.
In the transistor 1, an impurity concentration of a channel region 4004 is set at a value of an impurity concentration of a semiconductor substrate 4006 and a threshold voltage determined by the impurity concentration of the channel region 4004 and a thickness of a gate insulating film 4005 is denoted as VTH1.
When it is desired to differentiate a threshold voltage VTH2 Of the second transistor 2 from VTH1, a channel region 2 having an impurity concentration which is different from that of the channel region 1 of the transistor 1 is formed by optically patterning a photoresist by using a glass mask and others for selecting a region to which an impurity is doped (photolithographic technique) and by doping the impurity via the gate insulating film 4005 by ion implantation and others using the photoresist selectively formed as a mask.
At this time, a pattern 3905 of the glass mask 1 for ion implantation for selecting the region to which the impurity is doped is created so as to be slightly larger than the channel region to cover the whole surface thereof considering a dislocation of registration of the glass mask as shown in FIG. 38B and the photoresist is removed slightly more than the channel region to dope the impurity to the channel at the region where the photoresist is removed.
The gate insulating film 4005 is normally formed of a silicon oxide film having a homogeneous thickness from around 10 nm to 100 nm.
By constructing as described above, the transistor 2 having VTH2 which is different from VTH1 of the transistor 1 may be formed. In the same manner, a transistor having a necessary threshold voltage may be formed by doping a necessary impurity like VTH3 of the transistor 3.
Further, although not shown in the figure, in a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit in which a high voltage MOSFET having a thick gate oxide film and a low voltage MOSFET having a thin gate oxide film are provided on the surface of the same substrate, a concentration of a homogeneous impurity region of channel region of each MOSFET is controlled by a photolithographic technique in order to equalize each threshold voltage to almost the same value.
Similarly, in a CMOS type integrated circuit comprising P-type and N-type MOSFETs, threshold voltages are equalized to almost the same value by separate impurity doping processes.
However, because the MOSFETs within the prior art semiconductor device of the integrated circuit have the channel region having the homogeneous impurity concentration and the gate insulating film having the uniform thickness as described above, the surface inversion voltage of the channel becomes constant and hence processes for doping a necessary number of types of impurities or impurity concentrations to the channel region have been necessary in order to form transistors having a plurality of types of threshold voltages within the semiconductor device of the integrated circuit formed on a single semiconductor substrate.
Accordingly, it has been costly and been a restriction in designing the circuit to form the transistors having the plurality of types of threshold voltages within the semiconductor device of the integrated circuit formed on single semiconductor substrate.
Further, a plural number of photolithographic processes have been necessary to adjust the threshold voltages matching with the range of the power supply voltage in the semiconductor device of the integrated circuit in which transistors having a structure in which threshold voltages differ before an impurity is doped to the channel region are provided on the same substrate. Accordingly, a manufacturing period has been prolonged and a manufacturing cost has been increased to manufacture the semiconductor device in which the threshold voltages of the MOSFETs having different gate insulating films, different substrate concentrations or different conductive types are controlled.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention adopts the following means.
As first means, channel regions having different surface inversion voltages such that the channel surface is inverted by more than two different gate voltages are provided within the same channel of a MOSFET.
Further, plural types of ratios of plane areas of a first surface inversion voltage area and a second surface inversion voltage region or plural types of individual plane size or shape of the first surface inversion voltage region and the second surface inversion voltage region are provided.
As second means, the second surface inversion voltage region is divided into a plurality of plane shapes.
There are the following methods as examples of the method of dividing the region into the plurality of plane shapes:
1) divide in strips parallel to the direction of the channel length;
2) divide in strips parallel to the direction of the channel width;
3) divide in dots; and
4) divide in checker pattern.
As third means, the channel region having more than two different surface inversion voltages is obtained by forming regions having more than two different impurity concentrations (channel impurity region) on the surface of the same channel region of the MOSFET.
As fourth means, the channel impurity region described in the third means is formed to be shallower than a depth of junction of the source and drain regions.
As fifth means, a first MOSFET and a second MOSFET each having a gate insulating film formed with different thicknesses are formed and the first through fourth means described above are applied to each of them.
As sixth means, a first MOSFET is formed on a first conductive semiconductor substrate and a second MOSFET is formed within a well region having a different impurity concentration from that of the semiconductor substrate but formed in the same conductive type with that, and first through fourth means described above are applied to each.
As seventh means, a first MOSFET is formed on a first conductive semiconductor substrate and a second MOSFET is formed within a well region formed with a different conductive type from that of the semiconductor substrate, and first through fourth means described above are applied to each.
As eighth means, a MOSFET is formed on a thin film semiconductor whose thickness is thinner than 1Om and which is formed on the insulating layer, and the first through fourth means described above are applied to the MOSFET.
As ninth means, the thickness of the thin film semiconductor layer described in the eighth means is equalized to a thickness of a channel region of the MOSFET formed on the thin film semiconductor layer.
As tenth means, the thickness of the thin film semiconductor layer described in the eighth means is equalized to a depth of a channel impurity region of the channel region of the MOSFET formed on the thin film semiconductor layer.
As 11-th means, a semiconductor device is provided in which a first conductive impurity is doped without using a photoresist pattern as a mask in doping the impurity in an enhancement type MOSFET channel region and then a second conductive impurity is doped only to a channel region of a depletion type MOSFET by using the photoresist as a mask so that a peak thereof comes to a position within xc2x120 nm from a peak position of the first conductive impurity profile.
As 12-th means, a semiconductor device is provided in the semiconductor device in the 11-th means described above in which a photoresist is formed selectively and partially on the depletion type MOSFET channel region and then the second conductive impurity is doped only to the channel region of the depletion type MOSFET by using the photoresist as a mask so that a peak thereof comes to a position within xc2x120 nm from a peak position of the first conductive impurity profile.
As 13-th means, a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device is taken, comprising steps of:
forming a field insulating film on the surface of a first conductive semiconductor region on the surface of a substrate;
forming a gate insulating film on the surface of a first transistor region and second transistor region of the semiconductor region;
forming a photoresist pattern for forming a channel impurity region on the surface of the first transistor region;
forming the channel impurity region by doping an impurity on the surface of the first transistor region by using the resist pattern as a mask;
patterning a gate electrode on the gate insulating film;
forming a second conductive source and drain regions on the surface of the first transistor region so that they are partitioned by the gate electrode;
forming an intermediate insulating film on the gate electrode;
forming contact holes through the intermediate insulating film; and
patterning metallic wirings so as to be overlaid on the contact holes;
at least a plurality of first impurity concentration regions and second impurity concentration regions being divided and formed in plane between the source region and the drain region in the channel impurity forming region.
As 14-th means, a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device wherein the first impurity concentration region and second impurity concentration region are formed by selectively doping an impurity for controlling threshold voltage within the same channel by forming the photoresist in a desired shape on the region to be formed as the channel is taken.
As 15-th means, a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device wherein the first impurity concentration region and second impurity concentration region are formed by selectively doping an impurity for controlling threshold voltage within the same channel by ion implantation by forming the photoresist in a desired shape on the region to be formed as the channel is taken.
As 16-th means, a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device is taken, comprising steps of forming a first gate insulating film on the first transistor region and forming a second gate insulating film having a thickness different from that of the first gate insulating film on the second transistor region, and in which the 13-th to 15-th means described above are applied to each of the first transistor region and the second transistor region.
As 17-th means, a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device is taken, comprising steps of forming a second conductive well region on the surface of the first conductive semiconductor region containing the source and drain regions of the first transistor region, doping a first conductive impurity as the source and drain regions of the first transistor region and doping a second conductive impurity as the source and drain regions of the second transistor region, and in which the 13-th to 15-th means described above are applied to each of the first transistor region and the second transistor region.
As 18-th means, a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device is taken in which a first conductive impurity is doped without using a photoresist pattern as a mask in doping the impurity in an enhancement type MOSFET channel region and then a second conductive impurity is doped only to a channel region of a depletion type MOSFET by using the photoresist as a mask so that a peak thereof comes to a position within xc2x120 nm from a peak position of the first conductive impurity profile.
As 19-th means, a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device is taken in the semiconductor device in the 18-th means described above in which a photoresist is formed selectively and partially on the depletion type MOSFET channel region and then the second conductive impurity is doped only to the channel region of the depletion type MOSFET by using the photoresist as a mask so that a peak thereof comes to a position within xc2x120 nm from a peak position of the first conductive impurity profile.
As 20-th means, the channel region having more than two different surface inversion voltages is obtained by forming a gate insulating film having more than two different thicknesses on the same channel region of the MOSFET.
As 21-st means, a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device is taken, comprising steps of:
forming a field insulating film on the surface of a first conductive semiconductor region on the surface of a substrate;
forming a photoresist for selecting a region for forming a gate insulating film having different thicknesses on the surface of a first transistor region and second transistor region of the semiconductor region;
forming the gate insulating film having different thicknesses in response to the shape of the photoresist;
forming a channel impurity region on the surface of the first and second transistor regions;
patterning a gate electrode on the gate insulating film;
forming second conductive source and drain regions on the surface of the first transistor region so that they are partitioned by the gate electrode;
forming an intermediate insulating film on the gate electrode;
forming contact holes through the intermediate insulating film; and
patterning metallic wirings so as to be overlaid on the contact holes;
the gate insulating film being divided to form at least a plurality of regions of gate insulating film having the first thickness and the second thickness in plane between the source and drain regions on the same channel.
As 22-nd means, a manufacturing method of the semiconductor device wherein the gate insulating film having more than two different thicknesses is formed by forming a photoresist selectively on the same channel and by selectively removing or forming the gate insulating film by using the photoresist selectively formed as a mask is taken.
As 23-rd means, a semiconductor device is provided wherein an analog circuit comprising the MISFET described in the first through 12-th means and 20-th means and a digital circuit comprising a second MISFET having a second channel region whose region is smaller than the channel region of the MOSFET used in the analog circuit by more than one digit are provided on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
As 24-th means, a plurality of the MISFETs described in the first through 12-th means and the 20-th means are diode-connected in series to construct a voltage boosting circuit (charge pump circuit) in which a capacitor for storing charges is connected to each of the MISFETs and the area ratio or shape of the second surface inversion voltage region is changed as along the steps of the voltage boosting circuit from the previous ones to the rear ones.
The voltage boosting circuit is mounted in the semiconductor device of the integrated circuit having a non-volatile semiconductor memory device.
As 25-th means, the MOSFET described in the first to 12-th means and the 20-th means is used in a differential amplifier circuit.
As 26-th means, the MOSFET described in the first to 12-th means and the 20-th means is used in a reference voltage generating circuit for generating a constant voltage which becomes a criterion for comparing voltages in the differential amplifier circuit.
As 27-th means, the differential amplifier circuit described in 25-th means is connected to the reference voltage generating circuit described in the 26-th means and to an output circuit for generating an output a voltage to construct a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit which always outputs a constant output voltage even if a load of the output is changed by comparing a voltage generated in the reference voltage generating circuit with the voltage outputted to the outside of the output circuit or a voltage which follows the voltage outputted to the outside with a predetermined ratio by the differential amplifier circuit.
A threshold voltage VTH of the insulating gate field effect transistor (MISFET) may be represented by the following equation:                               V          TH                =                              Φ            MS                    +                                    Q              B                                      C              OX                                +                      2                                      Φ              f                                                          (        1        )
where, "PHgr"MS is a difference in work function between the substrate and the gate electrode, QB is a depletion charge amount per unit area generating in the channel region, COX is a capacitance per unit area of the gate insulating film and "PHgr"f is the Fermi level of the substrate.
The whole threshold voltage VTH when a plurality of areas having threshold voltages which differ locally, i.e. surface inversion voltages VT1 and VT2, are provided within the channel region is represented by the following equation:
VTH=AVT1+BVT2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
A and B are constants of 0xe2x89xa6A and Bxe2x89xa61 and depend on the shape of pattern of each area.
Accordingly, the areas having the plural threshold voltages may be formed on the same substrate by one set of photolithography by controlling the constants A and B by the photolithographic technique. However, VTH is always set between each local threshold voltages, like VT1xe2x89xa6VTHxe2x89xa6VT2. The local threshold voltage is a threshold voltage which does not depend on the channel size when the channel region is formed with a homogeneous impurity concentration (a transistor having a very large size) and is a value derived mathematically from Equation (1).
Further, a target threshold voltage may be achieved by one set of photolithography steps in a MOS transistor having different gate insulating film capacitance (or thicknesses and types of gate insulating films), substrate concentrations or "PHgr"MS by patterning locally different impurity regions on the channel region.
That is, when the different impurity regions are patterned, the threshold voltage is approximated by the following equation:                               V          TH                =                              Φ            MS                    +                      α            ·                                          Q                B1                                            C                OX                                              +                      β            ·                                          Q                B2                                            C                OX                                              +                      2                                      Φ              f                                                          (        3        )
Alpha and beta are constants of 0xe2x89xa6xcex1+xcex2xe2x89xa61. QB1 and QB2 are depletion charge amounts per unit area in the direction of channel depth along the direction of depth of the substrate from the surface of the channel region of each different impurity region. "PHgr"MS and "PHgr"f are effective values which can be found substantially by experiments because a plural types of impurity concentrations and plural areas exist in the channel region.
By Equation (3), threshold voltages may be controlled to almost the same value by one kind of photolithography in each transistor having different gate insulating films for example by patterning the impurity in the channel region.
Furthermore, threshold voltages may be controlled to almost the same value toward the enhancement side by the similar means in both N-type and P-type MISFETs provided on the same substrate.
While Equation (1) shows that the threshold voltage will change even when a capacitance per unit area of the gate insulating film is changed, it also shows that the threshold voltage will change similarly also when plural types of plural areas in which thicknesses of the gate insulating film differ exist within one channel even when the impurity concentration of the channel region is constant.
The threshold voltage at this time may be approximated by the following equation:                               V          TH                =                              Φ            MS                    +                      α            ·                                          Q                B                                            C                OX1                                              +                      β            ·                                          Q                B                                            C                OX2                                              +                      2                                      Φ              f                                                          (        4        )
Alpha and beta are constants of 0xe2x89xa6xcex1+xcex2xe2x89xa61, similarly to Equation (3). QB is a depletion charge amount per unit area in the direction of channel depth along the direction of depth of the substrate from the surface of the channel region. COX1, and COX2 are values of capacitance per unit area of the gate insulating film having locally different thicknesses.
The operations of the present invention will be shown below along the items described in Means for Solving the Problems.
By taking the first means, a transistor having a plurality of threshold voltages may be obtained within the same semiconductor device of an integrated circuit.
Thereby, a degree of freedom in designing the circuit is increased and a very high performance and high function semiconductor integrated circuit device may be realized at low cost.
By taking the second means, a transistor having such good characteristics in that there is no kink and less leak current may be obtained as aimed at in relatively high accuracy. It also allows one to obtain better characteristics by dividing finely within a range permitted by fine processing.
By taking the third and fourth means, a transistor having a plurality of threshold voltages may be readily obtained by one time of channel impurity doping process.
Heretofore, although only two types of transistors in which an impurity is doped to the whole channel region and in which no impurity is doped at all are created as for the threshold voltages of the MOSFET formed on the same conductive semiconductor substrate region or well region in controlling the threshold voltages of the MOSFET by a channel impurity doping process comprising one time of photoresist optical patterning process and ion implantation process for example, a transistor having at least three types of threshold voltages may be formed by taking the third and fourth means because the threshold voltage of the transistor in which the impurity is doped partially to the channel region is distributed between the threshold voltage of the transistor in which the impurity is doped to the whole channel region and that of the transistor in which no impurity is doped.
Further, a transistor having more than three types of threshold voltages may be readily formed by adequately selecting an area ratio and shape of the area to which the impurity is doped.
By taking the fifth means, transistors in which the threshold voltages are equal or are adjusted to desired values, respectively, may be readily obtained even if the thickness of the gate insulating film differ by one time of channel impurity doping process.
By taking the sixth means, transistors in which the threshold voltages are equal or are adjusted to desired values, respectively, may be readily obtained even if they are formed in the same conductive region having different impurity concentrations of the substrate or well by one time of channel impurity doping process.
By taking the seventh means, transistors in which the threshold voltages are equal or are adjusted to desired values, respectively, may be readily obtained even if they are formed on different conductive substrates or well regions by one time of channel impurity doping process.
By taking the eighth, ninth and tenth means, a plurality of transistors having different threshold voltages may be readily obtained by one time of channel impurity doping process in transistors formed on a thin film semiconductor layer on an insulating layer.
When the thickness of the thin film semiconductor layer is sufficiently thin and is equal to the thickness of the channel region of the transistor or to the depth by which the channel impurity is doped, transistors having better characteristics may be obtained because the channel impurity partially doped fully diffuses, approaching to a more homogeneous concentration as a whole.
By taking the 11-th means, one process of the optical patterning processes of the photoresist may be omitted.
By taking the 12-th means, one process of the optical patterning processes of the photoresist may be omitted and the MOSFET having more than three types of desired threshold voltages from enhancement type to depletion type may be formed by one time of photoresist optical patterning process and two times of impurity doping processes.
By taking the 13-th through 17-th means, the MOSFET described in the third through tenth means and a semiconductor integrated circuit device carrying the MOSFET described above may be easily manufactured without adding a special process, as compared to the prior art method.
By taking the 18-th means, a semiconductor device may be manufactured without degrading the characteristics of the MOSFET even if one process of the photoresist optical patterning processes is omitted.
By taking the 19-th means, one process of the optical patterning processes of the photoresist may be omitted and a MOSFET having more than three types of desired threshold voltages from enhancement type to depletion type may be formed by one time of photoresist optical patterning process and two times of impurity doping processes.
By taking the 20-th means, a MOSFET having a plurality of threshold voltages may be readily obtained just by adding one process for forming a gate insulating film having a second thickness.
Further, a MOSFET having a plurality of threshold voltages may be readily obtained without adding new process when there has been a process for forming the gate insulating film having the second thickness such as a tunnel insulating film like a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit carrying a FLOTOX type non-volatile memory.
By taking the 21-st and 22-nd means, the MOSFET described in the 20-th means and a semiconductor device of an integrated circuit carrying the MOSFET may be easily manufactured.
By taking the 23-rd means, a high performance analog circuit having a large degree of freedom may be structured for a transistor of the analog circuit having relatively large channel region by forming the channel impurity region into an adequate shape and size, and the analog circuit and a digital circuit may be carried on the same substrate at low cost.
By taking the 24-th means, a very efficient voltage boosting circuit may be structured because a voltage drop caused by an increase of threshold voltage due to a substrate effect in a plurality of MOSFETs connected in series (MOS diode) may be reduced.
Further, a low cost and high performance semiconductor device of an integrated circuit may be realized when the voltage boosting circuit in the 24-th means is mounted on the semiconductor integrated circuit device having a non-volatile memory function because a circuit having the same boosting ability may be constructed with a circuit having less area or a circuit having a high boosting ability may be constructed by a circuit having the same area.
By taking the 25-th, 26-th and 27-th means, a low cost semiconductor device of an integrated circuit may be realized because the separate processes for doping impurities to form a MOSFET having a plurality of threshold voltages in the prior art may be realized by one process. The detailed explanation thereof is given in the following Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


An optical-electrical connector (100) having an end for mating with an electrical connector and an opposite end coupling with an optical medium, includes a thermal conductive shell (10), a printed circuit board assembly (20) received in the thermal conductive shell, and an optical-electrical module (50). The printed circuit board assembly includes a printed circuit board (21) including a thermal conductive layer (214) thermal conductively connected with the metal shell. The optical-electrical module is mounted on the printed circuit board and is in contact with the thermal conductive layer, heat produced by the optical-electrical module being transmitted to the thermal conductive shell by the thermal conductive layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical-electrical connector, and more particularly to an optical-electrical connector for communication application.
2. Description of Related Arts
U.S. Pat. No. 8,223,498, issued on Jul. 17, 2012, to Lima. discloses an optical-electrical connector inserted into an outer shell of a mating connector. The optical-electrical connector comprises a shell and a printed circuit board assembly received in the shell. The outer shell comprises a plurality of side walls, and a receiving room having an opening formed by the side walls. The optical-electrical connector is inserted into the receiving room from the opening. A top of the side walls defining an upper opening. A heat sink mounted to the upper opening to directly contact with the top surface of the shell to facilitate heat transfer from the top portion of the optical-electrical connector. However, the heat is produced in the inner portion of the optical-electrical connector hard to transmit to the outer of the shell.
An improved optical-electrical connector is desired to offer advantages over the related art.

Optical-electrical connector having inproved heat sink


The present invention provides an electric joining method of a body to be jointed including the butted portion of at least between electroconductive ceramics to be jointed or between an electroconductive ceramics and a metal to be jointed, whereby the body to be jointed is electrically jointed while the thermal stress generated at the ceramics materials to be jointed is eased. In the electric joining method according to the present invention, at least a pair of electrodes are brought to butt against the materials to be jointed holding at least one or more butted portions therebetween, with a joining agent interposed at the butted portions. Moreover, there provided are a first heating means for heating the materials to be jointed between the electrodes by Joule heat through impression of a voltage between the electrodes and, a second heating means for heating a part of said materials to be jointed and its vicinity where a large temperature gradient is formed only by the first heating means. The temperature of the butted portion is raised to a desired joining temperature while both the first and the second heating means are used together so that the thermal stress generated because of the temperature gradient at the materials to be jointed becomes smaller than the breaking stress of the materials to be jointed.

Conventionally, in order to join an electroconductive ceramics with an electroconductive ceramics or a metal, a method by a direct resistance heating, a method by a high frequency inductive heating, or a combination of these methods etc. have been proposed. According to the aforementioned method by a direct resistance heating, when an body to be jointed which is composed of two materials to be jointed parts at either side of a butted portion is arranged in contact with an electrode and supplied an electric current, a Joule heat is generated at the butted portion thereby to partially heat the butted portion. Therefore, a joining agent at the butted portion is melted, whereby the to be jointed parts are jointed together. According to the method by a high frequency inductive heating, an induction coil is provided around the butted portion of the body to be jointed, and the butted portion is partially heated by Joule heat resulting from the induction heating, so that the joining agent of the butted portion is melted. Meanwhile, when the method by a direct resistance heating is used in combination with the method by a high frequency inductive heating, a ceramics of a higher resistance, namely, having a lower electrical conductivity is heated beforehand by the high frequency inductive heating to lower the resistance value (that is, to increase the conductivity). Thereafter, the direct resistance heating is carried out to flow a large amount of current to quickly heat the butted plane.
FIG. 11(A) shows the structure when the conventional method by a direct resistance heating is performed. In the structure of FIG. 11(A), conductive cylindrical ceramics 1a', 1b' to be jointed are brought to butt against each other via a joining agent 3', thereby constituting a butted portion. Ring-shaped electrodes 2a', 2b' are provided butting against the corresponding ceramics 1a', 1b' in a manner as indicated in the drawing. Thermal insulators 4a', 4b' are placed at the end parts of the ceramics 1a', 1b', respectively. A voltage is impressed between the electrodes 2a' and 2b' while the ceramics 1a', 1b' are pressured by a pressuring device (not shown) via the thermal insulators 4a', 4b'. As a result, Joule heat is generated at the ceramics 1a', 1b' because of the flow of a current in a vertical direction to the butted plane of the ceramics 1a', 1b'. Since the butted plane is partially heated by this Joule heat, the joining agent 3' is melted, thereby joining the ceramics 1a', 1b' together. In such a case as above where the materials to be jointed are made of the same material in the same shape and jointed with use of electrodes of a small heat capacity, since the resistance values of both materials are equal to each other, the quantities of heat generated at materials to be jointed between the electrodes 2a', 2b' become equal to each other. Accordingly, the two materials to be jointed in the vicinity of the butted portion are heated generally uniformly as is indicated by a curve (a) of FIG. 11(B) and moreover no large temperature gradient is formed to the materials to be jointed in the vicinity of the electrodes. In employing the other two joining methods described earlier, if the materials to be jointed are in the same shape and of the same material, or if the joining temperature is low, there is no particular problem to be solved.
In the meantime, the electrodes 2a', 2b' for the direct resistance heating are generally formed of heat-resisting metal such as tungsten, molybdenum or the like or inorganic material with heat-resistance such as carbon or the like. These kinds of material have a good electrical conductivity and a good thermal conductivity. For instance, if the resistance values of the materials to be jointed are the same, the heat generated at the materials to be jointed between the electrodes 2a' and 2b' during the electric current supplying leaks away to an electrode tool (not shown) and a part of the materials to be jointed except the materials between the electrodes 2a' and 2b' because of the thermal conduction. As a result, a sharp temperature gradient is brought about in a longitudinal direction in the vicinity of each material to be jointed where the corresponding electrode is mounted, as is shown in FIG. 12. The temperature gradient is said to become larger as the joining temperature becomes higher, the heating speed is faster, or the heat capacity of the electrodes or the thermal conduction of the material of the electrodes is increased.
In general, it is rather strongly needed to join the materials of different materials or in different shapes and sizes at a high joining temperature, or to join different kinds of materials with a large difference of resistance values at a high joining temperature. In such cases as above, however, the heat generated at materials each to be jointed becomes different, thereby causing a problematic temperature gradient due to the flow of the heat in the vicinity of the butted portion. In the example of FIG. 11(A), supposing that the resistance values R1, R2 of the ceramics 1a', 1b' are greatly different (R1>>R2), the heat generated at the ceramics 1a' not only heats the butted portion, but runs away to the ceramics 1b' and the electrode tool (not shown). As a consequence, a large temperature gradient is formed in the longitudinal direction of the material to be jointed at the center of the butted portion in addition to the temperature gradient generated at each material to be jointed where the electrode is mounted, as represented by a curve (b) in FIG. 11(B). The temperature gradient is regarded to be larger as the difference of the resistance values between the materials to be jointed becomes larger, the joining temperature is higher, the heating/cooling speed is faster or the heat capacity of the ceramics 1b' is larger. When the ceramics 1a', 1b' are heated according to the method by a high frequency inductive heating under the same conditions as above, contrary to the above, the heat is generated concentrating on the ceramics 1b' of a lower resistance, assuming a temperature profile shown by a curve (c) of FIG. 11(B) which is as large as the curve (b).
The thermal stress is increased in accordance with an enlargement of the temperature gradient. When the stress exceeds the breaking strength, i.e., breaking stress of the materials to be jointed, the materials to be jointed crack and break up. If the joining temperature is raised when the temperature gradient is large, the maximum temperature of the material to be jointed which generates more heat than the other material to be jointed or the peak temperature becomes much higher than the temperature of the butted portion. Therefore, a part of the ceramics at the maximum temperature may be disadvantageously decomposed or the similar deterioration of material may be brought about. This restriction of the joining temperature is an obstruction to the use of a heat-proof material, etc. Moreover, the distance between the electrodes is difficult to be shortened and the heating speed cannot be accelerated, whereby a further electric energy is required for joining and the running cost is increased.
In the combined use of the method by a direct resistance heating and method by a high frequency inductive heating, the ceramics of a higher resistance is processed through the high frequency inductive heating so as to lower the resistance value thereof (to increase the electric conductivity) before the direct resistance heating is performed. This prior art has been employed to lower the resistance values of ceramics materials with an aim to increase the electric current for the case where the ceramics of high resistance values at room temperatures are electrically jointed together. Therefore, if the technique is applied to electric joining of two materials to be jointed of different resistance values, since the resistance between the electrodes is determined by the resistance value of the ceramics of a higher resistance, it is necessary to heat the ceramics of the higher resistance. However, when a section astride the two ceramics is subjected to the high frequency inductive heating, the ceramics of a lower resistance is mainly heated, and the electric power for the high frequency inductive heating should be increased in order to heat the ceramics of the higher resistance. If the electric power is raised, the ceramics of the lower resistance is heated further and the temperature gradient of the two ceramics becomes large. The ceramics may be broken. Therefore, if the high frequency inductive heating is used with the direct resistance heating for the purpose of increasing the electrical conductivity without considering the temperature gradient, generation of cracks due to the thermal stress resulting from the temperature gradient cannot be avoided.

Electric joining method of material including ceramics


An optical wireless local area network according to the present invention is an optical wireless local area network for interconnecting a plurality of terminals having a line-of-sight optical communication function. In the optical wireless local area network, a base station including an angle diversity light reception function and a plurality of optical transmitters each having directionality is provided. The intensity of each of the plurality of optical transmitters can be separately modulated.

At present, optical wireless communication, which uses infrared ray in data transmission between information terminals in offices or homes, in conformity with the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) standard is widespread. In such optical wireless communication, an optical transmitter-receiver includes a light emitting diode (LED) having a certain directionality as a transmitter and a photodiode (PD) having an appropriate field of view as a receiver.
Two terminals each including such an optical transmitter-receiver are placed a short distance from one another, facing each other. The terminals perform line-of-sight communication by intensity modulation with direct detection (IM/DD). Such directed/line-of-eight optical communication is most advantageous to a portable terminal which requires low power consumption, small size, low weight, and low cost, and therefore is widely used. To date, the communication rate of the directed/line-of-sight optical communication is 4 Mbps, and the transmission range thereof is 1 m. In the future, directed/line-of-sight optical communication will be developed to achieve a communication rate of 100 Mbps and a transmission range of 5 m. Directed/line-of-sight optical communication is increasingly widespread among end users through more and more various applications handling moving pictures and the like.
A LAN (local area network) in which communication is performed by IM/DD using infrared light as a medium has been vigorously developed throughout the world.
FIG. 7 shows various forms of Infrared communication, and corresponds to FIG. 1 in Publication 1 (Joseph M. Kahn et al., Proceedings of the IEEE, pp. 265–298, 1997). FIG. 7 is divided into upper and lower rows (line-of-sight and non-line-of-eight, respectively) depending on whether or not line-of-sight communication is used. FIG. 7 is also divided into columns (directed, hybrid, and non-directed) depending on whether a transmitter-receiver has directionality. In an optical wireless LAN in which a plurality of terminals are wirelessly connected to each access point, light needs to be avoided from being blocked by a barrier or people walking in a network space, for example. Therefore, as shown in the lower right corner of FIG. 7, light is diffused and transmitted in a wide field range, and the light is received by a receiver having a wide field of view. Communication in the form of a non-directed/non-line-of-sight diffuse link is promising. Alternatively, a hybrid system shown in the middle of FIG. 7 is used in which a transmitter uses a directional beam and a receiver has a wide field of view. These systems have merit in the construction of flexible LANs, but require high-cost transmitter-receivers having a high level of power-consumption, or multi-stage transponders. These systems find acceptance in heavily used indoor environments such as offices, hospitals, or schools.
Such existing LAN systems employ their own communication forms and communication protocols which are not compatible with the IrDA standards which are widely used for portable terminals and the like. Even though IrDA terminal users desire to interconnect a plurality of terminals, their IrDA communication functions cannot be used. A whole system must be newly introduced. Recently, Kahn et al. proposed in Publication 1 that a simultaneous link is achieved using space division multiplexing among a plurality of terminals having a directed/line-of-sight communication form shown in the upper left corner of FIG. 7. In this proposal, data transmission among all of the terminals is mediated by an angle-diversity receiver and multi-beam transmitter, which together constitute a so-called optical wireless hub.
FIG. 8 shows two examples of an angle-diversity receiver which is a major component of an optical wireless hub, and corresponds to FIG. 22 of Publication 1. In either example shown in FIG. 8, any angle at which signal light comes from corresponds to the coordinate of the position of one of a plurality of photodetectors.
Of the examples shown in FIG. 8, an example in which an imaging lens having a relatively high spatial resolution is used will be particularly described, with reference to FIG. 8(b), which is a diagram showing a configuration of an imaging receiver and FIG. 8(d), which is a diagram schematically showing the spatial resolution of the imaging receiver of FIG. 8(b). In this case, the imaging lens is designed so that an optical signal from any direction is converged to a signal focusing plane. Therefore, an optical signal incident to the imaging lens at a certain angle is detected by a certain cell (and/or cells in the vicinity of the cell) of a monolithic photodetector array which outputs a signal in response to the incident optical signal. The detected signal is amplified by a preamplifier array subsequent to each cell. Of such detected signals, a signal having the highest intensity is selectively processed so that signal sources having different angles with respect to the imaging receiver can be separately identified. In principle, an N-to-N simultaneous communication is possible.
However, there are various problems to be overcome in order that the portable terminals are directly incorporated into a high-speed LAN having a random multiple access capability. One of the problems is that transmission and reception cannot be simultaneously conducted in the communication between the portable terminals in conformity with the IrDA standard, limiting the communication to a half-duplex communication. The major physical factor of such a problem is that transceivers must be simple, small, and inexpensive and therefore the transceivers cannot have a structure for preventing transmitted light from diffracting and returning to the transceivers that have transmitted the light (e.g., a receiver and a transmitter are positioned at a sufficient distance from each other).
Further, in conventional optical wireless LANs, optical transmission and reception may be conducted using a signal optical channel (e.g., diffuse light in a single wavelength band covers an entire network area). Such communication is limited to one-way 1-to-N (broadcast) communication. Time division multiplexing (TDM) is introduced to the communication, thereby making it possible to conduct time division multiplex access (TDMA). When a system interconnects a plurality of terminals, it is difficult to significantly increase a transmission rate between each terminal and the power consumption of the whole system is increased. The system may interconnect a plurality of terminals using a so-called cellular communication system in which a network space is divided into space cells using a plurality of beams having a certain level of directionality. In this case, when TDMA is conducted in half-duplex communication, it must be verified that other terminals have already conducted a communication, just before each terminal starts communicating on the LAN. Such a verification procedure is called collision avoidance. Even when the collision avoidance procedure is conducted, if a terminal in a bad communication state (hidden terminal) exists within an area, a communication error may occur.
Even when a code is assigned to each communication channel (CDMA) or a carrier frequency is assigned to each communication channel (FDMA), i.e., multiplexing using an electric circuit, a communication capacity per user is limited. In this case, signal processing is very complex, and the power consumption of the whole system is inevitably increased. Even when CDMA or FDMA is combined with the cellular communication system in the LAN, simultaneous communication among a plurality of terminals causes interference among the signals. Therefore, the conventionally well-known collision detection procedure is indispensable. Therefore, a waiting time and an extra signal processing are required for each terminal, so that it is difficult to provide a satisfactory high-speed LAN environment.
However, in wavelength division multiple access (WDMA) in which a communication wavelength is assigned to each channel, multiple access can, in principle, be simultaneously conducted in a diffuse link. In this case, the wavelength of a light source of each transmitter needs to be variable. Conversely, when a light source of each transmitter has a constant wavelength and a plurality of wavelength bands are used, a receiver requires a bandpass filter in which only single wavelengths are selected from all of the wavelength bands used in a link and a center wavelength of transmission is variable. Such functions are not easily achieved in a single device at low cost. Accordingly, a transmitter including a plurality of light sources each having a constant wavelength and a receiver including a plurality of filters each having constant bandpass characteristics are required for each terminal, so that a practical system is not achieved.
The object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed and large-capacity LAN in which a plurality of terminals can be simultaneously interconnected without producing significant load on the terminals and in which improved communication abilities (longer distance or higher speed) of the terminals are directly achieved, using the merits of the directed/line-of-sight optical communication which is widespread for use in portable terminals.

Space-division multiplex full-duplex local area network


A magnetic slat device is disclosed herein. The magnetic slat device includes an elongate slat body, the elongate slat body having a generally curved cross-section with a first generally concave surface and a second generally convex surface, the elongate slat body further including a first longitudinal edge portion and a second longitudinal edge portion disposed opposite to the first longitudinal edge portion; and a plurality of magnets coupled to the elongate slat body, each of the plurality of magnets being spaced apart from one another along a length of the elongate slat body, and each of the plurality of magnets being disposed between the first and second longitudinal edge portions of the elongate slat body. Each of the plurality of magnets is configured to exert a magnetic force on a magnetic object. A slat kit comprising a plurality of magnetic slat devices is also disclosed herein.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to slat devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a magnetic slat device and a kit containing the same.
2. Background
Many tools, and other objects, including conventional slats of multiple varieties, are designed for one or two specific functions. As such, a person may have to spend a great deal of money to buy the items needed to complete a wide variety of tasks. Others may spend a great deal of time personally manufacturing items that perform these various actions. Even those that find themselves able to afford a wide range of tools and objects to complete a wide array of tasks may find themselves lacking the space required to store such tools and objects. Some others may require a specialized device for emergency or time-sensitive situations, yet the price of such specialized items may be cost-prohibitive.
Therefore, what is needed is a slat device that that provides a streamlined solution, and is capable of being flexibly used in various applications. Moreover, a slat device is needed that can be combined with other similar slat devices so that a myriad of different structures can be constructed therewith. Furthermore, there is a need for a slat device, which is provided as a component of a slat kit, that can be easily assembled with the other components of the kit to form various structures that are particularly suited to a user's specific needs.

Magnetic slat device and kit containing the same


Scoops for picking up pet waste including a first arm pivotally connected to a second arm at a pivot end, wherein the first arm and the second arm define a collection region distal the pivot end, the second arm being configured to pivot relative to the first arm between an open position and a closed position, the collection region being configured to encompass the pet waste in the collection region when the second arm is in the open position. In certain examples, the scoop includes a coupler configured to facilitate forming a knot in the pet waste bag. In some examples, the scoop includes a container configured to store pet waste bags. In some examples, the scoop includes a latch configured to selectively restrict the second arm pivoting relative to the first arm.

The present disclosure relates generally to scoops. In particular, scoops for collecting pet waste in a pet waste bag are described.
Collection and disposal of animal waste is an undesirable, but necessary task that animal handlers and caretakers must undertake. The task of collecting pet waste can be made even more difficult when the handler and animal are travelling or ambulating and conventional tools to pick up the animal waste aren't readily available. Tools for collecting pet waste are often referred to as pooper scoopers.
Various known problems with collecting pet waste are noted in the prior art. For example, the prior art describes a lack of an efficient, effective, light weight, and compact portable pooper scoopers. The prior art further reveals that conventional pooper scoopers too often lack a bag dispenser and means to secure pet waste bags. Also evident in the prior art is that known pooper scoopers lack effective means to couple with a leash.
When on a walk, most animal handlers, particularly dog owners, employ the method of turning a bag inside out over their hand for some protection as they manually grasp and retrieve the fecal matter. The plastic bags commonly used in this method are often of a thin ply and may contain holes or imperfections and may be prone to rips and tears. After manually grasping the animal waste in the bag, the user will often utilize both hands to tie a knot in the bag, potentially exposing both hands to waste or foreign materials. There exists a need for a device that limits a person's contact with animal waste and the animal waste bag during the collection and containment of animal waste.
An additional problem with retrieving pet waste that has not been adequately met by the prior art is that users are often left carrying additional pet waste bags and or a bag dispenser on their person. Carrying pet waste bags in one's pocket, satchel, or hand is cumbersome and inconvenient. Thus, another existing need is a solution to the problem of animal handlers needing to carry extra bags separate from conventional pooper scooper tools.
There exist a variety of devices for scooping animal waste comprising various combinations of rakes, spades, and collection containers. Many of the options are designed to minimize the user's need to bend and grasp the waste. As such they are designed with longer lengths to improve the user's reach. The increased reach of such conventional pet waste devices sacrifices portability.
Furthermore, if one were to attempt carrying such a long reach device along while walking the animal, it would distract from the pleasure and bonding shared whilst animal and handler walk together. Additionally, carrying a bulky pooper scooper on a walk could potentially hinder a handler's ability to control the animal if such device were to contact or entangle the leash, body or extremities of the handler or animal. Thus, there exists room for improvement in the prior art to advance and develop a low profile, compact, portable pooper scooper that is conveniently transportable and can easily be carried or hooked onto a leash.
Some pooper scooper examples described in the prior art disclose utilizing customized or modified pet waste bags, such as with cardboard sections, to assist with waste collection. These solutions generally require a user to get in close proximity to and unnecessarily handle animal waste. Such conventional devices also provide a less than optimal solution for handling animal waste on uneven surfaces that may be encountered while walking a dog, such as earthen material including rocks, plant debris, and branches.
Another problem that exists with conventional pet waste scoops is extracting and removing fecal material stuck to an animal, often referred to as danglers, resulting from fecal matter ineffectively evacuating or dislodging from the animal's anus and rectum. In such occasions, the waste material may hang partially dislodged from the anus, but still suspended and tethered to the anus and rectum often via foreign material or string like materials similar in appearance to long hair. In other instances, the fecal matter may adhere to the animal's fur or hair in close proximity to the anal orifice.
When faced with danglers, the animal often appears distraught and uncomfortable and often struggles to dislodge and break the dangler free from its body. The animal often wrestles trying to free themselves from the waste. In some instances, the animal further imbeds the feces into their fur as they attempt to dislodge it.
Often times the animal handler showing compassion for the animal will result to manual extraction of the exposed fecal matter with nothing more than a bag over his or her hand. This can be perceived as unsettling or gross by the animal handler. There are insufficient remedies in the prior art that address this problem, the most common option being the animal owner's hand in a bag. Other apparatus such as spades, rakes, and paddles don't adequately address this problem. Additionally, apparatus that function to catch fecal material as it is excreted likewise don't adequately provide a solution to this problem. Thus, there exists room for advancement and improved solutions to address the problem of danglers.
Another problem that exists with conventional pet waste scoops is that animal handlers must often carry bags with them while walking the animal. Many jurisdictions have laws requiring that animal handlers collect and remove animal waste. A frequent solution employed by animal handlers is to put pet waste bags in their pockets, or to carry a bag dispenser that stores bag rolls. The problem with this approach is that users may utilize such apparatus for dispersing a bag, but then often utilize their hand for collecting the waste material.
An additional problem that exists for animal handlers needing to pick up animal waste is that they lack an effective solution to secure the bag closed by tying a knot in the bag. Manually forming a knot with both hands is cumbersome and a challenge given that animal handlers often must concurrently maintain control of the animal on a leash and hold other items. Tying a knot in a pet waste bag with both hands tends to further increase one's exposure to the bag as well as any potential contamination associated with it.
As is apparent from the discussion above, the current state of prior art leaves room for improvement and advancement in addressing problems associated with picking up pet waste in a hygienic and convenient manner. There exists a need for a solution that incorporates a portable pooper scooper with a bag dispenser and a bag securing solution.
There exists in the prior art a solution of using two independent bodies in combination, such as, a rake or shovel and a collection bin. While such devices work adequately at a fixed station or location, they are impractical and cumbersome for an animal handler to carry while ambulating or transporting an animal. Such devices do not adequately address the problems associated with safely, effectively, and efficiently managing animal waste, particularly in a state of travel, or while ambulating with an animal.
There are a variety of devices in the prior art with complex designs requiring significant manufacturing and assembly. The complexity of such devices makes manufacturing them difficult and potentially makes the devices more prone to breakage or wear.
One prior art example entitled "Pooper Scoop," U.S. Pat. No. 8,550,512, which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses capturing animal feces as it is excreted. The device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,550,512 creates the problem of needing to collect excrement that falls outside the catch area of the device. Additionally, devices such as this don't provide a solution to the problem of danglers.
Some devices in the prior art require immediate disposal of the collected pet waste contents, thus necessitating proximity to a refuse container, a waste receptacle, or other containment unit. Immediately disposing of full pet waste bags might not be an option for a person transporting or walking an animal. Some devices in the prior art allow the user to transport the waste collected between the scoops, but pet waste retained in the device renders the device essentially useless for collecting more pet waste until the pet waste is disposed of in a waste receptacle. Devices designed in this manner do not permit the user to utilize the devices repeatedly and frequently when out of proximity to a waste receptacle.
In summary, the prior art related to pet waste scoops offers certain options and proposed solutions, but there remain areas for distinct improvement. In particular, areas where pet waste scoops would benefit from improvement include the manner in which animal waste is collected and contained, their transportability, their integration with a leash, their pet waste bag storage capabilities, their ability to remove danglers, and their ability to assist with sealing bags closed.


Embodiments described herein relate to control apparatuses for hybrid vehicles which permit starting the engine and a shift-down action of the transmission while assuring not only a reduction of the heat generated by a clutch, but also an improvement in the response of the vehicle to an operator's desire for high drivability. In one embodiment, the control apparatus controls the hybrid vehicle such that when the transmission is required to be shifted down while the hybrid vehicle is switched from a motor drive mode to an engine drive mode, a time of initiation of the shift-down action of the transmission is delayed by a longer length of time when a temperature of the clutch upon initiation of an engine starting control to start the engine is relatively high than when the temperature is relatively low. Various other embodiments of control apparatuses for hybrid vehicles are also described.

Hybrid vehicles may include an engine, an electric motor, a clutch for placing a power transmitting path between the engine and the electric motor in a power transmitting state and a power cutoff state, and a transmission disposed in a power transmitting path between the electric motor and drive wheels. Patent Document 1 discloses an example of such a hybrid vehicle. When this hybrid vehicle is placed in a motor drive mode in which the electric motor is operated as the vehicle drive power source, the clutch is placed in a released state to prevent a dragging state of the engine. When the hybrid vehicle is placed in an engine drive mode in which the engine is the main vehicle drive power source, on the other hand, the clutch is placed in an engaged state to transmit a drive force of the engine to the drive wheels. Patent Document 1 also describes that the vehicle drive mode is switched from the motor drive mode to the engine drive mode, by placing the clutch in a slipping state to increase a speed of the engine with a torque of the electric motor, to a value at which the engine can be operated by itself, for thereby starting the engine. Patent Document 1 further describes that when the transmission is instructed to be shifted down as a result of an operation of an accelerator pedal during start of the engine, that is, when a so-called "power-on shift-down action" of the transmission is required, the transmission is shifted down after the engine is started. This manner of control reduces a slipping speed of the clutch during an increase in the engine speed, and accordingly reduces the generation of heat by the slipping clutch, making it possible to reduce deterioration of the clutch due to the generated heat.


A lighting apparatus connected to a network includes a light source for emitting light. A controller controls operation of the light source in response to an external control signal. A non-contact sensor detects a non-contact signal and generates a reset signal in response to detecting the non-contact signal. A communication interface communicatively connects the lighting apparatus to a wireless network to receive the external control signal from a remote apparatus via the wireless network and disconnects the lighting apparatus from the wireless network in response to receiving the reset signal from the non-contact sensor.

The inventive concept relates to a lighting apparatus, a lighting control system, and a method of controlling the lighting apparatus. More particularly, the inventive concept relates to a lighting apparatus that is communicatively connected to a network and is controlled via communication through the network with an external apparatus, to a lighting control system including the lighting apparatus, and to a method of controlling a connection between the lighting apparatus and the network.
A light emitting diode (LED) having low power consumption and high light efficiency can be used as a light source to replace an incandescent electric lamp or a fluorescent lamp. The LED is additionally compatible with many light emitting controls, and can be used in a wide variety of applications. As such, the LED can be used in conjunction with systems configured for easily controlling lighting apparatuses inside and outside buildings based on wireless network communication have been actively conducted. Such control system can be used to provide different light outputs by controlling light color, light temperature, and light output.

Lighting apparatus, lighting control system, and method of controlling the lighting apparatus


A mobile terminal keypad is provided having a plurality of key switches on the keypad that provides a first signal or a second signal according to the pressure applied to the key switch. In each of the plurality of key switches, a plate is provided to sequentially contact with a first contact and a second contact according to the applied pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal key input device and a key input processing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a key input device for providing characters and numbers or for generating electric signals through operations is used for various mobile terminals and devices such as MP3 players, personal digital assistants (PDA), and cellular phones.
The key input device comprises a dome sheet, commonly formed of metal, attached to a printed circuit board (PCB). When the dome sheet is deformed by pressing the exposed key button, the dome sheet is electrically connected to the conductor of the PCB thereby transmitting the electric signal to a controller. As a result, a user may select various functions relating to the terminal.
A mobile terminal usually has a plurality of functions, however key input devices generate a single signal for each press of the button.
Therefore, in order to execute the various functions or contents of the terminal using the key input device, the user must operate a plurality of buttons and may erroneously press the incorrect buttons causing erroneous operations.

Mobile terminal key input device and method


Mutants of thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) are described. TPMTA mutant has a point mutation at cDNA position 238 (G.sup.238 .fwdarw.C), and TPMTB involves two nucleotide transitions at cDNA positions 460 (G.sup.460 .fwdarw.A) and 719 (A.sup.719 .fwdarw.G). TPMTB is the predominant mutant allele associated with human TPMT-deficiency which can cause potentially fatal toxicity when patients are treated with mercaptopurine, azathioprine, or thioguanine. The mutant alleles as well as PCR fragments, mutant proteins and antibodies therefor, together with kits and methods for assaying the TPMT genotype of individual patients are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of cancer therapeutics, diagnostics, and drug metabolism. In particular, the present invention relates to characterization of the genetic basis for thiopurine methyltransferase deficiency. Three separate point mutations are, at least in part, responsible for severe hematopoietic toxicity in cancer patients who are treated with standard dosages of 6-mercaptopurine, 6-thioguanine or azathioprine.
2. Related Art
Thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT, E.C. 126.96.36.199) is a cytoplasmic enzyme that preferentially catalyzes the S-methylation of aromatic and heterocyclic sulfhydryl compounds, including the anticancer agents 6-mercaptopurine (6MP) and 6-thioguanine, and the immunosuppressant azathioprine. TPMT activity exhibits genetic polymorphism, with approximately 89% of Caucasians and African-Americans having high TPMT activity, 11% intermediate activity (presumed heterozygotes), and approximately one in 300 inheriting TPMT-deficiency as an autosomal recessive trait. (Weinshilboum, R. M. and Sladek, S. L., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 32:651-662 (1980); McLeod, H. L. et al., Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 55:15-20 (1994)). TPMT activity is typically measured in erythrocytes, as the level of TPMT activity in human liver, kidney, lymphocytes and leukemic lymphoblast correlates with that in erythrocytes (Van Loon, J. A. and Weinshilboum, R. M., Biochem. Genet. 20:637-658 (1982); Szumlanski, C. L., et al., Pharmacogenetics 2:148-159 (1992); McLeod, H. L. et al., Blood 85:1897-1902 (1995)).
Mercaptopurine, thioguanine, and azathioprine are prodrugs with no intrinsic activity, requiring intracellular conversion to thioguanine nucleotides (TGN), with subsequent incorporation into DNA, as one mechanism of their antiproliferative effect (Lennard, L., Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol 43:329-339 (1992)). Alternatively, these drugs are metabolized to 6-methyl-mercaptopurine (MeMP) or 6-methyl-thioguanine (MeTG) by TPMT or to 6-thiouric acid (6TU) by xanthine oxidase; MeMP, MeTG, and 6TU are inactive metabolites. Thus, metabolism of 6MP, azathioprine, or thioguanine by TPMT shunts drug away from the TGN activation pathway. Clinical studies with 6MP and azathioprine have established an inverse correlation between erythrocyte TPMT activity and erythrocyte TGN accumulation, indicating that patients who less efficiently methylate these thiopurines have more extensive conversion to thioguanine nucleotides (Lennard, L., et al., Lancet 336:225-229 (1990); Lennard, L. et al., Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 46:149-154 (1989)). Moreover, patients with TPMT deficiency accumulate significantly higher erythrocyte TGN if treated with standard dosages of 6MP or azathioprine, leading to severe hematopoietic toxicity, unless the thiopurine dosage is lowered substantially (e.g. 8-15 fold reduction) (Evans, W. E., et al., J. Pediatr. 19:985-989 (1991); McLeod, H. L., et al., Lancet 341:1151 (1993); Lennard, L., et al., Arch. Dis. Child. 69:577-579 (1993)). The majority of such patients are identified only after experiencing severe toxicity, even though prospective measurement of erythrocyte TPMT activity has been advocated by some (Lennard, L. et al., Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 41:18-25 (1987)). Unfortunately, TPMT assays are not widely available and newly diagnosed patients with leukemia or organ transplant recipients are frequently given erythrocyte transfusions, precluding measurement of their constitutive TPMT activity before thiopurine therapy is initiated. Alternatively, if the inactivating mutations of the human TPMT gene can be identified, PCR-based methods can be developed to determine TPMT genotype and prospectively predict phenotype, as is now possible for drug metabolizing enzymes such as debrisoquin-hydroxylase (Heim, M. and Meyer, U. A., Lancet 336:529-532 (1990)) and N-acetyltransferase (Grant, D. M., Pharmacogenetics 3:45-50 (1993)).
Identification of the predominant mutations at the TPMT locus would not only offer a strategy for prospectively identifying heterozygotes and TPMT-deficient patients based on their genotype, prior to treatment with potentially toxic dosages of mercaptopurine, azathioprine and thioguanine, it would also provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms of this genetic polymorphism.

Identification of two novel mutant alleles of human thiopurine S-methyltransferase, and diagnostic uses thereof


The present invention provides a thymosin xcex215 promoter. The promoter comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 or a fragment thereof capable of expressing an operably linked DNA. A DNA sequence having nucleotides xe2x88x92400 to +1 of FIG. 1 is a preferred fragment. The invention also provides novel assays for identifying compounds useful in the treatment of malignancies involving modulation of thymosin xcex215 expression, e.g., breast, pancreas and prostate cancer. The invention further provides a method of human gene therapy for treating malignancies involving up-regulation of thymosin xcex215 expression.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to generally to gene promoters. More specifically, the present invention relates to the thymosin xcex215 promoter and use of this promoter in diagnostic and therapeutic applications as well as in assays for compounds that modulate thymosin xcex215 expression.
2. Background
Beta thymosins are a family of closely related, highly polar 5 kDa polypeptides. All vertebrates studied and some invertebrates are known to contain one or often two beta thymosins (Nachmias VT, Curr. Opin. Cell Biol., 1993;56-62). Thymosin xcex215 was recently uncovered in a search for genes with increased expression in motile as compared to poorly motile Dunning rat prostatic carcinoma cell lines (Bao, et al., Nature Medicine, 1996; 1322-1328). The protein, which is 5300 Da, was designated thymosin xcex215 because of its approximately 60% homology with other members of the beta thymosin family.
Thymosin xcex24 is the most abundant beta thymosin in most mammalian tissue and is the best-studied member of this family. Current understanding is that thymosin xcex24 sequesters a large pool of monomeric actin that is accessible to be released as needed for polymerization of actin filaments (Cassimeris, et al., J. Cell Biol., 1992;119:1261-70, Weber, et al., Biochemistry, 1992;31:6179-85, Nachmias, et al., Eur. J. Cell Biol. 1993;61:314-20). Microinjection or overexpression of thymosin xcex24 has been shown to cause disassembly of actin stress fibers (Sanders, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Scl. USA, 1992;89:4678-82; Sanger, et al., Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton, 1995;31:307-22; Yu, et al., Cell Motil Cytoskeleton, 1994;27: 13-25). Like thymosin xcex24, thymosin xcex215 binds monomeric actin and inhibits actin polymerization confirming its place in the beta thymosin family. Thymosin xcex215 also appears to positively regulate cell motility as transfection of antisense thymosin xcex215 into motile rat prostatic carcinoma lines impairs cell motility in a Boyden chamber apparatus (Bao, et al.).
The putative role of beta thymosin in modulation of the actin cytoskeleton through monomer sequestration suggests that they may be involved in cell differentiation, carcinogenesis and metastasis. In some cell lines, increased thymosin xcex24 protein or mRNA has been shown to correlate with differentiation, while in most others it has not (Safer, et al., Bioessays, 1994; 16:473-9). In human tumors, thymosin xcex24 mRNA has been shown to be increased in hairy cell leukemia and reduced in some lymphomas (Otero, et al., Biochem Biophys. Acta., 1993; 1176:59-63). Two out of three metastatic colorectal carcinomas showed decreased thymosin xcex24 mRNA compared to non-metastatic tumors with the third metastatic tumor showing little change (Yamamoto, et al., Biochem Biophys. Res. Commun, 1993; 193:706-10). Thymosin xcex210 mRNA levels are increased in renal cell carcinomas (Hall, AK, Ren. Fail, 1994; 16:243-54, Hall, AK, Cell Mo. Biol. Res. Commun, 1995;41:167-80), and thymosin xcex210 up-regulation was shown to correlate with the metastatic potential of melanomas (Weterman, et al., Int. J Cancer, 1993; 53:278-84). The expression of each thymosin beta family member is independently regulated. Consequently different family members may be independently elevated or decreased in particular tumor types. As thymosin xcex215 has only recently been described, it is less well characterized. It is present in very few normal adult tissues but was shown to be up-regulated in metastatic human prostate cancers at both the mRNA and protein level as compared to less metastatic prostate cancers (Bao, et al.). Immunostaining of human prostate cancer cases revealed a general correlation between Gleason grade and thymosin xcex215 expression, with high grade tumors (Gleason grade 8-10) showing increased staining compared to low grade tumors (Gleason grade 2-5).
Thymosin xcex215 was also up-regulated in 15/20 human pancreatic tumors. Additionally, thymosin xcex215 has been shown to be up-regulated in malignant as compared with benign breast tissue and may represent an early marker for breast malignancy (Gold, et al., Modem Pathology 1997, In press). The restricted distribution of thymosin xcex215 may allow targeted destruction of malignant tumors expressing the protein e.g., prostate, breast and pancreatic tumors.
The present invention provides a thymosin xcex215 promoter. The promoter comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or a fragment thereof capable of expressing an operably linked DNA. A DNA sequence having nucleotides xe2x88x92400 to +1 of FIG. 1 (nucleotide 153-572 of SEQ ID NO: 1) is a preferred fragment.
The invention further provides a vector having the promoter of the present invention operably linked to a DNA encoding a gene product and host cell containing such vectors. These gene products can be marker genes, toxins, suicide genes, viral genes, ribozymes, intrabodies, antisense, or another heterologous gene product.
The invention also provides novel assays for identifying compounds useful in the treatment of malignancies involving modulation of thymosin xcex215 expression, e.g., breast, pancreas and prostate cancer. Preferred compounds identified through assays of the invention can modulate, particularly inhibit, thymosin xcex215. A preferred assay comprises transfecting a host cell with a vector containing the thymosin xcex215 promoter operably linked to a gene encoding a reporter or marker protein; contacting the cell with a test compound and measuring reporter protein expression.
The invention also provides a method of human gene therapy for treating malignancies involving up-regulation of thymosin xcex215 expression, e.g., breast, pancreas and prostate cancer. The method comprises administering to a human in need thereof an expression vector comprising the thymosin xcex215 promoter operably linked to a DNA encoding a gene product the expression of which by the cell expressing thymosin xcex215 , i.e., the cancer cells, inhibits the growth of the cell or results in the cells death. Such gene products include, for example, toxins, suicide genes, ribozymes, intrabodies, or antisense DNA or RNA.
Other aspects of the invention are disclosed infra.

Thymosin xcex2-15 promoter and uses thereof


A tissue cassette includes a body having a first floor and a first perimeter wall encircling and extending from the first floor so that the first floor and first perimeter wall at least partially bound a body cavity, the first floor having a plurality of spaced apart openings extending therethrough. A mold has a second floor and a second perimeter wall encircling and extending from the second floor so that the second floor and second perimeter wall at least partially bound a mold cavity, the second floor having at least one micropore extending therethrough, the at least one micropore having a maximum diameter less than 0.040 inches. A hinge couples the body to the mold so that the body and mold can move between a closed position wherein the first floor overlies the second floor so as to form a tissue compartment therebetween and an open position.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tissue cassette assemblies and methods of use.
2. The Relevant Technology
To accurately diagnose a diseased tissue sample, the tissue sample is first processed to remove the water content. Next, the tissue sample is embedded in paraffin wax, following which a microtome is used to cut thin slices of the tissue. A pathologist is then able to analyze the thin slices to diagnose the disease.
Tissue cassettes are commonly used in the processing step to assist in the removal of the water content from the tissue sample. Tissue cassettes come in a variety of different configurations and can be used in different methods. In one embodiment, the tissue cassette includes a base having a compartment for receiving a tissue sample and a lid that selectively covers the compartment to capture the specimen therein. A pair of sponges may be used within the cassette to sandwich in and prevent small specimen loss during tissue processing steps and/or to sandwich the tissue sample in a desired orientation. The pair of sponges may be omitted if the appropriate specimen size warrants.
With the tissue sample loaded in the tissue cassette, the compartment of the tissue cassette is sequentially flooded with a series of different solvents to remove the water content from the tissue sample. The tissue cassette has relatively large openings in both the lid and base that permit the solvents to freely flow into and out of the compartment for treating the tissue sample. Once the water content has been removed from the tissue sample, the tissue cassette is opened and the sponge(s) are removed and discarded. The tissue sample is placed into a separate mold and the cassette base is coupled to the mold. Liquid paraffin wax is then poured onto the tissue cassette so that the paraffin wax passes through the openings in the lid and the base so as to surround and enclose the tissue sample. The mold holding the tissue cassette acts as a cup to receive and hold the paraffin wax as it solidifies around the tissue sample. Once the paraffin wax has solidified, the frame is then used to mount the embedded tissue sample onto the microtome following which the desired slices can be obtained.
Although the above tissue cassette is functional for processing tissue samples, it has a number of shortcomings. For example, the sponges used for holding the tissue sample are not intended to become part of the final paraffin block-tissue-sample-cassette base assembly; they are intended to be discarded after processing and before embedding with molten paraffin. As such, the specifications of the sponge are not tightly held and vary widely. That is, the pore size, the density, the air-flow volume, and other parameters are not required to be held into a tight range of parameters. The sponge is non-reticulated, that is, a closed cell sponge, and is designed to sufficiently aid in the flow of tissue processing reagents during the tissue processing step, but is not intended to hold a tissue specimen in its final orientation within a paraffin block. It is assumed that a trained technologist re-orients all tissues into the final orientation at the embedding step. Because the parameters of this sponge are not required to be tightly held, fragments of the sponge can and do fragment and become lodged into the tissue sample, creating artificial sponge artifact on the slide. In addition, the sponge, with little resistance to pressure forced onto it by a tissue sample, can imprint its shape onto the tissue surface, introducing another form of artifact. Both forms of sponge artifact can and do create difficulty in proper sample analysis. During the processing stage, the tissue sample is sequentially exposed to a series of different reagents. As a result of the sponge retaining a reagent, the retained first reagent can contaminate the second reagent and make it less effective. More frequent reagent changes/reagent refreshing are required when using a pair of sponges.
Finally, as discussed above, the prior art requires that the tissue cassette be used with a separate frame and mold to enable embedding with paraffin wax and securing to the microtome. The required use of these additional parts increases the expense and slows the processing time. Accordingly, what are needed are systems and methods that address some or all of the above shortcomings and other deficiencies known in the art.

Western Michigan University Research Foundation (WMURF)


An assembly for coupling a pair of double-walled tubes is provided. The assembly includes a pair of flanges disposed in an opposing relation to each other and mutually coupled thereto. Each flange defines a central opening that is configured to correspond with a similar opening on an opposing flange. The central openings of the coupled flanges are configured to communicate a first fluid. The assembly further includes an annular hub portion extending axially away from each of the flanges. The annular hub portion is disposed about the central opening of the respective flange. The assembly further includes a lip portion depending frustoconically from the hub portion. The flange, the hub portion, and the lip portion define a conduit extending therethrough. The conduits are configured to allow passage of a second fluid therethrough.

Hydraulic arrangements used in various industrial and commercial applications may employ double-walled pipes to transport fluids from one location to another. These fluids may be similar fluids or dissimilar fluids, i.e. fluids having distinct properties or characteristics. Typically, ends of such double-walled pipes may require coupling in order to accomplish a pair of contiguous flow-paths for the respective fluids.
Many systems have been developed in the past for coupling end portions of adjacently located double-walled pipes. For reference, U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,291 relates to a hose-in-hose coupler. The hose-in-hose coupler has a primary, or inner hose assembly, and a surrounding secondary, or outer hose assembly. The secondary hose assembly is connected by opposing retractable sleeves which, when disconnected, may be retracted or separated to expose the primary hose assembly. However, such systems may be complex and/or laborious to implement in coupling a pair of double-walled pipes.
Therefore, there is a need for a simplified and/or improved system and method to overcome the above mentioned shortcomings.

Assembly for coupling a pair of double-walled tubes


Methods and systems for monitoring performance in a distributed storage system described. One example method includes identifying requests sent by clients to the distributed storage system, each request including request parameter values for request parameters; generating probe requests based on the identified requests, the probe requests including probe request parameter values for probe request parameter values, representing a statistical sample of the request parameters included in the identified requests; sending the generated probe requests to the distributed storage system over a network, wherein the distributed storage system is configured to perform preparations for servicing each probe request in response to receiving the probe request; receiving responses to the probe requests from the distributed storage system, and outputting at least one performance metric value measuring a current performance state of the distributed storage system based on the received responses.

This specification generally relates to monitoring performance in a distributed storage system.
In distributed systems, various performance metrics may be tracked to determine the overall health of the system. For example, the amount of time it takes the system to respond to a client request (i.e., latency) may be monitored to ensure the system is responding in a timely manner.

Performance monitoring in a distributed storage system


A shooting bench is configured to be portable and stable. The shooting bench includes a tabletop mechanically coupled to three leg assembly sockets wherein each assembly socket contains an angled cavity that is angled at 10 to 30 degrees from perpendicular to the tabletop. A catch assembly, a cradle assembly and a handle are mechanically coupled to the tabletop. In a first mode of operation a leg assembly is inserted into each leg assembly socket wherein each angled cavity causes the shooting bench to be stable. In a second mode of operation, each leg assembly is inserted into the catch assembly and the cradle assembly in order store the leg assemblies making the shooting bench portable.

The embodiments herein relate generally to furniture that can be used to support a user holding a firearm.
Prior to embodiments of the disclosed invention, a stable portable shooting bench evaded discovery. Rather, shooting benches were either very large and stable, but not portable or very light and portable, but unstable. Embodiments of the disclosed invention solve this problem. The prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,280 issued to Stonebraker; U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,029 issued to DeVaul; U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,559 issued to Hall; U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,821 issued to Neal.
Stonebraker teaches a table with removable legs stored in "side pockets" on a "backpack" instead of clips on the table itself. DeVaul teaches removable legs that can be stored overlapping upon one another in a case which is carried with a handle, but does not utilize clips to hold the legs in place. Both Hall and Neal teach a table with a handle that has removable legs, which can be stored in clips on the table. However, Hall and Neal appear to be press fit into place and embodiments of the present invention use screw fitting.


Systems and methods for passively calibrating and correcting for I/Q mismatch in a quadrature receiver without the necessity of modifying the analog portion of the receiver by adding calibration signals or correction circuitry are presented. The passive I/Q mismatch calibration system proceeds using normally received incoming transmitted data signals to obtain statistical information on which to base I/Q mismatch compensation factors. The I/Q mismatch compensation factors can be used to adjust the magnitude and phase response in the time domain or the frequency domain, the analog or the digital portion of the receiver. Depending on the embodiment, the passive I/Q mismatch calibration system can calibrate frequency dependent gain or magnitude imbalance, frequency independent magnitude imbalance, frequency dependent phase imbalance, and frequency independent phase imbalance or combinations or these.

The use of receivers in wireless systems such as radio and cellular communication systems is well-known in the art. FIG. 1 shows a typical quadrature receiver design 10. Receiver front-end processing 15 provides a signal such as an amplified intermediate frequency (IF) signal to mixers 20, 25. The front-end processing 15 can include, for example, an antenna that receives a radio frequency (RF) signal and provides the signal to an RF amplifier, which amplifies the RF signal. According to the example, the signal is then mixed in a mixer with a signal from a local oscillator to produce an IF signal that is amplified in an IF amplifier to produce the amplified IF signal. The IF signal is mixed with the quadrature outputs of a local oscillator 60 at mixers 20, 25 to generate respective in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals. The I and Q signals are passed on their respective branches through, for example, low pass filters 30, 35 that eliminate the higher frequency components in the I and Q signals, and through one or more amplifiers 40, 45 to be digitized for further processing at respective analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) 50, 55. As is well known in the art, deviations from the ideal I and Q signals in the form of gain or magnitude and phase imbalances, i.e. differing gains for the I and Q signals as well as I and Q signals that are correlated due to the local oscillator 60 inputs at the mixers 20, 25 not being exactly 90 degrees out of phase, can cause degradations in the performance of the receiver.
Generally, prior attempts to calibrate and correct for magnitude and phase imbalances have involved analyzing dedicated transmitted calibration signals at the receiver to produce correction factors to be applied to received signals carrying data of interest, either at the analog side or the digital side. A representative example of the literature is R. A. Green, in "An Optimized Multi-tone Calibration Signal for Quadrature Receiver Communication Systems," 10th IEEE Workshop on Statistical Signal and Array Processing, pp. 664-667, Pocono Manor, Pa., August 2000, which develops an optimized multi-tone calibration signal to which linear regression techniques are applied to generate correction factors to update adaptive filters that are intended to compensate for gain and phase imbalances. Special circuitry typically needs to be used to produce, analyze, and correct for the results of analysis on such calibration signals. A further drawback is that the quadrature receiver typically cannot continue to actively receive normal transmitted data while the calibration is occurring.
It would be desirable to provide I/Q calibration at a quadrature receiver that does not require that a separate calibration signal be transmitted to the receiver and that does not necessarily involve additional analog componentry prior to the ADCs.

Systems and methods to provide wideband magnitude and phase imbalance calibration and compensation in quadrature receivers


An attachable abrasive article comprises an abrasive member having an attachment device affixed thereto. The attachment device comprises a fastener having a flange thereon. Thermoplastic material is disposed between the flange and the abrasive article. The disclosure also concerns methods of making and using attachable abrasive articles.

Many abrasive articles are used in conjunction with tools having a rotatable shaft. Examples of such abrasive articles include coated abrasive articles, surface conditioning articles, and abrasive brushes. Generally, the abrasive articles are attached to the rotatable shaft by one or more fastening devices (i.e., fasteners) affixed to the abrasive article. In order to remain affixed to the abrasive article during use the fasteners must be strongly adhered to the abrasive articles.
While there are many known methods for affixing fasteners, particularly metal fasteners, improvements are always desired, especially when the complexity or cost can be reduced.

Abrasive articles, and methods of making and using the same