The present invention provides a method for directly measuring apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB) or cholesterol associated with very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) in a fluid sample. In one embodiment the method involves the specific capture of intact VLDL particles from a fluid sample with a specific VLDL binding agent. The quantity of VLDL-apoB present in the sample is then measured by detecting the amount of VLDL-apoB bound to the binding agent-VLDL complexes formed in the reaction. In an alternative embodiment of the method, intact VLDL particles from a fluid sample are also captured with a specific VLDL binding agent and thereafter the cholesterol associated with the bound VLDL is determined. The cholesterol contained in the binding-agent-VLDL complexes can be detected by reacting the complexes with labeled cholesterol specific binding agents and measuring the amount of label bound therto, or by releasing the cholesterol in the complexes and measuring the amount of cholesterol released. VLDL specific binding reagents are also provided.

The present invention relates to diagnostic methods for detection and quantification of lipoproteins and cholesterol associated with lipoproteins. More particularly, the invention relates to assay methods for direct measurement of apolipoprotein B (apoB) associated very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and cholesterol associated with VLDL using specific monoclonal antibodies.
Very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) constitutes one of the major plasma lipoproteins. VLDL particles are synthesized in the liver and are involved in triglyceride metabolism and transport of these lipids from the liver. The end products of VLDL catabolism are low density lipoproteins (LDL), another major class of lipoprotein particles in plasma.
It has been suggested that disturbances in the metabolism of apoB containing lipoproteins such as VLDL and LDL correlate with incidences of atherosclerosis (Hurt-Camejo et al. (1997) Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 17(6): 1011-1017). Furthermore, an increase in VLDL levels has been associated with hypertriglycerimedia, hyperlipidemia or familial combined hyperlipidemia (Betteridge (1989) Diabet Med 6: 195-218; Schaefer et al. (1985) New Engl J. Med 312: 1300-1310; Shaefer et al. (1993) Curr Opin Lipidol 4: 288-298). Hyperglyceridemia also has been shown to correlate with an increased incidence of coronary heart disease (Gianturco et al. (1991) Curr Opin Lipidol 2: 324-328; Manninen et al. (1992) Circulation 85: 37-45; Grundy et al. (1992) Arch Intern Med 152: 28-34). Many patients with hyperglycerimedia have very low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), another major lipoprotein in plasma. It is recommended to treat patients with coronary heart disease who concurrently have hypertriglyceridemia and low levels of HDL with drugs and pharmacologic reagents, even when these patients have acceptable levels of total and LDL cholesterol (Larsen et al. (1993) Curr Opin Lipidol 4: 34-40); Stein and Myers (1995) Clin Chem 41: 1421-1426).
Two methods are presently used for the quantitation of VLDL, both of which involve the measurement of VLDL-cholesterol. The first method uses the factor triglyceride/5 as VLDL-cholesterol concentration (Friedewald et al. (1972) Clin Chem 18: 499-502). In this method, it is assumed that all plasma triglycerides are associated with VLDL and chylomicrons and that other VLDL remnants are not present. Chylomicrons are microscopic lipid particles that appear in the blood transiently after a fat-containing meal, are rich in triglycerides and usually have no significant effect on the total-cholesterol concentration. Although these assumptions are not strictly true, the factor triglyceride/5 usually provides good measure of VLDL-cholesterol when the subject is fasting and the triglyceride concentrations do not exceed 400 mg/dL.
The second method for quantitating VLDL uses ultracentrifugation. In this method, an aliquot of plasma is used to measure the total cholesterol concentration in the sample. A second aliquot of plasma is centrifuged (105,000xc3x97 g) at a plasma density concentration of 1.006 g/mL for 18 hours at 4xc2x0 C. After centrifugation, the upper layer containing VLDL is quantitatively removed and the cholesterol concentration in the isolated VLDL is measured. Alternatively, an aliquot of the remaining bottom layer, which does not contain VLDL, is used to measure the cholesterol concentration ([d  greater than 1.006 g/mL chol]). The cholesterol concentration of VLDL ([VLDL-chol]) is then calculated using the following equation:
[VLDL-chol]=[Total-chol]xe2x88x92[d greater than 1.006 g/mL chol]
Both methodologies suffer from a variety of problems. For example, the use of the factor triglyceride/5 is unacceptable in cases where a subject is not fasting, or where triglyceride concentrations exceed 400 mg/dL. Moreover, this method should not be used for Type III hyperlipoproteinemic patients that contain floating beta-VLDL (Belcher et al. (1991) Methods for Clinical Laboratory Measurement of Lipid and Lipoprotein Risk Factors, Eds. Rifai and Warnick, MCC Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 75-86). Although several studies have been conducted to determine better ways to measure VLDL-cholesterol concentrations (McNamara et al. (1990) Clin Chem 36: 36-42; Warnick et al. (1990) Clin Chem36: 15-19; Delong et al. (1986) JAMA 256: 2372-2377), no significant improvement has yet been made.
The problem with the ultracentrifugation method of VLDL-cholesterol quantitation is that it is both time consuming and expensive to perform. Furthermore, since the method requires specialized equipment, facilities and laboratory skills, it is not suitable for routine analysis of patient samples. To complicate these matters, no alternative methodologies for measuring VLDL, such as assays which measure apoB associated with VLDL, are currently available, either for analysis of patient samples or for research purposes. Thus, there is a need for rapid, easily performed, accurate and cost effective methods for quantitating VLDL.
An objective of this invention is to generate monoclonal antibodies that are specific for VLDL. Another object of this invention is to develop a method of directly measuring apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB) and cholesterol associated with VLDL from plasma easily, cheaply, quickly and accurately without the need of highly trained technicians or expensive equipment such as ultracentrifuges. Yet another object of this invention is to directly measure VLDL-cholesterol without the analytical variability generally associated with the present method of quantitative removal of VLDL layer in the ultracentrifugation method even with highly trained technicians.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for determining the amount of apoB associated with VLDL in a sample comprising the steps of: (a) mixing a sample and a VLDL-specific binding agent for a time and under conditions to form binding-agent-VLDL complexes; and (b) determining the amount of apoB associated with VLDL bound to the binding-agent-VLDL complexes. In a preferred embodiment, the VLDL-specific binding agent is coupled to a solid support. In a more preferred embodiment, the solid support is separated from the sample before determining the amount of apoB bound to the binding-agent-VLDL complexes. Preferred solid supports include nitrocellulose, latex, nylon, polystyrene beads, particles, magnetic particles, and glass fiber. In these embodiments, the VLDL-specific binding agent is an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to substantially all VLDL, to LDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, to IDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, and to HDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding. Preferably, the antibody is a monoclonal antibody. More preferably, the monoclonal antibody is selected from the group consisting of 18-571-312, 18-140-196, 18-459-172, and 18-358-211. A most preferred monoclonal antibody is 18-358-211.
In yet another embodiment, the method further comprises the step of separating the binding-agent-VLDL complexes prior to determining the amount of apoB associated with VLDL. In a preferred method of this embodiment, the VLDL-specific binding agent is conjugated to a first charged substance and the separation step comprises contacting the binding-agent-VLDL complexes with an insoluble solid phase material which is oppositely charged with respect to the first charged substance, such that the solid phase material attracts and attaches to the first charged substance and separating the solid phase material and the sample. Preferably, the charged substances are anionic and cationic monomers or polymers.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for determining the amount of apoB associated with VLDL in a sample comprising the steps of: contacting the sample with an indicator reagent wherein the indicator reagent is a monoclonal antibody or fragment thereof that specifically binds to apoB associated with VLDL and with a solid support coated with VLDL for a time and under conditions to permit binding of the indicator reagent with the VLDL in the sample and with the bound VLDL and determining the amount of apoB associated with VLDL in the test sample by detecting the reduction in binding of the indicator reagent to the solid support as compared to the signal generated from a negative sample to indicate the presence of VLDL in the test sample. In this embodiment, the indicator reagent is preferably the monoclonal antibody 18-358-211.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for determining the amount of cholesterol associated with VLDL in a sample and comprises the steps of mixing a sample and a VLDL-specific binding agent for a time and under conditions to form binding-agent-VLDL complexes; and determining the amount of cholesterol bound to the binding-agent-VLDL complexes. In a preferred embodiment, the VLDL-specific binding agent is coupled to a solid support. In a more preferred embodiment, the solid support is separated from the sample before determining the amount of cholesterol bound to the binding-agent-VLDL complexes. Preferred solid supports include nitrocellulose, latex, nylon, polystyrene, beads, particles, magnetic particles, and glass fiber. In these embodiments, the VLDL-specific binding agent is an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to substantially all VLDL, to LDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, to IDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, and to HDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding. Preferably, the antibody is a monoclonal antibody. More preferably, the monoclonal antibody is selected from the group consisting of 18-571-312, 18-140-196, 18-459-172, and 18-358-211.
In one alternative embodiment, determining the amount of cholesterol comprises releasing the cholesterol bound to the binding agent-VLDL complexes and measuring the amount of cholesterol released. In a second alternative embodiment, determining the amount of cholesterol comprises mixing the binding-agent-VLDL complexes with a cholesterol specific binding agent coupled to a detectable label for a time and under conditions suitable to form binding-agent-VLDL-cholesterol specific binding agent complexes and determining the amount of label bound to the binding-agent-VLDL-cholesterol specific binding agent complex.
In yet another embodiment, the method further comprises the step of separating the binding-agent-VLDL complexes prior to determining the amount of cholesterol associated with VLDL. In a preferred embodiment, the VLDL-specific binding agent is conjugated to a first charged substance and the separation step comprises contacting the binding-agent-VLDL complexes with an insoluble solid phase material which is oppositely charged with respect to the first charged substance, such that the solid phase material attracts and attaches to the first charged substance and separating the solid phase material and the sample. Preferably, the charged substances are anionic and cationic monomers or polymers. One alternative embodiment of this method involves releasing the cholesterol bound to the binding-agent-VLDL complexes and measuring the amount of cholesterol released. A second alternative embodiment involves mixing the binding-agent-VLDL complexes with a cholesterol specific binding agent coupled to a detectable label such that a second complex is formed and determining the amount of label bound to the second complex.
The present invention also provides an antibody or fragment thereof specific for VLDL wherein the antibody binds to substantially all VLDL, to LDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, to IDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, and to HDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding. Preferably, the antibody is selected from the group consisting of 18-571-312, 18-140-196, 18-459-172, and 18-358-211. A most preferred antibody is produced by a hybridoma cell line having ATCC Accession No. HB-12392.
The present invention also provides a hybridoma cell line that produces a monoclonal antibody which binds to substantially all VLDL, to LDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, to IDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, and to HDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding. Preferably, the hybridoma cell line produces a monoclonal antibody selected from the group consisting of 18-571-312, 18-140-196, 18-459-172, and 18-358-211. A most preferred hybridoma cell has ATCC Accession No. HB-12392.
The present invention yet further provides a monoclonal antibody specific for VLDL prepared by the method comprising the steps of: (a) immunizing a mouse or a rat with Apo CIII; (b) making a suspension of the mouse or rat spleen cells; (c) fusing the spleen cells with mouse or rat myeloma cells in the presence of a fusion promoter; (d) culturing the fused cells; (e) determining the presence of anti-VLDL antibody in the culture media; (f) cloning a hybridoma producing antibody that binds to substantially all VLDL, to LDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, to IDL at less than about 10% of VLDL binding, and to HDL at less than about 10% of LDL binding; and (g) obtaining the antibody from the hybridoma.

Immunoassay for detection of very low density lipoprotein and antibodies useful therefor


A wireless communication system is adapted for compatible inter-operation of a plurality of devices operating in accordance with a plurality of protocols. The wireless communication system includes a first group of one or more subscriber stations that interface with a base station in accordance with a first protocol and a second group of one or more subscriber stations that interface with the base station in accordance with a second protocol. The base station includes a protocol processor that identifies transmissions from the first and second groups of subscriber stations and routes transmissions from the first group of subscriber stations to a first processor operating in accordance with the first protocol and routes transmissions from the second group of subscriber stations to a second processor operating in accordance with the second protocol.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to utilizing multiple protocols in a wireless communication system.
2. Background Art
Traditional dial-up modems provide online access through the public telephone network at up to 56 Kbps (equal to 56,000 bits per second). A cable modem, on the other hand, provides users with high-speed Internet access through a cable television network. A cable modem is capable of providing data rates as high as 56 Mbps, and is thus suitable for high speed Internet access, digital television (such as pay-per-view) and digital telephony.
The Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) protocol was developed to ensure that cable modem equipment built by a variety of manufacturers is compatible, as is the case with traditional dial-up modems. However, DOCSIS compliant systems, as currently defined, do not efficiently transmit many types of data, such as, for example, voice.
Accordingly, apparatuses and methods are needed that address one or more of the aforementioned shortcomings of conventional communication apparatuses and methods

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatuses to utilize multiple protocols in a wireless communication system


A tag is attached to an unlicensed object indicating that a user does not have an appropriate license for using the object. The tag partially obscures the object while allowing the object to function as a licensed object. The tag may be indicia that indicates the unlicensed status of the object. Drawings created with unlicensed objects may also be partially obscured with a tag.

The invention relates in general to licensing objects and more specifically to a method and system for indicating the status of a license.
Numerous software applications exist for performing various types of functions on computers. Software distribution schemes allow users to download software through communication networks such as the Internet. Due to competition in the market, many software manufactures have used these distribution schemes to provide a free trial application to a potential customer allowing the potential customer to use the software application for a limited time or in a limited capacity. If satisfied, the customer may purchase the full commercial version of the software or may purchase a license to continue using the trial software application.
Conventional licensing schemes, however, are limited in several ways. If the licensing techniques provide a functionally limited version of the commercial software application, the software provider risks that the trial version will be adequate for the potential customer. If the trial version is severely limited in functionality, the software provider risks that the potential customer will not fully appreciate the capabilities of the commercial software. On the other hand, if the trial version is not limited enough, the potential customer will not buy the commercial version and will continue using the trial version eliminating a potential sale.
A licensing scheme involving a time limited version of the commercial product is limited in that trial time may be too long or too short. If the trial version is set to expire too early, the potential customer may not have an opportunity to adequately examine the software product. If the expiration of the trial software is set to far in the future, the potential customer may use the software to complete a project and may not desire to purchase the commercial version.
Drafting, graphic and other visual software applications are particularly sensitive to the issues discussed above. Most graphic applications use numerous drawing objects that typically need to be updated periodically. Further, the large libraries of drawing objects may need to be expanded to provide an adequate database of contemporary objects.
Therefore, there exists a need for method and system for licensing software, digital objects, and other digital data that allows a potential customer to sample the product with a maximum functionality while maintaining customer motivation to purchase a license.

Method and system for indicating a license status of an object


An edging mill for section rolling has a pair of horizontal rolls, each horizontal roll including a pair of axially spaced horizontal roll segments supported by driven horizontal roll shafts. Eccentric rings are disposed between the two horizontal roll segments making up each horizontal roll and are rotatably mounted on the horizontal roll shaft. The eccentric rings are eccentric to the horizontal rolls. Web-restraining ring rolls each comprise a pair of web-restraining roll segments rotatably fitted over the periphery of the eccentric rings concentrically thereto. A web-restraining ring roll positioning device rotates the eccentric rings. While the horizontal rolls roll the flange edges of the section, the web-restraining ring rolls hold the web of the section therebetween. The position of the web-restraining ring rolls with respect to the horizontal rolls changes with the rotating angle of the eccentric rings. The position of the web-restraining ring rolls is adjusted according to the flange thickness of the section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rolling mills for edging metal sections, and more particularly to rolling mills for edging H- and other similar sections having gap-variable rolls of the eccentric ring type and having shiftable rolls in the roll axial direction. An edge rolling mill according to this invention permits rolling, for example, H-sections with different web heights and flange widths by simply adjusting the gap between drive side and work side rolls off the mill line, without changing the rolls themselves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional edge rolling mill that applies rolling to the flanges of an H- or other similar section is provided downstream of a universal mill that rolls the section in several passes.
When multi-pass rolling is performed on the conventional one-piece edge rolling mill, however, a gap S forms between a web 4 of an H-section 1 and a horizontal roll 8 as shown in FIG. 1 (a). As a consequence, a flange 2 of the H-section 1 causes buckling 6 as shown at FIG. 1 (b) or the web 4 becomes off-centered with respect to the flanges 2 as shown in FIG. 1 (c).
To solve this problem, Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 77107 of 1987 proposed an eccentric-ring edge rolling mill which comprises separate pairs of horizontal rolls to work on the flange edges of the section being rolled and ring rolls to hold its web. The web-restraining ring rolls are eccentric with respect to the horizontal rolls and always in contact with the web of the section. This eccentric-ring edge rolling mill 11 is made up of a pair of horizontal rolls 13, with a rotatable eccentric ring 15 fitted over each horizontal roll 13 through a bearing 14, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Then, a rotatable web-restraining ring roll 17 is fitted over the eccentric ring 15 through a bearing 16. A worm wheel 18 provided on the eccentric ring 15 and a worm 19, in combination, rotate the eccentric ring 15, thereby positioning the web-restraining ring roll 17 eccentric to the horizontal roll 13.
This edge-rolling mill 11 has several shortcomings. The need to leave a large enough space for a device to apply a driving force to the inner side of the eccentric ring 15 makes it difficult to bring the two eccentric rings 15 closer. This, in turn, does not permit reducing the gap between the two web-restraining ring rolls 17 adequately and, therefore, securing a large enough variable range of web height. As mentioned before, this mill 11 is made up of a pair of horizontal rolls 13 each of which is fitted over a horizontal roll shaft 12 and carries therearound a rotatable web-restraining ring roll 17 having an eccentric ring 15. Because of this construction, the web-restraining ring rolls 17 are not firmly supported. The lack of their stability and rigidity does not permit rolling with heavy reduction. Besides, the large diameter difference between the horizontal rolls 13 and web-restraining ring rolls 17 does not permit the rolling of a section 1 with small flange thickness on the same mill.


An antenna structure includes a capacitance-rendering portion located between an open end portion of a feed radiation electrode and a ground portion. A switch for changing the capacitance between the open end portion of the feed radiation electrode and the ground portion rendered by the capacitance-rendering portion is provided. When the capacitance between the open end portion of the feed radiation electrode and the ground portion is increased by the capacitance-rendering portion, a resonant frequency in the fundamental frequency band, caused by the antenna operation of the feed radiation electrode, is reduced corresponding to the increased amount of the capacitance. When the capacitance between the open end portion of the feed radiation electrode and the ground portion is decreased by the changing operation of the capacitance-rendering portion, the resonant frequency in the fundamental frequency band is increased corresponding to the decreased amount of the capacitance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna structure suitable for multi-band radio communication which is performed in a plurality of different frequency bands, and to a communication device including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6A is a schematic perspective view showing an example of an antenna structure suitable for multi-band radio communication which is performed in a plurality of different frequency bands. The antenna structure 1 includes a base plate 2 (e.g., a circuit board of a communication device), a dielectric substrate 3 mounted on one side end portion of the base plate 2, a feed radiation electrode 4, a non-feed radiation electrode 5, and a ground portion 6 provided on the base plate 2.
The feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 are λ/4 type electrodes. An area Zant on the base plate 2 where the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 are arranged is a non-ground area in which the ground portion 6 is not provided. The dielectric substrate 3 is disposed on the non-ground area Zant. The feed radiation electrode 4 is configured so as to extend from the upper surface 3U of the dielectric substrate 3 onto the base plate 2 via an end surface 3L thereof on the left side as viewed in FIG. 6A. One side end portion K of the feed radiation electrode 4, located on the base plate 2, is an open end portion, while the other side end portion Q of the feed radiation electrode 4 is a feed end portion. The feed end portion Q is connected to, e.g., a high frequency circuit 10 of a communication device for radio communication via a feed electrode 7 provided on a side surface 3B of the dielectric substrate 3 and a feed conductor pattern 8 provided on the base plate 2. The portion 4A of the feed radiation electrode 4 provided on the base plate 2 functions as a portion of the feed radiation electrode 4, and moreover, functions as an underlying electrode (fixing electrode) for soldering when the dielectric substrate 3 is mounted onto the base plate 2, e.g., using solder.
The non-feed radiation electrode 5 is arranged adjacent to the feed radiation electrode 4 with an interval therebetween. In FIGS. 6A and 6B, the non-feed radiation electrode 5 is arranged so as to extend from the upper surface 3U of the dielectric substrate 3 onto an end surface thereof on the right side viewed in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The top of the extended non-feed radiation electrode 5 is an open end portion. The end portion G on the opposed side of the non-feed radiation electrode 5 is connected to the ground portion 6 of the base plate 2 via a ground connection electrode 11 provided on a side surface 3B of the dielectric substrate 3. Thus, the end portion G is a ground end portion.
The feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 are electro-magnetically coupled to each other (coupling by electric fields and magnetic fields). The feed radiation electrode 4 has a plurality of resonant frequencies. In this case, the frequency band having the lowest resonant frequency f1 of the plurality of resonant frequencies is called a fundamental frequency band, while the frequency band having a resonant frequency f2 higher than the resonant frequency f1 is called a higher-order frequency band. In this example, the non-feed radiation electrode 5 has a resonant frequency f2′ shown at a position near the resonant frequency f2 of the feed radiation electrode 4 on the higher order side thereof in the graph of FIG. 6C. As seen in the VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) characteristic shown by solid line in FIG. 6C, the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 generate a double resonant state in the higher-order frequency band. If only the feed radiation electrode 4 is provided, the width of the higher-order frequency band is smaller than that of the fundamental frequency band. Thus, for example, in some cases, the higher-order frequency band is unsuitable for use in radio communication because of the insufficient bandwidth. On the other hand, when the non-feed radiation electrode 5 is provided, so that the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 generate a double resonant state in the higher-order frequency band, the higher-order frequency band, together with the fundamental frequency band, can be used for radio communication. That is, this antenna structure 1 is suitable for the multi-band radio communication.
In the above-described antenna structure 1, a transmission signal is transmitted from the high frequency circuit 10 to the feed end portion Q of the feed radiation electrode 4 via the feed conductor pattern 8 and the feeding electrode 7, the signal is also transmitted to the non-feed radiation electrode 5 through the feed radiation electrode 4 via the electromagnetic coupling. If the transmission signal is a signal in a frequency band corresponding to the fundamental frequency band, the feed radiation electrode 4 resonates with the supplied transmission signal to radiate the transmission signal. If the transmission signal corresponds to the higher-order frequency band, not only the feed radiation electrode 4 but also the non-feed radiation electrode 5 resonate with the signal, such that the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 generate a double resonant state, and thus, the transmission signal is radiated.
Moreover, if an external signal is supplied, and the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 resonate with the signal to receive, the received signal is transferred to the high frequency circuit 10 via the feeding electrode 7 and the feed conductor pattern 8.
In some cases, for example, radio communication at a plurality of different frequencies is performed, in which, at signal reception Rx, the resonant frequency in the fundamental frequency band is changed to the frequency f1 as shown by solid line in FIG. 6C, and at signal transmission Tx, the resonant frequency in the fundamental frequency band is changed to the frequency f1′ shown by dotted line in FIG. 6C (e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 7-297627 and 10-107671).
To change the resonant frequency in a frequency band, a variable inductance component is provided in a line connecting the feed end portion Q of the feed radiation electrode 4 to the high frequency circuit 10. This is specifically described with reference to FIG. 6B below. As shown in FIG. 6B, a parallel combination of a connection line 14 including an inductor 13 incorporated therein and a short-circuit line 15, and a switch 16 are incorporated in a line connecting the feed end portion Q of the feed radiation electrode 4 to the high frequency circuit 10. The switch 16 is configured to selectively change one of the connection line 14 and the short-circuit line 15 of the parallel combination to the other. When the connection line 14 is connected to the feed end portion Q of the feed radiation electrode 4 by switching of the switch 16, the inductance of the inductor 13 in the connection line 14 is provided, in series, to the feed radiation electrode 4. When the short-circuit line 15 is connected to the feed end portion Q of the feed radiation electrode 4, the inductance of the inductor 13 ceases from being provided to the feed radiation electrode 4. Thus, the inductor 13 is switched so as to be present or absent between the feed radiation electrode 4 and the high frequency circuit 10. That is, the state in which the inductance of the inductor 13 is provided to the feed radiation electrode 4, and the state in which the inductance of the inductor 13 is not provided to the feed radiation electrode 4 can be selected. Thereby, the resonant frequencies in the fundamental frequency band can be changed to each other. That is, for example, the resonant frequency in the fundamental frequency band become, e.g., the frequency f1′ shown by the dotted line in FIG. 6C when the inductance is provided, and the resonant frequency in the fundamental frequency band become, e.g., the frequency f1 shown by the solid line in FIG. 6C when no inductance is provided.
However, the states of electromagnetic coupling between the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5, caused when the inductance is provided to the feed radiation electrode 4 by the inductor 13 and when no inductance is provided to the feed radiation electrode 4 are different. Therefore, the impedances of the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 is mismatched. Accordingly, for example, when the inductance is not provided between the feed radiation electrode 4 and the high frequency circuit 10, the feed radiation electrode 4 and the non-feed radiation electrode 5 satisfactorily resonate in the fundamental frequency band and the higher-order frequency band, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 6C. Thus, the antenna structure 1 sufficiently operates in multi-band radio communication. On the other hand, when the inductance is provided, the resonance in the higher-order frequency band is reduced as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 6C. Thus, the higher-order frequency band cannot be utilized for radio communication. That is, problems occur since the antenna structure 1 cannot function as an antenna suitable for multi-band communication.

Antenna structure and communication device using the same


A Lundell type rotor core with a pair of side cores and a magnetic-pole cylindrical portion has a structure in which the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion is mated between both the side cores (also referred to as “pole cores”) in a radial direction at an outside of a field coil wound on a boss portion in the side cores. The magnetic-pole cylindrical portion is made of plural magnetic steel sheets laminated in the axis direction, and is easily deformed rather than both the side cores. The easy deformation characteristic of the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion prevents generation of a gap during the assembling process of the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion and the side cores. Without paying strict dimension control of the components for the rotor core, it is easily possible to prevent any generation of a gap between the side cores and the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion while assembling. It is thereby possible to prevent a deterioration of a magnetic flux flowing in the rotor core.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an improved rotor of a rotary electric machine such as a vehicle alternator to be driven by an internal combustion engine of a vehicle, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Lundell type rotor core of a rotor in an ordinary available vehicle alternator has a boss portion, disk portions (or pole cores), and a pair of pole cores. Through the boss portion a field magnetic flux flows in the axis direction of the rotor in the inside area of a field coil and in the radial direction of the field coil. The disk portions, that are formed extended from both the outer end of the boss portion in the axis direction toward the outer end of the boss portion in the radial direction, provides the field magnetic flux in the radial direction of the rotor. Each of a pair of the pole cores has plural claw poles extending axially from outer periphery of the disk portion in the radial direction of the rotor so that the plural claw poles accommodate the field coil wound on the outer peripheral surface of the boss portion. The field magnetic flux is transferred between the plural claw poles and the stator core.
Each claw pole in one pole core and the corresponding claw pole of the other pole core are placed alternately in the circumferential direction of both the pole cores. Such an ordinary Lundell type rotor core is manufactured by facing a pair of the pole cores to each other and then assembling them in the axis direction of the rotor. Each of the pole cores is made of soft magnetic core of an ingot shape.
Such an ordinary Lundell type rotor core involves a drawback to generate large wind noise and to cause windage loss while the rotor core rotates at a high speed rotation because the claw poles of the pole core are exposed in the radial direction of the field coil in the outer space of the field coil wound on the boss portion of the rotor.
In order to avoid such a drawback described above, prior documents, the Japanese patent laid open publications No. 2002-247817 and No. 2005-27415 have disclosed a mechanism to form a magnetic-pole cylindrical portion that covers the outside of the field coil in the radial direction (hereinafter, the rotor core having such a mechanism will be referred to as "a Lundell type rotor core having a magnetic-pole cylindrical portion", and the cylindrical portion has a hollow cylindrical shape.)
Because each of the plural claw poles in such a Lundell type rotor core is not exposed in the outer space in the radial direction of the field coil, it is possible to reduce wind noise generated at each claw pole. In more detail, the Lundell type rotor core with the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion has the boss portion, a pair of the disc portions, and the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion. Through the boss portion a field magnetic flux flows in the axis direction of the rotor in the inside area of the field coil and in the radial direction of the field coil. A pair of the disk portions, that is formed extended from both outer ends of the boss portion in the axis direction thereof toward the outer end of the boss portion in the radial direction thereof, provides the field magnetic flux in the radial direction of the rotor. The magnetic-pole cylindrical portion is placed or mated between a pair of the disk portions in the outside area in the radial direction of the field coil, and through the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion, the field magnetic flux flows in the axis direction. The field magnetic flux is transferred between the stator core and the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion.
The prior document, the Japanese patent laid open publication No. JP 2002-247817, has proposed to form all of the boss portion, the disk portions, and the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion in the Lundell type rotor core by magnetic steel sheets that are laminated in axis direction. The prior document, the Japanese patent laid open publication No. JP 2005-27415, has proposed to form all of the boss portion, the disk portions, and the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion of the Lundell type rotor core by a soft magnetic core of an ingot shape.
In more detailed explanation, the prior document, the Japanese patent laid open publication No. JP 2005-27415, has adopted the mechanism in which the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion made of such a soft magnetic core of an ingot shape is supported in the axis direction by a first pole core and a second pole core (hereinafter, each pole core will be referred to as "side core"). The first side core has a half boss portion and a disk portion made of soft magnetic core of an ingot shape. Like the first side core, the second side core has a half boss portion and a disk portion made of soft magnetic core of an ingot shape.
However, the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion in the Lundell type rotor core disclosed in the prior document, the Japanese patent laid open publication No. 2002-247817, involves a drawback that increases a space in an electromagnetic circuit in an electric rotary machine, and further increases an reluctance (or a magnetic resistance) and amount of a field current because a penetrate direction of magnetic flux is approximately equal to the direction of the laminated magnetic steel sheets. Further, this prior technique involves a drawback to decrease a stiffness of the rotor core. In more detailed explanation, although the torque of the rotary axis of the rotor is transmitted to the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion through the boss portion and the disk portions, each magnetic steel sheet forming the boss portion and the disk portions made of the magnetic steel sheets in axis direction is shifted towards the circumference direction when the torque is transmitted. Thus, this prior technique has essentially a small torsional stiffness
Further, the conventional technique, the Japanese patent laid open publication No. 2005-27415, has a manufacturing limitation of a small allowable-dimension tolerance of each of both the side cores and the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion and a difficulty to satisfy a necessary manufacturing accuracy because its Lundell type rotor core is made of soft magnetic core of an ingot shape. This drawback increases the manufacturing cost of the Lundell type rotor core.
Still further, more specifically, the end surfaces of both the half boss portions are faced to each other in the axis direction of the rotor core, and the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion are accommodated in the space between the half boss portions of the side cores. A small gap is formed between the half boss portions of the side cores or between the magnetic-pole cylindrical portion and the disk portions unless the necessary dimension tolerance in the axis direction is satisfied. Such a presence of the gap decreases the stiffness of the rotor core and also increases the necessary amount of a field current because of increasing the reluctance (or the magnetic resistance). It is therefore important matter to eliminate the gap formed between the half boss portions of the side cores faced to each other.


The invention provides pan musical instruments, or pans, and methods of making same. Particularly, a process for mechanization and mass production of tunable pans with improved consistency, sound quality, and ease of tuning is provided.

Pan musical instruments are a family of pitched percussion instruments originating from the island of Trinidad in the late 1930s. Pans may come in various voices/instruments representing, among others, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Each voice has a plurality of note facets shaped on the playing surface. The quantity of note facets may vary from one to thirty or more, depending on the range, diameter, and number of drums for any particular instrument.
Pans have traditionally been hand crafted from 55 gallon 22.5″ diameter industrial metal containers/barrels, and most pans currently made are still hand hammered from such containers/barrels. The top and bottom heads of such barrels ordinarily consist of 18 gauge steel of unspecified composition and hardness. These heads are shaped into a concave bowl using large hammers. With smaller hammers, note facets are then shaped based on a small number of rough measurements incorporating non-precise measuring techniques and devices. The skirt, or sidewall, for the pan is then cut from the barrel to the desired length. Skirt length varies depending on the desired register or voice of the pan (soprano, alto, tenor, or bass). The pan is then heat treated, cleaned, and prepared for tuning. The tuning process is performed using a series of small hammers, a strobe tuner, and many hours of focused concentration by a skilled craftsman. After tuning, the pan is painted or chrome plated in order to prevent corrosion. The instrument then undergoes a final tuning in a suspended position similar to its position when being played.
The traditional process outlined above generally requires many hours to create an instrument, and can take as many as one hundred eighty hours or more depending on the instrument voice and the skill of the craftsman. This lengthy process has made it difficult for the industry to meet the current market demand for such instruments. Further, such traditional pans and pan-making processes suffer several disadvantages.
First, one rate limiting step in the mass production of high quality pans has been the starting material, namely, the 55 gallon oil barrel. The type of material used to produce an industrial container, normally 18 gauge cold rolled steel of unspecified composition, hardness, and varying thickness, does not yield a consistent or high quality pan. The variation in the steel from barrel to barrel requires the craftsman to incorporate varying methods of building and tuning. This greatly increases the amount of time required to produce a pan instrument and sometimes is not physically possible to achieve success.
Second, the standard 22.5″ diameter industrial barrel presents several major problems and limitations. This diameter does not provide sufficient surface area for a complete layout of optimal size note facets, thereby requiring the craftsman to reduce the size of the note facets in an attempt to produce an instrument with a maximal tonal range. Unfortunately, shrinking the note facets compromises sound quality, requires longer tuning time, and results in far less stable notes. Stability as used herein refers to a combination of how well a note can reproduce its intended frequency when struck at varying velocities with a mallet, and how long the note will remain in tune. The inventors herein have discovered that larger note facet sizes produce cleaner and more stable frequencies on each note facet, and therefore, one aspect of the invention provides a larger diameter starting material which accommodates larger note facets. Expanding the size of the starting material has made it possible to increase the note sizes as well as the amounts of interstitial material surrounding each note facet, resulting in significantly better sounding notes while maintaining or exceeding the tonal pitch range of conventional pans.
Third, the manner in which the head is customarily attached to the sidewall or skirt, via crimping, creates additional problems found in most, if not all, instruments built from industrial containers. The rim formed by this crimping process tends to separate slightly during the initial hammering phase, i.e., the sinking and shaping of the bowl, causing the rim notes to be loose and raspy. On many pans, this causes a buzzing sound when playing the rim notes. Further, the use of seaming compound, an adhesive filler material placed between the head and sidewall prior to crimping, adds to these problems. When the pan is annealed (i.e., heat treated) the compound tends to melt and flow, leaving metal to metal junctions inside the crimped rim causing additional buzzing and looseness. These problems are exacerbated each time the instrument is retuned and are difficult to eliminate without negatively affecting other sound characteristics. This commonly recognized, but until now, unresolved problem results directly from use of starting material designed to be an industrial container, rather than a musical instrument.
A further disadvantage prevalent in traditional pans is that the shaping of the material within the pan has generally been achieved by approximation and eye-balling, without an appreciation for and/or precise application of the physics and geometry required to produce consistent pans of high acoustic clarity and optimal harmonic and timbre characteristics. Lack of precise bowl shape, note shape, and insufficient interstitial geometry all decrease the dynamic range, clarity, and stability of the instrument, and necessitate frequent and expensive retuning.
Mass Production Problems
Presently, production time for creating pans from industrial barrels remains dependent on the skill of the craftsman. There exists a lack of reproducibility from start to finish in the production of pans globally. The quality of the instrument has been substandard in comparison to other musical instruments. The cost for hand crafting has also caused the prices of pans to exceed what most consumers including schools, individuals, and professionals, can afford. Previous attempts to mechanize the process have not been successful from an economic, efficiency, or quality standpoint. Using an existing hand crafted pan as a model will only produce the same problems and poor quality, albeit on a larger scale.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,772 discloses recent attempts to mechanize the production process using hydro forming. This process yields non-tunable, essentially unusable pans. The male mold was modeled after an existing hand crafted model. During hydro forming, the disc is formed over the male punch, not stretched into shape as during the pressing/stamping process of the present invention. This lack of stretching and tensioning yields a pan that is virtually un-tunable.
The art, therefore, is in need of improved processes for producing pans of higher quality and in a reproducible fashion.

Pan musical instruments and methods for making same


An improved mounting arrangement for an automotive vehicle cross car beam provides a connector arranged on each end of the beam configured to wedgingly engage reciever slides formed in the front pillars of the vehicle.

It is known in the automotive vehicle body structural arts to provide a transversely extending beam between the stamped front pillars of an automotive body to enhance the torsional stiffness of the body and to provide a simply supported structure on which vehicle components, such as steering columns and instrument panels, may themselves be mounted.

Mount for vehicle front support structure


A method for diagnosing a Liquefied Petroleum Injection fuel pump includes the steps of: inputting an engine Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) and a fuel pump Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal into an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of an interface box; determining whether the RPM indicates that the engine is idling; if the engine is not idling, setting a diagnosis time of the PWM signal to a duration longer than the time the engine takes to deactivate after turning off an LPG switch; determining the operation state of the fuel pump by analyzing the PWM signal; and illuminating a warning lamp if the fuel pump is detected to be operating abnormally or a signal line connecting the fuel pump and the interface box is detected to be disconnected.

In a Liquefied Petroleum Injection (LPI) system, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) fuel is generally directly injected into the vehicle engine to improve the engine output and reduce exhaust gas of an LPG vehicle. This conventional system however has a clear drawback, particularly when using a fuel pump driver, which is deactivated when its relay power is insulated by turning off an LPG switch. For instance, after turning off the LPG switch while the ignition is on, if an interface box due does not receive a signal from the fuel pump driver because the pump driver is deactivated, the signal line from the fuel pump driver is determined to be disconnected and an engine warning lamp erroneously illuminates. Though no signal is received from the fuel pump driver because the LPG switch is turned off, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the interface box nevertheless determines the above state as a line-disconnection and illuminates the warning lamp.

Diagnosis method for liquefied petroleum injection fuel pump


The invention relates a plant (1) for manufacturing half warm mix asphalts which comprises: a first moveable platform (10) for feeding in a controlled manner some or all of the aggregates of the half warm mix asphalt to a second moveable platform (30), wherein said aggregates are heated; a second moveable platform (30), wherein some or all of the aggregates coming from the first moveable platform (10) are heated in a drying drum (33); a third moveable platform (40), which extracts and filters powder from the aggregates coming from the second mobile platform (30), subsequently feeding it to the fourth moveable platform of the plant; a fourth moveable platform (20), wherein the material coming from the exit of the second moveable platform (30) or arriving directly from the first moveable platform (10) is mixed with a binder, with a filler and with any other materials, the mixed materials being different according to the desired end product, the temperature of the mixed materials being comprised between 70° C. and 100° C.; and the binder being an emulsion.

A mix asphalt is generally a combination of asphalt and stone mineral aggregates in exact proportions. The relative proportions of these minerals determine the physical properties of the mix asphalt in question and, possibly, the performance thereof as a finished mix for a determined use.
The mix asphalt must be durable, i.e., it must be resistant to actions such as the detachment of the asphalt film from the aggregate due to the effects of the water, of the abrasion from traffic, etc. Likewise, it must be resistant to traffic stresses through its stability. Furthermore, a mix asphalt must be impermeable so that its components are not under the direct action of atmospheric agents, and at the same time it must be possible to work on it to allow its easy placement and compaction on the ground. Each of these are desirable properties of mix asphalts.
The mentioned mix asphalts can be made in plants by means of suitable equipment for performing this task. According to the properties of these mix asphalts, as well as their layer thicknesses, it is considered that they provide structural capacity to the pavement on which they are arranged.
Thus, roads and pavements are currently made with mix asphalts. The construction, maintenance and use of the mentioned roads and pavements has an enormous impact on the environment. This is why the production and application of reduced-temperature mix asphalts is an enormous progress used today, given that it reduced the mentioned impact to a great extent.
Therefore, the industry has recently focused on reducing the temperatures for the production and application of mix asphalts.
The production and application of mix asphalts under hot conditions typically requires the materials to be heated between 135° C. and 180° C. This temperature is partly dictated by the viscosity of the asphalt binder and is necessary for assuring a homogeneous and complete coating of the aggregates by the asphalt.
Said limitations must be taken into account when considering the possibilities of reducing the temperatures for the production and application of the mentioned mix asphalts together with the need to assure the mechanical properties of the new pavement.
There are several options for achieving the previous objectives by using mix asphalts at significantly reduced temperatures, one of which is to use warm mix asphalts the production and application of which requires the materials to be heated between 60° C. and 100° C., such that a considerable saving in energy is achieved, as well as considerable reduction of emissions to the environment (CO2, SOx, NOx, volatile organic compounds, dust, etc.).
Known plants which currently use semi-hot mix asphalt production processes have drawbacks, such as for example that they are fixed and non-versatile installations, the minimum temperatures obtained being 130° C., such that only asphalt products of a determined type can be obtained with them. Furthermore, these known plants have the drawback of not being capable of reducing this temperature due to process limitations, and reaching the 60-100° C. which are achieved with the plants object of the invention, which entails errors and deficiencies in the operation thereof.
The present invention is aimed at solving the aforementioned drawbacks.

Plant for manufacturing half warm mix asphalts


There is provided a method for preparing a plumbing manifold for use in a water system in which the manifold after molding is subjected to cross-linking high energy radiation. The manifold is made by polyethylene or a metallocene polyethylene.

Plumbing manifolds are control centers for hot and cold water that feed supply lines to individual fixtures. Separated manifold chambers or separate manifolds can serve hot and cold water lines. The cold water manifold is fed from the main water supply line and hot water manifold is fed from the water heater. A water line dedicated to each fixture employs a port in the manifold.
Important requirements in hot and cold water domestic plumbing systems are:    1. High resistance to temperature aging for water temperatures up to 200° F.    2. High resistance to stress cracking.    3. High resistance to chemical solvents (water additives, antifreeze solutions).    4. Lowest possible linear thermal expansion.    5. High tensile strength.    6. High form stability.    7. High resistance to abrasion.    8. High resistance to deformation.    9. Dimensional tube tolerances.    10. Internal and external tube wall smoothness.    11. Behavior during long term internal pressure creep test which takes into account the temperature-dependent aging behavior of the pipe material at water temperatures up to 200° F.To combat this premature aging the molecules within the PE are realigned in order to give greater stability to the material itself. The cross linking process takes place within the molecular structure of the plastic material. The most common thermoplastic materials currently being used for heating and plumbing pipe, often referred to as polyolefin materials are: Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), and Polybutelene (PB) (generic term for polybutylene). Among this family of polyolefin plastics, only Polyethylene has been determined to have the molecular structure which lends itself perfectly to the cross linking process.
"Un-cross-linked" polyethylene (PE) as it is formed receives its basic dimension and wall thickness, is composed of long hydrocarbon string molecules forming a loosely held together array of hydrogen and carbon atoms which can be compared to a beaded curtain swaying in a breeze. This is basically the molecular composition of the PE which is available at hardware stores and is suitable only for non-critical applications. A material in this form is not suitable for heating and plumbing applications. Within a relatively short period of time the material fatigues under the stress of water temperature and pressure as well as temperature cycling and the beaded curtain of molecules splits open without resistance. By cross-linking the molecular "beads" (hydrocarbon string molecules) and forming cross-connections which are referred to as cross-linking bridges, the string molecules form a three dimensional network of hydrocarbon molecules. The "beaded curtain" becomes transformed into a fishing net with strength and stability.
In this way, the previously non-applicable PE is transformed, after cross-linking, into a completely different material with all the desired characteristics demanded for heating or plumbing. After the cross-linking of the PE, its molecular mobility is severely impeded by the cross-linking bridges between the string molecules. The material does not flow or melt and its form becomes stable against heat. The material holds it shape at all temperatures, even exposed to blow torch temperatures until it chars or burns. The thermoplastic has been transformed into a thermoset material by cross-linking, eliminating the melting point or liquid phase of the material.


A lithographic apparatus for reducing the visibility of artifacts in the pattern is provided. The apparatus comprises an illumination system, a patterning device, a projecting system, and a modulating device. The illumination system supplies a beam of radiation. The patterning device patterns the beam. The projection system projects the beam onto a target portion of a substrate. The modulating device modulates the beam to impart the pattern with a modulation scheme.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method.
2. Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of a substrate. The lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs), flat panel displays, and other devices involving fine structures. In a conventional lithographic apparatus, a patterning means, that is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, can be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC (or other device), and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g., comprising part of one or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer or glass plate) that has a layer of radiation sensitive material (e.g., resist). Instead of a mask, the patterning means can comprise an array of individually controllable elements that generate the circuit pattern.
In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively exposed. Known lithographic apparatus include steppers, in that each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion in one go, and scanners, in that each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through the beam in a given direction (the "scanning" direction), while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or ant parallel to this direction.
The sequence of exposures, or shots, forms a printed pattern. When considering maskless lithography, each shot results from an image of a spatial light modulator (SLM) array being projected onto a photosensitive surface, such as a wafer substrate. This results in application of a dose, or a quantity of irradiation from a light source, within a certain exposure zone on this surface. Exposure zones are created when the substrate surface is illuminated by flashes of light from the light source. When the pattern extends beyond the boundaries of exposures of a single SLM, the exposures are stitched together along adjacent boundaries to form a completed pattern.
Stitching errors in the printed pattern occur near these boundaries between adjacent exposure zones due to both geometrical misalignments of the exposures and disturbances due to other optical phenomena. Generally, stitching errors occur in printed patterns due to spatial misalignment of the exposure zone on the wafer from its expected position. Optical effects can also create stitching errors, even in cases where the alignment can be perfect. Even a small spatial misalignment of the shots, in the case of a spatial misalignment, can result in a significant perturbation of the printed pattern near the stitching line.
The optical effects can be due to the fact that distribution of the dose within each exposure zone is a result of an exposure by partially coherent light. Since two adjacent exposure zones are exposed at different times, the exposures are effectively incoherent, thus creating the unwanted optical effects. In the example of exposing a substrate to form a flat panel display (FPD), the pixel grid imaging technique used is fully incoherent. The optical errors are caused by different transmission ratios of the optical path for the different regions. A certain area can be brighter than another.
Known techniques attempt to compensate for stitching errors in printed patterns that occur near the stitching line between adjacent exposure zones. A first such technique does not utilize overlap of exposure areas, and involves providing assist features during second, or subsequent, passes of the exposure process. The assist features are added to the pattern data used in irradiating the photosensitive surface, and fill up areas that might otherwise not have received sufficient doses of radiation.
Alternative techniques include compensation spanning overlapping areas of adjacent exposure zones. For example, the SLM can be adjusted, such that a feature to be imprinted on the overlapping region of the photosensitive surface is only printed during one of the multiple exposures for that region. That is, pixels of the SLM that might otherwise be switched "on" during a given exposure to expose a feature are switched "off" by a control system that has determined that an alternative exposure also covering that region will expose that feature instead.
However, such known techniques for compensating for stitching errors inevitably create an area of stitching that will appear different to the no stitched areas of the display. These techniques also require that the substrate be positioned with a very high accuracy in order to align adjacent exposure zones. The dose provided by the illumination source must also be very tightly controlled.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method to substantially reduce, and possibly eliminate, visibility of a stitched areas and/or to reduce constraints on positioning of a substrate and a dosage control of an illumination source.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method


A mixing vessel with a rotatable drive member for driving a mixer through a coupling mechanism such that the mixer orbits or revolves about a first axis (A) while at the same time rotates about a second axis (B) disposed radially of and substantially parallel to said first axis (A). The mixer rotates about axis (B) at a rotational speed of between 200 to 1,000 rpm while orbiting about axis (A) at a rotational sped of between 20 to 200 rpm. A second mixer in the form of a mixer plow is fixed to the rotatable drive member for rotation about axis (A).

The present invention relates to an apparatus for mixing and preparing fluid materials, in particular mold sand, with a cylindrical mixing vessel.
Mixers are known in which centrifugal shafts and mixing arms are provided; however, the shafts and mixing arms do not revolve but are fixedly arranged. In these known mixers, in order to feed the material to be mixed to the mixing tools either the mixer base is set in rotation, which entails considerable problems in sealing the rotating mixer base against the stationary mixer wall, or the entire mixer vessel is set in rotation with a fixed arrangement of the mixing tools. See for example DE-A-33 12 869 Al. Both these arrangements require a complicated and fault-prone construction as far as the discharge door and the sealing of the mixing upper part with respect to the rotating mixing vessel are concerned.
It is the principle object of the present invention to avoid the above disadvantages and provide a mixer which is simple in construction, inexpensive to produce and presents no problems in operation.
Further objects and advantages will appear hereinbelow.


This invention relates to an apparatus for mounting fingers for transfer bars for use in a transfer feeder wherein each of the fingers serving as workpiece gripping means can be moved without causing any interference of the finger with an adjoining finger or upright. This apparatus comprises moving plates located on end bars arranged, respectively, behind the left and right uprights on the front side of the press body and which are each connected to a two-stage tandem cylinder mounted on each of the central bars adapted to be taken out of the press body together with the moving bolster so that the moving plates may be moved freely in the longitudinal direction of the transfer bars which are dividable into a plurality of segments by means of the cylinder, and fingers mounted on the moving plates. Each of the fingers has a misgrip detector. Further, transmission couplers and access switches are provided to transmit a signal generated by the misgrip detector in non-contact state.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for mounting fingers for transfer bars for use in a transfer feeder arranged such that exchange of the fingers can be made outside the press body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A transfer feeder for use with the conventional transfer press is arranged such that when an exchange of metal molds is made each of transfer bars is divided into a plurality of segments and the central bars thereof are taken out of the press body together with the metal molds so that an exchange of the fingers mounted thereon can be made outside the press body.
However, the above-mentioned transfer feeder has been disadvantageous because the transfer bars located behind the uprights of the press body are not taken out of the press body at the time of exchange of the metal molds, exchange of the fingers mounted on these transfer bars must be made inside the press body thus requiring many processes for the exchange.
To overcome such a disadvantage, there has already been proposed an apparatus for mounting fingers for transfer bars for use in a transfer feeder arranged such that the transfer bars located behind the uprights are also taken out of the press body together with the metal molds so that an exchange of the fingers mounted thereon can be made outside the press body.
However, the above-mentioned conventional apparatuses for mounting fingers for transfer bars for use in a transfer feeder have been disadvantageous in that depending on the size and configuration of the finger there is a risk of the finger interfering with an adjoining finger or a neighboring member such as an upright.
The above-mentioned conventional apapratuses are also disadvantageous in that when electric wiring for a misgrip detector mounted on the finger is automatically connected and disconnected by means of a plug socket the plug socket per se is liable to be damaged, and in case of those which do not use the plug socket, since retraction of the finger is made by dragging the electric wiring, there is a tendency of the electric wiring to be worn away quickly thus causing a failure or breakdown.

Apparatus for mounting finger for transfer feeder


Method of calculating an exposure time for disinfecting a room using an ultraviolet disinfecting apparatus comprises the steps of measuring distances by: using a spatial sensor on the ultraviolet disinfecting apparatus, to perform a first scan of a boundary surface of the room, to measure a first set of distances from the sensor to the boundary surface; adjusting the height or orientation of the spatial sensor; using the spatial sensor to perform a second scan of the boundary surface of the room, to measure a second set of distances from the adjusted sensor to the boundary surface; and subsequently, calculating the exposure time in dependence the sets of distances.

Use of ultraviolet (UV) light for disinfection of medical equipment is known in the art. UV-C is high frequency UV radiation, which tests have shown kills all known pathogens at a wavelength between 250 and 260 nm. UV-C is suitable for air, water and surface disinfection. Apparatus for disinfecting a room using UV radiation are known.
When using a UV disinfecting apparatus to disinfect a room, it tends to be necessary to determine the dose of UV that different parts of the room have been exposed to, typically to ensure that all parts of the room have received a sufficient dose to be disinfected.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,424 B1 discloses a UV sterilising unit for a room, the unit having mercury bulbs to generate UV-C. A number of sensors detect the direction from which the lowest level of UV-C is reflected back to the sensors ('the darkest area'). The exposure time is determined as the time required for a bactericidal dose of UV-C to be reflected from the darkest area.
A problem with this type of method is that it may be inefficient; certain areas in the treated room receive more than the required dose in order to ensure that the darkest areas are sufficiently exposed. Moreover, the measured reflected dose may not be a sufficiently accurate proxy for the dose received at a particular location, leading to irregular or incomplete treatment.
WO2014/088580A8 discloses a system for receiving data regarding characteristics of a room in which one or more disinfection sources are arranged. The data may be received using a spatial sensor. The system determines, based on the received data, individual operating parameters for the one or more disinfection sources. Operating parameters can include run time, position, orientation of particular components, germicidal dosing parameters and power supplied.
A problem with this type of method is that the obtained data may not reflect the true characteristics of the room. For example a spatial sensor may misinterpret furniture, or other objects in the room, as being the walls of the room and therefore perceive the room to be smaller than it actually is. Alternatively or additionally, a spatial sensor may be unable to take into account the layout, proliferation or shape of furniture other objects in the room, and therefore the required exposure time may be inaccurate.
The present invention seeks to mitigate the above-mentioned problems. Alternatively or additionally, the present invention seeks to provide an improved disinfection apparatus and method of use.


The present invention provides methods of fracturing high temperature subterranean zones and viscous aqueous foamed fracturing fluids therefor. A fracturing fluid of this invention comprises water, a terpolymer of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane-sulfonic acid, acrylamide and acrylic acid or salts thereof, a gas, a foaming agent and a viscosity breaker for effecting a controlled reduction in the viscosity of the fracturing fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improved methods of fracturing high temperature subterranean zones and viscous aqueous foamed fracturing fluids therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A treatment commonly utilized for stimulating hydrocarbon production from a subterranean zone penetrated by a well bore is hydraulic fracturing. In a hydraulic fracturing treatment, a viscous treating fluid, referred to in the art as a fracturing fluid, is pumped through the well bore into the subterranean zone to be stimulated at a rate and pressure such that fractures are formed and extended in the subterranean zone. A portion of the fracturing fluid has proppant particles suspended therein which are carried into and deposited in the formed fractures when the viscous fracturing fluid is broken and recovered. The proppant particles function to prevent the foamed fractures from closing whereby conductive channels are formed through which produced fluids can flow to the well bore. The breaking of the fracturing fluid, i.e., the reduction in the viscosity of the fracturing fluid whereby it can be recovered, is accomplished by adding a delayed breaker to the fracturing fluid prior to pumping it into the subterranean zone. The delayed breaker effects a controlled reduction in the viscosity of the fracturing fluid so that the proppant particles therein are deposited in the fractures and the fracturing fluid is recovered.
Viscous aqueous foamed fracturing fluids have been utilized heretofore. The benefits of using foamed fracturing fluids instead of non-foamed fracturing fluids are many including reduced leak off of the fracturing fluid into permeable formations, less damage to the subterranean zone being fractured as a result of polymer residue entering the zone permeability and/or the proppant particle packs formed in the fractures, and lower density of the fracturing fluid which facilitates the flow back of the fluid after its viscosity has been reduced.
The gases utilized in forming foamed fracturing fluids have primarily been nitrogen, carbon dioxide and mixtures thereof. Carbon dioxide becomes more economical to use in wells having greater depths and correspondingly higher temperatures and pressures. When nitrogen is utilized in a foamed fracturing fluid at high pressures, greater quantities of nitrogen must be compressed to maintain a high quality foam. Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is pumped as a liquid or a very dense gas so that it does not require as much compression in high pressure wells as nitrogen. In addition, the density of carbon dioxide allows it to be pumped at lower well head pressures than nitrogen.
Carbon dioxide foamed fracturing fluids have heretofore been utilized in subterranean zones having temperatures up to about 400° F. However, the viscosity of a foamed fracturing fluid is dependent upon the liquid phase thereof and the viscous liquids utilized heretofore have generally been unstable at temperatures above about 300° F. Aqueous gelled liquids containing gelling agents such as guar, hydroxypropylguar and carboxymethylhydroxypropylguar lose viscosity by thermal thinning and become hydrolytically unstable above about 350° F. Also, at 350° F. and above, the heretofore used carbon dioxide foamed fluids have not had good proppant particle carrying capability.
Thus, there are continuing needs for improved carbon dioxide foamed fracturing fluids that maintain their viscosities at temperatures up to 400° F. and higher and have good proppant particle carrying ability.

Methods of fracturing high temperature subterranean zones and foamed fracturing fluids therefor


An apparatus including first and second devices, at least one connection between an input of the second device and an output of the first device, and at least one resistor in series between the connection and the input of the second device. The series resistor, acting as a type of end termination, positively alters the waveforms of the signals input to the second device. In particular, glitches and ringing after the input pin package or at the input of the second device (at the gate for a CMOS transistor) are reduced. Overshoots and undershoots are also reduced. As a result, the input signals are usable and the interface between the first and second devices operates correctly. Further, the setup procedure of the valid logic level of the input signal can be accomplished much more quickly and is much more stable. The series resistor also consumes very little extra power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to high speed, high pin density chips, and more particularly, to a termination structure for a high speed, high pin density chips which reduces the effects of signal ringing, unwanted oscillations, overshoots and undershoots, while consuming little extra power.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a high speed and high pin density package device (HSHD) which has on the order of several hundred pins, the parasitic parameters of the HSHD package device, such as the parasitic capacitance, inductance, mutual inductance and resistance become prominent and result in large cross talk and oscillation of the input signals. This cross talk and oscillation lower the performance of the HSHD device.
For example, consider the example in FIG. 1 of a high speed and high density package device (HSHD) 10 driving another HSHD 20 device through a PCB trace (T1-TN) 30. When the output signals 12 from the corresponding pins Pin1 -PinN of the source HSHD 10 pass through the source high density package 40, the output signals 14 become somewhat irregular. Then the output signals 14 pass through the PCB trace (T1-TN) 30 through the destination high density package 50 to the input pins Pin1-PinN of the destination HSHD device 20. Due to the parasitic effects caused in the process of passing through the input pins"" package R1-RN, the signals 16 exhibit oscillation, large glitches on the rising edge of the signals, and large overshoots and undershoots. The glitches, overshoots and undershoots greatly increase the setup process time of the input signal""s valid logic level; in fact a large amplitude overshoot and/or undershoot may prevent the valid logic level from being set up during an entire clock cycle. Large overshoots may also damage the input CMOS logic.
The arrangement in FIG. 1 may also introduce signal ringing. Ringing results from signal reflection in the PCB trace (T1-TN) 30. There have been numerous attempts to reduce or eliminate signal ringing by address termination when the output signal of a device travels through a PCB trace to the input of another device. Source terminations (resistors) and end terminations (resistors and capacitors) have been used to attempt to solve the signal ringing problem. FIG. 1 is an example of a source termination structure. In FIG. 1, resistors RE1, . . . , REN 18 act as the source termination of the interface between HSHD 10 and HSHD 20.
FIG. 2 is an example of an end termination structure. In FIG. 2, resistors Rt1 . . . RtN act as the end termination of the interface between HSHD 10 and HSHD 20. FIGS. 3a-3c illustrate several end termination structures. FIG. 3a illustrates the structure in FIG. 2, while FIG. 3b illustrates a dual resistor (RtM and RtN) configuration (similar to the configuration used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,353 to Rainal). FIG. 3c illustrates an alternative resistor RtN and capacitor CN configuration. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the packages 40 and 50 are shown as being connected with a vertical line, in order to illustrate that the packages 40 and 50 are related to each other by mutual inductance.
As set forth above, the termination structures in FIGS. 3a-3c are used to solve signal ringing in PCB traces, such as PCB trace (Tl-TN) 30. However, other problems which result from the configuration of FIG. 1, include unwanted oscillations, glitches, undershoots and overshoots. These problems may be caused by the package 50 of the HSHD input device 20 itself. The termination structures in FIGS. 3a-3c reduce, to some degree, the signal oscillations, glitches, undershoots and overshoots. However, the structures shown in FIG. 3b and 3c consume extra power, and the values of the resistor RtN and capacitor CN in the structure of FIG. 3c are difficult to choose when large parasitic effects exist in the package 50 of the HSHD input device 20.
For example, in FIG. 3c, if a signal of a certain frequency propagates from left (input) of the PCB trace Tn to right (output), a multiplying factor relative to the signal frequency, namely (1+jxcfx89RC)/(1+jxcfx89)(Ro+R)C), where Ro is the impedance of the PCB trace Tn, R is the resistance of Rtn, C is the capacitance of Cn and xcfx89 is the frequency of the signal may be added to the output signal. This results in the introduction of a pole and a zero evident in a Pole-Zero Plot, which may cause the output signal to oscillate. Another problem introduced by the arrangement in FIG. 3c is that the multiplying factor is usually smaller than 1, which reduces the valid input logic voltage level. This condition is worsened if Rxe2x89xa6Ro. FIG. 3a and FIG. 3b also introduce this valid logic voltage level problem.
The signal oscillations, glitches, undershoots and overshoots problems caused by the package 50 of the HSHD input device 20 in FIG. 1 are illustrated in FIGS. 4a-4d. FIGS. 4a-4d illustrate the input signals 16 at PinM with the circuitry illustrated in FIG. 1. In particular, FIG. 4a illustrates the fastest operation condition of the HSHD input device 10, where the input signals 16 are propagated at the fastest speed and the largest oscillation or overshoot and undershoot may occur. This is termed the xe2x80x9cworst case fastxe2x80x9d condition. As illustrated between time 16 and 18 in FIG. 4a, large oscillations are apparent. FIG. 4c illustrates the leading edge of the waveform, including the large oscillations, of FIG. 4a in more detail.
FIG. 4b illustrates a counterpart waveform for the waveform illustrated in FIG. 4a. In particular, FIG. 4b illustrates the slowest operation condition or xe2x80x9cworst case slowxe2x80x9d condition of the HSHD input device 10, where the input signal 16s are propagated at the slowest speed, and the smallest oscillation, overshoot, or undershoot may occur. As illustrated between time 20 and 22 in FIG. 4b, large oscillations are apparent. FIG. 4d illustrates the leading edge of the waveform, including the large oscillations, in FIG. 4b in more detail.
The present invention provides a novel termination structure, which reduces the problems described above with conventional PCB traces between HSHD devices and their packages.
In particular, in one embodiment of the present invention, a resistor is inserted in series between a PCB trace and an input pin of the destination high density package. The series resistor, acting as a type of end termination, positively alters the waveforms of the signals input to the destination high speed density package. In particular, glitches and ringing after the input pin package or at the output of the destination high density package (at the gate for a CMOS transistor) are reduced. Overshoots and undershoots are also reduced. As a result, the input signals are usable and the interface between HSHD devices operates correctly. Further, the setup procedure of the valid logic level of the input signal can be accomplished much more quickly and is much more stable.
An additional advantage of the present invention is that the inserted series resistor consumes very little extra power (except for a little thermal energy). The inserted series resistor may increase the rise/fall times of the input signals very slightly, but this increase is much smaller than the increase caused by the conventional glitches, overshoots and undershoots. Therefore, if a signal is one of the input signals to which an inserted series resistor is added, the value selected for the inserted resistor for the input signal may depend on both overshoot and undershoot tolerances of the device and on the rise/fall time requirement of the signals.

Termination structure for high speed, high pin density chips


A data processing system and method in which processing operations represented as icons are selectable by a user for application to subsequently selected data items. The icon representing the operation is selected and then a pointer giving a visual indication of the selected operation is moved over data items to select them and then the operation is automatically performed. This sequence of processing is more efficient than the alternative of selecting data and then selecting an operation to be performed, since the user knows what process will be applied at the time of selecting the data. Also, repeated performance of the operation to a different data set merely requires selection of the new data.

The data to be processed by the system may be numeric data, character data or indeed any other type of data. Further, the data can be organised either in a grid-like or tabular form, where each item of data can be identified by row and column, or alternatively in a free form layout. The tabular form is typically employed in software applications such as spreadsheets, tables, data viewers, and the like, whilst the free form layout is typical of text based applications such as word processors and editors.
Users of such applications require efficient techniques which will enable them to select a portion of the data and apply certain processing operations to the selected data. Preferably the techniques provided should be efficient, effective, and intuitive to the user.
Generally speaking the processing operations will fall into two distinct types. The first type will be referred to herein as `interpretation` operations, these operations not resulting in the generation of any additional items of data, but rather the results of such operations being displayed by visual adaptation of some or all of the selected data items. Such interpretation operations are typically aimed at facilitating user interpretation of the data displayed, rather than calculating additional data from the data values processed by the operation. In the context of numeric data, examples of such interpretation operations include operations which identify whether each data value is above or below average, operations which identify positive and negative trends in the set of selected data values, or operations which identify the magnitude of each data value with respect to the other data values selected for processing. These operations do not generate any new items of data, but rather the results of the operations are applied by visual adaptation of the data values, eg by reordering the values (for example so that the largest is at the top and the smallest is at the bottom), or by marking the data values in an appropriate manner. In the context of character data, such an interpretation operation might be a spell-check operation, whereby the operation is applied to a selected portion of text and the result of the operation is displayed by indicating which words are not recognised by the spell check operation.
The second type of processing operations will be referred to as `data generation` operations, which apply operations to the selected data items in order to generate some additional data. These may for example be statistical operations such as sum, arithmetic means, standard deviation, regression coefficients and the like, all of which calculate additional data based on the data selected. The new data items constituting the result of such `data generation` operations will generally be displayed at a preselected position on the display device.
In the context of numeric data, U.S. Pat. No 5,040,131 describes a technique whereby a user can manipulate data in a table, and then select a function which displays icons corresponding to potentially valid processes that could be performed on the data in the table. The user can mark a portion of the data in the table, and then select one of the icons. Upon selection of one of the icons, the system automatically performs the operation corresponding to the selected icon for the marked data. The user may then place the result of the operation on the display screen by dragging the selected icon to the desired location on the screen.
The above prior art technique permits the user to view a collection of valid operations side-by-side with the data the user is viewing and manipulating, which enables the user to ascertain the operations that are available to be performed on the data displayed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system which facilitates more efficient formulation of an operation to be performed by the system.

System and method for executing functions associated with function icons

International Business Machines Corporation


Radio-frequency receiver contains a plurality of oscillation circuits that generates an oscillation frequency higher than that of digital broadcasting signals, selective switching circuit that selects two out of the oscillation circuits for signal output, and first and second frequency-divider sections that provide the signals with frequency dividing. The receiver receives two channels in the digital broadcasting signals at the same time by selection of oscillation signals and frequency dividing in the first and the second frequency-divider sections under the control of PLL controller.

Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H05-191312 discloses a conventional radio-frequency receiver. As shown in FIG. 7, conventional radio-frequency receiver 201 contains radio-frequency receiving circuits 202a and 202b that are identical in construction. Radio-frequency circuit 202a (202b) contains input terminal 204a (204b) that receives digital broadcasting signals from antenna 203a (203b), output terminal 205a (205b) that carries output signals and PLL-control terminal 206a (206b) that carries PLL-control signals. Radio-frequency receiving circuits 202a and 202b are accommodated in a same housing.
Besides, radio-frequency receiving circuit 202a (202b) contains mixer 207a (207b) and oscillation circuit 209a (209b). Mixer 207a (207b) receives a signal from input terminal 204a (204b) and sends it to output terminal 205a (205b). Mixer 207a (207b) also receives an oscillation signal from oscillation circuit 209a (209b) via selective switching section 208a (208b).
Such structured radio-frequency receiver 201 is usually battery-operated, for example, at a low voltage of 3V. It is therefore difficult to supply high tuning voltage to variable capacitance diodes that constitute oscillation circuits 209a and 209b in terms of decreasing power consumption and noise.
To address the problem, each of oscillation circuits 209a and 209b contains four connected units of an oscillator and a tuning circuit: three units for selectively receiving all channels (hereinafter abbreviated to ch) in the UHF (ultra high frequency) band; and one unit for receiving 7-ch in the VHF (very high frequency) band.
That is, conventional radio-frequency receiver 201, since having two radio-frequency receiving circuits 202a and 202b, needs eight units of the oscillator and the tuning circuit in total.
The tuning circuit is formed of a capacitor and an inductor connected in parallel; the inductor has a large footprint in the circuit. This has been an obstacle to reduction in size of an integrated circuit; accordingly, an obstacle to reduction in size of a radio-frequency receiver.

Radio-frequency receiver and integrated circuit employed for the receiver


An aspect of the invention, is directed to a luer fitting. The luer fitting may include a male luer, a luer collar disposed about the male luer, and a fulcrum disposed at a base portion of a receptacle between the male luer and the luer collar. Another aspect of the invention, is directed to a breakage resistant fitting. The breakage resistant fitting may include a male portion having a central fluid passage, a supplemental securement portion generally concentric with the male portion, and an annular receptacle between the male portion and the supplemental securement portion. The annular receptacle may include a base region having a mating clearance interspace sized substantially greater than a mating female fitting in a radial direction, or an axial direction, or a combination thereof.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
A variety of fittings or couplings are used to connect tubing, containers, syringes, and other devices in radiopharmacies, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Unfortunately, these fittings or couplings often break during usage, thereby spilling or wasting fluids passing through the particular fitting or coupling. For example, the fluid may include a patient's blood, a radiopharmaceutical, a contrast agent, or another drug being administered to the patient. One common source of breakage occurs between male and female fittings due to over tightening or over extending the fittings with respect to one another. For example, as a user couples the male and female fittings together, the user may extend the male and female fittings beyond a point of sufficient clearance resulting in compressive or tensile forces between the male and female fittings. Eventually, the over tightening or over extending between the male and female fittings can lead to critical forces or stress, which causes the male and/or female fitting to break. Again, this breakage can result in fluid spillage and delays in the particular medical procedure. For example, some medical procedures involve injecting a drug, contrast agent, or radiopharmaceutical at a particular physiological condition of a patient e.g., a specific heart rate. Thus, the forgoing breakage can detrimentally affect or delay the medical procedure, particularly in time sensitive medical procedures.


In one embodiment, a semiconductor die is formed to have sloped sidewalls. A conductor is formed on the sloped sidewalls.

The present invention relates, in general, to electronics, and more particularly, to methods of forming semiconductors.
In the past, the semiconductor industry utilized various methods and structures to form semiconductor devices that had some degree of protection from electro-magnetic (EM) interference or EMI. Typically, semiconductor die were encapsulated in packages to form a semiconductor device that reduced the semiconductor device's susceptibility to high frequency signals. The packages typically included metal in the packaging material or adhered to the packaging material in order to provide an electro-magnetic (EM) shield for the semiconductor die. The metal in the packaging material formed a shielded package. Generally, the shielded package was manufactured to an almost completed stage, then, the semiconductor die was assembled into the shielded package. The manufacturing of the shield package increased the packaging costs and increased the cost of the resulting completed semiconductor device.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a method of forming die from a semiconductor wafer that reduces the cost of the assembled EM protected packaged device, that forms a more EM protected semiconductor die, and that has a low cost for the EM protected semiconductor die.
For simplicity and clarity of the illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference numbers in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. For clarity of the drawings, doped regions of device structures are illustrated as having generally straight line edges and precise angular corners. However, those skilled in the art understand that due to the diffusion and activation of dopants the edges of doped regions generally may not be straight lines and the corners may not be precise angles.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the use of the word approximately or substantially means that a value of an element has a parameter that is expected to be very close to a stated value or position. However, as is well known in the art there are always minor variances that prevent the values or positions from being exactly as stated. It is well established in the art that variances of up to at least ten percent (10%) (and up to twenty percent (20%) for semiconductor doping concentrations) are reasonable variances from the ideal goal of exactly as described.

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC