A high-pressure water cleaning system includes a cleaning main body, a support frame member having a length which is larger than a width of an object, the support frame member being supported at extended end portions thereof at both sides by bearing units and eccentric rotational shafts such that the support frame member is eccentrically rotatable, the eccentric rotatable shafts being configured to rotate to cause the support frame member to perform rotational motion, a plurality of high-pressure water ejecting nozzles which are arranged on the surface of the support frame member to be equally spaced apart from each other and are directed to face the object, and a drive device configured to cause the eccentric rotational shafts to rotate. The high-pressure water ejecting nozzles are supplied with the high-pressure water and eject the high-pressure water to the object being moved at the constant speed while performing the rotational motion.

Turning to FIG. 25A, such a high-pressure water cleaning system is shown, to include a nozzle holder 71 provided with seven high-pressure water ejecting nozzles 72 arranged to be equi-angularly spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction thereof. Each nozzle 72 has one nozzle hole 73 at a center thereof. The cleaning system is configured as a set of a cleaning gun (water jet gun) 70 which carries out cleaning by rotating (orbital motion) the nozzle holder 71. FIG. 25B is a view showing a cleaning trajectory of one high-pressure water ejecting nozzle 72. Turning to FIG. 24, a plurality of (e.g., about fifteen) cleaning guns 70 are arranged at equal intervals on a frame member 74 in the longitudinal direction thereof. An object X, such as a glass plate, is moved at a constant speed across the high-pressure water ejected from the cleaning gun 70, i.e., nozzle arrangement. Thus, the object X is cleaned. In FIG. 24, reference numeral 75 denotes a drive device, for example, a servo motor.
The aforementioned cleaning gun 70 for use in the high-pressure water cleaning system has, for instance, a holder provided with a high-pressure water ejecting nozzle at a tip end of a casing. In the high-pressure water cleaning system in which a high-pressure water tube is coupled to the holder, a support shaft is rotatably supported in the interior of the casing, a bearing whose bearing surface is pivotable is mounted to the support shaft and rotatably supports the holder at a base end thereof, and a swash plate is provided between a rear end surface of the holder and the support shaft such that the swash plate is rotatable together with the support shaft and slidably contacts the rear end surface of the holder.
According to this cleaning gun, when the swash plate provided between the rear end surface of the holder and the support shaft is rotated together with the support shaft in the state where the holder provided with the high-pressure water ejecting nozzles is rotatably supported at the base end side thereof by the bearing of the support shaft rotatably mounted in the interior of the casing, the holder sliding along the swash plate moves around to draw a conical shape, under the state where the spin of the holder is restricted by the high-pressure water tube. In this case, the inclination of the holder is absorbed by the pivot operation of the bearing surface. Therefore, a high-pressure water cleaning operation is carried out in such a manner that the high-pressure water ejecting nozzle provided at the tip end of the holder ejects the high-pressure water in a conical shape. Such a system is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2705719, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
As another prior art of the high-pressure water cleaning system, a cleaning system is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-166235, in which a plurality of high-pressure water ejecting nozzle heads each having a plurality of nozzles are provided above a cleaning conveyor to eject high-pressure water to an object which is conveyed by the cleaning conveyor to be transported into a cleaning chamber, and eject the high-pressure water from the nozzles while rotating. In this system, motors are mounted at a location isolated from the cleaning chamber to independently rotate associated high-pressure water ejecting nozzle heads.
However, the above described conventional high-pressure water cleaning systems are unable to achieve desired cleanliness, high-speed, cleaning uniformity, etc., for the reasons stated below.
One drive motor is built into each cleaning gun. Therefore, rotation driving members such as a bearing and a timing belt, namely, dust generating members, are located within a cleaning area in the cleaning system. In the cleaning gun, dust is generated chiefly from a rotation sealing part. This makes it difficult to achieve a cleanliness of about class 10 (US Federal standard 209D) which is required in, for example, a manufacturing line of liquid crystal panels.
The rotational speed of each nozzle holder (high-pressure water ejecting nozzle) is 1500 rpm. As can be seen from shading in FIG. 25B, the movement trajectory of the high-pressure water shows non-uniformity in cleaning strength in the width direction of the cleaning area, (i.e., the longitudinal direction), leaving a non-uniformly cleaned region on the object X. If the cleaning strength, in particular, the strength of the high-pressure water for cleaning is non-uniform, a circuit board mounted on a glass surface in the liquid crystal panel may be damaged. FIG. 25B shows the movement trajectory of the cleaning water ejected from one nozzle. As shown in FIG. 25B, a region of the width of the movement trajectory of the cleaning water in the state where the nozzles partially overlap with each other is cleaned. Since the cleaning system is provided with the plurality of nozzle head units, the cleaning trajectory of the cleaning system is formed by gathering a plurality of cleaning trajectories of the nozzles.
Since it is necessary to build the servo motor or the rotation device into each cleaning gun, a cost cannot be reduced. In addition, building the devices into the cleaning area and piping or wiring operation are time consuming and troublesome.
The system disclosed in the publication No. 2002-166235 is intended to clean construction erection materials such as a scaffold or a scaffold frame and is different from the objects handled by the present invention. In addition, the system is less suited for cleaning which requires high cleanliness mentioned above.


A magnetic field measuring device having a semiconductor body with a first surface running in an x-y plane, with a first and second magnetic field sensor disposed on the surface, and an axis of symmetry, which runs perpendicular to the first surface in the z-direction and to which the magnetic field sensors are positioned in a mirrored fashion, first and second magnets, which are spaced apart from one another and in each case have an axis and a polar surface running perpendicular to the axis and facing the semiconductor body. The magnetic polarity changes along the axes on a surface, whereby the axes run in the direction of the axis of symmetry, whereby the axis of symmetry runs between the axes of the magnets, whereby the surfaces of the magnets in each case are spaced apart in the z-direction to the first surface of the semiconductor body.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a magnetic field measuring device.
Description of the Background Art
An arrangement of a Hall sensor and a magnet is known from EP 2 607 857 A2, which corresponds to US 2013/0154618, which is incorporated herein by reference, whereby a Hall voltage is generated by bringing a ferromagnetic plate closer in the Hall sensor.
Further, various approaches to designing a magnetic field measuring device are known from EP 0 916 074 B1 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,533), EP 1 182 461 A2 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,462), EP 2 584 304 A1 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 8,878,524 and is herein incorporated by reference), DE 199 46 935 A., U.S. Pat. No. 6,917,193 B1, WO 2012/168635 A1, DE 10 2014 116 842 A1 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 9,267,781), and DE 10 2014 116 826 A1 (which corresponds to US 20150142376). A generic arrangement is also known from Reifand and Konrad (eds.), Bordnetze, Sensoren and elektronische Systeme [On-board Networks, Sensors, and Electronic Systems], 2011, p. 288, ISBN 978-3-8348-9902-6.


The lamp unit includes a first substrate, a second substrate provided over the first substrate, a light emitting device provided over the second substrate, a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer provided over the second substrate, and at least one wire electrically coupling at least one of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer to each of the light emitting device. A protective layer is provided over the first substrate and the second substrate and surrounding the light emitting device and the at least one wire, and the upper surface of the protecting layer is located at a position above the highest point of the at least one wire.

In general, a lamp refers to an apparatus which supplies or adjusts light for a specific purpose. As a light source of lamps, an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent lamp, a neon lamp, etc. may be used, and a light emitting diode (LED) is used now.
The LED is a device that converts an electrical signal into infrared or visible light using compound semiconductor characteristics, and does not use harmful materials, such as mercury, differently from a fluorescent lamp, and thus scarcely cause environmental contamination. Further, the LED has a longer lifespan than an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent lamp, and a neon lamp. Further, as compared to an incandescent bulb, a fluorescent lamp, and a neon lamp, the LED has small power consumption, excellent visibility and low glare due to high color temperature thereof.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.


A memory testing apparatus rapidly tests memory devices with a relatively small error catch memory. The memory testing apparatus provides an address compressing module that minimizes an amount of error catch memory necessary to test one or more memory devices. The memory testing apparatus further divides each of the memory devices into a plurality of areas, and tests each area sequentially until a bit failure is detected in the area thereby attenuating testing time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to testing devices and, more particularly, to memory testing devices and methods.
2. Description of Related Art
In the era of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, the trend in the fabrication of memory devices has been to construct increasingly larger memory arrays onto constant or smaller sized die (semiconductor chips). It is common for a certain percentage of the memory cells in a memory device to be faulty. To account for this, memory devices can be constructed with a core memory comprising a large number of memory cells, and a peripheral redundant memory whose memory cells can be substituted for failed memory cells from the core memory. Memory devices are tested to determine which memory cells are defective, and therefore which memory cells from the core memory need to be replaced by memory cells from the peripheral redundant memory. Unfortunately, the difficulty of testing the memory devices increases as the number of elements on a chip grows, requiring greater amounts of resources and time.
The fabrication of today's dense VLSI memory arrays dictates that a significant portion of the manufacturing process be spent testing the memory arrays. In response, tester manufacturers have created automated testing systems that simultaneously test multiple memory devices. Tests can be performed on the memory device after fabrication while still on the silicon wafer, after being packaged as a chip, or at both times.
Memory testers used on multiple memory devices typically introduce tests on the memory devices and compare outputs from the memory devices with standard or expected values. Robotic machinery can be used to places memory chips on a test board, and to initiate electrical contact between the memory devices and the external circuitry of the memory tester. A memory tester's external circuitry is typically designed in terms of modules, with each module corresponding to a terminal of the memory device. During a test, each separate module can send data, receive data, remain idle, or perform other tasks.
Tests are executed by the exchange of signals between the memory tester and the memory device or devices. To test a memory device, address signals can be generated and fed from the tester to the memory device's input address pins, and subsequently test data input signals can be fed to the memory device's input data pins. The data input signals, once applied to the memory device, are routed to respective memory segments within the memory device before an output is advanced from the memory device. This output, when compared to a standard by the memory tester, indicates whether a selected memory cell of the memory device is operating properly.
Test signals must be able to test memory devices at their maximum operational speed, and must have a failure analysis memory large enough to record the state of each memory cell of each attached memory device. Therefore the failure analysis memory is conventionally constructed to be as large as the sum of all of the memory devices being tested, and each memory cell is tested. The failure analysis memory can cost as much as 30% of the total cost of a single testing apparatus. Thus, it is desirable to be able to reduce the amount of error catch memory needed to test a plurality of memory devices.


An adjustable ball support device for holding a ball stationary in an elevated position in order that the ball may be struck by a bat, club or the like. The device has particular utility for supporting a baseball in a number of positions to enable the ball to be struck by a baseball bat. The ball support device is easily adjustable and is less susceptible to damage than prior devices. The ball support device which is easily assembled and disassembled and is relatively compact when disassembled.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to a new practice batting or hitting device. More particularly, the invention relates to a baseball or softball practice hitting device that is adjustable to provide an almost infinite number of ball positions.
2. Prior Art
In the game of baseball, one of the most difficult skills to master is hitting the pitched baseball. First, a hitter must be able to coordinate the swing of a bat with the location of a ball so that good contact with the ball can be made while swinging the bat. Once this is mastered, the hitter must next learn to make good contact with the ball at the various positions at which it may cross home plate, from an inside pitch to an outside pitch, and from a high pitch to a low pitch, and the various combinations of these two variables.
In the development of these skills, the trainer or coach often uses a baseball tee to support a ball at a selected height above a representation of the baseball home plate. The player then hits the ball. In this manner, the player can practice swinging and improve hand-to-eye coordination. Moreover, the player can develop his/her wrist and arm muscles as well as over all body mechanics.
Various practice batting tees have been developed in the past for this purpose. The practice tees developed to date, however, have had limitations which have discouraged their overall acceptance in the baseball world. In some cases, the tees have been very expensive to produce, and the cost has been prohibitive for many of the smaller teams.
In the past, ball support devices for batting practice and the like, typically, comprise a support post which is adapted to be embedded in the ground or otherwise supported by a base so as to extend vertically upwards. The upper end of the post has a cup or dish-shaped member thereon which provides an upwardly facing concave surface in which the ball to be struck can be located. Devices of this nature are used to play various games and are used as training aids for young players who are not sufficiently well coordinated to play conventional baseball where the ball is thrown towards the batsman.
Prior art devices of this nature have suffered from various disadvantages. One disadvantage concerns the flexibility of the device. Generally, such devices comprise a rigid post which may have the upper end thereof covered by a resilient cover or the like. However, when the cover is struck by a bat a substantial impact force is imparted to the post potentially causing damage to the post or bat and tending to knock the post over.
A further problem with many prior art devices is that they are not adjustable in height, or are only adjustable with difficulty making the device unsuitable for use by a range of sizes of players in the same game.
Another problem with many prior art devices is that they are not easily packaged for sale and transportation. Clearly, if the device is provided with a base which is heavy, or where the device is bulky, transportation costs are increased.


A method for forming a fuse includes forming an interconnection pattern and a fuse pattern on a substrate using a damascene process. A passivation layer is formed on a surface of the substrate over the interconnection pattern and the fuse pattern. Then, the passivation layer is patterned to form a pad opening that exposes a portion of the interconnection pattern. A metal pad is formed on the interconnection pattern in the pad opening. A portion of the metal pad extends over the passivation layer. The passivation layer on the fuse pattern is partially etched to form a fuse opening.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a method for forming interconnection of semiconductor device, and more specifically, to a method for forming a pad for inputting/outputting external signal and a fuse for selective switching of circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor device includes a plurality of unit devices formed on a substrate and interconnections electrically connected to the unit devices according to the designed layout. In addition, the semiconductor device includes pads for inputting/outputting power and electrical signals in order to perform cartelistic functions, and fuses in redundancy circuits for changing modules or unit devices that fail an electrical test.
Conventional methods for forming fuses in aluminum interconnection process have been disclosed by a variety of technical literature and patent specifications. Moreover, various fuse forming processes are applied to fabricate the semiconductor. Recently, a copper dual damascene process was employed in order to achieve high-rate operation, high-quality signal output, and reduction of production cost in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. A metal such as aluminum is sometimes used instead of copper because copper is relatively difficult to form while aluminum is relatively easy.
Various methods for forming fuses of semiconductor devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,012 "METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICE HAVING A FUSE ELEMENT", U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,833 "METHOD OF PROTECTING A COPPER PAD STRUCTURE DURING A FUSE OPENING PROCEDURE", etc.
FIGS. 1 through 3 are cross-sectional diagrams illustrating a conventional method for forming a fuse.
Referring to FIG. 1, an interconnection 12a and fuse electrodes 12b are formed on a semiconductor substrate 10. An interlayer dielectric layer 14 is formed on the semiconductor substrate 10 over the interconnection 12a and the fuse electrodes 12b. A fuse pattern 24 is formed on the interlayer dielectric layer 14. The fuse pattern 24 electrically connects a pad pattern 22 and the fuse electrodes 12b, which are connected to the interconnection 12a through the interlayer dielectric layer 14. The interconnection 12a, the fuse electrode 12b, the pad pattern 22, and the fuse pattern 24 may be formed by a conventional dual damascene process.
Referring to FIG. 2, a passivation layer 28 is formed on the pad pattern 22 and the fuse pattern 24. The passivation layer 28 may be formed of a plurality of insulating layers according to a desired device condition and process condition.
The passivation layer 28 is patterned to form a pad opening 30 over a portion of the pad pattern 22. Simultaneously, the passivation layer 28 on the fuse pattern 24 is partially etched to form a fuse opening 34. Part of the passivation layer 28 is left on the fuse pattern 24 in the fuse opening 34.
Referring to FIG. 3, a metal layer (not shown) is formed on the passivation layer 28 over the pad opening 30 and the fuse opening 34. The metal layer is patterned to form a metal pad 32p electrically connected to the interconnection 12a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, spacers 32r from the metal layer are also formed on sidewalls of the fuse opening 34. The spacers 32r may cause problems during fusing procedures that use laser or high-voltage pulses. For example, if the spacers 32r are connected along edges of the fuse opening 34, the spacer may electrically connect the fuse electrodes 12b even when the fuse pattern 24 is blown in a fusing procedure.
In addition, if the passivation layer 28 on the fuse pattern 24 suffers from over-etching while the metal pad 32p is formed, laser scattering occurs at the surface 36 of the insulating layer and sufficient energy for blowing a fuse may not be provided to the fuse pattern 24. In addition, because the pad opening 30 and the fuse opening 34 are simultaneously formed, the passivation layer 28 in the pad opening needs to be over-etched because the insulating layer should not remain on the pad pattern 22. As a result, the thickness of the remaining passivation layer 28 in the fuse opening 34 is difficult to control.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other disadvantages of the prior art.

Method for forming fuse integrated with dual damascene process


Operations for uniting together a fixed support base 4 for fixedly supporting a workpiece W and a support die and for composing and decomposing a negative-angle press-forming die to take out a product processed by a negative-angle press-forming process are provided by an L-shaped die and a rotational support mechanism 21, serving as a pivot on which the L-shaped die is turned, inclined at an inclination determined according to the height range of a curved surface to be formed.

The present invention relates to a negative-angle press-working die for forming an article having a complicated curved shape, such as a side panel of an automotive body, by pressing a plate. More specifically, the present invention relates to a negative-angle press-working die including a top die and a bottom die for forming an article having a negative-angle part which protrudes into the bottom die beyond the path of the top die when a plate is placed on the bottom die and is pressed by advancing the top die into the cavity of the bottom die.
A conventional press-forming method of forming an article having a negative-angle part forms the article by several working cycles. The press-forming method forms parts of the article excluding the negative-angle part by a first working cycle, and then forms the negative-angle part by a second working cycle.
For example, as mentioned in JP-A No. 2001-347319 or JP-A No. 2001-47135, a semifinished article not having any negative part is formed by holding a plate between a holding die held on a top die, a support base held on a bottom die, and an end member holding part of a swing die, a negative-angle part is formed by a slide cam member which moves vertically as the holding die of the top die moves vertically, the swing die is turned to complete the press work, and the plate is extracted.
A press-forming die proposed in JP-B No. 8-256 has a plurality of forming parts provided with a plurality of cylindrical, rotary cams each provided with an axial groove and having a negative-angle part formed at the edge of the axial groove and a length determined so that the negative-angle part is formed in the rotary cam.
Since the swing die is provided with a rotating support shaft extended parallel to the bottom surface of the body of a press-forming machine, parts of the parting line between a fixed support base and the support part of the swing die in different sections have different heights, respectively, when the swing die is used for forming an article having a curved shape curving in a big height range between parallel planes spaced a long distance apart, such as a front pillar of an automobile. Therefore, even if the fixed support base can be designed for one of the sections, the fixed support base cannot be formed for other sections. In addition, it is difficult to form a fixed support base for forming such an article. Thus, the press-forming process is divided into a plurality of steps or the plate is supported only by the workpiece support part of the rocking member without using the fixed support base.
Since the press-forming process can be performed only for a narrow range, press-forming dies are used, for example, to form an automotive panel including a front pillar, a roof, a middle part and a rear part. Thus, it is inevitably necessary to repeat the press-forming process many times.
A lift pin for tilting the swing die has a spherical tip that comes into point-contact with the bottom of the swing die, and slides along the bottom of the swing die to lift up the L-shaped rail end of the swing die. Therefore, energy is wasted by friction and serious scratching is possible.
In the press-forming die employing the cylindrical rotary cams having the axial groove and the negative-angle part formed at the edge of the axial groove, the rotary cams are rotational shafts. Therefore, the press-forming die has problems with machining accuracy due to the deconcentration of the axes and with sliding friction due to the sliding of the entire circumferences.
In the composite press-forming die formed by arranging the plurality of forming parts including the plurality of cylindrical rotary cams, rotational interference between the adjacent rotary cams is prevented by adjusting the rotating speed by a timing plate. Such adjustment is unable to cope with press work for forming an article having a curved surface curving in a big height range, needs a complicated mechanism, and has problems with reliability and cost.


The present invention relates to a cradle (10) for a chair (1), where the chair comprises a chair back (11) having at least one element having an upper end or edge (12), characterized in that the cradle comprises at least one hooking means (122) in the rear portion of the cradle which enables the cradle to be hooked over the upper end or edge of the chair back elements(s), said cradle also being capable of standing alone on a base, such as a floor, when it is not hooked onto the chair back and, in both cases, is used as a cradle or a seat for a baby or small child.

There is currently a need to be able to place babies in a seat or a cradle, adapted to table height, so that one is able to watch over the baby when sitting at a table, such as at a dining table or work table. Today there are no good alternatives for this type of placement of babies and small children.
Babies of 0-6 months of age are unable to sit upright and preferably should be lying down, or half-sitting at a reclining angle, because the child's back is not sufficiently developed to support the entire weight of the child and may thus be damaged by overstraining. For this reason the usual high chairs for small children are not suitable for use with babies and very small children.
In recent years, there has also been a trend in several countries and regions toward adopting their own safety requirements for equipment for use with children, such as for high chairs and harnesses. These standards are continuously being taken into consideration in the development of new child seats, but it may be difficult to adapt chairs and equipment that have been in production for a long time, before such safety requirements came into effect. It is especially difficult to carry out such adjustments without making physical modifications on the chairs.
This is the case, for example, with the child seat TrippTrapp®, which was developed as early as 1972 and patented in 1976 and which continues to be a very popular child seat in many countries.
The chair is designed to be adjustable in accordance with the child's body size, and it therefore has a seat plate and a foot plate that may be moved into various height positions by being slid into opposing horizontal grooves at several levels on the inside of the side members of the chair and locked into these grooves by tightening and reducing the distance between the side members by the use of transverse elements between the side members, in this case two bars, one cross rail and one transversal backrest comprising two parallel transverse elements. The seat plate is further adjustable in its depth position by the plate's being pushed forward or backward relative to the seat back before the side members have been tightened toward one another, to be then locked in correct position by said tightening, thereby providing the correct seat length under the thighs of the child who is using the chair.
There is a need for a seat or cradle for babies that is easily mountable on existing chairs, both on ordinary dining table chairs and child seats, for example a TrippTrapp® chair, such as on the top part of the chair, the back part, the back legs or side members, preferably without the use of odd parts, fittings or tools.


A bicycle information processing apparatus comprises a memory for storing information related to the bicycle; an information processing unit that accesses the memory and processes information stored in the memory; and a power supply sensor that detects an ability of a power supply to supply power so that the memory may be accessed without damaging information stored therein.

The present invention is directed to bicycles and, more particularly, to a bicycle information processing apparatus with memory protection.
Cycle computers typically calculate and display bicycle-related information such as the bicycle velocity, travel distance, total distance, and so on. Such a cycle computer is shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application (Kokai) 2000-16367. More specifically, cycle computers typically comprise a memory for storing information, an information processing unit (e.g., a microprocessor) that accesses the memory and processes the information stored therein, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying information processed by the information processing unit, and a power supply such as an internally mounted battery for supplying power to the various components. A conventional rotation sensor comprising a reed switch mounted on the bicycle frame and a magnet mounted on a wheel is operatively coupled with or without wires to the information processing unit, and the information processing unit computes the velocity, travel distance and total distance based on electrical pulses from the rotation sensor. Many current cycle computers are built so that at least the LCD and related components are detachably mounted to the bicycle for theft prevention purposes.
Total distance is commonly referred to as distance traveled by the bicycle from the beginning of travel after the display has been mounted on the bicycle (or master reset) until the present, and it may be computed by counting pulses from the rotation sensor since that time. Travel distance is commonly referred to as distance traveled by the bicycle from the point at which a device referred to as a trip meter is reset, and it may be computed by counting pulses from the rotation sensor since the trip meter was reset. The computed total distance and travel distance are stored in the memory and selectively displayed as desired by the rider.
With conventional bicycle computers, the microprocessor and memory may not operate normally if power is insufficient due to low battery charge. For example, if the rider performs a process to set or modify data stored in the memory, the data stored in the memory may be erased as a result of a malfunction of the memory or the microprocessor due to insufficient power. This makes it necessary to again modify or reset the data after replacing the battery, thus posing considerable inconvenience to the rider.

Bicycle information processing apparatus with memory protection


This application provides a method for recording interactions of a virtual role of a target virtual object with other virtual objects in a virtual reality application from a third person perspective view. The method includes: configuring a third person perspective view, the third person perspective view being a video shooting perspective view of a virtual controller; obtaining location information of the virtual role in the virtual reality application; obtaining current orientation information of the third person perspective view, which is orientation information of the third person perspective view virtual camera in the virtual reality application; obtaining, according to the location information of the virtual role and the current orientation information of the third person perspective view, scene data corresponding to the virtual reality application in which the virtual role is currently located; and capturing and displaying actions of the target virtual object according to the scene data.

With the rapid increase of the personal computer (PC) virtual reality (VR) market and users in recent years, requirements of the users for VR recording are increasing, and especially, the users want to shoot scenes in which the users are playing VR games. To shoot the scenes in which the users are playing VR games, a shooting manner of a third person perspective view is currently mainly used to shoot a real posture of a user, and then a final video is obtained by synthesizing a shot user real posture picture, a first person perspective view picture shot by a VR helmet, and a game scene of the user in the VR game at each posture.
However, current shooting of the third person perspective view can only rely on a physical handle, and the physical handle may become unstable due to a reason of artificial control, and finally, as a result, a synthesized video jitters, and video quality is poor. Secondly, the shooting of the third person perspective view is also limited by the physical handle, and a desired picture cannot be shot in a larger range.

Video recording method based on virtual reality application, terminal device, and storage medium

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


The present invention provides resonance circuits, detection devices incorporating such circuits, and methods for their design, construction, and use.

A variety of experiments in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) could benefit from miniaturization of the detector coil. When samples are mass-limited, reducing the detection volume to match the sample size offers enhanced Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (SNR) performance. To date, efforts made to perfect high-resolution spectroscopy in very small coils have not been suitably effective [1-9], particularly in developing portable detection devices. The integration of NMR with separation techniques such as chromatography (e.g., [10]) or capillary electrophoresis [11,12] proceeds more naturally when the NMR detection volume can be made compatible with the very small sample volumes and fluid handling tubing typical of the separation step. Researchers have also sought the integration of NMR with microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices, in which case the NMR detector coil is often formed in a lithographic-type process [13,14]. Very small coils have also been recognized as potential platforms for studying or imaging extremely small objects, even single cells [15-19]. All of the above applications have typically been implemented on traditional, high-field superconducting NMR magnets. These magnets provide the best route toward maximal SNR performance, have very stable and homogeneous fields, and are readily available in most NMR research groups.
A fully miniaturized NMR device would be based on a very small permanent magnet. Modern permanent magnet designs result in compact, lightweight devices operating at fields of 1-2 Tesla [24]. Although higher fields could be attained in a small superconducting magnet, the fragility and high maintenance needs of that magnet technology make it unattractive for portable or industrial applications. However, the low field of the permanent magnet presents a number challenges. First, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) in NMR is usually proportional to ω07/4=(γB0)7/4, where ω0 is the NMR frequency and B0 is the field strength [25]. SNR is already at a premium for micro-scale sample volumes, so detector circuits and electronics must be optimally efficient. At low frequencies, the electrical skin depth is no longer small compared to wire diameters, a regime in which optimal NMR SNR performance has not been explored experimentally, to our knowledge. More subtly, a low field and correspondingly low NMR frequency makes it difficult to construct an electrically resonant LC probe circuit from the very-low-inductance sample coil. We have recently proposed and implemented [26] a solution to this problem that introduces a large, fixed-value, auxiliary inductor to eliminate the need for a very large tuning capacitance, which would be awkward to use and would be inconsistent with the design goals of a practical compact system. Understanding and meeting the particular challenges of operating very small NMR detector coils in low-field permanent magnets is a crucial step toward the realization of very small, simple, and inexpensive NMR systems that are capable enough to enable new applications.
While some progress has been made in developing such portable microcoil-based NMR systems [26], improved devices that provide improved SNR, line width performance, and other benefits would be of great value to the art. Such improvements not only will greatly improve detection capabilities, but also would allow further reductions in sample volume and further miniaturization of the device.


An automatic laser beam machining apparatus with a sensor that detects whether a user slots a fare (e.g. coins) for starting laser beam machining of an article. The apparatus includes a video camera that can take an image (such as the face of a user) and reproduce it by laser machining upon an article. The article is removed from a stack of the articles and automatically properly positioned for laser machining with safety and ease. A mark is provided on the article for detecting the machining condition (e.g. the material or a shape of the article) by using a sensor.

In recent years, at game centers or on the street, it's been fashionable among people to take pictures of their faces using a video camera provided in a seal creating machine and print images taken by the video camera or input character information using a video printer, to create seals.
Seals thus created by the seal creating machine are utilized in various ways. For example, the seals are attached to their belongings to improve originality thereof or attached to their name cards to impress themselves.
A stamp creating machine is also known, in which images taken by a video camera are transferred on paper or the like by applying special heat treatment to a stamp surface and by stamping on the paper or the like, rather than printing using the video printer.
However, in many cases, the video printer for use in the seal creating machine generally adopts sublimation type printing method. For this reason, the seals attached to belongings are poor in durability against water or the like. A printed portion tends to partially peel when it gets wet, or fade from being exposed to light for a long time.
It is true that a seal attached to belongings can improve originality thereof, but in the case of attaching it to an expensive fountain pen or a ball pointed pen, it looks inexpensive.
In the stamp creating machine, while a special heat treatment may be used in place of the video printer to transfer images on a stamp surface using nega and stamp the transferred images on papers or the like, thereby it is possible to reproduce images therein, there is a demand for a printer which can print or process various kinds of articles to be printed, namely, the printer in which input characters are printed in belongings or images taken by a video camera are printed on a seal or the like and used in processing of a stamp surface.
Therefore, there has been a problem that a special processing means (including printing) should be selected and used depending on a kind of an article to be printed (to be processed).

Automatic laser beam machining apparatus and performing automatic laser beam machining method


A surface covering is provided and includes an upper section of laminated polymeric layers and an acoustical section for dissipating sound waves.

Unwanted and uncontrolled noises can be disturbing, distressful, or even hazardous in many environments. Such noises are typically produced by impact between two rigid materials causing structures within the materials to undergo rapid short-range bending and stretching of interatomic bonds and rapid elastic response, thus producing high-frequency sound waves in the adjacent air or transmitting sound through adjacent floor, ceiling, or wall assemblies.
High noise levels and reverberations are common issues in many household, hospital, hotel, and work settings. Long term exposure to such noise can cause fatigue, stress, poor sleep quality, and hearing loss as well as many other negative side effects to human health. Poor acoustical controls create problems ranging from noise transmission through floor and ceiling assemblies, and through party walls between neighboring units of buildings such as condominiums, townhouses, apartments and other multi-family dwellings, hotels, hospitals, schools, and offices.
Freedom from intrusive noise in living and working quarters becomes a significant issue for homeowners, hotel guests, hospital patients, students, workers, and other tenants. In many countries, building codes and standards define appropriate levels of acoustical performance in building materials. Such codes have now become law in many locales. Architects and designers require floor, wall, and ceiling assemblies to meet a minimum standard in order to satisfy the building codes for acoustical properties. For instance, certain building codes require floor/ceiling assemblies to meet a minimum standard of 50 in STC (sound transmission class) and 50 in IIC (impact isolation class) according to ASTM E90 and ASTM E492 respectively.
Materials to control the transmission and reverberation of sound are known. However, tiles made from these materials can be cumbersome, expensive to transport and store, and additionally not address acoustical concerns.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,640,824 (Freedman et al.) discloses an acoustical tile having an integrated acoustical layer that uses crumb rubber as the primary acoustical component. However, the disclosed material produces an unpleasant odor due to its sulfur content.
Thus, there is a need for a surface covering having an acoustical component that reduces the transmission and reverberation of sound in living and working quarters.

Surface covering having an acoustical component


A reinforcing cable for a prestressed concrete structure is disclosed. The cable has an optical fiber entwined between the twisted wire ropes that form the cable. The optical fiber facilitates in situ monitoring of cable integrity by comparing optical signal transmission over time.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in the atmosphere possibly affects environmental changes. For example, the increase of CO2 gas is known to cause carbonation or neutralization of concrete when the hydrogen ion concentration becomes pH 9 or less.
Due to a porous structure of concrete with numerous pores and voids, moisture, chloride ions, carbon dioxide, oxygen, etc., may permeate throughout the concrete by capillary action through the pores and voids. Normal concrete, which is strongly alkaline, is neutralized by the reduction of hydroxide (OH−) ions due to permeation of CO2 gas and chloride compounds from salinity corrosion. This neutralization of concrete does not directly cause a decrease in the strength of the concrete itself. However, reinforcing steel for supporting various structures contained in the concrete can be severely damaged. For example, when CO2 gas and chloride (Cl−) ions in the atmosphere reach the reinforcing steel inside the concrete from the surface, a passivation layer, typically having the thickness of approximately 3 mm, on the surface of the reinforcing steel can be corroded, resulting in rust on the surface of the reinforcing steel. These corrosions and rust can cause the expansion of the volume of the passivation layer on the reinforcing steel by approximately two to three times. The expansion of the volume of the passivation layer burdens the surrounding concrete with extra stress, thus the strength of the whole concrete structure deteriorates due to the extra stress.
To avoid the deterioration of the concrete structure, a prestressing cable reinforcement method has been recently employed. In this method, prestressed concrete with a predetermined level of pressure applied in advance, and various reinforcing cables attached to the exterior of the prestressed concrete are employed instead of reinforcement materials, such as reinforcing steel, to be contained in the concrete structure. In the prestressing cable reinforcement method, it is desirable to ensure the long-term integrity of the installed reinforcing cables by establishing a maintenance method for monitoring the cable integrity.
The reinforcing cables can be made of various types of steel, surrounded by protective coatings of various plastic materials, such as polyethylene, in order to prevent corrosion of the passivation layer due to permeation of CO2 and/or Cl− and possible degradation due to exposure to the outdoor atmosphere after installation. However, these plastic materials may have cracks in the protective coating as a result of many different natural causes that accelerate deterioration, such as heat, moisture, ultraviolet rays from the sun and oxidation due to nitrogen oxide (NOR) gas or sulfur oxide (SOx) gas in the atmosphere, as well as human-induced causes, such as mechanical damage. Thus, there is a need for monitoring the integrity of the installed reinforcing cables without destroying or otherwise compromising the protective plastic coating.

Cable with optical fiber for prestressed concrete


Multi-spot illumination and collection optics for highly tilted wafer planes are provided. One system configured to provide illumination of a wafer for inspection includes one or more optical elements configured to direct light to an entrance pupil. The system also includes a diffractive optical element positioned at the entrance pupil and configured to separate the light into individual beams. In addition, the system includes a set of optical elements configured to focus the individual beams to a wafer plane to form spatially separated spots on the wafer plane. The wafer plane is arranged at an oblique angle to the entrance pupil.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to multi-spot illumination and collection optics for highly tilted wafer planes. Certain embodiments relate to a system configured to provide illumination of a wafer for inspection. Other embodiments relate to a system configured to collect and detect light scattered from a wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Fabricating semiconductor devices such as logic and memory devices typically includes processing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer using a large number of semiconductor fabrication processes to form various features and multiple levels of the semiconductor devices. For example, lithography is a semiconductor fabrication process that involves transferring a pattern from a reticle to a resist arranged on a semiconductor wafer. Additional examples of semiconductor fabrication processes include, but are not limited to, chemical-mechanical polishing, etch, deposition, and ion implantation. Multiple semiconductor devices may be fabricated in an arrangement on a single semiconductor wafer and then separated into individual semiconductor devices.
Inspection processes are used at various steps during a semiconductor manufacturing process to detect defects on wafers to promote higher yield in the manufacturing process and thus higher profits. Inspection has always been an important part of fabricating semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits. However, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, inspection becomes even more important to the successful manufacture of acceptable semiconductor devices because smaller defects can cause the device to fail. For instance, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, detection of defects of decreasing size has become necessary since even relatively small defects may cause unwanted aberrations in the semiconductor devices. Accordingly, much work has been done in the field of wafer inspection to increase the sensitivity of inspection systems to smaller and smaller defects.
Another concern that becomes more prevalent for inspection system manufacturers and customers alike as defect sizes decrease is the difficulty of detecting relatively small defects on relatively rough wafer surfaces. In particular, previously, the scattering of light from relatively rough surfaces did not substantially limit inspection system performance since the defects being detected were relatively large. However, as the size of defects decreases, the amount of light scattered from the defects may also decrease. As such, the amount of light scattered from defects of relatively small size may be much closer to the amount of light scattered from relatively rough surfaces thereby reducing the sensitivity of many systems for inspection of such surfaces. Therefore, although many currently available inspection systems are capable of detecting relatively large defects on relatively rough surfaces and/or relatively small defects on relatively smooth surfaces, there is still a need for an inspection system that can detect relatively small defects on relatively rough surfaces.
One example of a wafer inspection system configuration that is suitable for detecting relatively large defects such as contamination on relatively rough surfaces is a "double-dark field" configuration. Such a configuration uses S-polarized (i.e., polarized perpendicular to the plane of incidence) obliquely incident light that results in a dark fringe at the surface, which produces substantially little light scattered from the surface itself. Such illumination used with an analyzer oriented perpendicular to the plane of scatter (i.e., for detection of S-polarized light) and an aperture limited to "side-angle collection" (e.g., limiting the collected light to azimuthal angles reasonably close to +/−90 degrees with respect to the plane of incidence) can reduce the contribution of unwanted surface scattering to the background noise by a large amount. Large particles and defects located on the surface of the wafer can be detected relatively easily using this configuration since they are less affected by the dark fringe effect and therefore perturb (or scatter) the incident electric field efficiently compared to the surface.
This configuration performs well for defects having a size greater than approximately one-half the wavelength of the incident light. Such defect detection capability is achievable since the S-S side-angle configuration is substantially effective at reducing the scattering from the surface as described above. Unfortunately, this configuration is also effective at reducing the scattering from relatively small defects (e.g., defects having a size that is smaller than one-half the wavelength of the incident light). Therefore, using a typical illumination wavelength of about 488 nm, such a configuration can detect defects having sizes of about 250 nm and larger. For particles below this size, the signal level decreases rapidly. Such inspection capability previously met the needs of semiconductor manufacturers since semiconductor processes using materials that have rough surfaces were susceptible to failure caused by defects having such defect sizes. However, today customers are expressing the need to detect defects having a size of 150 nm, 100 nm, or even smaller, on wafers having relatively rough surfaces. Therefore, even an ultraviolet (UV) wavelength of, say, 355 nm in this configuration may not be sufficient for detecting defects of such small sizes on wafers having a relatively rough upper surface.
Many inspection systems such as those described above are configured to image a single spot or line on the wafer plane at normal and/or oblique angles of incidence using spherical and/or cylindrical lenses. The single spot or line imaging of these systems also contributes, at least in part, to the relatively low sensitivity (e.g., relatively low signal-to-noise ratio, SNR) of the systems for inspection of rough surfaces. In particular, since a single spot or line on the wafer plane is relatively large (particularly in comparison to the size of the defects typically being detected), the light scattered from the illuminated spot or line will contain a relatively large amount of scattering from the surface of the wafer. Such scattering may be relatively low for relatively smooth surfaces. However, the scattered light from relatively rough wafer surfaces may be much higher and will, therefore, adversely affect the sensitivity of the inspection system.
Obviously, therefore, one way to increase the SNR for relatively rough surface inspection is to decrease the size of the spot on the wafer. However, decreasing the size of the optical spot on the wafer will decrease the throughput of the inspection system, and the single spot scanning based systems already have relatively slow scanning rates. As such, attempts have been made to image multiple smaller spots on a wafer plane such that a larger area of the wafer plane can be illuminated simultaneously by the multiple spots thereby maintaining the throughput of the inspection system without causing relatively large amounts of scattering from the surface of the wafer.
Systems have been developed that can image multiple spots onto a wafer plane at a normal angle of incidence. However, systems for imaging multiple spots on tilted wafer planes (e.g., a wafer plane arranged at an oblique angle with respect to an optical axis of the system) have not been achieved. The current lack of a solution for a multi-spot imaging system for tilted wafer planes may be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that systems for imaging multiple spots onto a wafer plane at a normal angle of incidence will not suffer from the dramatic defocus and astigmatism problems that must be overcome to provide multi-spot images at oblique angles of incidence. Therefore, systems that are configured to image multiple spots onto a wafer plane at a normal angle of incidence will have dramatically different optical configurations (and much simpler optical configurations) than systems that can image multiple spots onto a wafer plane at an oblique angle of incidence.
Furthermore, there is no currently available system that can be used for imaging light scattered from a multi-spot obliquely illuminated wafer at the level of performance required. In particular, currently used collection optics for single spot illumination and normal angle of incidence multi-spot illumination cannot be used effectively to image light scattered from a multi-spot obliquely illuminated wafer. For example, single spot collection systems are non-imaging systems and, therefore, cannot be used to image light from different spots on the wafer plane to different spatially separated positions in an image plane. In addition, the collection optics used for normal angle of incidence multi-spot systems is limited by a low numerical aperture (e.g., about 0.50) and low sensitivity, particularly with respect to relatively rough wafer surfaces.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to develop systems and methods for illuminating a wafer with spatially separated spots formed on the wafer plane at an oblique angle of incidence and for collecting and detecting light scattered from such spots thereby providing relatively high sensitivity inspection capability, particularly in terms of absolute defect sensitivity and sensitivity for relatively rough surface inspection, while meeting, or even exceeding, throughput requirements.


An ElectroLuminescent (EL) device includes a transparent electrode layer, a luminescent layer, and insulation layer, a rear electrode layer, a first protection layer adapted to cover the luminescent layer and the insulation layer and the rear electrode layer, and an electrode layer for noise reduction sequentially arranged on an insulated substrate; and a second protection layer adapted to cover the electrode layer for noise reduction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ElectroLuminescent (EL) device used as parts such as backlight of cellular phone, more particularly, to an EL device capable of reducing audio noise and electrical noise by alternating current power and a fabrication method of the EL device.
2. Description of Related Art
An inorganic EL (electroluminescent) device driven by alternating current power is possessed of electrical noise by characteristics of the alternating current power that is a driving power source. Particularly, a power source used in mobile phone is a direct current power, wherein transforming direct current power into a power source of sine wave similar to alternating current through an inverter and providing the transformed power source of sine wave to the EL device generally use the mobile phone. The transformed power source of sine wave used in the mobile phone generates electrical noise and audio noise as polarity of dielectric layer is being changed by alternating current power a phase of which is changed.
An EL device used as a backlight of a mobile phone, for example, comprises a transparent electrode layer that is formed of ITO and formed on a transparent insulation substrate such as PolyEthylene Terephthalate (PET) film as a first electrode, a luminescent layer and an insulation layer as a dielectric layer sequentially formed on the transparent electrode layer, a rear electrode layer as a second electrode formed on the insulation layer, and a protection layer formed to envelope the luminescent layer, the insulation layer and the rear electrode layer.
The EL device further comprises a ground electrode that is formed on the protection layer, and a dielectric rear tape that is formed on the ground electrode, wherein the ground electrode is formed of a copper plate, and the dielectric rear tape is adhered onto the ground electrode to insulate the ground electrode from the outside.
In such an EL device, the transparent electrode layer and rear electrode layer are used as two electrodes of front electrode and rear electrode respectively to be connected to an output terminal of an inverter, wherein AC power is supplied to the two electrodes. Furthermore, the ground electrode is grounded to a substrate. Therefore, the EL device has three terminals including two electrodes that are connected to the output terminal of the inverter and the ground electrode that is connected to a ground terminal.
The EL device transforms DC power of battery through the inverter and provides transformed sinusoidal AC power to the electrodes, since the DC power of battery is used as a power source of the EL device.
Therefore, light is emitted from the luminescent layer, if the sinusoidal AC power that is transformed through the inverter is supplied to the transparent electrode layer and the rear electrode layer that act as two electrodes in an EL device having the foregoing structure.
However, there have been problems in such an EL device in that electrical noise is generated by the AC power, and audio noise is generated from the dielectric layer as phase of an AC power is alternately being changed.
Furthermore, there have been problems in that although a copper plate used as the ground electrode is formed on the protection layer to reduce noise, the copper plate has to be adhered to the EL device through a separate process, and a ground electrode has to be formed additionally so that the additionally formed ground electrode is grounded to the substrate.
Furthermore, there have been problems in that since an insulation tape surely has to be adhered to the copper plate so that the insulation tape encircles the copper plate so as to insulate the copper plate from the outside, not only process is cumbersome and complex, but also it is difficult to apply the insulation tape to a device to which the insulation tape is not required to be adhered, or to which the insulation tape is partially adhered although it is possible to apply the insulation tape to a backlight of LCD (liquid crystal display) to all over the front of which the insulation tape is required to be adhered.

El device with electrode layer for noise reduction and fabrication method thereof


Implementations of this disclosure may assist users to communicate more effectively in online communications over a network such as emails, instant messaging, text messages, and social networking messages. In some implementations, systems and methods of this disclosure enable a message composer to augment a first message with one or more predefined or custom second messages where the second message is intended to convey an unspoken meaning about the first message. In some implementations, systems and methods of this disclosure enable a recipient of the augmented first message to rate the first message on its genuineness and to provide a predefined or custom explanation of the recipient's rating. In some implementations, systems and methods of this disclosure can change an online users' online picture (e.g., profile picture, avatar, etc.) based on ratings of the user's messages by recipients.

Society relies more and more on written communication via such communications means as emails, instant messaging, text messages, and social networking messages than on other traditional forms of oral communications using landline and wireless phones. However, these written communications means can be detrimental to communicating genuinely. For example, through such social network measurements as number of friends and number of likes of a comment, social media tends to encourage and reward the quantity of communication and not the quality of communication. As another example, site guidelines and like/dislike voting, among other things, can influence a person to communicate in a way that garners the most support or positive feedback from the individual's social network. As yet another example, feedback using these written communication means can often be vague with one-word responses or a simple like/dislike indicator. Finally, although emoticons have been used to attempt to express emotion in writings, emoticons lack range and can be used to perpetuate communication that is not genuine.

Application for augmenting a message with emotional content


A single stage clarifier and mixing assembly includes a housing, a mixing section within the housing and a clarifier section within the housing. The mixing section includes a mixing chamber having (a) an inlet, adapted for delivering an inlet stream to the mixing chamber, at an upper end, and (b) a mixing section outlet at a lower end. The clarifier section extends concentrically around the mixing section. The single stage clarifier and mixing assembly also includes an agitator adapted for mixing the inlet stream in the mixing chamber.

Clarifiers that rely upon gravity sedimentation to remove particles from a slurry are well known in the art. Particle settling occurs when the settling velocity is greater than the upward fluid velocity. The settling velocities are determined by a ratio of gravity forces to drag forces and are directly proportional to the cross-section of the particle.
This document relates to a new and improved apparatus comprising a single stage clarifier and mixing assembly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Single stage clarifier and mixing assembly

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


A method for a computer generated data table of parametric text data objects to be permuted based on automated sorting of a lesser number of parameters than are imaged on the data table.

The locus of the present invention is described in claim 1 of the cross-referenced patent application Ser. No. 09/325,358, granted as U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,564. It is a series of computer-generated lists of text data objects on data tables that are manually or automatically imaged at a selected speed for human discovery of meaningful interrelations of parameter values and/or text data object names. The present invention is a means by which the computer user viewing a series of such permutations chooses to retain in sight a plurality of columns of parametric values but reduces the number of possible permutations by signaling the computer to exclude selected columns from sorting.
The data table addressed by the present invention is one component of the several required for the mind-centric analytic methodology described in cross-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,139. That methodology, named contextual data modeling (CDM) by the present inventor, is explained in detail in cross-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,564. It is a systemized form of computer-aided morphological analysis that deals with parametric objects in an orderly way in which no interrelations of their parameter values and/or identifiers on a data table are ignored by the user, during the visual examination of imaged data that leads to the reasoned conclusions, a priori as being unimportant. Said text data objects are any type of physical bodies, events, ideas, or any other entities that have unique identifying names or numbers, plus parameters such as weight, material, location, date, age, importance, etcetera. It will be apparent that such "evidence items" exist in many fields of human endeavor that involve analysis, investigation, research, investigation, and supervision and that many interrelations of parametric values and/or names are possible. The present applicant believes a review of CDM herein, and comparison with operation of spreadsheet programs, provides conceptual and functional background important for assessment of the merit of the present invention as an improved component of CDM.
Existing electronic spreadsheet programs, such as Microsoft EXCEL™, also generate tabular displays of text and numeric data. The data elements from which such tabular displays are generated by such spreadsheet programs and by embodiments of cross referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,564 consist of unitary human readable textual and/or numeric expressions, suitable for insertion into intersections of the rows and columns, commonly called cells. Examples of such data elements are "Smith," "steering assy," and "64993765." The user of spreadsheet programs inserts said data elements into appropriate cells and after all desired data are entered, the user can signal the computer to sort the data in one or several columns in order to generate displays that conform with criteria specified by the user. The typical end result is a single or small number of tabular displays that meet pre-conceived needs.
In CDM, the mind of the computer user, not the computer, analyzes a dataset to discover all meaningful interrelations, such as groups, sequences, similarities, etcetera. Neuroscience teaches that what a person sees, hears, and thinks is profoundly shaped by that person's beliefs and expectations. Consequently, the merit of each interrelation is determined by the user in the context of that person's semantic, episodic, and procedural memory (knowledge, experience, and skills) as well as emotion. The user's intuition, imagination, and reasoning then lead to user-controlled iteration of permutations, and modeling/manipulation of the imaged data to synchronize it with the user's reasoning.
The modeling consists of editing text and adding colors to text, fields, rows, or columns and re-examining all or selected revised tables. For example, a user's reasoning can lead to changing a parameter value "76" to "75" to support re-sorting that relocates that data object into a group of others with the value "75" for the same parameter. Further, the user is optionally able to then color the "76" to indicate that it is a temporarily changed number. Modeling continues until the user has identified and evaluated all possible meaningful interrelations.
The number of permutations on a data table is determined by the mathematical factorial expression "n factorial", or n!, in which n is the product of the numbers 1 through n. Thus a table with three columns has (1×2×3) 6 permutations, four columns have (1×2×3×4) 24 permutations, five columns have 120 permutations, and so forth. It is apparent that it is a difficult task for a person to manually signal the computer 720 times, for example, to generate and study each of the 720 permutations of a data table with 6 parameters, or to so examine all 40,320 permutations of a table with 8 parameters. In addition to being tedious, the user's working memory will retain awareness of few data perceived on all but the most recently examined permutations. In any case, however, the computer user may require, for the integrity of the human analysis, that all displayed columns of parametric values remain in the user's field of vision although not all are sorted during permutation of the columns. The present invention satisfies that need.

Method for automated permutation of computerized lists of text data objects with selected columns of imaged parametric data excluded from sorting


A system and method to control engine valve operation in an internal combustion engine. Valves are controlled to improve vehicle drivability and reduce vehicle noise.

One method to control intake and exhaust valve operation during engine operation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,636. This method provides hydraulically operated valve switching means on an intake side and on an exhaust side, respectively, for switching intake valves and exhaust valves of the partial cylinders between a driving state and a drive-free state, wherein the intake valves and the exhaust valves of the partial cylinders are switched, during the partial-cylinder operation.
The inventors herein have determined that the above-mentioned approach can have several disadvantages. First, the approach simply focuses on deactivating intake and exhaust valves to deactivate cylinders. The approach determines the state of cylinder deactivation based on engine load, a prescribed engine speed range, engine coolant temperature, and when the vehicle speed is above a minimum. This approach may present drivability issues when transmission oil temperature is low. For example, internal combustion engines and transmissions are designed to operate over a range of temperatures. However, during low temperature operation a temperature difference may develop between engine temperature and transmission oil temperature. When an engine is started at a low temperature and allowed to idle the engine temperature may increase, but the transmission oil temperature may increase at a different rate. If transmission oil temperature is low, and a cylinder or valve mode change occurs, a torque disturbance may be felt through the driveline by the driver.
Second, the approach may allow an engine to operate at combustion frequencies that may excite modal frequencies of a vehicle. By way of an example, if a chassis of a vehicle is excited by frequencies below 20 Hertz, the before-mentioned method may allow the chassis modal frequencies to be excited by certain cylinder or valve deactivation modes.

Electromechanically actuated valve control for an internal combustion engine


Disclosed are antibodies which catalyze hydrolysis of β-amyloid. Antibodies generated are characterized by the amide linkage which they hydrolyze. Methods of generating the antibodies by using β-amyloid peptides which incorporate transition state analogs are also provided. Also disclosed is a vectorized antibody which is characterized by the ability to cross the blood brain barrier, and is further characterized by the ability to catalyze the hydrolysis of β-amyloid. The vectorized antibody can take the form of bispecific antibody, which has a first specificity for the transferrin receptor and a second specificity for a taransition state adopted by β-amyloid hydrolysis.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive and ultimately fatal form of dementia that affects a substantial portion of the elderly population. Definitive diagnosis at autopsy relies on the presence of neuropathological brain lesions marked by a high density of senile plaques. These extracellular deposits are found in the neo-cortex, hippocampus and amygdala as well as in the walls of the meningeal and cerebral blood vessels. The principal component of these plaques is a 39 to 43 residue β-amyloid peptide. Each plaque contains approximately 20 fmole (80 picograms) of this 4 kDa peptide (Selkoe et al., J. of Neurochemistry 46: 1820 (1986)). Apolipoprotein E and neurofibrillary tangles formed by the microtubule-associated tau protein are also often associated with Alzheimer's disease.
β-amyloid is proteolytically cleaved from an integral membrane protein called the β-amyloid precursor protein. The gene which codes for this protein in humans is found on chromosome 21 (St George-Hyslop et al., Science 235: 885 (1987), Kang et al., Nature 325: 733 (1987)). Numerous cultured cells and tissues (eg. brain, heart, spleen, kidney and muscle) express this β-amyloid precursor protein and also secrete the 4 kDa β-amyloid fragment into culture media, apparently as part of a normal processing pathway.
While it is difficult to establish an absolute causal relationship between β-amyloid or the plaques it forms and Alzheimer's disease, there is ample evidence to support the pathogenic role of β-amyloid. For example, patients with Down's syndrome have an extra copy of the β-amyloid precursor protein gene due to trisomy of chromosome 21 (St George-Hyslop et al., Science 235: 885 (1987), Kang et al., Nature 325: 733 (1987)). They correspondingly develop an early-onset Alzheimer's disease neuropathology at 30-40 years of age. Moreover, early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease can result from mutations in the β-amyloid precursor protein gene which fall within or adjacent to the β-amyloid sequence (Hardy, J., Nature Genetics 1: 233 (1992)). These observations are consistent with the notion that deposition of β-amyloid as plaques in the brain are accelerated by an elevation in its extracellular concentration (Scheuner et al., Nature Med. 2: 864 (1996)). The finding that β-amyloid is directly neurotoxic both in vitro and in vivo (Kowall et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 88: 7247 (1991)), suggest that soluble aggregated β-amyloid, not the plaques per se, may produce the pathology.
Observations have indicated that amyloid plaque formation may proceed by a crystallization type mechanism (Jarrett et al., Cell 73: 1055 (1993)). According to this model, the seed that initiates plaque nucleation is an β-amyloid which is 42 or 43 amino acids long (Aβ1-43). The rate-determining nucleus formed by Aβ1-43 or Aβ1-42 allows peptides Aβ1-40 or shorter to contribute to the rapid growth of an amyloid deposit. This nucleation phenomenon was demonstrated in vitro by the ability of Aβ1-42 to cause the instantaneous aggregation of a kinetically stable, supersaturated solution of Aβ1-40. That finding has led to the possibility that Aβ1-40 might be relatively harmless in the absence of the nucleation peptides Aβ1-42 or Aβ1-43. Indeed, elevated levels of these long peptides have been found in the blood of patients with familial Alzheimer's disease (Scheuner et al., Nature Med. 2: 864 (1996)). Moreover, Aβ1-42 or Aβ1-43 was found to be the predominant form deposited in the brain plaques of many Alzheimer's disease patients (Gravina et al., J. of Biol. Chem. 270: 7013 (1995)).
Given the central role played by β-amyloid, it has become increasingly important to understand the interrelationship between the different pools of these molecules in the body. Free β-amyloid present in the blood most likely arises from peptide released by proteolytic cleavage of β-amyloid precursor protein present on cells in the peripheral tissues. Likewise most of the free β-amyloid found in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid is probably derived from peptide released by secretase cleavage of β-amyloid precursor protein expressed on brain cells. The peptides are identical regardless of origin, and the results from several studies suggest an intercommunication between these pools.

Immunological control of β-amyloid levels in vivo


An apparatus for sensing a constituent in an environment including a sensor circuit and a suppression circuit. The sensor circuit has a sensor element and an operating state control element. The sensor element senses the constituent by presenting an electrical parameter which varies as a function of a degree of the constituent. The control element maintains the sensor at a preferred operating state. A detected electrical parameter of said sensor element is subject to error resulting from a leakage of electrical current between the control element and the sensor element. The suppression circuit reduces or stops the leakage to reduce the error.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for sensing environment hazards (e.g., a toxic gas). More particularly, this invention pertains to such hazard detection with a suppression circuit for inhibiting (i.e., reducing or eliminating) stray electrical current from associated equipment in proximity to the sensor to mitigate sensing errors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As will be described, the present invention is preferably used for sensing environmental hazards in ambient air. For example, the present invention senses for toxic gases.
Toxic gases are a common risk associated with oil well drilling. Notably, such drilling can result in release of hydrogen sulfide, which is highly toxic. As a result, drill sites will be provided with one or more sensors for sensing the presence and concentration of hydrogen sulfide in ambient air.
Common prior art sensors for sensing hydrogen sulfide are so-called electro-chemical sensors. While such electrochemical sensors enjoy a reputation for accuracy, they are not without operational limitations. For example, such electro-chemical sensors are sensitive to environmental conditions. Namely, in hot and dry environments (common to many oil drilling facilities in arid locations), the sensors may dry out and become non-functional. In extremely cold environments, the sensors may freeze.
In addition to their environmental limitations, electro-chemical sensors have other potential limitations. For example, they are relatively slow in responding to changes in concentration of the gas being sensed. Also, they have a relatively short useful life.
Solid state sensors have been used as alternatives to electrochemical sensors. So-called metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors can detect environmental hazards (e.g., hydrogen sulfide). An example of such an MOS sensor is Product No. S4000T (Intelligent Sensor) of General Monitor, 26776 Simpatica Circle, Lake Forest, Calif., USA. Another such sensor is an MOS sensor (Product No. 714) of Synkera, 2021 Miller Dr., Suite B., Longmont, Colo., USA.
Such MOS sensors have an electrical resistance which varies in response to the environmental hazard. For example, the sensor's resistance can vary in response to the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in ambient air. For example, by measuring this resistance, the amount of the sensed hazard can be computed. The resistance of an MOS sensor can be indirectly measured by measuring a voltage drop across the sensor (or current flow through the sensor).
Solid state sensors are not as susceptible to many of the environmental limitations of electro-chemical sensors (e.g., drying out in hot and dry environments). They also are rapid, durable and enjoy a relatively long operating life.
Notwithstanding their benefits, solid state sensors can present operational challenges of their own. For example, their accuracy can vary with changes in humidity and temperature.
To maintain accuracy, solid state sensors may be provided with an electrical resistance heating element to maintain the sensor at a desired operating temperature. For example, some MOS sensors perform with greatest accuracy when heated to about 300° C. Commonly, the resistive heating element is in direct contact with the solid state sensor for rapid conductive heating of the sensor by the heating element. The temperature of the sensor then can be indirectly determined by measuring the resistance of the heating element or the output of another temperature sensing device. Current to the heating element is altered to maintain the heating element (and, hence the sensor) at a desired operating temperature within tolerances which may vary from application to application.
While the foregoing maintains the sensor at desired operating temperatures when implemented in accordance with suggestions of the sensor's manufacturer, other problems arise. Namely, an undesired leakage of electrical current can develop between the sensor circuit and the heater circuit (e.g., through a heated dielectric or through impurities in the dielectric). The amount of such current is not easily determinable and can vary widely from application-to-application and over time. This leaked current can result in a false reading of the resistance of the sensor resulting in an erroneous interpretation of the degree of presence of the environment hazard of interest.


An image forming method comprising the steps of; forming a latent image by exposing an organic photoreceptor to light, and                developing the latent image by a developer containing a toner to form a toner image,        wherein the organic photoreceptor has a surface layer comprising a binder and fluororesin fine particles having an average primary particle diameter of not less than 0.02 μm and less than 0.20 μm and a crystallinity of less than 90%, and has a contact angle for water of 90° or more; and        toner particles of the toner has a particle diameter below 0.7×(Dp50) being 10 number percents, Dp50 being 50% number particle diameter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic photoreceptor used in the field of an image forming method, a manufacturing method of such an organic photoreceptor, and a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus using this organic photoreceptor.
2. Related Art
In recent years, an organic photoreceptor (hereinafter also referred to as "photoreceptor") has been utilized over an extensive range in the electrophotographic photoreceptor. The organic photoreceptor has advantages over other types of photoreceptor, such as easier development of materials conforming to various types of light sources for exposure ranging from visible light to infrared light, possible selection of materials free of environmental pollution and lower production costs. However, the organic photoreceptor is characterized by poorer mechanical strength, easier deposition of foreign substances, poorer chemical resistance, earlier deterioration of electrostatic characteristics at the time of printing multiple sheets, and susceptibility to scratches on the surface.
To be more specific, an organic photoreceptor is required to have a sufficient resistance (wear resistance) to adhesion of foreign substances on the surface or damages caused by the external mechanical force applied when a toner image formed on the photoreceptor is transferred onto a transfer material such as paper or when toner remaining on the photoreceptor is removed by cleaning.
An art to employing polyarylate resin as a binder of the photoreceptor to improve the resistance of the photoreceptor or adhesion of foreign substances on the surface (Document 1, Japanese Patent O. P. I. 2003-195564).
Though a photoreceptor employing polyarylate resin improves anti-resistant characteristics, it is easy to generate cracks because of its rigidity, and toner particles or paper dusts are easy to adhere in the neighborhood of the damage to form filming once the damage is formed, and it causes easily insufficient image such as non-uniform image or dash marks (comet like small marks).
A method of impregnating the polyarylate resin of the photoreceptor with a fluorine-containing resin minute particles such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is known in the prior art to improve the resistance of the photoreceptor to adhesion of foreign substances on the surface or damages so as to dissolve the problem of polyarylate resin (Document 2, Japanese Patent O. P. I. 2003-15326).
The fluorine-containing resin minute particles are apt to coagulate during the process of dispersing or coating of the coating composition when the fluorine-containing resin minute particles are incorporated in the polyarylate resin. Therefore, the surface energy of the photoreceptor is not sufficiently reduced and, as the result, prevent of adhesion of foreign material is not sufficient, dash-marks and cracks are apt to generated.
The art of using fine particles of fluorine-containing resin having a small crystallinity (the half-width of the X-ray diffraction peak: 0.28 or more) and a small diameter has been reported as a method of effectively reducing the friction coefficient on the surface of the photoreceptor to improve the wear resistance (For example, Document 3, Japanese Patent O. P. I. 8-328287).
However, the fluororesin particles tend to be coagulated and the stability of the dispersion is lowered so that the layer having uniform properties is difficultly formed since the spreading ability of the fluororesin fine particle having low crystallinity is larger in a coating dispersion using polyarylate as a binder. Therefore, the adhesion of foreign substances cannot be effectively prevented so that dash marks around the coagulated particles, unevenness of the image caused by scratches and burring of image tend to be caused. Moreover, when the coagulated particles of the fluororesin particles are increased in the surface layer, the coagulation interface of the resin particles tends to be a charge trap so that problems such as formation of a memory image such as transferring memory and increasing of the remaining potential accompanied with repeating use causing lowering in the image density tend to be caused.
On the other hand, recently, the image forming apparatus using electrophotographic system is frequently used as an information device for printing out an image formed by a computer. Accordingly, a copying machine and a printer capable of forming a high quality digital image are demanded. Therefore, a developing means capable of exactly developing the static latent image formed on the organic photoreceptor is required, and the use of a polymerized toner in which the distribution of the toner particles are made to monodispersed state is proposed as one of the above means (Document 4, Tokkai 2002-244336). However, some problems are found that the merit of the toner improved in the particle size distribution cannot be satisfactorily displayed when the static latent image is formed on the organic photoreceptor having roughened surface caused by the formation of the dash mark, unevenness and burring of image since the formation of the static latent image is disturbed and the roughened surface is more clearly reproduced as the toner image, even when the toner capable of exactly reproducing the static latent image is employed.
When fluororesin particles having an average particle diameter of not less than 0.20 μm are contained in the surface layer of the photoreceptor, the sharpness of image is lowered by scattering of the exposing laser light and the mechanical strength tends to be lowered and scratches are formed on the photoreceptor surface by degradation of the physical properties of the layer. Accordingly, a suitable photoreceptor cannot be always obtained.
An object of the invention is to simultaneously improve the anti-adhesion ability to foreign substance and the anti-scratch ability which are consistent from each other, and to provide an organic photoreceptor which has good electrical potential property for a long period and is capable of forming an electrophotographic image with high sharpness. In detail, the object is to provide an organic photoreceptor which has good electrical potential property for a long period and is capable of forming an electrophotographic image with high sharpness by preventing the occurrence of the dash marks, the image unevenness and the image burring by preventing the formation of the toner filming and cracks which tend to be caused by the use of the polyarylate resin binder having high resistivity to scratch on the surface layer of the photoreceptors, and to provide a processing cartridge and an image forming apparatus employing the photoreceptor.

Abstract: An embodiment may be an organic photoreceptor, which comprises a conductive support; a photosensitive layer provided on the conductive support; and a surface layer containing a binder and a fluorine-containing resin fine particle having a number average primary particle diameter between about 0.02 μm and about 0.20 μm and a crystallinity of less than 90% and a binder resin; wherein a contact angle of the surface layer for water is 90° or more and an absolute value of variation of the contact angle is within 2.2°.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


In some implementations, a computing device may receive a selection of one or more contact center features, the contact center features associated with one or more micro services configured to execute the one or more contact center features. The computing device may select a model from a plurality of stored models based at least in part on the selection of the one or more contact center features, the selected model comprising programmable code configured to execute the one or more micro services. The computing device may provision the selected model to execute the one or more micro services. The computing device may generate executable code from the provisioned model using an automation server for deployment to one or more servers.

Contact centers can be an integrated and automated communications systems that coordinate telephone and electronic communications between an organization and the public. Many businesses use contact centers to fully or partially automate communications between customers and the business. While some software for contact centers exists, the functionality is limited and often leads to the monolithic development of contact center systems, which consume time from developers, diminish quality assurance, and are inefficient with regards to support and product management for onboarding customers.

Techniques for building and optimizing contact service centers


Systems and methods are disclosed to provide programmable input/output functionality for a programmable logic device. For example, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a programmable interface selectively employs a scalable serializer-deserializer and clock and data recovery circuit. The programmable interface further includes programmable input/output buffers and embedded memory to allow the programmable logic device to support a wide range of input/output interface standards.

There has been a growing proliferation of high-speed input/output interface standards directed toward various applications within the electronics industry. These standards generally address chip-to-chip interfaces, board-to-board interfaces, and box-to-box interfaces for a wide range of emerging applications, such as data packet processing, data bus bridges, and high-speed memory interfacing, to name but a few.
Certain programmable devices, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), can potentially handle a wide range of input/output interface standards because of their flexible programmable circuitry. A drawback of some programmable devices is that their input/output circuits are often dedicated to only one or to a few certain types of input/output interface standards. Consequently, if these input/output interface standards are not being provided to the programmable device, there is a corresponding loss of input/output functionality or bandwidth and a number of input/output pins may not be utilized. As a result, there is a need for programmable interface circuits that may be programmed to support a number of different types of input/output interface standards.

Scalable serializer-deserializer architecture and programmable interface


An embodiment of the invention is a transistor formed in part by a ferromagnetic semiconductor with a sufficiently high ferromagnetic transition temperature to coherently amplify spin polarization of a current. For example, an injected non-polarized control current creates ferromagnetic conditions within the transistor base, enabling a small spin-polarized signal current to generate spontaneous magnetization of a larger output current.

Electronics manufacturers are currently researching and developing future generations of electronic devices. One such development includes technology designed to surpass current CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) transistor technology as CMOS feature size approaches fundamental physical limits. Electronics, in particular CMOS devices, are based on the movement of electric charge. A next generation of electronic devices will focus on the interaction between electron spin and electron charge and on the interaction between multiple electron spins.
The physics behind spin electronics, or "spintronics," dates to the early 20th century when experiments directed to the fine structure of hydrogen and alkali metals exhibited features inconsistent with prevailing scientific models. To explain the results, scientists proposed that an electron has an intrinsic angular momentum and magnetic dipole moment. The z components thereof are specified by a fourth quantum number ms that can assume a value of +½ or −½. The electron has an "up" spin or a "down" spin for a positive and negative quantum number ms respectively.
Devices that exploit spin properties, in lieu of or addition to charge degrees of freedom, offer potential benefits over devices operating on charge motion alone. One potential benefit of spintronics is reduced power consumption versus conventional electronics as the amount of energy required to change the orientation of an electron spin is much less than to move charge. This determines the ratio of the spin relaxation rate and switching rate and can amount to orders of magnitude. Another potential benefit is the ability to manufacture devices, for example memory cells and logic gates, that operate on a single atomic scale. The possibility of devices that combine reduced power consumption and atomic scale may fuel Moore's Law progress far beyond what is possible with, for example, CMOS technology.
The most significant commercial application of spintronics thus far is a ferromagnetic storage device (e.g., hard drive in a personal computer) and corresponding read-head. Based on the effect of giant-magnetoresistance ("GMR"), the storage device incorporates alternating layers of ferromagnetic and insulating material configured in such a manner that the resistance of the material is either small to large (and can indicate thereby a binary "0" or "1") depending on the relative magnetic orientation in the ferromagnetic layers.
Spintronic applications, however, need not be limited to storage devices. In particular, semiconductor-based spin devices offer the potential to, through spin transport mechanisms like spin polarizers and spin valves, amplify signals. Amplifying spin devices may form the basis of logic gates and more sophisticated building blocks that eventually may lead to entire spin-based electronic systems.
Viewed as a whole, the spintronics paradigm offers a variety of potential improvements over, for example, CMOS. Those improvements include nonvolatility, high switching speed, high density, energy efficiency, and the ability to be customized and reconfigured.