A contact lens with a central region (10) that is optimally less than approximately 1.9 millimeters in diameter and that is preferably overcorrected by approximately 25% to 100% over the correction needed for reading. Unexpectedly, the central region does not impair distance vision, but compensates for presbyopia and therefore allows a user to focus on objects within a range of near and intermediate distances. A method for fitting the contact lens is also provided.

For the contact lens wearer who requires presbyopic (or near vision) correction, in addition to distance correction, a variety of options have been available. These individuals may be fitted with single vision contact lenses corrected for distance, and wear reading glasses for near correction. Another alternative is to provide a contact lens for one eye that is corrected for distance vision and to provide a contact lens for the other eye that is corrected for near vision (this practice is referred to as monovision because only one eye is corrected for near vision), or the fitting of bifocal or multifocal contact lenses.
During the 1950's, a variety of contact lenses were designed for the correction of presbyopia. These contact lenses, although very innovative in design, met with only limited success because the only readily available material was Poly Methyl Methacrylate (Plexiglass), also known as P which does not transmit oxygen. As bifocal and multifocal designs of the period were quite thick and heavy compared to conventional distance correction contact lenses, these presbyopic contact lenses were uncomfortable to wear for substantial periods of time. Additionally, the fitting of these bifocal and multifocal contact lenses required considerable time and skill on the part of the contact lens fitter.
During the 1970's, both soft contact lenses and rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses were introduced. With the availability of these new materials, renewed enthusiasm brought about several new designs for contact lenses for the correction of presbyopia.
RGP materials provide oxygen transmission through the lens material itself, and afforded new hope for the earlier designs developed in PMMA material. However, lens thickness and resultant patient discomfort continued to be a problem.
One of the early benefits recognized with soft contact lenses was the comfort and ease of fitting and, for this reason, by 1995 approximately 85% of new contact lens wearers are being fitted with soft contact lenses. As soft contact lenses command such a large share of the contact lens market, it is natural that considerable effort would be made to develop bifocal and multifocal contact lens designs in soft contact lens material.
There are two types of contact lens designs for the correction of presbyopia - - - Alternating (or Translating) and Simultaneous.
(1) In the alternating (or translating) vision technique, the lenses are very similar in design to bifocal eyeglass lenses in that the wearer sees through the distance segment in the upper portion of the lens when looking straight ahead and sees through a lower near vision segment when the eye (moves) to look down. Alternating vision lenses have proven to be successful in RGP designs, but have met with little success when designed in soft contact lenses.
Perhaps the reason that alternating vision soft contact lens designs were not as successful at the same design concept in RGP materials was because lens translation is necessary for this design to be successful. The translation from distance to near is achieved through the mechanical action of the lens resting on the lower eyelid and, when the eye looks down, the lens remains stable on the lower eyelid causing the pupil of the eye to translate from the distant vision portion of the lens to the near vision portion of the lens. Soft lens material by its nature caused this modality to fail as there was insufficient rigidity in the soft lens to remain properly positioned on the lower eyelid and often the lens would slip underneath the lower eyelid during translation.
(2) Simultaneous vision bifocal or multifocal contact lenses are either concentric or aspheric in design with focal power changing through different areas of the lens. Lenses are fitted so that distance, intermediate and near zones focus images simultaneously on the retina of the eye and the brain then separates out the image desired.
Theoretically, with adaptation, the ability to change focus naturally from near to far with no blurring in between can be achieved with simultaneous vision lenses in both RGP and soft contact lenses.
As alternating presbyopic designs proved to be unsuccessful in soft contact lens designs, most of the development work with soft contact lenses was done in the area of simultaneous presbyopic correction with concentric designs or aspheric designs.
During the 1980's, several designs of concentric and aspheric soft contact lenses were introduced. Soft aspheric multifocal contact lenses typically provided relatively weak reading addition power and therefore worked best in early presbyopia.
Reading addition powers are referred to by eye care professionals as "add" power, and represent the difference between the distance correction and near correction prescribed by an eye care professional for eyeglasses or contact lenses. Accordingly, a prescription of "-3 with a +2 add" (which would be typical for moderate presbyopia) would mean that distance vision requires -3 diopters of correction, and near vision requires an additional 2 diopters of plus correction, resulting in -1 diopters of near vision correction. In conventional monovision, the dominant eye would be fitted with a -3 distance correction lens, and the other eye would be fitted with a -1 near correction lens.
This type of solution is often satisfactory in early presbyopia because the user still has some remaining visual accommodation and the needed add power is usually between +0.75 and +1.25, which is usually low enough for the brain to comfortably select the desired image in most people. However, conventional monovision becomes less satisfactory as presbyopia becomes more advanced because the needed add power increases and visual accommodation has deteriorated further, so that the visual imbalance exceeds the brain's ability to select the desired image from the appropriate eye.
Typically, early presbyopes, would be between the age of 40 and 45, and would require add power of between +1.00 and +1.50 diopters. Moderate presbyopes would usually be between 45 and 55 years and would require add power of between +1.50 and +2.00 diopters. Mature presbyopes would usually be older than age 55 and require an add power of between +2.00 and +3.00 diopter.
The add corrective power of current aspheric multifocal contact lens designs is usually limited to only +0.75 to +1.25 diopters because the brain must be able to separate out the desired image (and also suppress the undesired images) from the multiple images (near, intermediate or distant) being simultaneously focused by the multifocal contact lens design. In order to achieve this suppression, the images cannot be too different from each other. However, if aspheric corrections are increased in attempts to achieve higher add powers, the images become too different for the brain to suppress the undesired images, resulting in blurred vision. Even at add powers of +0.75 to +1.25 diopters, many patients suffer some blurring or ghosting with multifocal contact lens designs because their brains are not able to completely separate the desired image while simultaneously completely suppressing the undesired images.
Some contact lens fitters may attempt to use aspheric designs to achieve near distance correction of up to +2.00 diopters (or more) by undercorrecting the distance vision of the non-dominant eye by between 0.25 and 1.00 diopters, thereby theoretically providing up to +2.00 diopters (or more) of near vision correction, instead of the +0.75 to +1.25 diopter correction that would be provided if that eye had been fully corrected for distance vision with an aspheric multifocal contact lens. The dominant eye would be corrected to maximum distance acuity in such a situation. However, this creates even more blurring and ghosting. This technique is called modified monovision.
Aspheric optics have been incorporated on both the front and back surfaces of soft contact lenses. However, it is believed that front surface aspherical multifocal soft contact lenses provide better presbyopic correction. Still, only limited success is achieved because providing add power of +0.75 to +1.25 (or more) usually results in reduced distance acuity. For this reason, many contact lens fitters find it necessary, when using aspheric soft multifocal contact lenses, to undercorrect the distance power in one eye to improve near vision, while correcting the other eye fully for distance vision, as discussed above. When attempting to fit moderate to mature presbyopes, this modified monovision almost always results in a visual compromise similar to that of conventional monovision.
Concentric multifocal lens designs have an advantage over aspheric designs in the fitting and correcting of more mature presbyopes requiring add power of more than +1.25 diopters, primarily due to the availability of higher add power correction and central power zones of different diameters. Concentric soft multifocal contact lenses have been made with the central distant correction zones and central near correction zones. In the latter designs, the central power zones would be corrected by the amount prescribed to correct near vision. It is believed that central near add zones have been more successful at correcting presbyopia than central distance zones, when incorporated in concentric multifocal soft lens designs. Although concentric center add multifocal designs have the ability to correct higher add power requirements, most individuals fitted with this type of lens experience moderate to significant amounts of visual discomfort due to ghosting of images or a 3-D effect, at near distances. These effects diminish with adaptation, but still cause a high portion of wearers to discontinue the use of this type of presbyopic contact lens.
The reality of the existing art of presbyopic correction with simultaneous vision contact lenses is that no currently available lens system, be it aspheric or concentric, provides monocular multifocal correction for moderate to mature presbyopia. In most cases, some form of modified monovision is required in an attempt to satisfy the visual requirement for near and far vision. To this end almost all currently available presbyopic contact lens manufacturers indicate in their fitting manuals the requirement of compensating one eye more for near and the other eye more for distance correction. This is the norm rather than the exception. Additionally, no currently available multifocal contact lens has the ability to restore the phenomena of natural accommodation and successful results are difficult to achieve and require considerable time and experience on the part of the fitter.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide true multifocal correction for moderate and mature presbyopes requiring up to +3.00 diopters of add power without the need to compensate one eye for near and the other eye for distance.
It is a further object of this invention to provide rapid patient adaptation with minimal initial visual discomfort.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a presbyopic optical system that restores the phenomenon of natural accommodation.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a system of fitting and methodology that allows a contact lens fitter with little or no multifocal contact lens fitting experience to achieve a very high degree of success and patient satisfaction.


A system and method for handling technical data organizes and links information in a computer format that is readily accessible and easily useable. The system includes and provides a mechanism to arrange and store technical information from many different sources, regarding many different subjects, in one data set. The data set preferably includes a plurality of diagrams that each contain a plurality of components, identifying information that identifies each component and descriptive information that describes the components. The information is linked together so that the various distinct aspects thereof are readily accessed, as selected, by a user.

This invention generally relates to information retrieval systems. More specifically, this invention relates to a system and method for storing large volumes of technical information in a manner that provides the ability to easily access and flexibly use the information.
Some occupations require the use of large amounts of technical information. The service industry of consumer electronics is one example. In that case, the traditional manner of providing technical information to a service technician is through a printed service manual. Providing such information through printed service manuals, however, has many drawbacks, including that manuals are expensive to print, mail, store and update. Moreover, as technology advances and consumer electronics products become more complex, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide printed manuals that are accurate, adequately informative and useful to a technician. In particular, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide printed manuals that are not significantly encumbered by the complexity and volume of information provided. Indeed, these drawbacks tend to become more problematic as the number of products, and therefore manuals, increases.
With advances in electronics technology, the service industry faces another difficulty: the increasing complexity of consumer electronics products makes repairs more difficult and often more expensive, such that product replacement can be more economic than repair. Accordingly, service technicians generally are compelled to work more efficiently and at lower rates. However, that effort can be impeded by the complexity and size of printed service manuals. Accordingly, there is a need in the service industry for provision of technical information in such a manner that will speed up and facilitate the repair process.

System and method for handling technical hardware related information

Philips Electronics North America Corporation


A communication terminal having a user interface, and comprising a controller unit controlling said user interface, a first and a second operation key whose operation is controlled by the controller unit, and a display. The communication terminal being capable of assuming a plurality of states in which the groups of predetermined operations that may be performed by pressing said operation key are defined by the controller unit in said plurality of states. The first operation key is dedicated by the controller unit to perform one operation from said group of operations as a default function in dependence of the state assumed by the communication terminal, and the display has a first area solely dedicated for displaying the present operation performed when pressing said first operation key. The second operation key being dedicated by the controller unit to give access to said group of operations being available in the state assumed by the communication terminal. A scroll key allowing the user to scroll between operations included in said group of actions available for said second operation key. The user selects a highlighted operation by pressing a selection key.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a communication terminal having a user interface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The communication terminals, such as cellular phones, are becoming more and more advanced and include therefor more and more applications, features and operations that may be performed in different situations.
The most often raised issue for the one softkey user interface style used in e.g. Nokia 3310™ and described in EP 844.777 EP and 844.778 is the fact that the key-set is insufficient to handle rarely used operations, such as allowing implementation of conference calls and call waiting in a reasonable manner. The two-softkey user interface style used in e.g. Nokia 6210™ suffers from drawbacks in effectively browsing caused by limitations of the key-set and display. One of the key findings in usability tests for the two-softkey with a combined scroll and select key user interface style used in e.g. Nokia 7110™ was that there was no clear role division between the roller press and the left softkey. Moreover, the roller press function was not indicated at all to the user, which prevented from making it an efficient key. As a result, the users felt that they had no control over the device.


Advertisement information (45, 46) and a character string which is set in advance are stored in association with each other (S2), display data are obtained (S3), link information including a character string is specified from among link information included in the obtained display data (S8), a display position 42 for displaying the specified link information is specified (S9), an advertisement display area for displaying advertisement information is specified on the basis of the specified display position (S10), advertisement information corresponding to a character string included in the specified link information is specified (S11), and the specified advertisement information is displayed in the specified advertisement display area (43, 44) (S14).

Advertisements on the Internet include various kinds of forms such as a banner advertisement, a mail advertisement, a keyword targeted advertisement, and an affiliate advertisement, and in order to enhance the effect of the advertisement, the advertisement may be displayed at a position which can be easily noticed by users, or the advertisement may be blinked, or incentive is given to encourage users to access the advertisement. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a prize service method for performing prize processing in accordance with the state of access by a user to a web site, wherein when the user accesses one of multiple web sites, winning determination is output with a predetermined winning chance, and when the winning determination is output, a banner advertisement included in the web page accessed by the user is changed to a winning banner including a display of the winning determination.

Advertisement display program, advertisement display apparatus, advertisement display method, recording medium, and advertisement display system


A system for selective chemical vapor deposition of polymers onto a substrate. A substrate is provided which comprises a plurality of surface regions, wherein the surface of at least one region provides a more favorable nucleation site for at least one of a polymer or polymer precursor than at least one other region. This may be an intrinsic characteristic of the substrate or may be accomplished through surface treatment of a substrate. The substrate is subjected to chemical vapor deposition of a reactive monomer, producing a polymer coating which is substantially thicker in the regions of favorable nucleation than in the regions of unfavorable nucleation.

It is often desired to produce a conformal polymer coating on selected areas of a substrate. Conventional methods for producing such a coating generally involve solution processing to achieve a substantially uniform layer of polymer over the entire substrate surface, followed by removing selected areas by photolithography. However, uniform coating followed by photolithography is not a suitable process for selective deposition of many polymers, since it involves use of solvents, acids, and water, all of which can lead to undesirable side reactions with the deposited polymer.
Prominent among the polymers for which photolithography processes are undesirable are electroluminescent (EL) polymers. These materials are promising for use as the active element in light emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers, since polymers have advantages in processing and formation of strong, flexible, light weight structures. Some of the most attractive candidates for polymer-based LEDs are those derived from poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV). Continuous thin films of PPV can be fabricated by solution processing methods, or by chemical vapor deposition. However, production of devices more complicated than a single monolithic LED requires subsequent photolithography, which can irreparably damage the unique electronic properties of these films. In particular, the incorporation of oxygen into the structure of PPV has been shown to be detrimental to the conductivity and to the photoluminescent (PL) and EL efficiencies of the film, through the formation of carbonyl defects.
It is thus desirable to produce patterned layers of polymer coatings directly, in which the polymer is selectively deposited only on the areas in which it is ultimately desired. For inorganic materials, it has been found that such selective deposition can be accomplished by a surface treatment of a substrate followed by chemical vapor deposition. The surface treatment is adapted to inhibit nucleation in some areas of the substrate, and/or to promote nucleation in other areas. By carefully controlling the processing conditions of the chemical vapor deposition, the inorganic material can be induced to deposit only on the favorable nucleation areas, producing a patterned layer of material.
A similar process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,379, in which exposure of selected areas of a substrate to a plasma inhibits the subsequent deposition of p-xylylene monomers to produce poly-p-xylylene in those areas. However, the use of a plasma is cumbersome and not suitable for all substrates, and no methods are disclosed for deposition of polymers other than poly-p-xylylene. In particular, no techniques are known for the selective deposition of PPV and its related compounds without subsequent solution processing.

Selective chemical vapor deposition of polymers


An apparatus, system, and method for assembling a ball grid array (BGA) package is described. A stiffener/heat spreader is provided. A substrate has a first surface and a second surface. The substrate has a central window-shaped aperture that extends through the substrate from the first substrate surface to the second substrate surface. The first substrate surface is attached to a surface of the stiffener/heat spreader. A portion of the stiffener/heat spreader is accessible through the central window-shaped aperture. An IC die has a first surface and a second surface. The first IC die surface is mounted to the accessible portion of the stiffener/heat spreader. A drop-in heat spreader has a surface that is mounted to the second IC die surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuit (IC) device packaging technology, and more particularly to substrate stiffening and heat spreading techniques in ball grid array (BGA) packages.
2. Related Art
Integrated circuit (IC) dies are typically mounted in or on a package that is attached to a printed circuit board (PCB). One such type of IC die package is a ball grid array (BGA) package. BGA packages provide for smaller footprints than many other package solutions available today. A BGA package has an array of solder balls located on a bottom external surface of a package substrate. The solder balls are reflowed to attach the package to the PCB. The IC die is mounted to the package substrate. Wire bonds typically couple signals in the IC die to the substrate. The substrate has internal routing which electrically couples the IC die signals to the solder balls on the bottom substrate surface.
A number of BGA package substrate types exist, including ceramic, plastic, and tape (also known as "flex"). In some BGA package types, a heat spreader/stiffener may be attached to the substrate to provide heat sinking, and to supply planarity and rigidity to the package.
Die-up and die-down BGA package configurations exist. In die-up BGA packages, the IC die is mounted on a top surface of the substrate or heat spreader/stiffener, on a side opposite that of the solder balls. In die-down BGA packages, the IC die is mounted on a bottom surface of the substrate or stiffener, which is the same side as the solder balls.
The tape substrate used in flex BGA packages is typically polyimide, which has very low values of thermal conductivity. Consequently, the IC die is separated from the PCB by the tape substrate thermal barrier. The lack of direct thermal connection from IC die to PCB leads to relatively high resistance to heat transfer from IC die to printed circuit board (theta-jb).
Furthermore, conventional BGA packages are subject to high thermal stresses that result from the heat given off during operation of the mounted IC die. The thermal stresses are primarily imposed on the IC die due to a mismatch of the thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) between the semiconductor die and the stiffener/heat spreader. The thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) of copper typically used for a heat spreader in a tape BGA package is approximately 17.4×10−6/° C. For a silicon IC die, the CTE is approximately 2.64×10−6/° C. Because of the difference in CTE values, changes in temperature during the BGA package assembly process may lead to high levels of thermal stress. As the IC die size increases for a BGA package, higher stress levels will occur at the interface of the IC die and stiffener/heat spreader. Consequently, cracks often occur on large semiconductor IC dies during the portions of the assembly process following the attachment of the IC die to the stiffener/heat spreader.
Hence, what is needed are BGA packages with improved heat spreading capabilities. What is also needed is a reduction in BGA package thermal stress during the assembly process, to improve packaging yields.

Enhanced die-down ball grid array and method for making the same


Gossamer apparatus and systems for use with spacecraft may include a deployable gossamer apparatus. The deployable gossamer apparatus may include a plurality rib members and gossamer material extending therebetween and may be configured in a stowed configuration and a deployed configuration. The rib members of the deployable gossamer apparatus store potential energy used for deployment of the deployable gossamer apparatus.

The present disclosure relates generally to gossamer apparatus and systems for use with spacecraft to increase a surface area (e.g., to form a drag surface defining the suface area) of the spacecraft and/or to decelerate a spacecraft, e.g., to modify the spacecraft's orbit, to de-orbit the spacecraft, for aerobraking the spacecraft, to lower the apogee of the orbit of the spacecraft, for providing a solar sail, etc.
An increasing number of spacecraft are located in low earth orbit. With spacecraft fragmentation, a growing population of orbital debris has been created. Spacecraft may be de-orbited at the end of their operational lives to lower the amount orbital debris. Various standards may require spacecraft to de-orbit within 25 years of the end of their operational life. Traditionally, chemical propulsion systems have been used to de-orbit spacecraft from low-earth orbit at the end of their operational life.
To reduce propellant requirements on spacecraft entering orbit around a planetary body with an atmosphere such as, e.g., Earth, Mars, etc., an "aerobraking" approach may be used. "Aerobraking" reduces the velocity of the spacecraft when initially arriving at a planetary body by using drag created by the atmosphere of the planetary body to reduce the eccentricity of the orbit (e.g. to change the orbit from a hyperbolic to an elliptical trajectory, or to circularize the orbit). In other words, a spacecraft may use aerobraking to reduce the velocity of the spacecraft. For example, the surface area of appendages already used by the spacecraft such as, e.g., solar arrays, etc., may be used for aerobraking.
Some space missions may require a spacecraft to lower its orbit without fully de-orbiting the spacecraft, e.g., reducing apogee to circularize an orbit. Traditionally, chemical propulsion systems may be used for orbit transfers such as, e.g., a partial Hohmann transfer.
Spacecraft may currently deorbit from low Earth orbit using chemical propulsion, electro-dynamic drag, electric propulsion, and natural orbit decay. Chemical propulsion systems are expensive and heavy, and must be integrated into the spacecraft design from conception. In addition, not all satellites require station keeping, orbital maneuvering, or propulsion based attitude control, and therefore, a need for a propulsion system apart from for de-orbiting may not exist. Propulsion systems are often high cost, and thus may represent a large investment for a part of the mission that does not directly contribute to operations.
Electro-dynamic tethers have been developed to de-orbit spacecraft. Electro-dynamic tethers may, however, require complex deployment and may have reliability issues. Further, each of chemical propulsion, electro-dynamic drag, and electric propulsion systems may require functions of the spacecraft systems to be operational at end of life. If the spacecraft systems fail during operations (e.g., prior to de-orbit), then de-orbit may not be able to be accomplished.
Natural orbit decay from atmospheric drag has also been used to de-orbit spacecraft, but the rate of decay is proportional to the surface area of the spacecraft. Most spacecraft in appreciably high orbits (e.g., about 600 kilometers to about 1000 kilometers) may not have a large enough surface area to produce sufficient drag to de-orbit the spacecraft within a 25 year period.


Compositions which comprise sorbic acid and/or one or more sorbates, and a flavonoid and/or flavonoid derivative, a method for the preparation thereof, and their use.

The invention relates to sorbate-preserved compositions, to methods for their preparation, and to their use, in particular as color-stabilized cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions.
Cosmetic compositions are substances or preparations comprising substances which are intended to be applied externally to the person or used in body cavities (e.g. in the oral cavity) for cleansing, care or for influencing the appearance or the body odor or for conveying odor impressions. Pharmaceutical compositions are substances or preparations comprising substances which are primarily intended to alleviate or to eliminate illnesses, suffering, bodily injuries or pathological complaints.
Cosmetic compositions are, for example, hair- and body-cleansing products, such as shampoos, shower gels or washing lotions, creams, lotions and gels for skincare and for protection against solar irradiation, oral hygiene and dental care products, decorative cosmetics, self-tanning compositions, water-, alcohol- or surfactant-containing cloths for cleansing or freshening and other products within the meaning of the definition given above.
For the purposes of this invention, pharmaceutical compositions are aqueous or alcohol-containing solutions, gels or emulsions comprising a water phase and a lipid phase which comprise pharmaceutically active substances. Examples are medicaments which are administrable orally, ointments, creams, eye drops or nasal drops, sprays, tinctures, injection solutions and more besides.
Typical ingredients of cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions are water, surfactants and cosurfactants, oils, fats, waxes, emulsifiers, solubilizers, film formers, polymers, conditioning agents, bodying agents, thickeners, gel formers, dyes, pigments, pearlizing agents, fragrances, light protection filters, deodorant active ingredients, moisturizers, natural extracts such as herbs, plant extracts or essential oils, solvents, abrasive agents and more besides. In addition, very different active ingredients are used in such products, for example skin-smoothing, antiinflammatory, pain-relieving, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral substances.
Cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions, in particular water-containing ones, or those which are able to absorb water as a result of the intake of water or atmospheric moisture, generally comprise one or more preservatives which protect the composition from attack by spoilage or pathogenic microorganisms during storage and during use.
Sorbic acid (2,4-hexadienoic acid) and its salts, in particular the readily water-soluble potassium salt, has been used throughout the world for many years for preserving foods, and cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions. Sorbic acid is an unsaturated fatty acid which is notable for particular physiological compatibility. Sorbic acid is metabolized in the human body analogously to its fatty acid, does not accumulate and is classified as safe by the scientific advisory boards of the World Health Organization and of the European Union. The ADI value, which can be evaluated as a measure of the physiological acceptability of food additives, set by both panels for sorbic acid is 0 to 25 mg/kg of bodyweight per day and is therefore the highest ADI value by far of all preservatives. Sorbic acid and sorbates are considered to be nonallergenic and are therefore not mentioned in any of the known allergy databanks (e.g. Leatherhead Food Tolerance Databanks Project) either. With regard to using cosmetic compositions, the CIR expert panel of the CTFA classifies these preservatives as xe2x80x9csafexe2x80x9d on the basis of the toxicological and allergological data known for sorbic acid and sorbates. Sorbic acid and sorbates have been approved throughout the world in the majority of countries for preserving cosmetic compositions.
The effectiveness of sorbic acid is directed primarily toward yeasts and molds, and toward numerous bacteria. The effectiveness of sorbic acid depends on the undissociated portion and therefore on the pH of the material to be preserved. Because of the high pK of 4.76, sorbic acid is also suitable for preserving weakly acidic materials (to pH 6.5), in contrast to other preservatives based on organic acids.
In solid form, sorbic acid and most sorbates, in particular potassium sorbate and calcium sorbate, are stable. In aqueous solution, in foods and in cosmetic compositions, sorbic acid, however, is subject to oxidative influences. Particularly as a result of oxidative cleavage of the double bonds, it is possible for aldehydes and ketones to form, which may be the cause of off-flavors. Polymerization products of these aldehydes can likewise be responsible for color changes, especially browning reactions, such as the reaction products of these aldehydes with amino acids or other primary or secondary amino groups. Products of this type are referred to as Maillard products and are often responsible for color changes in cosmetic compositions and foods.
Precisely in cosmetic compositions, for which significantly longer storage times have to be assumed than for most foods and which are subjected to oxidative influences, a sorbate-induced brown discoloration has been described (Domsch, A. (1994): Die kosmetischen Prxc3xa4parate, [Cosmetic Preparations], volume 2, wxc3xa4ssrige und tensidhaltige Formulierungen [Aqueous and surfactant-containing formulations], 4th Edition, p. 329, Augsburg, Verlag fxc3xcr chemische Industrie).
The mechanism of the oxidation of sorbic acid and appropriate stabilization measures have often been the subject of scientific investigations (Arya, S. (1980): Stability of sorbic acid in aqueous solutions, Journal Agric. Food Chem. 28, 1246-1249; Arya, S., Thakur, B. (1988): Degradation products of sorbic acid in aqueous solutions, Food Chem. 29, 41-49; Ledward, D. (1990): Stability of sorbic acid in intermediate moisture systems, Food Add. Contam. 7, 677-683; Merciades, M., Mohammed, K., Maniere, F. (1992): Stabilized sorbic acid or salt thereof, EP-A 0 595 576; Thakur, B., Singh, R., Arya, S. (1994): Chemistry of sorbatesxe2x80x94a basic perspective. Food Rev. Intern. 10, 71-91).
Since at least the first step of the reaction chain which later on leads to the formation of colored compounds is presumably an oxidative attack on one of the double bonds present in the sorbic acid molecule, the co-use of an antioxidative constituent appears necessary. It is, however, known that common antioxidants, such as, for example, propyl gallate or BHA (t-butylmethoxyphenol) which, because of their high antioxidative capacity, are customary in numerous cosmetic products and also in some foods, do not have a color-stabilizing action on sorbate-containing cosmetic or pharmaceutical formulations.
Within the framework of the above investigations, attempts were sometimes made to reduce the described sorbate-induced discolorations and odor changes of foods by adding metal ions (in particular manganese) in the concentration range from 0.1 to 5 ppm. However, metal ions only have an antioxidative effect in an extremely narrow dosage range. U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,902 describes the color stabilization of sorbate-containing aqueous systems using manganese ions. Overall, however, the addition of heavy metal ions to solve the discoloration problem does not appear to be very suitable since both toxic, and also ecologically unfavorable effects emanate from the heavy metals. Added to this is the fact that said heavy metals can, depending on the concentration chosen, also have a prooxidative effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,866,817 describes the stabilization of aqueous solutions of sorbic acid and its salts, in particular Na sorbate, using 0.0005 to 0.5% of glucono-delta-lactone. However, in combination with typical constituents of cosmetic compositions, such as, for example, protein hydrolyzates, ethanolamides or amidopropylbetaines, which additionally favor discoloration, this method does not lead to success. Furthermore, because of its limited solubility even in solid form, Na sorbate is of no significance as a preservative for foods, and cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions.
The protective measure which has hitherto been carried out most frequently for preventing sorbate-induced discolorations is the co-use of complexing agents (e.g. EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetate) and citric acid or salts thereof) which slow the sorbate-induced discolorations by complexing metal ions which have a prooxidative action.
This measure is particularly advantageous in cases of contamination by traces of metal ions which have a prooxidative effect in the cosmetic product. Under unfavorable conditions (e.g. elevated temperatures or intensive daylight irradiation of the sorbate-containing product), however, discolorations arise even in the absence of such prooxidative factors, meaning that complexing agents alone are unable to offer sufficient protection.
DE-A 195 04 999 describes the use of allantoin with or without citric acid or a salt thereof for reducing sorbate-induced discolorations in cosmetics and foods. However, this solution has the disadvantage that the color-stabilizing action is insufficient in conjunction with a number of frequently used ingredients of cosmetic products. Those ingredients of particular importance in this context are those which contain residual contents of free amines as a result of their preparation, or themselves are molecules containing primary or secondary amino groups. Examples of ingredients which act disadvantageously in this manner are amidopropylbetaines, protein hydrolyzates or ethanolamides, and fatty acid esters thereof.
Particularly under intensive irradiation by daylight, the color-stabilizing principle of a sorbate-containing cosmetic or pharmaceutical formulation is subject to particular requirements, which can only be partially met solely by the use of allantoin in conjunction with citric acid and citrates. Although the discoloration of corresponding products is reduced by the addition of allantoin in conjunction with citric acid and citrates, it is still visible.
There therefore continues to be a need for color-stabilizing additives which are able to suppress sorbate-induced discolorations in cosmetic or pharmaceutical compositions, or to reduce them appreciably even under unfavorable conditions such as elevated light and thermal stress.
Effective color stabilization is surprisingly achieved by adding a flavonoid to the sorbate-containing compositions, in particular a flavone or flavonal, preferably a water-soluble 3- or 7-glycoside of a flavonal, particularly preferably rutin, the rutinoside of quercetin. The flavonoids according to the invention are usually of a vegetable origin.
Flavonoids are themselves pale yellowish products which are used, for example, in natural dyeing. In the pharmaceutical field, a number of flavonoids or their glycosides are attributed with a protective action against diseases of the veins (biflavonoids, such as hesperidin and rutin) and of liver parenchyma (silybin), and also an improvement of the coronary circulation (hawthorn extract) and diuretic effects (birch leaf drugs) or spasmolytic effects (camomile drugs). (Rompp Lexikon Chemie, 10th edition, Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, N.Y.).
For the purposes of this invention, glycosides are combinations of the flavonoids with mono- or oligosaccharides, consisting of the monomeric building blocks glucose, rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, xylose or other monosaccharides, on carbon atom 3 or 7 of the flavonoid, as frequently occur in indigenous types of fruit and tropical fruits:
Formula (I) shows the basic structure of a flavone (3=H) or flavonal (3=OH, 4xe2x80x2=OH).
Examples of flavonoids which are effective according to the invention are the flavones
apigenin (5=OH, 7=OH)
luteolin (5=OH, 7=OH, 3xe2x80x2=OH)
diosmetin (4xe2x80x2=OCH3, 3xe2x80x2=OH)
chrysoeriol (3xe2x80x2=OCH3, 4xe2x80x2=OH)
and the flavonals
kaempferol (5=OH, 7=OH)
quercetin (5=OH,7=OH, 3xe2x80x2=OH)
morin (5=OH, 7=OH, 2xe2x80x2=OH)
robinetin (7=OH,3xe2x80x2=OH, 5xe2x80x2=OH)
gossypetin (5=OH, 7=OH,3xe2x80x2=OH,8=OH)
myricetin (5=OH, 7=OH, 3xe2x80x2=OH, 5xe2x80x2=OH)
fisetin (7=OH, 3xe2x80x2=OH)
isohamnetin (3xe2x80x2=OCH3)
and the 3- and 7-glycosides thereof.
Because of their natural origin, all of these compounds have high acceptance as ingredients of cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions and occur naturally in numerous types of berry fruits, citrus fruits and other types of fruit and vegetable and in some herbal plants.
The color-stabilizing action of these substances is surprising primarily because other representatives of the substance group of vegetable polyphenols either do not have a color-stabilizing effect on sorbate-preserved cosmetic or pharmaceutical compositions, or, under unfavorable conditions, such as, for example, intensive daylight irradiation, even lead to an acceleration of undesired discoloration reactions. Examples of compounds which do not have a stabilizing action on sorbate-containing cosmetic compositions are the large groups of hydroxycinnamic acids, hydroxycumaric acids and hydroxybenzoic acids and naturally occurring esters thereof with quinic acid, shikimic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid and myo-inositol. Some of these compounds even increase undesired discoloration.
Examples which may be mentioned here are ferulic acid and rosmarinic acid, which are frequently used in cosmetic compositions because of an antioxidative effect attributed to them, but do not show a positive effect with regard to the color stabilization of sorbate-containing products.
Synthetic antioxidants, such as propyl gallate or BHA, do not have a color-stabilizing action on sorbate-containing cosmetic or pharmaceutical formulations either.
All the more noteworthy is the differing behavior of flavonoid compounds and, in particular, of the 3-glycosides and 7-glycosides thereof.
While it is not the intention to express that the invention is limited to the activity mechanism described below, the following statement can nevertheless be assumed: The color-stabilizing action could firstly be explained by the relatively favorable solubility properties (better solubility in water as a result of the relatively large proportion of hydrophilic structures in the molecule), but also by a steric hindrance of oxidation or polymerization reactions at the phenolic groups of the molecule. Both are properties which antioxidative compounds do not necessarily have and whose absence is therefore in no way detrimental to their effectiveness in other systems, but to which, surprisingly, particular importance appears to be attributed for the present problem.
The flavonoid and/or its 3- or 7-glycoside are advantageously added to the composition, in particular the cosmetic or pharmaceutical composition, in a concentration of from 0.005 to 10% by weight, in particular 0.01 to 2% by weight, preferably 0.01 to 1 % by weight, particularly preferably 0.015 to 0.2% by weight, based on the total mass of the product. At the preferred use concentrations, flavonoids are themselves only very weakly color-imparting.
The sorbate-preserved compositions, in particular the cosmetic and pharmaceutical compositions, comprise between 0.005 and 5% by weight of sorbic acid or a salt thereof, in particular between 0.05 and 2% by weight, preferably between 0.1 and 0.8% by weight, particularly preferably between 0.15 and 0.4% by weight.

Method for suppressing sorbate- and/or sorbic acid-induced discoloration

Nutrinova Nutrition Specialties and Food Ingredients GmbH


A printing plate is produced having at least one edge which has been cut so that it is parallel to a line of delimitation of the type area of the plate. The printing plate is fed to an impression cylinder of a printing press, in an axial direction of the impression cylinder by use of a plate feeding and alignment device. During the process of feeding the printing plate to the impression cylinder, the at least one edge of the plate, which was cut parallel to the type line of determination, is guided against at least one stop.

DE 101 58 158 A1 discloses a device for use in positioning a rubber blanket on a cylinder of a printing press. At least one stop, that acts in the axial direction of the cylinder, is disposed outside of the cylinder and can be pivoted into an infeed plane for the rubber blanket. This stop is used to feed the rubber blanket to the cylinder precisely positioned in an axial direction. The rubber blanket is pressed against the lateral stop by, for example, the force of a spring.
DE 196 20 997 A1 and EP 0 808 714 A2 disclose devices and methods for axially positioning a printing plate. A lateral stop for a lateral register device, which lateral stop is arranged between a forme cylinder and a printing plate preparation device, can preferably be steplessly positioned in an adjustment area that is oriented parallel to the forme cylinder. A gripper device presses the printing plate, which printing plate is to be fed to the forme cylinder from the printing plate preparation device, against the positioned lateral stop. The position of the lateral stop is preselected such that a printing plate that is guided on this lateral stop can be fed to the forme cylinder in the correct position. Additionally, another lateral stop for the printing plate that is to be fed to the forme cylinder can also be provided on either the forme cylinder or on the printing plate preparation device. Multiple printing plates can be arranged on the forme cylinder, side by side in the forme cylinder axial direction, and another lateral stop on either the forme cylinder or on the printing plate preparation device can be allocated to each of these multiple printing plates.
A method for producing multiple printing plates for printing presses is known from DE 196 09 084 A1. The printing plates are produced especially at least partially in an image generating system. Directional features are cut into each printing plate and are used to align each printing plate as it is installed on the rotary drum of a printing press. In addition to the lateral image on each printing plate, visible markings are applied to the surface of each printing plate. These visible markings can be optically detected and can serve to determine the position of directional cut-outs to be placed in each printing plate. These cut-outs can then be placed in these positions in each printing plate.
A processing device for use in preparing printing plates for offset printing presses via the mechanical processing of the respective printing plate for custom mounting on the respective printing press is known from DE 199 19 263 A1. This mechanical processing, and particularly the punching of centering holes, and also a trimming of the plate size, results in a precisely defined reference to the actual position of the printed image by the use of exposed optical markings in a clearly defined relation based upon the position of a printed image. The markings that are based on the printed image are preferably disposed in the edge area of the printing plate which lies outside of the usable printed image.
From EP 0 678 383 A1 there is known a device for exchanging printing formes on rotary printing presses. A printing forme, that is to be fed to a printing forme cylinder, can be aligned against a lateral stop.

Method for feeding a printing forme to a forme cylinder of a printing press


A layout structure of the interconnection layers of a semiconductor device includes a plurality of conducting lines extending adjacent one another, and at least one rectangular cut-out formed in a side of each of the conducting lines, wherein a width of gap between adjacent ones of the plurality of conducting lines is increased at each rectangular cut-out. The rectangular cut-out serves to increase the space between adjacent conducting lines so as to secure a proper gap there between upon deposition of a passivation layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, the present invention relates to the layout structure of interconnection layers which electrically connect elements in semiconductor devices, such as Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAMs).
2. Description of the Related Art
As multiple metalizations become more frequently utilized in fabricating semiconductor devices, the characteristics of intermediate dielectric films (IMDs) (which provide insulation between adjacent interconnection metal layers) and passivation layers (formed over the wafer) become more important. That is, the IMD must be formed of a material having a low dielectric constant to decrease a parasitic capacitance between adjacent interconnection layers, and also must have good step coverage. The passivation layer, which is an insulating layer that inhibits physical or chemical damage to the uppermost interconnection layer during assembly and packaging, must provide the characteristics enumerated below:
1. Protection of the chip from an external environment, so that the chip operates normally regardless of a type of packaging material utilized and under a severe operating environment, as well as inhibiting differing causes of physical damage. This characteristic is especially pressing in the case of an exposed chip.
2. Protection of the interconnection layers, so that the patterning thereof is not adversely affected by distortion and stress that occurs during operation of the chip. In addition, chemical corrosion of the interconnection layers should be prevented.
3. A low dielectric constant to prevent signal propagation delays caused by parasitic capacitances which accompany the reduced widths of the conductive lines of the interconnection layer.
4. Planarization, i.e., capable of providing a substantially flat upper surface.
To this end, the passivation layer has generally been formed of a silicon nitride (SiN) layer deposited by PECVD (Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition), and a thick polyimide layer laid thereon. The first passivation SiN layer serves as an impermeable barrier to mobile ions such as Na+, and water, and prevents the chip from being scratched. The second passivation polyimide layer absorbs external impacts, and inhibits the formation of voids which occur in a die bonding process for connecting the metal layer of the bonding pad with the chip package.
However, as the space between adjacent conductive lines of the interconnection layer continues to decrease with the continuing increase in the scale of chip integration, the conventional passivation layer described above inherently suffers various drawbacks. Referring to FIG. 1, the conductive lines 12 of the conventional interconnection layer are arranged in parallel at a constant pitch. In this case, the pitch is defined as the sum of the width of one conductive line and the space between two adjacent conductive lines. With respect to the space between adjacent conductive lines, limitations inherent in CAD and photolithography processes result in this space being wider in the slantwise turning region xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99 than in the straight line region xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99. As such, as described below, the subsequent passivation process results in a loss of passivation layer material in the wider region.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the cross sections of the two regions xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99 of FIG. 1 after depositing the nitride passivation layer. A semiconductor substrate (not shown) is firstly covered with an insulating layer 10, on which the conductive lines 12 of the interconnection layer are laid out as shown in FIG. 1, and then an oxide layer 14 is deposited thereon by PECVD. Subsequently, the nitride passivation layer 16 is deposited on the oxide layer 14 by PECVD. In this case, the relatively narrower region xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 generates the internal cavity 18 caused by the passivation layer 16 crowding the overhead region of the conductive lines 12, while the relatively wider region xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99 maintains the normal profile of the passivation layer 16 forming the normal gap 20 between the adjacent conductive lines.
The passivation layer 16 is covered with a photoresist layer (not shown), which is exposed to radiation and developed to form a photoresist pattern for defining pad and fuse regions. According to this pattern, the passivation layer 16 and oxide layer 14 are etched to open the pad and fuse regions. During the photolithography, the photoresist in the wider region xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99 is partially drawn into the cavity 18 of the narrower region xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 in the direction of arrow xe2x80x98Cxe2x80x99 of FIG. 1, resulting in a loss of the thickness of the photoresist layer in the region xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99, so that, when etching the passivation layer 16 to open the pad and fuse regions, the part of the passivation layer 16 in the region xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99 is not protected by the photoresist to generate passivation defects exposing the part of the conductive lines 12 in the region xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate cross sectional views of the regions xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99 of FIG. 1 after baking the polyimide layer. Even when removing the photoresist pattern used to open the pad and fuse regions by the etching and stripping process, the photoresist part having been drawn into the cavity 18 of the narrower region xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 cannot be completely removed due to the blocking of the passivation layer 16. After removing the photoresist pattern, the polyimide layer 22 is deposited over it with a thickness of a few xcexcm, and etched to expose the metal of the pad regions. Then, it is baked to harden the polyimide layer 22 at a temperature of about 350xc2x0 C. for about 30 minutes. However, during the baking process, the photoresist residue in the cavity 18 of the narrower region xe2x80x98Axe2x80x99 burns generating pressurized gases moving into the gap between the adjacent conductor lines 12 in the region xe2x80x98Bxe2x80x99, so as to burst the upper polyimide layer 22 as indicated by reference symbol xe2x80x98Dxe2x80x99 in 3B. Consequently, this degrades the reliability of the product. In order to resolve such problem, an additional process or newly proposed passivation layer has been considered, which, however, may cause change of the electrical characteristics of the chip as well as result in increased cost.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a layout structure of the interconnection layers of a semiconductor device, which is devoid of certain procedural defects encountered upon formation of the interconnection layers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device, which is devoid of certain procedural defects encountered upon depositing a passivation layer in a back-end process.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a layout structure of the interconnection layers includes a plurality of conducting lines extending adjacent one another in a semiconductor device, and at least one rectangular cut-out formed in a side of each of the conducting lines, wherein a width of gap between adjacent ones of the plurality of conducting lines is increased at each rectangular cut-out. Preferably, each rectangular cut-out is dimensioned to achieve a design gap between respective confronting flank portions of an insulating layer which covers adjacent ones of the plurality of conducting lines. The design gap has a predetermined width xcex1, and each rectangular cut-out is dimensioned such that xcex1=Sxe2x88x922T, where S is the increased width between adjacent ones of the plurality of conducting lines, and T is a width of each of the confronting flank portions of the insulating layer. Each rectangular cut-out is located in a region where a space between the adjacent conducting lines is narrow such that in the absence of each rectangular cut-out a cavity would otherwise form in the insulating layer formed over the conducting lines. Preferably, each rectangular cut-out in one of the conducting lines faces towards another rectangular cut-out in an adjacent one of the conducting lines. Also preferably, one rectangular cut-out in one of the conducting lines is opposite another rectangular cut-out in a same one of the conducting lines.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a layout structure of the interconnection layers includes a plurality of conducting lines extending adjacent one another in a semiconductor device, the plurality of conducting lines including a first region in which a spacing between adjacent conducting lines is narrow, and a second region in which a spacing between adjacent conducting lines is wider than in the first region, and at least one rectangular cut-out formed in a side of each of the conducting lines, wherein a width of gap between adjacent ones of the plurality of conducting line is increased at each rectangular cut-out. Preferably, each said rectangular cut-out is located in the first region.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes a cell array region for containing a plurality of memory cells; a peripheral circuit region for containing circuits which drive the memory cells; a plurality of conducting lines extending adjacent one another in a given pattern in the cell array region and peripheral circuit region; a passivation layer formed over the conducting lines; and at least one rectangular cut-out formed in a side of each of the conducting lines. A width of gap between adjacent ones of the plurality of conducting lines is increased at each rectangular cut-out. Preferably, the rectangular cut-out is only arranged in the peripheral circuit region.
Thus, the layout structure of the interconnection layers is modified to selectively increase the space between adjacent conducting lines, so that the procedural defects encountered after depositing the passivation layer can be prevented without applying additional processes or materials, therefore improving the reliability of the chip.

Interconnection layer layout comprising cut-out conductive lines that ensure proper profile of overlying passivation layer


A recording apparatus is provided that includes a broadcast signal receiving means for receiving a broadcast signal transmitted from a broadcasting station and a setting means for setting at least a broadcasting time period and a broadcasting station. The recording apparatus has a communication means for transmitting request information to an external device and for receiving reply information from the external device and a program table creation means for creating a program table based on the reply information. The apparatus further has a recording scheduling means for scheduling the recording of a program to be broadcast from the broadcasting station set by the setting means based on the title and broadcasting date and time of the selected previously broadcasted program when a program previously broadcasted during the broadcasting time period set by the setting means is selected from the program table.

Recently audio recording apparatus for recording the audio of radio programs and video recording apparatus for recording the video of television programs have been widely used as recording apparatus.
After letting a user to specify a broadcasting station and time, such audio recording apparatus selects the specified broadcasting station at the time and starts to record the audio of a radio program that is broadcasted from the broadcasting station.
The video recording apparatus, on the other hand, obtains electronic program guide information from a broadcasting satellite, displays the electronic program guide information on a prescribed display unit to let a user select a desired television program, and records the video of the selected television program, the electronic program guide information showing the summaries of television programs including program titles and broadcasting times (for example, refer to patent reference 1).
Patent Reference 1 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-284962
By the way, the above audio recording apparatus does not show users information on radio programs. Therefore, the users should check a radio program table on paper or magazines, or the like, to thereby confirm the broadcasting stations and times of desired radio programs before recording the radio programs.
The above video recording apparatus, on the other hand, is capable of showing users electronic program guide information on television programs. The electronic program guide information, however, includes only the summaries of television programs, such as program titles and broadcasting times. Such electronic program guide information is not enough for users to know details on the television programs. Therefore, the user can only guess the contents of the television programs from the electronic program guide information to select television programs to be recorded.
As described above, the above recording apparatus has a drawback that users cannot know details on programs and select preferable programs for recording.

Recording device for recording broadcasted information


A multi-degree-of-freedom actuator includes a movable element having a plurality of permanent magnets, and a stator including a stator core and a plurality of coils. The permanent magnets are arranged in the X direction such that the number P of poles is an even number of two or more. The coils are of two types: X-direction driving coil and Z-direction driving coil. The Z-direction driving coils the number of which is P are disposed at positions opposite to magnetic poles of the permanent magnets. The X-direction driving coil or coils the number of which is P/2 are each disposed at a position opposite to an intermediate point between two adjacent ones of the magnetic poles of the permanent magnets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-degree-of-freedom actuator and a stage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some conventional multi-degree-of-freedom actuators, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-254489, a movable element includes permanent magnets arrayed in the XY plane, and a stator includes coils. Control currents having phase differences are supplied to each pair of adjacent ones of the coils. The movable element is thrust in the X direction and is levitated in the Z direction by electromagnetic force.

Multi-degree-of-freedom actuator and stage device


An example of a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing machine-readable instructions. The instructions may cause the processor to receive a three-dimensional (3D) object representation and subdivide it into a triangular grid. Curved triangles may be calculated for triangles in the triangular grid. The triangles may be subdivided and differences calculated between corresponding sections of the curved triangles and the received 3D object representation.

Representations of three-dimensional (3D) objects may be created in an application on a computer system. Between creating a 3D object representation and manipulating it or preparing it for printing by a 3D printer, multiple 3D object representation formats may be used, with a computer system converting the representation between different representation formats. One representation of a 3D object is NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines), which a 3D printing pipeline may convert into a triangular mesh before slicing the object for material deposition.

Determination of vertices of triangular grids for three-dimensional object representations

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An emergency light includes a charging unit comprising a housing, a prong support rotatably secured to the housing, and a prong assembly fixedly secured to the prong support and being adapted to mate with a conventional electrical outlet; an illumination unit releasably disposed in the housing to be electrically connect to the charging unit; and a lamp indicator unit electrically connected to the charging unit and comprising a plurality of LEDs for indicating a charging state of the illumination unit. The rotation of the prong support, i.e., the prong assembly, is 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees. The illumination unit can be used as a flashlight after removing from the housing.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to emergency lights and more particularly to such an emergency light having a rotatable electrical plug and a releasable illumination unit which can be used as a flashlight after removing.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, an electrical plug is adapted to insert into an outlet (e.g., wall outlet) for obtaining electrical power therefrom. It is typical for an outlet mounted vertically on the wall. Hence, the electrical plug inserted into the outlet is also disposed vertically. It is also possible that an outlet is mounted obliquely on the wall. However, the electrical plug inserted into the outlet is not disposed vertically in this case. Hence, a device, connected to the electrical plug, may be disposed in an unstable orientation and may be easily disengaged from the electrical plug.
For overcoming the above problem, numerous suggestions for rotatable electrical plugs have been disclosed in prior patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,503 discloses a rotatable electrical plug and power cord.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,220,010 discloses an emergency light. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitation of emergency light having a rotatable electrical plug are constantly being sought.

Emergency light with a rotatable electrical plug


A charge pump circuit includes a first charge pump stage circuit coupled in series with a second charge pump stage circuit. A discharge circuit operates to discharge the charge pump circuit. The discharge circuit includes: a first switched circuit coupled to a first output of the first charge pump stage circuit and configured, when actuated, to discharge the first output; and a second switched circuit coupled to a second output of the second charge pump stage circuit and configured, when actuated, to discharge the second output. A discharge control circuit actuates the first switched discharge circuit to discharge the first output and then, after the first output is fully discharged, actuates the second switched discharge circuit to discharge the second output.

Many circuits require supply voltages that are relatively high (for example, at or in excess of 12 V). A non-volatile memory is an example of such a circuit. The program and erase operations in such memories are performed using the Fowler-Nordeim tunneling effect which requires the use of such high voltages. It is common for these high voltages to be generated on-chip from a relatively lower supply voltage (for example, 3 V, 3.3 V or 5 V) using a high voltage charge pump circuit.
A typical multi-stage high (positive) voltage charge pump circuit 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The charge pump circuit 10 includes N pump stage circuits 12(1) to 12(N) that are connected in series. Each pump stage circuit 12 includes an input configured to receive a first voltage and an output configured to generate a second voltage that is higher than the first voltage. In the series connection of the pump stage circuits 12, the output of the first pump stage circuit 12(1) is connected to the input of the second pump stage circuit 12(2), the output of the second pump stage circuit 12(2) is connected to the input of the third pump stage circuit 12(3), and so on, up to where the input of the Nth pump stage circuit 12(N) is connected to the output of the (N−1)th pump stage circuit 12(N−1).
The internal circuitry for each pump stage circuit 12 is well known to those skilled in the art and is not illustrated in the figures and will not be described in detail herein. As an example, however, each pump stage circuit 12 may exploit clocked charge transfer between capacitors that are used as charge accumulation elements. In such a pump stage circuit, clock signals CLK and CLKb of opposite phase are used to control switches (for example, MOSFET devices) to selectively transfer charge to and between capacitors.
The overall charge pump circuit 10 has an input 14 configured to receive an input voltage Vin that is applied to the input of the first pump stage circuit 12(1) and further has an output 16 configured to generate an output voltage Vout at the output of the Nth pump stage circuit 12(2). The output 16 is coupled to a load (not shown) and the output voltage Vout has a suitably boosted voltage level with respect to the input voltage Vin. As an example, with an input voltage of Vin=3 V and where each pump stage circuit 12 may provide a voltage boost of about 2.2 V, an N=6 charge pump circuit 10 will generate an output voltage Vout that is approximately equal to (N+1)*Vin (in this case, for example, Vout=16 V).
The charge pump circuit 10 includes a clock generator circuit 20 that is configured to generate a set of complementary clock signals CLK and CLKb that are applied to each pump stage circuit 12 to control the clocked charge transfer operations. In alternate embodiments the clock signals used to drive each pump stage circuit may include more than two phases—for example, a four-phase set of clock signals is used by certain known pump stage circuits. Operation of the clock generator circuit 20 is enabled in response to an enable signal En that is generated by a comparator circuit 22. An output voltage detection circuit 26 is coupled between the output 16 and ground and is configured to sense the output voltage Vout and generate a feedback voltage Vfb that is indicative of (i.e., is a fraction of) the output voltage Vout. The output voltage detection circuit 26 may, for example, comprise a resistive voltage divider circuit including at least two resistors R1, R2 and a tap node T. The comparator circuit 22 operates to compare the feedback voltage Vfb to a reference voltage Vref and generate the enable signal En to turn on the clock generator circuit 20 when Vfb<Vref and, conversely, turn off the clock generator circuit 20 when Vref<Vfb. The reference voltage Vref may, for example, be generated by a bandgap circuit.
When the charge pump circuit 10 is subsequently turned off, it is important to properly discharge the output of each pump stage circuit 12 to a suitable low voltage level. More specifically, this discharge operation refers to the discharging of the high voltage storing capacitors within the pump stage circuits 12. If the capacitor discharge operation is not properly performed, a number of potential problems can arise, including: ground-bounce (due to discharge to the ground node), supply noise generation (due to discharge to the supply node), latch-up (if high uncontrolled current is dumped into the ground/supply node and the localized bulk is forward biased), snap-back (if high uncontrolled current is dumped into the ground/supply node and a parasitic bipolar junction transistor is triggered) or device reliability concerns (for example due to violation of safe operating area (SOA) limits in response to the uncontrolled current leading to junction break-down, oxide related issues or aging issues).
There is accordingly a need in the art for a controlled discharge of the pump stage circuits within a multi-stage high voltage charge pump circuit.
Reference is further made to United States Patent Application Publication Nos. 2020/0195134 and 2020/0161966 (incorporated herein by reference) which teach examples of charge pump discharge circuits.

Circuit and method for controlled discharge of a high (positive or negative) voltage charge pump


A method and system for managing a buffered program operation for plurality of words is described. In one aspect, the method and system include providing an internal buffer including a plurality of locations and at least one bit location for the plurality of locations. Each of the words is stored in a location of the plurality of locations. The words are associated with internal address bits for the locations. At least one of the internal address bits is at least one group address bit that corresponds to all of the words. A remaining portion of the internal address bits is associated at least one of the words. The at least one bit location stores the at least one group address bit for the words. Thus, in one aspect, the method and system include storing each of the words one of the buffer locations. The method and system also include associating the at least one group address bit with the buffer location for each of the words.

Buffered program operations are used in memory devices, such as flash memories. Typically a buffered program operation allows multiple words, typically up to thirty-two words, to be programmed without wait states. In order to do so, an internal buffer is used. The internal buffer is used because physical programming operations are typically much slower than external timing.
In order to perform buffered programming, a write setup command is typically provided to the internal buffer. Words may then be sent to the internal buffer. In addition, the address of the first word is provided. The words are then temporarily stored in the internal buffer, then written to the memory.
In order manage the words written to the internal buffer, internal address bits are generated to define the words' positions in the internal buffer. For internal buffers capable of writing thirty-two words, five internal address bits A0, A1, A2, A3 and A4 are used. In addition, another bit, the A5 bit, termed a group bit herein, may be used to indicate a particular group of words stored in the buffer. Using the internal address bits, the internal buffer can reference the words to be written.
The addressing scheme can be used for performing aligned buffered program operations because A5 is the same for all words being programmed. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that misaligned buffered program operations are problematic. In particular, misaligned buffer operations may write different groups of words. Thus, in misaligned buffered program operations, the A5 bit can change. A mechanism for accounting for the changing value of the A5 bit needed.
FIG. 1 depicts a conventional double internal buffer 10 used in performing misaligned buffered program operations. The double internal buffer 10 includes two buffers 20 and 30. For the buffer 20, thirty-two locations 21 are provided for storing up two thirty-two words. Also depicted are validity bit locations 22 that are used for storing a validity bit for each of the locations 21. Similarly, for the buffer 30, thirty-two locations 31 are provided for storing up two thirty-two words. Also depicted are validity bit locations 32 that are used for storing a validity bit for each of the locations 31. For the buffer 20, bits A0, A1, A2, A3, and A4 are used for internal addressing. Similarly, for the buffer 30, bits A0, A1, A2, A3, and A4 are used for internal addressing. Bit A5 is used to select between buffer 20 and buffer 30. For the first buffer 20, the bit A5 is a zero. For the second buffer 30, the A5 is a one. Because two buffers 20 and 30, each of which uses internal addressing, are utilized, misaligned buffer operations in which the words from both buffers 20 and 30 having different values of A5 can be performed. In particular, the word to be programmed in a memory location which has A5=1 will be stored in the buffer 30, the word to be programmed in a memory location with A5=0 will be stored in the buffer 20.
Although the conventional internal double buffer 10 allows for misaligned buffered program operations to be performed, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the conventional internal double buffer 10 has significant drawbacks. The conventional internal double buffer 10 consumes significantly more circuit area than a conventional internal buffer that is a single buffer. In addition, buffered program operations take longer to complete. This is because a user can perform buffered program operations without being effectively limited in the number of programmable words. Thus, it cannot be determined whether a particular buffer 20 or 30 contains a valid word to be programmed without reading the entire double buffer 10. Thus all of the locations 21 and 31 in the double buffer 10 are traversed and it is determined, using the validity bit, whether each of the locations 21 and 31 stores a word to be programmed. Consequently, not only does the conventional double internal buffer 10 consume more space, but is also requires a longer time to complete a programming operation. Note that it is not necessary to memorize the A5, A4, A3, A2, A1 and A0 address bits of the word to be programmed because this information is obtained by the word position in the buffer 10.
Accordingly, what is needed is a mechanism for more efficiently performing misaligned buffered program operations while allowing the internal buffer to consume less area. The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for managing address bits during buffered program operations in a memory device


A lithography mask and method for manufacturing such mask that includes optically isolated via features and proximity correction features. The via patterns that include via features that define vias are positioned on the mask in rows and columns with a row and a column pitch between each row and column on the mask. The via patterns are positioned such that via features that are in adjacent columns are separated by at least one intervening row between them. The via patterns can also be positioned such that the via patterns that are in adjacent rows are separated by at least one intervening column between them. As a result, the via feature of each via pattern and the associated optical proximity correction features that are positioned around each via feature do not overlap with the optical proximity correction features and the via features of the surrounding via patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photolithography techniques and photolithographic masks and methods for fabricating such masks.
2. Description of Related Art
Dimensions of integrated circuit continue to become smaller in order to fit more circuitry in a given area. Features of integrated circuits that must continue to shrink include patterned conductor layers in which "interconnects" are formed for parts of the integrated circuit. As a result the shrinking node sizes on integrated circuits, the distance between conductors in the layers of patterned conductors has also decreased. A via is a hole through a layer or layers of material in an integrated circuit, which is typically filled with a conductor, sometimes called a plug, that can provide an interlayer connector between or among the layers of patterned conductors. So, as the distance between patterned conductors has decreased, there is increased pressure to make vias in smaller and smaller pitches.
Vias can be created through lithography, in which a group of via features on a mask defines an optical projection onto a wafer used in processes to form the vias on the wafer according to the pattern in the mask. With decreased via sizes, optical proximity correction (hereinafter OPC) features are included with the via features in the mask.
A via pattern on a mask can therefore include both the via feature and any OPC feature that is associated with such via feature. While the use of OPC features reduces distortion, such use also increases the area of each via pattern on the mask. Such increased area of each via pattern conflicts with the decreasing spacing between vias on the circuits being manufactured.
It is therefore desirable to provide technology which supports the use of OPC features despite the decreasing spacing between vias.

Mask design with optically isolated via and proximity correction features


The present invention relates to a nano-sized photocatalytic sol and application thereof. The invention utilizes spherical nano-photocatalyst and non-spherical photocatalytic sol for coating a photocatalyst layer on a substrate. Because of the stereo, interlaced and composite structure between spherical photocatalyst and non-spherical photocatalyst, a hard and well adhesion coated layer of photocatalyst with good photocatalytic activity can be obtained without using binder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nano-photocatalytic sol composed of spherical nano-photocatalyst and non-spherical nano-photocatalyst. A photocatalytic layer with high adhesion and good activity could be made with this nano-photocatalytic sol.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nanotechnology is the technology for producing material in the size of 10−9 meter (1 nanometer is equal to 10−9 meter), measuring its properties, and applying the special properties of such nano-sized material to the making of devices. Nanomaterials come in a wide variety and cover the fields of semiconductor, metal, polymer, biomedicine, carbon tube, etc. Nanomaterials are typically applied with their electrical, optical, magnetic, and chemical properties. The novel characteristics of nanomaterials are also applicable to industrial catalyst to enhance the surface area of the catalyst. The doping of nanomaterial can also be used to enhance the mechanical strength of devices. Turning semiconductor materials into nanosize can create high quantum confinement of electron and hole to increase the illumination efficiency and breakdown temperature of semiconductor laser. The availability of nanosized semiconductor can further reduce the size of optical and electrical components. Nanotechnology will make the integration of electronic, optical, magnetic and bio components possible.
Nano-photocatalyst have been used extensively to improve our living environment and gradually accepted by the public. Nano-photocatalyst generally means particle size under 30 nm. Under ultraviolet light irradiation (wavelength under 380 nm), active species are produced on the surface of nanoparticle which can oxidize or reduce the pollutants. In addition, the nano-photocatalyst coating layer is highly photo-induced hydrophilic, it can be applied to anti-fog, anti-dust and other self-cleaning functions. Nano-photocatalyst has been used extensively for pollutant removal, air cleansing, water purification, odor removal, anti-bacteria, anti-dust and anti-fog purposes.
Despite of their activities of anti-bacteria and pollutant removal effects, nano-photocatalysts in the form of particles cannot be used directly. The nanoparticles must be immobilized on the surface of certain substrates, e.g. ceramic, glass, wall, metal or some plastic materials. And the surface of substrate will not be oxidized or decomposed by the nano-photocatalyst. The adhesion between the nano-photocatalytic particles and substrate after immobilization is the primary factor determining the service life of photocatalyst. For convenience sake, the immobilization process is carried out with the nano-photocatalyst prepared into aqueous sol. Currently the production of nano-photocatalytic sol is produced from metal salt as starting material. In the example of common titania photocatalyst, the titanium alkanoxide salt and titanium inorganic salt are used as precursors to synthesize titania photocatalytic sol with particle size under 100 nm. Other approaches to prepare nano-photocatalytic sol including mixing nano-photocatalytic powder directly with water. However such approach needs to address further the problem of dispersion to render the nanoparticles more durable and functional in subsequent adhesion process. That is, if the nano-photocatalyst adheres strongly to the substrate, it will continue to function and becomes a product with long-standing actions on dirt removal, odor removal, anti-bacteria, anti-fog and self-cleansing.
In the development of titania nano-photocatalyst technology, ROC Patent No. 349981 discloses a method for producing non-crystalline titanium peroxide sol, in which TiCl4 is used as starting material, which is added with hydrogen peroxide under low-temperature (<15° C.) after titration with ammonia water to pH 2˜6 and then cultivated under atmospheric temperature for 7˜10 days to obtain non-crystalline titanium peroxide sol. This titanium peroxide sol addresses the coating problem. But it must be subjected further to high-temperature calcinations (250˜940° C.) to become ready as nano-photocatalytic coating, and the substrate surface must undergo hydrophilic pretreatment with surfactant to enhance the adhesion of nano-photocatalytic sol. ROC Patent No. 460321 proposes an amorphous titanium peroxide sol, which becomes crystalline titanium dioxide sol mixture after thermal treatment of 100° C. before coating the substrate, or the titanium dioxide powder is mixed with photocatalytic sol before coating the substrate. Another ROC Patent No. 491883 proposes the use of amorphous titanium peroxide sol as coating agent and ceramic containing dielectric or electric conductor as intermediate layer for coating the substrate. In ROC Patent No. 448219, surfactant and solvent or silicon dioxide are used as undercoating for coating onto substrate surface. ROC Patent No. 279175 proposes the mixture of non-degradable binder (fluoropolymer) and titania particles to form photocatalyst coating composition.
In view of prior art, some add organic additive directly into the photocatalytic sol to improve the adhesion of nano-photocatalyst to the substrate. But there exist the problems of non-uniform mixture and chemical/physical incompatibility between the additive and nano-photocatalyst particles, which will affect the stability and functionality of nano-photocatalytic sol. Some coat a layer of adhesive agent to the substrate surface before the coating of nano-photocatalyst sol to increase its adhesion to the substrate. But such approach involves more steps and limits the use of substrate material. In fact, currently available nano-photocatalytic sols tend to run into the adhesion problem where its coating layer on the substrate is prone to peel off, thereby adversely affecting the service life of photocatalyst.

Nano photocatalytic sol and application thereof

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A displacement apparatus for two-dimensional displacement of an object in relation to a fix-point includes a frame that is symmetrical in relation to a center of the frame and adapted to receive first and second actuators, each of which exerts a force along respective first and second axes extending through the center of the frame for deformation of respective first and second specific parts of the frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high precision two-dimensional displacement apparatus suitable for displacement or positioning of an object, such as a CCD chip in a digital camera or a digital scanner, an optical fiber, a microscope object, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Apparatuses for two-dimensional displacement of an object, e.g., utilizing piezo-actuators, are well-known in the art. However the known apparatuses have different characteristics, e.g., temperature sensitivity, in the two dimensions and/or have significant distances between the object to be displaced and points of application of forces causing the displacement, whereby the obtainable displacement accuracy and stability is limited.


A receiver such that the period required for tracking adjustment, temperature compensation is not needed, and tracking errors due to fluctuation of the power supply voltage are prevented from increasing, and a tracking adjusting method for the receiver. A DAC 4 generates a voltage according to the value of data (Do) inputted from an MPU 81 by using a control voltage outputted from a low-pass filter 35 in a local oscillator 3 as a reference voltage used during digital-analog conversion. A multiplier circuit 5 analog-multiplies the output voltage of the DAC 4 by a predetermined multiplier. The output voltage of the multiplier circuit 5 is applied as a tuning voltage to a high-frequency tuning circuit 20. In an EEPROM 84 stored is the value of the input data (Do) of the DAC 4 which has been measured in advance and corresponds to the tuned voltage of when the tracking error is the minimum at the central value of the local oscillation frequency, and the MPU 81 reads the data (Do) from the EEPROM 84 and inputs it to the DAC 4.

Generally, in receivers which receive broadcast waves such as AM broadcast and FM broadcast, a superheterodyne system is adopted as a receiving system. The superheterodyne system is a receiving system which converts a received broadcast signal into an intermediate frequency signal, which has a fixed frequency independent of an frequency of a received signal (receive frequency), by mixing a predetermined local oscillation signal to the received broadcast signal, and reproduces a sound signal by performing detection processing, amplification, etc. after that, and has a feature that it is superior to other receiving systems in sensitivity, selectivity, etc.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a conventional receiver which adopts the superheterodyne system. The conventional receiver shown in this diagram is constituted by including an antenna 200, a high frequency receiving circuit 202, a local oscillator 204, a mixing circuit 206, an intermediate frequency amplifier circuit 208, an MPU 210, memory 212, a control unit 214, and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 216.
In the conventional receiver, data showing the relation between a tuned voltage applied to the high frequency receiving circuit 202 and a received frequency is stored in the memory 212. The MPU 210 calculates data necessary for generating a tuned voltage on the basis of the data stored in the memory 212 to input it into the DAC 216. The tuned voltage which has a desired value is generated by this DAC 216, and is applied to the high-frequency tuning circuit 202.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the contents of the data stored in the memory 212. As shown in this graph, let a variable range of the received frequency be f0 to f5, and in this variable range, for example, tuned voltages V0, V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5 corresponding to some received frequencies f0, f1, f2, f3, f4, and f5 are measured beforehand, and input data to the DAC 216 necessary for generating these plural tuned voltages is stored in the memory 212. Then, in the case of setting the received frequency of the high frequency receiving circuit 202 as a value other than f0, f1, f2, f3, f4, and f5 which are mentioned above, the MPU 210 obtains input data necessary for generating a desired received frequency by reading the input data of the DAC 216 corresponding to two received frequencies in the vicinity of it from the memory 212 and performing linear interpolating operation to input this into the DAC 216. Thus, a predetermined tuned voltage is applied to the high frequency receiving circuit 202 from the DAC 216, and the desired received frequency is set.
By the way, in the case of setting a tuning frequency of the high frequency receiving circuit 202 with interlocking with an oscillation frequency of the local oscillator 204 by using the conventional system mentioned above, there have been problems: (1) a tracking adjustment takes time, (2) temperature compensation is difficult, and (3) it is weak to the fluctuation of a supply voltage.
As mentioned above, in order to set a suitable tuned voltage by using the DAC 216, it is necessary to perform the tracking adjustment of measuring beforehand a plurality of tuned voltages V0, V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5 as shown in FIG. 9. For example, to measure a tuned voltage V0 is to obtain the tuned voltage V0 at which a tracking error becomes at a minimum, by changing a value of input data of the DAC 216 in the state of outputting a local oscillation signal at a frequency corresponding to the tuning frequency f0 from the local oscillator 204. Usually, it is measured by using a distortion meter and a level meter whether a tracking error is at a minimum, and the distortion rate measurement using the distortion meter takes time of about 10 to 20 seconds for waiting for the stability of an output value. Since such measurement is required every tuned voltage, it takes much time for the tracking adjustment.
In addition, generally in the high frequency receiving circuit 202, since characteristics of devices used change with temperature, a tuning frequency changes with temperature even if a tuned voltage outputted from the DAC 216 is constant. On the other hand, since the local oscillator 204 generally has the phase synchronous loop (PLL) structure of including a voltage controlled oscillator and a variable frequency divider, the frequency of a local oscillation signal determined by a division ratio of the variable frequency divider does not change even if characteristics of devices used change with temperature. Thus, since only the tuning frequency changes with interlocking with a temperature change but the frequency of the local oscillation signal does not change, a tracking error increases in connection with the temperature change. Although it is necessary to equip with a temperature compensation circuit newly in order to avoid such inconvenience, it is not easy to prevent the increase of the tracking error by performing temperature compensation over the entire range of the tuning frequency, and further, there newly arises a problem that a circuit scale become large.
Furthermore, when a supply voltage of the receiver shown in FIG. 8 fluctuates, for example, when a drive voltage drops in a pocket receiver driven by a battery, a car radio driven by an vehicle-mounted battery, or the like, an output voltage of the DAC 216 becomes low with interlocking with the drop of the supply voltage, and hence, a tracking error becomes large since a tuned voltage drops even if the MPU 210 intends to set a desired tuning frequency.

Receiver and its tracking adjusting method


A method of multi-enterprise optimization at a buyer computer includes accessing a forecasted demand for at least one item and generating one or more proposed flexible trade contracts using the forecasted demand for the item. The proposed flexible trade contract is communicated to a seller computer and subsequently executed after acceptance of the proposed flexible trade contract at the seller computer to create a flexible trade contract. Each proposed flexible trade contract may be a forward contract, an option contract, or a flexible forward contract.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data processing, and more particularly to a method and system for multi-enterprise optimization using flexible trade contracts.
2. Background of the Invention
Various approaches have been developed to help optimize one or more supply chain activities within an enterprise. These approaches have typically addressed only the needs of a single enterprise, rarely focusing on optimizing supply chain activities involving multiple enterprises.
Such approaches usually assume that the enterprise only considers its own needs and interests, imposing optimization rules on itself by taking into account these needs and interests. When multiple enterprises become involved in a supply chain activity, optimization rules usually must be negotiated. Previous approaches typically do not account for this, which leads to several problems. Supply-demand mismatches are more common because these approaches fail to consider the needs and interests of all the enterprises involved in the activity. Such approaches also typically result in agreements that are complex and difficult to interpret, which makes the contracts less reliable. Further, the complexity of the agreements may lead to distrust between the enterprises and misuse of the contracts. These and other deficiencies have made previous approaches increasingly inadequate for the needs of many enterprises.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for multi-enterprise optimization using flexible trade contracts