An adjustable shelving system has a plurality of generally cylindrical posts each having a plurality of vertically-spaced annular grooves therein and a plurality of tapered sleeves fitted on the posts. The tapered sleeves include an annular rib engageable with the annular grooves on the posts and an exterior mating surface. At least one plastic shelf has a plurality of tapered step holes for receiving one of the tapered sleeves fitted onto the post. The step holes are defined by an interior mating surface, and one of the exterior and interior mating surfaces is formed with a series of spaced cylindrical ledges to increase the friction between the sleeves and the step holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an adjustable shelving system, and more particularly to an adjustable shelving system that uses plastic shelves. The use of plastic shelves is advantageous in many applications because they resist corrosion in otherwise corrosive environments. Plastic shelves also enhance design freedom while providing a sturdy structure. The adjustable plastic shelving system of the present invention is readily assembled and disassembled without tools to facilitate shipping, storage and cleaning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Adjustable shelving systems are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,523,508 (Maslow) and 3,757,705 (Maslow) disclose such systems that have met with great commercial success under the trademark SUPER ERECTA SHELF of Applicant's Assignee, InterMetro Industries Corporation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,508 discloses an adjustable shelving system comprising a formed-wire shelf component having a frustro-conically shaped collar at each corner for receiving a support post. Each collar tapers outwardly toward its lower extremity when viewed in normal use. Generally cylindrical support posts, each having a plurality of uniformly spaced annular grooves formed in its outer surface, are secured to the shelf by a mounting assembly. Each mounting assembly comprises at least two separate, complementary, conically-shaped mounting members which are joined about and at least partially surround the support post to define a sleeve. The outer surface of each sleeve is also frustro-conically shaped. Thus, the mounting sleeve is thickest at its bottom portion. The sleeves are sized to fit snugly within the shelf collars. A rib formed on an inside surface of each sleeve is sized to engage the annular groove formed on the support post.
To assemble the shelving system, sleeves are first placed about each support post such that the rib formed on the inside surface of each sleeve engages an appropriate groove in the support post. The support post with the sleeves mounted thereon is then passed through one respective collar at a corner of each shelf. The collars, sleeves and posts firmly engage each other due to their relative respective sizes. When all support posts are inserted, the shelving system is placed in position and ready for use. As the load on the shelf increases, a wedging action between the collars and sleeves produces a radially inwardly directed force exerted by the collars on the sleeves. This radially inwardly directed force securely locks the sleeves onto the posts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,705 discloses an adjustable shelving system similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,508, and further features the frustro-conical collar at each corner of the formed-wire shelf having a split wall. The split wall permits partial elastic lateral expansion within the collar to account for tolerance differences between the collar and the frustro-conical sleeve.
The shelving systems described above typically use plastic or metal materials for the posts and tapered sleeves, while the shelf is made of metal wire and the collar is made of metal sheet.
It is also known to use either solid or slotted plastic shelves in systems having components such as described above. Plastic shelves are lower in cost and weight. Such a system is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,350 (Kolvites) also assigned to InterMetro Industries.
However, plastic shelves have certain disadvantages. More particularly, the salient feature of the Maslow patents discussed above lies in the frustro-conical, or tapered, shape of the sleeve carried on the support post and the complementary shaped collar in the shelf. As the load supported by the shelve increases, the rigidity of the shelving system improves due to the noted wedging action between the tapered sleeve and complementary-shaped collar. However, that wedging action also produces a radially outwardly directed force exerted by the tapered sleeves on each collar of the shelf. Like the radially-inwardly directed force, the outwardly directed force increases as the load on the shelf increases. This outwardly directed force can cause a plastic shelf formed with plastic collars to crack or burst at its corners and fail. Therefore, further improvements in plastic shelf construction are needed.

Adjustable shelving system having friction increasing mating surfaces


The present invention relates to novel heterocyclic antagonists of Formula (I) and pharmaceutical compositions comprising said antagonists of the corticotropin releasing factor receptor (“CRF receptor”)

It has been shown that the neuropeptide, corticotropin releasing factor ("CRF"), acting through its binding to the CRF-1 receptor, is a primary mediator of stress- and anxiety-related physiological responses in humans and other mammals by stimulating ACTH secretion from the anterior pituitary gland. See A. J. Dunn, et al., Brain Res. Rev., 15: 71-100 (1990). Antagonists of the CRF-1 receptor, both peptides (J. Gulyas, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 92: 10575-10579 (1995) and small molecules (J. R. McCarthy, et al., Curr. Pharm. Design, 5: 289-315 (1999), have demonstrated the ability to ameliorate the effects of stressful stimuli in several animal models. In addition, marked elevations of CRF in cerebrospinal fluid have been detected in a large portion of individuals diagnosed with major depression and anxiety disorders, and the levels correlate with severity of the disease. See F. Holsboer, J. Psychiatric Res., 33: 181-214 (1999). Following antidepressant treatment, the increased CRF levels observed in depressed patients were reduced. See C. M. Banki, et al., Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol., 2: 107-113 (1992); see also Effects of the high-affinity corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 antagonist R121919 in major depression: the first 20 patients treated. Zobel A W, Nickel T, Kunzel H E, Ackl N, Sonntag A. Ising M, Holsboer F J Psychiatr Res 2000, 34, 171-181. CRF has also been shown to be a key mediator of several immune system functions through its effect on glucocorticoid plasma levels. See E. L. Webster, et al., Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 840: 21-32 (1998). Recent reviews of the activity of CRF-1 antagonists include P. J. Gilligan, et al., J. Med. Chem., 43: 1641-1660 (2000) and J. R. McCarthy, et al., Ann. Rep. Med. Chem., 34: 11-20 (1999). There appears a need to discover novel small molecule CRF antagonists in order to treat a wide variety of human disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and other stress-related illnesses. See WO 98/35967, WO 99/01454, WO 99/10350, wo 99/67247, 00/01675, WO 00/01697, WO 00/39127, WO 00/59907, WO 00/59908, EP 778277, EP 812831.

Imidazolyl derivatives as corticotropin releasing factor inhibitors

Abstract: useful for the treatment of depression, anxiety, affective disorders, feeding disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, headache, drug addiction, inflammatory disorders, drug or alcohol withdrawal symptoms and other conditions the treatment of which can be effected by the antagonism of the CRF-1 receptor.


A buffer driving capability control device is provided which can suppress occurrence of radiated noise due to a load driven by large driving power in the case where loads differing in driving power are connected to one terminal. The device includes an output buffer which can switch between the driving capability for driving a load requiring large driving power and the driving capability for driving a load requiring small driving power, and also includes a control period for driving the load requiring the large driving power and a control period for driving the load requiring the small driving power, and during the respective control periods, switches the driving capability of the output buffer to the ones suitable for the corresponding loads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an output circuit which outputs a signal, and concerns control of driving power of an output buffer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an integrated circuit, a plurality of loads may be connected to one terminal. In this case, if driving power varies from one load to another, it is necessary to output the driving power of a maximum level to all the loads to ensure normal operations for the loads. This means that a load requiring relatively small driving power will be driven with the driving power of an unnecessarily high level, in which case at the time when the load is driven, distortion and radiated noise will occur in a waveform of a signal being output.
There are various techniques for driving a load connected to a terminal in an integrated circuit. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-295088 discloses a technique where, for each of a plurality of terminals, a current output logical level is compared with a next output logical level, and if the number of terminals for which the logical level changes is greater than a predetermined number, the driving capability of the output buffer circuit is lowered. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-258611 discloses a technique where the buffer driving capability is changed stepwise along with the changes in the output level to slow the rising and falling of the waveform, to thereby reduce the noise. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-135159 discloses a technique where, at the time of initial settings, the buffer driving capability is set according to an external device being connected.
With the configuration having a plurality of loads connected to one terminal, however, it is difficult to suppress occurrence of the distortion of the waveform and the radiated noise in the waveform of the output signal.


A control device controls a vehicle drive device in which a first engagement device, a rotary electric machine, a second engagement device, and an output member are arranged on a power transfer path from an internal combustion engine to wheels. The control device executes mode transition control that causes transition from (i) a first control mode in which both the first engagement device and the second engagement device are in a slip engagement state and the rotary electric machine generates electric power to (ii) a second control mode in which the first engagement device is in a direct engagement state, the second engagement device is in the slip engagement state, and the rotary electric machine generates electric power.

A device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-7094 (JP 2008-7094 A, Patent Document 1) is already known as an example of the control device that controls a vehicle drive device described above. Hereinafter, in the description in the "BACKGROUND ART" section, member names used in Patent Document 1 are cited in brackets for description. The control device [controllers 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, etc.] of Patent Document 1 is configured to be able to execute a plurality of travel modes by controlling the vehicle drive device. The plurality of travel modes include a WSC creep mode, a CL2 overheat mode, and a WSC active power generation mode.
In the WSC creep mode, the control device brings the first engagement device [first clutch CL1] into a direct engagement state and the second engagement device [second clutch CL2] into a slip engagement state, and a vehicle creeps with the torque of the internal combustion engine [engine E]. In the CL2 overheat mode, the control device controls both the first engagement device and the second engagement device into the slip engagement state, and the vehicle creeps with the torque of the internal combustion engine. In the WSC active power generation mode, the control device brings the first engagement device into the direct engagement state and the second engagement device into the slip engagement state, and the vehicle travels and the rotary electric machine [motor-generator MG] generates electric power with the torque of the internal combustion engine. The control device is able to execute mode transition between the WSC creep mode and the CL2 overheat mode and between the WSC creep mode and the WSC active power generation mode (refer to FIG. 6 of Patent Document 1, etc.).
The control device of Patent Document 1, during low-speed traveling in a state in which the amount of electric power stored in an electricity storage device [battery 4] is low, achieves the WSC active power generation mode in order to allow the rotary electric machine to generate electric power. However, in the WSC active power generation mode, only the second engagement device is in the slip engagement state; therefore, a state in which a differential rotational speed between engagement members on both sides of the second engagement device is large continues for a long period. This increases the amount of heat generation of the second engagement device, which may cause the second engagement device to get overheated. That is, it has been difficult to secure a desired amount of electric power while keeping the amount of heat generation of the second engagement device low in a specific traveling state such as low vehicle speed traveling.
On the other hand, in a state in which the vehicle speed has increased to a certain extent, the differential rotational speed between the engagement members on both sides of the second engagement device becomes comparatively small and the possibility of the second engagement device getting overheated becomes relatively low. Therefore, there are cases in which it is preferable to give priority to achieving other effects regarding vehicle traveling such as overall amount of heat generation of both of the engagement devices and the power generation efficiency of the rotary electric machine, or reducing shock to be transferred to the vehicle, etc. rather than only suppressing overheat in the second engagement device. In Patent Document 1, such matters are not particularly recognized.


A liquid crystal device comprises a layer of a liquid crystal material contained between two spaced-apart cell walls with electrodes for applying an electric field across at least some of the liquid crystal material. At least one of the cell walls includes an alignment structure for inducing a desired local orientation of molecules of the liquid crystal material adjacent thereto. The liquid crystal material includes non-polymerisable low molecular weight surfactant molecules. The invention also provides a liquid crystal composition for use in the device and a method of manufacturing the device.

Liquid crystal ("LC") devices typically comprise a pair of opposed, spaced-apart cell walls with LC material between them. The cell walls have transparent electrode structures for applying electric fields to align the LC molecules. There are three main types of LC materials: nematic, cholesteric (chiral nematic) and smectic, all of which find application in different types of LC display. Many different LC display modes are known in the art. A common feature of these display modes is that each requires a surface alignment on at least one of the cell walls to provide an appropriate alignment of the LC director. Prior art display modes and methods of obtaining desired surface alignments are discussed in WO 99/18474 and EP 1 139 151. U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,233 describes an alternative to using a surface alignment structure to achieve homeotropic alignment. A surfactant dissolved in the LC acts as an "advantageous alignment agent" and promotes spontaneous homeotropic alignment.
An alignment layer may also be formed on a cell wall (substrate) by pre-coating the substrate with a surfactant such as lecithin. This coating may form the sole alignment layer, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,930, or it may modify the zenithal alignment energy of an underlying grating alignment surface as described in GB 2 286 466.
It is known from WO 99/18474 to provide an oligomer or short chain polymer either spread on the surface or within the LC material at the cell walls, to reduce anchoring energy at the surface alignment structure. Benefits include reduced operating voltage. In the examples, the oligomer or short chain polymer is formed by curing a UV-curable material such as Norland N65, or by copolymerising a mixture of dithiols and di(vinyl ethers), in a LC host.
One problem with the use of oligomers or short chain polymers in prior art devices is that the polymerisation process results in a range of molecular weights, and the anchoring properties vary with different molecular weight ranges. This can lead to difficulties in reproducing the desired properties in a manufacturing process. Moreover, further polymerisation may take place over time in a device when in use. The use of reactive monomeric species may also limit the number of available component LC materials in the host mixture because of the need to avoid using components which may react with the monomeric species.
We have now surprisingly found that the switching properties of a LC display may be improved by the addition of non-polymerisable low molecular weight surfactant molecules to the LC.

Liquid crystal device, compositions and method of manufacture

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An air flow measuring device has a throttle portion provided in a first sub-passage, a second sub-passage branched from the first sub-passage at an upstream side of the throttle portion, and a flow amount sensor located in the second sub-passage. The second sub-passage is configured to introduce therein a part of air flowing in the first sub-passage, and an inlet of the second sub-passage is open into the first sub-passage at one side in a first radial direction perpendicular to a flow direction of air flowing in the first sub-passage. Furthermore, the throttle portion is provided to gradually reduce a passage dimension of the first sub-passage in a second radial direction, as toward an outlet of the first sub-passage. Here, the second radial direction is perpendicular to a surface defined by the first radial direction and the flow direction of air in the first sub-passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air flow measuring device having a first sub-passage configured to introduce therein a part of air flowing in an interior of a duct, a second sub-passage configured to introduce therein a part of air flowing in the first sub-passage, and a flow amount sensor located in the second sub-passage to measure a flow amount of air.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air flow measuring device described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,788 (corresponding to JP 2005-140753A) is provided for measuring a flow amount of intake air flowing into an internal combustion engine. As shown in FIG. 3, the air flow measuring device includes a sensor body 110 disposed in an intake air passage 100 of the internal combustion engine. The sensor body 110 is provided with a first sub-passage 120 into which a part of air flowing in the intake air passage 100 is introduced, and a second sub-passage 130 into which a part of air flowing in the first sub-passage 120 is introduced. A flow amount sensor 140 is located in the second sub-passage 130. The second sub-passage 130 is formed into approximately a U-shape around a partition wall 150. Furthermore, a protrusion plate 150a is provided to protrude from the partition wall 150 into the first sub-passage 120 so that the dynamic pressure of air flowing in the first sub-passage 120 is received by the protrusion plate 150a. Therefore, a pressure difference between an inlet side and an outlet side of the first sub-passage 120 is increased, and thereby it is possible to introduce a sufficient flow amount of air into the second sub-passage 130 from the first sub-passage 120.
In the flow amount measuring device, when dust contained in air passes in the first sub-passage 120, the dust collides with the protrusion plate 150 protruding into the interior of the first sub-passage 120, bounces on the protrusion plate 150 and enters the second sub-passage 130, as in the arrows shown in FIG. 3. The dust entering the second sub-passage 130 may collides with the flow amount sensor 140 located in the second sub-passage 130. In particular, when a thin film-like measuring element is used in the flow amount sensor 140, the measuring element is easily damaged by the collision with the dust.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Provided is a delta-sigma modulator including a summer summing an input signal and an analog signal, a first integrator integrating an output signal from the summer and outputting a first integration signal, a second integrator integrating the first integration signal and outputting a second integration signal, a comparator comparing the second integration signal and a reference signal and outputting a digital signal according to the comparison result, and a digital-to-analog converter converting the digital signal into an analog signal in response to a clock signal and outputting the converted analog signal, wherein the second integrator operates based on an Nth order (where N is natural number of 1 or greater) transfer function.

The present invention disclosed herein relates to a delta-sigma modulator, and more particularly, to a delta-sigma modulator having a continuous-time structure.
A delta-sigma modulator may be implemented in a discrete-time scheme or a continuous-time scheme. A delta-sigma modulator according to the discrete-time scheme stores and delivers an input signal in a charge type on the basis of a switched-capacitor scheme. While the discrete-time delta-sigma modulator operates according to a sampling process for an input signal, the continuous-time delta-sigma modulator may operate without a sampling process for an input signal.
Compared to the discrete-time scheme, the continuous-time scheme has a low requirement for a design of an amplifier used for an integrator and may operate in low power and high speed. When the integrator does not perform a sampling operation, the continuous-time delta-sigma modulator has an anti-aliasing filter effect.
According to characteristics of a high signal to noise ratio (SNR), the continuous-time delta-sigma modulator may be used for a wireless communication system, such as a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), long term evolution (LTE), and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX).
In addition, delta-sigma modulators having an identical sampling frequency may use a scheme for increasing an order and output level for enhancing the SNR characteristics. For example, when an order of the delta-sigma modulator is increased to a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-order, slopes of a noise transfer function (NTF) of the delta-sigma modulator are respectively increased to 20 dB/dec, 40 dB/dec. 60 dB/dec. Accordingly, a noise amount within a signal band may be reduced and SNR characteristics may be increased.
However, when an order of the delta-sigma modulator for increasing an SNR is increased, the number of integrators is also necessary to be increased according to the increase of the order. However, power consumption is also increased along with the increase of the number of integrators, and the number of digital-to-analog converters (DACs) connected back to the integrators is also increased. Accordingly, a circuit of the delta-sigma modulator becomes complex.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A pair of like rails are secured to a vehicle roof regardless the curvature of the roof surface at the rails to the plane of the roof between the rails. Two pairs of stanchions to which a corresponding crossbar is secured are slidably secured to the rails and slid into the desired position along the rails. The stanchions have a groove and surface defining a space in which a rail tongue having a circular end surface and an opposing rail circular surface are located to form a pivot arrangement forming a stanchion-rail pivot axis. The stanchion is formed of two members which are pivotally secured about an axis spaced from the rail pivot axis with a clamping knob located between the spaced pivot axes. The knob urges the members together and to the rail to form a tight clamping action to preclude the stanchions from sliding along the rails in response to wind and cargo loads. A plurality of tie down eyelets are slidably secured to a mating trapezoidal groove in the rails and arranged so that the eyelets when under load are tightly secured in place by the load.

In track style cargo carriers for vehicles, sometimes referred to as luggage racks or other nomenclature, a pair of track rails are secured on opposite sides of a vehicle roof running in a front to rear orientation. The rails are fastened to the roof and typically two molded thermoplastic stanchions are secured to each rail. Cargo supporting crossbars are secured to the stanchions transverse to the rails. The stanchions are slidably secured to the rails so that they may be positioned in the forward-rearward direction according to a given cargo load size. The rails generally comprise a channel member in which a T-shaped key member is fitted which slides along the channel. The key member may be a separate metal element secured to the stanchion by a fastener or the stanchion may be molded with a key structure therein.
For example, key type structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,245,764 (which discloses a knob for clamping the elements together); 4,244,501; 4,270,681 and others. The key is clamped to the rail once it is positioned along the rail at the desired location. Other arrangements are also known which generally are similar to the aforesaid concept, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,037 and others in which one member engages the other member of the rail structure.
All of the foregoing prior art devices suffer from a common drawback. In the aftermarket, automobile owners desiring to install a cargo carrier on their vehicle must purchase a commercially available unit for installation. These units, as disclosed in the aforementioned patents, comprise structures having rails which have a base adapted to be secured to a vehicle roof surface and which structures are designed on the assumption that the roof surface is generally flat and in a plane substantially parallel to the crossbars. However, numerous vehicles have roof contours which are not flat. The adjustable aftermarket cargo carriers of the prior art as described above do not have the versatility to be secured to vehicle surfaces with varying contours.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,313 addresses this problem to some extent. That patent discloses a rail support assembly in which the rail is disclosed as a member to which the luggage is secured as compared to the "rail" described above to which stanchions are secured. A resilient, one-piece base is adapted to conform to the contour of the vehicle roof and includes a spherical section forming a dome. A spherical socket mates with the dome, the elements being arranged to be fastened via a plate and flange assembly. This arrangement is not adjustable in the manner of the track structures described above. Once the dome is secured in place it cannot be easily moved about without removing the fasteners which is not desirable because this would leave damaging openings in the roof.

Adjustable vehicle cargo carrier construction


A TV camera unit is supported by a camera support member having an arm-receiving hole into which an arm is inserted. When a camera support shaft protruded upward from a camera base of the camera support member is fitted into a downward attitude holding aperture that is formed in the front face of the TV camera unit to be parallel to the optical axis of a lens of the TV camera unit, the TV camera unit is supported by the camera base and set at a downward shooting position where the lens faces downward. When the camera support shaft is fitted into a horizontal attitude holding aperture that is formed in the bottom face of the TV camera unit to be perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens, the TV camera unit is set at a horizontal shooting position where the lens faces in the horizontal direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reproduction apparatus for obtaining an image of a material shot with a TV camera unit, and more particularly to an image reproduction apparatus having a TV camera unit and a camera support for supporting the TV camera unit that are separable from each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As depicted in FIG. 11, a conventional image reproduction apparatus VP typically includes a material table DD and a TV camera unit CM for shooting a material DC mounted on the material table DD, which are linked with each other via an arm AR or the like. Image signals output from the TV camera unit CM with a lens facing down are sent to a monitor MT, so that images of the material DC mounted on the material table DD are shown to the audience. For diversified applications of the image reproduction apparatus, the TV camera unit CM is rotatably attached to the arm AR and can be rotated in the horizontal direction to be used as a video camera for shooting peripheral objects. The use of such a TV camera unit allows facial images of the user who gives a presentation or any object that is not mounted on the material table but is attached, for example, to the wall, to be shot and shown to the audience.
Another proposed image reproduction apparatus does not have any material table but shoots a material directly placed on a table or the like with a TV camera unit. This known image reproduction apparatus without the material table has a shape similar to table lamps which are commonly used at home, and includes a TV camera unit linked to a base mounted on a table or the like via, for example, an arm.
Still another proposed image reproduction apparatus has a TV camera unit that is separable from an arm in order to provide a wider range of applications. This structure enables the user to hold the separate TV camera unit with one hand and shoot the material placed on a material table or directly on the table from various directions.
In the image reproduction apparatus having the separable TV camera unit, it is often required to take the images of the material placed on the table or the facial images of the user who gives a presentation, while the TV camera unit is fixed to the arm. In the image reproduction apparatus, the TV camera unit is accordingly required to be separable from the base and be movable between a downward shooting position and a horizontal shooting position. In the known structure, the TV camera unit is fixed to a rotatable pan head formed on one end of the arm and changes its attitude through the rotation of the pan head.
The conventional image reproduction apparatus with the separable TV camera unit, however, has the following disadvantages.
Two different actions, that is, attachment of the TV camera unit to the pan head and rotation of the pan head, are required when the separate TV camera unit is fixed to the arm to shoot the material on the table or the facial image of the user who gives a presentation. The TV camera unit is generally attached to the pan head via a screw or a like element. This further consumes time and labor of the user. Irrespective of the diversified applications, the conventional image reproduction apparatus with the separable TV camera unit can not be conveniently used.

Image reproduction apparatus having a support for vertical and horizontal image reproduction


The combination comprising a figure element mounted on the bill of a cap. The figure element includes a removable compartment and the mounting means comprises an elongated threaded screw member having an enlarged head at one end engageable through a hole in the bill. A washer is disposed between the screw head and the bill. An enlarged tapered flexible ring is mounted between the outer surface of the bill and the bottom compartment. A lock washer threads on the shank of the screw remote from the head end. The flexible ring permits limited turning of the compartment when the screw is turned to a locked position to facilitate assembly and disassembly of the compartment from the figure element.

Sport fans particularly football fans have devised colorful wearing apparel which may be characterized as costumes featuring a given teams' logo and colors. These costumes include mascots such as bears and eagles which are worn by enthusiastic fans at game day in the stadiums. Caps and shirts with the team logos emblazoned thereon are likewise commonplace. Thus, the prior art includes caps broadly and in the present instance, a mechanized eagle which is battery powered to flap the wings of the eagle.


A watermarking scheme is provided that allows the watermarked image to be authenticated by an authentication agent without revealing the human-readable content of the image. There is disclosed an approach that combines privacy control with watermarking and authentication mechanisms. The watermark can be made to be imperceptible to humans. Public key cryptography allows the authentication agent to authenticate without being able to watermark an image. Watermark information may also be encoded in a vector graphics image that includes at least one stroke defined by coordinate values of an ordered sequence of points. This may be obtained by providing watermark information as a bit sequence, identifying one or more redundant properties of the image, modifying the redundant properties based upon the bit sequence to generate a representation of the image and storing the representation of the image for subsequent use.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/059,498, filed on Apr. 13, 1998, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/282,861, filed on Mar. 31, 1999, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Secured signal modification and verification with privacy control

International Business Machines Corporation


A cable card assembly includes a circuit card having a substrate including mating pads at a mating end and cable pads at a cable end. The circuit card has a ground plane. Cables are terminated to the circuit card at the cable end each having signal conductors, an insulator surrounding the signal conductors, and a ground conductor surrounding the insulator. Cable shields are terminated to the ground plane providing electrical shielding for the corresponding cables. Each cable shield includes an end wall between first and second side walls to form a cable cavity. The end wall has a connecting portion between the first and second side walls and a shroud portion extending from the connecting portion covering a portion of the ground conductor. The shroud portion is curved to follow a curvature of the ground conductor and extend along opposite sides of the ground conductor.

The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors.
Electrical connectors are used to electrically connect components with an electrical system, such as a data communication system. For example, known electrical systems include plug connectors that are mated with receptacle connectors. Conventional plug connectors are provided at ends of cables, which are terminated to a circuit card of the plug connector. The circuit card is configured to be plugged into a card slot of the receptacle connector. However, known plug connectors have problems with cross talk and return loss, particular when transmitting high speed data signals. For example, signal degradation occurs at the interface between the cables and the circuit card.
A need remains for improved shielding for an electrical connector.

Cable shield for an electrical connector


A torque transfer assembly for an impact bit holder may include a jacket operably coupled to a driven body having a driven end configured to interface with a bit, and a multi-start thread assembly operably coupling the jacket to a drive body having a drive end configured to interface with a powered driver. The torque transfer assembly may be disposed between the drive body and driven body and may be configured to transfer torque between the drive body and the driven body.

Driving devices, such as socket tools and bit holders, are familiar tools for fastening nuts and driving other drivable components or fasteners. Bit holders, for example, often have a drive end that includes a conventional interface for receiving drive energy from a powered driving device. The drive end may have a standard sized hex head or another conventional power bit drive end geometry. The bit holder may also include a driven end, which is driven by the rotational force applied by the powered driving device at the drive end, and which in turn applies drive energy to a bit. The bit may be received in a hex shaped socket, or any other bit holding geometry that defines a receptacle for the bit.
Bits of various sizes and shapes may have standard (e.g., hex) heads that enable any of the various different bits to interchangeably be inserted into the bit holder. Thus, by attaching the bit holder to the powered driving device (e.g., via a chuck of the powered driving device), any number of different bits can quickly and easily be substituted to meet each situation that is encountered. Because high torque is often applied through these tools, and high strength and durability is desirable, the bit holders are traditionally made of a metallic material such as iron or steel.
Impact drivers are typically employed to apply high and sudden torque to fasteners. The high and sudden torque application made possible by these devices may be particularly useful for loosening of frozen or over-torqued fasteners. However, the application of high and sudden torque may also be useful for applying a high torque to a fastening device that is being used in a context that requires a high input torque. In either case, if a bit holder is used with an impact driver, and the bit holder is rigidly made of metallic materials, the suddenness of the application of force by the powered driving device is equally suddenly applied through the bit holder and to the bit, which could damage the bit, the fastener, or even the bit holder. Thus, it may be desirable to improve bit holder design to lengthen the useful life of driver bits and bit holders.

Multi-start threaded impact driving device


A collapsible storage bucket includes a chamber portion. The chamber portion further includes an opening. Additionally, the chamber portion is collapsible. The collapsible storage bucket further includes a bucket opening surround over the opening, where the bucket opening surround is detachable from the chamber portion. The collapsible storage bucket further includes a lid over the bucket opening surround, where the lid configured to cover an entirety of the opening. Additionally, the lid is detachable from the bucket opening surround.

With the development of society and the improvement of living standards, people are constantly in pursuit of the spiritual life, while enjoying the material life. Consequently, having pets is gradually becoming a popular custom. Since pets are occupying a higher position in people's lives, people are demanding an ever higher quality of life for their pets. Because more and more people are feeding their pets with pet food, the storage and transportation of the pet food has been problematic. While conventional storage buckets have appeared in the market, most of these buckets are made of a ceramic or a metal material. They are designed as a single unit which cannot be expanded, collapsed, or dismantled. Furthermore, these buckets are heavy, expensive for transportation, easily susceptible to damage, and take up large amounts of storage space. In response to these problems, there have been some improvements in the design of these buckets; however, none of the improvements are able to entirely remedy the above problems in conventional storage buckets.

Jiangsu Zhongheng Pet Supplies Co., Ltd.


A semiconductor device has structures to reduced stress notching effects in conductive lines. In one form, the semiconductor device includes a semiconductor die which has a plurality of active conductive lines thereon. The plurality of conductive lines collectively has a first and a second outside edge. In close proximity to each of the first and the second outside edges is a stress reducing line. Each of the stress reducing lines is a non-active structure (in other words does not transmit signals) and functions to reduce stress concentrations on the plurality of active conductive lines which are imposed by overlying insulating and passivation layers. As a result of weakened stress concentrations, the amount of stress notching in the active conductive lines is reduced.

Semiconductor manufacturers are becoming more and more concerned about a phenomenon known in the industry as stress notching or metal notching in conductive lines. While stress notching is not completely understood, it is believed that notching in conductive lines occurs as a result of high stresses put on conductive lines by overlying oxide and passivation layers. Notches, which may also be considered as voids on the exterior surface of a conductive line, are believed to form in conductive lines to relieve points of high stress concentration. Aluminum and aluminum alloy lines, metals commonly used in semiconductor devices, are particularly susceptible to notching due to the high degree of thermal expansion coefficient mismatch between aluminum and surrounding insulating layers and due to the relatively low melting point of aluminum. The thermal expansion coefficient mismatch implies that each time the temperature of a semiconductor device changes, stresses are induced in aluminum lines because aluminum's thermal expansion coefficient is higher than that of surrounding materials. In order to relieve these stresses, aluminum atoms migrate, thereby forming stress notches. Because aluminum has a low melting point, the atoms can easily migrate, especially at relatively low elevated temperatures. Atom migration to relieve stress is also referred to as creep. Not only is stress notching, or creeping, temperature dependent, but also time dependent. The lower the temperature, the longer it takes for a notch to form. More information relating to stress notching can be found in an article entitled "The Influence of Stress on Aluminum Conductor Life," by T. Turner et al., which appeared in The Proceedings of the IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium, 1985, pp. 142-147. Further information on the effects of stress on metal lines can be also be found in an article, entitled "Line Width Dependence of Stresses in Aluminum Interconnect," by R. Jones, The Proceedings of the IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium, 1987, pp. 9-14.
Several proposals to reduce stress notching and to reduce the effects of stress notching are known. One approach is to change the material used for conductive lines to one which is less susceptible to metal notching, for example copper or tungsten. Using copper for metal interconnect lines has several problems, one being that copper is very difficult to etch. Another problem in using copper is that the adhesion between copper and overlying oxide and passivation layers is poor and can pose reliability concerns. While adding copper to aluminum conductive lines may reduce notching, beyond a certain copper content, device performance begins to degrade. Furthermore, as conductive line geometries continue to shrink, the addition of copper in aluminum lines seems to prove less effective. The use of tungsten for conductive lines has also been examined, and is implemented in some instances. A disadvantage in using tungsten in place of aluminum or aluminum alloys is that tungsten has a higher resistivity, therefore signal speed is reduced.
Another approach to solving stress notching is to form a cap on the conductive lines. Caps can be formed from titanium nitride, tungsten, or titanium-tungsten compounds. These materials have higher melting points than aluminum and therefore have a higher resistance to stress notching. A disadvantage in using these caps is that at least one additional process step is required to form the caps. Yet another approach in reducing notches is to reduce the stresses created by oxide and passivation layers which overlie conductive lines. Experimentation has been performed in this area, for example by varying the rate, temperature, and/or pressure at which these layers are deposited and by varying the chemical composition of these layers, yet much remains to be understood about stresses in oxide and passivation films.
Therefore, for the reasons discussed previously, a need exists for an improved semiconductor device which has reduced effects of stress notching in conductive lines, and more specifically for such device to also maintain existing device performance levels without requiring additional processing steps.

Semiconductor device having structures to reduce stress notching effects in conductive lines and method for making the same


Setting of growing directions of dots in a dither matrix is facilitated. During defining of the growing directions of the dots corresponding to cells in the dither matrix, a target cell in the dither matrix is defined. When the growing directions of the dots in cells located within a range of one cell from the target cell are not set, the target cell is set as a reference point. When the growing direction of the dot in the cell located at the immediate left or the immediate right of the target cell is set, the growing direction of the dot in the target cell is set based on setting states of the growing directions of the dots in the cells located at the immediate left and the immediate right of the target cell and the reference point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing methods and apparatuses employing the information processing methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been a marked increase in the use of image-processing apparatuses such as printers and copying machines in recent years. With this, the performance of the image-processing apparatuses, for example, quality of output images, has been significantly improved. Moreover, various recording methods such as silver-salt film recording, thermal recording, electrophotographic recording, electrostatic recording, and ink-jet recording have been developed.
In general, multilevel image data is binarized before image formation in order to save memory used for image processing and to stabilize dot shapes. A binary dither method is one such binarizing method.
There has been a need for expressing smooth halftones and gradation of photographs with colorization of the image-processing apparatuses. However, smooth and high-quality output images cannot be obtained by the above-described binary dither method. A multilevel dither method has drawn attention as a method for solving this problem. In the multilevel dither method, a number of threshold values are provided for each cell in a dither matrix. As a result, the value of each pixel after dither processing can be one of multiple levels. When the multilevel dither method is employed, so-called multiple tone recording in which three or more tones can be recorded is required as a matter of course. For example, laser-beam printers of an electrophotographic type realize the multiple tone recording by using pulse width modulation (PWM).
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an exposure pattern of a printer capable of recording with a 16-step gradation, the exposure pattern illustrating the correspondence between input-signal values and pulse widths. In the drawing, sections between two broken lines correspond to a pixel, and laser beams having the pulse widths are emitted to the pixels. An exposure controller in the printer outputs pulse-modulated laser beams according to the exposure pattern shown in FIG. 1, and the laser beams are incident on the surface of a photosensitive drum. Toner is then applied to the surface of the photosensitive drum such that dots are formed on the photosensitive drum.
In PWM control as shown in FIG. 1, the dot area in each pixel grows from the center of the pixel. When low-density dots are continuously disposed next to each other, gaps are created between the dots. This leads to poor dot reproducibility and, moreover, low image quality characteristics such as roughness on images and toner scattering. In order to stabilize the image quality, the dot area growth may be controlled by changing the exposure pattern or laser-driving timing such that halftone pixels are not isolated. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-200519 discloses one such method. That is, the growing directions of the dots in the dither matrix used for multilevel dither processing are defined in advance, and dot-forming processes are switched according to the growing direction in each pixel.
However, the above-described method has difficulty in defining optimum growing directions when the size of the dither matrix is large. Moreover, the optimum growing directions cannot be defined when each cell in the dither matrix includes a submatrix. Furthermore, the growing directions in the dither matrix cannot be defined in advance when the image-processing apparatus automatically generates the dither matrix.

Information processing method and information processing apparatus


There are provided thin-walled honeycomb structural bodies with high strength and excellent thermal shock resistance by using as the starting material for cordierite honeycomb structural bodies a combination of talc with a median particle diameter exceeding 7 .mu.m and not greater than 20 .mu.m and with a CaO content of 0.2 wt % or less and another cordierite material such as kaolin with a median particle diameter of not greater than 1 .mu.m, molding the starting material into a honeycomb shape with a cell wall thickness of 130 .mu.m or less, and firing the mold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a honeycomb structural body which is used as a carrier serving to carry catalysts for the purification of an exhaust gas from internal combustion engines, such as automobile engines, and specifically it relates to a honeycomb structural body composed mainly of cordierite and to a method for its production.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cordierite honeycomb structural bodies have so far been widely used as catalyst carriers in exhaust gas purifiers for internal combustion engines. However, conventional cordierite honeycomb structural bodies are usually thick with cell wall thicknesses of about 170 .mu.m and because of their large heat capacities, required considerable time to reach the activation temperature of the catalyst from the moment the engine is started, during which period the ejected exhaust gas cannot be purified.
Attempts have therefore been made to provide thinner cell wall thicknesses in order to reduce the heat capacities of cordierite honeycomb structural bodies and thus shorten the time required for catalyst activation. For example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 4-70053 describes a cordierite honeycomb structural body with a porosity of 30% or lower, obtained by restricting the particle diameters of the talc and kaolin used. However, because this method gives only honeycomb structural bodies with porosities of 18% and higher, when the cell wall thickness is made 70 .mu.m, or even thinner at 50 .mu.m, the porosity increases, resulting in a lack of strength, and sometimes leads to damage to the honeycomb structural body due to the load of assembly, etc. during encasing. In addition, the large thermal expansion coefficients on the order of 0.8.times.10.sup.-6 /.degree. C. for these honeycomb structural bodies have led to the following problems.
When a cordierite honeycomb structural body is used as a catalyst carrier for an exhaust gas purifier, a temperature difference is generated in the catalyst carrier due to heat release by the oxidation reaction of the unburnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide present in the exhaust gas. The heat stress generated by this temperature difference is proportional to the thermal expansion coefficient and, with thermal expansion coefficients as large as 0.8.times.10.sup.-6 /.degree. C., there is a risk of cracking or damage to the catalyst carrier, constituting a significant problem in low thermal shock resistance.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 53-82822 there is described a cordierite ceramic with a thermal expansion coefficient of not greater than 1.6.times.10.sup.-6 /.degree. C. obtained by restricting the average particle diameter of the talc to 5-150 .mu.m. However, even the smallest thermal expansion coefficient of this cordierite ceramic is as large as about 0.9.times.10.sup.-6 /.degree. C., and therefore it has inferior thermal shock resistance.

Cordierite honeycomb structural body and method for its production


An expandable stent is implanted in a body lumen, such as a coronary artery, peripheral artery, or other body lumen for rupturing a fibrous cap to controllably release vulnerable plaque. The invention provides for a an intravascular stent having a plurality of cylindrical rings connected by links. The stent includes struts and links of varying strengths about the circumference of the stent. The weaker struts and links require less force to open and, hence, may apply more stress to rupture the fibrous cap while the stronger struts and links protect the healthy portions of the body lumen. In another embodiment, the stent may include stress concentrators positioned on outer surfaces of the links. The stress concentrators are aligned with the fibrous cap prior to stent expansion so that upon stent expansion, the stress concentrators induce stress to rupture the fibrous cap, thereby releasing the vulnerable plaque.

This invention relates to vascular repair devices, and in particular intravascular stents, which are adapted to be implanted into a patient's body lumen, such as a blood vessel or coronary artery, to maintain the patency thereof. Stents are particularly useful in the treatment of atherosclerotic stenosis in arteries and blood vessels.
Stents are generally tubular-shaped devices which function to hold open a segment of a blood vessel or other body lumen such as a coronary artery. They also are suitable for use to support and hold back a dissected arterial lining that can occlude the fluid passageway. At present, there are numerous commercial stents being marketed throughout the world.
Balloon dilatation catheters are sometimes used to pre-dilate a diseased vessel prior to installation of a stent. Some balloon dilatation catheters include cutters, or atherotomes, which are placed longitudinally along the length of the balloon. The cutters create incisions in the vessel to provide greater control over the area of the vessel which stretches most during a balloon dilatation procedure. The incisions relieve pressure in the wall of the vessel, thereby enhancing dilation of the vessel by the balloon and allowing the vessel to be dilated more readily at a lower pressure. However, lesions are typically non-concentric, but the force from a balloon during a dilatation procedure is uniform. A nonuniform force distribution may not be desirable because the healthy portion of a vessel is typically the thinnest and weakest and consequently stretches more than the diseased portion. It is more desirable to deform the diseased portion of the vessel, such as a calcified lesion.
Further, some coronary arteries may develop vulnerable plaque which may require treatment through stenting. A vulnerable plaque is typically composed of a thin fibrous cap over a large lipid pool. It is sometimes desirable to rupture the fibrous cap during a stenting procedure and drain the lipid pool. Such a controlled rupture allows a physician to immediately respond to any complications such as a thrombus formation. What has been needed and heretofore unavailable is a stent that opens more easily in selected portions of the stent circumference compared to the remainder of the stent to increase stress on the diseased portions of the artery and reduce stress on healthy tissue. What also has been needed is a stent which induces stress to the fibrous cap which retains the vulnerable plaque during opening of the stent to cause rupture to the fibrous cap during the stenting procedure. The present invention satisfies these needs. The stent of the present invention includes portions of varying strength about its circumference. The stent also includes stress concentrators on the exterior portion of the stent. Each of these elements contribute to inducing more stress to the fibrous cap which retains vulnerable plaque and rupturing of the fibrous cap to effect a controlled release of vulnerable plaque contents during stent opening.

Intravascular stent for treating vulnerable plaque and method of use


A system for calibrating an internal balance used in the testing of scale models in wind tunnels including a base; apparatus for rigidly connecting a first portion of an internal balance to the base; force adaptor apparatus for rigidly engaging a second portion of the internal balance; apparatus for securing the force adaptor apparatus to the base, including apparatus for applying selected loads to the force adaptor apparatus so as to cause a corresponding loading on the internal balance; and low friction apparatus for coupling the force adaptor apparatus to the apparatus for securing, including apparatus for transmitting a direct force from the apparatus for applying selected loads to the force adaptor apparatus via a load point whose position relative to the force adaptor apparatus is substantially constant.

The use of wind tunnels to test the aerodynamic characteristics of scale models, typically of aircraft, is well known. A model is mounted, via an internal balance or sting balance connected to an aft portion of the model, onto a fixed support. The performance of the aircraft under various simulated wind loading conditions is then examined by taking output readings from the internal balance.
In order to validate any results of wind tunnel testing, however, calibration of the balance prior to testing is required. Calibration of the balance involves mounting it onto a force adaptor, and applying, via the force adaptor, direct forces along and moments about, three predetermined mutually orthogonal axes.
Conventionally, the loading of the balance required for calibration is carried out by use of dead weights, mounted so as to apply forces of known magnitude in known directions. This method is traditionally a manual method and is thus very tedious, taking in the range 100-200 hours to perform. A further disadvantage of this method is that application of a number of different loading conditions simultaneously is limited.
Also known is the repositioning method of calibration, in which the directions of the applied force vectors are kept constant by a servo positioning system. This concept has been put into practice in a system located at the National Aeronautical Establishment Wind Tunnels Center in Canada. In this system, the load application point is levelled automatically in both pitch and roll.
Extension of this concept to a full six degrees of freedom system, as required in an internal balance calibration system, has been found to be very expensive and mechanically very complex. A complete discussion of this system is found in a report entitled `A Six Component Auto-Leveling Balance Calibration Frame`, by R. D. Galway, NAE Canada, Supersonic Tunnel Association, 58th meeting, 1982.
A further approach to the automation of internal balance calibration, known as the Master Balance Method, is by measuring calibration forces by use of another, more accurate balance. This method is free of the size limitations to which the internal balance is subject, and can be manufactured with accurate load cells in a stiff frame which minimizes interaction between forces acting along or about the three axes with respect to which the balance is calibrated. A disadvantage of this approach is the dependence on a further, external calibration system, resulting, inter alia, in a relatively expensive system.
Systems based on this approach have been developed in Germany and in Australia. This approach is discussed in a report entitled `A New Approach To Internal Strain Gage Balance Calibration`, by Bruce Fairlie of the Aeronautical Research Laboratory, Australia, and delivered at the Supersonic Tunnel Association, 69th meeting, 1988.
A non-repositioning approach to internal balance calibration is described in an article entitled `An Investigation Of Methods On Drain-Gage Wind Tunnel Balance Calibration For A Rig Without Repositioning After Loading`, by Han Buzhang, NAI China, Ingmar Johnson, FFA Sweden, and Zhao Lei, SARI China, and published in FFA Technical Notes, 1988-14. A built system is described in a report article entitled `A New Computer Controlled Rig For Calibration Of The T 1500 Wind Tunnel Balances`, by Gustav Ingmar Johnson of The Aeronautical Research Institute Of Sweden, presented at the 71st meeting of the Supersonic Tunnel Association, Apr. 3-4, 1989, Universal City, Calif., U.S.A.
In the non-repositioning approach, applied force vectors are allowed to move and their position relative to the balance axis is measured.
Among advantages of this system are mechanical simplicity, leading to low cost; and long term stability, due to calculation of resultant forces from stable and accurate parameters, facilitated by the use of stable and highly accurate load cells and position sensors.
Among disadvantages of the system built in Sweden, described in the article by Gustav Ingmar Johnson, are: (i) reliance on an assumption that no axial displacements occur in the system, (ii) friction at points where force actuators connect to the force adaptor, and (iii) a lengthy initial adjustment of the force actuators to the coordinate axes of the system.

Internal balance calibration system and method


Acoustic echo cancellation is improved by receiving a speaker signal that is used to produce audio in a room, and receiving audio signals that capture audio from an array of microphones in the room, including an acoustic echo from the speakers. To cancel the acoustic echo, one adaptive filter is associated with a corresponding subspace in the room. Each of the audio signals is assigned to at least one of the adaptive filters, and a set of coefficients is iteratively determined for each of the adaptive filters. The coefficients for an adaptive filter are determined by selecting each of the audio signals assigned to that adaptive filter and adapting the filter to remove an acoustic echo from each of the selected audio signals. At each iteration, a different audio signal is selected from the audio signals assigned to the adaptive filter in order to determine the set of coefficients.

Acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) is widely used in teleconference systems. Array microphones are becoming more popular with advances in audio technology. When AEC is applied to array microphones, either an adaptive filter is applied for each microphone in the array, or one adaptive filter is used at the output of the entire array. Adaptive filters require high computation power, and when the number of microphones in the array is large, the processing requirements for AEC can be prohibitively high to accommodate the one adaptive filter per microphone approach.
In order to pick up sound sources from different locations in the room, an array microphone has to dynamically change its beam steering angle. If only one adaptive filter is used for the output of an array microphone, then the adaptive filter adapted for the previous steering angle will not be able to perform AEC well for the current angle. When there is a large difference between the previous steering angle and the current steering angle, the adaptive filter may add more echo instead of cancelling it, or the filter may even become unstable.

Acoustic echo cancellation for microphone array with dynamically changing beam forming


A rotor unit includes a plurality of rotating bodies arranged along a central axis. Each of the plurality of rotating bodies includes an annular rotor core surrounding the central axis, a plurality of magnets arranged in the circumferential direction around the rotor core, and a holder arranged to hold the magnets. Further, the holder includes a plurality of partitioning portions each axially extending between respective ones of the plurality of magnets. The axial dimension of the plurality of partitioning portions is longer than the axial dimension of the respective ones of the plurality of magnets which are held by the plurality of partitioning portions. Further, the plurality of rotating bodies is disposed in a state where the circumferential positions of the plurality of magnets are out of alignment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotor unit, a rotating electrical machine, and a method of manufacturing a rotor unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, an inner rotor-type of motor has been known in which a rotor unit having magnets is rotated inside a coil. For example, in WO 2006/008964A, a brushless motor provided with a stator and a rotor disposed inside the stator is described.
The rotor described in WO 2006/008964A has a rotor shaft, a rotor core, a magnet holder, and six rotor magnets. Further, in Paragraphs [0048] to [0051] and FIG. 8 of WO 2006/008964A, a rotor in a step-skewed form in which the rotor magnet on the front side and the rotor magnet on the back side are attached so as to be shifted in a step form is described.
However, in the example shown in FIG. 8 of WO 2006/008964A, contact between the magnet on the front side and the magnet on the back side is not prevented. For this reason, the magnets come into contact with each other due to impact during manufacturing, during transportation, or during use, so that there is concern that cracking or chipping may occur in the magnets on one or both sides. Cracking or chipping of the magnet causes a decrease in the magnetic properties of a motor and also becomes a factor for noise.

Rotor unit, rotating electrical machine, and method of manufacturing rotor unit


An improved reverse crago process for beneficiating siliceous phosphate includes the steps of subjecting a siliceous phosphate ore material to amine floatation so as to obtain a prefloat concentrate, and screening the prefloat concentrate so as to separate it into 1) a fine predominantly phosphate fraction without substantial amounts of silica, and 2) a coarse fatty acid floatation feed fraction containing phosphate and substantial silica. The coarse fraction is subjected to fatty acid flotation so as to recover phosphate as a fatty acid flotation concentrate.

The dominant process currently used for processing siliceous phosphates is the Crago "Double Float" process. In this process, deslimed phosphate ore is subjected to sizing. Typical sizing involves using a hydrosizer to size the deslimed feed into coarse (16.times.35 mesh) and fine (35.times.150 mesh) fractions. In some more sophisticated operations, three fractions are produced (16.times.24, 24.times.35, and 35.times.150 mesh). The sized feed is first subjected to rougher flotation after conditioning at 70% or higher solids with fatty acid/fuel oil at pH about 9 for three minutes. A significant amount of silica (sands) is also floated in this step. The rougher concentrate goes through a dewatering cyclone, an acid scrubber, and a wash box to remove the reagents from phosphate surfaces. After rinsing, the feed is transported into flotation cells where amines (sometimes with diesel) are added, and the silica is floated at neutral pH. Since about 30-40% by weight of the sands in the flotation feed are floated twice, first by fatty acid and then by amines, the Crago process is inefficient in terms of collector efficiency. Indeed, theoretical fatty acid efficiency in a typical plant is merely 5%. The rest of the reagents are wasted primarily because of silica. The trends of declining grade of phosphate deposits and soaring prices for fatty acid do not favor the standard Crago process.
Despite its inefficiency, the Crago process has been used widely in the phosphate industry in the past. However, due to increasing amine costs and decreasing phosphorous content in currently-mined ore, there is a need in the art for new methods of economically and efficiently beneficiating siliceous phosphates.

Reverse crago process for siliceous phosphates


In order to implement handover to a femto cell without making any modification to UEs, a gateway (50) relays traffic between a core network (60, 70) and a plurality of base stations (20_1-20_4) that are respectively incorporated into the core network (60, 70) through a public network. The gateway (50) generates an RRC Connection Release message for prompting establishment of a new RRC connection, when it is notified from the core network (60, 70) that a mobile station (10) is handed over to any one of the plurality of base stations (20_1-20_4). Then, the gateway (50) causes the core network (60, 70) to instruct a control device (40), which has established an RRC connection to the mobile station (10), to transfer the RRC Connection Release message to the mobile station (10).

An HNB (Home Node B) is a small-sized radio base station which can be installed within end-user's premises or a similar environment, and connects a UE compatible with a UMTS system to a core network of a mobile operator through a PDN (Public Data Network) such as a broadband IP (Internet Protocol) backhaul.
An HNB-GW (Gateway) accommodates a plurality of HNBs connected through the PDN, and relays traffic between each HNB and communication nodes such as an MSC (Mobile Switching Centre), an SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Support Node), an MGW (Media Gateway) and a GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node), which form the core network.
An NB (Node B) is a radio base station which is installed outdoors or a similar environment by the mobile operator, and connects the UE compatible with the UMTS system to the core network. The coverage of a cell (generally, referred to as "macro cell") formed by the NB is large, so that the number of UEs which can be accommodated in the cell is large. On the other hand, the coverage of a cell formed by the above-mentioned HNB is much smaller than that formed by the NB. Therefore, this cell is generally referred to as "femto cell".
An RNC (Radio Network Controller) is a control device which accommodates a plurality of NBs and controls radio resources between each NB and the UE. 3GPP has defined RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol for controlling the radio resources. This RRC protocol is terminated by the RNC and the UE.
Note that details of the HNB, the HNB-GW, the UE, the NB, the RNC, the MSC, the MGW, the SGSN, the GGSN and the PDN have been defined in various specifications of 3GPP (see TS 22.220, TS 25.467, TS 23.002, TS 23.060, TS 25.310 and the like).
In the UMTS, handover between cells is triggered by a Measurement Report message notified from the UE to the RNC. Specifically, the RNC instructs the UE to measure radio quality of a neighboring cell by using a control message in compliance with the RRC protocol (hereinafter, this message will be sometimes referred to as "RRC message"). When the RNC determines that the radio quality of the neighboring cell is higher based on a measurement result notified by the Measurement Report, the RNC instructs the UE to perform the handover.
PSCs (Primary Scrambling Codes) are assigned to respective cells. The UE identifies each cell by using the PSC. The RNC indicates the PSC to the UE to instruct which cell is to be measured for radio quality. The PSCs represent 512 different values, and are assigned so as not to overlap between neighboring cells. The RRC message can designate up to 32 neighboring cells using the same frequency as a cell on which the UE camps and up to 32 neighboring cells using frequencies different from that used in the cell on which the UE camps, upon instructing the UE to measure the quality.
A radius of the macro cell generally extends from several hundred meters to several kilometers. On the other hand, generally a radius of the femto cell is from several meters to several tens of meters, and is set within the range of a house, a company or the like. Moreover, a certain limited number of PSCs among the 512 PSCs are assigned for dedicated use in femto cells, and thus the assigned PSC is shared between femto cells. In other words, there may be a lot of femto cells to which the same PSC is assigned under the coverage of a certain macro cell.
In this case, the RNC cannot determine which femto cell is measured by the UE for radio quality, even if the RNC causes the UE to measure the radio quality of the femto cell and the Measurement Report message notifies about the result of the measurement. As a result, there is caused a problem that the RNC cannot uniquely identify the femto cell serving as a handover destination, and thus hands the UE over to the wrong femto cell even if a handover procedure is performed.
In order to address this problem, there has been studied in 3GPP Release 9, a method of reporting the Measurement Report message with an ID of the measured cell.

Gateway and control device, and communication controlling methods for the same


A leadframe having a die thereon connects a high current conductive area on the die to a leadframe contact using a copper clip that include a structural portion that is received within a recess-like “tub” that is formed in the leadframe contact which tub is shaped to conform to the geometric shape of the clip. In the preferred embodiment, a leadframe structure fabricated by etching includes at least one contact that is a halfetch recess or “tub” that receives one end of the clip structure and is retained in the tub by an adhesive. The end of the clip that is received in the tub is held in place during subsequent handling until the clip and leadframe undergo solder reflow to effect an electrical connection sufficient to handle the current load and also effect a reliable mechanical connection.

The present invention relates to the electrical connection of an integrated circuit (i.e., "die") with its surrounding leadframe structure and, more particularly, to connections designed to carry currents much higher than that normally associated with conventional bonding wires or groups of bonding wires.
In the packaging of integrated circuits, the "chip" or die is typically attached to the die "paddle" or "pad" portion of a leadframe structure by a die-attach adhesive or material, typically a solder paste created as a mixture of solder particles and a flux-containing gel. The die includes contact pads that are electrically connected to respective leads or contact areas on the leadframe by thin bonding wires using ball bond (i.e., "nail-head") or wedge bond formations and thermocompressive or thermosonic bonding techniques.
In some applications involving higher than usual currents, a plurality of bonding wires can be used to connect various conductive pads on the die to leads, pads, or contact areas on the leadframe to accommodate the current involved. As the current levels increase, the number of bonding wire connections increases to the point where the use of a sufficient plurality of bonding wires to carry the current load becomes impracticable. Rather than use a multitude of bonding wires in high-current applications, such as those involving power-switching or power-handling transistors, connections can be made from the die to the leadframe via a conductive ribbon or pre-formed shape-sustaining clips using copper or a copper alloy, for example, as the conductive material. In those cases where a pre-formed clip is used, a need arises for maintaining the clip in place during processing.

Clip mount for integrated circuit leadframes


A silicon-on-insulator metal oxide semiconductor device comprising ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire substrate; at least one P-channel MOS transistor formed in the ultrathin silicon layer; and N-type impurity implanted within the ultrathin silicon layer and the sapphire substrate such that peak N-type impurity concentration in the sapphire layer is greater than peak impurity concentration in the ultrathin silicon layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to semiconductor devices and processes and more specifically to a method of fabricating and processing P-channel transistors in silicon layers formed on insulating substrates to obtain devices having high degrees of total dose radiation hardness.
2. Description of Related Art
Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) technology is virtually the standard for digital circuits used in computers and telecommunication devices today. Increasingly, CMOS (complementary MOS) technology is utilized in these applications. CMOS technology incorporates both N-channel MOS and P-channel MOS transistors in the same monolithic structure.
"Radiation hardness" refers to the ability of a semiconductor device to withstand ionizing radiation without significant alteration of its electrical characteristics. A semiconductor device is said to be radiation hardened (rad-hard), radiation tolerant, or radiation resistant if it can continue to function within specifications after exposure to a specified amount and type of radiation. Semiconductor devices can be damaged or destroyed by the effects of ionizing radiation from natural and man-made sources. Radiation changes the electrical properties of solid state devices, leading to possible failure of any system incorporating them. Applications for radiation hardened semiconductor devices include use in harsh environments such as outer space, nuclear reactors, and particle accelerators. Additionally, improved radiation hardness is growing increasingly useful as semiconductor processing employs more manufacturing processes that generate radiation. For example, processing techniques such as reactive ion etching and plasma etching may introduce some radiation damage into the fabricated semiconductor structure.
The effect of ionizing radiation on MOS transistors is well known. The dominant effect is the charging of insulating layers adjacent to the semiconductor regions as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation. These charging effects have been widely studied, and mathematical models have been developed which provide a reasonable amount of predictive capability of the effect of ionizing radiation on the operation of an MOS device.
The induced charges can be categorized as one of two principal types, fixed oxide charges and interface state charges. Fixed oxide charges are incapable of exchanging charges with the semiconductor, and hence their charge density is insensitive to the position of the Fermi level in the adjacent semiconductor region. The second type, interface state charges, do exchange charges with the semiconductor layer and hence are sensitive to the position of the Fermi level in the adjacent semiconductor material. Both types of charges may or may not be produced in significant numbers as a result of the device being exposed to ionizing radiation. The two types of charges may occur separately or together.
There are several factors that determine the sensitivity of an MOS device to ionizing radiation exposure. Some of these factors include the dimensions of the device (W/L), the doping levels used in the construction of the device, the thicknesses of the insulating layers, and the electric fields across various regions of the device during the period of time that it is being exposed to the ionizing radiation environment.
In an effort to improve the performance of MOS devices, the art has focused on Semiconductor-On-Insulator (SOI) technology. In SOI technology, the devices are formed in a monocrystalline semiconductor layer, which is formed on an insulating layer which provides device isolation. While both conventional bulk CMOS devices and SOI CMOS devices may show degradation as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation, in SOI devices there are additional insulating layers (compared to bulk transistors) that can become charged as a result of radiation exposure.
It is well known that the so-called back interface of an SOI transistor can be very sensitive to ionizing radiation. In general, the charges that result are positive fixed charges in the back insulating layer. Since a positive oxide charge images a negative charge in the adjoining silicon region, the effect of such positive charge on the device operation can be readily understood.
In particular, for an N-channel transistor, the effect of such positive charge is to induce electrons at the back interface between the semiconductor layer and the insulating substrate. This will result in current flow between the source and drain of the transistor, even without the presence of a gate bias. This current is widely called "back channel" current to denote the fact that it is flowing near the back interface and is not capable of being controlled by the MOSFET gate. Similarly, it can be seen that positive charges in the back interface of a P-channel device will image negative charges in such a device, but that these negative charges will not result in any current flow in a P-channel transistor. Conversely, negative charges in such a back insulator image positive charges into the adjacent semiconductor region, causing current flow in a PMOS device, but no current flow in an NMOS device.
Previously, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) has been used for high performance microelectronics. The desirability of SOI devices for applications requiring radiation hardness is well-recognized. Fabrication of devices on an insulating substrate requires that an effective method for forming silicon CMOS devices on the insulating substrate be used. The advantages of using a composite substrate comprising a monocrystalline semiconductor layer, such as silicon, epitaxially deposited on a supporting insulating substrate, such as sapphire, have been well-recognized. These advantages include the substantial reduction of parasitic capacitance between charged active regions and the substrate and the effective elimination of leakage currents flowing between adjacent active devices. This is accomplished by employing an insulating material as the substrate, such as sapphire (Al2O3), spinel, or other known highly insulating materials, and providing that the conduction path of any interdevice leakage current must pass through the substrate.
An "ideal" silicon-on-insulator wafer may be defined to include a completely monocrystalline, defect-free silicon layer of sufficient thickness to accommodate the fabrication of active devices therein. The silicon layer would be adjacent to an insulating substrate and would have a minimum of crystal lattice discontinuities at the silicon-insulator interface. Early attempts to fabricate this "ideal" silicon-on-insulator wafer were frustrated by a number of significant problems, which can be summarized as (1) substantial incursion of contaminants into the epitaxially deposited silicon layer, especially the p-dopant aluminum, as a consequence of the high temperatures used in the initial epitaxial silicon deposition and the subsequent annealing of the silicon layer to reduce defects therein; and (2) poor crystalline quality of the epitaxial silicon layers when the problematic high temperatures were avoided or worked around through various implanting, annealing, and/or regrowth schemes.
It has been found that these high quality silicon films suitable for demanding device applications can be fabricated on insulating substrates by a method that involves epitaxial deposition of a thin silicon layer on an insulating substrate, low temperature ion implant to form a buried amorphous region in the silicon layer, and annealing the composite at temperatures below about 950° C. Sapphire is a very suitable and advantageous insulating substrate; though other oxide materials such as spinel may be employed. Examples of and methods for making such silicon-on-sapphire devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,043 ("Minimum charge FET fabricated on an ultrathin silicon on sapphire wafer"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,857 ("High-frequency wireless communication system on a single ultrathin silicon on sapphire chip"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,040 ("High-frequency wireless communication system on a single ultrathin silicon on sapphire chip"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,205 ("High-frequency wireless communication system on a single ultrathin silicon on sapphire chip"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,169 ("Minimum charge FET fabricated on an ultrathin silicon on sapphire wafer"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,570 ("High-frequency wireless communication system on a single ultrathin silicon on sapphire chip"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,336 ("High-frequency wireless communication system on a single ultrathin silicon on sapphire chip"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,823 ("Self-aligned edge control in silicon on insulator"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,396 ("High-frequency wireless communication system on a single ultrathin silicon on sapphire chip"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,957 ("Minimum charge FET fabricated on an ultrathin silicon on sapphire wafer"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,233 ("Phase locked loop including a sampling circuit for reducing spurious side bands"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,638 ("Method of making a low parasitic resistor on ultrathin silicon on insulator"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,363 ("CMOS circuitry with shortened P-channel length on ultrathin silicon on insulator"); U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,382 ("Capacitor on ultrathin semiconductor on insulator"); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,555 ("High-frequency wireless communication system on a single ultrathin silicon on sapphire chip").
By the methods described in the patents listed above, electronic devices can be formed in an extremely thin layer of silicon on an insulating substrate such as an insulating synthetic sapphire wafer. The thickness of the silicon layer is typically less than 150 nm. Such an "ultrathin" silicon layer maximizes the advantages of the insulating sapphire substrate and allows the integration of multiple functions on a single chip. In these devices, referred to herein as "ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire" devices, traditional transistor isolation wells required for thick silicon are unnecessary, simplifying transistor processing and increasing circuit density.
CMOS circuits have been fabricated on ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire substrates prepared by the methods described in the aforementioned patents. Such ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire CMOS circuitry possesses very high speed and low power consumption characteristics. While the ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire technology may be implemented in many well-known silicon circuit designs and devices, further innovative and advantageous circuit designs are possible that are enabled by the distinctive electrical and materials properties of the sapphire substrate.
Normally, radiation-induced charges in insulating layers are charged positively. This effect occurs because as most insulators are ionized by the radiation, the electron mobility in these layers is sufficiently high so that the created electrons are able to be swept out of the insulating layers by the electric fields which are present, leaving behind a net positive charge. It is thus generally true that the N-channel device is much more sensitive to ionizing radiation than the P-channel device. There have been a wide variety of approaches developed to "harden" NMOS transistors from these detrimental effects.
In an ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire transistor, the back insulator is sapphire as opposed to SiO2. The charging that occurs as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation is dramatically different from that observed in other forms of SOI technology. Under a certain set of bias conditions, exposure to ionizing radiation creates interface states at the sapphire/Si interface. These interface states are acceptor states (they are charged negatively when they are located below the Fermi level and neutral when they are above the Fermi level). The acceptor states are all located below midgap.
The effects of these below-midgap, radiation-induced acceptor states on the I-V characteristics of PMOS and NMOS ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire transistors are shown in FIGS. 1-4. FIG. 1 shows the energy band diagram 1 of a P-channel ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire transistor (electron energy vs. distance from surface) following exposure to radiation and the creation of the interface states 8. Region 2 is dielectric, region 3 is the silicon layer in the channel region, and region 4 is the insulator (the insulating sapphire substrate). FIG. 1 represents the case where the gate voltage is at the threshold voltage of the device. Curve 5 represents the conduction band edge, curve 6 represents the valence band edge, and curve 7 depicts the Fermi energy. It can be observed that at the back interface, the Fermi energy level is located in the region where the acceptor states are. Hence, as the device is swept below threshold, these acceptor states change charge as the Fermi level sweeps through them. This charging results in an I-V curve as shown in FIG. 2, an I-V curve for the P-channel transistor of FIG. 1, before (curve 10) and after (curve 9) exposure to radiation and the creation of interface states. Note that the curve 9 (the off state leakage current) is "stretched out" with respect to its pre-irradiated characteristics. Note also that the off state leakage (that current which flows with the gate at zero volts) increases dramatically after irradiation (curve 9). This effect represents a serious performance degradation for a MOS device; under normal conditions, MOS transistors are capable of offering a 109:1 ratio of on-state to off-state current.
By contrast, FIGS. 3 and 4 show the effect of these acceptor states on the I-V characteristics of a N-channel transistor. FIG. 3 shows the energy band diagram 11 of an N-channel transistor following exposure to radiation and the creation of interface states 8, where the gate voltage is at the threshold voltage of the device. Curve 13 represents the conduction band edge, curve 14 represents the valence band edge, and curve 15 depicts the Fermi energy. FIG. 4 shows the I-V curve for the N-channel transistor of FIG. 3, before (curve 16) and after (curve 17) exposure to radiation and the creation of interface states. At threshold, the Fermi level is above all of the states, and all of the acceptor states are occupied. As the gate voltage sweeps the device below threshold, the Fermi level does not move through the region of the bandgap where the states are located. Hence (as shown in FIG. 4) the net effect of the radiation-induced interface states on the N-channel transistor is only to cause a threshold shift 18 due to the fixed charge in these states and very little deleterious effect on the off-state leakage current.
The need to reduce off-state current in silicon-on-insulator devices in radiation exposed environments has been recognized, and some attempts to improve the situation have been reported.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,391,901 and 5,298,434 ("Selective recrystallization to reduce P-channel transistor leakage in silicon-on-sapphire CMOS radiation-hardened circuits") describe "traditional" silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) P-channel devices. In contrast to the ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire structures described above which are of high crystalline quality, these earlier SOS devices have relatively high defect levels in the silicon overlayers, a result of the lattice mismatch between the silicon and the insulating substrate. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,391,901 and 5,298,434 are directed to methods for balancing leakage currents in N-channel and P-channel devices by controlling the concentrations of these relatively high defect densities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,289 ("Latch-up immune, multiple retrograde well high density CMOS FET") and U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,239 ("Semiconductor device having retrograde well and diffusion-type well") describe ion-implanted CMOS devices fabricated in bulk silicon, having a "retrograde" dopant concentration profile in the well region.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,895 ("Silicon-on-sapphire mesa transistor having doped edges") describes silicon-on-sapphire transistors with channel edge regions (adjacent to the source regions) which are selectively doped with a high concentration of active carriers to raise the threshold voltage at the channel edge regions, thereby providing a higher breakdown voltage between the channel regions at the edge and the drain regions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,752 ("Method to radiation harden the buried oxide in silicon-on-insulator structures") describes a method to radiation harden silicon-on-insulator structures by implanting recombination-center-generating dopants into the buried oxide layer. In contrast to the high crystalline quality ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire structures described above, these SOS structures are formed by bonding and annealing a silicon device wafer to a thick oxide layer formed by wet oxidation of a first silicon substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,350 ("Radiation hardening of MOS devices by boron") describes radiation hardening of N-channel MOS devices by implanting a high dose of boron ions into the oxide region.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,192 ("Radiation-hardened CMOS structure using an implanted P guard structure and method for the manufacture thereof"); U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,721 ("Radiation hardened semiconductor device and method of making the same"); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,890 ("Radiation hard MOS devices and methods for the manufacture thereof") describe approaches for radiation-hardening N-channel devices.
While significant progress has been made in producing radiation-hardened MOS devices, these prior art techniques do not recognize or address the effects of the charging that occurs as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation, in the silicon-insulator interface region of the NMOS transistor formed in ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire. Consequently, in order to take advantage of the desirable properties of ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire devices in radiation exposed environments, there is a need for an efficient method for eliminating or greatly reducing the radiation-induced off-state current in P-channel ultrathin silicon-on-sapphire transistors, and for forming silicon-on-sapphire devices that have reduced off-state current after irradiation.

Radiation-hardened silicon-on-insulator CMOS device, and method of making the same