Disclosed is a copper foil for printed circuits prepared by forming a primary particle layer of copper on a surface of a copper foil, and then forming a secondary particle layer based on ternary alloy composed of copper, cobalt and nickel on the primary particle layer; in which the average particle size of the primary particle layer is 0.25 to 0.45 μm, and the average particle size of the secondary particles layer based on ternary alloy composed of copper, cobalt and nickel is 0.05 to 0.25 μm. Provided is a copper foil for printed circuits, in which powder fall from the copper foil can be reduced and the peeling strength and heat resistance can be improved by forming a primary particle layer of copper on a surface of a copper foil, and then forming a secondary particle layer based on copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating on the primary particle layer.

The present invention relates to a copper foil for printed circuits; more specifically relates to a copper foil for printed circuits, in which powder fall from the copper foil can be reduced and the peeling strength and heat resistance can be improved, prepared by forming a primary particle layer of copper on a surface of a copper foil, and then forming a secondary particle layer based on copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating thereon.
The copper foil for printed circuits of the present invention is particularly suitable for, for example, a fine-pattern printed circuit and a FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) for magnetic heads.
Copper and copper alloy foils (hereinafter referred to as "copper foil") have contributed significantly to the advances in the electric- and electronic-related industries and become essential, in particular, as materials for printed circuits. In general, a copper clad laminate is prepared by adhesively laminating a copper foil for printed circuits onto a substrate such as a synthetic resin board or film under high temperature and high pressure with or without using an adhesive. Then a necessary circuit is printed via the steps of resist application and exposure, followed by etching treatment for eliminating unwanted portions to form an intended circuit.
Finally, desired elements are soldered to form various types of printed circuit boards for electronics devices. Although a treating method of a copper foil for printed circuit boards is different between a surface (roughened surface) to be bonded to the resin base material, and a non-bonding surface (glossy surface), a number of methods have been proposed for respective surfaces.
For example, main requirements for the roughened surface formed on a copper foil include: (1) no oxidative discoloration during storage; (2) sufficient peel strength against a substrate even after high-temperature heating, wet processing, soldering, chemical treatment and the like; and (3) no so-called lamination stains, which may occur after the lamination onto a substrate and etching treatment.
Roughening treatment of copper foil has an important role in determining the adhesiveness between the copper foil and the substrate. For this roughening treatment, copper roughening treatment in which copper is electrodeposited was initially employed, but then various other technologies have been proposed. Now, copper-nickel roughening treatment has become established as one of the representative treatment methods in order to improve thermal peeling strength, hydrochloric-acid resistance and oxidation resistance.
The present applicant has proposed copper-nickel roughening treatment (see Patent Document 1), and produced successful results. A copper-nickel treated surface takes on a black color, and this black color of the copper-nickel treated surface is now acknowledged as a product symbol of, in particular, rolled foil for flexible substrates.
The copper-nickel roughening treatment is superior in terms of thermal peeling strength, oxidation resistance and hydrochloric acid resistance; but etching with an alkali etching solution, which has become increasingly important for fine pattern treatment in recent years, becomes difficult, etch residues remain on the treated layer during the formation of fine patterns having 150 μm pitch or less.
Accordingly, for fine pattern treatment, the present applicant previously developed Cu—Co treatment (see Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3) and Cu—Co—Ni treatment (see Patent Document 4).
These roughening treatments showed better etching properties, alkali etching properties and hydrochloric-acid resistance, but it was found that thermal peeling strength was decreased when an acrylic adhesive was used, and oxidation resistance was not sufficient as desired, and the color tone did not become black but was brown to dark brown.
Pursuant to the trend of finer patterns and diversification of printed circuits in recent years, the followings are further required; 1) thermal peeling strength (particularly when an acrylic adhesive is used) and hydrochloric-acid resistance should be comparable to those for the case of the Cu—Ni treatment, 2) etching with an alkali etching solution should be possible to produce a printed circuit having a pattern of 150 μm pitch or less, 3) oxidation resistance should be improved (being resistant to oxidation in an oven at 180° C. for 30 minutes) as in the case of the Cu—Ni treatment, and 4) the treatment should produce a black surface as in the case of the Cu—Ni treatment.
In other words, when the circuit becomes finer, the circuit tends to more easily peel off due to a hydrochloric acid etching solution, so that such peeling off needs to be prevented. When the circuit becomes finer, the circuit also tends to more easily peel off due to the high temperature at a process such as soldering, so that such peeling off also needs to be prevented. At the present time when circuits are increasingly becoming finer, etching a printed circuit having a pattern of 150 μm pitch or less with the use of, for example, a CuCl2 etching solution is already an essential requirement, and alkali etching is also becoming a necessary requirement because resists and the like are increasingly varied. A black surface is also becoming more important from the viewpoint of manufacturing copper foil and chip mounting in order to improve positioning precision and heat absorption.
In response to such demands, the present applicant successfully developed a method of treating a copper foil, wherein a cobalt plated layer or a cobalt-nickel alloy plated layer is formed on the copper foil surface after being subject to copper roughening treatment via a copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating, so that: the copper foil possesses many of the above general properties as the copper foil for printed circuits and particularly possesses the properties described above which are comparable to those in the Cu—Ni treatment; thermal peeling strength is not reduced when using an acrylic adhesive; the copper foil has superior oxidation resistance; and the copper foil surface takes on a blackened color (see Patent Document 5).
Preferably, after forming the cobalt plated layer or the cobalt-nickel alloy plated layer, rustproof treatment is applied, represented by coating treatment with chrome oxide alone or coating treatment with the mixture of chrome oxide and zinc and/or zinc oxide.
Subsequently, as the development of electronic equipment advances, semiconductor devices increasingly become smaller and more highly integrated. Even higher temperature is required for treatments in the manufacturing process of these printed circuits, and heat is generated when using a product in which such semiconductor devices are incorporated. As a result, the decrease in bonding strength between a copper foil and a resin substrate is again recognized as a problem.
In light of the above, the present applicant inventively improved thermal peeling resistance in the method for treating copper foil for printed circuits according to Patent Document 5, in which a roughening treatment is performed to a surface of a copper foil by way of copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating, and a cobalt plated layer or a cobalt-nickel alloy plated layer is thereafter formed.
This method for treating copper foil for printed circuits is a method in which a cobalt-nickel alloy plated layer is formed after performing a roughening treatment to a surface of a copper foil via copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating, and then a zinc-nickel alloy plated layer is further formed. It is an extremely effective invention, and materials produced according to the invention are now one of the major products of copper-foil circuit materials.
For producing a copper-foil circuit that is even more thin-lined, the process of soft etching the upper surface of a copper circuit using an etching solution containing sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide is performed after a circuit is once formed on a substrate. During this process, a problem occurred that the etching solution infiltrated into the edge portion of the bonded interface between the copper foil and a resin substrate such as polyimide.
This may be considered as a partial corrosion of the treated surface of the copper foil. Such corrosion is a significant problem since it reduces the bonding strength between the copper foil and the resin in a fine circuit. Solving this problem is also demanded.
In the treatment of copper foil for printed circuits, in which a cobalt-nickel alloy plated layer is formed after performing a roughening treatment to a surface of a copper foil via copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating, and then a zinc-nickel alloy plated layer is further formed; the present inventors, after numerous attempts, successfully provided several major improvements in the properties of the copper foil for printed circuits. The early technologies of the roughening treatment by copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating are disclosed in Patent Document 7 and Patent Document 8.
However, since the structure of the roughening particles formed on the surface of copper foil via copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating as the most basic roughening treatment is dendritic, there was a problem that the particles came off from the upper or base parts of the dendritic structure, causing a phenomenon generally known as powder fall.
This powder fall is a problematic phenomenon. Although a roughened layer treated by copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating can be characterized by having superior adherence with a resin layer and superior heat resistance, the particles therein may easily come off by external force as mentioned above, causing flaking due to "rubbing", adhesion of flakes onto the roll, and occurrence of etch residues due to the flakes during the process.
Provided that blackening treatment by copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating (in Example 1, Cu: 3.3 mg/dm2, Co: 6.3 mg/dm2, Ni: 1.6 mg/dm2) is performed, techniques are disclosed in which copper foil is plated with fine copper particles in advance in order to make the color tone darker in the blackening treatment and to prevent the phenomenon of powder fall, and in which a smooth layer of cobalt or cobalt-nickel is provided as the outermost layer to prevent powder fall (Patent Document 9 below).
In this case, providing a smooth layer of cobalt or cobalt-nickel as the outermost layer is the main requirement for preventing powder fall. Rather, powder fall from copper-cobalt-nickel alloy plating will depend on the structure of particles in a primary layer of copper applied to copper foil, and the composition and the particle structure of a cobalt layer or a cobalt-nickel layer formed as a secondary particle layer thereon. However, the Patent Document 9 only provides formation of a smooth layer as the outermost layer, hardly providing a fundamental solution for powder fall.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. S52-145769    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Publication No. S63-2158    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application No. H1-112227    Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application No. H1-112226    Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Publication No. H6-54831    Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2849059    Patent Document 7: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H4-96395    Patent Document 8: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-18075    Patent Document 9: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-260068


A reactive gas is introduced into a vacuum chamber by a gas controller so that a plasma is generated in a plasma generation region. Subsequently, high-frequency power from a high-frequency power source is applied to a sample stage in the vacuum chamber so that ions in the plasma are made incident upon the sample stage, thereby performing dry etching with respect to a sample on the sample stage. In main etching, a value of (pressure of reactive gas)/(frequency of high-frequency power) is reduced so as to reduce a scattering probability, which is the probability of ions being scattered in collision with neutral particles in a sheath region, thereby increasing the energy of ion fluxes and making the incidence directions of the ion fluxes perpendicular to a surface of the sample stage. In overetching, the value of (pressure of reactive gas)/(frequency of high-frequency power) is increased so as to increase the above scattering probability, thereby reducing the energy of the ion fluxes and tilting the incidence directions of the ion fluxes from a perpendicular to the surface of the sample stage.

The present invention relates to a plasma generating and processing method and to an apparatus for use in the method.
As an arrangement for practicing a plasma generating and processing method, there has been known one in which a sample stage serving as a cathode electrode is disposed in a chamber of a plasma generating apparatus. With the arrangement, high-frequency power is applied to the sample stage to form a dc self-bias, thereby accelerating ions toward the sample stage. The accelerated ions are used either primarily or subordinately to process a sample on the sample stage.
The plasma generating and processing method using high-frequency discharge has various applications in such fields as plasma CVD, sputtering, and ion implantation, which are used in dry etching techniques and thin-film forming techniques that necessitate micro-processing.
Recent advances in high-density semiconductor integrated circuit devices have been bringing about changes comparable to those caused by the Industrial Revolution. Higher densities have been achieved in semiconductor integrated circuits by device miniaturization, device improvements, and an increasing area occupied by a chip. Among these, device miniaturization has reached a point on the order of the wavelengths of light, so that the use of excimer laser and soft X-rays has been considered. In forming micro-patterns, dry etching and thin-film formation as well as lithography have been playing an important role.
Below, an examination will be made of dry etching process applied to micro-processing techniques for semiconductor substrates.
The dry etching process is a technique for removing unwanted portions of a thin film or a semiconductor substrate, which serves as a material to be etched, by utilizing chemical or physical reactions between radicals and ions generated by a plasma and the surface of a solid phase of the material to be etched. Of all the dry etching techniques, reactive ion etching (RIE) is most widely used. In RIE, a sample is exposed to a plasma obtained by subjecting an appropriate reactive gas to high-frequency discharge, so that unwanted portions at the surface of the sample are removed by etching reactions. The wanted portions at the surface of the sample are normally protected by a photoresist pattern used as a mask.
In main etching, to realize substantially vertical etching profiles with complete fidelity to a minuscule mask pattern at a high etching rate, it is required that large ion fluxes should be incident at high energy upon a sample in directions substantially vertical to a surface thereof. To meet the requirement, it is essential to minimize the number of times that ions in the plasma are scattered in collision with neutral particles, while they are accelerated toward the sample stage in a sheath region formed in the vicinity thereof.
In overetching, on the other hand, it is required that the ion fluxes should not be incident at high energy upon the sample in directions substantially vertical to the surface thereof in order to enhance the etching selectivity to an underlying material.
To fulfill the above requirements, there has conventionally been adopted an arrangement in which the power of a high-frequency power source is increased in main etching, while it is reduced in overetching or another arrangement in which a gas for forming a protective thin film on the surface of the underlying material is additionally introduced at the time when the underlying material is exposed, thereby performing two-level etching.
Next, an examination will be made of thin-film forming process using plasma CVD, which is applied to micro-processing techniques for semiconductor substrates.
In forming a thin film by directing reactive products generated in the plasma, such as neutral radicals, to the sample on the sample stage, it is generally required to form a uniform thin film over the surface of the sample with concave and convex portions that are either rectangular or circular in cross section.
However, a thin film deposited on the surface of the sample with concave and convex portions becomes thickest at the upper edge corners of a concave portion, since the prospective landing solid angle at which the reactive products, such as the neutral radicals, land on the surface on the sample in substantially conformal directions becomes largest there. Conversely, the deposited film on the surface of the sample becomes thinnest at the lower edge corners of a convex portion, since the prospective landing solid angle becomes smallest there. Moreover, the deposited film becomes comparatively thick on the surface of the sample, since the prospective landing solid angle is comparatively large there. The prospective landing solid angle becomes particularly small at the bottom of the convex portion at the surface of the sample, since the deposited film formed on the periphery of the convex portion is jutting out over the upper edges thereof, so that the deposited film becomes thin at the bottom. Accordingly, the deposited film is filled in the convex portion only unsatisfactorily, which often results in voids.
To prevent the above phenomenon and form a uniform thin film on the surface of the sample with rectangular and circular concave and convex portions, there has conventionally been adopted a method in which, after the thin-film forming process was performed for a specified period of time, a sample is taken out of a thin-film forming apparatus and temporarily placed in a sputtering apparatus, so that those portions of the deposited film which are jutting out, in the course of the thin-film forming process, from the upper edge corners of a concave portion at the surface of the sample are removed by ion sputtering, thereby increasing the prospective landing solid angle at the bottom of the convex portion of the sample. Thereafter, the semiconductor substrate is placed in the plasma CVD apparatus again. Thus, by placing the sample alternately in the thin-film forming apparatus and the sputtering apparatus and alternately performing the thin-film forming process and the ion sputtering process, a thin film uniform in thickness is formed over the surface of the sample with concave and convex portions with excellent step coverage.
However, although the above etching method in which the power of the high-frequency power source is switched between two levels can control the density of ion fluxes, it cannot control the energy distribution of ions and the incidence angle distribution thereof satisfactorily, so that it is difficult to obtain a sufficiently high etching rate, substantially vertical etch profiles, and sufficiently high selectivity. A combination of the method in which the power of the high-frequency power source is switched between two levels and the method in which a gas is additionally introduced in overetching also has similar disadvantages.
Furthermore, since the process of forming a thin film by plasma CVD and the process of removing the thick portions of the film by sputtering are performed individually in the different apparatus, throughput in processing is significantly reduced.

Plasma generating and processing method and apparatus thereof

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Acetylated polysaccharides and methods of making and using them are provided. One method of making acetylated polysaccharides includes providing polysaccharides, purifying the polysaccharides to 1-90% purity by weight, providing an acetylation agent, providing a catalyst, mixing the acetylation agent and catalyst with the polysaccharides, thereby manufacturing acetylated polysaccharides, and purifying the acetylated polysaccharides.

This field is related to the processing of plants and plant parts for the development of acetylated sugars or carbohydrates for therapeutic use. Also described herein are efficient methods of obtaining highly acetylated sugars or carbohydrates that have been extracted from plants and/or plant parts.
Aloe vera is a succulent plant species of the genus Aloe. It grows wild in tropical climates around the world and is cultivated for agricultural and medicinal uses. Aloe vera has been widely recognized in the cosmetic and alternative medicine industries for its moisturizing and healing properties.
Aloe vera has been used for decades to soothe irritation such as dry skin, or pain from a sunburn. Extraction and characterization of the aloe vera gel has revealed that the gel comprises many types of mucopolysaccharides.
In medical practices, polysaccharides have been known as signaling molecules that may account for their therapeutic properties. Gel forming complex carbohydrates have been known to act as a demulcent or emollient. In some instances, several types have been recognized as being anti-inflammatory and immune modulators.
The polysaccharide, acemannan, is a polysaccharide composed by a mainly backbone of β-(1→4)-linked D-mannose residues interspersed by few glucose residues, acetylated in O-2, O-3, O-2/O-3, or O-6 containing side chains constituted by O-6-linked single α-D-galactose and α-L-arabinose residues. Aloe vera acemannan may present immunostimulatory activity. A study of the structural details of the polysaccharide has shown that acemannan presents a complex acetylation pattern. However, during extraction and processing of the polysaccharide, the polysaccharide can become deacetylated. Acetylated polysaccharides have been attributed to the promotion of the immunomodulatory activity. As such, methods are needed to efficiently acetylate the hydroxyl groups of this polysaccharide at a high content in order to preserve its immunomodulatory activity.

Herbalife International of America, Inc.


The present invention discloses a compensation table compression method, a display manufacturing apparatus, and a memory. The method includes: obtaining a reference frame compensation table and a current frame compensation table; dividing the reference frame compensation table and the current frame compensation table into a plurality of coding blocks, wherein each coding block is separately processed by using multiple prediction modes to obtain a residual coding block in the corresponding prediction mode; and compressing the residual coding block. By using the above method, the invention can save resources, reduce costs, and improve work efficiency.

To eliminate a mura of a display, a compensation table is typically used to store compensation information for each pixel. When images are displayed, a driving board looks up a compensation table, adjusts signals, increases signals in dark areas of a panel, and decreases signals in over-bright areas to present a uniform display effect. In the compensation table, each pixel corresponds to a set of compensation information, and each set of compensation information includes one or more compensation data. The physical meaning of the compensation data depends on the algorithm, which is usually an adjustment value of a specific gray level, and there is also an algorithm to set it to the voltage value to be adjusted.

Compensation table compression method, display manufacturing apparatus, and memory

TCL CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A semiconductor device in accordance with one embodiment of the invention can include a first data storage region including a non-volatile main data storage region. Additionally, the semiconductor device can include a second data storage region including a non-volatile reference region wherein an erasing operation and a writing operation are performed on both the first data storage region and the second data storage region. Moreover, the semiconductor device can also include a control unit coupled to the first and second data storage regions which determines a stress condition corresponding to the first data storage region based on a stress information related to the second data storage region.

A non-volatile memory such as a flash memory includes a data storage region formed of a plurality of memory cells. The memory cell has a transistor structure including a charge storage layer, and changes the threshold voltage of the memory cell by making the amount of the charge in the charge storage layer variable to store the data.
The charge is implanted into the charge storage layer or is withdrawn there from by applying a predetermined stress to respective terminals of the gate/source/drain of the memory cell transistor. When the data are written into the memory cell, the stress application and the verification operation are repeatedly performed to increase the threshold voltage stepwise for the purpose of preventing the over-programming to the memory cell.
However, as the data rewriting frequency is increased, the charge implantation to the charge storage layer becomes difficult owing to deterioration in the memory cell, and accordingly, the time for writing data becomes longer.

Semiconductor device and method using stress information


The present disclosure relates to system(s) and method(s) for deploying a java agent in runtime. The method creates a .WAR file associated with a java agent. The .WAR file corresponds to a servlet configured to run the java agent. The method further determines an existence of a reference holder class in a bootstrap class loader using the servlet. Based on the determination of the reference holder class, the method connects the servlet to a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The servlet is connected to the JVM using an open source library. Further, the method deploys the java agent in real-time based on a deployment of a bootstrap class using the servlet. The bootstrap class holds a reference to the java agent. The bootstrap class acts as the reference holder class.

Currently, in order to install the agent, a user must run a web server with an added command line directive "-javaagent <javaagent.jar>". This command tells the JVM to load the jar file before any other application is loaded and allows the agent to manipulate the java bytecode on the fly. This creates an issue whereby, because the agent jar file is loaded during launch time, it is generally not possible to detach or update it during run time. Further, replacing or detaching the jar file requires a restart of the server. It could take a lot of time to restart the server and so reducing this time can be significant.

System and method of deploying java agents in runtime


A binder pitch material includes a petroleum pitch and asphalt fraction obtained from petroleum crude oil and has a significantly lower polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon composition than a coal tar pitch having a like softening point. The pitch material is useful as a binder material for various applications such as clay pigeons.

Pitch and pitch products have been around since biblical times. Noah made wood tar pitch which is a thermal polymerization product of tree sap, heated for a long time to induce the polymerization.
Coal tar pitch is one of the end products of destructive distillation of coal. Subjecting coal to high temperatures causes vaporous products to separate out of the coal sample. These vaporous products, when fractionated to remove light ends, produce coal tar pitch, which is a glassy solid at room temperature.
Another pitch product is produced from petroleum (crude oil). The most common processes used to generate petroleum pitches are, singularly or a combination of, (a) solvent deasphalting, (b) oxidation, (c) catalytic, and (d) thermal processes. Feedstocks to produce petroleum pitch can be comprise of compositions that range from predominantly aliphatic to predominantly aromatic type chemical structures, as disclosed in Developing Coal Tar/Petroleum Pitches, R. H. Wombles, M. D. Kiser, "Developing Coal Tar/Petroleum Pitches", Light Metals, 2000, The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society, Warrendale, Pa. 2000.
Each of these types of "pitch" generally have specific and unique characteristics that make each type of pitch useful for producing different types of intermediate and/or end products. For example, coal tar pitch is suitable for many uses, including but not limited to roofing material, a binder for anodes, a binder for clay pigeons, and myriad other uses. The primary disadvantage or concern with coal tar pitch is the high level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are regulated by governmental agencies (OSHA regulations (1910.1200)) present in the processing of the coal tar pitch and in the resulting end products.
The McHenry U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,906 described reducing the level of irritating and/or regulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a pitch product by blending a high softening point coal tar pitch with a lower softening point petroleum pitch product. The combined pitch product had a much lower polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content, some of which are regulated by governmental agencies (OSHA regulations (1910.1200)) by replacing some of the coal tar derived compounds with those of petroleum origin.
The Nash U.S. Pat. No. 2,768,119 describes pitches made from petroleum which have properties similar to coal tar pitches.
There have been other attempts at reducing the amount of coal tar pitch used in products in some low softening point applications. A series of driveway sealer patents have recently issued relating to blends of coal tar pitch and petroleum pitch, and blends of petroleum pitch with conventional asphalts produced in a refinery, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,809, Boyer et al. These materials have satisfactory performance as a sealer base and as coatings.
The pitch products discussed above can be generally classified as high tech, high softening point pitch (for binder pitch application) or as low-tech, low softening point pitch (for driveway sealers and coatings). In the high tech, high softening point applications, the pitch is subjected to many stringent processing requirements and there are strict limits on the amounts sulfur and other impurities that can be present. In the low softening point, lower tech, applications, the product specifications generally permit much higher levels of sulfur and other impurities.
A typical example of one pitch application is as a binder for clay pigeons or other porous materials. Most clay pigeons are currently made from a mixture of pulverized limestone and a commercially available coal tar pitch. In this application the glassy nature, or crystalline behavior, of the coal tar pitch is a highly desirably property. The crystalline behavior causes the clay pigeon, when struck by a shot, to disintegrate. However, the clay pigeon must also possess significant strength so that the clay pigeon can be launched by hand or mechanical launcher without disintegrating during launch. Another example is a related, and somewhat heavier, clay pigeon designed to roll along the ground and simulate a rabbit or other small forest creature. Other types of targets with varying dominions are also produced to provide different challenges to shooting sports. Examples of these target types include the "Midi", "Mini", "Battue" and "Flash". Black's 1998 Wing & Clay, L. Re editor, JFB, Inc., Red Bank, N.J., pg. 222.
The Hukkanen U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,054 describes a pitch made of gypsum containing crystal water and other ingredients such as high water binding substitutes such as calk (CaO).
The Brander et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,707 describes a calcium based clay pigeon with calcium and limestone or mortar having a coal tar pitch petroleum resin as a binder.
While clay pigeons manufactured with pitch as a binder have been sold and used for over a century, one drawback to this well proven commercial product is that there is growing concern about the toxicity of the clay pigeon residue. OSHA regulations (1910.1200) require reporting on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) of certairi compounds If the concentration is equal to or greater than 0.1 wt %. Further details may be found at their Web site, http://www.osha-slc.gov/OshStd data/1910.1200.html United States Department of Labor, Occupational Health & Safety Administration, Mar. 7, 2002.
While the amounts of compounds such as those described above are elatively small, there are still some concerns about spreading an arguably toxic or hazardous substance on the land. Therefore, there is a growing demand for a clay pigeon which performs satisfactorily, but which has less environmental impact.
In particular, a significant concern exists over specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons being carried into the water table by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Details of these concerns may be found in the USEPA Web site, http://epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/polycvcl.html, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Mar. 7, 2002.
In recent years, there have been many attempts to produce a pitch-free clay pigeon product, and even produce one that was edible, but so far only one, using sulfur as a binder, has received any significant acceptance in the market place. These products typically require elaborate processing steps, so that while a biodegradable, even edible, target can be made, it is expensive and the resulting target has not met with wide spread acceptance.
The Allison et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,778 describes a target made of 60-66% limestone, and 30-35% coal tar pitch, and 1-5% of paraffinic oil such as "residual oil # 6".
The Rutledge U.S. Pat. No. 2,211,244 describes a target containing 65% wt. coal tar pitch and 35% wt. limestone dust.
The Sato U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,417 describes clay pigeons made of soil, ice and asphalt, which is painted before being cooled to prevent an oil element oozing from the inside of asphalt clay pigeon.
The Goodson U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,581 describes a biodegradable and edible clay pigeon composed of sugar, birdseed, and water.
The Moore U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,142 describes a biodegradable clay target of clay, water, and a sodium silicate/sugar binder. The Maryska U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,132 describes a gypsum based clay pigeon having a thin, and relatively brittle, skin over softer particulate gypsum composition on the inner body.
The Hellings U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,998 describes a non-toxic, edible, skeet made of flour, water, and ground seeds.
The LaVorna et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,550 describes a biodegradable, edible target of ground forage.
The Lynn Jr., et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,377 describes a biodigestable cold-skeet target comprised of finely ground food grains or seeds in a molasses binder.
The Harshaw et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,243 describes a biodegradable target comprising cellulose wood flour, an organic binder, and a release agent.
The Wisoki et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,695 describes a biodegradable target made from a mixture of clay material and peat material molded into a shape of a target.
The Skeus et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,475 describes an environmentally safe target made from sulfur and fillers such as gypsum, sand, clay, fly ash, glass, metallic sulfate, non-metallic sulfates, rock, mexaloxides and silicates. The patent also describes a prior art as a brand of targets called "White Flyer" (target made of petroleum pitch and limestone). This patent reported that international publication number WO 94/09339 taught use of sulfur and chalk as fillers, and that Canadian Patent 959203 and German Patent 22 54 725 described pitch free targets.
The Gase et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,582 B1 describes a method of making a target by mixing gypsum, grain flour, water and liquid to form a pastry mix and extruding it and drying it to form a target.
The Schreiner-Hansen U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,118 describes a non-toxic clay pigeon of plaster, calcium carbonate, and surfactants.
Neat petroleum pitch, such as Marathon Ashland Petroleum A-240 pitch or Troulmen T-250 pitch, has been used for many years for the production of clay pigeons. Like coal tar pitch, petroleum pitch has been successfully used to product clay pigeon targets. However, similar concerns have arisen as with coal tar pitch since petroleum pitch also contains as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are regulated by governmental agencies (OSHA regulations (1910.1200)). Concentrations of these compounds are significantly lower in petroleum pitch than In typical coal tar pitches, however some are still above the limits considered to be reportable per OSHA regulations (1910.1200). Other, non-regulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon have also been detected in petroleum pitch.
In addition to the manufacturing costs, there are other concerns with some of the "green" clay pigeons, either with susceptibility to water damage in storage, instability in storage, or deposition of an unpleasant (although environmentally benign) looking residue on the ground.
Therefore, there is a continuing need for an improved pitch product with reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content.
There is a further need for a binder useful to produce a rapidly-solidifying frangible pitch.
There is still a further need to produce improved products with such binder, including, for example, clay pigeons.

Petroleum hydrocarbon binder with reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content


The present invention is directed to an air box assembly for a snowmobile. The air box assembly is capable of being positioned frontward of the snowmobile engine, relative to a front end of the snowmobile. In this position, throttle noise being dampened by the air box assembly is further removed from an operator of the snowmobile sitting in an operator position on the snowmobile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air box assembly for a vehicle, and more specifically relates to an air box assembly for a snowmobile that includes air-silencing capabilities.
2. Related Art
Air box assemblies for snowmobiles have been in use for decades. Air box assemblies serve at least two purposes. First, the air box assembly provides an air intake to the throttle body assembly of the engine. Typically, the air box assembly filters incoming air from an air source as part of providing air intake to the throttle body assembly. Second, the air box assembly provides air-silencing capabilities by dampening throttle noise produced by the throttle body assembly that travels back to the air box assembly.
Known snowmobile air box assemblies are typically positioned rearward of the engine relative to a front end of the snowmobile. The air box assembly, in this rearward position, is also typically positioned frontward of the fuel tank of the snowmobile and adjacent the steering column. In this position, the air box assembly is just underneath and frontward of an operator sitting in an operator position of the snowmobile. Despite the noise dampening performed by an air box assembly in this position, the vehicle operator is typically exposed to a considerable amount of throttle noise due to the closeness of the air box assembly to the operator.


A low-pin-count chip package including a die pad for receiving a semiconductor chip and a plurality of connection pads electrically coupled to the semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip, the die pad, and the connection pads are encapsulated by a package body in a manner that the lower surfaces of the die pad and the connection pads are exposed through the package body. The present invention is characterized in that the die pad and the connection pads have a T-shaped profile thereby prolonging the time for moisture diffusion into the package as well as enhancing the xe2x80x9clockingxe2x80x9d of the die pad and the connection pads in the package body. The present invention further provides a method of producing the low-pin-count chip package described above.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor chip packages, and more specifically to low-pin-count chip packages and manufacturing methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a low-pin-count chip package 100 according to a preferred embodiment disclosed in R. O. C. Publication No. 348306 entitled xe2x80x9cDevice Having Resin Package And Method Of Producing The Samexe2x80x9d. The low-pin-count chip package 100 includes a chip 110 sealed in a package body 120. The active surface of the chip 110 is provided with a plurality of bonding pads 110a electrically connected to a plurality of connection pads 130. The backside surface of the chip 110 is exposed from the package body 120 through a conductive adhesive layer 112. The connection pads 130 are located around the periphery of the chip 110 and exposed from the lower surface of the package body 120 for making external electrical connection. Since the package body 120 does not cover the exposed lower surface of the connection pads 130, it cannot firmly lock the connection pads 130.
The connection pads 130 are usually made of metal with good electrical conductivity such as copper but the package body 120 is made of insulating material such as epoxy molding compound. Accordingly, the bond between connection pads 130 and the package body 120 is relatively weak and the difference of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) therebetween is very large. Because of the CTE mismatch, stress is created at the interface between the connection pads and the plastic package body as the conventional package experiences temperature changes. The stress, in turn, results in the delamination of the metal-plastic interface. After the plastic-metal interface becomes delaminated, moisture from the environment diffuses through the plastic package body to the delaminated area. Once moisture accumulates in the package, rapid temperature increases will cause the moisture to vaporize and expand, thereby creating an internal pressure in the delaminated area which causes the surrounding plastic package body to crack. The most common occurrence of package cracking occurs when the conventional package described above is soldered to a substrate by IR reflow.
Further, since the package body 120 only seals one side of the chip 110, moisture and/or ionic contamination from the atmosphere can sometimes penetrate through the bonding lines between the epoxy molding compound and the chip 110, which can cause reliability problems, i.e. a greatly reduced chip operating life. This phenomenon is becoming more and more critical as the semiconductor industry moves towards packaging electronic devices in smaller and smaller packages.
The present invention therefore seeks to provide a low-pin-count chip package which overcomes, or at least reduces the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a low-pin-count chip package including a die pad for receiving a semiconductor chip and a plurality of connection pads electrically coupled to the semiconductor chip. A package body is formed over the semiconductor chip and the connection pads in a manner that the lower surfaces of the die pad and the connection pads are exposed through the package body. The present invention is characterized in that the die pad and the connection pads have a T-shaped profile thereby prolonging the path and time for moisture diffusion into the package as well as enhancing the xe2x80x9clockingxe2x80x9d of the die pad and the connection pads in the package body.
According to a second aspect, this invention further provides a method of producing a low-pin-count chip package. The method comprises the steps of: (A) forming a photoresist layer on a metal plate; (B) photoimaging and developing the photoresist layer so as to expose predetermined portions of the metal plate; (C) forming a protective metal flash on the exposed portions of the metal plate; (D) overplating a layer of conductive material on the protective metal flash so as to form a die pad and a plurality of connection pads having a T-shaped profile, wherein the xe2x80x9coverplatingxe2x80x9d means that the plating of the conductive material is not stopped until the thickness thereof is greater than that of the photoresist layer; (E) forming a metal coating on the exposed surfaces of the die pad and the connection pads; (F) stripping the photoresist layer; (G) attaching a semiconductor chip onto the die pad; (H) electrically coupling the semiconductor chip to the connection pads; (I) forming a package body over the semiconductor chip and the connection pads; and (J) removing the metal plate.

Low-pin-count chip package and manufacturing method thereof

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


An in-tank fuel supply unit is provided for supplying fuel from a fuel tank to an engine. The fuel supply unit generally comprises a fuel delivery module and a jet pump assembly selectively attachable to the fuel delivery module. The fuel delivery module has a housing defining a reservoir and includes a fuel pump for pressurizing fuel in the reservoir. The jet pump assembly has a suction tube defining a suction chamber and a nozzle situated inside the suction chamber. The nozzle receives pressurized fuel from the fuel pump and sprays the fuel from a nozzle tip at high velocity to draw additional fuel into the suction chamber through an inlet formed in the suction tube.

Automobiles generally include a fuel tank having a fuel supply unit operatively connected thereto for providing fuel to the injectors of the engine from the fuel tank. One general type of fuel supply units are those which are designed for placement within the fuel tank to be submersed within the fuel contained therein. Such in-tank units generally include a fuel delivery module having a reservoir, as well as a fuel pump for supplying fuel to the injectors from the reservoir. A jet pump is employed to supply fuel to the reservoir during vehicle operation.
Typically, the jet pump is integrally formed with the fuel delivery module. Thus, when access to the jet pump is desired, the entire fuel delivery module must be removed from the fuel tank. Additionally, first stage filters are generally not available with such jet pumps for filtering the fuel prior to passing through the jet pump. In order to employ a filter, a horizontal jet pump is typically formed with the fuel delivery module. Unfortunately, a horizontal jet pump results in a sacrifice of efficiency because the entrained fuel must be redirected by 90° to spray the fuel upwardly into the reservoir.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide an in-tank fuel supply unit having a jet pump which is accessible, and also which has high efficiency and permits the use of a first stage filter.

In-tank fuel supply unit with attachable jet pump assembly and filter


A secure system has two computers that are intrinsically safe and implements a method for verifying the redundancy for the outputs where a very high level of safety is required. The method makes it possible to handle inconsistencies in the outputs of the two computers when they are working in redundant mode. Each computer receives the output states determined by the other computer and compares them to states calculated. A state of divergent operation is detected if the computers have determined two different states for a single output. If a divergence is detected for at least one output, the state of that output is determined by preventing any transition from a restrictive state to a permissive state.

This invention relates to processing systems that require a high level of operational safety, in particular the processing systems used in the transportation of people. More specifically, the invention concerns a processing system that has two computers that are intrinsically safe providing a suitable level of safety and, in particular by implementing a redundant configuration, good system availability in the event of one of the computers failing.
Applications relating to secured verification/command processing are commonly used in automated transport, such as automatic urban trains. These applications use intrinsically safe computers that are capable of guaranteeing secure operation and detecting operating errors in the processing effected. An example computer is described in EP-A-1 089 175. The computer implements a technique that includes detecting errors by means of a data encoding system and, if necessary, ensuring commands are in a safe position for passengers, which may include stopping the train.
Performing an emergency stop on the train is not good for the passengers or the profitability of the trains. For this reason, the command system must be duplicated to enable it to tolerate faults: computers are organized into pairs so that one can replace the other in the event of a fault. However, this duplication may result in new safety problems. It is possible to imagine a number of scenarios in which the back-up computer does not have a consistent view of the environment and compromises the safety of the command if it takes over.
To prevent inconsistency between two computers, a method is known for ensuring that they receive and process exactly the same data in the same order. However, even if they are receiving the same inputs, it is not impossible that the two computers provide different results, which may be safe when taken individually, but that may result in a more significant fault if the situation persists.
Equally, a divergence between results may well be a temporary situation that neither poses a serious problem nor requires any safety measures to be taken that may cause a nuisance to traffic.
A redundant processing system is described in the article by D. Essamé, J. Arlat and D. Powell entitled 'PADRE: a Protocol for Asymmetric Duplex Redundancy' published in Dependable Computing for Critical Applications (DCCA-7), C. B. Weinstock and J. Rushby, Eds., and Dependable Computing and Fault-Tolerant Systems 12, pp. 229-248, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1999 (Proc. IFIP 7th Working Conf. held in San Jose, Calif., USA, January 1999). This article describes, from a theoretical point of view, an asynchronous system for managing duplex redundancy in the basis of intrinsically safe processing units. In particular, this article introduces the principle of detecting potential contextual inconsistencies between redundant processing units. However, the asynchronism of this management mechanism and the lack of precise information on the way contextual inconsistencies are detected mean that the mechanism described in the article is not entirely applicable to the a verification/command system generating secure digital outputs requiring good responsiveness.

Method for verifying redundancy of secure systems


This invention provides a method for preparing 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde from 3,3-dimethylbutanol using an oxidizing component. In one embodiment, 3,3-dimethylbutanol is oxidized to 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde in the vapor phase by contacting it with an oxidizing metal oxide compound. In another embodiment, the oxidation of 3,3-dimethylbutanol is carried out by treating it with 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy, free radical and an oxidizing agent in a solvent to produce 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde. The method of this invention provides a commercially practicable means of preparing 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for preparing 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde by oxidation of 3,3-dimethylbutanol. In a first embodiment, 3,3-dimethylbutanol is contacted with a metal oxide. In a second embodiment, 3,3-dimethylbutanol is treated with 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy, free radical and an oxidizing agent.
2. Related Background Art
Several methods are known for the preparation of 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde by oxidation of 3,3-dimethylbutanol.
In EP 0391652 and EP 0374952, 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde is produced by oxidation of 3,3-dimethylbutanol with oxalyl chloride, dimethyl sulfoxide, and triethylamine in a dichloromethane solution. This procedure is the well known Swern oxidation, which produces extremely malodorous dimethyl sulfide as a byproduct. Use of this procedure on a commercial scale requires costly and inefficient measures to prevent release of objectionable quantities of dimethyl sulfide. This is a major disadvantage.
A similar procedure is reported in Cheung, C. K. et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry, Vol. 54, p. 570 (1989). This reference describes mixing 3,3-dimethylbutanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, trifluoroacetic acid, pyridine, and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in benzene to produce 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde. The major disadvantage of this procedure is that, like the Swern oxidation, it produces dimethyl sulfide as a byproduct. Another disadvantage of the procedure is that isolation of the product requires removal of the byproduct dicyclohexylurea and distillation to purify the product.
Oxidation of 3,3-dimethylbutanol has also been carried out using pyridinium chlorochromate, as described in Wiberg, K. B., et al., Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 103, p. 4473 (1981). This method has the disadvantage of using an extremely toxic chromium salt which must be completely removed from the product. In addition, use of this method necessitates expensive disposal of chromium-containing waste streams from the reaction.
It is also possible to oxidize 3,3-dimethylbutanol with a catalytic amount of PdCl.sub.2 (CH.sub.3 CN).sub.2, together with triphenylphosphine and 2-bromomesitylene in N,N-dimethylformamide and water. Einhorn, J., et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry, Vol. 61, p. 2918 (1996). This procedure, however, requires a relatively expensive catalyst.
General methods are known for the oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes with either copper(II) oxide or 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy, free radical.
The vapor-phase oxidation of alcohols by copper(II) oxide is described in Sheikh, M. Y., et al., Tetrahedron Letters, 1972, p. 257. Although oxidation of a number of primary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes is described, none of these alcohols has a branched carbon skeleton as does 3,3-dimethylbutanol. No suggestion is made that the procedure is applicable to oxidation of such compounds.
Oxidation of primary and benzylic alcohols by hypochlorite in solution, catalyzed by 4-methoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy, free radical is described in Anelli, P. L., et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry, Vol. 52, p. 2559 (1987); Anelli, P. L., et al., Organic Synthesis, Vol. 69, p. 212 (1990). These references also mention use of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy, free radical, but do not suggest that either of these oxidizing agents is suitable for oxidation of 3,3-dimethylbutanol.
Oxidation of alcohols with N-chlorosuccinimide, catalyzed by 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy, free radical is reported in Einhorn, J., et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry, Vol. 61, p. 7452 (1996). No suggestion is made that this procedure is applicable to oxidation of 3,3-dimethylbutanol.
3,3-Dimethylbutyraldehyde is an intermediate that is useful in the preparation of the sweetener N-N-(3,3-dimethylbutyl)-L-.alpha.-aspartyl!-L-phenylalanine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,668 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,508. Accordingly, a method for preparing that intermediate which is both economical and specific is highly desired.

Preparation of 3,3-dimethylbutyraldehyde by oxidation of 3, 3-dimethylbutanol


An internal combustion engine wherein each cylinder has two pistons placed in the opposite direction and attached together by an arm-type connecting rod and wherein a cylinder head has a rotor blade rotating in the middle between the upper cylinder head and the lower cylinder head whereby the upper cylinder head and the lower cylinder head are perforated with an intake port and an exhaust port. The rotor blade is perforated with one port and rotates by a gear which is at the outer edge of the rotor blade. When the piston reaches the power stroke, it generates force to act on the arm-type connecting rod and when the connecting rod arm moves in a linear motion, it transmits the force towards the crankshaft or the transmission shaft which is attached by a guide rail platform.

Four-stroke internal combustion engines which are in use today are subjected to development and improvement continually but their original power transmission form namely the pistons transmitting power to a connecting rod and towards a crankshaft cannot be developed. The movement of the pistons in an engine normally generates friction on a lateral side of the pistons which is the rolling radius side of a crank. The friction causes the pistons and the cylinder to undergo wear and tear and lose energy. Moreover, crankshafts which are in use today have light weight and the friction thus causes energy loss in a useless manner. When a close patent is taken into account such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,443 which relates to cylinder heads, there is great development nowadays. However, there are limitations in respect of the size and the number of valves which cause obstacles in the flow of an air-fuel mixture and exhaust gases. Previous development of cylinder heads has dealt with the development of spherical rotary valve assemblies as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,944,261; 4,989,558. For this new engine type, a cylinder head is constructed to have a rotor blade rotatably fitted in place of a valve. Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to the construct an assembly with a reduced number of parts and to provide smooth flow of an air-fuel mixture and exhaust gases without the valve face to obstruct the flow of an air-fuel mixture and exhaust gases.


A memory capable of suppressing increase of the chip area thereof while increasing a read voltage is obtained. This memory comprises a memory cell array including a plurality of subarrays, a sub bit line arranged on each subarray and provided to be connectable to a main bit line, a storage portion connected between the word line and the sub bit line and a first transistor having a gate connected to the sub bit line and a first source/drain region connected to the main bit line for controlling the potential of the main bit line on the basis of the potential of the sub bit line in a read operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory.
2. Description of the Background Art
A ferroelectric memory comprising memory cells including ferroelectric capacitors is generally known as one of nonvolatile memories. Such ferroelectric memories include a one-transistor one-capacitor ferroelectric memory comprising memory cells each formed by one transistor and one ferroelectric capacitor, a one-transistor ferroelectric memory comprising memory cells each formed by one transistor having a ferroelectric capacitor and a simple matrix ferroelectric memory comprising memory cells each formed by only a ferroelectric capacitor arranged between a word line and a bit line. Each of the one-transistor ferroelectric memory and the simple matrix ferroelectric memory is constituted of a smaller number of elements as compared with the one-transistor one-capacitor ferroelectric memory, whereby the area per memory cell is reduced. Therefore, the chip area of the overall memory cell array can be reduced.
The one-transistor one-capacitor ferroelectric memory controls connection between bit lines and the ferroelectric capacitors through the transistors. Therefore, the parasitic capacitance of each bit line is decided by the sum of the wiring capacitance thereof and the diffusion capacitance (junction capacitance) of the corresponding transistor. In the simple matrix ferroelectric memory, on the other hand, each ferroelectric capacitor is directly connected to the corresponding bit line, whereby the parasitic capacitance of the bit line is the sum of the wiring capacitance thereof and the capacitance of the ferroelectric capacitor. The dielectric constant of the ferroelectric capacitor is so high that the capacitance of the ferroelectric capacitor is greater than the diffusion capacitance (junction capacitance) of a transistor with respect to the same area. Therefore, the bit line parasitic capacitance in the simple matrix ferroelectric memory is greater than that in the one-transistor one-capacitor ferroelectric memory. Further, a read voltage output to the bit line in a read operation depends on the ratio (Cs/Cb) between a cell capacitance Cs and a bit line parasitic capacitance Cb. Therefore, the read voltage can be increased as the ratio Cs/Cb is increased. In other words, the read voltage can be more increased as the bit line parasitic capacitance Cb is reduced. However, the bit line parasitic capacitance in the simple matrix ferroelectric memory is greater than that in the one-transistor one-capacitor ferroelectric memory as hereinabove described, and hence the read voltage is disadvantageously reduced in the simple matrix ferroelectric memory.
Therefore, generally proposed is a bit line hierarchical structure of bit lines divided into a main bit line and sub bit lines. A ferroelectric nonvolatile semiconductor memory having such a bit line hierarchical structure comprises bit lines divided into a main bit line and sub bit lines, a read transistor controlling the potential of the main bit line on the basis of the potential of a selected sub bit line in a read operation and a detection transistor.
In this conventional ferroelectric nonvolatile semiconductor memory, the sub bit lines are connected to the gate of the detection transistor. The main bit line is connected to a first source/drain region of the detection transistor through the read transistor. A second source/drain region of the detection transistor is connected to a power supply potential (Vcc). The conventional ferroelectric nonvolatile semiconductor memory controls ON- and OFF-states of the detection transistor through a potential corresponding to data appearing on the selected sub bit line in the read operation and applies the power supply potential (Vcc) to the main bit line through two transistors, i.e. the detection transistor and the read transistor only when the detection transistor is in an ON-state, thereby controlling the potential output to the main bit line in response to the data.
In this conventional ferroelectric nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a capacitance contributing to a bit line parasitic capacitance is limited to the capacitance of memory cells connected to the divided sub bit lines. Thus, the value of a parasitic capacitance Cb of the overall bit lines is so reduced that a read voltage can be increased.
However, the conventional ferroelectric nonvolatile semiconductor memory must be provided with the two transistors, i.e. the read transistor and the detection transistor in order to control the potential of the main bit line on the basis of the potential of the selected sub bit line in the read operation, and hence the chip area of the memory is disadvantageously increased.

Ferroelectric memory with amplification between sub bit-line and main bit-line


An apparatus that includes an interposer, first power connectors that are disposed on a first surface and that receive respective power inputs from one or more power sources, second power connectors that are disposed on the second surface and that receive a respective third power connecter of an integrated circuit when the integrated circuit is mounted on the second surface of the interposer, a plurality of switches formed within the interposer, control circuitry formed within the interposer, and a sequencer circuit coupled to the control input of the control circuitry and that generates a different values for a control input signal that causes the control logic of the control circuitry to generate a corresponding set of switch signals, and the plurality of different values for the control input signal are generated according to a predefined sequence to provide power to the integrated circuit according to power up sequence.

Large computer, storage, or networking server systems used in datacenters usually consist of a fairly large number of power rails. When a circuit board is powered up, powered off, or going into different power states (such as fault or throttled), all of these rails need to be powered up/down in a specific order for the chips and active components on the board to be functional, or to behave (such as turn on/off, sleep) corresponding to the definition of the power state. This process is called power sequencing which is typically performed by a dedicated component on-board called a sequencer. Typical simpler boards will have one sequencer with pre-programmed firmware that contains the order and delay information which controls the sequencing of all power rails. When the number of power rails become large, more of such devices are needed and they take precious board space, add design complexity, and become hard to manage. In some cases, a "master-slave" configuration of multiple sequencers need to be maintained, further complicating the board level design.
The circuits that are power sequenced include a silicon interposer below the silicon die and above the package substrate for an electrical interface routing between one socket or connection to another. The purpose of an interposer is to spread a connection to a wider pitch or to reroute a connection to a different connection.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Power sequencing in an active silicon interposer


The present invention relates to an anti-inflammatory eye drop comprising a drug selectively inhibiting COX-2, selected from the group consisting of etodolac, N-(2-(cyclohexyloxy)-4-nitrophenyl) methane-sulfonamide and meloxicam, which only slightly damages corneal epithelium and conjunctiva and which is excellent in the anti-inflammatory effect.

The present invention relates to a therapeutic agent for treating inflammatory diseases of eyes in which prostaglandin serves as a mediator of inflammation and more specifically to an eye drop for preventing and treating anterior ophthalmic inflammatory diseases observed, for instance, after the operation of cataract.
A non-steroid anti-inflammatory agent such as those containing sodium diclofenac, which shows its anti-inflammatory effect through the inhibition of the biosynthesis of prostaglandin as a mediator of the inflammation, is used not only for the treatment of inflammatory diseases by oral administration, but also for treating a variety of inflammatory diseases through local administration. In addition, it has also widely been used, in the form of an eye drop as a locally administered drug, for treating ophthalmic inflammatory diseases, in particular, anterior ophthalmic inflammatory symptoms after the operation of cataract and complications observed during and after the operation.
On the other hand, such a non-steroid anti-inflammatory eye drop is excellent in the anti-inflammatory action, but there has clinically been pointed out the occurrence of a side effect such as disorders of corneal epithelium at a frequency of about 1.6% (see a document attached to a medicine manufactured and sold by Wakamoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., 1996). In other words, there has been desired for the development of a non-steroid anti-inflammatory eye drop, which is not accompanied with a high probability of causing disorders of corneal epithelium as a side effect.
As a result of the recent progress in researches, there have been pointed out, as sites of action of the non-steroid anti-inflammatory agent, inhibition of two enzymes, i.e., cyclooxygenase-1 (hereunder referred to as xe2x80x9cCOX-1xe2x80x9d) and cyclooxygenase-2 (hereunder referred to as xe2x80x9cCOX-2xe2x80x9d). It has been recognized that COX-1 serves to protect cells, while COX-2 is an enzyme involved in the inflammation. For this reason, there has been desired for the development of an anti-inflammatory agent, which can selectively inhibit COX-2 and has a low possibility of causing disorders of cells. The development of gastric ulcer as a side effect of a systemically administered anti-inflammatory agent has been studied in detail from such a standpoint discussed above. As a result, the roles of COX-1 and COX-2 have almost completely be elucidated and it has also been proved that the inhibition of COX-1 is involved in the development of gastric ulcer.
As has been described above, the mechanism of the action of these anti-inflammatory agents in the gastric ulcer has already been elucidated, but it has not yet been clear whether the disorders of corneal epithelium is caused by the same mechanism of action as that for the gastric ulcer or not. There has thus been desired for the development of a drug, which permits the distinct discrimination of the roles of COX-1 and COX-2 in such disorders of corneal epithelium and ophthalmic inflammatory diseases. Masferrer, JL et al. (Surv. Ophthalmol., 1997, 41 (suppl. 2):S35-40) reports that the anterior ophthalmic inflammation can be suppressed by a COX-2 inhibitor, but this article does not include any disclosure concerning the disorders of corneal epithelium. Miyake, K. (Clinical Ophthalmologists"" Reports, 1997, 51(11):190-191) suggests that the use of a selective COX-2-inhibitor can relieve disorders of corneal epithelium, but the article does not include any specific disclosure concerning means for solving the same.
The inventors of this invention have used a drug, which selectively inhibits COX-2, among non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs as an eye drop, have investigated the effect thereof on anterior ophthalmic inflammatory diseases and disorder of ophthalmic cells and thus have completed the present invention.
More specifically, the present invention relates to an anti-inflammatory eye drop containing, as an effective component, a drug having high COX-2 selectivity. The inventors of this invention have tried to inspect compounds having COX-1 and COX-2 selectivity for an anti-inflammatory effect in vivo and an ability of damaging cells in vitro and as a result, have found that an anti-inflammatory eye drop containing, as an effective component, a drug having high COX-2 selectivity is excellent in the anti-inflammatory effect and in the alleviation of the cell-damage. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an anti-inflammatory agent, which can alleviate any damage of cells such as corneal epithelial cells and conjunctival cells and an eye drop, which does not cause severe disorders of corneal epithelium.


A transparent capacitor apparatus includes a first transparent substrate including a first patterned conductive layer having a first conductive material located over the first transparent substrate; a dielectric layer located over the first patterned conductive layer; a second patterned conductive layer including a second conductive material located over the dielectric layer, wherein the second pattern is different from the first pattern; and a second transparent substrate located over the second patterned conductive layer. Portions of the first conductive material of the first patterned conductive layer overlap portions of the second conductive material of the second patterned conductive layer. The overlapping portions of the first and second conductive materials form matching patterned electrical conductor(s) having spatially matching conducting and non-conductive areas, the non-conductive areas of the first and second patterned conductive layers having encapsulated coalesced conductive material structures.

Transparent conductors are widely used in the flat-panel display industry to form electrodes that are used to electrically switch the light-emitting or light-transmitting properties of a display pixel, for example in liquid crystal or organic light-emitting diode displays. Transparent conductors are also used to create electrodes for transparent capacitors used in capacitive touch-screen in conjunction with displays. In such displays, the transparency and conductivity of the transparent electrodes are important attributes. In general, it is desired that transparent electrodes have a high transparency (for example, greater than 90% in the visible spectrum) and a high conductivity (for example, less than 10 ohms/square).
Typical prior-art materials for such electrodes include indium tin oxide (ITO) and very thin layers of metal, for example silver or aluminum or metal alloys including silver or aluminum. These materials are coated, for example by sputtering or vapor deposition, and patterned on display substrates, such as glass. However, the current-carrying capacity of such electrodes is limited, thereby limiting the amount of power that can be supplied to the pixel elements. Moreover, the substrate materials are limited by the deposition process (e.g. sputtering). Thicker layers of metal oxides or metals increase conductivity but reduce the transparency of the electrodes.
Various methods of improving the conductivity of transparent conductors are taught in the prior art. For example, issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,637 entitled "OLED Display with Auxiliary Electrode" by Cok, describes an auxiliary electrode to improve the conductivity of the transparent electrode and enhance the current distribution. It is also known to provide wire grids on transparent substrates to provide optical control of incident light. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,111 describes a wire-grid polarizer. However, the formation of such metal grids is problematic. Sputtering through a shadow mask is difficult for large substrates due to thermal expansion and alignment problems of the shadow mask. Likewise, evaporative deposition of conductive materials such as metals requires high temperatures and suffers from the same mask problems. High temperatures can also destroy any temperature-sensitive underlying layers or substrates. The use of photolithography to pattern metal layers, metal-oxide layers, or metal grids can compromise the integrity of underlying layers. Furthermore, a metal grid is not transparent and can cover only a relatively small proportion of the transparent conductor area, reducing the conductivity of the auxiliary electrode.
It is also known in the prior art to form conductive traces using nano-particles comprising, for example silver. The synthesis of such metallic nano-crystals is known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,444 B2 entitled "Metal nano-crystals and synthesis thereof" describes a process for forming metal nano-crystals optionally doped or alloyed with other metals. US20060057502 A1 entitled "Method of forming a conductive wiring pattern by laser irradiation and a conductive wiring pattern" describes fine wirings made by a method having the steps of painting a board with a metal dispersion colloid, drying the metal dispersion colloid into a metal-suspension film, irradiating the metal-suspension film with a laser beam of 300 nm-550 nm wavelengths, depicting arbitrary patterns on the film with the laser beam, aggregating metal nano-particles into larger conductive grains, washing the laser-irradiated film, eliminating non-irradiated metal nano-particles, and forming metallic wiring patterns built by the conductive grains on the board thus enabling an inexpensive apparatus to form fine arbitrary wiring patterns on boards without expensive photo-masks, resists, exposure apparatus and etching apparatus. US20060003262 similarly discloses a method of forming a pattern of electrical conductors on a substrate, wherein metal nano-particles can be mixed with a light-absorbing dye, and the mixture is then coated on the substrate. However, the wirings made with such materials are not transparent, particularly in combination with desired conductivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,661 relates to a thin metal masking film that will coalesce or "ball up" when heated rapidly with a high-intensity laser beam. This reduces the coverage of the metal film over a substrate and increases optical transmission. However, there is a problem with using such an element in that the optical density is not sufficient for many applications. If a thick metal film is employed in order to increase optical density, then the efficiency for coalescence decreases and the size of the debris created upon heating increases. U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,742 relates to a method of using an optical recording medium having two metal layers sandwiching a sublimable organic layer. There is a problem with this method, however, in that removing the sublimable organic layer requires a material collection apparatus and can be environmentally detrimental. U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,178 relates to a method of using an optical recording material where a heat insulating layer is interposed between a metallic recording layer and a reflecting layer. There is a problem with using this method in that the reflecting layer does not coalesce and therefore does not add to the image contrast. U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,127 describes a process of forming an image using a multi-layer metal coalescence thermal recording element. However, these prior-art methods do not form conductive and transparent electrodes.
As is known and practiced in the prior art, multiple layers of transparent conductors patterned on one or more transparent substrates can form capacitive arrays used in touch screens. In these applications, it is important to align the multiple layers to improve the capacitance of the layers of transparent conductors and to provide coverage of capacitors over the transparent substrate. Such alignment and patterning of multiple layers of transparent conductors is typically done with high-resolution photolithography equipment. Such equipment can be very expensive and limit manufacturing throughput and the materials used have limited conductivity and transparency.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved method for providing increased conductivity and transparency to the electrodes of a capacitive device that is scalable to large sizes, avoids heating materials in sensitive locations, enables simple layer alignment, and avoids the use of chemical processes and photolithographic equipment.

Transparent capacitor with multi-layer grid structure


A wireless communication system, method for transmitting a frame, and computer program product thereof are provided. The system comprises a base station and a subscriber station. The frame comprises a MAP area and a user area. The MAP area comprises a broadcast test area. The method and the computer program product thereof operate: the base station initially transmitting a first burst in the user area by a first transmission module; determining whether the first burst that is transmitted by the first transmission module fits a special situation; and if yes, the base station transmitting test information in the broadcast test area by a second transmission module or asking the subscriber station to transmit data by a second transmission module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system and a method for transmitting a frame and a computer program product thereof, specifically to a wireless system and a method for transmitting a frame by dynamically changing the transmission mode and a computer program product thereof.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
In recent years, while techniques of wired communication are developed slowly, those of wireless communication for portable mobile devices are developed rapidly due to the mass demand so it becomes the important developing field for the communication industry in the future. Wireless communication means to transmit data utilizing radio and the communication quality consequently is usually degraded by external interferences, which decrease transmission speed and reduce data rate. Therefore, how to increase the transmission speed and how to improve the data rate are the key issues in this field.
There exist many transmission modes for wireless communication systems, such as binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), and 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (64QAM). Whether these transmission modes can be used relates greatly to the channel quality of a wireless communication system.
One category of the prior techniques for increasing transmission speed and data rate of a wireless communication system is to change transmission mode dynamically. The transmission mode is changed according to the carrier to interference plus noise power ratio (CINR) of the channel estimated by the terminal device. Different transmission modes need different levels of CINR. Changing transmission mode dynamically is to determine whether to adjust the transmission mode according to CINR values in order to achieve more stable and faster transmission speed.
The aforementioned method uses only the estimated CINR value to determine whether to change the transmission mode or not. Consequently, CINR estimator plays the key role here, i.e., the error affects the estimated value. If a higher channel quality of a wireless communication system is required, a better estimator is required as well, which increases the cost of a terminal apparatus. If a worse estimator is chosen, the efficiency of choosing transmission mode will be degraded. Consequently, how to increase the transmission speed and the data rate of a wireless communication system by dynamically changing transmission mode in a more efficient way and how to reduce the cost of terminal apparatus at the same time are the key issues.

Wireless communication system, method for transmitting frame, and computer program product thereof


A cutting insert for retention in a rotating cutting tool having an axis of rotation has two opposing end surfaces and a peripheral surface extending therebetween, each end surface having a mutual first axis of symmetry passing through the end surfaces about which each end surface has N-fold rotational symmetry for some value of N where N is chosen from the group consisting of 2, 3 and 4. A peripheral cutting edge is formed at the junction between each end surface and the peripheral surface, the peripheral cutting edge having N curved cutting edges merging with N straight cutting edges which extend between the curved cutting edges at extremities thereof. The curved cutting edges of the two end surfaces are not aligned in an end view of the cutting insert along the first axis of symmetry.

When producing turbine blades, the final machining stage of the internal surface of the turbine blade is typically done by means of milling cutting inserts having round cutting edges. In such a case, the total usable sector used to cut by such a cutting insert is usually greater than 120°, therefore, the cutting insert may be indexed only two times since a third indexing would not be able to utilize a full range sector, i.e., a cutting edge spanning more than 120°.
Known round cutting inserts or cutting inserts having round cutting edges are often single sided, and, as mentioned, may fully utilize only two cutting edges. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,896 discloses a single sided cutting insert having two arcuate cutting edges which are eccentric to each other and separated from each other by diametrically symmetric flat faces.
Round double sided cutting inserts are typically ceramic inserts and are devoid of a central through bore for the passage of a clamping screw. The lack of a through bore is a disadvantage since it requires utilizing a more complex and expensive retaining system.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a double-sided indexable cutting insert having four or more round cutting edges.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a double-sided indexable cutting insert having four round cutting edges wherein each of the cutting edges extends more than 120°.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tool holder for a double sided cutting insert having four rounded cutting edges and a through bore, the cutting insert being retained within the tool holder by means of a clamping screw that passes through the through bore.

Cutting tool and round double sided cutting insert therefor


Absorbent articles such as diapers, incontinent briefs, training pants, diaper holders and liners, and the like, designed to provide improved fit and comfort for the wearer while adequately containing body exudates. The absorbent article includes an absorbent core designed so as to retain low levels of fluid in the crotch region, relative to the other core regions, even when the core absorbs significant amounts of fluid during use. To achieve this, the absorbent core is designed such that fluid is moved substantially from the crotch region to the front and/or rear ends of the article. The absorbent core has a non-removable absorbent core component in the crotch region and removable absorbent core components in the front or rear regions of the article.

Infants and other incontinent individuals wear absorbent articles such as diapers to absorb and retain urine and other body exudates. Absorbent articles function both to contain the discharged materials and to isolate these materials from the body of the wearer and from the wearer's garments and bed clothing. Disposable absorbent articles having many different basic designs are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Re. 26,151, entitled "Disposable Diaper" describes a disposable diaper which has achieved wide acceptance and commercial success. U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003, entitled "Contractable Side Portions For Disposable Diaper", describes an elastic leg cuff disposable diaper which has achieved wide acceptance and commercial success.
Many diaper designs are relatively wide and bulky, when dry and particularly when wet, in the region of the article that fits between the legs of the wearer. This results in a certain level of discomfort to the wearer, as these diapers tend to bunch when worn. In an effort to address wearer discomfort, U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,678 describes diapers comprising densified cores that are narrower in this region than were prior designs. Nonetheless, even these articles store significant levels of absorbed fluids in the discharge region of the article. This discharge region is positioned within the portion of the article that fits in the wearer's crotch region when worn.
Since prior absorbent articles do not effectively distribute fluid, these articles are typically designed to store significant quantities of fluid in the crotch region of the diaper. Thus, upon each loading, this region of the article becomes increasingly bulky and therefore tends to be more uncomfortable for the wearer. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,423, which describes a low dry bulk disposable diaper. The focus of the '423 patent is an article having a relatively low cross sectional area, when dry, particularly in the "impact zone" (defined in the patent as the second and third fifths of the article's length). Indeed, an important aspect of the described articles is the ability of the absorbent material in the impact zone to absorb fluid. The patent specifically indicates that at least 60% of the total absorbed fluid is retained in the diaper's impact zone. Thus, while the patent discusses the desire for improved fit when dry, it fails to provide an article having improved fit and comfort throughout the entire wearing period. Moreover, the primary consideration for improving fit is on thin and wide structures which fold and bunch during use, rather than optimizing narrowness and bulk, dry and wet, of the absorbent material in the crotch region. Accordingly, the articles described in the '423 patent have an overall low cross sectional area when dry, accomplished by providing a relatively thin (i.e., in the article's the z-dimension), relatively wide (i.e., in the article's x-dimension) core, with 60% of the absorbent capacity in the crotch region. This results in reduced comfort when the article is wetted with body fluid.
It therefore would be advantageous to provide an absorbent article that provides better fit and wearer comfort, even after the article is wetted with body fluids. It would be further advantageous to provide an absorbent article which has reduced bulk in the crotch region in both the dry and wet states.

Absorbent article having a replaceable absorbent core component having an insertion pocket


The invention relates to a transmission method and a cellular radio system comprising base stations and at least one vocoder, the base stations and the vocoder transmitting a signal to each other, the base stations transmitting a signal to the vocoder substantially simultaneously, the vocoder receiving the substantially simultaneously transmitted signals at different moments of reception, in which cellular radio system after the vocoder has received the first signal, the vocoder is arranged to transmit signals to the base stations the signals of which arrive at the vocoder at least partly during a predetermined time window.

A typical cellular radio system comprises a fixed base station network, and a subscriber terminal communicates with one or more base stations of the network. A base station forwards the communication that arrives from a subscriber terminal. While moving or remaining stationary, subscriber terminals may transmit messages via the base stations both to each other and to subscriber terminals of other telephone systems. The transmission of messages is possible when the subscriber terminals are located in the coverage area of the base station network. In order for a subscriber terminal to be able to use the services provided by the cellular radio system, it should maintain a connection to at least one base station under all circumstances. When a subscriber terminal does not use the services provided by the base station network, it does not need a connection to the base station network but it listens to the base stations in an idle mode. When the subscriber terminal moves in the base station network from the coverage area of one base station to the coverage area of another base station, this creates a need to change the channel or the base station.
In a typical cellular radio system, a subscriber terminal communicates only with one base station at a time, even though especially for example in a CDMA system the subscriber terminal may also communicate simultaneously with several base stations. In a prior art soft hand-off, the connection to the base station network is maintained despite the hand-off. In such a hand-off, the base station is usually changed. The prior art also comprises a softer hand-off where the base station is not changed, but the sector of the base station used is changed. A soft and a softer hand-off are called make-before-break-type hand-offs, which means that a new connection is set up for the subscriber terminal before the connection to the previous base station is terminated. The frequency band used is not changed in either hand-off.
A cellular radio system usually comprises a TRAU (Transcoder/Rate Adaptor Unit) that is placed for example in connection with a base station controller or a mobile services switching centre. The TRAU source-encodes the signal and adapts the signal transmission rate to the transmission network, for example a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The TRAU forms TRAU frames that it transmits to the base station. The TRAU acts as a speech coder, i.e. a vocoder. The coding of the signal reduces the signal data rate for example in a transmission line to the base station. The vocoder and the base station transmit to and receive from each other data packets that form the aforementioned TRAU frames.
In a soft hand-off, a subscriber terminal communicates with several base stations simultaneously. In a soft hand-off, the subscriber terminal transmits to the base station a signal comprising the same information, the signal being forwarded to the vocoder. Also, the subscriber terminal receives a signal comprising the same information from the base station, which has received this signal from the vocoder. In cellular radio systems, the signal routing from the vocoder to the different base stations varies considerably, and the length of the transmission path between the vocoder and a base station may be great. Especially the length of the transmission path causes a delay in the signal to be transmitted between the vocoder and a base station. The length of the delay varies largely depending especially on the signal routing used. The delay causes problems during a soft hand-off in the simultaneous transmission of a signal by the base stations to a subscriber terminal. The prior arrangements typically determine the delay differences of the signals received by the vocoder. However, the determination of the delay differences requires continuous calculation.

Transmission method and a cellular radio system


A suntanning apparatus comprises a plurality of chairs preferably of the lounge type which are mounted on a rotating platform which follows the sun's path. The platform rotates in accordance with a predetermined program and can vary in size to accommodate a predetermined plurality of lounge chairs. The platform is driven by a motor which is coupled to the platform to rotate the platform about a central axis. The motor is coupled to a computer which determines the movement of the platform so that the chairs are always facing towards the sun. In an alternate embodiment, a pair of lounge chairs are mounted on a rotatable platform with controls mounted therebetween for individuals to operate the drive motor to rotate the platform in accordance with the sun's rays.

One of the problems associated with suntanning is the fact that the sun moves throughout the day necessitating movement of lounge chairs to catch the proper angle of the sun's rays. At resorts, this can result in a chaotic arrangement of chairs and disagreements as some individuals move their chairs at interval and others stay put. Another disadvantage is the fact that individuals receive an uneven tan if they fail to move their chairs.
The prior art discloses various apparatus to facilitate tanning including U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,128 to Van Der Schaaf which discloses a suntanning table which is mounted to rotate continuously through 360.degree. relative to the base. The table purportedly permits an individual to achieve a uniform suntan and to avoid sunburn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,588 to Speice discloses a revolving solar lounger which permits a sunbather to adjust his relationship to the sun's rays by powering a motor which rotates the lounger. The lounger includes photovoltaic solar cells which generate electric current in response to direct exposure to the sun's rays. Thus, the chair turns intermittently on days when the sun is intermittent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,157 to Rollo discloses a rotatable suntanning chair having a frame mounted on a rotatable track while U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,316 to Zanffanella relates to an analog sun sensor which provides continuous positional information for an orbiting body such as a spacecraft.
Other patents of interest including U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,938 to Chuang; U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,288 to Schlarlack; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,495. The prior art also includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,008,500; 5,489,142; and, 3,191,594.
The foregoing patents disclose various sun tracking means and chair rotating means. However, none of the patents disclose the specific, unique characteristics and features of applicant's invention.