A resin sealed semiconductor device for use in testing is disclosed, in which a first MOS field effect transistor is formed in a region within 100 .mu.m from an outer perimeter of a main surface of a silicon substrate, and a second MOS field effect transistor is formed in a region 100 .mu.m or more distant from an outer perimeter of the main surface, and the first and second MOS field effect transistors are encapsulated with resin. Dimensions and materials of the first MOS field effect transistor and the second MOS field effect transistor are identical. By comparing the electric characteristics of the first MOS field effect transistor and the electric characteristics of the second MOS field effect transistor, the effect produced on the MOS field effect transistors by the mechanical stresses due to the resin seal applied from a side direction of silicon substrate can be evaluated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin sealed semiconductor device for use in testing employed for measuring effects exerted upon electronic elements by mechanical stresses due to resin seal, and a method for evaluation of the mechanical stresses due to the resin seal.
2. Description of the Background Art
When manufacturing a semiconductor device using electronic elements with dimensions, materials and the like different from those of conventional ones, it is necessary to give a test to see if these electronic elements have desired performance or not. In such a case, electronic elements with dimensions, materials and the like different from those of conventional ones are formed on a semiconductor chip for use in testing, and a test is performed using these electronic elements. The semiconductor chip for use in testing is referred to as a TEG (Test Element Group) chip. The structure of a conventional TEG chip will be described referring to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.
As shown in FIG. 7, the TEG chip 1 has electronic elements (not shown in FIG. 7) formed on a main surface of a silicon substrate 3.
The TEG chip 1 is affixed on a main surface of a die pad 5. Bonding pads 7 are formed on end portions of the main surface of the silicon substrate 3. There are external leads 11 in the vicinities of side portions of the TEG chip 1. The external lead 11 and the bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by a wire 9. A part of an external lead 11, silicon substrate 3, die pad 5, bonding pad 7 and wire 9 are encapsulated with resin 13.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the TEG chip 1 shown in FIG. 7. Silicon substrate 3 is affixed to the main surface of the die pad 5. A plurality of bonding pads 7 are formed on the side portions of the main surface of the silicon substrate 3. There are a plurality of external leads 11 in the vicinities of the side portions of silicon substrate 3. External leads 11 and bonding pads 7 are electrically connected by wire 9.
The main surface of silicon substrate 3 is divided into a MOS field effect transistor forming region 15, a capacitor forming region 17, a diode forming region 19, and an interconnection forming region 21. The broken lines in FIG. 8 indicate boundaries of the respective forming regions. No broken lines exist on a main surface of an actual silicon substrate 3. A part of leads 11, silicon substrate 3, bonding pads 7, die pad 5 and wires 9 are encapsulated with resin 13.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a part indicated by E in FIG. 8. The region designated by E is within the MOS field effect transistor forming region designated by 15 in FIG. 8.
MOS field effect transistors 23a, 23b and 23c are respectively formed in the main surface of the silicon substrate 3. A plurality of bonding pads 7 are formed at end portions of the main surface of silicon substrate 3.
MOS field effect transistor 23a is provided with an impurity region 25a and a gate electrode 27a. The impurity region 25a is formed in the main surface of silicon substrate 3. Gate electrode 27a extends over impurity region 25a. Impurity region 25a is divided into two regions by gate electrode 27a. One region of impurity region 25a and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29a. Gate electrode 27a and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29b. The other region of impurity region 25a and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29c. L.sub.1 designates a gate length of gate electrode 27a.
MOS field effect transistor 23b is provided with a gate electrode 27b and impurity region 25b. Impurity region 25b is formed on the main surface of silicon substrate 3. Gate electrode 27b extends over impurity region 25b. Impurity region 25b is divided into two region 25b and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29d. Gate electrode 27b and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29e. The other region of impurity region 25b and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29f. L.sub.2 designates a gate length of gate electrode 27b.
MOS field effect transistor 27c is provided with an impurity region 25c and a gate electrode 27c. Impurity region 25c is formed on the main surface of silicon substrate 3. Gate electrode 27c extends over impurity region 25c. Impurity region 25c is divided into two regions by gate electrode 27c. One region of impurity region 25c and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29g. Gate electrode 27c and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29h. The other region of impurity region 25c and bonding pad 7 are electrically connected by an aluminum interconnection layer 29i. L.sub.3 designates a gate length of gate electrode 27c.
Although the gate lengths of MOS field effect transistors 23a, 23b and 23c are different from each other, their materials, shapes or the like are identical. When manufacturing a semiconductor device using a MOS field effect transistor with gate length L.sub.1 in the case of there is no semiconductor device manufactured by using a MOS field effect transistor with gate length L.sub.1, various tests are performed for MOS field effect transistor 23a to evaluate a MOS field effect transistor with gate length L.sub.1. Alternatively, variation of MOS field effect transistor characteristics of different gate lengths may be examined by comparing the results of the same test with respect to MOS field effect transistors 23a, 23b and 23c.
Description about what kinds of tests are performed with respect to MOS field effect transistors will be given referring to FIG. 10. A gate of a MOS field effect transistor is designated with 31. A source of the MOS field effect transistor is designated with 33. A drain of the MOS field effect transistor is designated with 35. A positive electrode of power source 37a and gate 31 are electrically connected. A negative electrode of power source 37a and source 33 are electrically connected. One electrode of a voltmeter 39a and gate 31 are electrically connected. A positive electrode of a power source 37b and drain 35 are electrically connected. A negative electrode of a power source 37b and one electrode of a voltmeter 41 are electrically connected. Drain 35 and one electrode of a voltmeter 39b are electrically connected.
A gate voltage is measured using voltmeter 39a. A drain current is measured employing ammeter 41. A drain voltage is measured employing voltmeter 39b.
The semiconductor chip is encapsulated with resin. The purpose is to avoid semiconductor element characteristic degradation due to effect of exterior atmosphere. However, it is known that, if a semiconductor chip is encapsulated with resin, mechanical stresses due to resin shrinkage are applied to the semiconductor element, so that the electric characteristics of the semiconductor element is degraded. A TEG chip 1 is also encapsulated with resin 13 as shown in FIG. 7 to implement the same conditions as that of a semiconductor chip. Mechanical stresses are applied to the TEG chip 1 in the direction designated by arrows in FIG. 7.
The degradation of electric characteristics of a semiconductor element due to resin seal will be described referring to test results. FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a semiconductor element employed in this test. This semiconductor element is a MOS capacitor 67. MOS capacitor 67 is provided with a silicon substrate 69, a silicon oxide film 73 and a polysilicon film 75.
A field oxide film 71 is formed at the both ends of the main surface of silicon substrate 69. A silicon oxide film 73 is formed between field oxide films 71 on the main surface of silicon substrate 69. A polysilicon film 75 is formed on field oxide film 71 and silicon oxide film 73. An electrode 77 is formed on one end of polysilicon film 75. Electrode 77 and a positive electrode of power source 79 are electrically connected. A negative electrode of power source 79 is grounded.
The resin sealed TEG chip provided with MOS capacitor 67 shown in FIG. 11 and no-resin sealed TEG chip provided with MOS capacitor 67 shown in FIG. 11 were prepared. Electrical stresses were applied to the MOS capacitors by continuously flowing constant current to the MOS capacitors formed on these TEG chips to shift flat-band voltages of the MOS capacitors by a fixed amount. The flat-band voltage means a voltage applied to polysilicon film 75 to make potential at an interface of silicon substrate 69 and silicon oxide film 75 equal to potential in silicon substrate 69. If the flat-band voltage of a semiconductor element shifts, electrical characteristics of the semiconductor element are degraded.
The times required for shifting the flat-band voltage were measured with respect to constant current densities of 10 pA/cm.sup.2, 20 pA/cm.sup.2 and 40 pA/cm.sup.2, respectively. The amount of the flat-band voltage shift is always the same in all cases.
The constant current density designates a value found out by dividing the value of constant current by the area of a portion existing on silicon oxide film 73 of polysilicon electrode 75 shown in FIG. 11. The time required for shifting a certain amount of flat-band voltage of the MOS capacitor of no-resin sealed TEG chip with constant current density of 10 pA/cm.sup.2 is assumed to be 100.
FIG. 12 is a graph showing the results. The broken line shows the test results of a MOS capacitor of no-resin sealed TEG chip and the solid line shows test results of the MOS capacitor of a resin sealed TEG chip. As shown in FIG. 12, excepting the constant current density of 40 pA/cm.sup.2, the MOS capacitor of the no-resin sealed TEG chip requires a longer time period for shifting the flat-band voltage than the MOS capacitor of the resin sealed TEG chip. As described above, shifting of the flat-band voltage causes degradation of electrical characteristics of a semiconductor element. Accordingly, resin seal of a semiconductor chip facilitates electric characteristic degradation of a semiconductor element.
Some semiconductor devices have elements formed on end portions of main surfaces of semiconductor substrates. The element formed on end portions of main surfaces of the semiconductor substrates will be described referring to FIGS. 13 and 14.
FIG. 13 is a partial plan view of a semiconductor device having elements formed on the end portion of the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. Silicon substrate 43 is affixed to die pad 45. A plurality of MOS field effect transistors 55 are formed on the main surface of silicon substrate 43. Bonding pads 47 are also formed on the main surface of silicon substrate 43. There are external leads 51 around a side portion of silicon substrate 43. External lead 51 and bonding pad 47 are electrically connected by wire 49. Silicon substrate 43 is encapsulated with resin 53.
FIG. 14 is a sectional view of FIG. 13 taken along the direction designated by the arrow A. Silicon substrate 43 is affixed to die pad 45. A field oxide film 57 and a gate oxide film 59 are formed on the main surface of silicon substrate 43. Gate oxide film 59 is interposed between field oxide films 57. Gate electrode 61 is formed on gate oxide film 59. An interlayer insulating film 63 is formed on gate electrode 61. A passivation film 65 is formed on interlayer insulating film 63. Silicon substrate 43 is sealed with resin 53 A semiconductor device having elements formed on the end portion of the main surface of the semiconductor substrate includes one illustrated in IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)/IRPS (International Reliability Physics Society) 23rd, 1985, p. 230.
Now, with respect to a resin sealed semiconductor device, it is known that electrical characteristic degradation advances faster in elements formed on end portions of a main surface of a semiconductor substrate than elements formed on a center portion of the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. It seems that this occurs because of the following reasons. Referring to FIG. 14, mechanical stresses due to the resin seal are applied from top, bottom and side directions of silicon substrate 43. The arrows indicate directions of the mechanical stresses. The magnitude of the mechanical stress downwardly (in the top direction) applied to an element formed in the central portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43 is equal to the magnitude of the mechanical stress downwardly applied to an element formed in the end portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43. The magnitude of the mechanical stress upwardly (in the bottom direction) applied to an element formed in the central portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43 is equal to the magnitude of the mechanical stress upwardly applied to an element formed in the end portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43. However, the magnitude of the mechanical stress laterally (in the side direction) applied to an element formed in an end portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43 is larger than the magnitude of the mechanical stress laterally applied to an element formed in the central portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43. Accordingly, larger mechanical stresses are applied to an element formed in an end portion of the surface of silicon substrate 43 than an element formed in the central portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43. Thus, the electric characteristic of an element formed in an end portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43 is degraded faster than an element formed in the central portion of the main surface of silicon substrate 43.
Especially, in elements formed at positions located within 100 .mu.m from a perimeter of a main surface of a silicon substrate are liable to electrical characteristic degradation due to mechanical stresses. Semiconductor devices are highly integrated, so that elements are formed even at portions located within 100 .mu.m from the perimeter of the main surface of the silicon substrate. Thus, the problem of electrical characteristic degradation of semiconductor elements due to mechanical stresses can not be neglected.
A TEG chip having elements formed on end portions of a main surface of a semiconductor substrate is now actually manufactured. For example, a TEG chip having elements formed in end portions of a main surface of a semiconductor substrate is disclosed in the "Solid-State Electronics" Vol. 21, pp. 1045. However, what is disclosed in this document is not a TEG chip itself, but a mask pattern. FIG. 15 is a plan view of a mask pattern 81 disclosed in "Solid-State Electronics" Vol. 21, pp. 1045. Mask pattern 81 will be regarded as a TEG chip 81 in the following. A large number of diodes are formed in TEG chip 81. The diodes located at symmetrical positions about an axis line 95 have the same shapes and areas but formed of different materials. For example, diode 82 is formed in polysilicon layer 87. Polysilicon layer 87 and bonding pad 83 are electrically connected by interconnection layer 85.
Diode 94 is formed in an epitaxial layer 93. Epitaxial layer 93 and bonding pad 89 are electrically connected by interconnection layer 91. Diode 82 and diode 94 are located at symmetrical positions about axix line 95.
However, in TEG chip 81 shown in FIG. 15, the elements were not formed on end portions in consideration of the fact that elements in the end portion are supplied with larger mechanical stresses.
Furthermore, as a plurality of TEG chips are manufactured out of a piece of a wafer, a plurality of electronic elements having the same types, dimensions and materials were not formed in a single TEG chip. Accordingly, in a conventional TEG chip, a comparison could not be made between electronic elements with the same types, dimensions and materials formed at positions where different amounts of mechanical stresses are applied to.

Resin sealed semiconductor device for use in testing and evaluation method of stress due to resin seal


Provided is a pneumatic tire including a tread that defines a groove formed between each pair of lands. The groove includes a curved inclined part and a bottom groove part that is located adjacent thereto in a groove width direction. The curved inclined part includes a concave inclined surface that is inclined from a surface of the lands toward a groove depth side. The bottom groove part is located adjacent to the curved inclined part via a stepped portion, and has a bottom surface located on a side deeper than a groove deep end edge of the curved inclined part.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire that is excellent in drainage performance.
Background Art
In a pneumatic tire (hereinafter, referred to as "tire"), it is important to assure drainage performance for suppressing hydroplaning phenomenon which may occur when the vehicle is moving especially at a high speed, in which a water film is built up between the tire tread and the road surface, thereby causing the tire to lose total or partial contact with the road surface and hence causing the tire to ride on the water film on the road surface.
Grooves are formed in the tire tread in order to channel water flow caused due to the rotation of tire and hence assure the water drainage. Here, when grooves having a rectangular cross section are formed, the necessity to form a wide groove is caused in order to secure the groove volume, which results in a problem of decreasing the tire rigidity. When the inner side surface of each groove is formed to be inclined (flattened), the width of the groove bottom can be decreased while securing the same groove volume as that of the groove having the rectangular cross section so that the tire rigidity can be relatively improved. However, there is no substantial difference in respect of water drainage performance between those grooves. Further, as described in JP 2010-184570 A, when the groove's inner side surface is formed to be curved, the groove volume can be increased by the curved inner side surface as compared with the groove having the inclined flat inner side surface. However, such curved inner side surface causes vortex flow due to water flowing along the curved inner side surface, which prevents smooth water drainage.


A dispensing container is provided having a side discharging dispensing cap which is smaller than the end of the container and hinged to the container at a position slightly beyond the opening of the container and includes a position control arrangement for the cap to releasably position it in closed and dispensing positions including a protrusion from the inside of one side wall near the top and two spaced depressions in the structure of the dispenser cap.

This application is based upon German application Serial No. 299 14 997.1 filed Aug. 25, 1999 from which priority is claimed.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to packaging and more particularly to plastic dispensing containers intended for storage and single dispensing of tablets and other regularly shaped small candy and medicinal products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, there have been a number of so-called plastic or polymeric medical tablet dispensing packages frequently in the form of screw-topped tablet bottles having various so-called childproof tops. Since typical screw caps for these containers have been rounded to facilitate rotational removal and reapplication to the container, the container itself is usually cylindrical in outline. There have also been more or less rectangular small candy containers of various sorts. Most of these containers have involved multiple parts and have been relatively expensive to produce as well as assemble if not made in one piece.
The present inventor has previously developed a dispensing container comprised of a generally rectangular container having a sealing cap connected to the container body by a thin film hinge manufactured preferably as a unit in a simple injection molding step. The sealing cap has an open chamber in one side designed to be just large enough to accommodate one or two tablets or candies, which when the sealing cap is opened by pivoting it outwardly, enables the tablet or candy to be dispensed from the open side of the sealing cap. The sealing cap or hinged sealing cap of this previous invention is provided with extensions that pass over a longitudinal internal rib in the container as the sealing cap is pivoted open or closed providing both catches to hold the cap open in either of two positions or closed and also providing a distinctive clicking sound that advises the user of the position and operation of the sealing cap.
While the present inventor""s prior dispensing container has proven very satisfactory and has considerable commercial appeal, it has been found to have some minor previously unrecognized disadvantage including interference of the longitudinal rib with the otherwise open interior of the container, complications in the injection molding operation and the like which generally increase the cost. Complications in filling and handling the containers during filling with tablets and candy are also encountered. The longitudinal rib also takes significant space within a small container so that only flat tablets or very small elongated candies can negotiate the narrow rib area in the box. There is a need, therefore, for an alternative arrangement for providing the sealing or closure cap of a small dispenser box with means for retaining the sealing cap, which is integrally connected to the main portion of the dispenser, preferably by a socalled thin film hinge, in various open or closed positions. The present inventor has provided a dispensing container, therefore, with several embodiments of closure cap retention means that take up a minimum amount of room within the storage portion of the container itself and carry the major portion of the retention mechanism within the dispensing cap of the container such that the cap may be easily provided with definite open and closed positions and, if desired, intermediate positions. The dispensing container may be made in one piece, but will usually have a two piece construction.
In addition, while the previous invention disclosed in German Application WDP 96/33927 has the advantage of being formable in a single step, because the thin film hinge is located on a side wall of the container, such single step construction is not adaptable to having the thin film hinge on other portions of the structure of the container such as the top, because the tool of the formation process cannot be withdrawn from the container at the completion of forming unless the entire end of the container can be opened. This, however, requires the closure cap used to close the end to be as large as the top of the container. By use of the constructions of the present invention, however, the pivoting closure cap can be pivoted on a thin film hinge from the upper end or top of the container which is particularly convenient in larger containers where it may not be desirable to have the entire end of the dispensing container pivot open. This also provides a smaller major arc of movement for the cap as well as a lighter cap, whereby the rigid structure of the previous cap retention system is no longer necessary. By use of the presently disclosed arrangements for controlling the opening of the side dispensing closure cap such cap can be made as small or large as desired.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide an improved dispensing container having a pivoting sealing cap the position of which is controlled by at least two catches in an arcuate portion of at least one side of the dispenser cap to control the dispenser in at least two positions, namely a closed position and a dispensing position.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improved dispensing container having a dispensing cap attached to top of the body of the dispenser by a thin film hinge, the cap having two controlled positions, plus an uncontrolled filling position.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a dispensing container having a pivoted side dispensing cap designed to close an opening less than the diameter of the container itself and incorporating a catch arrangement which securely holds the cap in position on the container in several positions.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a dispensing container that can be made in several parts if it is desired to have the dispensing cap hinged other than from one of the side walls.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a dispensing container having a pivoting dispensing cap secured to the top of the body of the dispenser by a thin film hinge and guided in and out of the dispenser from and to dispensing position by an arcuate tongue at the end of the dispensing cap plus a raised protrusion on at least one side of the container near the top in line with an arcuately arranged series of depressions in the side of the dispensing cap, which depressions, when the cap is pivoted, mate with the protrusion on the side of the container near the top to hold the cap temporarily in any position for which there is a suitable depression.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a dispensing container having a pivoting dispensing cap secured to the body of the dispenser by a thin film hinge and guided in and out of the dispenser from and to the dispensing position by an arcuate tongue at the opposite end of the dispensing cap from the thin film hinge plus a protrusion adjacent the top of the side wall of the container which interengages with at least two raised protrusions on the guide tongue to maintain the dispensing cap in open and closed positions.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a dispensing container having a pivoting dispenser cap attached to the container by a thin film hinge and having a protrusion at the edge of one side of the container and with an arcuate guide tongue extending into the container opposite to the thin film hinge, the guide tongue being provided at the side adjacent the protrusion in the container with at least two depressions which interengage with the protrusion from the wall of the dispensing container to hold the dispensing cap in at least a closed and a fully open position.
It is a still further broad object of the invention to provide a dispensing container having a side dispensing cap pivoted upon a thin film hinge with the container which is provided with means to hold the cap in at least the closed and open dispensing positions by means of at least one protrusion on the side wall or end wall of the container which interengages with at least two depressions in the body of the pivoting dispenser cap.
It is a still further broad object of the invention to provide a dispensing container having a side dispensing cap pivoted upon a thin film hinge from the top of the container and an arcuate guide tongue and having a protrusion on the side or end wall of the container which at least partially interengages with at least two protrusions from or on the arcuate guide tongue.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a dispensing container having a side dispensing cap pivoted upon the container from a thin film hinge and having an arcuate guide tongue and having at least two normal positions effected by interlocking protrusions and depressions on the container and dispensing cap in which the container can be formed in two interlocking parts or units.
Additional advantages and aspects of the invention will become evident from review of the attached drawings and accompanying explanation.
This invention provides an improved dispensing container having a pivoted hinged sealing or closure cap arranged to be easily flipped open by pressing with the thumb or finger of one hand. The sealing cap, which is pivoted to the container by a thin film hinge, is provided with a side chamber which carries one or two tablets. The degree of opening of the dispensing cap is determined by how far the sealing or closure cap is moved toward several cap positions determined by interaction or engagement of a protrusion extending from the edge of the container with either several depressions in the pivoting sealing cap or protrusions from the sealing cap. Preferably the sealing cap is pivoted from the end or top of the container rather than from one side of the container and for this reason the container and sealing cap attached to one end will in such cases be formed in a two step process to allow the tool of the forming process to be withdrawn after formation. The two sections are then adhered or attached to each other in any convenient manner. Similar dispensing cap opening control arrangements may be included in a dispensing container with a side pivoted sealing cap, however, and the container made in a one step process. The interlocking of the cap and the container in at least a closed and an open, or dispensing, position may be effected by having protrusions on the large side walls and suitably positioned depressions on either the side of the closure cap or the side of an arcuate guiding tongue which is used to close one side of the dispensing cap as well as guide the dispensing cap into the container, or may be effected by interengaging protrusions from small side wall of the container an the outer surface of the guiding tongue.


A network interface device for connection between a network and a data processing system, the network interface device comprising: an I/O interface for connection to a data processing system; a set of physical data ports for connection to a network; a unified memory comprising a plurality of buffers; a plurality of ingress ports operable to receive data packets for buffering at the unified memory, a first subset of the plurality of ingress ports being configured to receive data packets on a transmit path from said I/O interface, and a second subset of the plurality of ingress ports being configured to receive data packets on a receive path from said set of physical data ports; a memory manager configured to store representations of a plurality of virtual queues held in the unified memory, each virtual queue being a linked logical sequence of buffers of the unified memory; and an ingress interface configured to service the ingress ports in a predetermined order and write data packets received at the ingress ports to buffers of the unified memory selected by the memory manager; wherein the memory manager is arranged to select buffers of the unified memory so as to cause the ingress interface to populate the plurality of virtual queues with data packets, and the ingress interface is arranged to contiguously write data packets into the linked logical sequence of buffers representing each virtual queue.

This invention relates to a network interface device having a buffer memory shared between a plurality of physical network ports.
A network interface device (NIC) provides an interface between a physical network and a data processing system, such as a server or other computer system. The network interface allows the data processing system to transmit and receive data packets over the physical network so as to permit communication with other data processing entities on the network. In order to ensure that data packets are not dropped, a NIC must be able to receive and retain each data packet received from the network at the maximum data rate at which the network operates. This is generally achieved by providing a buffer memory for each physical data port of the NIC into which received data packets can be streamed prior to routing and/or processing by the NIC. The buffer memory available to each data port of a NIC must be sufficiently large to avoid back-pressuring incoming data streams.
Conventional network interface devices provide a dedicated FIFO (first-in-first-out) memory buffer of fixed size for each physical port of the NIC. An example of this architecture is shown in FIG. 1. Network interface device 1 has three data ports 3, 4 and 5 which provide connections to networks 2 (these could be the same or different physical networks). Each data port has a dedicated FIFO memory buffer 6, 7 or 8, into which data packets received over the respective data port are streamed. The received data packets are pulled off the FIFO memory buffers by an arbitrator 9, or other entity of the network interface device, which enforces flow control and directs the packets to the appropriate processing entity of the network interface device.
Each memory buffer should be large enough so that when data packets of the maximum packet size are being received over the corresponding physical port at the maximum data rate, the memory will not become full whilst the routing and/or processing portions of the NIC are handling other memory buffers, or are otherwise not attending to the memory buffer. Other pressures act to limit the size of each memory buffer: the high speed memory required for the buffers is expensive and each additional byte of buffer memory increases the power requirements and heat generated by the NIC. These pressures are of particular concern in NICs intended for use in datacentres because such NICs are often densely packed into server racks. The size of the memory buffers provided in any given NIC is a trade-off between these competing factors.
The dedicated FIFO memory buffers of a conventional NIC each comprise a plurality of fixed-size buffers 10, which are generally designed with the intention to accommodate one packet per buffer. This simplifies the handling of received data packets and is straightforward to implement at high speed. However, the use of fixed size buffers is inefficient: if the buffers are small relative to the maximum packet size then large packets will require linking, which takes up additional memory; and if the buffers are large enough to accommodate the maximum packet size this results in unused memory when smaller data packets are received which do not fill a buffer.
A further problem with NICs having multiple physical ports is that the conventional memory buffer structure leads to poor utilisation of the total amount of buffer memory available at the NIC. In a real-world scenario it is unlikely that, from one moment to the next, all of the ports experience an equal throughput in data. The buffers corresponding to less active ports might therefore be largely empty while the buffers of more active ports become full. Because a port cannot utilise the buffers of another port, much of the expensive buffer memory provided at a NIC can go unused.
Despite these limitations, the provision of dedicated memory buffers at a NIC to handle the incoming streams of data packets from each port has become the norm. This is largely a result of the following three factors:
I/O bus performance between a NIC and its host system has been outstripping network performance over the last few years in terms of bandwidth and jitter, which has meant that relatively small memory buffers have been sufficient.
Occasional packet loss within the NIC has historically been acceptable, particularly due to the prevalence of reliable protocols such as TCP.
Most high speed NICs are designed with only two physical network ports to satisfy redundancy and failover requirements.
With the advent of higher speed 10 Gb/s Ethernet (which is moving quickly to 40 Gb/s) and new standards relating to Ethernet flow control, the demands on a NIC have changed. Some of the recent extensions to Ethernet (e.g. 802.1Qbb and 802.1Qau) relate to protocols that will not tolerate packet loss, such as Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Infiniband, and RDMA over Converged Enhanced Ethernet. Additionally, UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is becoming increasingly used in high performance environments in which extremely low latency data transfers are required, such as high frequency stock market trading. These Ethernet extensions increase the buffering requirements at the NIC and some extensions (e.g. 802.1Qbb) require that a number of flows over an Ethernet connection are individually flow controlled, which in practice requires that each flow is provided with dedicated buffering. For example, the 802.1 Qbb standard suggests that 18 KB should be set aside for each priority flow—a four-port NIC having six priority levels would therefore require 432 KB of additional buffer memory, in addition to the buffer memory used on the main data path of the NIC (typically 128 KB per port).
NICs are also becoming increasingly likely to include a greater number of physical ports, with four-port NICs becoming common. This is being driven by the increased role for NICs that have the ability to perform switching between virtualised interfaces or physical ports, possibly with packet modification on-the-fly. These changes are placing further demands on the buffering capabilities of high speed NICs.
There is therefore a need for a network interface device having a more efficient buffer memory architecture which provides improved buffer memory utilisation in real-world network conditions.


In a lateral BJT formed using a BiCMOS process, the collector-to-emitter breakdown voltage (BVCEO) and BJT's gain, are improved by forming a graded collector contact region with lower doping levels toward the base contact.

Integrated circuits having bipolar and MOS transistors formed on the same semiconductor substrate have many applications in the electronics industry and are therefore in great demand. They combine the high power and fast switching speeds of bipolar devices with the high density and low power consumption of MOS transistors.
When forming devices using a bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) manufacturing process, care is taken to minimize the number of masks employed therein to lower the manufacturing costs. Therefore efforts are made as often as is practicable to integrate the use of regions typically utilized for CMOS/DMOS devices as regions in a bipolar device, and vice-versa. In BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) technology, bipolar devices are therefore usually "mask-free" since they do not make use of dedicated masks for the base, emitter, and collector, but make use of existing process layers. While such integration does serve to minimize manufacturing costs, in some cases the integration causes performance tradeoffs to be made.
For example, prior art FIG. 1 illustrates an NPN type bipolar transistor 10 fabricated using a BiCMOS type fabrication process. The transistor 10 has an n-buried layer (NBL) 12 that is formed in a lightly doped P-type substrate 14. A P-type epitaxial (Pepi) layer 16 is then grown over the NBL 12 and the substrate 14. A deep N+ ring 18 is formed by performing either an N-type implant or N-type thermal deposition in the epitaxial layer 16. The deep N+ ring 18 extends down to the NBL 12 to couple with the NBL 12 and define a collector region. The deep N+ ring 18 also defines therein an isolated base region 22 comprising the Pepi. The N+ region 18 is usually configured as a ring to provide isolation and serve as a plug extending down to the NBL region 12 for purposes of making contact thereto. A P-type source/drain implant is then performed to define a base contact region 24 and an N-type source/drain implant is performed to form an emitter region 26, wherein the base contact region is formed concurrently with the formation of PMOS source/drain regions elsewhere, and the emitter region is formed concurrently with NMOS source/drain regions elsewhere, respectively.
The NPN bipolar transistor 10 of prior art FIG. 1 may be employed in various types of applications, and in some applications the collector-to-emitter breakdown voltage (BVCEO) of the transistor 10 may be an issue.
Another consideration in bipolar transistor is its gain, which is sometimes referred to as the transistor β or HFE. When using the BiCMOS process described above, the spacing between the N-type source/drain region 26 which forms the emitter and the deep N+ ring 18, which forms the collector of the lateral NPN Bipolar transistor, is quite large, which contributes to poor bipolar transistor gain.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a CMOS/DMOS manufacturing process that allows for optimization of bipolar transistor parameters, including parameters related to horizontal bipolar transistors, without significantly increasing the number of steps and/or masks required in the process.
FIG. 2 shows another prior art BiCMOS structure that defines a medium voltage NPN device. The emitter of the NPN bipolar transistor is defined by an n-type source-drain region (NSD) region 210. The base is formed by the p-epitaxial region (Pepi) 212 and a p-buried layer (PBLMV) 214. An n-buried layer (NBL) 216 with its DEEPN 218 formed in a deep trench region providing contact to the NBL 216 defines the collector of a vertical NPN transistor, while the shallow n-well (SNW) 222 with its n-type source-drain (NSD) contact region 224 defines the collector of a lateral NPN transistor. Current flows from emitter to collector both in vertical (NSD-PBLMV-NBL) and lateral (NSD-Pepi-SNW) directions, but lateral current prevails for typical device dimensions.
BVCEO of this device is limited by Pepi-SNW or Pepi-DEEPN junction breakdown and is often not high enough for device operation.

Method of improving lateral BJT characteristics in BCD technology


Multirate wire line modem apparatus operable at either of two rates in either transmission or reception modes is provided according to the teachings of the instant invention. Full duplex operation and echo cancellation are utilized for both voice and data. Structurally an IOP processor acts as a system controller in controlling transmission and reception digital signal processors which provide the independent transmission and reception functions of the resulting multirate modem apparatus.

This invention relates to modulator/demodulator (modem) apparatus and more particularly to multirate wire line modem apparatus.
The wide proliferation of data transmission over telephone lines and the like has created a need for versatile modem apparatus capable of determining the highest rate at which data is available and accepting or transmitting the same at the highest corresponding rate available. Variable rate modem apparatus is preferred since through the use of this form of modem apparatus the highest rate of the transmitter and/or receiver may be accommodated any time the receiving and/or transmitting station can operate at this rate while lesser rates are available for stations having lesser capability. Thus the instant invention is directed to multirate wire line modem apparatus wherein, according to a preferred mode, the multirate modem apparatus set forth may operate at either 2400 bits per second (bps) or 4800 bps in either transmission or reception modes.
While data rates have upper limits of transmission which under all circumstances are imposed by the transmitting and receiving stations, the highest rates available are frequently foreclosed by the quality of the transmission medium employed. Thus where telephone lines are employed the quality of the line will often limit the maximum data rate available. When voice is involved the quality of the telephone lines is not highly significant. However, here full duplex modes of operation are highly desirable. Furthermore, for voice applications, full duplex operation with the same data rate in each direction is not only desirable but yields highly secure modes of communication which are becoming increasingly important.
One technique for achieving full duplex operation for voice and data transmissions has involved band splitting. This however while compensating for the quality of the telephone lines employed for transmission effectively halves the data rate.
The present invention recognizes that echo cancellation techniques may be employed to improve the apparent quality of a pair of telephone lines utilized for full duplex transmission of voice and data. Furthermore, through the use of echo cancellation employing training for both automatic gain control and the echo cancellation imposed, telephone lines of adequate quality for voice may often be successfully employed for full duplex transmission and reception of data, particularly when such data is accompanied with sufficient protection to allow training to be completed prior to actual data transmission.
The instant invention also recognizes that the modem function may be integrated into a line system function to markedly reduce the system hardware costs involved. This integration yields multirate modem apparatus providing function control, echo cancellation and full duplex modes of operation utilizing a single pair of wires.
The multirate wire line modem apparatus set forth is configured so that the same is controlled by an input/output processor (IOP) which acts as a system controller and as such controls a pair of digital signal processors (DSP 1 and DSP 2). DSP 1 contains and controls the transmission functions of the modem apparatus together with such ancillary functions as echo canceling, automatic gain control and tone detection. DSP 2 controls the receiver functions of the modem.
The IOP, DSP.sub.1 and DSP.sub.2 are separately programmed so that the same may in fact act as parallel processors which, once instructed, act in an essentially independent manner. The multirate modem apparatus set forth provides a tone detection and echo cancellation. Reception is performed employing a phase-locked loop function and an adaptive equalizer. The apparatus is capable of tracking a transmitted symbol rate for a symbol-frequency offset of up to 100 parts per million to achieve receiver synchronization. Automatic gain control circuitry in the form of hardware is controlled by software generated control signals to enable input level ranges of from 0 DBM to -40 DBM to be processed. Negative logarithm functions are employed in the automatic gain control circuitry to achieve adequate range in single precision arithmetic. Thus, in this manner, multirate wire line modem apparatus which is capable of communicating with transmitting and receiving stations at the highest rate available is achieved.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide improved multirate wire line modem apparatus.
Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment thereof and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in conjunction with the claims appended hereto.


A high efficiency centrifuge rotor for rapid separation of particles suspended in a liquid is disclosed. The rotor features one or more cavities disposed at a compound angle to provide for rapid separation of particles suspended in a liquid while minimizing distortion of the separation interface or separation barrier, if any, within the sample container.

Most blood chemistry tests require preparation of serum or plasma prior to analysis. To this end, red blood cells and other cellular material are separated from the patient's blood following collection. Typically, blood is collected in evacuated tubes and centrifuged at 2000-3000 rpm for 10-20 minutes.
One type of centrifuge rotor which houses tubes for centrifugation is a fixed angle rotor, in which the tubes are retained in cavities angled relative to the axis of rotation. The dynamics of fixed angle rotors and their ability to enhance the speed of centrifugation are known in the art. The clearing efficiency (K-factor) of fixed angle rotors, which corresponds to the time required to sediment a specific particle in a known medium at a given speed of rotation, can be calculated using the following formula: ##EQU1## where r.sub.1 =radius, in cm, from the outermost point of liquid in the tube to the central axis of rotation, r.sub.2 =radius, in cm, from the center of the top of liquid within the tube to the central axis of rotation and N=rpm.
It is apparent from the above formula that a rotor having tube cavities inclined at a steep angle (approaching 0.degree. in reference to the axis of rotation) can provide the lowest K-factor, and the greatest separation efficiency. However, there are drawbacks associated with using a rotor having steeply angled tube cavities including the fact that the steeper the angle, the greater the tendency of particles to adhere to the outermost wall of the tube, which could lead to contamination of the supernatant.
Another drawback is that the sedimentation boundary formed in a fixed angle rotor centrifuge device is significantly larger than the sedimentation boundary formed in centrifuges using a swing-out style rotor.
Another disadvantage of a steeply angled rotor occurs when gel barrier tubes are used. The position of the gel band along the top side-wall of the processed tube makes it difficult to pipette the supernatant plasma or serum without coming into contact with the gel material. This is especially important in analyzers which employ primary tube sampling capability. Since the thickness of the gel band decreases with the relative steepness of the tube angle, the band can collapse upon deceleration and cause contamination of the supernatant with the particles in the gel.
Still another disadvantage is that there exists a "mixing effect" during reorientation of the tubes from the horizontal position to the vertical position during deceleration, which also increases with the steepness of the tubes within the rotor. During sedimentation, particles travel outward from the axis of rotation until they hit the wall of the tube, then slide downward along the tube wall. This descending layer of increased particle concentration combined with a corresponding ascending layer of reduced concentration fluid creates a fluid flow within the tube which increases the time required to sediment particles, particularly those of low density or irregular shape.
A final disadvantage of using steeply angled tube cavity rotors is that as the steepness of the tube increases, the capacity of the tube decreases. Since the closure of these tubes can trap particles, there is a limit to the tube angle that can be used during centrifugation.
Advances in the speed of test instrumentation have created a demand for faster blood separation methods, and particularly for high speed separation of the blood or serum within the original blood collection tube while maintaining a minimal distortion of the separation boundary within the sample containers.


A granulate for particulate detergents or cleaning agents, the granulate containing a detergent or cleaning agent active ingredient and an outer encapsulation layer formed of polyvalent metal salts of an unbranched or branched, unsaturated or saturated, mono- or polyhydroxylated fatty acid having at least 12 carbon atoms or a mixture of the salts. Also, a process for making the granulate by applying to the granules an encapsulation material that comprises one or more polyvalent metal salt or salts, preferably in the form of an aqueous dispersion in a fluidized bed process.

The invention relates to an encapsulated granulate which comprises a detergent or cleaning agent active ingredient, in particular an enzyme and/or a bleach activator, to a process for its preparation and to the use of the granulate in solid detergents and cleaning agents.
Besides the good washing and cleaning performance, the consumer expects modern detergents and cleaning agents to also have a positive esthetic impression which manifests itself, in particular, in a scent associated with freshness and cleanliness. In order to comply with this, the compositions normally comprise suitable fragrances. However, a not inconsiderable proportion of consumers disapprove, arguing, inter alia, that fragrances do not contribute to the washing or cleaning result, meaning that their use merely leads to an increase in the price of the compositions. These consumers prefer completely odorless detergents and cleaning agents. However, some ingredients of such compositions have a greater or lesser intrinsic odor which may also be based on minor components present in these ingredients. The use of such ingredients makes an unpleasant impression for fragrance-free compositions and, in the case of fragrance-containing compositions, may lead to an increase in the fragrance concentration in order to compensate for the intrinsic odor.
In connection with this problem, German patent application DE 17 92 074 discloses compositions which comprise zinc ricinoleate as deodorizing active ingredient, the deodorizing action of which is synergistically aided by the addition of other salts or esters of other saturated or unsaturated even-numbered or odd-numbered hydroxylated fatty acids having 17 or more carbon atoms, for example salts and esters of trioxystearic acids.
German patent application DE 25 48 344 discloses the deodorizing effectiveness of metal salts of an unsaturated fatty acid, in particular of metal ricinoleates. Metals from group II of the Periodic Table of the Elements and of the rare earths, such as cerium, lanthanum or neodymium, are preferred. Particular emphasis is given to zinc ricinoleate.
German patent application DE 38 08 114 relates to deodorizing active ingredient mixtures which comprise zinc ricinoleate and optionally the zinc salt of abietic acid and/or further zinc salts of other saturated or unsaturated hydroxylated fatty acids having 17 or more carbon atoms, partial esters of di- or polyhydroxyalkanes, mono- and disaccharides, polyethylene glycols or alkanolamines with the ene adducts of maleic anhydride to at least monounsaturated carboxylic acids having a chain length of from 10 to 25 carbon atoms with an acid number from 10 to 140, and optionally amino and/or amido compounds and remain in clearly dissolved form in preparations with water contents of up to 50% by weight.
Active ingredients which are customarily used in detergents and cleaning agents and in which the occurrence of a more or less unpleasant intrinsic odor cannot always be ruled out include, in particular, enzymes and bleach activators.
Enzymes, in particular proteases, are used extensively in detergents, washing auxiliaries and cleaning agents. Usually, the enzymes are used here not in the form of concentrates, but in mixtures with a dilution and carrier material. If such enzyme preparations are mixed into customary detergents, then a considerable decrease in the enzyme activity may arise upon storage, in particular when bleaching-active compounds are present. The application of the enzymes to carrier salts with simultaneous granulation according to German laid-open specification DE 16 17 190 or by pasting with nonionic surfactants according to German laid-open specification DE 16 17 118 or aqueous solutions of cellulose ethers according to German laid-open specification DE 17 87 568 does not lead to a noteworthy improvement in the storage stability since the sensitive enzymes in such mixtures are generally found on the surface of the carrier substance. Although the storage stability of the enzymes can be significantly increased by encapsulating the enzymes with the carrier material or embedding them into this and then converting them to the desired particle form by extrusion, compression and marumerization, as described, for example, in German patent specification DE 16 17 232, German laid-open specification DE 20 32 768, and the German published specifications DE 21 37 042 and DE 21 37 043. However, such enzyme preparations have only inadequate solubility properties. The undissolved particles can become entangled in the ware and soil it, or they are transferred to the waste-water unused. Although embedding agents known from German laid-open specification DE 18 03 099, which consist of a mixture of solid acids or acidic salts and carbonates or bicarbonates and decompose when water is added, improve the solubility capacity, they are for their part very sensitive to moisture and therefore require additional safety measures.
European patent specification EP 0 168 526 discloses enzyme granulates which comprise water-swellable starch, zeolite and water-soluble granulation auxiliaries. This document proposes a preparation process for such formulations which essentially consists in concentrating a fermenter solution freed from insoluble constituents, admixing said additives, granulating the resulting mixture and optionally encapsulating the granulate with film-forming polymers and dyes, The process with the additive mixture proposed therein is advantageously carried out with fermentation solutions which have been concentrated to a relatively high dry-substance content, for example 55% by weight. In addition, the granulates produced in this way have a sufficiently high rate of dissolution or disintegration under washing conditions that the granulates relatively rapidly disintegrate, sometimes even during storage, and the enzymes are deactivated.
International patent application WO 92/11347 discloses enzyme granulates for use in particulate detergents and cleaning agents which comprise 2% by weight to 20% by weight of enzyme, 10% by weight to 50% by weight of swellable starch, 5% by weight to 50% by weight of water-soluble organic polymer as granulation auxiliary, 10% by weight to 35% by weight of corn flour and 3% by weight to 12% by weight of water. As a result of such additives, the enzyme processing is possible without relatively large losses in activity.
International patent application WO 93/07263 discloses an enzyme-containing granulate which consists of a water-soluble or -dispersible core which is covered with a vinyl polymer, on which there is a layer of enzyme and vinyl polymer, where the granulate has an outer coating made of vinyl polymer. The outer coating may also comprise pigments. However, as a result of the multilayer construction, such an enzyme granulate is relatively complex to produce.
International patent application WO 93/07260 specifies various encapsulation materials for dust-free enzyme granulates which are produced by spraying a fermentation broth onto a hydratable carrier material. Fatty acid esters, alkoxylated alcohols, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, sugars and starch, inter alia, are listed as being suitable.
International patent application WO 95/02031 relates to an enzyme granulate comprising enzyme and inorganic and/or organic carrier material and a uniform outer pigment-containing encapsulation layer which is characterized in that the outer encapsulation layer consists of an encapsulation system which comprises 30% by weight to 50% by weight of a finely divided inorganic pigment, 45% by weight to 60% by weight of an alcohol which is solid at room temperature and has a melting point in the range from 45° C. to 65° C., up to 15% by weight, in particular 5% by weight to 15% by weight, of emulsifier for the alcohol, up to 5% by weight, in particular 0.2% by weight to 3% by weight of dispersant for the pigment and up to 3% by weight of water.
Even if the encapsulation systems described above are usually suitable for stably surrounding enzyme granulates such that no odor emerges from them, the aim is nevertheless to find alternatives, the use of which is as simple as possible and/or leads to cost advantages.

Encapsulated active ingredient preparation for use in particulate detergents and cleaning agents


An immunoassay for the polypeptidic thymic hormone thymosin .alpha..sub.1 is described. Determination of thymosin .alpha..sub.1 levels in biological fluids, particularly serum, provides a useful diagnostic test for immune deficiency diseases, autoimmune diseases, immunologically mediated diseases, neoplastic diseases and also allows one to monitor therapy with thymosin .alpha..sub.1 by following blood levels of the hormone.

Thymosin .alpha..sub.1 is a heat stable, acidic polypeptide composed of 28 amino acid residues. This thymic hormone has been isolated from calf thymus thymosin fraction 5 and its amino acid sequence determined. Thymosin .alpha..sub.1 is one of several polypeptides present in thymosin fraction 5 which participate in the regulation, differentiation and function of thymic dependent lymphocytes (T-cells). The isolation, characterization and use of thymosin .alpha..sub.1 is described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,127.
An immunoassay for a polypeptide hormone of the thymus known as thymopoietin or thymin is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,633. In particular, this patent discloses a radioimmunoassay for thymopoietin utilizing an antibody elicited by an immunogen comprising purified thymopoietin covalently coupled to an immunogenic carrier material such as bovine gamma globulin using glutaraldehyde as the coupling agent. The labelled antigen used in the assay is preferably .sup.125 I thymopoietin.
It should be noted that thymopoietin is totally non-analogous to thymosin .alpha..sub.1 in structure, amino acid composition and sequence, biological activity profile, physical properties and immunological properties.
A radioimmunoassay for a partially purified thymosin fraction, i.e. thymosin fraction 6, which is now known to contain a mixture of a number of polypeptides, is reported by Schulof et al., Fed. Proc. 32, 962 (1973). See also Goldstein et al. Fed. Proc. 33, 2053 (1974).

Radioimmunoassay of thymosin .alpha..sub.1


A digital synchro/resolver bridge is provided, which may be operated individually, or optionally, may be interfaced with a computer for inclusion in an automated test system. The digital bridge includes a plurality of relay modules operated by an embedded processor to digitally set taps for a plurality of integral transformer windings. The bridge provides feedback to the computer in the form of status messages and also to the front panel thereof, for local mode (i.e., stand along) use. The resolver bridge utilizes a standard communication interface, such as a conventional RS232 interface. The resolver bridge performs a power-on self-test to insure accurate calibration prior to testing of individual resolvers.

Two Appendices (Appendix A and Appendix B) are filed with this application. Appendix A is a Microfiche Appendix comprising a 101 page software code listing, and contains two (2) slides and 102 frames Appendix B is a 2 page listing of mathematical equations referenced in this application.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to test equipment, and more particularly to resolver bridges for testing high accuracy angular position sensors.
2. Background Information
Resolvers and synchros are commonly utilized to detect the angular position of members relative to one another in applications requiring a relatively high degree of precision and accuracy. Examples of such applications include military applications such as the turrets of battlefield tanks, and various military and commercial satellite applications where components must be oriented directionally with a large degree of precision.
Such synchros and resolvers must therefore be accurately calibrated and tested to insure that they perform to a known degree of accuracy. Accordingly, synchros and resolvers are typically tested utilizing an analog synchro/resolver bridge such as the model 540 synchro/resolver bridge sold by North Atlantic Industries, Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y., U.S.A.
Briefly described, conventional synchros or resolvers such as the model number Z2450 sold by Siebe Position and Temperature Sensors of Woonsocket, R.I., include transformer assemblies with windings disposed on first and second members adapted for rotational movement relative to one another Such movement may generate a change in voltage, current, impedance, or phase in electrical signals propagating through the windings which change corresponds to the angular position of the first member relative to the second member. The conventional analog synchro/resolver bridge includes similar transformer assemblies, which are adapted to generate electrical signals of varying voltage, current, impedance, or phase to simulate the output of the synchro or resolver at predetermined rotational positions of the first member relative to the second member. The electrical signals generated by the bridge are varied by manually setting a plurality of taps on the transformer windings at positions, which correspond to the predetermined rotational positions. Typically, test procedures require an operator to set the synchro/resolver to a first angle, then set the taps of the bridge to the corresponding angle, and then record the difference or phase shift between the signals generated by the synchro/resolver and the bridge. This sequence must then be repeated for a series of angles for each synchro/resolver.
While this conventional test procedure using the analog bridge has resulted in accurate quality testing and calibration, it is relatively labor intensive and time consuming. Thus, a need exists for a digital synchro/resolver bridge, which may be easily interfaced with a computer for either stand alone operation or automated computer control.

Synchro/resolver bridge and automatic test system


A free clamp for holding the sides of a closed frame, box, chair legs, etc. during gluing or the like wherein the workpiece is engaged by clamp corner elements biased inwardly by an elastic tension cord. All of the corner elements, except one, include anti-friction rollers engaging the rubber tension member cord, and the ends of the cord are connected to an anchor corner element including a lock for receiving the elastic tension member and maintaining the tension therein. The tension member cord is mounted upon the corner elements in an asymmetrical relationship to permit the tension forces imposed upon the corner elements to be most advantageously applied to the frame sides during clamping.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to clamps of the picture frame type utilizing a plurality of frame engaging corner elements forced inwardly by a tension member.
2. Description of the Related Art
When gluing or otherwise assembling frames, such as picture frames, of a closed configuration defined by a plurality of frame sides interconnected at their ends, which are usually mitered, frame clamps are employed consisting of a corner element engaging each corner of the frame and interconnected by a tension member whereby tensioning thereof inwardly forces the corner elements into engagement with the frame sides to hold the frame sides in the desired relationship during gluing. Clamps of this type are also used when gluing boxes, chair legs, and other four sided articles. Such frame clamps have taken a variety of configurations using a plurality of features, as shown in the following patents typically illustrating frame clamp devices.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,171,799; 4,527,784 and 4,560,153 show frame clamps utilizing flexible tension members and separate corner elements wherein the tension member is stressed by a threaded shaft arrangement.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,047,710 and 5,161,789 disclose frame clamps using a tensioning strap and corner elements wherein the strap may be tensioned by a ratchet or buckle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,053,556 and 3,224,754 disclose frame clamps using corner elements in conjunction with a flexible tension member wherein anti-friction rollers are used in engagement with the tension member to reduce the frictional forces between the tension member and the corner elements.
Frame clamps such as those disclosed in the above mentioned patents, and those presently available, are relatively complicated and expensive, difficult to use, and not readily adaptable for use with a variety of frame sizes, and heretofore, an inexpensive frame clamp easy to use by the unskilled has not been available.


A non-destructive, spoilage detection device has a conveyor with a top surface, an upper edge, a lower edge, a first end, a second end, a container ingress area, a first container egress area and a second container egress area. The conveyor's top surface is inclined downwardly from the upper edge to the lower edge so that containers introduced onto the conveyor will roll from the upper edge towards the lower edge as they move toward the first end of the conveyor. Containers of non-spoiled liquid food product exit the conveyor at a first container egress area located along the lower edge of the conveyor, while containers of spoiled liquid food product exit the conveyor at a second container egress area located along the first end of the conveyor. There is also disclosed a method for utilizing the device of this invention for the non-destructive detection of spoilage of liquid food products in sealed containers.

Quality control is extremely important in the nutritional industry. Manufacturers spend substantial amounts of money in attempts to insure that their packaged liquid food products have not been contaminated. In some instances, a contaminated or spoiled liquid food product can easily be detected. For example, if gas producing bacteria are introduced into a liquid food product, a container holding the product maybe deformed due to bloating. As another example, a spoiled liquid nutritional product packaged in glass or translucent plastic often permits visual inspection of the liquid food product. As used herein and in the claims, "liquid nutritional product" is understood to mean a food in a liquid state, and a "liquid state" is understood to mean a state of matter wherein the food is practically incompressible, maintains its volume while conforming to the shape of a container, and may evaporate from an open container. Examples of liquid nutritional products in which spoilage may be detected by the method of the present invention include infant formula, medical nutritional products, beverages, puddings, yogurts, jellies, soups, and fruit and vegetable juices.
In some cases, no gas is produced, and when the liquid nutritional product spoils it does not become visibly discolored. One such condition of spoilage is known in the food industry as a flat/sour. Spoilage may be caused either by (a) container damage which permits the introduction of bacteria or micro-organisms, or (b) the contamination may be caused by improper sterilization of the liquid food product. In a flat/sour, micro-organisms "burped" into the can after sterilization can cause the product to curdle.
An incubation procedure allows the stored liquid food product to sit, often for between 2 and 4 weeks, in order to permit the growth of bacteria or other micro-organisms if the product is contaminated. The incubation procedure is yet another way in which manufacturers attempt to insure the quality control of their liquid food products. However, if the liquid food product is packaged in either metal cans, or containers having a label which precludes the visual inspection of the liquid food product there are few, if any, effective non-destructive screening procedures to test for the presence of flat/sours.
This is not to say that testing for flat/sours in metal or labeled containers is impossible. Flat/sours can still often be detected by physically shaking and handling individual cans. However, such a method obviously is extremely slow, somewhat subjective, and commercially impractical. Therefore, the need exists for a method which can efficiently detect the presence of flat/sours without shaking individual cans, or opening them in a destructive testing method.
The apparatus and method of the present invention meet this need through the employment of an inclined conveyor to separate containers suspected of containing spoiled liquid food products from containers of unspoiled food. Means for separating solid materials using a conveyor or inclined surface are well known in the prior art. Examples of such prior art include Rinker, U.S. Pat. No. 738,699; Sutton, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,114,935; Payne, U.S. Pat. No. 1,283,284; Stutzman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,658,616; and Schmidt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,986.
Rinker, U.S. Pat. No. 738,699, discloses a grain separator comprising a moving inclined belt with a feeder which discharges seeds near one top corner, so that seeds rolling more or less slowly according to their shape will be discharged into various receivers. Seeds of a relatively spherical shape are discharged first, while those seeds which depart from the spherical form will roll more slowly down the inclined surface of the belt and be discharged into other containers. Rinker teaches a method of separating objects based upon the shape of an object, and not with regard to whether there is any spoilage.
Sutton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,114,935, discloses a process and apparatus for sizing or classifying comminuted solid materials, with this process being dependent on the volume or size of the individual objects. Once again, a moving belt is involved, with the belt being rough and undulating, and the separation has nothing to do with the detection of spoilage.
Payne, U.S. Pat. No. 1,283,284, discloses a method and apparatus for the grading or sizing of materials, with the method being based on the equilibrium of the various solid particles relative to the distance between the particle's center of gravity and its point of support on an inclined surface. As in Sutton et al., the method of Payne is dependent on the size of the various solid particles, and has nothing to do with the detection of spoilage.
Stutzman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,658,616, discloses a process for classifying solid iron shots of similar sizes. The Stutzman process classifies the iron shots based upon their shape, i.e. spherical or nearly spherical, all the way to tear drop shaped pellets, and detection of spoilage is not involved.
Finally, Schmidt, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,986, discloses a process and apparatus for separating aspherical particles from spherical particles. Once again, the separation of the solid product is based on shape, and the detection of spoilage is not involved.
None of the above discussed patents disclose or suggest the use of an inclined conveyor in the non-destructive testing of a liquid food product for spoilage.

Non-destructive detection of a spoiled liquid nutritional product in a sealed container


A plurality of infrared-light-emitting areas are displayed in a display screen of a liquid crystal display apparatus in a method that allows each of the infrared-light-emitting areas to be distinguished. Then, an image in a direction of a pointed position is captured by an operating device. Based on a result of distinguishing each of the infrared-light-emitting areas and a position of each of the infrared-light-emitting areas, a pointed position on the display screen is calculated. This makes it possible to properly detect the pointed position on the display screen pointed by the operating device, regardless of (i) a distance between the operating device and the display apparatus and (ii) a rotation angle of the operating device around an axis in an image capture direction of the operating device.

Recently, thickness of display apparatuses such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays has been reduced. Further, display apparatuses that have a large screen size have been prevailing.
Such a thin and large-screen display apparatus may be used, for example, in presentation in a meeting, presentation for introducing a product or the like, or as a display apparatus for a video game. In a scene in which the display apparatus is used in the above-mentioned way, the display apparatus is operated by pointing, with the use of an operating device such as a pointer, a desired point (position or place) on an image that is displayed on the display screen.
For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No 66080/2007 (Tokukai 2007-66080) (published on Mar. 15, 2007)) discloses a technique for detecting coordinates of a pointed point on a display screen. In the technique, (i) light emitting devices provided to front and rear ends of a pointer are driven in different blinking patterns, respectively, (ii) images including light-emitting areas that are provided to the front and rear ends of the pointer are captured by cameras that are provided on the right and left sides of the display screen, respectively, and (iii) coordinates of a pointed point on the display screen is detected by analyzing/calculating, according to the trigonometry, a direction (angle) of each of the light-emitting areas and a distance between (a) each of the light-emitting areas and (b) each of the cameras or the display screen.
Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 83024/2007 (Tokukai 2007-83024) (published on Apr. 5, 2007)) discloses a system that detects a position of coordinates on a display screen. In the system, a module including an LED that emits infrared light is provided in the vicinity of the display screen, for example, at an upper part or a lower part of a display apparatus, (ii) an image of the LED is captured by using (a) a filter that is provided in a controller and transmits only infrared light and (b) an image sensing device such as a CMOS sensor or a CCD, and (iii) a position of coordinates in the display screen is detected from a positional change of the LED in data of thus captured image.
According to the conventional techniques, unfortunately, a position pointed by the operating device cannot be appropriately detected in a case where a position of the operating device is close to the display screen.
That is, in the technique as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the cameras for capturing images of the lightening points at the front and rear ends of the pointer (operating device) are provided on the left and right sides of the display screen in the display apparatus. As such, in a case where a position of the pointer is close to the display screen, the lightening point may be in a position out of a range in which the camera can capture an image.
As for the technique as disclosed in Patent Document 2, an image sensing device provided in a controller (operating device) is arranged to capture an image of the infrared light emitted by the LED module that is provided at an upper part or a lower part of the display screen of the display apparatus. Therefore, as in the case of Patent Document 1, in a case where a position of the controller is close to the display screen, the LED module may be in a position out of a range in which the image sensing device can capture an image.
FIGS. 25(a), 25(b), 26(a), and 26(b) are explanatory diagrams each illustrating a relation of (i) a distance between an operating device 101 and a display apparatus 102 and (ii) a range in which a position that is pointed by the operating device 101 can be detected, in the same arrangement as the arrangement disclosed in Patent Document 2.
FIGS. 25(a) and 25(b) illustrates a case where a distance between the display apparatus 102 and the operating device 101 is sufficiently large. In such a case, an LED module 103 is included within a range in which the image sensing device that is provided in the operating device 101 can capture an image, regardless of a position, on the display screen, that is pointed by the operating device 101. Therefore, in such a case, a position pointed by the operating device 101 can be detected.
On the other hand, FIGS. 26(a) and 26 (b) illustrates a case where the distance between the display apparatus 102 and the operating device 101 is short. In such a case, the LED module 103 cannot be within a range in which the image sensing device can capture an image, depending on a position pointed by the operating device 101. In this case, the position pointed by the operating device 101 cannot be detected.
In the conventional techniques explained above, when a position on the display screen is pointed by the operating device in a state where the operating device is rotated around an axis that is a linear line connecting between the operating device and the display screen (for example, in a sate where the operating device is turned upside down), the pointed position may not be detected properly. In other words, in a case where the operating device is rotated with respect to a reference position around an axis in an image capture direction (a direction in which the operating device captures an image), a wrong pointed position may be detected. The reference position here is assumed to be a position in which an x-axis direction and a y-axis direction in a coordinate system of the display screen agree with an x-axis direction and a y-axis direction in a coordinate system of a captured image, respectively.
For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 27(a) and 28(a), a case where the light-emitting areas L1 and L2 are provided on the right and left sides of the display screen, respectively, is considered. In a case where the operating device that is not turned upside down (in a state where the operating device is in the reference position) points a lower-left position of the display screen as illustrated in FIG. 27(a), a captured image becomes as illustrated in FIG. 27(b). On the other hand, the operating device that is turned upside down (in a state where the operating device is rotated with respect to the reference position around an axis in the image capture direction) points an upper-left position of the display screen as illustrated in FIG. 28(a), a captured image becomes as illustrated in FIG. 28(b). In this way, thought the operating device points different positions on the display screen, the same captured images are obtained in a case where the operating device is turned upside down and in a case the operating device is turned not upside down, respectively. As a result, the pointed position may be wrongly detected.

Display system and method for detecting pointed position


The essence of the present invention lies in an optical sheet made of transparent resin having a visible light transmittance of not less than 80%, a glass transition temperature of not lower than 150.degree. C. and a thickness of from 0.2 to 1.5 mm, which exhibits a birefringence index of not higher than 15 nm, a surface roughness Ra of not more than 0.1 .mu.m and an impact strength of not less than 600 gf.multidot.cm as calculated in terms of dropping ball breakdown energy determined by Du Pont process impact resistance test.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical sheet and an optical part made of transparent resin. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical sheet and an optical part made of transparent resin obtained by subjecting a transparent resin to a specific heat treatment. The optical part of the present invention can be prepared by an efficient method. The product thus obtained has a light weight and excellent heat resistance, light resistance and impact resistance. The product is also advantageous in that if used in a planar form, it has a reduced thickness.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inorganic glass has heretofore predominated in the materials to be used in the preparation of products in the optical art. This is attributed to the fact that an inorganic glass inherently has an excellent light transmittance over a wide wavelength range, excellent heat resistance, chemical resistance, water resistance, surface hardness and abrasion resistance and a wide range of linear expansion coefficient.
However, the foregoing-inorganic glass is disadvantageous in that it requires a polishing step and much time to be finely worked on the surface thereof, if necessary. Thus, the foregoing inorganic glass cannot be fairly mass-produced and cannot be efficiently produced in a small amount for each of many varieties.
Further, the foregoing inorganic glass is required of low birefringence index if used for some glass parts. However, the foregoing inorganic glass cannot always attain birefringence as desired.
Moreover, an attempt has been made to apply resins such as polymethyl acrylate, polycarbonate, polyarylate and cyclic polyolefin to the art of optical parts taking advantage of its characteristics and transparency. An example of this attempt is to develop the application of such a resin to optical disc by reducing its optical distortion.
As such an example there has been noted the development of the application of these resins to the art of parts requiring a low birefringence index such as liquid crystal display board and liquid crystal projection optical parts. In these uses, these resins are required of birefringence index of not more than 15 nm, preferably not more than 10 nm, more preferably not more than 5 nm, most preferably not more than 2 nm, as calculated in terms of retardation value in single pass. These resins are required of good retention of shape at a temperature of 100.degree. C. to meet requirements in various processings or practical use.
In an attempt to solve the foregoing problems, JP-A-60-222241 (The term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") proposes a process for solvent-casting a heat-resistant resin such as polyether sulfone. However, this process can difficultly allow the solvent to evaporate while maintaining desired surface precision on an industrial basis if the product has a thickness excess 100 .mu.m. Thus, a sheet or molded product having a thickness of greater than 100 .mu.m suitable as liquid crystal display board or optical member cannot be obtained from the standpoint of self-supporting properties and gas barrier properties.
Contrary that, in the case of using a thermoplastically forming method such as a extruded-molding or injection molding, the optical distortion of the sheet or molded product grow large at a stage immediately after forming, and it is impossible to obtain the sheet or molded having the desired quality from the standpoint of optical properties.
JP-A-7-126375 proposes a method which comprises heating an extruded sheet laminated with a protective film at a temperature of not lower than its glass transition temperature under an ordinary pressure as a method for eliminating the optical distortion of a thermoplastically formed flat board.
However, the foregoing heat treatment at a temperature of not lower than the glass transition temperature of the extruded sheet can difficultly maintain the flatness of the flat board which has been provided during forming at a good reproducibility because the frozen strain developed at forming disappears with a dynamic change. As a result, the optical distortion of the extruded flat board cannot be eliminated, making it impossible to obtain a substrate having the desired quality from the standpoint of optical properties or precision in surface flatness, as described later in the comparative examples.

Optical sheet and optical part made of transparent resin, and method of fabricating thereof


A lens manufacturing apparatus includes a first mold, a second mold, a first core, and a second core. The first mold defines a first compartment therein. The second mold defines a second compartment therein. The first core is inserted into the first compartment of the first mold, and includes a first mold surface with a first half-mold cavity and a conic ring surrounding the first half mold cavity. The second core is inserted into the second compartment of the second mold, and includes a second mold surface with a second half-mold cavity. The second half-mold cavity includes a bottom which connects to the periphery of the second mold surface by an acclivitous surface. The acclivitous surface is parallel with the outermost conic surface of the conic ring.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to a lens manufacturing apparatus and a lens manufactured thereby.
2. Description of Related Art
Injection molding method is currently one of the best choice for mass production of lenses. Molten material is injected into a mold cavity of a mold apparatus under a high pressure. When the molding cavity is full, the cooled down and solidified molten material is shaped to produce a lens. Generally, a lens includes at least one convex or concave surface for converging or diverging transmitted light, which gives the lens a cross-sectional thickness varying from the periphery to the center. The varied cross-sectional thickness means that the molten molding material in the mold cavity is cooled down at different rates, where the thinnest parts are cooled before the thickest parts; as a result, this causes "sinks" in the lens, which produce molded-in stress that make the lens quite brittle.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a lens manufacturing apparatus that can overcome the above problems, and a lens manufactured thereby.

Lens manufacturing apparatus and lens manufactured thereby


A measured stream of particles is dropped onto the apex of a distributor e where it is divided into a circular pattern falling through a narrow sizing zone onto the peripheral edge of a rotatable platen. Platen rotation carries each particle into a frame area viewed, preferably, by a microscope and a TV camera the output of which is applied to a computer programmed to analyze selected characteristics. A rotatably-indexed mirror system reflects selected views into the microscope for the analysis. Interfaced with the computer is a signal generator providing feed-back signals that synchronously control system operation. For example, a feed-back signal stops platen rotation when a particle is brought into the viewing or frame area. Other signals control other functions such as the indexing of the mirror system to provide the desired views, i.e. front, back, top, bottom, etc. Scanning devices other than optics can be used if so desired.

The invention relates to systems for analyzing and sorting particles according to selected characteristics.
Systems for sorting various types of particulate matter are well-known and have been used commercially for a variety of purposes such as quality control in the final inspection of grains and other free-flowing granular products. Their function, primarily, is to sort out and remove foreign or non-conforming material from the final product. To achieve this end, a combination of mechanical, optical, electronic and pneumatic components somewhat comparable to the components used in the present system usually are employed.
In other respects, however, they differ significantly from the present system. Thus, as will be described, the present system is concerned more directly with a relatively detailed and sophisticated analysis of each individual particle rather than with the somewhat cursory procedures used for quality control. For example, one of its primary uses is in the field of micropaleontology where a fairly large and varied amount of data must be obtained for each particle. In particular, it has been used for a rather voluminous study of the shell structures of foraminafera, although a wide variety of other uses clearly is contemplated. Quality control machines, in contrast, are designed to rather quickly distinguish the `good` from the `bad` according to one or two easily and simply determined characteristics. Their emphasis is upon speed or high handling rates and, to achieve this end, it is customary to examine and sort the particles as they are moved in a flowing stream past a viewing system which receives light reflected from the particles and passes it to detectors such as photomultipliers or the like.
In the present system, the emphasis instead is upon a programmed and relatively detailed `look` at each particle and such a `look` cannot be obtained if the particles are moving in a steady flow past the viewer. Each particle, therefore, is stopped for the examination. Further, each must be stopped in a precise position which permits the viewing mechanism to be finely focussed and also, preferably, in a position in which the particles can be viewed from several different angles needed to analyze different characteristics. In the present system, therefore, such matters as particle feed and handling which must be precise, reliable and efficient. Also, it is concerned with a complete automation of the handling as well as the anaylsis itself so as to provide a system that can operate unattended for the long periods of time needed to obtain the rather voluminous data needed for the study. As will be described, computer technology presently is using both to control and to synchronize all of the mechanical aspects of the system as well as the particle analysis. As far as is known, prior art systems have not employed comparable controls or, in fact, comparable handling and viewing mechanisms.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy