The present invention relates to a drive system for a variable camber aircraft wing having position variable front flaps and/or rear flaps, having drive shafts, which are arranged such that that the flaps undergo a change of position in operation of the drive shafts, and having one or more drive units in driving connection with the drive shafts, wherein at least one switchable coupling is provided via which the drive shafts of two flaps of an aircraft wing can be coupled to one another.

The present invention relates to a drive system for a variable camber aircraft wing having position variable front flaps and/or rear flaps, having drive shafts arranged such that the flaps undergo a change of position in operation of the drive shafts, and having one or more drive units in driving connection with the drive shafts.
One reason for the use of variable camber aircraft wings is that a reduction in fuel consumption can be achieved by the possibility of varying the wing camber. The variation of the wing camber can be achieved, for example, by adjustment of the landing flaps in a positive and negative vertical direction around the retracted position. It is feasible for the inner and outer landing flap pairs to be adjusted differently so that different profiles result in the span direction. For this purpose, the transmission train between the inner and outer landing flaps must be separated and the drive for the outer shaft train must be coupled in.
A system of the initially named kind is known, for example, from DE 103 61 891 A1. A drive system can be seen from this reference in which the drive shafts of adjacent flaps are coupled via a differential gear which is connected to a central drive, on the one hand, and to a secondary drive, on the other hand. The speed of the drive shaft forming the output of the differential gear depends on the input speeds of the central drive as well as of the secondary drive and is thus largely independent of the speed of the drive shaft driven by the central drive.

Drive system for a variable camber aircraft wing


An apparatus and method for providing adaptive error correction for a fax and/or modem over packet network session is disclosed. A gateway device configured in accordance with the present invention comprises a controller configured to receive a signal from its local client device and a signal processor coupled to said controller. The signal processor encodes the signal based on a level of error correction selected by the controller. The controller is configured to determine a mode of operation of the local client device from the signal, and then select a level of error correction used by the signal processor to encode the signal based on the determined mode of operation of the local client device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications over packet networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to error correction for modem and fax communications over a packet network, such as the Internet, utilizing the Internet Protocol ("IP").
2. Related Art
In recent years, packet-based networks, such as the Internet, have begun to replace the traditional analog telephone networks for transportation of voice and data. For example, with the emergence of voice over IP ("VoIP"), telephone conversations may now be captured, packetized and transported over the Internet. In a conventional VoIP system, telephone conversations or analog voice may be transported over the local loop or the public switch telephone network ("PSTN") to the central office ("CO"). From the CO, the analog voice is transported to a gateway device at the edge of the packet-based network. The gateway device converts the analog voice or speech to packetized data using a codec (coder/decoder), according to one of various existing protocols, such as G.729, G.711, G.723.1, etc. Next, the packetized data is transmitted over the Internet using the Internet Protocol for reception by a remote gateway device and conversion back to analog voice.
More recently, focus has been directed toward using the existing packet-based network and gateway devices, which have been designed to support the transportation of analog voice or speech over IP, to further support facsimile ("fax") communication over packet networks (e.g., Fax over Internet Protocol ("FoIP")) and modem communication over packet networks (e.g., Modem over Internet Protocol ("MoIP")). FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a conventional communication model for data communication over a packet-based network, such as the Internet. As shown, communication model 100 includes first client communication device 110 in communication with first gateway communication device 120 over PSTN providing transmit and receive channels 112 and 114. Communication model 100 further includes second client communication device 150 in communication with second gateway communication device 140 over PSTN providing transmit and receive channels 144 and 142. Communication model 100 enables communications between first gateway communication device 120 and second gateway communication device 140 via a packet network 130 utilizing the Internet Protocol. The Internet Protocol implements the network layer (layer 3) of a network protocol, which contains a network address and is used to route a message to a different network or subnetwork. The Internet Protocol further accepts packets from the layer 4 transport protocol, such as Transmission Control Protocol ("TCP") or User Data Protocol ("UDP"), and adds its own header and delivers the data to the layer 2 data link protocol. TCP provides transport functions, which ensures that the total amount of bytes sent is received correctly at the other end. UDP, which is part of the TCP/IP suite, is an alternate transport that does not guarantee delivery. It is widely used for real-time voice and video transmissions where erroneous packets are not retransmitted.
For purposes of FoIP, communication devices 110, 120, 140 and 150 are capable of performing facsimile functions. For MoIP, communication devices 110, 120, 140 and 150 are capable of performing modem functions. Facsimile and modems devices are capable of converting digital pulse to audio frequencies (modulation) and vice versa (demodulation) for transmission of fax or modem data over an analog telephone line using corresponding transmission modulation systems. For example facsimile devices may support a variety fax modulation standards, such as those defined in the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) Group 3 protocols: V.21, V.17, V.27 or V.29, for example. Similarly, modems may support a variety of data modulation standards, such as ITU standards: V.22bis, V.34, V.90 or V.92, etc. Communication devices 110, 120, 140 and 150 may also be cable or DSL modems, which are all digital and technically not modems, but referred to as modems in the industry. Most modems are also capable of supporting various voice and facsimile standards.
Conventionally, the communication process for a FoIP session begins when first client fax (("F1") or first client communication device 110) calls first gateway (("G1") or first gateway communication device 120). As a result, G1 calls second gateway (("G2") or second gateway communication device 140), and G2 in turn calls second client fax (("F2") or second client communication device 150).
Typically, G1 and G2, in their default mode of operation, communicate in voice mode and are configured to use a compressed voice protocol, such as the ITU standard G.723.1. As the calling device, F1 transmits a calling ("CNG") tone (a 1100 hertz (Hz)) half-second tone repeated every 3.5 seconds) when initiating a call to F2. This CNG tone causes G1 and G2 to switch to an uncompressed voice protocol, such as ITU standard G.711, which provides toll quality audio at 64 Kbps using either A-Law or μ-Law pulse code modulation methods. This uncompressed digital format is used in order to allow easy connections to legacy telephone networks. By switching to G.711, the tones generated by F1 may propagate through G1 and G2 in a more intact manner in order to reach F2 at the other side.
One existing method provides for maintaining G1 and G2 in G.711 or "pass through" mode, such that F1 and F2 are able to exchange control commands over packet network 130 and transfer data using G.711 packets using the Internet Protocol. However, such solution suffers from various problems, such as packet losses. Similar problems, including packet losses, also occur during MoIP sessions in pass through mode. Packet losses degrade communication over a packet network, resulting in communication errors between the client devices during FoIP and/or MoIP sessions. Packet losses are particularly problematic over wide-area connections.
One solution advanced to overcome packet losses while in the pass through mode for MoIP and FoIP sessions is the use of Generic Forward Error Correction ("FEC") for encoding data transmitted over the packet network, as described in the Request for Comments ("RFC") document 2733 ("An RTP Payload Format for Generic Forward Error Correction" by J. Rosenberg, December 1999) which his hereby incorporated by reference. In general FEC compensates for packet losses by transmitting FEC packets in addition to the original "media" stream (i.e., voice, fax or modem signals). At the receiver, the FEC packet and the original media are received. If no media packets have been lost, the FEC packet can be ignored. In the event of media packet losses, the FEC packets can be combined with other media and the FEC packets that have been received, resulting in recovery of the missing media packets.
Depending on the particular encoding scheme selected for FEC encoding, a tradeoff between overhead, delay, and recoverability results. For example, a higher level or more complex FEC encoding scheme may provide better recoverability but may result in greater overhead and longer delay. Conversely, a lower level or less complex FEC encoding scheme may require less overhead and incur less delay, but may not provide the same degree of recoverability as the higher level encoding scheme.
In practice, a fixed low-level FEC encoding scheme is used, primarily because of the greater overhead and longer delay associated with higher level and more complex FEC encoding schemes. In a fixed or static data encoding algorithm, a selected FEC encoding scheme is used for encoding all voice, fax and modem data (i.e., for all phases) during the session. A fixed low level FEC encoding scheme is normally satisfactory for voice communication (VoIP) where small losses of voice data are unperceivable or minimally perceivable by users. However, for FoIP and MoIP communications, the loss of critical data could result in such severe errors, such as loss of connection or the necessity for retraining, significantly degrading performance and creating dissatisfaction in customers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Adaptive error correction for communications over packet networks


A device for gluing fibers or similar particles, in particular for the production of wood material panels, for example fiber panels, having a blowline (3) through which the fibers to be glued are transported, wherein there are connected to the blowline a plurality of nozzles (4) which issue into the blowline and by means of which the fibers transported through the blowline can be sprayed with glue, wherein the nozzles (4) are formed as multiple-substance nozzles, for example two-substance nozzles for the purpose of steam atomization, to which nozzles in each case at least one glue feed line (5) and one steam feed line (6) are connected, characterized in that in each case one glue valve (7) and one throughflow measurement device (8) are integrated into the glue feed lines (5), and in that the glue valves (7) and the throughflow measurement devices (8) are connected to at least one control and/or regulating device, such that the throughflow rate for each glue feed line (5) can be separately controlled or regulated by means of the glue valves (7).

Within the scope of the invention, wood panels particularly means fiberboard such as MDF or HDF or also LDF, for example. Basically, however, plywood and consequently applying glue to chips and similar particles are also covered. Glue application means spraying the fibers with a glue or binder such as, for example, isocyanate, melamine resin formaldehyde (resins), urea formaldehyde (resins), urea formaldehyde (resins), melamine resins, phenolic resins or other resins, for example on the basis of polyamines or tannins. During production of wood-product panels, e.g. fiberboard, a mat of bulk material is formed from the glued fibers, the mat is then compressed in a press with application of pressure and heat to produce a wood-product panel or a wood-product panel web. The press can be a cycled press or a continuously operating press. Applying glue to the fibers has particular importance within the scope of the production of such wood-product panels. This is because the properties of the wood-product panels produced, e.g. their transverse tensile strength, are decisively dependent on the amount of glue used. In order to produce wood-product panels having sufficient transverse tensile strength, significant glue consumption is therefore generally required.
Within the scope of the invention, glue application takes place in a blow-conduit, also called a blow-line. In this technique, the fibers are generally produced from comminuted chips, in a defibrator (refiner), and the fibers are blown out of the refiner into the blow-line. A relatively high steam pressure is present in the refiner. This steam simultaneously forms a transport means that conveys the fibers along the blow line. By the blow-line, the fibers reach a downstream dryer. During blow-glue application, spraying of the fibers with glue takes place in the blow-line, and consequently (directly) downstream of the refiner.
An apparatus for blow-glue application is known, for example, from DE 10 2008 059 877 or DE 10 2009 006 704.
It is basically known that injection of the glue into the blow-line by nozzles has a significant influence on the glue-application quality. Therefore, in practice, one basically strives to achieve the finest possible atomization of the glue in order to form relatively small glue droplets. In this way, clumping of the fibers is supposed to be prevented, and, in particular, a glue is used sparingly. For this reason, it has already been proposed not to atomize the glue by simple compressed air, but rather by using steam. For this purpose, two-substance nozzles are used. Such two-substance nozzles are known, for example, from DE 20 2010 005 280.
Blow-line glue application has basically proven itself. However, it is capable of further development. This is a method that has been well tested for a long time, but the amount of glue used continues to be relatively high. This is where the invention takes its start.

SIEMPELKAMP MASCHINEN-UND ANLAGENBAU GmbH


An articulated, intravascular pump having multiple pump sections linked together for relative motion and driven by a common drive cable is disclosed. Each pump section is relatively short, so that it may easily pass through bends in an insertion catheter, the iliofemoral artery and the aorta artery. Disposed in the aortic arch during operation, the pump includes means for selectively directing the discharge blood flow from each pump section to inlets of major arteries branching from the arch.

The invention relates to intravascular blood pumps, and specifically to such a pump having multiple, articulated pumping sections.
A common cause of death or disability from heart disease is inadequate supply of blood from a infarcted ventricle, such as caused by cardiogenic shock. If the diseased heart cannot produce a supply of blood sufficient to keep the patient alive, some form of circulatory assistance is required. Circulatory assistance can also be required in allograft cardiac replacement of heart transplants. Patients can die while waiting for transplants or while immunosuppressive agents combat the body's rejection of the transplanted heart.
Several ventricular assist devices ("VADs") have been proposed. Such devices are reviewed in the journal article Ott, Mills, Eugene, and Gazzaniga, Clinical Choices for Circulatory Assist Devices, XXXVI Transactions, American Society of Artificial Internal Organs (October/December 1990). All of the devices described in this article require major surgery for connection to the vascular system, which can involve unacceptable delay or risk for the patient.
A more acceptable approach that has been proposed, and has been used to a limited extent, is to use an intravascular blood pump. As shown schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2, such a pump 30 can be inserted into the heart 10 through the iliofemoral artery 11, aorta 12, and aortic arch 13. The pump 30 may be disposed in the aortic arch 13 or may be inserted through the aortic semilunar valve 14 into the left ventricle 15. Alternatively, the pump may be inserted into the right ventricle 15 via the pulmonary artery 17. The pump is driven via a flexible cable 31 from an external power source 32. Blood is drawn from the left ventricle 15 into the pump in inlet flow 34 and is discharged into the aorta in discharge flow 35.
Various intravascular pumps are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,625,712 to Wampler (assigned to Nimbus, Inc.) ("Wampler I"); 4,817,586 to Wampler (assigned to Nimbus Medical, Inc.) ("Wampler II"); 4,846,152 to Wampler, et al. (assigned to Nimbus Medical, Inc.) ("Wampler III"); 4,944,722 to Carriker, et al. (assigned to Nimbus Medical, Inc.) ("Carriker"); 4,964,864 to Summers, et al. (assigned to American Biomed, Inc.) ("Summers"); 4,969,865 to Hwang, et al. (assigned to American Biomed, Inc.) ("Hwang"); and 5,040,944 to Cook ("Cook").
Wampler I discloses an axial-flow pump with multiple rows or rotor and stator blades. The rotor rotates at speeds in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 rpm, producing blood flows on the order of 4 liters per minute (1/min). (A healthy heart pumps blood at a rate of between 5 to 9 l/min.) It was recognized in Wampler I that pumps with such high rotational speeds have been considered unsuitable for pumping blood because the shear forces imposed on the blood in the region between the tips of the rotor blades and the stationary wall of the pump chamber can cause severe hemolysis. The solution proposed in Wampler I was to reduce the diameter of the pump chamber to thereby reduce the rotor blade tangential tip velocity and to provide a large clearance between the rotor blade tip and the pump chamber wall. The combination of these two dimensional limitations was considered to produce acceptable shear forces.
However, in Wampler III, these dimensional limitations were considered unsatisfactory. Wampler III identified the design criteria for an intravascular pump to include: a) small diameter (to readily fit into the blood vessels through which it is inserted into the heart); b) short length (to be able to follow sharp bends in the vessels; and c) a minimum number of hemolysis-producing interfaces (regions of high shear forces between rotating and stationary parts). The solution proposed in Wampler III was to use a single-stage pump, which is inherently shorter and has fewer hemolysis-producing interfaces than the multi-stage pump of Wampler I. To obtain the required pressure rise across the single stage without causing stalls or cavitation, the rotor is formed with one row producing flow that is partially axial and partially centrifugal, while the other row produces purely axial flow.
Wampler II propose a pump design in which the diameter of the pump can be reduced without reducing the diameter of the rotor bearing below the practical limits of miniaturization. The solution proposed in Wampler II is to use a screw-type axial-flow pump with a multiple-thread rotor in combination with a housing having radially-directed exit flow slots. The screw-type pump has a cylindrical pump chamber in which a screw-thread rotor rotates, rather than a multi-bladed stator. By discharging the pumped blood radially through the wall of the pump housing, rather than axially through the end of the housing, the rotor bearings can have the same diameter as the housing.
In further pursuit of a shorter pump body, with the stated goal of facilitating the passage of the pump through the bends in the insertion catheter, Carriker proposed a screw-thread type pump with radial exit slots that uses a resiliently extendable rotor extension to connect the rotor to the drive cable.
Summers identified another problem with intravascular pumps driven at high rotational velocities by a drive cable--friction between the drive cable and the wall of the insertion catheter can create hot spots in the femoral arteries. To reduce the pump operating speed, Summers proposed a pump using the moineau pump principle to deliver large volume of blood at relatively low pressure and rotational velocity. The pump uses rotary motion to move a seal continuously through a resilient stator. Pumping action is achieved by the rotor being driven eccentrically within the stator to form a series sealed chambers that progress axially along the pump.
In one embodiment, at the discharge end of the stator, a discharge nozzle directs the pumped blood to the intake end of a venturi tube. The intake end of the venturi is also open to a chamber formed within the pump housing that communicates with the ventricle through ports in the housing. As the blood pumped by the rotor passes through the venturi, it creates a low pressure region within the venturi tube that draws blood from the chamber into the venturi to mix with the pumped blood before it is discharged from the pump. This produces a higher pumped blood volume at a lower discharge pressure.
The pump disclosed in Summers was purported to pump 3 to 4 l/min at a speed of 2,500 rpm without risk of hemoloysis because the pump had no propellers or turbine blades to produce shear forces on the blood. However, the progressive-chamber pump design requires a relatively long pump to provide adequate flow rates at the desired rotational velocity. The longer pump is more difficult to pass through bends in the insertion catheter.
Another low-rpm pump design was proposed in Hwang. The pump uses a helical-shaped foil rotating within a cylindrical housing. This pump design is purported to pump 3 to 4 l/min at 6,000 to 10,000 rpm. As with Summers, the Hwang pump is relatively long.
Finally, Cook discloses an axial flow pump in which a convoluted stationary member is mounted in a cylindrical housing. A pair of spiral impeller rods are rotatably disposed between the stationary member and the internal wall of the housing and are driven by a conventional drive cable. Again, the pump disclosed is relatively long --1.25" (30 mm)--with a diameter of 0.25" (6 mm) and operates at high speeds--approximately 20,000 rpm.
Another disadvantage shared by all of these pump designs is that they do not allow the pumped blood to be preferentially directed. As shown in FIG. 1, three major arteries branch from the aortic arch 13; the left subclavian artery 18, the left common carotid artery 19, and the brachicocephalic artery 20. In addition, the coronary arteries 21 and 22, which supply blood to the heart muscle itself, branch from the aortic arch just downstream of the aortic valve 14. It is desirable to preferentially direct some of the discharge blood flow 35 from the pump into the entrances of these articles. Such directional treatment maximizes the effectiveness of the energy conveyed to the blood from the pump (i.e., minimal energy is wasted through the use of aortic arch walls to redirect discharged blood). As such, the overall efficiency of the pump is enhanced. Further, directional treatment into multiple arteries provides a more uniform and equitable distribution of blood leaving the heart. However, the pump designs described above simply discharge blood along or about the axis of the aorta, with no preferential orientation.


A system for authenticating bank notes by checking for raised print (37) produced by an intaglio printing process which only occurs on genuine bank notes. Each note (36) is individually transported past a pair of brushes (38) whose bristles are in contact with the two faces of the note. Microphones (28) are placed in close proximity to the brush means to sense the noise from the brush means which increases when there is raised print. Output from the microphones are digitized and applied to a data processing means (22) which determines whether the note contains raised printing, and hence whether the note is genuine or not, by generating a value based on the digitized outputs of the microphones (28) and comparing this value with stored values.

The present invention relates to a system for authenticating printed documents such as bank notes.
Bank notes have many features that make it difficult to forge them. However, forgers can now recreate many of these features such as threads and watermarks. The non-fluorescent properties of bank notes have been exploited for some time by retail establishments using ultra-violet lamps, but forgers can overcome this by suppressing the fluorescence of paper used for making forged bank notes. Thus, it is now difficult for sales staff to distinguish between real and forged notes. Validation is also a problem in self service terminals such as currency deposit machines where there is no human interaction to check for forgeries. Self service terminals include automated teller machines (ATMs) which allow bank customers to withdraw bank notes, and automated currency deposit machines by which bank customers can deposit bank notes.

System for authenticating printed documents


An oligonucleotide which is antisense to a mRNA encoding a polypeptide involved in airway disease(s) contains up to three adenosines per every 21 nucleotide a method of treating airway disease in a subject in need of such treatment comprises topically administering to the subject an antisense oligonucleotide in an amount effective to treat the airway disease, where the antisense oligonucleotide is essentially free of adenosine. Pharmaceutical formulations are also disclosed.

Antisense oligonucleotides have received considerable theoretical consideration as potentially useful pharmacologic agents in human disease. R. Wagner, Nature 372, 333-335 (1994). However, practical applications of these molecules in actual models of human disease have been elusive. One important consideration in the pharmacologic application of these molecules is route of administration. Most experiments utilizing antisense oligonucleotides in vivo have involved direct application to limited regions of the brain (see C. Wahlestedt, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 15, 42-46 (1994); J. Lai et al., Neuroreport 5, 1049-1052 (1994); K. Standifer et al., Neuron 12, 805-810 (1994); A. Akabayashi et al., Brain Research 21, 55-61 (1994)), or to spinal fluid (see e.g. L. Tseng et al., European J. Pharmacol. 258, R1-3 (1994); R. Raffa et al., European J. Pharmacol. 258, R5-7 (1994); F. Gillardon et al., European J. Neurosci. 6, 880-884 (1994)). Such applications have limited clinical utility due to their invasive nature.
The systemic administration of antisense oligonucleotides also poses significant problems with respect to pharmacologic application, not the least of which is the difficulty in targeting disease-involved tissues. In contrast, the lung is an excellent potential target for antisense oligonucleotide application since it may be approached noninvasively and in a tissue-specific manner. However, the technology involved in delivering antisense agents to the lung remains relatively undeveloped, and potential problems related to the application of antisense agents to the lung remain unexplored.
Adenosine may constitute an important mediator of bronchial asthma. R. Pauwels et al., Clinical & Exp. Allergy 21 Suppl. 1, 48-55 (1991); S. Holgate et al., Annals of the New York Acad. Sci. 629, 227-236 (1991). The potential role of adenosine in human asthma is supported by the experimental finding that, in contrast to normal individuals, asthmatic individuals respond to aerosolized adenosine with marked bronchoconstriction. M. Church and S. Holgate, Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 7, 49-50 (1986); M. Cushley et al., Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 15, 161-165 (1983). Similarly, asthmatic rabbits produced using the dust mite allergic rabbit model of human asthma also were shown to respond to aerosolized adenosine with marked bronchoconstriction, while non asthmatic rabbits showed no response. S. Ali et al., Agents Actions 37, 165-176 (1992). Recent work using this model system has suggested that adenosine-induced bronchoconstriction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in asthma are mediated primarily through the stimulation of adenosine receptors. S. Ali et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 268, 1328-1334 (1994); S. Ali et al., Am. J. Physiol 266, L271-277 (1994).
Adenosine has also been shown to cause adverse effects, including death, when administered therapeutically for other diseases and conditions in subjects with previously undiagnosed hyperreactive airways. See e.g., R. P. Cowell et al., Brit. Heart J. 71(6),569-71 (1994); D. J. Pennell et al., Europ. J. Nuclear Med. 21(2), 170-2 (1994); R. Reed et al., Am. J. Emerg. Med. 21(4), 453 (1992).

Low adenosine agent, composition, kit and method for treatment of airway disease


A locking mechanism for holding a selected blade or tool kit of a multi-purpose folding tool in an extended position. A base portion of each blade is mounted on a pivot pin mounted in a tool handle. The base portion includes a cam and a notch, and a spring included in the handle biases a flange against the cam and urges the flange into the notch to hold the selected blade in an extended position. The notch has a sharp lip and the flange is attached to the spring by a bend formed in a way leaving effectively a zero radius of curvature inside the bend. As a result, the lip of the notch and the inside corner surface of the bend defining the flange do not interact as cam and follower to urge the flange out from the notch, and a shorter flange and shallower notch are effective to lock the blade in position. A channel which receives and holds blades in a folded configuration of the tool has inside corners between sidewalls and a base, each corner having effectively a zero radius of curvature.

This invention relates to a foldable knife or tool and more particularly to a mechanism for automatically locking a tool or knife blade into extended position with respect to a handle.
One of the inherent problems with folding, tools is the tendency of the tool blade to fold back toward the handle during use. Aside from interrupting the work, a collapsing blade can damage the workpiece or injure the user.
A wide variety of locking mechanisms have been devised to overcome this problem. At one end of the spectrum are the mechanisms which require additional manipulation to lock the tool blade into extended position, and further manipulations to unlock the tool blade so that it may be refolded. While these types of locking mechanisms can be very effective, the additional steps required to lock and unlock the blade may be considered undesirable. Mechanisms of this type are disclosed in Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,869, and German Patent No. 822,507.
At the other end of the spectrum are automatic locking mechanisms which require no additional manipulation beyond extending and refolding the blade. The major disadvantage of these types of locking mechanisms is that they may not be reliable to lock the blade in extended position. An example of such an automatic locking mechanism is shown in Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,862, disclosing a flat portion on the base of a blade interacting with a spring. This type of locking mechanism is sometimes called a "slip back" lock.
In the middle of the spectrum are locking mechanisms which lock automatically, but require additional manipulation to unlock. Examples of these types of mechanisms are shown in French Patent No. 83,10567; Hart et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,877; Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,862; and Neely U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,379.
While the locking mechanism disclosed, for example, in FIG. 6 of Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,862 is functional, it is not completely satisfactory. One problem is that a lip defining one side of a notch receiving a spring-loaded catch can act as a cam and force the catch out of the notch, releasing the blade from a desired locked position.
In folding knives or multi-blade tools, the base of each blade or tool bit typically has a projection, sometimes called a "kick," which projects a small distance beyond the shank of a tool bit or a sharpened edge portion of a blade, to rest on structure within the handle or other part of the knife which holds the bits or blades when they are folded. The kick acts as a limit stop to hold the tools or blades in desired positions and prevent a sharpened edge from contacting any surfaces inside the handle when the blades are in their folded configuration. For a tool such as that shown in Leatherman U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,862, it has been necessary in the past to remove material so as to bevel an outside face of the kick of each blade or tool bit located adjacent a sidewall portion of a handle in the form of a U-shaped channel, to avoid undesired sideward forces on the blade and allow the kick to rest on the inside of the base of the U shape of the channel. Forming such a bevel is a time-consuming additional operation which adds to the cost of such folding-blade tools.
What is needed, then, is an improved locking mechanism which is engaged automatically upon placing a blade in a desired position and which is less susceptible than previously known locking mechanisms to being disengaged by the very forces it is intended to resist in a multi-blade tool which can be manufactured economically.


The ball scarf is a scarf having a first end and a second end. At least one of the ends has an inflatable ball pocket. The inflatable ball pocket can either have an inflatable bladder inserted therein or an inflatable ball inserted therein. Once the pocket is inflated by a user, the user can swing the ball scarf around in order to cheer his favorite team at a ball game. A needle is provided in order to inflate the inflatable bladder or inflatable ball. The inflatable ball pocket is either an integral part of the scarf or can be attached by means of a zipper or other fastener.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a ball scarf. More particularly, the present invention relates to an accessory for fans of a ball game which is designed to encourage the fan's team and create a festive atmosphere.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditional scarves offer the feature of being merely dyed and printed with a bail club's colors. They have been on the market for a number of years and do not offer or represent any great interest.
FR-A-247 995 describes a scarf having a pocket at each end. The pockets are designed to accommodate the fan's hands. There is no suggestion that these pockets are inflatable.


A method of storing, compacting and baling loose waste or recyclable materials such as: corrugated cardboard, paper, foam products, fiberglass wool, wood strips, plastic strips, etc.. The device being of a lightweight, tubular, rectilinear construction of varied size, thus enabling the user to quickly and easily apply strapping or binding material through a system of semicircular linear troughs around the contents of the device and compress the waste or recyclable materials into a bale of desired size to facilitate shipping and storage.

Many loose and lightweight materials present a storage and handling problem due to their bulk. Compression and compaction of said materials can significantly reduce the bulk and provide for ease of handling and storage.
The necessity to recycle various materials has provided a need for compacting such materials into convenient bales of various sizes to provide ease in handling and shipping.
Often the receivers of such recyclable materials specify a maximum bale size. As an example, a recycler of corrugated cardboard may require bales of a size no greater than 4 ft..times.4 ft..times.4 ft. Waste materials which often necessitate baling to improve storage and handling are: corrugated cardboard, paperboard, paper, plastic strips, plastic vessels, plastic sheeting, wood strips, waste building materials; such as vinyl siding strips, paper, paper bags, foam insulation, fiberglass batts, etc. A necessity to bale such materials on a small scale is often found in small factories, retail stores, restaurants, construction sites, farms and in the home.
Often agricultural products must be baled. These may include such materials as: Plant stocks, cane stocks, shrubs, limbs, twigs, and long grasses.


Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved process for the production of Portland slag cement using granulated blast furnace slag, which comprises:                (viii) forming of cement clinker by known process,        (ix) ball-milling of cement clinker for a period ranging between 30-60 minutes in dry condition,        (x) reducing size of granulated blast furnace slag by any process to obtain the size in the range between 210 to 100 μm for using as feed for attrition mill,        (xi) wet milling of granulated blast furnace slag for a period ranging between 5-15 minutes in an attrition mill using granulated blast furnace slag to water ratio in the range of 1:1 to 1:2 and granulated blast furnace slag to grinding bail ratio in the range of 1:5 to 1:15,        (xii) removing water from the slurry obtained after attrition milling by known process,        (xiii) drying of the obtained slurry by known process,        (xiv) mixing intimately of:                    attrition milled slag obtain in step (vi) in the range of: 50 to 95% by weight            ball-milled clinker obtain in step (ii) in the range of: 05 to 45% by weight            gypsum in the range of: 01 to 05% by weight for a period in the range of 15 to 30 minutes.

The present invention relates to an improved process for the production of Portland slag cement using granulated blast furnace slag. The invention particularly relates to a process for the production of Portland slag cement using cement clinker and higher proportion of ground granulated blast furnace slag, which is a waste material from steel plants.
The products produced by the process of present invention may be of different particle sizes and shapes, different specific surface areas and with different reactivity. The Portland slag cement of the present invention shall be useful in buildings and other large structure such as dams, bridges, roads, etc. The hitherto known processes to produce Portland slag cement use cement clinker, granulated blast furnace slag and gypsum to produce blended slag cement. The existing possesses use cement clinker in the range of 55-90% by weight, granulated blast furnace slag in the range of 5-40% by weight and gypsum in the range of 1 to 5% by weight. The existing process to produce cement clinker which is the main raw material for Portland slag cement consisted of crushing of raw materials such as limestone, clay, quartz, quartzite etc in a jaw crusher, fine grinding of the crushed raw material in a ball mill or vertical roller mill, proportioning of raw materials, blending in the silos and firing in the coal fired rotary kiln.
The existing processes (N. Patzelt, Finish grinding of slag, World Cem. Vol 10, 1993, 51-8) to produce Portland slag cement consisted of inter-grinding of cement clinker, granulated blast furnace slag and gypsum for 30 to 60 minutes in a mill. Air is circulated in the mills for homogeneous grinding. The product obtained after grinding is Portland slag cement.
Another known process (L. Opoczky, Grinding technical questions of producing composite cements, Int. J. Miner. Process 1994, 44-45) uses grinding of cement clinker and granulated blast furnace slag separately in a mill. Mixing of separately milled constituents along with gypsum powder gives the Portland slag cement.
The hitherto known process have the following limitations:                a. The main raw material for the Portland slag cement is the cement clinker (55 to 85% by weight). Granulated blast furnace slag can be used only in the range of 15 to 40% by weight. The formation of cement clinker is an energy intensive process due to crushing, grinding and high temperature firing. Production of 1 ton of clinker consumes ˜3200 MJ energy.        b. The formation of cement clinker includes high temperature firing and uses limestone (CaCO3) resulting into huge emission of CO2. Production of 1 ton of clinker emits ˜1 ton CO2.        c. The production cost of Portland slag cement is relatively high as it uses more cement clinker.        d. The early strength development is low due to poor reactivity of granulated blast furnace slag.
Traditionally, Portland slag cement has been produced by inter-grinding cement clinker with granulated blast furnace slag in grinding mills (N. Patzelt, Finish grinding of slag, World Cem. Vol 10, 1993, 51-8). The traditional method and apparatus for using blast-furnace slag cement clinker production was patented in India in 1995 (2180/DEL/95). Reference may be made, to ACI Committee 233, Ground Granulated blast-furnace slag as a cementitious constituent in concrete, ACI Mater J 1995;92(3): 321-2, wherein the Portland slag cement produced by existing processes have lower early strength and longer setting time than the ordinary Portland cement and this restricts the use of large proportion of slag in blended cement. Yet another reference may be made to, Li Dongxu, Wu Xuequan, Shen Jinlin, Wang Yujiang, 'The influence of compound admixtures on the properties of high-content slag cement', Cem Concr Res, Vol 30, 2000, 45-50, and F. T. Olorunsogo, 'Particle size distribution of GGBS and bleeding characteristics of slag cement mortars', Cem Concr Res, Vol 28 (6), 1998, 907-19, wherein uses of large volume of slag in blended cements have attracted intensive research attention. Fine grinding and mechanical activation of slag is suggested to improve the reactivity of the blended cement constituents, namely the clinker and the slag (A. Z. Juhasz, L. Opoczky, Mechanical activation of Minerals by Grinding: Pulverizing and Morphology of Particles, Ellis Horwood Limited, N.Y., 1994,). Due to increased fineness, the controlled particle size distribution (CPSD) compensates for the relatively low hydraulic activity of granulated blast furnace slag. Various types of milling devices have been tried for the fine grinding and mechanical activation of cement constituents. Reference may be made to M. Oner, K. Erdogdu and A. Gunlu, 'Effect of components fineness on strength of blast furnace slag cement', Cem Concr Res, Vol 33, 2003, 463-9, wherein a comparative study of grinding and mechanical activation of blended slag cements in a ball mill, vibro-mill with balls and vibro-mill with rings have indicated that vibro-mill with balls required the shortest activation time. According to literature and patent survey and available information, it may be mentioned that at present no process is available to produce Portland slag cement using attrition milling. The purpose of this development is to use abundantly available waste materials such as granulated blast furnace slag, which is causing environmental pollution, as major constituent to produce value added product such as Portland slag cement.
The main object of the present investigation is to provide an improved process for the production of Portland slag cement using granulated blast furnace slag, which obviates the drawbacks as detailed above.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process to produce Portland slag cement using higher proportion (50 to 95% by weight) of industrial waste such as granulated blast furnace slag in place of cement clinker whereby the energy consumption is significantly reduced.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process to produce Portland slag cement whereby the CO2 emission is significantly reduced.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process to produce Portland slag cement whereby the cost of production is appreciably lowered and the properties of the product is improved.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process to produce Portland slag cement whereby the reactivity of granulated blast furnace slag is increased by mechanical activation and the early strength development of the product is improved.
The granulated blast furnace slag used in the present invention contains calcium oxide (CaO), silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and magnesium oxide (MgO) and mostly amorphous in nature. The cement clinker used in present invention contains C3S, C2S, C3A and C4AF phases (C═CaO, S═SiO2, A═Al2O3, F═Fe2O3). The gypsum used contains calcium oxide (CaO), sulphate (SO3) and water.
In the Portland slag cement produced by existing processes, granulated blast furnace slag does not actively participate in the hydration reaction during early stage due to poor reactivity. As a result, the early strength development is low. Also only a limited quantity of granulated blast furnace slag is used in Portland cement due to its poor reactivity. In the process of the present invention, the cement clinker is ball-milled separately in the dry condition. The granulated blast furnace slag is milled in an attrition mill. Smaller size (2 mm to <0.5 mm) of grinding media and high agitator speed results in high efficiency of attrition mill. While smaller size of media provides larger contact surface between the media and granulated blast furnace slag, higher agitator speed gives rise to greater kinetic energy of the media. The attrition milling process mechanically activates the granulated blast furnace slag and its reactivity is increased. The increased reactivity leads to enhanced hydraulic activity of slag. As soon as water is added, slag particles undergo hydration along with cement clinker and gypsum. Due to combined hydration reactions, a complex C—S—H gel (C═CaO, S═SiO2, H═H2O) with very dense microstructure is formed, which results in development of early strength. Also due to increased reactivity, higher percentage of granulated blast furnace slag is used in the Portland slag cement.

Process for the production of Portland slag cement using granulated blast furnace slag

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research


A pulse generator includes a latch module for storing first/second states, a pulse clock module for generating a clock pulse, and a delay module for delaying the clock pulse at a second latch-module input. The latch module has a first latch-module input coupled to a clock, the second latch-module input, and a latch-module output. The pulse clock module has a first pulse-clock-module input coupled to the clock, a second pulse-clock-module input coupled to the latch-module output, and a pulse-clock-module output. The delay module is coupled between the latch-module output and second pulse-clock-module input or between the pulse-clock-module output and second latch-module input. The delay module provides functionally I1IA at a delay module output, where I1 is a function of I and IA is a function of IN0 and B0, and where I is a delay module input, B0 is a first input bit, and IN0 is a first net input.

Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a pulse latch design, and more particularly, to a pulse generator for a pulse latch.
Background
A pulse latch includes a latch and a pulse generator (also referred to as a pulser) for driving the latch. A pulse latch implements flip-flop functionality. A pulse latch may provide substantial advantages in performance and power savings over regular flip-flops. A pulse window generated by the pulse generator should be wide enough to provide a good write-margin for reliably writing into the latch. However, if the pulse window is too wide, the latch will need to have a large hold time. A large hold time of the latch requires additional hold logic within the latch, resulting in a latch that requires more area and consumes more power. Pulse latches should also have a sufficient hold-margin. The hold-margin is the minimum hold time of the pulse latch minus the requisite hold time (due to the width of the pulse window) of the pulse latch. If the hold-margin is insufficient, hold violations may occur in the pulse latch. There is currently a need for a pulse latch that has a good hold-margin and a good write-margin.

Area-efficient metal-programmable pulse latch design


An object of the present invention is to provide a flexible printed wiring board which relaxes stress concentration in the flexible printed wiring board during production steps, thereby preventing wire breakage in inner lead portions and cracking in solder resist which would otherwise be caused during mounting of devices such as IC chips and LSI chips. The flexible printed wiring board of the present invention includes an insulating layer; a wiring pattern formed of a plurality of wirings being juxtaposed, which wiring pattern is formed through patterning a conductor layer stacked on at least one surface of the insulating layer and on which wiring pattern a semiconductor chip is to be mounted; and grid-like dummy patterns formed in a blank area where the wiring pattern is not provided, wherein the dummy patterns are formed in a width direction generally symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal direction of the flexible printed wiring board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible printed wiring board such as a TAB tape or a flexible printed circuit (FPC), which wiring board has wiring patterns and serves as a substrate for supporting semiconductor chips. More particularly, the invention relates to a wide flexible printed wiring board which has a large surface area per wiring pattern and which is used in a plasma display panel (PDP) or a similar device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Development of the electronics industry has been accompanied by sharp demand for printed wiring boards for mounting electronic devices thereon, such as IC (integrated circuit) chips and LSI (large-scale integrated circuit) chips. In the field of plasma display panels (PDPs), wider and more large printed wiring boards are used more than that of liquid crystal devices (LCDs) because the printed wiring boards for PDPs have wider wirings in wider pitch than those for LCDs in order to use e a higher voltage.
Such tape-form flexible printed wiring boards having a large width have drawbacks. For example, the flexible printed wiring boards are deformed during conveyance thereof, particularly uncoiling and coiling up thereof, thereby causing stress concentration in specific portions of the wiring boards. Therefore, after completion of a mounting step such as IC chip bonding, wire breakage in inner lead portions and cracking in solder resist occur.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, after completion of production steps or product inspection, a flexible printed wiring board 1 is guided by means of guide rollers 2 and 3 and then coiled up by a reel 4. During the above conveyance, the flexible printed wiring board 1 is uncoiled to be conveyed in a horizontal direction and, via the guide roller 2, downward to the bottom of a U-shaped section 5, which acts as a buffer section. After passage through the bottom of the U-shaped section 5, the flexible printed wiring board 1 is conveyed upward to the guide roller 3. Since the direction of bending at the guide rollers 2 and 3 differs from that at the U-shaped section 5, stress tends to be concentrated in specific portions. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the flexible printed wiring board 1 is generally warped widthwise with the wiring-pattern-provided surface 1a inside. Also, the wider the width of the tape, the higher the degree of warpage. When such warpage is straightened at the guide rollers 2 and 3, stress is also concentrated in specific portions of the flexible printed wiring board 1.
In an attempt to solve the drawbacks of such flexible printed wiring boards, Japanese Patent No. 3350352 (Claims, paragraphs such as [0005]) proposes a carrier tape exhibiting enhanced resistance to stress. In the flexible printed wiring board, wirings provided on the film substrate have almost the same total length of non-parallel sections so as to attain uniform stress resistance in both the center and the periphery of the film.
However, the aforementioned drawbacks in relation to stress concentration are considered to be attributed to marginal portions where no wiring pattern is provided.
In an attempt to prevent generation of cracks and wire breakage in wiring patterns caused by repeated temperature changes effected during device mounting, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 11-45913 (Claims, paragraphs such as [0010] and [0030]) proposes a flexible printed wiring board having a dummy pattern around a device hole, the dummy pattern being electrically unconnected with the wiring pattern. The dummy pattern assumes a shape similar to that of the wiring pattern and is provided such that substantial uniformity in pattern density and thermal expansion coefficient over the film carrier is attained.
However, even when such a dummy pattern is provided, the aforementioned problems in the production of flexible printed wiring boards are not completely solved.


An external clock unit for use with a DEC 6000 series computer for increasing the clock cycle time includes an oscillator for generating a clock signal which is faster than the clock signal produced by the oscillator in the CPU module in the computer, a line driver for driving the clock signal outputted by the oscillator in the clock unit, a manually operable switch for outputting a control signal and a power supply for providing power to the various components in the clock. In use, the external clock unit is connected to the clock distribution chip in the CPU module in the computer using pins normally used only for test purposes during fabrication. When the switch is turned on, the clock from the oscillator in the computer CPU module is disabled and the clock signal from the clock which is received by the clock distribution chip is used as the clock signal for the computer.

The present invention relates generally to a computer and more particularly to an external clock unit for use with a computer.
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 6000 series computers are one type of many well known and widely used types of computers. A DEC 6000 series computer generally contains one or more central processing unit (CPU) modules, the particular number of CPU modules present in the computer depending on the particular model 6000 series computer. Each CPU module includes, in addition to a CPU, an oscillator which outputs a clock signal which sets the timing (i.e. operating speed) of the computer and a clock signal distribution chip. In the operation of the CPU module, a clock signal from the oscillator is fed into the clock signal distribution chip which distributes the clock signal where needed within the CPU module. The particular frequency of the clock signal obtained from the oscillator is dependent on the particular oscillator used in the DEC 6000 series CPU module. In one such CPU module the oscillator outputs a clock signal frequency of about 50 MHZ while in another CPU module the oscillator outputs a clock signal frequency of about 67 MHZ.
It would be desirable to be able to easily change the operating speed of a DEC 6000 series computer and more particularly to easily increase the operating speed of a DEC 6000 series computer.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for increasing the operating speed of a DEC 6000 series computer.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for increasing the operating speed of a DEC 6000 series computer without physically replacing the existing oscillator in the CPU module or making any other hardware changes within the computer.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a clock unit for a computer which is constructed such that it can be arranged to emit either one of two predetermined clock signals.


A semiconductor device having an electrode with reduced electrical contact resistance even where either electrons or holes are majority carriers is disclosed. This device has an n-type diffusion layer and a p-type diffusion layer in a top surface of a semiconductor substrate. The device also has first and second metal wires patterned to overlie the n-type and p-type diffusion layers, respectively, with a dielectric layer interposed therebetween, a first contact electrode for electrical connection between the n-type diffusion layer and the first metal wire, and a second contact electrode for connection between the p-type diffusion layer and the second metal wire. The first contact electrode's portion in contact with the n-type diffusion layer and the second contact electrode's portion contacted with the p-type diffusion layer are each formed of a first conductor that contains a metal and a second conductor containing a rare earth metal.

For performance enhancement of semiconductor large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits, it is indispensable to improve performances of field effect transistors (FETs) which are for use as basic on-chip circuit device. Until today, the circuit-device performance improvement has been progressed by miniaturization, i.e., onchip device scaling.
As FETs become shorter in channel length due to the miniaturization, the electrical resistance of a channel decreases. Accordingly, the resistance of portions other than the channel such as source and drain electrodes, known as the parasitic resistance, exerts a great influence on the performance of circuit elements. Thus, in order to achieve further miniaturization, it is a must to reduce the parasitic resistance. For example, in FETs which are formed on a bulk silicon (Si), about the half of a parasitic resistance component arises from electrical contact resistance at a contact portion between Si and an electrode metal. Therefore, reducing the contact resistance is an effective means in order to reduce the parasitic resistance. A problem similar to that of the source/drain electrodes in FETs occurs for highly miniaturized contact electrodes also.
At the interface between electrode metal and semiconductor, e.g., Si, what is called the Schottky barrier takes place. This becomes the origin of electrical contact resistance. To reduce the contact resistance, two approaches are currently available which follow.
The first approach is to increase the impurity concentration near the interface on the silicon side. By increasing the impurity concentration, the width of a depletion layer becomes smaller, resulting in the Schottky barrier being thinned. Thus, the effective Schottky barrier is reduced by the so-called mirror image effect thus induced. However, it is theoretically incapable of increasing the activation impurity concentration to the extent that it is greater than a limit of solid solubility. Further, the density of a practically activatable impurity stays lower than the solid solubility limit, and therefore this method is considered to have its limits.
The second approach is to use Schottky barrier height-lowered material as the electrode metal material. The Schottky barrier for electrons at an interface between Si and nickel mono-silicide (NiSi), which is considered to be one of next-generation electrode materials, has a relatively high value of 0.65 electron-volts (eV). When platinum (Pt) is added in order to increase the thermal immunity of NiSi, the Schottky barrier for electrons becomes much higher. On the contrary, if the electrode metal material is replaced by silicides of a rare earth metal, e.g., erbium (Er) or else, the Schottky barrier for electrons decreases to about 0.4 eV. According to generally known Schottky barrier theories, an electrical current flowing in Schottky barrier varies exponentially with respect to the height of Schottky barrier. Accordingly, lowering the Schottky barrier height results in significant improvement of electrical contact resistance between the electrode and semiconductor.
From a viewpoint of the second method, advances are presently made in studies of a new metal silicide material in place of the NiSi. In particular, for n-channel type metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistors (nMISFETs), rare earth metal silicides have attracted much attention, which are inherently low in Schottky barrier height with respect to electrons.
However, the advantage of lowering the Schottky barrier height in nMISFETs does not come without accompanying a penalty: an increase in Schottky barrier height for holes in p-type MISFETs. In order to avoid this risk, a need is felt to use for pMISFETs a different kind of electrode material from that for nMISFETs, such as NiSi, Pt-added NiSi or PtSi, which is extra-low in Schottky barrier for holes. This is known as the "dual silicide" structure.
In contrast, in order to adjust a voltage drop (Vf) of Schottky diode in the forward direction, a technique is known which uses for an electrode two kinds of metals that are different in Vf characteristics from each other. An example of it is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,972,470 B2.
Additionally, it has been reported that the interface with silicon can decrease in morphology in cases where erbium silicide (ErSi) is used for electrodes. Regarding this phenomenon, detailed teachings are found, for example, in S. S. Lau et al., "Surface morphology of erbium silicide," Applied Physics Letter 41(1), pp. 77-80 (1982).
As previously stated, in order to reduce electrical contact resistance at the source and drain electrodes of an nMISFET, it is desirable to use specific electrode material which is less in Schottky barrier with respect to electrons serving as majority carriers of the nMISFET. On the contrary, to reduce contact resistance at the source and drain electrodes of a pMISFET, it is needed to use another electrode material that is less in Schottky barrier for holes acting as the carriers of such pMISFET. When an attempt is made to use such different electrode materials for nMISFET and pMISFET, a need arises for separately forming, by different processes, the electrodes for nMISFET and those for pMISFET. This poses a problem as to an increase in process complexity. A similar problem also occurs when forming on a semiconductor device both a contact electrode associated with an n-type diffusion layer which uses electrons as its majority carriers and a contact electrode with a p-type diffusion layer which uses holes as its carriers.

Semiconductor device and fabrication method of same


A system for use in spectral analysis procedures can include a slide and a holder for carrying the slide. The slide includes a substrate forming a plurality of wells that are recessed relative to a surface of the substrate. Each of the wells forms a sample region that is recessed by a sample depth from the surface and a trough region that is recessed by a trough depth from the surface, the trough depth being greater than the sample depth. The holder includes a body defining a cavity between a first side and a second side of the body, a port for receiving the slide into the cavity, one or more first fenestrations on the first side, and one or more second fenestrations on the second side.

Protein aggregation phenomena are prevalent throughout the industrial bioprocess. Proteins are expensive to express, isolate, and purify due to their complex physical-chemical characteristics. Aggregation is considered a primary mode of protein degradation, often leading to immunogenicity in patients, anti-drug antibody (ADA) response, and a loss of efficacy. The detection and determination of protein aggregates is a major objective in the biopharmaceutical industry and other areas of scientific research. The formation of protein aggregates is important in industrial applications because they can significantly affect the production of protein therapeutics (i.e., biologics or biosimilars), effectively lowering the production yields and increasing risk of withdrawal. This is at the core of analytical technologies to understand characterization, comparability/similarity, release and stability testing of protein therapeutics. The proposed technology also lends itself to high throughput multivariate analysis.

Sampling array devices and system for spectral analysis


An analog real-time signal processing device and method are presented. The device is configured to perform electrical signal processing. The device comprises an electronic circuit including at least one basic unit of electrodes, the basic unit being configured to be sensitive to an external field, such as input photon flux, indicative of a first input signal to cause emission of charged particles and configured to define at least one electrical input for a second input signal and one electrical output, thereby providing the electrical output in the form of an approximation of a product of the first and second input signals.

Most of the known techniques for mathematical transformation of functions (or signals) utilize digital signal processing. The main advantage of using digital signal processing is the flexibility to change the way the signal is processed at any time and very quickly; digital signal processors are relatively cheap and easy to use.
However, digital signal processors are practically incapable of concurrently performing several complicated mathematical operations. For example, Fourier transform, which is in principle very useful, is actually rarely used because of its significant resource consumption and low-speed operation. In reality, other "tricks" are used in order to avoid such transformation, thus getting a very similar result through far less operations (for example correlation with a few tones to find the amplitude only at these tones). However, there are cases when the Fourier transformation, or any other transformation aimed at the same purpose, is essential in its exact form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,897 discloses a fast two dimensional Fourier transform device for deriving an electrical signal representative of a two dimensional Fourier transform of a two dimensional input image. According to this technique, two dimensional optical or electrical images are processed through a storage tube designed to yield the correlation function between the input images and stored images. By generating a series of stored images representing sine and cosine components of the Fourier transform, a fast two-dimensional transform of the image is obtained. This device operates as an analog correlator, with no requirement for sampling, digitizing, or recording the data outside the device.


An electronic device contains electrical components. An electrical component is mounted to an electronic device housing using mounting structures. The mounting structures include a flexible printed circuit jumper having opposing ends with metal contact pads. Metal traces in the flexible printed circuit jumper form contact traces within openings in a solder mask layer. Solder in the openings may be used to connect the metal contact pads to the contact traces. A metal bracket may be screwed into the electronic device housing to mount the electrical component to the electronic device housing. The metal bracket may press the metal contact pads on one end of the jumper against mating contact terminals on the electrical component and may press the metal contacts on the other end of the jumper against mating contact pads on an additional printed circuit.

This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with components and component mounting structures.
Electronic devices include electrical components. Some electrical components such as integrated circuits can be mounted on printed circuit boards. Other electrical components such as vibrators serve more mechanical functions and may need to be mounted to sturdy support structures such as portions of a device housing.
Challenges arise when mounting electrical components in an electronic device. If care is not taken, electrical components may be inadequately secured within a device, which can make the device prone to mechanical failure. Components should also be mounted in a way that allows signals to be distributed to the component over reliable signal paths that are not excessively bulky.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved arrangements for mounting electronic components.

Component mounting structure with flexible jumper


An improved stitchbonded nonwoven fabric having repeating patterns of stitches in a fibrous layer is prepared with a stitching thread that consists essentially of fiber of partially molecularly oriented synthetic organic polymer. The fabric can be stretched, shrunken, and/or heat set and is particularly suited for thermoforming operations.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stitchbonded nonwoven fabric and a process for making such fabric. More particularly, the invention concerns a stitchbonded fabric having a pattern of stitches formed by a stitching thread that comprises fibers consisting essentially of partially oriented synthetic organic polymer. The stitchbonded nonwoven fabric is particularly suited for use in thermoformed objects, such as automobile dashboards and headliners, office separator walls, wall coverings, plastic-coated or resin-impregnated fabrics and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics and processes and machines for making such fabric are known.
Stitchbonded nonwoven fabric is made by multi-needle stitching of a fibrous layer with one or more stitching thread systems to form patterns of stitches in the layer. Known processes for making a stitchbonded nonwoven fabric typically include the steps of (a) feeding a fibrous layer to a stitchbonding machine; (b) threading a multi-needle bar of the stitchbonding machine with stitching threads; (c) inserting the stitching thread into the fibrous layer to form a pattern of spaced apart, interconnected rows of stitches, thereby creating the stitchbonded fabric; (d) removing the stitchbonded fabric from the stitchbonding machine; and (e) optionally subjecting the stitchbonded fabric to further textile finishing operations, such as shrinking, heat setting, molding, coating, impregnating and the like.
Stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics that include stitching threads of conventional, fully drawn, crystalline polymeric yarns (also called "hard yarns") are known. Although the use of stitching threads of such fully drawn yarns has been quite successful in many stitchbonded fabrics, such fabrics nonetheless have certain shortcomings. For example, such stitchbonded fabrics, although dimensionally stable, usually perform inadequately in molding or thermoforming operations.
Stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics that include stitching threads of spandex elastic yarns, which are capable of elongating and contracting in the range of 100 to 250%, also are known. (Spandex is a generic term for a manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a long chain elastomer comprised of at least 85% segmented polyurethane.) The use of such elastic stitching thread, with or without an accompanying non-elastic thread, is disclosed in my earlier patents; for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,128, 4,773,238, 4,737,394 and 4,704,321 for making bulky and/or stretchy stitchbonded fabrics, in WO 94/19523 for making abrasion-resistant resin-impregnated stitchbonded fabrics, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,674 for making tear-resistant stitchbonded fabric. According to the processes disclosed in each of these patents, the stitchbonded fabric, immediately upon removal from the multi-needle stitching operation, is allowed to shrink and gather and thereby undergo a significant reduction in fabric area. Although such spandex-containing stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics have been used successfully in a variety of products, further improvements, particularly in dimensional stability, would result in broader use of stitchbonded nonwoven fabrics. Accordingly, a stitchbonded fabric is desired that has lower costs and fewer special handling and stitching control requirements than those associated with stitchbonded fabric containing spandex elastic yarn.

Stitchbonded fabric and process for making same


It is to provide a silica glass containing TiO2, having a wide temperature range wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion is substantially zero.

In recent years, in photolithography, along with high integration and high functionality of integrated circuits, microsizing of integrated circuits has been progressing, and an exposure device is required to form an image of a circuit pattern on a wafer with a high resolution in a deep focal depth, whereby blue shift of the exposure light source is in progress. The exposure light source has been advanced from the conventional g-line (wavelength: 436 nm), i-line (wavelength: 365 nm) or KrF excimer laser (wavelength: 248 nm), and now an ArF excimer laser (wavelength: 193 nm) is being used. Further, in order to be prepared for an integrated circuit for the next generation where the line width of a circuit pattern will be less than 100 nm, it is considered to be prospective to employ a F2 laser (wavelength: 157 nm) as the exposure light source, but it is considered that even this can not cover beyond a generation of a line width of 70 nm.
Under these circumstances, a lithographic technique employing typically a light having a wavelength of 13 nm among EUV light (extreme ultraviolet light) as the exposure light source, has attracted attention, as it may be applied to the printing of feature of 50 nm or smaller. The image-forming principle of the EUV lithography (hereinafter referred to as "EUVL") is the same as the conventional photolithography to such an extent that a mask pattern is transferred by means of an optical projection system. However, in the energy region of EUV light, there is no material to let the light pass therethrough. Accordingly, a refraction optical system can not be used, and an optical system will be required to be a reflection optical system in all cases.
The optical material for the exposure device to be used for EUVL is basically constituted of (1) a base material, (2) a reflective multilayer formed on the base material and (3) an absorber layer formed on the reflective multilayer. The optical material for the exposure device to be used for EUVL is a reflection type, and thus the base material is not necessarily required to have light transparency. However, an extremely low thermal expansion material having transparency has been desired so as to make evaluation or inspection possible for the purpose of evaluating homogeneity or surface smoothness by using e.g. an interferometer so that the base material will not deform even when irradiated with EUV light, or for the purpose of judging presence or absence of internal defects such as bubbles or striae by microscopic or visual inspection.
Further, a transparent low thermal expansion material is widely used for materials which are strictly required to have low thermal expansion properties and transparency, such as a material for an optical component, a material for a large reflector substrate, a material for a ring laser gyroscope, a material for a precision component such as a standard for precision measurement and an electronic material.
The extremely low expansion material having transparency may be a silica glass containing TiO2 (hereinafter referred to as "TiO2—SiO2 glass") represented by UEL#7972 (tradename) manufactured by Corning Incorporated and a vitrified crystallized glass represented by ZERODUR (tradename) manufactured by SCHOTT. U.S. Patent application publication No. 2002/157421 discloses a method which comprises forming a TiO2—SiO2 porous glass body, converting it to a glass body, and then obtaining a mask substrate therefrom.
TiO2—SiO2 glass is known to be an extremely low thermal expansion material having a coefficient of thermal expansion smaller than quartz glass, and the coefficient of thermal expansion can be controlled by the TiO2 content in the glass, whereby it is possible to obtain a zero expansion glass having a coefficient of thermal expansion being close to zero. Accordingly, TiO2—SiO2 glass is prospective as a material to be used for an optical material for the exposure device for EUVL. However, in TiO2—SiO2 glass, the temperature range wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion is substantially zero, is limited to about room temperature. Further, since it contains a large amount of OH groups, there are absorptions at several wavelengths, e.g. near 2,700 nm.
On the other hand, a crystallized glass comprises a crystalline phase exhibiting negative thermal expansion and a glass phase exhibiting positive thermal expansion, and it can be a zero expansion material having a coefficient of thermal expansion being close to zero, by controlling a heat step for crystallization. Further, the crystal grains are small, and the difference in refractive index between the crystalline phase and the glass phase as a matrix is small, and accordingly the crystalline glass is transparent. Accordingly, there is a possibility to obtain a material excellent in thermal expansion characteristics by contriving the composition of the base glass or a heat treatment step. However, the change in dimension along with the change in temperature exhibits hysteresis due to structural relaxation, such being problematic in absolute dimensional accuracy. Further, an optical material for the exposure device for EUVL is required to have an extremely smooth surface, such as a surface having a roughness Ra of at most 0.15 nm, but a smooth surface is hardly obtained due to influence of the crystal grains.
In a material for an optical component, a material for a precision component such as a standard for precision measurement, an electronic material, etc., and in an optical component for an exposure device for EUVL, the temperature range wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion is substantially zero is preferably broad, but in a conventional TiO2—SiO2 glass, the temperature range wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion is substantially zero is limited to about room temperature. Further, a conventional crystallized glass has a problem in absolute dimensional accuracy since the change in dimension along with the change in temperature exhibits hysteresis due to structural relaxation, and a crystallized glass having a smooth surface can hardly be obtained.

Abstract: A silica glass containing TiO2, which has a TiO2 concentration of from 3 to 10 mass %, a OH group concentration of at most 600 mass ppm and a Ti3+ concentration of at most 70 mass ppm, characterized by having a fictive temperature of at most 1,200° C., a coefficient of thermal expansion from 0 to 100° C. of 0±150 ppb/° C., and an internal transmittance T400-700 per 1 mm thickness in a wavelength range of from 400 to 700 nm of at least 80%. A process for producing a silica glass containing TiO2, which comprises porous glass body formation step, F-doping step, oxygen treatment step, densification step and vitrification step.