A filter element may include first and second pairs of opposing walls extending along a longitudinal axis of the filter element. The first and second pairs of opposing walls may create a flow passage between an inlet end and an outlet end of the filter element. The filter element may further include filter media configured to separate particulates from air flowing through the flow passage, and a wedge element associated with an exterior surface of at least one of the first pair of opposing walls. The wedge element may be configured to cooperate with an interior surface of a filter housing configured to receive the filter element. Outlet edges of the opposing walls of the first pair of opposing walls may extend at a first oblique angle with respect to the longitudinal axis, and the wedge element may extend at a second oblique angle with respect to the longitudinal axis.

Many machines rely on air taken from the surroundings for operation. For example, internal combustion engines often rely on air to assist with combustion of fuel to develop power that may be used to perform work, such as propelling a vehicle and/or operating other devices associated with the vehicle. If particulates such as dust and dirt enter the internal combustion engine via the intake system, they may contaminate the oil and other parts of the engine, which may result in premature wear or damage to parts of the internal combustion engine. In order to prevent this potential premature wear or damage, air filtration devices may be provided to prevent entry of particulates into the internal combustion engine.
Air filtration devices may include filter media that captures particulates as the air passes through the air filtration device. With use, the filter media becomes laden with particulates, thereby increasing the pressure differential across the air filtration device and/or decreasing the efficiency of the engine. As a result, it may be necessary to either clean or replace the filter media, which is often part of a filter element.
Because the filter media of the filter element must be cleaned or replaced, it is desirable for the filter element to be relatively easily removed, often at the worksite. Thus, it is desirable to provide the air filtration device with an assembly and filter element that facilitate easy removal of the filter element from the air filtration assembly without risk of damaging the parts of the air filtration assembly.
Some prior air cleaner assemblies include a filter housing and a filter element received in the filter housing, with a cover provided to close an opening in the filter housing through which the filter element is received and removed. However, in some such assemblies, the filter housing, filter element, and/or cover may include appendages that are easily damaged or that hinder replacement or servicing of the filter element. The filter elements and air cleaner assemblies of the present disclosure may be directed to mitigating or overcoming such possible drawbacks.


The present invention relates to trihalo alkyl sulfone and mixtures of bis(trichloro methyl) sulfone (BTCMS), a non-ionic surfactant and a cationic quaternary ammonium halide surfactant formulated as a stable solution in water. The method of formulation comprises adding the BTCMS to an aqueous system containing a nonionic surfactant and a cationic quaternary ammonium halide surfactant. These formulations are useful as biocides and present advantages over organic solvent based formulations.

This invention relates to the formulation of a stable, water based solution of trihaloalkyl sulfone. More particularly, the invention relates to the formulation of a stable, water based microemulsion of bis(trichloromethyl)sulfone (BTCMS), a nonionic surfactant and a cationic quaternary ammonium halide surfactant.
Manufacturing as well as production processes use huge quantities of raw as well as potable water that must be treated with biocides in order to assure product and production standards. Typically, cooling towers, paper and pulp mills, canning industries, animal hide processing plants, secondary oil recovery using water flooding, industrial water systems, to name a few, require the use and recycling of the water used in these processes. These systems become easily contaminated with microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, etc., due to exposure to contaminants encountered in the process of manufacturing and/or from the products being processed. These waters become a breeding media for microorganisms which must be controlled and/or eliminated. Biocides have been developed which control such contaminants which if left unchecked, will destroy equipment and/or reduce the quality of a manufactured product.
Many biocidal formulations involve the use of organic solvents. However, there are growing objections to the use of costly organic solvents in formulating biocides. Of extreme concern is the ecological impact of these organic solvents. The organic solvents typically used, for example dimethylformamide (DMF), are toxic by themselves. In addition, these solvents can accelerate in the ability of a biocide to penetrate human skin, so that in the case of spills or accidental contact, the danger to human life is increased. Other problems posed by utilizing organic solvents are low flash point, hence a fire hazard, and excessive repulsive odors.
Economic problems are a concern when the biocides are formulated using organic solvents. Organic solvents cost more and they can present processing problems so that the effect is to increase the cost of biocidal formulations containing organic solvents.
Recent changes in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations present additional difficulties by requiring the removal of solvent based products from the marketplace. Action has already been taken by the EPA against DMF. It is anticipated that action against other commonly used solvents for biocide formulations may be taken.
Accordingly, there is a need for alternatives to organic solvent based biocide formulations. It has now been discovered that trihaloalkyl sulfone, (specifically bis(trichloromethyl) sulfone) a nonionic surfactant and a cationic quaternary ammonium chloride can be formulated as stable microemulsions in water. The formulas of the present invention have shown biocidal efficacy essentially equivalent to the solvent based formulas.
These formulas avoid the disadvantages associated with the use of organic solvents. The inventive formulas result in a reduced risk to human life through accidental skin exposure. These novel solutions can be prepared so as to contain a variety of concentrations of active ingredients. The technique involved readily permits the introduction of other water-soluble biocides into the product solution.
Biocidal compositions which have relied on water as the carrier fluid for the water insoluble, solid, active materials have been either dispersions or "oil-in-water" macroemulsions of the biocidal active material (sulfone) dissolved in a hydrocarbon solvent. Both approaches may have included surfactants as stabilizers, as well as possible additional materials which modify the viscosity in order to prevent separation.
The dispersed particles, or droplets in the case of an emulsion, are typically in the range of about 2 to 2000 microns, as taught by Slovinsky in U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,155. Dispersions and emulsions with this particle or droplet size range are inherently unstable. During prolonged storage, these types of products are subject to coalescence, aggregation and separation. The present invention solves this inherent instability by producing a thermo-dynamically stable microemulsion, where the water insoluble actives have been solubilized through the use of a combination of surfactants.
Microemulsions generally have droplets significantly less than about 0.3 microns (u). A microemulsion with liquid oils as the dispersed phase has a typical droplet size range of about 100 to 700 angstroms (1 angstrom=0.0001u) and so is a transparent solution. This size range is two orders of magnitude smaller than typical dispersions and macroemulsions. Particle size measurements on the present invention generally show the size to be less than about 300 angstroms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,815, Bellos et al., discloses solubilized biocidal active materials utilizing surface active alkylamine hydrochlorides. However, this reference states that water should not be present at levels above about 1.5%, with the preferred level less than about 0.75%. When water is present above this limit, the biocidal active precipitates. This is not a limitation with a microemulsion.


The present Invention provides a surfing device comprising at least one energy projecting means and at least one energy projecting structure for supporting and positioning the energy projecting means. The energy projecting structure positions the energy projecting means at one or more energy projecting positions. Energy is projected from the energy projecting means from positions to enable a person to surf at least partially solely via the projected energy. The present invention also provides a surface for a surfing device, either the device of the present Invention or another surfing device. The surface, is designed for a person to surf on either via the projected energy of the surfing device of the present Invention or by at least partially direct contact with the surface via fluid projected out of, over or upon it. The surface has an Impact absorption material. The material Is at (east partially porous and at least partially deformable and also designed to at least partially deform upon impact to at least partially absorb or diffuse the impact.

Surfing is a very common sport and is popular in many parts of the world. A large number devices for simulating surfing have to date been designed. Australian patent number 777355 titled Device and Method for Forming Waves and corresponding patent applications and patents are those of the present applicant. Specifications of these patent applications and patents include a general background of surfing simulation. They also explain shortcomings of the field, some of which are addressed by the invention described therein. It is however desirable, to more effectively overcome these shortcomings.


A state machine design which can be used to realize extremely short flag generation delays. The present invention also realizes the benefit of having an extremely high MTBF. The present invention generates a set of next state variables that are generated from a combination of three previous state variables and three additional inputs representing a logical "OR" of a read half-full and write half-full flag WRH, an external write clock input, and an external read clock input. The next state variables are derived from a product of the previous state variables, a complement signal of the previous state variables, and the signal WRH. The half-full flag is generated using digital logic decoding techniques that manipulate inputs from the three next state variables, a read clock signal and a write clock signal.

It is well known to construct an asynchronous first-in first-out (FIFO) buffer using a comparator technique that uses counters, adders and combinatorial logic to generate a half-full flag indicating the FIFO is half-full. A typical FIFO has both a read and write pointer. The difference between the read and write pointers is computed using an adder and the final half-full flag is generated by performing a magnitude comparison of the adder output with the binary value of FIFO.sub.-- SIZE/2. A second alternate technique, an evaluation technique, can be used for generating the half-full flag and is implemented by evaluating the expression write.sub.-- count-read.sub.-- count-1. The evaluation technique uses the logic state of the bit corresponding to the half-full position(MSB-1'th bit) to represent the half-full flag. A third alternate technique for generating the half-full flag can be implemented by using direct decode logic where an internal half-full and half-full+1 signals are directly decoded from the counters. The half-full (HF) and half-full plus one (HF+1) signals drive set-reset (SR) latch. The output of the SR latch represents the half-full flag.
In the comparator technique, there are two counters, one each for the read and write clocks. These two counters are reset to zero upon master reset and are incremented based on only their respective clocks. The outputs of the read and write counters are fed into a subtractor that calculates the difference between the number of locations written to the FIFO and the number of locations read from the FIFO. This difference is then compared to the magnitude of the binary value representing the half-full count. The output of the magnitude comparator is the half-full flag.
In any FIFO, the write.sub.-- count-read.sub.-- count is always less than or equal to the size of the FIFO. This scheme takes advantage of this fact and in the adder stage a 1 is additionally subtracted. From the result of this subtraction the bit value corresponding to the half-full position (MSB-1'th bit) is used with a logic inversion to represent the external half-full flag.
The direct decode technique generates the half-full flag by decoding a write half-full signal when the FIFO is exactly half-full and a read half-full signal when the FIFO is exactly half-full plus one. The write half-full signal and the read half-full signal, together with logic associated to the reset and retransmit functions, set and reset a latch. The output of the latch generates the half-full flag. Even though the direct decode technique is relatively faster (delays in the magnitude of 15-20 ns) than the comparator technique or the evaluation technique, the direct decode technique suffers from metastability deficiencies and requires fine glitch filters at the input of the latch. Also, the delay in producing the half-full flag is directly related to the density of the FIFO.
The comparator technique and the evaluation technique suffer from long flag delays, while the direct decode technique suffers from metastability deficiencies as well as intensive design requirements. The present invention solves all the problems associated with the various prior art techniques by providing a half-full flag having very high MTBF and very short delays. Additionally the delay associated in producing the half-full flag is independent of the size of the FIFO.

State machine design for generating half-full and half-empty flags in an asynchronous FIFO


An image reading apparatus having a front surface reading unit for reading a front surface of a document and a back surface reading unit for reading a back surface of the document performs adjustment processing in such a manner that start positions of the obtained image data of the front surface and the back surface are each at a position corresponding to an integer multiple of a coding block, and encodes front-and-back combined image data that is based on the adjusted image data of the front surface and the back surface. The image reading apparatus then transmits the encoded front-and-back combined image data, first position information indicating an end edge of the image data of the front surface in the front-and-back combined image data, and second position information indicating an end edge of the image data of the back surface in the front-and-back combined image data.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, a control method, a storage medium, and a system for reading images respectively arranged on a front surface and a back surface of a document through one conveyance, and generating front-and-back combined image data.
Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-324611 discusses an image reading apparatus capable of reading the front surface and the back surface of one sheet of a document at the same time. More specifically, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-324611 discusses encoding the image data obtained by reading the front surface and the back surface at the same time, as the image data in which the front surface image data and the back surface image data are combined (hereinafter referred to as front-and-back combined image data). In such a case, an identifier is inserted after a coding block of the front surface, and an information processing apparatus separates the front surface and the back surface based on the identifier.
In the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-324611, the information processing apparatus separates the front-and-back combined image data into the image data of the front surface and the image data of the back surface based on the identifier inserted after the coding block of the front surface. As a result, if an end edge in a width direction of the image data of the front surface is not at a position corresponding to an integer multiple of the coding block, the following may occur. A blank area from the end edge in the width direction of the image data to the position corresponding to the integer multiple of the coding block, at which the identifier is inserted, may be included in the front surface image data after the separation.

Image reading apparatus, control method, storage medium, and system


An illumination system for imaging illumination having at least one compact light source. The illumination system comprises a reflector having a reflector contour, the light source being accommodated in the vicinity of the reflector contour. A compact diffusing medium is accommodated at the focal point of the reflector, the light from the light sources being directed substantially onto the diffusing medium and, from there, being diffused onto the reflector contour, with the result that the light leaving the reflector is emitted homogeneously.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,114 has disclosed an optical illumination system having a filter wheel and a white light source in the form of a lamp. In this case, blocking filters, such as absorption filters and dichroitic filters, for example, are used. They are inserted into the beam path of virtually point light sources such as xenon high-pressure discharge lamps. A continuous change in color is therefore only possible with a plurality of filter wheels and needs to be realized in a complex manner by mechanical means. The filter wheels are positioned one behind the other and rotated appropriately. The control is complex and the filters are very expensive.
Control for groups of LEDs is specified, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,515,136 and 6,630,801. DE-Az 10 2005 041 319.6 has described a module in which a plurality of high-efficiency LEDs are combined on one printed circuit board. These are then imaged onto one point.
Imageable ultra-high power LEDs at present represent one of the greatest technical challenges. In addition to the production of white light, in particular the implementation of imageability plays an important role. Previous attempts have therefore proposed the superimposed imageability of a plurality of LEDs. However, this has various disadvantages. A relatively complex system which images a plurality of LEDs at the same time is cost-intensive since the optical arrangements need to be applied a plurality of times.
A quite different substantial disadvantage with the known solutions is the fact that white LEDs are used which are in the form of conversion LEDs. This means that a fluorescent layer converts the primarily emitted light from the LEDs partially or completely into longer-wave radiation. In the process, the phosphor needs to be applied in the direct vicinity of the chip. However, these phosphors are in principle more or less thermally sensitive. At junction temperatures beyond 150° C., all known phosphors display significant losses of efficiency owing to thermal quenching. Individual phosphors which are very suitable per se at room temperature are even considerably more sensitive. Overall, this results in reduced efficiency. Until now, there has been no sensible technical solution to this.

Illumination system for imaging illumination with a high level of homogeneity

Osram Gesellschaft mit Beschraenkter Haftung


An duplex auto-document feed mechanism comprises an auto-document feedpath having a simplex feedpath portion and a duplexing feedpath portion in feeding communication with the simplex feedpath portion, the auto-document feedpath has a media input and a media output, an input roller for feeding media disposed at the media input and an exit nip positioned near the media output, a motor driving the input roller and the exit nip, a scanning station disposed along one of the duplex feedpath portion and the simplex feedpath portion, the exit nip having a first position wherein first and second rollers defining the exit nip are closed when receiving media during a simplex feeding procedure and open when a leading edge and trailing edge of media are passing through the exit nip simultaneously, wherein a change of motor direction one of opens the exit nip or closes the exit nip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auto-document feeder for a peripheral device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a document scanner having duplex feeding capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers, scanners, copiers, facsimile devices, and combinations thereof, including but not limited to, all-in-one or multi-function peripherals are being designed more frequently to perform duplex document feeding. Such feeding functionality allows for documents to be scanned from and/or printed on both sides of the document.
Inclusion of duplexing functionality is known within business class peripherals, which are typically of a larger size and therefore able to accommodate structure to perform duplex functions. However one problem with implementing this functionality into consumer devices is the limited product size of consumer peripherals. When including duplexing capability into a consumer peripheral, the device must be large enough to accommodate a media sheet of suitable size for feeding both through a simplex path and a duplex path.
In order to accommodate duplexing functionality into a consumer sized auto-document feeder, a duplexing path has been designed to be shorter than the length of a media sheet. In this feedpath configuration, a media leading edge and trailing edge may pass through a single nip at the same time. It is desirable that such simultaneous passing of the leading edge and trailing edge of a media sheet through a single nip not cause scanning or feeding defects which lead to decreased scan quality output from the device or print feed quality which is decreased. In addition, it is desirable that a duplex feeding device have the capability of feeding various media sizes. Some prior art duplex devices rely on gear timing to in order allow duplex feeding. However, where functions are merely timed during feeding control is lost and ability to feed multiple media sizes is inhibited.


A test structure for electromigration and related method are disclosed. The test structure may include an array of a plurality of multilink test sets, each multilink test set including a plurality of metal lines positioned within a dielectric material and connected in a serial configuration; each multilink test set being connected in a parallel configuration with the other multilink test sets, the parallel configuration including a first electrical connection to a cathode end of a first metal line in each multilink test set and a second electrical connection to an anode end of a last metal line in each multilink test set.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to integrated circuit (IC) chip fabrication, and more particularly, to a test structure for electromigration analysis and a related method.
2. Background Art
Electromigration is a reliability concern for copper (Cu) interconnects, in which atoms migrate in the direction of the electron flow, eventually leading to void formation at the cathode end of a line and extrusion formation at the anode end of the line. That is, the electron flow is out of the cathode end and into the anode end of the line.
A dual damascene process is often used to fabricate copper interconnects, such that the vias and lines are formed in the same process step for cost improvements. In most cases, failure is caused by void formation in the vias or lines, and is detected as an increase in resistance of the structure. The failure times along with the corresponding cumulative distribution function (CDF) values are typically fitted to a lognormal failure distribution in order to determine the statistical parameters for the test structure such as median time to failure (T50) and standard deviation (sigma (□)).
A large sample size is required to increase the level of confidence in the statistical parameters. In electromigration, different types of distributions like bimodal and three-parameter distribution, have been used to determine the interconnect reliability. These distributions require more parameters than the usual two and hence even larger sample size. As experiments are conducted under highly accelerated conditions, small errors in parameter estimation can lead to incorrect reliability projections at use conditions. However, sample sizes are limited by the available time and resources (ovens, packages, etc.).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Test structure for electromigration analysis and related method

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to the production of nanoporous silica dielectric films and to semiconductor devices and integrated circuits comprising these improved films. The nanoporous films of the invention are prepared using silicon containing pre-polymers and are prepared by a process that allows crosslinking at lowered gel temperatures by means of a metal-ion-free onium or nucleophile catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the production of nanoporous silica dielectric films and to semiconductor devices and integrated circuits comprising these improved films. The nanoporous films of the invention are prepared using silicon containing pre-polymers and are prepared by the use of double end-capped porogens to prevent chemical attachment of the porogen to the Si-network. As a result essentially all the available silanol (Si—OH) groups can be cross-linked to give a rigid network before the removal of the porogen, thus producing a nanoporous film with few silanol groups.
2. Description of the Related Art
As feature sizes in integrated circuits are reduced to below 0.15 μm and below, in new generations of electronic devices, problems with interconnect RC delay, power consumption and signal cross-talk have become increasingly difficult to resolve. One of the solutions to overcome these difficulties is to develop materials of dielectric constant less than about 2.5 for interlevel dielectric (ILD) and intermetal dielectric (IMD) applications. While there have been previous efforts to apply low dielectric constant materials to integrated circuits, there remains a longstanding need in the art for further improvements in processing methods and in the optimization of both the dielectric and mechanical properties of such materials used in the manufacture of integrated circuits.
One type of material with a low dielectric constant is nanoporous silica films prepared from silicon containing pre-polymers by a spin-on sol-gel technique. Air has a dielectric constant of 1, and when air is introduced into a suitable silica material having a nanometer-scale pore structure, such films can be prepared with relatively low dielectric constants ("k"). Nanoporous silica materials are attractive because similar precursors, including organic-substituted silanes, such as tetraacetoxysilane (TAS)/methyltriacetoxysilane (MTAS)-derived silicon polymers are used as the base matrix and are used for the currently employed spin-on-glasses ("S.O.G.") and chemical vapor deposition ("CVD") of silica SiO2. Such materials have demonstrated high mechanical strength as indicated by modulus and stud pull data. Mechanical properties can be optimized by controlling the pore size distribution of the porous film. Nanoporous silica materials are attractive because it is possible to control the pore size, and hence the density, mechanical strength and dielectric constant of the resulting film material. In addition to a low k, nanoporous films offer other advantages including thermal stability to 900° C.; substantially small pore size, i.e., at least an order of magnitude smaller in scale than the microelectronic features of the integrated circuit; preparation from materials such as silica and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) that are widely used in semiconductors; the ability to "tune" the dielectric constant of nanoporous silica over a wide range; and deposition of a nanoporous film can be achieved using tools similar to those employed for conventional S.O.G. processing.
High porosity in silica materials leads to a lower dielectric constant than would otherwise be available from the same materials in nonporous form. An additional advantage, is that additional compositions and processes may be employed to produce nanoporous films while varying the relative density of the material. Other materials requirements include the need to have all pores substantially smaller than circuit feature sizes, the need to manage the strength decrease associated with porosity, and the role of surface chemistry on dielectric constant and environmental stability.
Density (or the inverse, porosity) is the key parameter of nanoporous films that controls the dielectric constant of the material, and this property is readily varied over a continuous spectrum from the extremes of an air gap at a porosity of 100% to a dense silica with a porosity of 0%. As density increases, dielectric constant and mechanical strength increase but the degree of porosity decreases, and vice versa. This suggests that the density range of nanoporous films must be optimally balanced between the desired range of low dielectric constant and the mechanical properties acceptable for the desired application.
Nanoporous silica films have previously been fabricated by a number of methods. For example, nanoporous films have been prepared using a mixture of a solvent and a silica precursor, which is deposited on a substrate suitable for the purpose. Usually, a precursor in the form of, e.g., a spin-on-glass composition is applied to a substrate, and then polymerized in such a way as to form a dielectric film comprising nanometer-scale voids.
When forming such nanoporous films, e.g., by spin-coating, the film coating is typically catalyzed with an acid or base catalyst and water to cause polymerization/gelation ("aging") during an initial heating step. In order to achieve maximum strength through pore size selection, a low molecular weight porogen is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,263 describes forming a nanoporous silica dielectric film on a substrate, e.g., a wafer, by applying a composition comprising decomposable polymer and organic polysilica i.e., including condensed or polymerized silicon polymer, heating the composition to further condense the polysilica, and decomposing the decomposable polymer to form a porous dielectric layer. This process, like many of the previously employed methods of forming nanoporous films on semiconductors, has the disadvantage of requiring heating for both the aging or condensing process, and for the removal of a polymer to form the nanoporous film. Furthermore, there is a disadvantage that organic polysilica, contained in a precursor solution, tends to increase in molecular weight after the solution is prepared; consequently, the viscosity of such precursor solutions increases during storage, and the thickness of films made from stored solutions will increase as the age of the solution increases. The instability of organic polysilica thus requires short shelf life, cold storage, and fine tuning of the coating parameters to achieve consistent film properties in a microelectronics/integrated circuit manufacturing process.
Formation of a stable porous structure relies on the condition that the porogen removal temperature is higher than the crosslinking temperature (or the gel temperature) of the matrix material. It was found that a stable nanoporous structure of less than 10 nm average pore size diameter cannot be produced when the concentration of the alkali cation such as sodium is below 200-300 parts per billion (ppb) level in the spin-on solution. However, stringent requirement for low metal concentration must be met for IC applications. The general practice is to have metal concentration below 50 ppb in the spin-on solution. Therefore, there is a need to develop a low metal nanoporous silica film that can consistently give dielectric constant less than 2.5 and average pore size diameter less than about 10 nm in diameter.
In the past, in order to achieve maximum strength through pore size selection, low molecular weight polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether was chosen as the porogen. Formation of a stable porous structure relies on the condition that the porogen removal temperature is higher than the cross-linking temperature (or the gel temperature) of the matrix material. It was observed that such porogen could chemically react with the Si-network, capping the free silanol groups that are involved in crossing linking reactions during the process. Such species decompose to give un-wanted isolated Si—OH groups after the final curing stage that is taken place at a much higher temperature. The changes in hydrophilicity resulting from silanol groups detrimentally impact the dielectric properties. Thus, in order to obtain dielectric materials with low and stable k values, it is desirable to minimize the amount of isolated silanol groups present in the final film. Further more, having free silanol groups also leads to un-desirable out-gassing in the IC integration. The stringent requirement for low out-gassing and stable k must be met for IC applications. The general practice is to obtain hydrophobic films. Therefore, there is a need to develop a hydrophobic nanoporous silica film that can consistently give dielectric constant less than 2.2 and absorb as little moisture as possible. Furthermore, it was widely assumed that pores are formed as the result of chemical attachment of porogens onto the silica network.
It has now been found that chemical attachment is not necessary to form porous silica. It has now been found that through the use of a double end-capped polyethylene oxide porogen, the formation of porous silica resulting from a physical blending of porogen and silicon pre-polymer gives a more hydrophobic film as suggested by its lower delta k value between films at ambient and after heating. The effect of double end-capped porogens, such as poly(ethylene glycol)dimethyl ether, is to prevent any chemical attachment of the porogen to the Si-network so that no additional silanol will be generated during the removal of the porogen and the existing silanol groups will be cross-linked to full extent possible, thus producing a nanoporous film with few, if any, silanol groups. Through the additional use of onium ions or nucleophiles the formation of a porous silica network at lower temperature in a low metal spin-on formulation can be facilitated. The effect of the onium ions or nucleophiles is to lower the gel temperature so that the rigid network is set in before the removal of the porogen, thus producing a nanoporous film without the presence of an alkali ion. The function of the porogen is to control the pore size and to readily decompose after the formation of stable pores. Other side-reactions that prevent the extent of the cross-linking of sol-gel reactions are minimized.

Porogens for porous silica dielectric for integral circuit applications


A method and a facility for the protection of a crowd from terrorists by screening each individual in search of concealed prohibited articles possibly carried by one of the individuals in the crowd. Each individual is monitored by sensors controlled by a monitoring unit while passing in single line queue over a fenced walkway and through a confinement structure containing a one-way passage control device. When a prohibited object is detected, response is provided and the passage control device is locked to detain the suspect individual in the confinement structure interior. The confinement structure is configured to deflect the blast created by an explosion initiated therein, and to prevent harm to the individuals residing on the fenced walkway.

During the last decades, a large and ever-increasing number of explosive-carrying terrorists blew themselves up among random or selected victims, often inflicting heavy casualties to their intended targets and to passers-by, and also causing severe material damage and loss of life. Existing devices and methods for the detection of explosives carried by terrorists achieved only partial success, for numerous reasons.
Nowadays, the detection of terrorists mostly relies on guards positioned at the entrance of shops, restaurants and public buildings. These guards usually scan each individual by operating hand-held devices, such as metal detectors, or make them pass through a detection gate. In addition, personal belongings, such as purses and bags are searched through.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0136052 by De Boer, divulges a revolving door, comprising a rotatable partition embodied such that in, at or on the partition one or more means for the detection of inadmissible goods are provided. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,301 to Schwarz also discloses a revolving door, but with a metal detection function. Both inventions are a kind of automatic detection device, but are short of dealing with an uncovered terrorist.
The presently used terrorist uncovering scheme is dangerous, since a terrorist most often blows himself up when believing he has been found out, to kill guards and crowds of queuing-up bystanders. Thereby, security personnel which have to come close to a potential suicide bomber, stands high risks, which might impair their effectiveness.
It would thus be advantageous to first detect potential malevolent individuals and then retain them secluded in a manner that will prevent harm from bystanders even if they commit suicide by detonating a bomb.
Definitions
Individual, person, or pedestrian: generic name used interchangeably to indicate a person, sometimes walking or moving in one direction to pass from one place to another.
Crowd, or people: a plurality of individuals.
Sensor: a device for reporting or for measuring a physical, biometric, chemical, or physiological condition or parameter, as well as a surveillance and monitoring apparatus.

Facility and method for crowd screening and protection

Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd.


A tail vise is disclosed. The novel tail vise includes a longitudinally extending guide secured to or integrated into a surface, which has an axially threaded bore to receive a threaded vise rod, a compression housing slideably surrounding said longitudinally extending guide, and a threaded vise rod connected to said compression housing, threaded through the axially threaded bore of said longitudinally extending guide. The compression housing is slideably attached to the guide and spinably secured to the threaded vise rod, and therein serves as the means of compression.

Traditional European-style workbenches are considered to be one of the most coveted items by experienced woodworkers. These large workbenches have a solid hardwood construction and large tool wells, as well as their most identifiable feature, large integrated vises. One of the vises usually integrated into these workbenches is a tail vise, which is a special end vise used to accommodate most any woodworking project. As a result, numerous variations on workbench vises have been introduced into the market to aid woodworkers.
A number of patents have issued related to tail vises and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,429 discloses a self-contained vise and support assembly including two jaw members urged together by screw or other appropriate devices to clamp a desired work piece there between. The jaw members comprise one member rigidly fixed to the vise base and one movable member pivotably mounted upon the vise body capable of freely changing position and orientation relative to the fixed jaw member in order to accommodate a multitude of different work pieces. The vise itself is supported by a support assembly permitting free movement and adjustment about a plurality of axes. The support assembly possesses the capability of being mounted or affixed to a large number of existing work tables or surfaces for greater versatility of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,814 discloses a method for attaching a jaw to a vise-like workholding apparatus. The method includes placing the jaw member onto a support member of the workholding apparatus in a first direction that is perpendicular to a worksurface of the workholding apparatus. The jaw member is placed such that at least a portion of the support member is received within a cavity in the jaw member in a first released position. The method also includes applying a first axial force in a first axial direction to the jaw member to cause the jaw member to move axially in the first axial direction to a second position wherein it is retained on the support member.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,938 discloses a carver's vise for holding a workpiece to be carved includes a base mounted to a workbench, a clamp mechanism, a mounting plate, and a mounting plate shaft clamped to a base connector by the clamp mechanism. The base includes an angled portion that extends upwardly from a rear of the base to a point near the front of the base closer to the user. The clamp mechanism includes a clamp head holding the mounting plate shaft against the base connector, a clamp shaft located in a bore of the base connector, and a handle that tightens or releases the clamp from the base connector. When the handle releases the clamp head, the mounting plate is free to rotate about the clamp shaft. Grooves in the base connector and an O-ring allow the mounting plate to rotate in discrete angular increments. The mounting plate may also rotate about the clamp shaft and move back and forth through the clamp head.
U.S. Published Patent Application discloses a workbench which includes a frame, a bench surface on the frame with the bench surface including at least two members, one of which is movable along the frame for clamping a workpiece between the members. A mechanism for moving the member includes two screws coupled with the members. The two screws are spaced with the member for moving the member upon rotation of the screws. A sprocket is coupled with each of the screws. A transmission belt or chain is coupled with the sprockets. At least one handle is coupled with one of the screws to rotate the screws. At least one clutch is coupled with the at least one screw to limit clamping pressure on the workpiece. The clutch enables rotation of one screw with respect to the other screw so that workpieces may be clamped between the members and clamping of the workpiece may be accomplished by rotation of the screws with one hand of the operator. Also, a guard may be present which covers the transmission belt or chain. The handle may include a hub, a straight portion, and curved portion extending from the straight portion. A knob extends from the curved portion.
U.S. Published Patent Application 20020050673 discloses vise jaw plates and matching work piece holders cooperate to reliably secure an odd-shaped object in a preferred orientation between the plates. At least one of a plurality of work piece holders are disposed throughout the jaw in an orthogonal pattern with the plate holes precisely aligned in rows and columns and spaced apart a same distance such that a selected work piece holder with one or more mount posts matching the jaw holes is mountable equally well throughout the plate.
There is a need however, for a tail vise that can be more securely fastened to and cleanly integrated into a workbench, and one which will have a greater surface area between screw and thread.


Provided is a wafer level chip scale package that reduces the parasitic capacitance generated between ball pads and the solder balls, and enhances the joint reliability between the ball pads and the solder balls. The wafer level chip scale package provides a conductive pattern in each ball pad section, on which a solder ball is mounted, so as to have a spiral or mesh shape, provides a space defined by the conductive pattern such that a first dielectric layer under the conductive pattern is exposed, and provides the solder ball on a top surface of each ball pad section such that part of the solder ball is inserted into the space defined by the conductive pattern. When viewed from the top, the dielectric layer is exposed from each ball pad section by an area of about 50% or less.

1. Technical Field
The present invention disclosed herein relates to a chip scale package and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a wafer level chip scale package (WL-CSP), and a method for manufacturing the same, capable of enhancing the reliability of joints between solder balls and ball pads that are formed by redistribution of chip pads.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the electronics industry has been focusing on manufacturing products having light weight, small size, high speed, multi-functions, high performance, and high reliability at a low cost. One of the important techniques that make it possible to attain the goal of this product design is a package assembly technique. A chip scale package (or a chip size package) is a new type of package that has recently been developed, and has many advantages compared to a typical plastic package. The biggest advantage of the chip scale package is the package size. The international semiconductor associations, such as Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) and Electronic Industry Association of Japan (EIAJ), define the chip scale package as having a package size no greater than 1.2 times a chip size.
The chip scale package is mainly used in products, such as digital camcorders, mobile phones, laptop computers, and memory cards, for which miniaturization and mobility are required. Semiconductor devices, such as a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a micro-controller, etc., are mounted in the chip scale package. Further, the use of the chip scale package having a memory device, such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or a flash memory, is gradually spreading. Currently, at least 50 types of chip scale packages are developed or produced all over the world.
In general, when a semiconductor wafer is produced through a wafer manufacturing process, individual chips are separated from the wafer and undergo a package assembly process. The package assembly process is separate from the wafer production process because the equipment and raw and subsidiary materials for the package assembly process are different from those for the wafer manufacturing process. However, when chip scale packages are manufactured at the wafer level, the package is produced as a complete product without separating the individual chips from the wafer. As such, the existing equipment and processes for manufacturing the wafer can also be used for producing the package. This means that the raw and subsidiary materials, which are additionally necessary to produce the chip scale package, can be reduced.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a chip scale package according to the conventional art. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the chip scale package of FIG. 1 taken along the line I-I. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the chip scale package 20 includes a substrate 14, which may be a portion of a semiconductor wafer 12. Chip pads 11 are formed on the substrate 14. A passivation layer 22 is formed on the substrate 14 and the chip pads 11 such that portions of the chip pads 11 are exposed through the passivation layer 22. A first dielectric layer 25 is formed on the passivation layer 22 and defines openings exposing the chip pads 11. Metal trace layer patterns 21 are disposed on the first dielectric layer 25 and electrically connect the chip pads 11 to the solder balls 28. The metal trace layer patterns 21 include ball pad sections 23 where the solder balls 28 are placed. A second dielectric layer 24 is formed on the metal trace layer patterns 21 and the first dielectric layer 25. The second dielectric layer 24 defines openings 27 that expose the ball pad sections 23.
According to the conventional method, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact surface area between the solder balls 28 and the ball pad sections 23 is limited to the flat surface area of the ball pad sections 23. Thus, the reliability of the joints between the solder balls 28 and the ball pad sections 23 is fixed. Further, since the ball pad sections 23 are circular metal plates, undesirable parasitic capacitance associated with the ball pad sections 23 is maximized. The present invention addresses these and other disadvantages of the conventional art.

Wafer level chip scale package and method for manufacturing the same


An optical module for supplying pump light for amplifying to-be-amplified light includes an pump light source, optical coupling means, and an optical guide section. The optical guide section optically connects the pump light source and the optical coupling means, and propagates the pump light from the pump light source, in multi-transverse-mode. The optical coupling means output the pump light from the optical guide section in multi-transverse-mode, and at least one of (i) at least one of end faces where the optical guide section and the optical coupling means are connected, (ii) an area between the end faces, and (iii) the optical guide section, has a loss medium of which transmission loss is greater in a wavelength of the to-be-amplified light than in a wavelength of the pump light. By this, an optical module which can stably supply the pump light to the optical amplification fiber can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical module and an optical amplification module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Processing technology using a laser beam is receiving attention, and the demand for an optical amplification module that can generate a high power laser beam is increasing in respective fields, including the medical field. For an optical amplification module, a double clad type where an optical fiber in which a rare earth element that can be excited by an pump light is added to the core area is used as an optical fiber for application, is known, as stated in Koji Sugioka and Akira Yabe, "Laser Micro Nano Processing", First Edition, Japan, CMC Publishing, November 2004, pp. 67-68 (hereafter called the Non-patent Document), for example. The optical amplification module stated in the Non-patent Document is used as a fiber laser light source, and supplies the pump light to the optical amplification fiber using an optical module comprised of and LD with a fiber and optical coupling means.
A to-be-amplified light and an pump light are supplied to an optical amplification fiber of an optical amplification module normally using an optical module, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 14.
An optical module 140 of an optical amplification module 130, shown in FIG. 7, is comprised of an pump light source 40 and optical coupling means 50 which are optically connected via an optical fiber 141, and the pump light from the pump light source 40 is input to the optical coupling means 50 through the optical fiber 141. Also in the optical amplification module 130, a light source 10 is optically connected to an optical fiber 51 of the optical coupling means 50, and the optical coupling means 50 multiplexes the to-be-amplified light, which is output from the light source 10, and an pump light, which is output from the pump light source 40, and inputs it to an optical amplification fiber 20. As a result, the to-be-amplified light is optically amplified in the optical amplification fiber 20, and is output as high power light.
An optical module 160 of an optical amplification module 150, shown in FIG. 14, is comprised of an pump light source 40 and optical coupling means 170 for multiplexing an pump light and a to-be-amplified light and for inputting the multiplexed light to an optical amplification fiber. The optical coupling means 170 is further comprised of an optical fiber 51 as an input port of the to-be-amplified light, an optical fiber 171 as an input port of the pump light, an optical coupling section 53 as a multiplexing medium of the to-be-amplified light and the pump light, and an optical fiber 54 as an output port, and a light source 10 is connected to the optical fiber 51 and an optical amplification fiber 20 is connected to the optical fiber 54. By this configuration, the to-be-amplified light and the pump light, which are output from the light source 10 and the pump light source 40, are input to the optical amplification fiber 20 via the optical coupling means 170. And the to-be-amplified light is optically amplified in the optical amplification fiber 20, and is output as high power light.
In order to output an even higher power light from the optical amplification fiber 20 in the above mentioned optical amplification module 130 and 150, multi-mode fibers for propagating the pump light in multi-mode could be used as the optical fiber 141 and the optical fiber 171.
However if the optical amplification fiber 20 in the optical amplification modules 130 and 150 is connected to another optical fiber, shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 14, a connection loss is generated in the connected portion, and the to-be-amplified light for the amount of this loss may propagate in the optical amplification fiber 20 in a direction opposite from the propagation direction of the pump light. In this case, if the optical fiber 141 or 171 is a multi-mode fiber, the multi-mode fiber has the nature to easily confine light, other than the pump light, in the fiber because the core diameter and NA are large, so high power to-be-amplified light, which propagates in a direction opposite from the pump light, may propagate to the pump light source 40. In this case, the pump light source 40 may be damaged and operation thereof may become unstable, then pump light may not be able to be stably supplied to the optical amplification fiber, and as a result, high power light may not be generated.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical module and an optical amplification module which can stably supply pump light to an optical amplification fiber.

Optical module and optical amplification module


A set of characteristics is received in response to a questionnaire. Using the characteristics, various tasks are identified as requiring or not requiring user input because of the applicability to the customer. An associated task owner is determined for a subset of tasks. In response to receiving a selection of a selectable dependency indication associated with a first task, displaying task dependency data associated with the first task is displayed, the task dependency data including a set of tasks on which the first task depends for completion, a set of tasks that depend on the first task for completion, and for each of these dependent tasks, an associated task owner and a task status. A task list that indicates tasks needing to be completed is presented to the user. Software is installed according to the task list.

Setting up, installing, and/or configuring enterprise software can be a time-consuming, repetitive, expensive, and/or complicated endeavor. The installation, setup and/or configuration of an enterprise software product, such as enterprise resource planning software, may vary significantly depending on the customer's (software operator's) business. For example, a mining company may require a significantly differently configured version of the same piece of enterprise software than a telecommunications company. As such, enterprise software, possibly before the enterprise software can be deployed for a particular customer, may require a user to perform significant set up, which may result in missing and/or incorrect information being used for setup and/or configuration, lost productivity, and/or delayed deployment of the enterprise software. Previous enterprise software setup solutions may not allow for effective collection and management of the information needed for efficient setup and/or configuration of enterprise software.

Installing software using a set of characteristics and a task list


An apparatus and method for delivering electrical shock therapy in order to treat atrial tachyarrhythmias such as fibrillation utilizes a dynamically varying threshold to detect R-waves and synchronously deliver a defibrillation shock.

Tachyarrhythmias are abnormal heart rhythms characterized by a rapid heart rate, typically expressed in units of beats per minute (bpm). They can occur in either chamber of the heart (i.e., ventricles or atria) or both. Examples of tachyarrhythmias include sinus tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation (VF), atrial tachycardia, and atrial fibrillation (AF). Tachycardia is characterized by a rapid rate, either due to an ectopic excitatory focus or abnormal excitation by normal pacemaker tissue. Fibrillation occurs when the chamber depolarizes in a chaotic fashion with abnormal depolarization waveforms as reflected by an EKG.
Cardioversion (an electrical shock delivered to the heart synchronously with an intrinsic depolarization) and defibrillation (an electrical shock delivered without such synchronization) can be used to terminate most tachyarrhythmias by depolarizing excitable myocardium, which thereby prolongs refractoriness, interrupts reentrant circuits, and discharges excitatory foci. As used herein, the term defibrillation should be taken to mean an electrical shock delivered either synchronously or not in order to terminate a fibrillation. Implantable cardioverter/defibrillators (ICDs) provide this kind of therapy by delivering a shock pulse to the heart when fibrillation is detected by the device. An ICD is a computerized device containing a pulse generator that is usually implanted into the chest or abdominal wall. Electrodes connected by leads to the ICD are placed on the heart, or passed transvenously into the heart, to sense cardiac activity and to conduct the shock pulses from the pulse generator. ICDs can be designed to treat either atrial or ventricular tachyarrhythmias, or both, and may also incorporate cardiac pacing functionality.
The most dangerous tachyarrhythmias are ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, and ICDs have most commonly been applied in the treatment of those conditions. ICDs are also capable, however, of detecting atrial tachyarrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter, and delivering a shock pulse to the atria in order to terminate the arrhythmia. Although not immediately life-threatening, it is important to treat atrial fibrillation for several reasons. First, atrial fibrillation is associated with a loss of atrio-ventricular synchrony which can be hemodynamically compromising and cause such symptoms as dyspnea, fatigue, vertigo, and angina. Atrial fibrillation can also predispose to strokes resulting from emboli forming in the left atrium. Although drug therapy and/or in-hospital cardioversion are acceptable treatment modalities for atrial fibrillation, ICDs configured to treat atrial fibrillation offer a number of advantages to certain patients, including convenience and greater efficacy.
As aforesaid, an ICD terminates atrial fibrillation by delivering a shock pulse to electrodes disposed in or near the atria. The resulting depolarization also spreads to the ventricles, however, and there is a risk that such an atrial shock pulse can actually induce ventricular fibrillation, a condition much worse than atrial fibrillation. To lessen this risk, current ICDs delay delivering an atrial shock pulse until the intrinsic ventricular rhythm is below a specified maximum rate and then deliver the shock synchronously with a sensed ventricular depolarization (i.e., an R-wave). That is, an R-R interval, which is the time between a presently sensed R-wave and the preceding R-wave, is measured. If the R-R interval is above a specified minimum value, the interval is considered shockable and the atrial defibrillation shock pulse is delivered.
Currently available implantable cardiac rhythm management devices, including bradycardia and tachycardia pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, have sense amplifier circuits for amplifying and filtering electrogram signals picked up by electrodes placed in or on the heart and which are coupled by suitable leads to the implantable cardiac rhythm management device. In some devices, the signals emanating from the sense amplifier are applied to one input of a comparator circuit whose other input is connected to a source of reference potential. Only when an electrogram signal from the sense amplifier exceeds the reference potential threshold will it be treated as a detected cardiac depolarization event such as an R-wave or a P-wave. The source reference potential may thus be referred to as a sensing threshold. Other devices implement the comparator function in software such that a digitized electrogram signal value is compared with a reference value in order to detect the depolarization event.
When a sensing threshold is set to a constant value, malsensing of cardiac depolarization events can occur due to a number of factors. First, cardiac depolarization events can have widely different peak amplitudes, depending on patient activity body position, drugs being used, etc. Lead movement and noise may further affect the detection of cardiac depolarization events. Noise sources may include environmental noise, such as 60 Hz power line noise, myopotentials from skeletal muscle, motion artifacts, baseline wander and T-waves. When noise levels in the electrocardiogram approach the sensing threshold, the likelihood of oversensing increases (i.e., false detection of depolarization events). If the sensing threshold is increased too high in an attempt to overcome the effects of noise, on the other hand, the likelihood of undersensing (i.e., failing to detect depolarization events) is increased. Methods have therefore been developed to automatically adjust the sensing thresholds of cardiac rhythm management devices in accordance with sensed activity. Such methods, however, present special problems with respect to R-wave detection in atrial defibrillators.

Apparatus and method for R-wave detection with dual dynamic sensitivities


Disclosed is a connector assembly, which includes a plurality of male housing modules which are separable from each other and attached together to form a male housing unit; and a female housing adapted to receive the male housing unit to be inserted into the female housing. Each of the male housing modules has at least one male housing module's terminal, and the female housing has female housing's terminals each of which is to be electrically connected with one of the male housing module's terminals of the male housing modules. The connector assembly has a locking mechanism for releasably locking the male housing unit with respect to the female housing, and the locking means is mounted on an outermost one of the male housing modules. Moreover, the connector assembly comprises a holding mechanism for tightly holding the outermost one of the male housing modules with respect to another one of the male housing modules attached adjacent to the outermost one of the male housing modules. The holding mechanism holds a portion of the outermost one of the male housing modules at which the locking mechanism is mounted on the outermost one of the male housing modules, and reinforces the mounted portion of the outermost housing module against a force applied through the locking mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembly comprising a couple of a male connector and a female connector and, in particular, to a module type connector assembly wherein a male connector comprises a plurality of male housing modules which are superposed and attached together to form a unified male connector, and housings contain a plurality of terminal receptacles arranged in parallel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of connectors, various types of connector assemblies have been known. However, description will be referred specifically to the art of a module type connector assembly for explanation of back ground of the present invention. As an example of the conventional module type connector, FIGS. 1 through 3 show a press-contact connector assembly which has been proposed by the present inventor and disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Prepublication No. 191171/1987.
As shown in FIG. 1, the press-contact connector assembly comprises a female connector 1 and a male connector 3 which is fitted into the female connector and put into a locked state. The male connector 3 comprises two laminar housings 5 and 7, and the housings 5 and 7 are superposed and unified into one male connector by engagement between coupling portions 9 and 11, as shown in FIG. 2. Each of the housings 5 and 7 has a plurality of terminal receptacles 13 for accommodating female terminals 15, as shown in FIG. 3, and the terminal receptacles 13 are arranged in parallel in the housings to form a single layer. In the forward part of each terminal receptacle 13, a cavity 17 is formed to receive an electrical contact 19 of the female terminal 15.
The housing 5, which is an uppermost layer of the male connector 3, is provided with a flexible rocking arm 21 as shown in FIG. 2. The rocking arm 21 is integrally connected to a base plate 23 of the housing 5 through a support portion 25 and extends along an upper surface 23a of the base plate 23. An engagement projection 27 and a press protrusion 29 are formed on an upper surface 21a of the rocking arm 21.
According to the above configuration, when the male connector 3 of the above-described structure is fitted in a coupling hood 31 of the female connector 1, male terminals (not shown) of the female connector 1 are inserted into the electrical contacts 19 of the female terminals 15 to establish electrical connection therebetween. At the same time, the engagement projection 27 of the male connector 3 is engaged with an engagement portion 33 of the female connector 1 to lock the connectors 1 and 3 to one another. In order to disconnect the connectors 1 and 3, the press protrusion 29 is pressed to bend the rocking arm 21. Consequently, the engagement projection 27 is released from the engagement portion 33 to thereby unlock the connectors 1 and 3.
In the above configuration, if it is aimed to reduce the size of the male connector 3, it is required to decrease a whole height H and a thickness h of the base plate 23 supporting the rocking arm 21. However, the base plate 23 of a reduced thickness inevitably has an insufficient strength. As a result of this, if the press protrusion 29 is pressed down to unlock the connectors 1 and 3, the base plate 23 can not bear a force which is concentratedly applied through the support portion 25, and the base plate 23 is deformed and floats up. Consequently, the engagement projection 27 is prevented from being released. In order to cope with the above problem, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a tip end 21b opposite to the support portion 25 of the rocking arm 21 is fixedly attached to the housing 5, and the rocking arm 21 is supported at both ends thereof so as to alleviate the force applied to the base plate 23 and the support portion 25.
However, such a rocking arm 21 as being supported at both ends is difficult to be bent as compared with that supported only by the support portion 25. Therefore, unlocking operation is not easily carried out, and this results in deterioration of a working efficiency.


A nondestructive evaluating method for aged deterioration in austenitic stainless steel comprises an information obtaining step for previously obtaining a relationship between an applied stress σ and the first ratio Ms/χH* between a saturation magnetization Ms and a pseudo susceptibility χH* based on reference minor hysteresis loops obtained by applying stresses σ, respectively, correspondingly to a result of a tensile test for the same kind of material as an evaluation target. In a measuring step, values of the first ratio Ms/χH* are obtained as measured values from measured minor hysteresis loops obtained by measuring the evaluation target. In an evaluating step, the relationship between the applied stress σ and the first ratio Ms/χH* is compared with the measured values, thereby evaluating aged deterioration of the evaluation target. The minor loops are obtained by stepwise changing a magnetic field amplitude Ha within a range of a magnetic field intensity lower than a saturation magnetization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for nondestructively evaluating and quantitatively finding deterioration of material strength due to aging of an austenitic stainless steel structural material or an austenitic stainless steel structure comprised of such structural materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since more than half a century ago, it has been known that austenitic stainless steel transforms from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic, due to plastic deformation. Further, nondestructive evaluating methods utilizing this phenomenon have been attempted in U.S.A., German, Japan and other countries. Thus, as methods for nondestructively evaluating "deterioration of material strength due to aged metal fatigue of an austenitic stainless steel structural material or an austenitic stainless steel structure comprised of such structural materials" (hereinafter called "aged deterioration of strength"), there have been resultingly and conventionally-known those methods which adopt a measuring device for measuring saturation magnetization of martensitic phase transformed from an austenitic stainless steel due to plastic deformation thereof, so as to evaluate aged deterioration in the austenitic stainless steel. Moreover, there has been known a method for evaluating fatigue of an evaluation-target material (i.e., aged deterioration of strength) based on a change of magnetic permeability of the material, because the magnetic permeability of the material changes with transformation from austenite phase to martensitic phase due to plastic deformation (see JP-A-8-248004, for example).
However, it has been impossible to uniquely obtain information of an internal factor (internal stress), by the conventional method for evaluating an aged deterioration in austenitic stainless steel based on magnetic characteristics such as saturation magnetization and magnetic permeability.
Namely, in the above-mentioned conventional nondestructive evaluating method for evaluating aged deterioration in an evaluation target, there are obtained reference data by performing magnetization measurement by changing the amount of external factors (external stress, temperature) which cause the martensitic transformation (for example, by changing the number of times of repeated load in the above-mentioned JP-A-8-248004) so as to change the amount of the martensitic phase deriving from austenite phase while utilizing a fact that the martensitic transformation is caused by a machining operation of the evaluation target, to thereby nondestructively evaluate the aged deterioration in the evaluation target based on the reference data.
The martensitic transformation is caused by various factors, and the martensitic transformation is caused by not only external factors (external stress, temperature) but also internal factors (internal stress, chemical composition).
However, those magnetic characteristics, such as saturation magnetization and magnetic permeability which have been conventionally used as parameters for evaluating aged deterioration, are changed in response to the amount of the martensitic phase which is changed by the amounts of external factors, and thus the magnetic characteristics are not necessarily brought into a one-to-one relationship with the internal factor (internal stress) which is a cause of the aged deterioration of strength. Thus, it has been impossible to precisely obtain information of lattice defects such as dislocations within a material by the above-mentioned conventional nondestructive evaluating method for aged deterioration in austenitic stainless steel based on magnetic characteristics such as saturation magnetization and magnetic permeability.

Nondestructive evaluating method for aged deterioration in austenitic stainless steel


The present invention relates to methods to regulate actin polymerization in T lymphocytes involved in tumorigenesis, inflammatory responses, immune responses, allergic responses and graft rejection responses, kits to perform such assays and methods to identify regulatory reagents that specifically control actin polymerization in T lymphocytes.

Mammalian cells have cytoskeletal networks that are associated with their plasma membrane. The cytoskeleton is comprised of a dense network of actin filaments and associated actin-binding proteins. Components of both the cytoskeletal network and the plasma membrane are important for cellular signalling by, for example, localizing and focusing critical signalling molecules.
Certain mammalian cells comprise multichain surface receptors that enable a cell to respond to changes in the environment outside of the cell. One such multichain receptor is a T cell receptor (TCR) located on the surface of T lymphocytes. A TCR is a multichain, heteromeric structure composed of an antigen binding domain comprising .alpha. and .beta. chains, and non-covalently associated signal transducing complexes, including CD3-.gamma., .delta. and .epsilon. chains, and the .zeta. chains. Signal transduction events produced by TCR ligation with major histocompatibility complexes (MHC) induce a variety of cytoplasmic metabolic changes. For example, gene transcription and production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) are promoted by TCR ligation with MHC molecules.
Abnormalities in T lymphocyte function can arise through deregulation of signalling in T cells. Such diseases include, for example, autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency diseases and immunoproliferative diseases. T lymphocyte function also contributes to graft rejection. To develop compounds that regulate the activity of molecules involved in T cell function, there must be an understanding of the molecules and interactions involved in such T cell related diseases.
Prior investigators have suggested that ligand binding converts surface immunoglobulin (Ig) to a detergent insoluble form, and that Ig receptors subsequently undergo extensive degradation accompanied by the appearance of a detergent soluble membrane product (Braun et al., J. Immunol. 128:1198-1204, 1982). Parsey et al. (J. Immunol. 151:1881-1893, 1993) hypothesize about a connection between actin polymerization and the ability of immobilized anti-CD3 antibodies to stimulate changes in cell shape and F-actin morphology. Furthermore, the expression of four src-family genes associated with T cell activation was shown to be specifically blocked by cyclosporine (Furue et al., J. Immunol. 144(2):736-739, 1990). Prior investigators, however, have failed to teach or appreciate that actin polymerization in T lymphocytes is specifically regulated by the presence of a particular motif (i.e., an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif; ITAM) of a .zeta. chain or .epsilon. chain of a TCR.
Although therapeutics exist that regulate immune activity in an animal, problems have arisen due to the non-specific nature and harmful side effects of such drugs. Despite a long-felt need to discover compounds that specifically regulate T cell activity with minimal side-effects, the complexity and lack of understanding of signal transduction networks in a T cell has hindered the development of such compounds. The present invention offers a method and product that permits regulation of specific steps of a signal transduction pathway in cells having ITAM-containing receptors.

Product and process to regulate actin polymerization in T lymphocytes

National Jewish Medical and Research Center


In an image reading apparatus, a signal generator generates a clock signal having a predetermined frequency, and generates a horizontal synchronizing signal in synchronous with the clock signal, and an image sensor reads a document image by scanning the document image in a main scan direction every horizontal scanning line in synchronous with the clock signal, and converts the read document image into an image signal. On the other hand, a stepping motor moves the image sensor and the document image relatively to each other in a subscan direction perpendicular to the main scan direction by one horizontal scanning line in synchronous with the clock signal. Further, a signal interface outputs the horizontal synchronizing signal and the image signal to an external apparatus. On the other hand, a receiver receives a stop request signal from the external apparatus. A controller controls the signal interface to stop the operations of the stepping motor and the signal interface, in response to the received stop request signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus for reading an image of a document (referred to as a document image hereinafter) and converting the read image into an image signal, and more particularly, to an image reading apparatus controllable by an external apparatus such as a data processing apparatus, a controller of an image filing system, a host computer, a microcomputer, or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, there has been suggested an image reading apparatus for reading image information such as characters, a document image or the like which is typed or printed on a piece of paper, converting the read image information into digital image signal and outputting it to a printer so as to make a hard copy thereof, or outputting the converted digital image signal to an external data processing unit such as a controller of an image filing system, a host computer, a microcomputer or the like and displaying an image thereof on a display unit connected thereto. As the image reading apparatus of this type, there has been suggested, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,237, an image reading apparatus (referred to as a first conventional apparatus hereinafter) capable of selecting either one of receiving a horizontal synchronizing signal or a vertical synchronizing signal of a digital image signal from an external data processing unit and generating them within an internal circuit thereof upon operating in cooperation with an image output unit such as a printer or the like, or upon operating as an input unit of an image filing system.
In the above-mentioned first conventional image reading apparatus, a horizontal synchronizing signal having a predetermined frequency is generated in the internal circuit thereof, and the horizontal synchronizing signal is used as a synchronizing signal upon transferring a digital image signal to a host computer of a system, and is also used as a horizontal synchronizing signal upon reading image information by scanning it in a main scan direction using an CCD image sensor.
However, in the first conventional image reading apparatus, as described above, since the horizontal synchronizing signal having the predetermined frequency is generated in the internal circuit thereof and the horizontal synchronizing signal is used as not only the synchronizing signal upon transferring the digital image signal to the host computer of the system but also the horizontal synchronizing signal upon reading image information by scanning it in the main scan direction using the CCD image sensor, the image reading apparatus can not respond every horizontal scanning line of the image signal to a request for outputting the image signal or another request for interrupting the operation of reading the image information.
Further, in the first conventional image reading apparatus, since the horizontal synchronizing signal having the predetermined frequency is generated, the output rate of the image signal from a scanner is previously set to a predetermined value. Therefore, in the first conventional image reading apparatus, available external data processing units are limited depending on the output rate of the image signal from the scanner.
Further, in the first conventional image reading apparatus, when performing a process for converting the resolution of the image (referred as a resolution conversion process hereinafter) such as a process for converting an image signal into the image signal having a higher resolution by increasing the image signal of one horizontal scanning line read by the scanner into the image signal of a plurality of horizontal scanning lines, or another process for converting an image signal into the image signal having a lower resolution by decreasing the image signal of a plurality of horizontal scanning lines into the image signal of one horizontal scanning line, the frequency of the horizontal synchronizing signal is changed depending on the contents of the resolution conversion process, and then, as a result, the converted image signal can not be outputted to the external data processing unit. Thus, the first conventional image reading apparatus can not perform the resolution conversion process for the image data read by the scanner.
Further, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,888 and has been known to those skilled in the art, an image reading apparatus (referred to as a second conventional apparatus hereinafter), which is not an apparatus for performing the above-mentioned resolution conversion process for the image data read by the scanner, but is capable of performing a magnification process or a density conversion process in a subscan direction perpendicularly to the main scan direction in which sensor elements of the CCD linear image sensor are disposed, by making an reference signal supplied to the linear image sensor synchronous with a driving pulse signal for driving a stepping motor of pulse motor for moving an optical system used for reading a document image and by controlling the driving pulse signal to be applied to the stepping motor.
However, the second conventional image reading apparatus has not only such a problem similar to that of the first conventional apparatus that it can not perform the resolution conversion process but also the following problems. In order to achieve a higher magnification ratio, it is necessary to control the stepping motor in a higher speed, and then it is necessary to design the stepping motor taking into consideration a torque in the maximum speed and margins thereof. As a result, it is necessary to adopt an expensive stepping motor having a relatively high performance, resulting in heightening the manufacturing cost of the image reading apparatus.
In other general conventional image reading apparatus, an image signal having image information for a predetermined time interval in the subscan direction is sent to a data processing unit such as a printer, a computer or the like in synchronous with only a vertical synchronizing signal generated by an internal circuit thereof. Then, the external data processing unit receives and takes therein only the image signal for the predetermined time interval in the subscan direction which is necessary to be processed therein, and then, performs a predetermined image process for the taken-in image signal. Therefore, the conventional image reading apparatus of this type is constituted such that a size of an image and a resolution which can be accepted by the predetermined external data processing unit are previously set, and a vertical synchronizing signal is generated in the internal circuit thereof.
Recently, there have been developed various kinds of external data processing units respectively having a various kinds of performances which are used for processing image data, and the external data processing units may be connected to image reading apparatuses. However, since the conventional image reading apparatus has the above-mentioned composition, it can be connected to only a particular data processing unit having a corresponding predetermined performance. Therefore, for example, even though the specifications of the external data processing unit has been already known, the specifications of the interface of the image signal of the external data processing unit may not coincide with those of the image reading apparatus, and then, the image reading apparatus having been bought already may not be connected to the external data processing unit. In other cases, the specifications of the external data processing unit are not known, and then, it can not be judged whether or not the external data processing unit can be connected to the image reading apparatus.
In these cases, in such a case that a time interval in the subscan direction of the image signal to be processed by the external data processing unit is larger than that of the image signal inputted from the image reading apparatus thereto, or in such another case that the resolution of the image signal to be processed by the external data processing unit is relatively high even though that the time interval in the subscan direction of the image signal to be processed by the external data processing unit is the same as that of the image signal inputted from the image reading apparatus thereto, there may be caused the following trouble. Namely, since the external data processing unit can not receive the image signal, the data processing unit may stop the receiving process still in such a state of taking the image signal therein.

Image reading apparatus controllable by external apparatus


A process for preparing organic carbonates, such as dimethyl carbonate, without the use of phosgene and with a high yield and selectivity to the desired carbonate, by reacting a formaldehyde-acetal with a source of oxygen, in the presence of a catalyst.

Organic carbonates are useful as intermediates in numerous chemical processes and as synthetic lubricants, solvents, plasticizers and monomers for organic glass and various polymers, including polycarbonate, a polymer known for its wide range of uses based upon its characteristics of transparency, shock resistance and processability.
One method for the production of polycarbonate resin employs phosgene and bisphenol-A as starting materials. However, this method has numerous drawbacks, including the production of corrosive by-products and safety concerns attributable to the use of the highly toxic phosgene. As such, polycarbonate manufacturers have developed non-phosgene methods for polycarbonate production, such as reacting dimethyl carbonate with bisphenol-A.
Dimethyl carbonate has a low toxicity and can be used to replace toxic intermediates, such as phosgene and dimethyl sulphate, in many reactions, such as the preparation of urethanes and isocyanates, the quaternization of amines and the methylation of phenol or naphthols. Moreover, it is not corrosive and it will not produce environmentally damaging by-products. Dimethyl carbonate is also a valuable commercial product finding utility as an organic solvent, an additive for fuels, and in the production of other alkyl and aryl carbonates.
Dimethyl carbonate, as well as other organic carbonates, have traditionally been produced by reacting alcohols with phosgene. These methods have the same problems as methods that use phosgene and bisphenol-A, i.e., the problems of handling phosgene and disposing of phosgene waste materials. Thus, there is a need for commercially viable non-phosgene methods for the production of dimethyl carbonate, as well as other organic carbonates.
Methods have been proposed for preparing dimethyl carbonate by the catalytic reaction of methanol with carbon monoxide and oxygen in accordance with the following equation: ##STR1##
The copper compounds acting as catalysts in such a reaction are in the form of various copper salts. However, there are problems associated with using many of the proposed copper salts in an industrial process. For example, the use of copper(II) chloride as a catalyst gives unsatisfactory selectivities. Moreover, problems are caused by the formation of relatively large amounts of methyl chloride, which, because of its high volatility, is difficult to contain and can lead to corrosion in virtually the entire production plant.
Although the use of other catalyst salts in the form of organic complexing agents generally provides better selectivities than salts such as copper(II) chloride, such agents are typically only partially dissolved in the reaction mixture and the undissolved catalyst salts can cause processing problems. Specifically, the undissolved salts have to be conveyed through the reaction zone and cooling equipment and thereafter separated by mechanical means, such as a centrifuge. Such a method results in corrosion, poor heat transfer and blockages and encrustations associated with the undissolved salts.
One method that avoids the circulation of undissolved catalyst salts through the plant uses an excess of methanol. The process retains the suspended catalyst salts in the reactor and meters the methanol, carbon monoxide and oxygen feeds to the reactor, while removing dimethyl carbonate, water of reaction and methanol by distillation. However, the use of excess methanol results in a relatively low reaction rate and a low concentration of dimethyl carbonate. Additionally, since the reaction is carried out at high pressures and the solubilities of both dimethyl carbonate and water in the reaction medium are very high, it is difficult to separate the dimethyl carbonate and water.
Other methods for producing dialkyl carbonates, which utilize a homogeneous catalyst system, have been proposed. One method reacts an alcohol with carbon monoxide and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst system composed of complexes of metals which are capable, by oxy-reduction, of displaying two valency states. Although such methods may be satisfactory in producing alkyl carbonates, their use on an industrial scale has some drawbacks. Beyond the relatively high cost of complex catalyst systems, these systems have a low conversion of the alcohol because they are sensitive to the water and carbon dioxide formed together with the carbonate in the course of the reaction. There are difficulties, moreover, in the separation of the reaction products and more particularly of water and carbonate from the reactor effluent and from the homogeneous catalyst inasmuch as the ligand is normally an organic base and brings about a certain hydrolysis of the carbonate due to the water which is present in the system.
Methods have also been proposed for producing dialkyl carbonates by reacting an alkanol, carbon monoxide and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst which is heterogeneous to the reaction mixture, such as reacting the alkanol with carbon monoxide and oxygen in the vapor phase in the presence of a zeolite catalyst containing copper; reacting an alkanol, with carbon monoxide and oxygen in the vapor phase, in the presence of a catalyst containing: (1) a copper halide, a copper oxyhalide, or a copper carboxylate halide, (2) a quaternary ammonium salt, and (3) a support component; and reacting an alkanol with carbon monoxide and oxygen, in the vapor phase in the presence of a catalyst having a nitrogen-containing coordination compound copper hydrocarbyloxy halide complex supported on activated carbon.
Although such methods may be commercially viable, there still exists a need for economical methods for producing organic carbonates, such as dimethyl carbonate, on an industrial scale, due to the market potential for such products.
Other processes proposed for producing organic carbonates without the use of phosgene are the reaction of urea or urethanes with alcohols in the presence of catalysts, the reaction of alkyl halides or sulphates with alkaline carbonates, the reaction of carbon monoxide with alkyl nitrites in the presence of catalysts, the reaction of alcohols with carbon dioxide and electrochemical synthesis. However, these processes have little practical importance for producing organic carbonates on an industrial scale.
Thus, there is a need for an economical method of producing organic carbonates, such as dimethyl carbonate, on a commercial scale which does not have the above mentioned disadvantages.

Process for preparing organic carbonates


A method of near net shaping a rare earth permanent magnet and a permanent magnet. The method includes introducing a magnetic material powder into a die, closing the die and shock compacting the powder in the die and sintering the compacted magnet powder to form the rare earth permanent magnet part. In one form, the magnetic material being subjected to compaction is a mixture made up of two or more different magnetic material powder precursors. Additional materials may be added to the mixture. One such additional material may be a lubricant to reduce the likelihood of cracking, while another may be a coating to provide oxidation protection of the mixture. Evacuation or inert environments may also be used either prior to or in conjunction with the sintering or related high-temperature part of the process.

The present invention relates generally to forming permanent magnets for use in electric motors, and more particularly to including rare earth (RE) materials to improve magnetic properties of the formed magnets, as well as to use high-velocity compression techniques as a way to form magnets into shapes that require little or no post-formation machining.
Permanent magnets have been widely used in a variety of devices, including traction electric motors for hybrid and electric vehicles, wind mills, air conditioners and other mechanized equipment. One type of permanent magnet—sintered Nd—Fe—B type permanent magnets—contains RE metals such as dysprosium (Dy) or terbium (Tb) to improve the magnetic properties (such as intrinsic coercivity) of the magnets at high temperatures.
Known RE magnet manufacturing processes begin with the initial preparation, including inspection and weighing of the starting materials (iron, iron-neodymium alloy and boron, as well as iron-dysprosium alloys or the like) for the desired material compositions. The materials are then vacuum induction melted and strip cast to form thin pieces (less than one mm) of several centimeters in size. This is followed by hydrogen decrepitation where the thin pieces absorb hydrogen at about 25° C. to about 300° C. for about 5 to about 20 hours, dehydrogenated at about 200° C. to about 400° C. for about 3 to about 25 hours and then subjected to hammer milling and grinding and/or mechanical pulverization or nitrogen milling (if needed) to form fine powder suitable for further powder metallurgy processing. This powder is typically screened for size classification and then mixed with other alloying powders for the final desired magnetic material composition, along with binders to make green parts (typically in the form of a cube) through a suitable pressing operation in a die (often at room temperature). In one form, the powder is weighed prior to its formation into a cubic block or other shape. The shaped part is then vacuum bagged and subjected to isostatic pressing, after which it is sintered (for example, at about 900° C. to about 1100° C. for about 1 to about 30 hrs in vacuum) and aged, if needed, (for example, at about 300° C. to about 700° C. for about 5 to about 20 hours in vacuum). Typically, a number of blocks totaling about 300 kg to about 500 kg undergo sintering at the same time as a batch. The magnet pieces are then cut and machined to the final shape from the larger block based on the desired final shape for the magnets. The magnet pieces are then surface treated, if desired.
Normally with the powder metal process, the density of the green part is about 50 to 55 percent of the theoretical density, which results in significant shrinkage during sintering. If the green part is in cubic block form, the shrinkage is uniform. However, if the green part is not symmetric in shape, it will distort and warp in a manner that is typically difficult to control. To avoid this, the required magnets are usually machined from the block material; this process results in a relatively large amount of material loss, where the yield is typically about 55 to 65 percent (i.e., about 35 to 45 percent loss of the material). Other difficulties associated with the conventional powder metallurgy-based technique also arise. For example, the surfaces of the original large block are also subject to some oxidation, which may result in additional loss of material.
The high material loss during manufacturing has greatly increased the cost of the finished RE magnets. This cost has been exacerbated by a dramatic rise in the price of the raw RE metals in the past several years. As such, there are significant problems associated with accurately producing cost-effective magnets that contain RE materials.

Near net shape manufacturing of rare earth permanent magnets