An image display unit includes a linear display device. The linear display device is line-scanned to display a two-dimensional image. The linear display device has a video signal protection function. In the linear display device, video protection can be implemented using a very simple system for turning off some pixels. Device ID information can be embedded into a display terminal using the image display unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image display units using linear display devices and to display terminals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels or digital micromirror devices (DMD™) have been used in projection display systems. Recently, a Grating Light Valve (GLV™) display, employing a grating which is made by micro-machining and which is driven by an active matrix, has been developed. The GLV display has drawn public attention.
A GLV device has many advantages over known spatial light modulators. Specifically, the GLV device can display seamless, bright images, can be manufactured at a low cost using micro-machining technology, and can operate at high speed.
The need to provide copy protection of image information and digital information and the need to perform scrambling arise in various types of displays. The above-described GLV device is also required to perform these processes.
Conventionally, in order to perform copy protection of image information and digital information and scrambling, all apparatuses, such as set top boxes (STB) and video cassette recorders (VCR), which are connected to an image display unit are required to be capable of performing copy protection and scrambling. As a result, the structure of each apparatus becomes complicated, and thus the cost of each apparatus increases.
The STB is required to perform complex image processing in order to scramble an image.
When protection is decrypted by the STB, the reality is that there is no way to prevent copying of image information and digital information.
If each display terminal is given an identification number, the identification number can be used to identify the display terminal (user terminal), so that distribution and billing can be performed.
It is difficult to record such an identification number in known image display devices.

Image display unit and display terminal using the same


A transceiver system on a single package provides an RF/Microwave subsystem in an area external to the processor die which contains a digital processor. The external area may include an antenna-switch, an input matching network and an impedance transformer impedance transformer and RF-choke for a power amplifier as the passive elements to provide both lower noise reception and higher efficiency transmission.

Radio-Frequency (RF) and microwave front-end integration with higher-performance digital processors is becoming possible by utilizing ever more complex CMOS technology system integration. Available on-die isolation plus judicious layout and circuit techniques enable the integration of delicate RF/Microwave front ends in a hostile digital environment. Nevertheless, isolation problems generally call for fixed, higher performance passive components in order to provide a non-compromising RF/Microwave subsystem performance for wireless communications. These higher quality components are generally not available on-die and are provided external to the system package. The antenna-switch, the input matching network and the impedance transformer and RF-choke for the transmitter power amplifier are the passive elements of a transceiver system.

RF/microwave system with a system on a chip package or the like


A new Lobelia plant named ‘Tech Darbule,’ particularly distinguished by medium sized dark blue flowers with small white and darker blue markings, dark green foliage, lanceolate or oblanceolate leaves, freely branching and tight, semi-upright to slightly trailing plant habit, relatively compact and small to medium in size.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Lobelia, botanically known as Lobelia erinus and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Tech Darbule.'
'Tech Darbule' is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar originated from a hybridization made in January 2004 in Andijk, Netherlands.
The female parent was an unpatented proprietary Lobelia plant designated 'LOB04-314-1.' 'LOB04-314-1' has a deeper dark blue flower color and shorter stems than 'Tech Darbule.'
The male parent of 'Tech Darbule' was an unpatented proprietary Lobelia plant designated 'LOB04-288-1.' 'LOB04-288-1' has a light blue flower color and more upright plant habit than 'Tech Darbule.'
The resulting seeds were sown in March 2004 and 'Tech Darbule' was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in July 2004 in a controlled environment in Andijk, Netherlands.
The first act of asexual reproduction of 'Tech Darbule' was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were propagated from the initial selection in the fall of 2004 in a controlled environment in Andijk, Netherlands.
Horticultural examination of plants grown from cuttings of the plant initiated in the spring of 2005 in Andijk, Netherlands, and in Hillscheid, Germany, and continuing thereafter, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for 'Tech Darbule' are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
'Tech Darbule' has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length.
A Plant Breeders' Right for this cultivar was applied for with the European Union on Sep. 13, 2007. 'Tech Darbule' has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.


A device for injecting food products with a liquid, includes a support for the food pieces, a needle carrier placed above the support and movable in a vertical direction, injection needles fixed to the needle carrier and extending downward, feed means for supplying the liquid to each of the injection needles and at least one drive mechanism for driving the needle carrier in the vertical direction. In order to obtain uniform distribution of the liquid in the food pieces, the drive mechanism, which converts a rotational drive into a linear movement, has a number of freely selectable variables so that during the downward stroke the speed of the needle carrier is a constant as possible. This is achieved by equipping the drive mechanism with a planetary gear wheel system. Preferably, the planetary gear wheel system includes a sun-wheel and a planet wheel which have the same diameter and the same number of teeth.

The present invention relates to a device for injecting food products, for instance pieces of meat, with a liquid, comprising:
a holder for the pieces of meat for injecting; PA1 a needle carrier placed in the vicinity of the holder and movable in the direction towards the holder; PA1 injection needles fixed to the needle carrier and extending towards the holder; PA1 feed means for supplying the liquid for injecting to each of the injection needles; and PA1 at least one drive mechanism for driving the needle carrier in its moving direction.
Such devices are generally known.
The drive mechanism of such known devices is generally formed by a crankshaft mechanism, from which it follows that the movement of the needle carrier in vertical direction is virtually a sinuoid movement.
Such a drive device is of course quite simple, but the sinuoid movement resulting therefrom has the drawback that the distribution of the liquid for injecting in the meat is not uniform in the vertical direction as a consequence of the sinusoid movement.


A zoom lens includes the following lens units in the order named from the object side a first lens unit of a positive optical power, which has a first lens subunit, a second lens subunit, and a third lens subunit arranged in the order named from the object side, the second lens subunit being moved so as to have a component normal to the optical axis, thereby displacing an image, and a second lens unit of a negative optical power. The zoom lens varies a spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit in order to implement zooming. The following conditions are satisfied:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, to a zoom lens with a vibration prevention (image stabilization) function suitable for silver photograph cameras, video cameras, digital cameras, electronic still cameras, and so on and, more particularly, is suitably applicable to a compact zoom lens of a high zoom ratio with relatively short back focus that realizes good correction for image vibration (image blur) during vibration (or inclination) of the zoom lens by moving a lens unit as part of the optical system or part of a lens unit so as to have a component normal to the optical axis, while achieving high optical performance.
2. Related Background Art
Various proposals have been made heretofore about optical systems in which the image blur was corrected by driving an optical element forming a photographing optical system (which will be called an optical vibration-preventing method).
In general, an important condition for such optical vibration-preventing methods is that the optical element of as small a weight as possible is driven by as small a drive amount as possible by a driving mechanism of relatively simple structure while the optical performance during prevention of vibration is maintained in a good level across as wide a range of vibration prevention angles as possible.
In the case of the zoom lenses of high zoom ratios actively developed recently, since a large amount of hand shaking is apt to occur, particularly, at the telephoto extreme, the vibration prevention function is considered to be important and a variety of proposals have been made about zoom lenses with a vibration prevention function designed to satisfy both the aforementioned condition and having a high zoom ratio.
Here the optical vibration-preventing methods include a shift vibration-preventing method of displacing (or shifting) a lens unit or part of a lens unit in the direction normal to the optical axis, a tilt vibration-preventing method of rotating a lens unit or part of a lens unit about a rotation axis normal to the optical axis, a variangle prism method of placing a member in which a relatively transparent liquid such as silicone oil or the like is interposed between transparent members, near or inside the photographing optical system and tilting the transparent member with respect to the optical axis to implement prevention of vibration by prism action, and so on, and there are various known examples of application thereof to the zoom lenses.
Particularly, the shift vibration-preventing method among such optical vibration-preventing methods is commonly adopted, because it has such advantages that the lens driving mechanism is relatively simple, that the degrees of freedom are greater in correction of chromatic aberration during prevention of vibration than in the case of the variangle vibration-preventing method, etc., and because relatively high optical performance is attained with a relatively simple structure, though the number of degrees of freedom are a little smaller in aberration correction than in the tilt vibration preventing method permitting selection of the rotation axis at a relatively free position.
The vibration-preventing zoom lenses employing the shift vibration-preventing method are suggested in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open No. 06-265827 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,210), Laid-Open No. 07-318865, Laid-Open No. 08-82769, Laid-Open No. 01-189621 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,857), Laid-Open No. 02-93620 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,549), Laid-Open No. 03-179311 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,403), and so on.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-265827 discloses a zoom lens of such structure that the zoom lens consists of three lens units which are a first lens unit of positive refractive power, a second lens unit of positive refractive power, and a third lens unit of negative refractive power arranged in the order named from the object side, that zooming from the wide-angle extreme to the telephoto extreme is implemented so as to increase the spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit but decrease the spacing between the second lens unit and the third lens unit, that the second lens unit consists of a front subunit and a rear subunit, and that prevention of vibration is implemented by shifting the rear subunit in the direction normal to the optical axis.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-318865 discloses a zoom lens which consists of a first lens unit of positive refractive power, a second lens unit of negative refractive power, a third lens unit of positive refractive power, a fourth lens unit of positive refractive power, and a fifth lens unit of negative refractive power arranged in the order named from the object side and which has such structure that zooming from the wide-angle extreme to the telephoto extreme is effected so as to increase the spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit, decrease the spacing between the second lens unit and the third lens unit, increase the spacing between the third lens unit and the fourth lens unit, and decrease the spacing between the fourth lens unit and the fifth lens unit and so as to move at least the first lens unit and the fifth lens unit to the object side and that prevention of vibration is implemented by shifting the fourth lens unit in the direction normal to the optical axis.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-82769 discloses a zoom lens which consists of a first lens unit of positive refractive power, a second lens unit of positive refractive power, a stop, and a third lens unit of negative refractive power arranged in the order named from the object side and which has such structure that zooming from the wide-angle extreme to the telephoto extreme is implemented so as to increase the spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit but decrease the spacing between the second lens unit and the third lens unit and that prevention of vibration is implemented by shifting the second lens unit in the direction normal to the optical axis.
Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open No. 01-189621 and Laid-Open No. 03-179311 disclose two unit zoom lenses which consist of a first unit of positive refractive power and a second unit of negative refractive power, which is designed to perform zooming by moving the two lens units while changing the spacing between the two lens units, and in which prevention of vibration is implemented by shifting the first unit in the direction normal to the optical axis.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-93620 discloses the zoom lens which is a two-unit zoom lens wherein the first unit consists of two lens subunits and wherein prevention of vibration is implemented by shifting one of the two lens subunits in the direction normal to the optical axis.
In the zoom lenses disclosed in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open No. 06-265827 and Laid-Open No. 08-82769, since the lens unit shifted for prevention of vibration (hereinafter referred to as a vibration-preventing lens unit) is composed of the large number of lens elements, the lens weight is relatively large and the load on driving of the lens is large during prevention of vibration.
In the zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-318865, the lens structure of the vibration-preventing lens unit is relatively simple, but deterioration of aberration is encountered during prevention of vibration.
The zoom lenses disclosed in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open No. 01-189621, Laid-Open No. 03-179311, etc. have the problem that displacement amounts of the image during prevention of vibration by shifting the first unit are large as compared with shift amounts of the vibration-preventing lens unit (i.e., sensitivity is high) and it is thus difficult to control the shift system.
In the zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-93620, it is difficult to simultaneously correct aberration variations due to zooming in the normal condition and aberration variations in the shift vibration prevention in application to lenses of high zoom ratios.
The specification of Laid-Open No. 02-93620 describes that the first unit is composed of three lens subunits and the shift vibration prevention may be carried out by shifting part of the lens subunits, but it fails to suggest any specific configuration of the lens structure etc. in that case.
An object of the present invention is to provide a never-before-known zoom lens of simple lens structure well-corrected for aberration both in the normal condition and in the vibration-preventing condition, while realizing a high zoom ratio.
For accomplishing the above object, a zoom lens according to one embodiment of the present invention is a zoom lens comprising the following lens units in the order named from the object side:
a first lens unit of a positive optical power, said first lens unit having a first lens subunit, a second lens subunit, and a third lens subunit arranged in the order named from the object side, the second lens subunit being moved so as to have a component normal to the optical axis, thereby displacing an image; and
a second lens unit of a negative optical power;
the zoom lens varying a spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit in order to implement zooming, and
wherein the following conditions are satisfied:
xe2x88x928.0 less than flb/ft less than xe2x88x920.5
xe2x88x929.0 less than fla/ft less than xe2x88x920.3
where ft is a focal length of the entire system at the telephoto extreme, flb a focal length of the second lens subunit, and fla a focal length of the first lens subunit.
Another zoom lens according to another embodiment of the present invention is a zoom lens comprising the following lens units in the order named from the object side:
a first lens unit of a positive optical power, the first lens unit having a first lens subunit, a second lens subunit, and a third lens subunit of a positive optical power arranged in the order named from the object side, the second lens subunit being moved so as to have a component normal to the optical axis, thereby displacing an image; and
a second lens unit of a negative optical power;
the zoom lens varying a spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit in order to implement zooming, and
wherein the first lens subunit has more lens elements than the third lens subunit.
Another zoom lens according to another embodiment of the present invention is a zoom lens comprising the following lens units in the order named from the object side:
a first lens unit of a positive optical power, the first lens unit having a first lens subunit, a second lens subunit of a positive optical power, and a third lens subunit of a positive optical power arranged in the order named from the object side, the second lens subunit being moved so as to have a component normal to the optical axis, thereby displacing an image; and
a second lens unit of a negative optical power;
the zoom lens varying a spacing between the first lens unit and said second lens unit in order to implement zooming, and
wherein a lens element adjacent on the object side to the second lens subunit has a positive optical power.
Another zoom lens according to another embodiment of the present invention is a zoom lens comprising the following lens units in the order named from the object side:
a first lens unit of a positive optical power, the first lens unit having a first lens subunit, a second lens subunit of a positive optical power, and a third lens subunit of a positive optical power arranged in the order named from the object side, the second lens subunit being moved so as to have a component normal to the optical axis, thereby displacing an image; and
a second lens unit of a negative optical power;
the zoom lens varying a spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit in order to implement zooming, and
wherein the first lens subunit has a plurality of lens elements of respective positive optical powers.
Another zoom lens according to another embodiment of the present invention is a zoom lens comprising the following lens units in the order named from the object side:
a first lens unit of a positive optical power, the first lens unit having a first lens subunit, a second lens subunit of a positive optical power, and a third lens subunit of a positive optical power arranged in the order named from the object side, the second lens subunit being moved so as to have a component normal to the optical axis, thereby displacing an image; and
a second lens unit of a negative optical power;
the zoom lens varying a spacing between the first lens unit and the second lens unit in order to implement zooming, and
wherein the third lens subunit consists of one lens element of a positive optical power.

Zoom lens and photographing apparatus having it


A method of continuously spotting a liquid onto a predetermined number of members to be spotted with the liquid includes the steps of mounting a disposable spotting tip on a suction nozzle, sucking the liquid in the spotting tip in a predetermined amount larger than the predetermined number times the amount for one spotting and discharging the liquid onto the members in sequence by the amount for one spotting by introducing a predetermined discharge pressure into the spotting tip. A signal related to the vapor pressure in atmosphere is obtained and the discharge pressure is corrected according to the change in the vapor pressure inside the spotting tip after the liquid is sucked in the spotting tip so that the same amount of the liquid is discharged onto all the members.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid spotting method and a liquid spotting device for spotting a sample liquid such as blood or urine, a diluent liquid, a reference liquid or the like onto a member to be spotted with the liquid such as a dry chemical analysis element, a dilution cup or the like, and more particularly to such a liquid spotting method and a liquid spotting device in which a liquid held in a disposable spotting tip is continuously spotted onto a member in a constant amount.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been put into practice a dry ("dry-to-the-touch") chemical analysis element with which a specific chemical component or a solid component contained in a sample liquid can be quantitatively analyzed by only spotting a droplet of the sample liquid onto the element. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,992,158 and 4,292,272. When such a dry chemical analysis element is used, the sample liquid can be analyzed more easily and more quickly than when the conventional wet analysis method is used, and accordingly the dry chemical analysis element is very convenient for medical facilities, laboratories and the like where lots of sample liquids have to be analyzed.
When quantitatively analyzing the chemical components or the like contained in a sample liquid using such a dry chemical analysis element, a droplet of the sample liquid is spotted onto the element and is held at a constant temperature for a predetermined time (incubation) in an incubator so that coloring reaction occurs, and the optical density of the color formed by the coloring reaction is optically measured. That is, measuring light containing a wavelength which is pre-selected according to the combination of the component to be analyzed and the reagent contained in the reagent layer of the element is projected onto the element and the optical density of the element is measured. Then the concentration of the component to be analyzed is determined on the basis of the optical density using a calibration curve which represents the relation between the concentration of the biochemical component and the optical density. Thereafter the chemical analysis element is taken out from the incubator and discarded in a discarding box.
The chemical analysis element generally comprises a chemical analysis film in the form of a chip having a reagent layer formed on a support sheet of organic polymer or the like. The chemical analysis film chip is sometimes used as it is, and sometimes used in the form of a slide comprising such a chemical analysis film chip and a frame of organic polymer or the like which supports flat the film chip. In such a chemical analysis element, it is important that the sample liquid is spotted onto the element accurately in a predetermined amount in order to ensure accuracy of the measurement.
Further when a sample liquid is diluted to a predetermined concentration, the sample liquid and diluent must be spotted in a dilution cup accurately in predetermined amounts.
Further there has been known a dry electrolyte analysis slide for measuring the concentration of an electrolyte in a sample liquid. The electrolyte analysis slide has a pair of electrodes. When measuring the concentration of an electrolyte in a sample liquid using the electrolyte analysis slide, a sample liquid and a reference liquid are spotted onto the slide and the concentration of the electrolyte is determined on the basis of a potential difference. Also in this case, the sample liquid and the reference liquid must be spotted accurately in predetermined amounts.
As a way of spotting a liquid such as a sample liquid, diluent liquid, reference liquid or the like onto a member such as a dry chemical analysis element, a dilution cup or the like, there has been known a method in which the liquid is once sucked in a suction nozzle and is discharged on the member with the suction nozzle washed every time the kind of the liquid is changed. However this method is disadvantageous in that when the liquid remains on the nozzle, contamination occurs to deteriorate accuracy of measurement and that the nozzle washing process deteriorates the time efficiency of the system. In order to overcome such a problem, there has been put into practice a method in which a disposable spotting tip is mounted on said suction nozzle so that the liquid is sucked in the spotting tip and the spotting tip is changed every time the kind of the liquid is changed. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,390 and the like.
When spotting is effected by sucking liquid in an amount corresponding to one spotting in the spotting tip and discharging the whole liquid in the spotting tip onto a member to be spotted with the liquid, the liquid cannot be spotted accurately in a predetermined amount. That is, a part of the liquid is apt to remain on the end of the spotting tip under a surface tension and an attempt to entirely spot the liquid held in the spotting tip results in forming bubbles in the spotted liquid.
It may be expected that the liquid can be spotted more accurately in a predetermined amount when the liquid is sucked in the spotting tip in an amount larger than that for one spotting so that only a part of the liquid held in the spotting tip is discharged. Further when a liquid is to be spotted onto a plurality of members to be spotted with the liquid, the steps of sucking the liquid in the spotting tip in an amount larger than that for one spotting and discharging a part of the liquid held in the spotting tip onto the member are repeated for each of the members or the liquid is sucked in the spotting tip in an amount larger than the number of spottings times the amount for one spotting and discharged onto the members in sequence by the amount for one spotting.
In the method disclosed in the above identified United States patent, the suction system is vented to atmosphere each time the liquid is sucked into the spotting tip to return the pressure inside the spotting tip to atmospheric pressure so that the liquid level in the spotting tip is lowered to a position where the liquid in the spotting tip balances with surface tension on the inner surface of the spotting tip and then the liquid in the spotting tip is discharged.
However, when the liquid is sucked in the spotting tip in an amount larger than the number of spottings times the amount for one spotting and discharged onto the members in sequence by the amount for one spotting, the amount of the liquid actually spotted fluctuates from one spotting to another.
That is, as shown in FIG. 11 where a result of an experiment is shown, the amount of the liquid spotted in the first spotting is larger than that spotted in any other spotting. In this experiment, a new spotting tip was mounted on the suction nozzle and water was sucked in the spotting tip in an amount larger than that for a predetermined number of spottings at one time. Then the water was discharged onto the predetermined number of chemical analysis elements at intervals of 9 seconds by introducing the same discharge pressure into the spotting tip for each spotting so that a target amount of (e.g., 10 .mu.L) water is spotted in each spotting. Three kinds of chemical analysis elements were used and the amount of spotted water differed by the kind of the chemical analysis element. However, irrespective of the kind of the chemical analysis element, the actual amount of water spotted in the first spotting was larger than that spotted in any other spotting by about 0.7 to 0.9 .mu.L.
One of the three kinds of chemical analysis element was for measuring glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT-P), another for measuring lactate dehyrogenase (LDH-P) and the other for measuring creatinine. The experiment was carried out in an atmosphere at a temperature of 32.degree. C. and a relative humidity of 30%.
It has been found that fluctuation in the vapor pressure in the spotting tip causes the actual amount of water spotted in the first spotting to be larger than that spotted in any other spotting. That is, when water is sucked in a new spotting tip, which is dry, the space in the spotting tip above the water is at a vapor pressure at the temperature and the humidity of the atmosphere as shown in FIG. 12A. (In this state, after water is sucked in the spotting tip, air is sucked in the spotting tip to raise the water level L.) However as the time lapses, the water in the spotting tip evaporates and the pressure inside the spotting tip rises to lower the water level L as shown in FIG. 12B. Accordingly when a predetermined discharge pressure is introduced into the spotting tip to increase the pressure inside the spotting tip to discharge the water as shown in FIG. 12C, the pressure inside the spotting tip is excessively increased by a value corresponding to increase in the vapor pressure and accordingly an excessive amount of water is discharged in the first spotting. After the first spotting, the vapor pressure inside the spotting tip is saturated and does not fluctuate, whereby the amount of spotted water is stabilized.
The reason why the amount of spotted water differs by the kind of chemical analysis element may be the difference in wetting due to difference in the reagent layer between the chemical analysis elements.
When the inside of the spotting tip is vent to atmosphere for each spotting as in the above identified United States patent, generation of difference in amount of spotted liquid due to influence of the vapor pressure may be prevented. However since the position where the liquid in the spotting tip balances with surface tension on the inner surface of the spotting tip varies according to the wetting (water repellency) of the inner surface of the spotting tip, the viscosity of the liquid and the like, the amount of spotted liquid can fluctuate. Further the method is disadvantageous in that an off-off valve is required in the suction system, which complicates the system.
Thus in continuously spotting liquid onto a plurality of members to be spotted with the liquid using a disposable spotting tip, there has been a problem that there is a difference in the amount of liquid actually spotted onto the member for a given discharge pressure between a spotting before the vapor pressure is saturated and a spotting after the vapor pressure is saturated.
Further as the method of spotting a sample liquid onto a dry chemical analysis element, there has been known a method in which after the sample liquid is sucked into a disposable spotting tip, a droplet is formed on the lower end of the spotting tip, the spotting tip is moved downward toward the chemical analysis element until the droplet is brought into contact with the chemical analysis element and the spotting tip is stopped to permit the droplet to spread over the upper surface of the chemical analysis element. Further as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,390, there has been known a method in which the spotting tip is lowered to a position where the lower end thereof is at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the chemical analysis element and then the sample liquid in the spotting tip is discharged at a predetermined rate.
With either of the methods, even a slight coagulation of the droplet on the lower end of the spotting tip can cause error in the amount of spotted sample liquid when a very small amount (e.g., a few .mu.L) of sample liquid is to be spotted.
In order to suppress generation of the error due to coagulation of the droplet, it has been proposed to suck air into the spotting tip after sucking the sample liquid, thereby raising the lower surface of the sample liquid in the spotting tip above the lower end of the spotting tip as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 1(1989)-184464. However it has been found that this method is disadvantageous in that a bubble is formed in the lower surface of the sample liquid in the spotting tip, which can cause error in the amount of spotted sample liquid.
That is, generally the suction nozzle on which the spotting tip is mounted is supported by an arm member and the arm member is moved up and down and in horizontal directions in order to spot the sample liquid held in the spotting tip onto a chemical analysis element. It has been found that during such motions of the arm member, the spotting tip 301 is vibrated and the vibration of the spotting tip 301 generates a bubble 305 as shown in FIG. 13B in the lower surface of the sample liquid 304 which has been sucked inside the spotting tip 301 so that the lower surface thereof is positioned higher than the lower end of the spotting tip 301 as shown in FIG. 13A.
This inventor has recognized that the bubble 305 is formed in the following manner. That is, the spotting tip for spotting a very small amount of liquid should be very small in inner diameter. However when the entire spotting tip is thin, the spotting tip becomes apt to deform and apt to swing in the lateral direction to a large extent by mechanical vibrations, which prevents an accurate spotting action. Accordingly it is preferred that the spotting tip be thick as a whole to increase strength in deform with the lower end portion made very thin to enable spotting of a very small amount of liquid. Thus the spotting tip for spotting a very small amount of liquid naturally should comprise an upper portion 301a (FIG. 13B) having a larger diameter, a lower portion 301b having a smaller diameter and a tapered portion 301c connecting the upper and lower portions 301a and 301b. That is, the inner diameter of the spotting tip discontinuously increases toward the direction away from the sucking port of the spotting tip in the range where the sucked liquid occupies. With the spotting tip 301 of such a shape, when the sample liquid 304 is sucked into the spotting tip 301 to a position where the lower surface of the sample liquid 304 is higher than the boundary 301d between the lower portion 301b and the tapered portion 301c, thin film of the sample liquid 304 formed on the inner surface of the spotting tip 301 when the sample liquid 304 is sucked upward frequently comes to extend across the inner space of the spotting tip 301 at the lower end of the thin film due to vibrations, thereby forming a bubble about the tapered portion 301c.
Thus there has been a demand for a liquid spotting method which can spot a very small amount of liquid with a spotting tip having a tapered portion without formation of a bubble in the lower portion of the liquid sucked into the spotting tip above the lower end thereof.

Liquid spotting method and liquid spotting device


A sliding mechanism of a lens barrier, a lens barrier, and a camera have a simplified structure and can be readily downsized. An imaging apparatus has an imaging lens which focuses light to form an image. The lens barrier serves to cover the imaging lens from outside and is mounted on a main body of the imaging apparatus. The sliding mechanism of the lens barrier includes plural cam grooves and plural engaging members. The plural cam grooves are formed on a surface, which faces the main body of the imaging apparatus, of the lens barrier. The plural cam grooves have substantially parallel trajectories. The plural engaging members are arranged in the main body of the imaging apparatus and contact with the bottom portions of the plural cam grooves at least at three positions. The plural engaging members guide the lens barrier along the sliding direction. The lens barrier further includes an inner barrier and an outer barrier. The inner barrier is attached to the main body of the imaging apparatus and is slidable along a predetermined direction. The outer barrier is detachably attached to a surface, which is different from the surface attached to the main body of the imaging apparatus, of the inner barrier. The outer barrier has a surface area at least larger than the imaging lens.

The imaging apparatus such as a camera has an imaging lens to pick up images. To protect the imaging lens from outside while the imaging apparatus is not used for shooting, a lens barrier is sometimes arranged on the surface of the main body of the imaging apparatus so as to cover the imaging lens. The lens barrier is slidable in a predetermined direction on the surface.
For example, according to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-6114, the sliding mechanism of the lens barrier is realized with a rack and pinion so as to minimize the wobbling of the lens barrier and generation of friction between the lens barrier and other member(s) which may occur while the lens barrier slides.
Further, according to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-290196, a guide rail and a barrier holder are provided. The guide rail is provided on a back side of the lens barrier, and has a larger curvature than the curvature of an outer surface of the camera. The barrier holder holds the lens barrier in such a manner that the lens barrier can slide along the guide rail.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-68983 describes a lens barrier formed from two elements. A camera described in this document includes a barrier which is slidable in a lateral direction with respect to a main camera body, a sub barrier which slides in accordance with the sliding movement of the main barrier, and an opening mechanism which rotates and retracts the sub barrier toward the side of the main barrier when the main barrier slides in an open direction. When the lens barrier is in a close position, the main barrier and the sub barrier cover a lens barrel arranged at the front of the main camera body.

Sliding mechanism of lens barrier, lens barrier, and camera


A multifunctional spacer for knee surgery is described comprising a main body configured for use with a single femoral condyle and having an anterior portion of a first height and a posterior portion of a second height, wherein the second height is greater than, equal to or less than the first height. In addition, the anterior portion and/or the posterior portion is provided with an attachment mechanism for selective attachment of a height adjuster.

The Applicant's earlier patent, GB2445620B, describes instrumentation for use in knee surgery, upon which the present invention builds. The content of GB2445620B is therefore incorporated by reference into the present disclosure.
Prosthetic knee replacement surgery is employed to replace damaged or diseased parts of the knee. A particularly common disease that affects joints such as the knee is osteoarthritis. This disease usually increases in severity with age and leads to a high demand for successful knee replacement operations.
So-called total knee replacement (TKR) surgery involves replacing the ends of the femur and tibia with prosthetic femoral and tibial components. In some cases, the patella is also replaced with a patella component. During surgery, the patient's femur and tibia are resected, using appropriate cutting instruments, to the form required for mating with the respective femoral and tibial components.
The tibial component of a knee prosthesis typically comprises a plateau with a distal surface configured for mating with a resected proximal end of a tibia and a locating stem extending from the distal surface for insertion into the medullary canal of the tibia.
Such a tibial component is usually cemented on to the proximal end of the tibia and a bearing component is provided on the proximal surface of the plateau to provide an articulating surface for cooperation with the femoral component.
The femoral component of a knee prosthesis is generally C-shaped with the external surface including medial and lateral condyles, which constitute articulating surfaces.
The internal surface of the femoral component is usually constituted by a series of five planar surfaces angled successively. Thus, the resecting of the patient's femur must include the creation of corresponding planar surfaces to mate with those of the femoral component. In order to obtain such planar surfaces, a cutting guide is placed adjacent the distal end of the femur and cutting blades are inserted through appropriately angled slots in the guide.
Traditional instruments and techniques rely upon the surgeon's judgment as to whether the cutting guide is a) located in the correct anterior-posterior position with respect to the femur, and b) located in the correct rotational alignment with the femur. Mal-alignment of the cutting guide in either of these capacities will lead to incorrect location of the femoral component. This may lead to patient discomfort and poor performance of the joint. More specifically, if the cutting guide is located too far in the anterior direction, at least a portion of the anterior cuts will extend beyond the femur so that the resulting planar surface will be shorter than desired and the femoral component will be loose fitting. If the cutting guide is located too far in the posterior direction, the cuts will result in a divot or notch in the femur, which may lead to supracondylar fracture of the femur. Furthermore, if the cutting guide, and therefore the femoral component, is rotationally mal-aligned, the collateral ligaments may not be under the correct tension.
During TKR surgery it is important to obtain a flexion gap, i.e. the distance between the posterior femoral condyles and the proximal tibial surface when the knee is bent by 90 degrees, which is equal to the extension gap, i.e. the distance between the distal femoral surface and the proximal tibial surface when the leg is straight. Usually, the extension gap is measured first and the flexion gap is then matched to the measured extension gap.
It is also important that the collateral ligaments and other soft tissue structures on either side of the knee are placed under the correct tension. Ideally, the lateral and medial collateral ligaments (more correctly, the medial collateral ligament complex and the lateral collateral ligament complex) and soft tissue structures are placed under the same tension. If these ligaments and structures are not under equal tension the patient will have a feeling of instability and there is an increased risk that the bearing parts of the TKR will dislocate. A particular type of dislocation that may occur in mobile bearing designs is known as rotational spin out.
Conventionally, the desired tension of the lateral and medial collateral ligament complexes and soft tissue structures is achieved through the use of two independent distraction devices, each acting between one of the medial and lateral condyles and the proximal tibial surface. Such distraction devices are usually employed in spinal surgery and are large, heavy and cumbersome devices. Since they are operated independently there is a risk that the collateral ligaments and soft tissue structures on the medial and lateral sides of the knee will be unequally tensioned. Reliance is therefore placed on the surgeon to distract equally on both sides. In addition, these distraction devices require a significant amount of effort by the surgeon to operate since they generally involve lever-operated crank mechanisms. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for such devices to hinder access to the knee, during an operation. Moreover, these distraction devices tend to extend outside of the operating field of view so that their use is inconvenient.
An alternative distraction technique involves the use of L-shaped spacers that are successively inserted between the cutting guide and tibia to increase the distance there-between. These only provide for step-wise rather than continual adjustment and they are awkward to use. In addition, to achieve an accurate tensioning with this technique it is necessary for the cutting guide to be held in fixed relationship with the femur. An inaccurate tensioning may therefore be provided if the cutting guide is not held in the correct fixed position.
A consequence of the above is that several large trays of instruments, typically 4-7, are required in TKR procedures. This results in the need to transport and autoclave a large number of devices before each operation.
The instrumentation described in detail in GB2445620B aims to address many of the shortcomings of the above by providing an intramedullary rod for insertion into an end of a femur; a distraction device coupleable to the intramedullary rod and operable between the intramedullary rod and a tibia for adjusting the tension of the collateral ligaments on either side of the knee; and a device for coupling the distraction device to the tibia wherein the device permits adjustment of the position of the distraction device in the anterior and posterior directions of the tibia.
However, as described in GB2445620B, individual block spacers are commonly used to position the cutting guide and/or femoral component, both in TKR procedures and in uni-compartmental knee replacements (also known as partial knee replacements), in which only part of the knee is replaced.
It is possible to effect balanced resection of the posterior condyles during TKR. With the instruments described in GB2445620B (and most other knee instruments), the proximal surface of the tibia is first cut with an external alignment guide and the distal femur is cut using an intramedullary guide. However, neither of these cuts take into account collateral ligament tension or the gap left by bony resection of the tibia and femur. Commonly the surgeon has to release collateral ligaments on the tight side of the knee and use different thicknesses of polyethylene tibial bearings or spacers to fill the gap between the cut ends of the femur and tibia. A major disadvantage of this technique is that when release of the collateral ligament complex on the tight side is performed resulting in a rectangular extension space, that extension space height is variably enlarged and any knee system inserted following release has to fill the variable space created. In older knee systems like GB2445620B and many others, the height of the spacer instruments and each size of polyethylene bearing insert come in 2.5 mm increments. However, in more modern knee replacement systems, the height of each size of spacer instrument and each size of polyethylene bearing insert comes in 1 mm increments giving a massive instrument and implant inventory and increased cost. The same thickness of spacers that have been found to confer stability in extension must also be inserted in flexion and the instruments described in GB2445620B use the intramedullary rod to help position the cutting guide on the spacers.
However, there is a particular downside of inserting an intramedullary rod in that much fat and marrow is driven off into the circulation and this can have deleterious effects. It has been found on a large national level study that total knee replacement has a higher death rate than uni-compartmental knee replacements and fat and marrow embolism are thought to be contributing factors to the higher death rate with TKR.
It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide a multifunctional spacer for knee surgery that helps to ameliorate the above problems.

Multifunctional spacer for knee surgery to achieve balanced resection


In a multilevel interconnection structure for a semiconductor device, lower level interconnections 3 are formed on an insulator film 2 formed on a substrate 1, and a silicon oxide film 4a is formed to cover the lower level interconnections 3 and to fill up a region between adjacent lower level interconnections 3, by means of a biased ECR-CVD process so that a cavity 5 is formed in the silicon oxide film 4a between the adjacent lower level interconnections 3. The silicon oxide film 4a is selectively removed from a tolerable region covering the extent in which a hole for the metal pillar 6 is allowed to deviate from a target lower level interconnection 3, and then, another silicon oxide 4b is formed to fill up the removed portion and to cover the first silicon oxide film. The metal pillar 6 is formed to extend through the silicon oxide film 4b filling the removed portion of the silicon oxide film 4a, so as to reach the target lower level interconnection 3. On the metal pillar 6, an upper level interconnection 7 is formed. Thus, since the cavity 5 is completely surrounded by the silicon oxide film 4a, a contact between the cavity 5 and the metal pillar 6 is completely prevented by the silicon oxide film 4a.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same, and more specifically to a multilevel interconnection in a semiconductor device and a method for forming the same.
2. Description of Related Art
With an increased integrated density and an elevated operation speed of the semiconductor device, microfabrication of an interconnection layer has become remarkable. Therefore, since a fine pattern is formed, a capacitance between interconnections of the same level increases, with the result that the characteristics of the semiconductor device is significantly deteriorated. This capacitance between interconnections will be called a "line-to-line capacitance" in this specification.
In order to reduce the line-to-line capacitance, it was proposed to use an insulator film of a lower dielectric constant. For example, Japanese Patent Application Pre-examination Publication No. JP-A-62-005643, (the content of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application, and also an English abstract of JP-A-62-005643 is available from the Japanese Patent Office and the content of the English abstract of JP-A-62-005643 is also incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application), proposes to form a cavity between adjacent interconnections of the same level, thereby to reduce the line-to-line capacitance. This example is shown in FIG. 1A.
Furthermore, Shin-Puu Jeng, et al. "A Planarized Multievel Interconnect Scheme With Embedded Low-Dielectric-Constant Polymers For Sub-Quarter-Micron Applications", 1997 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 73-74, (the content of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application) proposes to form an organic film of a lower dielectric constant only between adjacent interconnections of the same level. This example is shown in FIG. 1B.
In FIGS. 1A and 1B, Reference Numeral 1 designates a substrate, and Reference Numeral 2 indicates an insulator layer formed on the substrate 1. Reference Numeral 3 shows lower level interconnections 3 formed on the insulator layer 2, and Reference Numerals 4a and 4b denote insulator films formed to cover the lower level interconnections 3. Reference Numeral 5 designates a cavity formed between adjacent lower level interconnection 3, and Reference Numeral 6 indicates a metal pillar extending through the insulator films 4a and 4b to contact with a target one of the lower level interconnection 3. Reference Numeral 7 shows upper level interconnections formed on the insulator film 4b, and one of the upper level interconnections 7 is connected to the metal pillar 7. Reference Numeral 8 denotes an organic film 8, and Reference Numeral 10 designates a hollow formed in the metal pillar 7.
In these prior art examples, if the spacing between interconnections is on the order of sub-microns or less, the metal pillar 6 for electrically connecting the upper level interconnection 7 and the lower level interconnection 3 has often become formed to deviate from the lower level interconnection 3, so that a portion of the metal pillar 6 extends into a region between two adjacent lower level interconnections 3.
As a result, in the example shown in FIG. 1A, the metal pillar 6 reaches the cavity 5 in a deviated portion of the metal pillar 6, so that a gas retained in the cavity 5 is discharged to create the hollow 10 in the metal pillar 6. This results in an increased resistance of a connection resistance and in a lowered reliability. Alternatively, the metal pillar 5 is formed to fill up the cavity 5 between the lower level interconnections 3, which results in an increased leak current between the lower level interconnections 3.
In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 1B, the metal pillar 6 contacts with the organic film 8 in a deviated portion of the metal pillar 6, so that because of a degasification of the organic film 8, the hollow 10 is formed in the metal pillar 6. Similarly, this results in an increased resistance of a connection resistance and in a lowered reliability.

Multilevel interconnection in a semiconductor device and method for forming the same


A video camera may overlook a monitored area from any feasible position. An object flow estimation module monitor the moving direction of the objects in the monitored area. It may separate the consistently moving objects from the other objects. A object count estimation module may compute the object density (e.g. crowd). A object density classification module may classify the density into customizable categories.

Video surveillance is of critical concern in many areas of life. One problem with video as a surveillance tool is that it may be very manually intensive to monitor. Recently, solutions have been proposed to the problems of automated video monitoring in the form of intelligent video surveillance systems. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,696,945, titled "Video Tripwire" and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/987,707, titled "Surveillance System Employing Video Primitives," both of which are incorporated herein by reference. One application of video surveillance is the detection and tracking of object (e.g. human, vehicle) density. Object density refers to the apparent density of objects within an area of a scene. For example, a very sparse crowd of people on a railway platform may constitute a low density and a very dense crowd on the same platform may constitute a high density. Unfortunately, the science of computer vision, which is behind automated video monitoring, has limitations with respect to recognizing object density, such as those in subway stations, road intersections, and other object density monitoring applications.
In a high object density scene, there are two basic limitations in current video surveillance systems. One is that the standard background subtraction used in most intelligent video surveillance applications cannot be used reliably, due to the background being occluded most of the time. The other basic limitations is that one could not properly estimate object density based on counting individual objects since the heavy occlusion and very cluttered environment causes the failure of individual object tracking.


A battery assembly provided with an adhesive stop mechanism is disclosed. The battery assembly includes multiple battery cells, a primary retaining frame, a secondary retaining frame, two common electrodes and a bonding layer. The primary and second retaining frames are combined together to constitute accommodation chambers for housing the battery cells. The primary retaining frame includes an outer deck and a shallow deck, wherein the outer deck is formed with adhesive application pores and the shallow deck is formed with stop portions corresponding to the adhesive application pores. The adhesive composition applied through the adhesive application pores is confined by the stop portions and subsequently cured into a bonding layer that firmly holds the battery cells within the accommodation chambers.

Given the risk of increasing carbon emissions when using a pollution-generating energy source with limited reserves, such as fossil oil and natural gas, high-tech industries are pursuing replacement of the traditional energy sources with renewable and clean energy sources, including solar energy, hydraulic energy and wind energy. With this trend, vehicles with electric propulsion are being deployed in place of conventional internal combustion cars. The development of electric-powered vehicles has thus attracted great interest in the related fields.
An electric-powered vehicle requires a large quantity of power for long-distance running and, therefore, must be equipped with a good number of battery cells in its energy source. For a compact car with a 100-kilometer driving range, a 30 kWh battery pack is needed. It would require 3,000 of 18650 format battery cells arranged in parallel and in series in a battery pack to provide the required current and voltage levels to power the vehicle. Design a battery assembly that can meet safety, performance and operating life are critical to the success of an electrical vehicle. Prevention of vehicle fires due to battery thermal runaway is an important safety feature. It is unavoidable to have some cells exhibit thermal runaway due to manufacturing defects, assembly defects, or external impact event, but it is not acceptable for the small number of cells under thermal runaway to propagate into full pack fires.
A solution to the problem was proposed by some manufacturers, where the respective battery cells were coated by fire-proof material to prevent the battery cells from being ignited by adjacent cells under thermal runaway. During discharging or charging operations, a battery cell will generate heat, causing a temperature rise in the battery cells. Given the common battery configuration where positive and negative electrodes are at opposite ends, most heat dissipation is through the lateral side of the battery cell. In the case where the battery cell is covered at its lateral side with refractory material, the heat transfer is impeded and the battery cell ran hotter. Hotter battery cell lowers operating life. For every 10 degrees Celsius rise, the operating life is halved. Furthermore, battery cell with diminished heat dissipation capacity has an increased risk of thermal runaway, because battery self-heating could gradually build up to higher temperatures, causing electrolyte to decompose, surface electrolyte interface to degenerate, and various other chemical reactions to accelerate until the temperature rises to several hundred degrees Celsius and the cell ruptures and vents with very high temperature gas, over 1,000 degrees Celsius that could ignite adjacent materials.
A conventional method for fastening battery cells involves placing the battery cells into an accommodation space defined by a housing and then filling up the accommodation space with adhesive glue, whereby the battery cells are fastened within the accommodation space when the adhesive glue is cured. However, this method consumes a great amount of adhesive glue and increases the manufacture cost. Meanwhile, since the battery cells are generally covered by adhesive glue, the heat dissipation from the battery cells is largely reduced, thus causing a rise in operating temperature that leads to lower useable life. An adhesive stop mechanism allows a fixed amount of glue be placed on each cell, therefore the quality of bonding is assured with no waste in glues. Furthermore, by judicious design of the depth of said adhesive stop, the adhesive bonding area of the cell can be varied. For regions where the vibration is expected to be worse, more bonding area can be allocated, for regions where the vibration is expected to be less, for example with close proximity to fastening systems, the bonding area can be lessened.
In addition, the adhesive bonding area of the cell has lower thermal conductivity, and judicious design of the depth of said adhesive stop changes the heat dissipation capability of the battery cell. In an air cooled battery module, cells near the air inlet can be made to have worse heat dissipation, where the air is cooler. Cells near the air outlet can be made to have better heat dissipation, where the air is hotter. Since the life of the battery module is determined by the highest cell temperature, current invention effectively even out the temperature differences within the module, lowers the highest temperature of the cell group, with the desired effect of increasing battery module life.
In an electric vehicle battery assembly, no matter whether the battery cells provided therein are connected in parallel or in series, the positive and negative electrodes of the battery assembly are usually connected to the same side of the system through electric wires, so as to facilitate the installation and maintenance works. However, extra electrical wiring means extra burden to keep them organized in the compact space of the battery pack. The management of the complicated electric wires during the replacement, repair and maintenance of battery assemblies is a burdensome and safety hazardous task for installation and maintenance personnel.
Therefore, there is a need for a reliable adhesive-bonded battery assembly architecture, in which battery cells are mounted in a stable and robust manner to withstand vibration and have improved heat dissipation capability and prolonged endurance, and in which a highly effective thermal conductive device is mounted to lower the risk of cell thermal runaway, thereby safeguarding the safety of personnel and property. Advantageously, the battery assembly can be easily installed and maintained to save the manpower and time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Battery assembly with adhesive stop mechanism


The disclosed technology relates to a formulation for a unit does cleansing product without the use of a film package, which contains a basic cleansing composition and a structurant comprising C6-C30 fatty acid or mixtures thereof and at least one water soluble polymer or water dispersible polymer.

The disclosed technology relates to a formulation for a unit dose cleansing product without the use of a film package, which contains a basic cleansing composition and a structurant.
There are many innovations in the cleansing market to provide consumers convenient and attractive products that are also effective cleansers. In recent years, unit dose cleansing products, such pod detergents, have attracted much attention from consumers. Unit dose pod products exhibit advantages over old unit dose detergent tablet in terms of better water solubility, better handling, less dust and fine particles, and friability. Pod cleansing products use a bag into which a cleansing composition is packed. The bag is made of a water soluble film that has a high viscosity when exposed to water.
The pod cleansing products can be colorful and attractive to children who mistake the pod as a toy or candy and play with or even eat the pods. Because of the highly concentrated liquid detergent within the pod, and the sticky film in which the pod is packaged, it has been reported that young children suffered from eye burns and choking. A safer product is needed.
Furthermore, the manufacturing of pod detergents results in a high level of waste from defectively wrapped pods, allowing leakage of detergent, or from the excessive amount of film trimmed from the pods that cannot be re-used.
Also, pod detergent have a fixed dosage and the consumer cannot control the amount of detergent usage.
A new unit dose cleansing product is needed.


A solid-state imaging device includes a photoelectric conversion unit, a transistor, and an element separation region separating the photoelectric conversion unit and the transistor. The photoelectric conversion unit and the transistor constitute a pixel. The element separation region is formed of a semiconductor region of a conductivity type opposite to that of a source region and a drain region of the transistor. A part of a gate electrode of the transistor protrudes toward the element separation region side beyond an active region of the transistor. An insulating film having a thickness substantially the same as that of a gate insulating film of the gate electrode of the transistor is formed on the element separation region continuing from a part thereof under the gate electrode of the transistor to a part thereof continuing from the part under the gate electrode of the transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a solid-state imaging device and a manufacturing method thereof and in particular to a MOS-type solid-state imaging device and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solid-state imaging devices are broadly classified into a charge-transfer type solid-state imaging device represented by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor and an amplifier-type solid state imaging device represented by a MOS-type image sensor such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor, and the like. In comparing the CCD image sensor with the MOS-type image sensor, the CCD image sensor generally requires a higher drive voltage for transferring signal charges than the MOS-type image sensor does, the CCD image sensor thus has a higher power source voltage than the MOS-type image sensor.
Accordingly, the MOS-type image sensor, which is low in the power source voltage as compared with the CCD image sensor and is more advantageous than the CCD image sensor from the viewpoint of power consumption, and the like is preferably used as the solid-state imaging device mounted in mobile devices such as a portable phone with a camera, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).
In the MOS-type image sensor, as a method of element separation, insulation and separation by a LOCOS (selective oxidation) element separation, an STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) separation, and the like are known (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-270808). Also, an EDI separation is known, in which a p-type diffusion layer is implanted into a silicon substrate, and a thick oxide film is deposited thereupon (see K. Itonaga, IEDM Tech. Dig., P 33-1, 2005).
FIG. 1 illustrates a MOS-type solid-state imaging device, in particular, the principal part thereof, employing the STI separation for the element separation region. In a solid-state imaging device 10, for example, a p-type semiconductor well region 2 is formed in an n-type silicon semiconductor substrate 1, a trench 3 is formed in the p-type semiconductor well 2, and a silicon oxide (SiO2) layer 4 is embedded in the trench 3 and thereby a STI element separation region 5 is formed. The silicon oxide layer 4 is formed to protrude above an insulating film (for example, a silicon oxide film) 11 on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 2. An n-type source/drain region 6 of a pixel transistor (for example, an amplification transistor) is formed so as to be separated by the STI element separation region 5, and also a photodiode 7, which will be utilized as a photoelectric conversion unit, is formed. The photodiode 7 is configured as a so-called embedded-type photodiode having an n-type charge accumulation region 8 and a p-type accumulation layer 9 for suppressing dark current on the surface of the charge accumulation region 8. The p-type accumulation layer 9 is formed so as to contact the STI element separation region 5.
FIG. 2 illustrates a MOS-type solid imaging device, in particular, the principal part thereof, adopting the EDI separation for the element separation region. Ina solid-state imaging device 13, for example a p-type semiconductor well region 2 is formed in an n-type silicon semiconductor substrate 1, a p-type diffusion layer 14 is formed in the p-type semiconductor well region 2, and a silicon oxide (SiO2) layer 15, which is wider than the p-type diffusion layer 14 and thicker than an insulating film (for example, a silicon oxide film) 11 on the substrate surface, is formed on the p-type diffusion layer 14 and thereby an EDI element separation region 16 is formed. An n-type source/drain region 6 of a pixel transistor (for example, an amplification transistor) is formed so as to be separated by the EDI element separation region 16, and also a photodiode 7, which will be utilized as a photoelectric conversion unit, is formed. The photodiode 7 is configured as a so-called embedded-type photodiode having an n-type charge accumulation region 8 and a p-type accumulation layer 9 for suppressing dark current on the surface of the charge accumulation region 8. The p-type accumulation layer 9 is formed so as to contact the p-type diffusion layer 14 of the EDI element separation region 16.
On the other hand, in the solid-state imaging device, the number of pixels increases as the resolution is increased, and as the number of pixels increases, each pixel itself is increasingly miniaturized.

Solid-state imaging device and manufacturing method thereof


An image reducing apparatus includes a black-pixel counting section for counting a number of black pixels in an N.times.M-pixel area in an original image represented by white and black levels, where N and M denote predetermined integers equal to or greater than 2; a pattern comparing section for comparing a pixel pattern in the N.times.M-pixel area and an area surrounding the N.times.M-pixel area with predetermined reference patterns; and a level determining section for determining a level of a pixel in a reduction-resultant image in accordance with the black-pixel number counted by the black-pixel counting section and with a result of the pattern comparison by the pattern comparing section, the reduction-resultant image pixel corresponding to the N.times.M-pixel area in the original image.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image processing apparatus such as an apparatus for reducing a bi-level image or an image represented by two different levels, for example, black and white levels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are two general methods of reducing a bi-level image, that is, a simple thinning-out method and a decision-by-majority method. According to the simple thinning-out method, pixels of an original image which are spaced at predetermined equal intervals are selected as effective pixels for a reduction-resultant image, and the other pixels are ignored. According to the decision-by-majority method, an original image is divided into local areas, and the level of a pixel of a reduction-resultant image which corresponds to a local area in the original image is determined in accordance with the number of black pixels within the local area.
In the decision-by-majority method, a small black point and a thin black line in an original image tend to be omitted from a reduction-resultant image. Thus, the quality of a reduction-resultant image is low for an original image which has many small black points and thin black lines. Furthermore, in the decision-by-majority method, the density of black pixels in a reduction-resultant image tends to be higher than that in an original image, and a fine-pattern part of the original image may be inaccurately reduced.
Also in the simple thinning-out method, a small black point and a thin black line in an original image tend to be omitted from a reduction-resultant image.

Image processing apparatus with improved image reduction

Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, Inc.


The present invention relates to the compound represented by the general Formula (I):                wherein        X is selected from the group consisting of O, S and Se;            R1 and R2 are independently selected from the group consisting of C1 to C12 alkyl, C6 to C20 aryl and C5 to C20 heteroaryl, wherein the respective C1 to C12 alkyl may optionally be substituted with C6-C20 aryl;    L represents a single bond or is selected from the group consisting of C6 to C18 arylene or C2 to C20 heteroarylene;    wherein the rings B, C and D may each be unsubstituted or substituted and B and C are anellated aromatic 6-membered rings;    R3 and R4 are independently selected from the group consisting of unsubstituted or substituted C1 to C12 alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted C1 to C12 fluorinated alkyl, unsubstituted or substituted C6 to C20 aryl and unsubstituted or substituted C5 to C20 heteroaryl;    wherein the substituents, if present in B, C, D, R3 and R4, are independently selected from the group consisting of C1-C20 linear alkyl, C3-C20 branched alkyl, C3-C20 cyclic alkyl, C1-C20 linear alkoxy, C3-C20 branched alkoxy, linear fluorinated C1-C12 alkyl, linear fluorinated C1-C12 alkoxy, C3-C12 branched fluorinated cyclic alkyl, C3-C12 fluorinated cyclic alkyl, C3-C12 fluorinated cyclic alkoxy, CN, C6-C20 aryl, C2-C20 heteroaryl, OR, SR, (C═O)R, (C═O)NR2, SiR3, (S═O)R, (S═O)2R, CR═CR2, Fluorine, NR2, NO2;    wherein R is independently selected from C1-C20 linear alkyl, C1-C20 alkoxy, C1-C20 thioalkyl, C3-C20 branched alkyl, C3-C20 cyclic alkyl, C3-C20 branched alkoxy, C3-C20 cyclic alkoxy, C3-C20 branched thioalkyl, C3-C20 cyclic thioalkyl, C6-C20 aryl and C3-C20 heteroaryl; and    R3 and R4 may or may not be connected with each other via a single bond, an organic semiconducting layer comprising the same, an organic electronic device comprising the organic semiconducting layer and a display device or a lighting device comprising the same.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs, which are self-emitting devices, have a wide viewing angle, excellent contrast, quick response, high brightness, excellent driving voltage characteristics, and color reproduction. A typical OLED includes an anode, a hole transport layer (HTL), an emission layer (EML), an electron transport layer (ETL), and a cathode, which are sequentially stacked on a substrate. In this regard, the HTL, the EML, and the ETL are thin films formed from organic and/or organometallic compounds.
When a voltage is applied to the anode and the cathode, holes injected from the anode electrode move to the EML, via the HTL, and electrons injected from the cathode electrode move to the EML, via the ETL. The holes and electrons recombine in the EML to generate excitons. When the excitons drop from an excited state to a ground state, light is emitted. The injection and flow of holes and electrons should be balanced, so that an OLED having the above-described structure has excellent efficiency.
A variety phosphine oxide electron transport material is known in the art. However, there is still a need to further improve the performance of organic electronic devices comprising such phosphine-oxide electron transport materials, in particular to improve lifetime curing deficiency and driving voltage thereof.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide novel compounds for use in the layers of organic electronic devices overcoming drawbacks of the prior art, in particular compounds which are suitable to improve the performance of the organic electronic devices. In particular, it is the object of the present invention to improve performance of organic electronic devices, in particular lifetime, driving voltage and current efficiencies of OLED devices and the glass transition temperatures of compounds for use therein. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide compounds suitable to reduce the driving voltage of an organic electronic device comprising the same.

Compound and an organic semiconducting layer comprising the same


An apparatus for producing and maintaining a penile erection in a male suffering from erectile dysfunction includes a resilient ring member defining an inner opening through which the penis is inserted. The inside circumferential surface adjacent the inner opening is supple and adapted to contact the shaft of the penis. The cross-sectional area of the inner opening is adjustable between a minimum cross-sectional area which is sized sufficiently small to restrict the return venous blood flow from the penis to the torso (i.e. restrict excessive venous leakage) and larger cross-sectional areas. The apparatus includes a pair of spaced apart handles extending outwardly from the resilient ring member which allow the user of the apparatus to quickly adjust the cross-sectional area of the inner opening. In use, a flaccid penis is inserted through the inner opening of the resilient ring member and the resilient ring member is placed in the closed position at the base of the penis adjacent the torso. With the resilient ring member in the closed position, the apparatus is moved along the penis shaft away from the torso thereby increasing the amount of engorgement of the portion of the penis on the side of the apparatus opposite the torso. The apparatus is opened and quickly moved again to the base of the penis adjacent the torso. Again, the apparatus is moved along the penis in the closed position away from the torso to incrementally capture more blood within the penis and increase engorgement, thus producing a firm erection suitable for sexual penetration and enjoyment. After a sufficient amount of blood has been captured within the penis to produce a suitable erection, the resilient ring is placed at the base of the penis in the closed position adjacent the torso to maintain the erection.

Erectile dysfunction is a condition in which a male is not capable of attaining an erect penis that is sufficiently rigid for sexual penetration or sexual satisfaction. It is a common problem, especially in older males. Normally, when a man becomes sexually aroused his penis becomes engorged with blood thereby not only increasing the size of the penis, but also making the penis rigid and erect to enable sexual penetration. An average flaccid penis is, for example, between 3 to 4 inches long, and it increases in length to about 5 to 7 inches when erect. An erect penis contains 6 to 7 times the blood volume of a flaccid penis. During erection, the arterial rate of blood flowing into the penis is greater than the returning venous rate of blood flowing from the penis to the torso, and this leads to accumulation of blood within the corpus cavernosum and the resulting engorgement of the penis.
There are potentially many physical and psychophysical reasons for erectile dysfunction, but most cases involve excessive venous leak from the penis in one form or another. The amount of venous leak varies among men having erectile dysfunction, and thus the extent of the dysfunction varies. For example, some men are able to achieve erection, however, are likely to loose the erection before ejaculation. Surgical techniques for reducing or eliminating venous leak have proven to be largely unreliable.
It is well known that the penile arteries are located deep within the penis, and the veins which return blood to the torso are located principally adjacent the skin. Therefore, it has long been known to use constrictor rings or the like to constrict the base of the penis in order to reduce venous leak and enhance the maintenance of erection.
Besides constrictor rings, there are several types of physical treatment for impotence. The various treatments include drugs and pharmaceuticals, prostheses that may be inserted into the penis (for example inflatable rods), and vacuum devices which draw blood into the corpus cavernosum causing the penis to become engorged and erect coupled with an elastic constrictor ring placed around the base of the penis in order to maintain the erection. Obviously, some of these treatments have side effects, whereas others are cumbersome and/or somewhat expensive.

Method and apparatus for producing and maintaining a penile erection


A method for determining the deflection and/or strain of an elongated member of a component is provided, in which a first point and a second point are assigned to the same side of an elongated member of the component, wherein the deflection and/or strain of the elongated member is determined by determining the distance between the second point and a third point, which is connected to the first point by an inflexible support, whereby the distance between the first point and the third point is considerably longer than the distance between the second point and the third point, and wherein the distance between the second point and the third point is determined in time steps and the frequency of the change of the distance is analyzed to detect frequency changes. Furthermore, an elongated member of a component subject to strain and comprises a sensor unit for determining the deflection and/or strain of the elongated member.

In many aspects elongated members of wind turbines are exposed to stress that causes strain. For example, the tower of a wind turbine as well as the wind turbine rotor blades may be exposed by strong wind which causes a strain on the tower and the rotor blades. The load on the rotor blades and/or the tower may be reduced by a variation of the blade's pitch. This can be realised by individual pitch controllers in general or by a cyclic pitch controller.
An effective pitch control, for example for reducing the loads acting on the rotor, needs information about the load acting on the blade root which can be extracted from a determination of the rotor blade deflection. Optical fibres in the blades are typical sensors for a reliable and long term measurement of the rotor loads. Such systems are rather expensive.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,822 B2 a method for determining a rotor blade deflection is disclosed wherein a rotor blade is coupled with a hub. The rotor blade includes a beam with a first end coupled to a baffle inside the rotor blade, while the second end of the beam is located adjacent to the hub and is used for measuring the deflection of the beam by means of at least one sensor located in the hub. The beam is located near the centreline of the rotor blade. The determination of the deflection of the blade is based on the movement of the beam which correlates with the blade deflection.

Method and sensor setup for determination of deflection and/or strain for failure detection


In an optical transmission system using an RZ code, in order to improve the quality of the modulated transmission signal, an RZ optical modulator includes an RZ carver that outputs a optical pulse train of the RZ code, a polarization adjustment device which improves and outputs a polarization extinction ratio of optical pulse train outputted from the RZ carver and an optical modulator which modulates and outputs the optical pulse train outputted from a polarization adjustment device.

More capacity enlargement for a core transmission system is required along with the increase of the internet traffic. Under such condition, the coherent optical transmission technology is noted. An optical transmitter used in a coherent optical transmission phase-modulates an optical signal. And an optical receiver used in a coherent optical transmission receives a phase-modulated optical signal, mixes the received optical signal with the local oscillation light, generates a beat signal and reproduces transmission data from the beat signal.
In the coherent optical transmission technology, in particular, DP-QPSK can improve the wavelength utilization efficiency to double by performing the QPSK modulation for the orthogonal polarized optical waves with different signals respectively. For this reason, consideration for realizing a large capacity optical communication system using DP-QPSK is performed. Incidentally, DP-QPSK is an abbreviation of dual polarization-quadrature phase shift keying (polarization multiplexing with four phase shift modulation).
In recent years, it has begun to be studied to apply the coherent optical transmission technology to an inter-continental submarine optical transmission system. The yield strength to the deterioration of OSNR (optical signal to noise ratio) caused by a multiple cascade connection of the transponders is requested for the signal used in a submarine optical transmission system. For this reason, in a submarine optical transmission system, an RZ (return to zero) code in addition to an NRZ (non return to zero) code used widely in a land optical transmission system is also used. And by applying the coherent transmission technology to an RZ code transmission system, it is expected to improve the transmitter OSNR.
In a coherent optical transmission system using an RZ code, the light which a CW (continuous wave) light source outputs is inputted to an RZ modulator and an RZ pulse train is generated. The RZ modulator which generates an RZ pulse train from the CW light is called the RZ carver. The RZ pulse train generated at the RZ carver is inputted to the DP-QPSK modulator. The RZ pulse train inputted to the DP-QPSK modulator is separated into two, and QPSK modulation is performed by the respective different data. QPSK-modulated two RZ pulse trains are multiplexed so that the polarizations of the modulated light become orthogonal each other and transmitted to a transmission line.
In relation to the present invention, PTL (patent document) 1 discloses a phase modulation communication system which branches light signals amplitude-modulated by a clock, and performs the polarization mixing after the phase modulation for the respective light signals by the different data. PTL 2 discloses an optical transmission apparatus with which an optical phase modulator and an optical intensity modulator have been connected in series.

RZ optical modulator and RZ optical modulation method


This invention provides a polymer alloy comprising a polyphenylene sulfide resin and a polyphenylene ether resin. This polymer alloy can eliminate molding whitening which, upon molding, occurs on the surface of the molded product, can impart excellent surface appearance and flame retardance, and further can improve balance between heat resistance and toughness (impact strength) and mechanical strength. The resin composition comprises 45 to 99 parts by weight of a polyphenylene sulfide resin comprising (a) 0 to 96% by weight of a specific linear polyphenylene sulfide resin and (b) 100 to 4% by weight of a specific crosslinking-type polyphenylene sulfide resin. The resin composition further comprises (c) 55 to 1 part by weight of a polyphenylene ether resin. Further, the resin composition comprises (d) 1 to 20 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight in total of components (a) to (c), of a styrene copolymer and/or an ethylene copolymer containing any one functional group of glycidyl and oxazolyl groups.

Polyphenylene sulfide resins, one of highly heat-resistant crystalline resins, have been utilized in the form of a blend with fillers, such as glass fiber, as resin molding materials excellent in heat resistance, chemical resistance, stiffness and inflammability for electrical/electronic/OA components or automotive electronic components.
Particularly in optical pick-up bases contained in compact disc drives or optical housings of copiers as one of mechanical components for optical instruments, which have been produced by metal die casting using aluminum, zinc or the like, there has been a trend in recent years toward conversion of metals to resins from the viewpoint of decrease in weight and increase in productivity of optical instruments. And polyphenylene sulfide resin compositions have come into use most frequently.
However, it is well known that, though polyphenylene sulfide resins have excellent heat resistance and workability, they may give rise to many problems when molded, such as corroding the metal of molds because of the resins being fused in oxygen atmosphere at high temperature during molding, causing stain-like burns on the surface of molds or molded articles or tar-like matter to adhere to the same with the progress of gasification, and in molds having welded joints, causing whitened appearance on the periphery of the welded joints of black colored molded articles when venting deteriorates. The same is true for the polymer alloys that are composed of polyphenylene sulfide and polyphenylene ether.
And besides, in the polymer alloys composed of polyphenylene sulfide and polyphenylene ether, allowing the polyphenylene sulfide to contain polyphenylene ether makes it possible for them to have the advantage of inhibiting flash from occurring during molding, but on the other hand, it also causes a phenomenon, a disadvantage, particularly in the polymer alloys containing inorganic filler that their inflammability extremely deteriorates.
For the polyphenylene sulfide resin compositions having the above described problems, especially the problems of corroding the metal of molds during molding, causing stain-like burns on the surface of molds or molded articles or tar-like matter to adhere to the same with the progress of gasification, and in molds having welded joints, causing whitened appearance on the periphery of the welded joints of black colored molded articles, there have been proposed a number of improvements and ideas in terms of the materials.
As techniques for the above described improvements and ideas, there have been proposed compositions prepared by blending a polyphenylene sulfide resin with an inorganic gas-scavenger (refer to, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). Further, to produce effects of preventing tar-like matter to adhere to molds during molding and of improving the appearance resulted from the gasification, there have been proposed resin compositions composed of polyphenylene sulfide and a specific compound or inorganic filler (refer to, for example, Patent Documents 4 to 6).
These documents disclose attempts to overcome the disadvantages of polyphenylene sulfide resins as base materials by blending the resins with additives. In other words, they disclose attempts to improve the appearance of molded articles by preventing the metal surface of molds from corroding, stain-like burns from being produced on the surface of molds or molded articles and tar-like matter from adhering to the same. However, these methods are no more than means of masking the causative substances, and when molding is performed for a long time under molding conditions where venting is poor, molded articles have extremely deteriorated appearance because stain-like burnings are still produced particularly on the welded joints or their periphery and whitening phenomenon occurs on the black-colored parts. Thus, the actual situation is that molded articles produced by such methods still have a number of problems unsolved.
It is also known, as another problem, that molding polyphenylene sulfide resins involves production of significant flash on the resultant molded articles. This is one of the factors that decrease the productivity/economy in the industrial production of parts.
Polyphenylene sulfide resins are classified into two types, linear (straight chain) and crosslinked (including semi-crosslinked), depending on production process. The latter ones, crosslinked polyphenylene sulfide resins, are thermoplastic resins prepared by producing the former ones, linear polyphenylene sulfide resins, by polymerization and heat treating the linear polyphenylene sulfide resins at temperatures equal to or lower than the melting point of polyphenylene sulfide resins in the presence of oxygen to accelerate the oxidation crosslinking so that the molecular weight and viscosity of the polymer are appropriately increased. They are superior to linear polyphenylene sulfide resins in mechanical strength and heat resistance, but have the disadvantage of being inferior in toughness. On the other hand, in linear polyphenylene sulfide resins superior in toughness, their molecular chain length is hard to increase, due to technological restriction in polymerization, and therefore improvements in mechanical strength and heat resistance cannot be desired. Besides, they have the problem of being more likely to cause flash during the molding.
It is well known that flash on molding is more likely to occur in polyphenylene sulfide resins than in amorphous thermoplastic resins, though there is a little difference between linear ones and crosslinked ones.
Optical pick-up bases contained in compact disc drives or optical housings of copiers as one of mechanical components for optical instruments have been produced by metal die casting using aluminum, zinc or the like; however, in recent years, progress toward the conversion of metals to resins is being made from the viewpoint of decrease in weight and increase in productivity of optical instruments. And in terms of the conversion of metals to resins, materials are needed which provide resin molded articles with high heat resistance and high dimensional accuracy with respect to temperature change and are less likely to cause flash during molding.
Thus, for polyphenylene sulfide resin compositions, as raw materials for the molded articles for the above described applications, there have been proposed a number of improvements and ideas in terms of their materials. To inhibit the occurrence of flash, a big problem caused during molding, a number of techniques have been proposed in which polymer alloys are formed using a polyphenylene sulfide resin as a crystalline resin and a polyphenylene ether resin as an amorphous resin.
As such techniques, proposed are, for example, resin compositions which are composed of: a resin component of polyphenylene sulfide and polyphenylene ether; a specific inorganic compound; a fibrous filler; and other inorganic filler and which are less likely to cause flash during molding and have high stiffness and high dimensional accuracy (referrer to, for example, Patent Documents 7 to 8). To obtain the similar effects, resin compositions are also proposed which are composed of: a resin component of polyphenylene sulfide and polyphenylene ether; a silane coupling agent; a fibrous filler; and other inorganic filler (refer to, for example, Patent Documents 9 to 10). Further, to obtain a resin composition that allows the deviation of optical axis to be kept small when molded into optical components (refer to Patent Document 11), a resin composition is proposed in which the volume fractions of the polyphenylene sulfide and polyphenylene ether used are specified and inorganic filler is used. Further, to decrease the occurrence of flash at the time of injection molding, a resin composition is proposed in which the proportions of polyphenylene sulfide, polyphenylene ether and glass fiber are specified (refer to Patent Document 12). To obtain a resin composition which is composed of polyphenylene sulfide and polyphenylene ether, is low in water absorption properties and anisotropy, and has excellent dimensional stability, it is proposed that a specific linear polyphenylene sulfide is used in combination with a specific crosslinked polyphenylene sulfide (refer to Patent Document 13). Still further, a resin composition suitable for blow molding is proposed in which not only a linear polyphenylene sulfide and a crosslinked polyphenylene sulfide, but a small amount of other resins is used in combination (refer to Patent Document 14).
The present inventors have already proposed resin compositions, as polymer alloy materials composed of a polyphenylene sulfide resin and a polyphenylene ether resin in which a specific compatibilizer is used (refer to, for example, Patent Documents 15 to 16).    [Patent Document 1] JP-A-59-209644    [Patent Document 2] JP-A-60-1241    [Patent Document 3] JP-A-6-322271    [Patent Document 4] JP-A-2000-265060    [Patent Document 5] JP-A-2001-98151    [Patent Document 6] JP-A-2002-129014    [Patent Document 7] JP-A-9-157525    [Patent Document 8] JP-A-11-106655    [Patent Document 9] JP-A-11-158374    [Patent Document 10] JP-A-2002-69298    [Patent Document 11] JP-A-2001-294751    [Patent Document 12] JP-A-2002-179915    [Patent Document 13] JP-A-2002-121383    [Patent Document 14] JP-A-11-228829    [Patent Document 15] JP-A-1-213359    [Patent Document 16] JP-A-2001-302916    [Patent Document 17] JP-A-09-161737    [Patent Document 18] JP-A-10-053706    [Patent Document 19] JP-A-2002-012764
These documents disclose that the disadvantages of resins are overcome, in other words, deterioration of dimensional accuracy with temperature changes is improved and occurrence of flash during molding is inhibited by allowing the resins to take the form of a composition prepared by blending the resin component of polyphenylene sulfide and polyphenylene ether with a variety of inorganic fillers. However, the actual situation is that improvement in heat resistance, and toughness (impact strength) and mechanical strength are still insufficient.
There are also proposed resin compositions whose toughness has been further improved by adding a copolymer of a vinyl aromatic compound and a conjugated diene compound and/or the copolymer having undergone hydrogenation, as an elastomer component, to a resin component (refer to, for example, Patent Documents 17, 18 and 19).
However, for the proposed resin compositions composed of polyphenylene sulfide, polyphenylene ether, and an elastomer component, though their mechanical properties have been improved, none of their impact resistance, stiffness and heat resistance reaches the higher level required to meet the needs for decreasing the thickness of molded articles to keep up with the recent trend toward smaller-sized, lighter-weight and more precise mechanical parts such as frame chassis in the fields of office equipment or information instruments.