A method and apparatus for processing thermal film includes a process sequence that involves a pre-process of a portion of a thermal film to determine optimal conditions for a subsequent process for developing images on the film. In a first feature of the invention, the thermal film undergoes a pre-process for determining the requirements of the subsequent full process of the thermal film. During the pre-process, a portion of the film, preferably before or after an area in which images are captured is used as a process test area. Thereafter, processing during a subsequent processing as well as scanning conditions can be modified based on the optimum processing characteristics determined during the pre-process. In a second feature of the invention, the process sequence can include a pre-process of the entire film and an infrared scanning of the entire film to determine optimal processing conditions for the second process for developing the image. In the latter feature, the entire film is processed at a minimum temperature, and scanned at an illumination wavelength that does not cause imagewise exposure. The results of scanning can be used to interpret physical characteristics of the film. This information can be used to determine for example, the temperature and the time of the subsequent process to allow for optimum extraction of information from the film.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing thermal developable film. It particularly relates to a method and apparatus for employing a pre-process on the film to determine optimal conditions for a subsequent process.
In the conventional practice of color photography, silver halide film is developed by a chemical technique, requiring several steps consisting of latent image developing, bleaching, and fixing. While this technique has been developed over many years and results in exceptional images, the technique requires several liquid chemical solutions and precise control of times and temperatures of development. Further, the conventional silver halide chemical development technique is not particularly suitable for utilization with a compact developing apparatus. The chemical technique which is a wet processing technique also is not easily performed in the home or small office. Imaging systems that do not rely on conventional wet processing have received increased attention in recent years. Photothermographic imaging systems have been employed for producing silver images.
A method and apparatus for developing a heat developing film is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,767 to Islam et al. Summaries of photo thermographic imaging systems are published in Research Disclosure, Vol. 170, June 1978, Item 17029, and Vol. 299, March 1989, Item 29963.
Heat development color photographic materials have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,240 to Cerquone et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,365 to Taguchi et al, and commercial products such as Color Dry Silver supplied from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. and PICTROGRAPHY(trademark) and PICTROSTAT(trademark) supplied by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. are known. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,475 discloses an imaging element capable of providing a retained viewable image when imagewise exposed and heated.
A recent innovation in color negative film has made use of a thrust cartridge. Such cartridges are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,306 to Robertson et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,334 to Pagano et al. The film contained in such a thrust cartridge may contain a magnetic layer that allows recording of information during manufacture, exposure, and development of the film. Such film is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,874 to Sakakibara. The film and cartridge may contain additional provisions for data storage such as DX bar code data and frame number bar code data. Such elements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,032,854, 5,229,585, and 4,965,628. The thrust cartridge may also be made light-tight so that unexposed or imagewise exposed film that has been rewound into the cartridge may be stored without further exposure of the film within the cartridge. These thrust cartridge films have the advantage that they may be more easily manipulated for copying, digital reading, and storage.
U.S. Pat. No 6,048,110 to Szajewski et al. illustrates a further example of an apparatus for thermal development of thermal film using a thrust cartridge, with the apparatus including a magnetic reader and writer.
Writing of reference patches onto film to improve imaging system performance is known in the art. Such techniques for conventional wet process films are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,944xe2x80x94Reem et al. Similar techniques for dry process films are disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/206,914 filed Dec. 7, 1998. Further calibration patches are described in more detail by Wheeler et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,260, Koeng at al U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,717, by Cosgrove et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,647 and in combination with films intended for scanning by Sowinski et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,277.
A drawback with traditional approaches to processing film is that they do not provide for a consistent and accurate method of determining optimal processing conditions for thermally developed film.
The present invention provides for a method and apparatus for processing images, in which a pre-process of the film is used to determine optimum processing characteristics of the film for a subsequent second process.
The method of the present invention includes a first processing step of processing a thermal film to determine optimum processing characteristics of the thermal film; and a second processing step of processing the thermal film based on the optimum processing characteristics determined in the first processing step to develop images on the film.
The present invention further provides for an image processing system that comprises a processing section that is adapted to perform a test process on a thermal film to determine optimum processing characteristics of the thermal film and provide a processing signal indicative thereof. The processing section is further adapted to perform a subsequent full process on the thermal film to develop images on the film. The image processing assembly also comprises a controller that receives the processing signal and is adapted to modify the subsequent full processing of the film based on the determined optimum processing characteristics.
The invention further relates to processing method that comprises the steps of processing a thermal film at a minimum process temperature; scanning the processed thermal film at an illumination wavelength that does not cause an imagewise exposure of the film; determining optimum processing characteristics of the film based on information obtained from the scanning step; and performing a subsequent processing of the film based on the determined optimum processing characteristics.
The present invention further relates to a processing system that comprises a processing section adapted to process a photosensitive film at a minimum process temperature and is further adapted to perform a subsequent processing on the film to develop images on the film; a scanner that scans the film after the film has been processed at the minimum process temperature and before the film is subjected to the subsequent process to determine optimum processing characteristics of the film; and a controller adapted to modify the subsequent processing based on the determined optimum characteristics.
The present invention further relates to a film and processing system in which the film contains a test pattern that can be exposed during manufacture or prior to processing. The test pattern can be located on the film in an area that can be subjected to any suitable processing condition, including the low temperature initial process or the subsequent optimum processing temperature. Optical information extracted from the process test pattern can then be used to modulate a subsequent thermal process or modulate the digital image processing of the scanned images.

Processing apparatus and method for determining optimum processing characteristics of thermal developable film


This invention relates to textile substrates to which a finishing treatment has been applied during the manufacturing process. Such a finishing treatment provides improved water and/or oil repellency and stain and soil resistance. The finishing treatment generally includes a repellent agent, a stain release agent, and a particulate component. Other compounds may be added to the treatment, such as stain-blocking agents, crosslinking agents, coupling agents, antimicrobial agents, and pH adjusting agents. The components of the finishing treatment are generally applied to the textile substrate using an application process that results in layered structures on the surface of the treated substrate, which has been found to greatly improve the durability of the treatment. Such treated textile substrates thus exhibit excellent stain and soil resistance and water and/or oil repellency properties.

All U.S. Patents and Patent Applications disclosed herein are entirely incorporated by reference.
It has long been a necessity, particularly within the textile industry, to provide substrates that exhibit a number of simultaneous wash or abrasion durable properties. Most notably, water repellency, oil repellency, stain resistance, and stain release characteristics are highly desirable to facilitate cleaning of substrates, if not to prevent complete staining thereof. Unfortunately, provision of such simultaneous and wash or abrasion durable characteristics has been severely limited due to the general difficulties with meeting certain surface energy requirements throughout the wash or abrasion durable life of such a substrate. Generally, coatings or other treatments have not been readily available or widely known that can provide coexistent water and oil repellency and stain release on a wash durable basis to textile substrates (or other surfaces) because the surface energy profile required for one of these properties is disparately different from the surface energy profile required to impart the other property at the same time.
Although there have been some instances of initial simultaneous existence of both properties on certain substrates (as noted below), unfortunately, the degree of wash-durability thereof has been unacceptable for long-term utilization of target substrates. As a result, any significant reduction in either oil or water repellency consequently reduces stain repellency as well. With a reduced propensity to repel stains, the ability to effectuate proper stain release may likewise be diminished, particularly upon exposure to greater degrees of staining and wherein the surface energy profile needed for proper stain release function (which is similar to that needed to impart the aforementioned water and oil repellency properties) is compromised (e.g., is not wash or abrasion durable).
Hence, truly effective wash or abrasion durable, long-term, stain repellent, stain release, and soil resistant treatments have not been forthcoming, since simultaneous prevention of both polar (aqueous) and non-polar (olefinic) liquid penetration into such textile substrate surfaces has been very difficult to achieve that can withstand multiple wash and/or abrasion cycles. Market and consumer demands have shown that it would be desirable to render various textile substrates resistant to staining by as many common staining materials as possible and simultaneously render the substrates with improved stain removal characteristics by using routine cleaning procedures appropriate for the substrates. These cleaning procedures may include washing, such as in a home or industrial laundering machine, or spot cleaning procedures, such as used for upholstery. In addition, various other routine cleaning procedures, such as those employed for carpet cleaning and dry cleaning, are contemplated.
As one non-limiting example of a textile substrate, floorcovering articles, particularly the pile portion of such articles (e.g., the portion which is designed to be in contact with pedestrians' footwear, such as tufted fibers, cut pile fibers, loop pile fibers, and the like), are highly susceptible to staining, dirt accumulation, liquid spills, and the like. With pedestrians walking on such surfaces, it has been extremely challenging for floorcovering manufacturers to provide floorcovering articles that resist such attacks and maintain their original appearance after long-term use. Attempts by others to provide finishing treatments to floorcovering articles have included applying fluorochemical compounds to the surface of the article, for example, by spray coating. However, because the fluorochemical compounds applied in this manner appear to remain on the top and outside of the yarn bundles comprising a carpeted floorcovering article, rather than penetrating into the yarn bundle, such a process typically fails to provide the desired level of water and oil repellency. Furthermore, fluorochemical compounds applied in this fashion are easily worn off and thus, fail to provide the desired level of durability.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a finishing treatment for a textile substrate which provides long-term, durable stain and soil resistance and water and/or oil repellency to the treated substrate. Such durability is achieved, for example, after exposure of the textile substrate to 10000 cycles of ASTM D4966-98 Martindale Abrasion. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a process for applying the finishing treatment to the textile substrate, wherein the process provides a treated substrate that exhibits durable stain and soil resistance and water and/or oil repellency.

Textile substrates having layered finish structure for improving liquid repellency and stain release


The oxygen content of metal species in a heterogeneous catalyst is determined using volumetric adsorption measurements. Such measurements are employed to quantify the amount of reduction gas that it takes to reduce metal species of a catalyst sample, and the oxygen content is derived from this amount and the reaction stoichiometry. This method can be applied to mono-metallic and multi-metallic heterogeneous catalysts and has been shown to provide at least 10 times better detection sensitivity than typical TCDs in TPR-TCD methods.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to catalyst characterization and, more particularly, to determining the oxygen content of metal species in a heterogeneous catalyst.
2. Description of the Related Art
The performance of catalysts is highly dependent on their physical and chemical properties. However, it is often difficult to directly measure physical and chemical properties of supported metal species in catalysts, especially when the metal species are well dispersed. Catalyst developers therefore rely on sophisticated characterization techniques to determine the physical and chemical properties and performance characteristics of new catalyst designs.
One property that influences the performance of catalysts is the oxidation states of the catalyst metal species, as it is well understood that the catalytic activity of a metal is different from that of the same metal that is oxidized. Metal species in a heterogeneous catalyst can become oxidized during catalyst synthesis and/or processing. Various methods have been employed in the art to determine the oxygen content of metal species in a heterogeneous catalyst. The routine methods include X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR).
XPS is also known as ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis). It is a technique that measures the binding energies of the electrons in the atoms (a function of the type of atom and its environment) on a material surface. XPS spectra are obtained by irradiating a material with a beam of X-rays while simultaneously measuring the kinetic energy and the number of electrons that escape from the top 1 to 10 nm of the material being analyzed. Because the binding energies of the electrons in an atom depend on the chemical status (i.e., ionic or metallic), the binding energy spectra obtained from XPS can be used to derive the oxidation states of the targeted elements.
There are some limitations with XPS. One is the detection limit. It is difficult to obtain high quality XPS spectra in samples with low metal loadings, because the detection limit of XPS is typically >0.5 atomic percent (0.5 at %). For example, in a heterogeneous catalyst having palladium metal particles supported on alumina with a metal loading of 1 weight percent (1 wt %), the atomic loading of palladium is 0.2 at %, far below the detection limit of XPS. It would be very difficult to get high quality XPS spectra in such samples.
The XPS energy resolution is another limitation. In general, the energy resolution of an XPS instrument is ˜0.5 eV. However, the real XPS peak width depends on sample conditions. The peak width usually becomes broad for very small particles. The increased peak width is not desirable because it reduces the ability to distinguish the ionic state of targeted species, especially when the binding energy difference between ionic states is small. For example, the peak width in the case of small palladium particles can be as large as 2 eV, while the binding energy difference between the palladium metal (Pd0) and the Pd2+ ion is 1.2 eV. In this situation, it would be very difficult to identify the chemical state of palladium.
In TPR measurements, a certain amount of catalyst is loaded into a flow reactor. A gas mixture of hydrogen (or another reduction gas) in argon (or another inert gas) flows through the catalyst sample as the sample is heated from a low temperature to a higher temperature. The amount of reduction gas uptake during this process is measured and the amount of oxide is calculated based on the reduction stoichiometry. Various detectors can be used to measure the reduction gas uptake but thermal conductivity detector (TCD) is most often used.
Although TCDs are the most universal detectors available, it is well known that they are not very sensitive. A number of factors influence the detection limit of a TCD. The breadth of a given TCD peak is directly affected by the reduction kinetics. In general, for broad TPR peaks, the detection limit is ˜50 μmol of reduction gas. For sharp peaks, the detection limit can be as low as 10 μmol. As a way to increase the accuracy of data when using TCD in TPR, the amount of sample may need to be increased to boost the reduction gas consumption.

Determining oxygen content of metal species in heterogeneous catalysts


In a sensor on the basis of surface wave components disposed in a housing with at least one surface wave component, a fluid channel and conductors for high frequency signals, the conductors are connected to coupling capacitors with capacitive coupling surface areas which are arranged opposite each other on the housing and the surface wave equipment and closely adjacent one another so that high frequency signals can be transmitted to, and from, the surface wave components.

The invention relates to a sensor based on surface wave components, consisting of a housing with at least one surface component, a fluid channel, and conduits for conducting high frequency signals to, and from, the housing as it is known from DE 44 17 170.
In the field of sensors, piezoelectric high frequency components, such as bulk oscillators, surface wave resonators, surface work delay conduits, and filters on a quartz or ceramic basis, are electrically contacted by way of bond or weld joints. The bond wires are often disposed in areas of the sensor which carry fluids and generate additional noise as a result of vibrations, corrosion, and different materials at the point of contacts. They require space for the provision of bond loops and contacts and they cause signal delays by needed components and fixing cement.
R. Steindl et al.: SAW Delay Lines for Wirelessly Requestable Conventional Sensors, Proc. IEEE Ultrasonic Symposium, discloses SAW components which are controlled passively by transponders with antennas by way of electromagnetic waves.
J. Freudenberg et al.: A SAW immuno-sensor for operating in liquid using a SiO2 protection layer, Sensors and Actuators B 76 (2001) 147–151 discloses a SAW chip which is coupled by induction via a current loop. The high frequency coupling by way of antenna loops however requires a relatively large space on the surface of the sensor chip. The coupling must be placed mechanically accurately in order to compensate for insertion damping changes at different antenna distances. In addition, the sender and receiver antenna impedances must be adapted for which additional component changes and installation damping changes are necessary. The complete signal is highly delocalized by the inductive part of the antenna coupling. Because of the large amount of over-recording consequently different coupling structures cannot be arranged in a spatially tight manner.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a sensor of the type described above which however is simple in design and small in size.

Sensor based on surface components with capacitative coupling of the high frequency connections


Provided is a resistive random access memory device that includes a storage node connected to a switching device. The resistive random access memory device includes a first electrode, a resistance variable layer, and a second electrode which are sequentially stacked, wherein a diffusion blocking layer is formed between the first electrode and the resistance variable layer or between the resistance variable layer or/and the second electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a resistive random access memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) have the advantages of having high integration density and high response speed; however, have disadvantages in terms of losing stored data when power is turned off. Nonvolatile memory devices are memory devices in which the drawbacks of DRAMs do not apply, and thus, recently various nonvolatile memory devices have been proposed. Among such nonvolatile memory devices, resistive random access memories (RRAMs) have drawn attention as nonvolatile memory devices having high integration density and high response speed like DRAMs.
A conventional storage node of a RRAM has a structure in which a lower electrode, a resistance variable layer, and an upper electrode are sequentially stacked.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional storage node S1 of a conventional RRAM.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional storage node S1 has a structure in which a lower electrode 10, a resistance variable layer 20, and an upper electrode 30 are sequentially stacked. The lower electrode 10 and the upper electrode 30 are formed of Pt, and the resistance variable layer 20 is formed of nickel oxide (NiOx). According to a voltage that is applied between the lower electrode 10 and the upper electrode 30, a current path 1 is formed in the resistance variable layer 20 or the current path 1 is not formed in the resistance variable layer 20. When the current path 1 is formed in the resistance variable layer 20, electrical resistance in the resistance variable layer 20 is low, and this is referred to as an ON state. If the current path 1 is not formed in the resistance variable layer 20, electrical resistance in the resistance variable layer 20 is high, and this is referred to an OFF state.
The principle of generating the current path 1 in the resistance variable layer 20 will now be described in detail. When a negative voltage is applied to the resistance variable layer 20 and a positive voltage is applied to the upper electrode 30, electrons migrate into the resistance variable layer 20 from the upper electrode 30 to the lower electrode 10. These electrons have high energy, and thus, break the bonding between oxygen and nickel in the resistance variable layer 20. Thus, oxygen atoms diffuse to the lower electrode 10 resulting in the generation of oxygen vacancies in the resistance variable layer 20, and thus, the current path 1 is formed in the resistance variable layer 20 in this manner. Such diffusion of oxygen atoms is called percolation diffusion.
However, the oxygen atoms not only diffuse in the resistance variable layer 20 but also out diffuse towards at least one of the lower electrode 10 and the upper electrode 30. Therefore, an endurance of the resistance variable layer 20 and the conventional RRAM is reduced. That is, because of the out diffusion, the characteristics of the resistance variable layer 20 are easily degraded as the switching frequency increases, and in a severe case, the characteristics of the resistance variable layer 20 can be completely lost.


An illustrative example embodiment of an elevator system includes a plurality of components respectively configured for at least one function during operation of the elevator system. A plurality of sensors are each associated with at least one of the components. Each sensor senses at least one characteristic of an actual performance of an associated one of the components. A processor is configured to receive respective indications from the sensors regarding the actual performance of the associated components, determine a difference between the actual performance and a desired performance of any of the components based on the respective indications, and determine an adjustment to the operation of the elevator system based upon the determined difference.

Elevator systems are useful for carrying passengers between different levels in a building. There are a variety of components involved in elevator system operation to ensure proper system operation and passenger comfort. Good ride quality depends on many of the components being in good operating condition. Over time some components may wear or become damaged, which may introduce noise or vibration and reduce ride quality for passengers or eventually interfere with continued operation of the elevator system.
Elevator systems are typically designed to operate at contract speeds using preset motion profiles. When a problem occurs that interferes with proper system operation, the elevator is typically taken out of service until maintenance personnel are able to address the situation. One drawback of this approach is that when the elevator is taken out of service, it is not available to provide service to potential passengers.

Elevator system operation adjustment based on component monitoring


An electric connector, by which a chip module can be attached to a circuit board, comprises an insulating body further provided with a pair of metallic reinforcing plates on two opposite sides thereof, a plurality of conducting terminals and a retaining structure detachable from the insulting body that can retain the chip module within the insulating body. The retaining structure is a pair of driving rods pivotally connected to two sides of the insulating body that are not attached with the reinforcing plates. The electric connector assures more stable electric connection between the chip module and the circuit board and is difficult to deform due to its metallic reinforcing plates.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electric connectors, more particularly to an electric connector by which a chip module can be attached to a circuit board.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The electric connectors of the prior art by which a chip module can be attached to a circuit board are usually classified into two types. An electric connector of the first type comprises an insulating mount and an upper cover coupled with the insulating mount. There is further a driving stick installed between the insulating mount and the upper cover. The insulating mount further includes a plurality of receptacle grooves for housing conducting terminals, whereas the upper cover is provided with a plurality of through holes corresponding to the receptacle grooves, whereby the foot pins of a chip module can go through the through holes on the upper cover and electrically connect the conducting terminals disposed within the insulating mount. Thereby, the chip module will attach to a circuit board. However, the insulating mount and the upper cover are made of a plastic material, of which the upper cover is easy to get deformed due to its low strength. Moreover, the mount will get deformed after repetitious application of the driving stick. Therefore, the electric conduction between the circuit board and the chip module will be influenced. For this disadvantage, electric connectors of the send type each comprises an upper iron shell, a lower iron shell, a driving stick and an insulating body wherein a plurality of conducting terminals are located. The lower iron shell is a rectangular frame for housing the insulating body. The conducting terminals are housed in the insulating body, each with one end soldered onto a circuit board. However, when the driving stick is twisted downward so as to close the upper cover, the lower cover may experience a non-uniform clipping force and get deformed, and the insulating body mounted on the lower cover will get deformed at the same time, which may urge some of the conducting terminals to depart from the circuit board. Therefore, the electric connection between the board and the module will be badly influenced. Further, iron shells of the second type will increase the weight of the electric connectors and cost more.
Therefore, it is necessary to invent a new electric connector that overcomes the above disadvantages.


A recording apparatus including: a medium support tray capable of supporting a recording medium; a moving mechanism moving the medium support tray; a recording head capable of recording on the recording medium which is transported by moving the medium support tray; a protective member of the recording head; an instruction receiving section which receives an instruction of a maintenance start of the protective member; and a controller which controls the moving mechanism so as to retract the medium support tray from a set position in which the recording medium is set on the medium support tray when the instruction receiving section receives the instruction of the maintenance start.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, a maintenance method and a recording method of the recording apparatus.
2. Related Art
In the related art, a recording apparatus is used which includes a medium support tray capable of supporting a recording medium and a moving mechanism of the medium support tray, and records on a recording medium which is transported by moving the medium support tray using a moving mechanism. Such a recording apparatus has a cap, a wiper or the like as a protective member for maintaining a function of a recording head as a recording section.
For example, a recording apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2006-35658, which includes a wiper (wiper blade) as a protective member for maintaining a function of a recording head (for performing recovery of ejection of a recording head) and a wiper maintenance unit for removing ink adhered to the wiper.
Since the ink or the like is adhered to such a protective member of the recording head in accordance with the use of the recording apparatus, maintenance such as cleaning may be required. Generally, the maintenance of the protective member of the recording head is performed manually by a user using a dedicated maintenance kit.
However, in the recording apparatus which performs recording on the recording medium which is transported by moving the medium support tray using the moving mechanism, the medium support tray is an obstacle and efficiency of a maintenance work may be lowered, when performing the maintenance. Especially, in such a recording apparatus, in order to increase efficiency of a setting operation, generally, a set position is in the front side of a main body of the recording apparatus when setting the recording medium on the medium support tray. Therefore, the medium support tray is an obstacle because of being positioned in the set position.
Regarding the recording apparatus of JP-A-2006-35658, there is no description about a position of a platen that is the medium support tray when performing the maintenance. That is, in the recording apparatus of JP-A-2006-35658, the position of the platen is not clear when performing the maintenance and the efficiency of the maintenance work may be lowered when performing the maintenance of the protective member of the recording head.
As described above, in the recording apparatus of the related art, the position of the medium support tray is not controlled when performing the maintenance and the efficiency of the maintenance work may be lowered when performing the maintenance of the protective member of the recording head.

Recording apparatus, maintenance method and recording method of recording apparatus


An air filter arrangement for use in a heating or cooling system including a frame and a filtration member secured within the frame. The frame is defined by a pair of opposed frame components or halves, which are removably or permanently fastened to one another with the filtration member sandwiched therebetween. The frame itself defines a template for permitting trimming of the filter arrangement to one of number of standard filter sizes. The frame is vacuum formed, which allows the frame to be formed from a thin, sheet-like plastic material, and results in a flexible, yet rigid frame which allows easy trimming by the user and provides a filter arrangement with is lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture.

In residential and commercial settings, the cleaning of air prior to heating or cooling same has become increasingly important. More specifically, consumers desire improved air filtration due to an increase in allergy symptoms often caused by dust, pollen, and pet dander to name a few, and due to the likelihood of other more dangerous airborne contaminants. Further, the use of modern construction methods which tightly seal homes and other structures in order to improve energy efficiency necessarily results in less air flow from outside the structure and more recirculation of existing air within the structure. Thus, any airborne contaminants present within the structure must be eliminated from the air prior to recirculation.
Traditionally, air filters for heating and cooling systems have been provided in a frame having fixed dimensions which typically correspond to particular heating and cooling system size requirements. Because the size requirements are fixed, retailers must carry a large number of sizes in order to accommodate needs of the buyers. This large number of air filters which must be kept on hand thus necessitates a large amount of storage and shelf space within the store. As a result of the above, air filters which are adjustable by the user were developed.
One example of an adjustable air filter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,526. The air filter shown in the '526 patent includes an outer frame constructed of channel members which are movable relative to one another to allow adjustment of the frame in both the width and length dimensions. The frame holds a filter member centered between two opposed grids in sandwich fashion. To assemble the air filter, the user determines the filter size for the particular heating or cooling unit and cuts the filter member to the appropriate length and width. Once the filter member is sized, the user then trims the front and rear grids to correspond to the filter size, and the filter member is placed between the two grids. The size of the outer frame is then adjusted by sliding the channel members relative to one another, and the user-sized grid-filter sandwich is assembled into the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,276 also discloses a user-sizable furnace filter. This filter arrangement includes a carton defining templates thereon which are used for sizing the filter member and frame. The filter element is first sized by placing same on the paper template, and the filter element is then trimmed to the appropriate length and width. The frame is constructed of channels or right angle members, and the size of the frame is adjusted by slidably engaging the right angle members with one another, and then placing same on the frame template. The width and length of the frame is adjusted by sliding the channels relative to one another to the appropriate size to match the filter element. The filter element is then assembled within the frame.
While the above filter arrangements conveniently allow user-sizing, the arrangements involve many assembly steps, which necessarily complicates the sizing procedure for the end user. Further, the multiple components required for the above arrangements also increases manufacturing costs and also complicates assembly.
In an effort to obviate or at least minimize the above disadvantages associated with conventional filter designs, the air filter arrangement according to the invention includes a filter frame and a filtration member secured within the frame, which frame and filtration member which are selectively sizable by the user or the manufacturer to any one of a number of standard sizes. The frame is advantageously constructed of a pair of frame components or frame halves which in the preferred embodiment are removably secured to one another by a locking arrangement. The filtration member is sandwiched between these frame components and secured therebetween by the locking arrangement. For the convenience of the user, the frame defines thereon guides disposed in predetermined locations to correspond to the standard sizes most commonly required in heating and cooling systems, which guides serve as cutting guides to allow the user to easily and quickly cut the filter arrangement to the correct size. Further, the filter arrangement according to the invention is simple to size, since the frame and filtration member are cut to size in one step.
The locking arrangement according to the invention is releasable and thus permits reuse of the filter frame when the filtration member has become saturated and replacement or cleaning is necessary. More specifically, when replacement of the filtration member is necessary, the frame components are pulled apart from one another to release the filtration member, the filtration member is either cleaned or disposed of, and the clean filtration member or a new filtration member is placed between the frame components which are then locked together to securely position the filtration member therebetween. While a releasable locking arrangement is desirable primarily to allow reuse of the frame for environmental purposes, it will be appreciated that other locking arrangements are within the scope of the invention. For example, the opposed frame components can be permanently secured to one another through plastic welds, adhesive, or staples, for example.
The plastic filter frame pursuant to the invention is advantageously formed from a sheet-like plastic material by vacuum molding, which is a relatively inexpensive process, and also results in a frame which is sufficiently rigid, but also lightweight and very thin, which effectively reduces material and manufacturing costs.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words "upwardly", "downwardly", "rightwardly" and "leftwardly" will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words "inwardly" and "outwardly" will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.

Air filter arrangement and method of making same


A composite solid tire, including a worn solid rubber tire having a remaining rubber layer, and a thermo-setting polyurethane elastomer layer which is provided on an outer circumferential surface of the rubber layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite solid tire and a method of producing the same, and particularly to advantageous techniques for renewing worn solid rubber tires.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As a tire that supports, in a vehicle such as an automotive vehicle or an industrial vehicle, a load and has the function of smoothly transmitting forces between the vehicle and road surface, there have conventionally been known two sorts of tires, i.e., a pneumatic tire having a hollow structure in which air is charged, and a solid tire having a solid structure constituted by a rubber-based annular body. In particular, the solid tire enjoys, as tire's functions, a load supporting property, a cushioning property, and a rubber elasticity, and is widely used in low-speed and high-load vehicles such as a forklift truck, an industrial tractor, a battery carrier, or a trailer. As predominant sorts of the solid tire, there are known a tire that is constituted by a single tread rubber and is directly bonded to a wheel, a tire that is constituted by a rubber adhered, by vulcanization, to a base band and is press-fitted onto a wheel, and a tire that is constituted by an annular tread rubber and is fitted on an outer circumferential portion of a wheel.
Generally, the solid tire is known as a solid rubber tire that is constituted by a tread rubber formed of, e.g., NR or SBR. Since the solid rubber tire contacts the road surface and produces a frictional force to allow movement of the vehicle, a surface of contact of the tire with the road surface is worn little by little as the tire is used for a long time and, if a life expectancy of the tire is fulfilled, the tire should be disposed of. Recently, however, the disposal of waste tires has become a serious social problem. In particular, since the solid rubber tires are heavier than pneumatic tires used in, e.g., passenger cars, the solid rubber tires are more difficult to handle. In addition, the solid rubber tires are hard to burn or find other applications. Thus, the solid rubber tires are very difficult to dispose of.
In the above-indicated technical background, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-31822) has proposed a pneumatic-type solid tire having a structure in which a surface of a tread portion of a worn tire is subjected to buffing as a sort of polishing and a renewing tread rubber is adhered to the thus polished tread portion. According to this technique, worn tires that have conventionally been difficult to dispose of can be effectively utilized, tire materials can be saved, and times needed to produce tires can be reduced.
However, even though the renewing tread rubber may be adhered to the tread portion of the worn tire, so as to produce a renewed tire, the tread portion of the renewed tire is easily worn again as it is used. Thus, the durability of the tread portion of the renewed tire is not satisfactorily improved. In addition, since rubber materials used to form the renewed tread rubber contain carbon black as a reinforcing agent and accordingly have a black color, black marks of the tire are left on the road surface because frictions are produced between the tread rubber and the road surface. The black tire marks left on the road surface may damage an aesthetic appearance of the road surface and, in a work field where a forklift truck or an industrial tractor is used, not only the black tire marks but also black rubber powder resulting from wearing of tires may damage a work environment.
In addition, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-144442) discloses a wheel renewing method in which urethane rubber is used. More specifically described, this document discloses a renewed wheel obtaining technique in which, after a rubber portion is removed from a base band of a waste tire, an ether-based urethane rubber layer is formed on an outer circumferential surface of the base band.
In the above-indicated renewed wheel, the urethane rubber layer contacts road surface. The urethane rubber has a higher wear resistance than that of a common tread rubber formed of, e.g., NR or SBR. Thus, the renewed wheel can enjoy a significantly improved durability or life expectancy. On the other hand, the renewed wheel suffers a lower cushioning property than that of a wheel having the common tread rubber. Therefore, when an operator operates a vehicle, such as a forklift truck or an industrial tractor, in which the renewed wheel is used, uncomfortable shocks may be transmitted to the operator. The cushioning property of the renewed wheel might be improved by forming the urethane rubber layer to have a foamed structure or largely lowering the hardness (or increasing the softness) of the urethane rubber layer. In this case, however, the urethane elastomer may lose its proper wear resistance and accordingly its durability.

Composite solid tire and method of producing same


A structure for an organic electroluminescent display. The organic electroluminescent display includes a substrate, an organic light-emitting unit including a first electrode, an organic layer, and a second electrode sequentially stacked on a surface of the substrate, an encapsulation cover made of inexpensive glass bonded to the substrate by a sealant to seal a space containing the organic light-emitting unit, an absorbent disposed on an inside of the encapsulation cover to absorb moisture in the space, and a buffer layer formed between the sealant and the encapsulation cover to increase the degree of curing of the sealant and the adhesion between the substrate and the encapsulation cover. Therefore, damage to the organic layer by moisture present in the space defined between the substrate and the encapsulation cover is prevented, thereby increasing the life span of the display.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display, and more particularly to an organic electroluminescent display with an improved encapsulation structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, organic electroluminescent displays are self emission displays that emit light by electrically exciting a fluorescent organic compound. Organic electroluminescent displays can be advantageous over liquid crystal displays (LCDs) because organic electroluminescent displays require low driving voltage, easy thin film formation, provide wide viewing angle, and have fast response speed. Therefore, there has been an increasing interest in organic electroluminescent displays as the next generation of displays.
The organic electroluminescent displays include a substrate and an organic light-emitting unit having a sequentially stacked structure of a first electrode, an organic film, and a second electrode on the substrate. The organic electroluminescent displays may include an encapsulation cover bonded to the substrate to seal a space containing the organic light-emitting unit.
In such organic electroluminescent displays, when positive and negative voltages are applied to these electrodes, holes from the positive voltage-applied electrode migrate toward the light-emitting layer of the organic film via a hole transport layer and electrons from the negative voltage-applied electrode are injected into the light-emitting layer via an electron transport layer. At this time, the electrons and the holes recombine with each other in the light-emitting layer to generate an exciton. When the exciton is changed from an excited state to a ground state, a fluorescent molecule of the light-emitting layer emits light, thereby displaying an image.
However, such organic electroluminescent displays last only so long because the organic film is very susceptible to moisture and oxygen. That is, moisture and oxygen decrease the life span of the organic film as well as deteriorate the characteristics of the organic film. In this regard, it is necessary to prevent moisture and oxygen from ever coming into contact with the organic film. Therefore, what is needed is a design for an organic electroluminescent display that better prevents moisture and oxygen from ever contacting the organic layer.

Encapsulated organic electroluminescent display


An ink jet head includes a channel unit including a manifold plate and a nozzle plate. The manifold plate has annular grooves. The nozzle plate has annular grooves and nozzles. Each manifold plate annular groove and each nozzle plate annular groove form an annular cavity around one of the nozzles in the channel unit, so that a less rigid region is formed near the nozzle. In a detecting step, the directional deviation of the ink discharged from a nozzle is detected. The detecting step is followed by a deforming step for deforming the nozzle plate by radiating a laser beam to a radiation region in the less rigid region near a defective nozzle. The radiation region varies with the direction and amount in which the ink discharged from the defective nozzle deviates. A nozzle is regarded as defective if the ink discharged from it deviates directionally beyond a specified amount.

For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003-3202051 corresponding to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-326712 discloses an ink jet head that discharges ink to form an image on recording paper. This ink jet head has a laminated structure formed by laminating thin metal plates. The bottom layer of the ink jet head is a nozzle plate having a large number of nozzles for discharging ink, which are formed through the nozzle plate by press working or laser processing. The ink jet head also has ink channels formed therein, each of which communicates with one of the nozzles.
However, the ink discharged from a nozzle of such an ink jet head may deviate directionally from the prescribed direction. This may be caused by positional shifting between plates that occurs when bonding and securing the plates, displacement of the nozzle axis during nozzle formation, and adhesion of foreign matter to the inner wall of the nozzle. The directional deviation leads to a significant reduction in quality of the image to be formed. Accordingly, if the directional deviation is greater than a predetermined or specified amount, the ink jet head is regarded as defective. There may be a case where the recording paper is positioned at a distance of 1 millimeter below the nozzle plate. In this case, the directional deviation is regarded as greater than the predetermined amount if ink droplets discharged from the nozzle land outside a circular region on the paper that has a radius of several tens of micrometers and a center aligned with the nozzle.
Several hundred to several thousand nozzles are formed in such an ink jet head. The head is rejected if the directional deviation at just a single nozzle is greater than the specified amount. Accordingly, as the number of nozzles increases, the head production yield falls.

Ink jet head, method for producing ink jet head, and discharge direction correcting method for ink jet head


The present invention relates to disposable elastic thermal body wraps having an elastic laminate structure formed from a polymeric mesh and two fabric carrier layers, and one or more heat cells, wherein heat is applied to specific areas of the user's body, preferably for pain relief. More particularly, the present invention relates to disposable elastic thermal body wraps, preferably for the back, upper arm, lower arm, upper leg, and lower leg, having an elastic laminated structure and one or more thermal packs comprising a plurality of individual heat cells providing good conformity to user's body to deliver consistent, convenient and comfortable heat application.

A common method of treating temporary or chronic pain is by application of heat to the afflicted area. Such heat treatments are used as a means of therapy for conditions which include aches, stiffness in muscles and joints, nerve pain, rheumatism and the like.
Muscle pain, and back pain in particular, is among the most common complaints found in modern society. Heating pads and elastic compression bands are common devices used to relieve these types of pain. More recently, combinations of elastic wraps and heating pads have been available. Many of these combination devices, however, utilize thermal packs which are reusable via the replenishment of thermal energy including heated water and/or microwaveable gels. Such therapeutic devices are inconvenient to use on a regular basis.
In general, the beneficial therapeutic effects from the administration of heat diminishes after the heat source is removed. Therefore, depending on the temperature, it is desirable to provide a sustained heat source to the afflicted area for as long as possible, to achieve the desired therapeutic benefits. Many of the current heating devices which require the thermal source to be replenished, such as the devices mentioned above or those employing reusable thermal packs containing water and/or microwaveable gels, are inconvenient to use on a regular and extended basis because the heat energy may not be immediately available when needed or released in a controllable manner.
Disposable heat packs based on iron oxidation, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,366,804, 4,649,895, 5,046,479 and Re.32,026, have been developed, however, such devices have proven not totally satisfactory. Many of these devices are bulky, cannot maintain a consistent and controlled temperature, have difficulty staying in place during use, and/or have unsatisfactory physical dimensions which hinder their effectiveness, and hence deliver inconsistent, inconvenient and/or uncomfortable heat application to the body.
Proper positioning of the thermal energy also may not be maintainable during movement of the user with current heat devices. Elastic laminate structures have previously been used in a variety of products including elastic absorbent structures such as sweat bands, bandages, diapers, and incontinence devices. Several methods for producing these laminate structures, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,522,863, 4,606,964, and 4,977,011, also currently exist. However, while these elastic laminate structures may be suitable for the purposes for which they were intended, they have strands which protrude on cut sides of the structure such that they can be a source of irritation when worn next to the body. Further, if an elastic laminate structure having a large modulus value (i.e., the ratio of stress to strain) is desired, elastic strands having a large cross-sectional area are generally required. Large strands of this type, however, can produce a rough or "nubby" feeling when placed in contact with the body.
The present inventors have developed disposable elastic thermal body wraps which maintain proper positioning during use by the user while providing both compression and thermal energy in a controlled and sustainable manner. These wraps comprise one or more thermal bonded elastic laminate structures, which preferably comprise two carrier layers and an elastic member integrally thermal bonded therebetween, and one or more heat cells, preferably one or more thermal packs, wherein each thermal pack comprises a plurality of individual heat cells, which typically comprise an exothermic composition, preferably comprising a specific iron oxidation chemistry and specific physical dimensions and fill characteristics, spaced apart and fixedly attached across the thermal pack. The thermal bonded elastic laminate structures, when incorporated into the body wraps of the present invention, substantially reduce delamination of the composite structure of the wraps during use, substantially reduce the rough or "nubby" feeling and irritation caused by strands protruding from cut edges, and provide the body wraps with excellent conformity to the user's body for uniform heat coverage and enhanced comfort.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide disposable elastic body wraps having excellent conformity to the user's body for uniform heat coverage and enhanced comfort, which comprise one or more thermal bonded elastic laminate structures and one or more heat cells, which provide a controlled and sustained temperature and which reach their operating temperature range relatively quickly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide disposable elastic body wraps, which comprise one or more thermal bonded elastic laminate structures, which comprise two carrier layers and an elastic member integrally bonded therebetween, and one or more thermal packs comprising a plurality of individual heat cells. Such elastic laminate structures substantially reduce delamination of the composite structure of the wraps, substantially reduce the rough or "nubby" feeling and irritation caused by strands protruding from cut edges, and provide consistent, convenient, and comfortable heat application.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide disposable elastic body wraps, preferably for the back, upper arm, lower arm, upper leg, and lower leg, which comprise one or more thermal bonded elastic laminate structures, which preferably comprise two carrier layers and an elastic member integrally bonded therebetween, and one or more thermal packs having a unified structure of at least one continuous layer of semirigid material, which has different stiffness characteristics over a range of temperatures, and a plurality of individual heat cells, spaced apart and fixedly attached across the unified structure of the thermal pack providing good overall drapability while maintaining sufficient rigidity to maintain structural support of the heat cells and to prevent unacceptable stretching of the continuous layer or layers during processing or use.
These objectives and additional objectives will become readily apparent from the detailed description which follows.


A method of determining buffer insertion locations in an integrated circuit design establishes candidate locations for inserting buffers into a net, and selects buffer insertion locations from among the candidates based on slew constraints. The selection of buffer insertion locations preferably optimizes slack and buffer cost while keeping slew from any buffered node to any sink less than a required slew rate. The slew analysis computes an output slew SL(v) of a given buffer b inserted at a node v as SL(v)=RS(b)·C(v)+KS(b), where C(v) is the downstream capacitance at v, RS(b) is the slew resistance of buffer b, and KS(b) is the intrinsic slew of buffer b. The delay through a given buffer may also be computed based on signal polarity. However, the invention still preferably uses worst-case slew resistance and intrinsic slew in considering the slew constraints. If the selection of the buffer insertion locations results in no locations being selected due to slew violations, the present invention may advantageously find a partial solution by relaxing the slew constraint.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the fabrication and design of semiconductor chips and integrated circuits, more specifically to a method of performing buffer insertion to manage timing and electrical requirements in an integrated circuit design.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits are used for a wide variety of electronic applications, from simple devices such as wristwatches, to the most complex computer systems. A microelectronic integrated circuit (IC) chip can generally be thought of as a collection of logic cells with electrical interconnections between the cells, formed on a semiconductor substrate (e.g., silicon). An IC may include a very large number of cells and require complicated connections between the cells. A cell is a group of one or more circuit elements such as transistors, capacitors, resistors, inductors, and other basic circuit elements grouped to perform a logic function. Cell types include, for example, core cells, scan cells and input/output (I/O) cells. Each of the cells of an IC may have one or more pins, each of which in turn may be connected to one or more other pins of the IC by wires. The wires connecting the pins of the IC are also formed on the surface of the chip. For more complex designs, there are typically at least four distinct layers of conducting media available for routing, such as a polysilicon layer and three metal layers (metal-1, metal-2, and metal-3). The polysilicon layer, metal-1, metal-2, and metal-3 are all used for vertical and/or horizontal routing.
An IC chip is fabricated by first conceiving the logical circuit description, and then converting that logical description into a physical description, or geometric layout. This process is usually carried out using a "netlist," which is a record of all of the nets, or interconnections, between the cell pins. A layout typically consists of a set of planar geometric shapes in several layers. The layout is then checked to ensure that it meets all of the design requirements, particularly timing requirements. The result is a set of design files known as an intermediate form that describes the layout. The design files are then converted into pattern generator files that are used to produce patterns called masks by an optical or electron beam pattern generator. During fabrication, these masks are used to pattern a silicon wafer using a sequence of photolithographic steps. The component formation requires very exacting details about geometric patterns and separation between them. The process of converting the specifications of an electrical circuit into a layout is called the physical design.
Cell placement in semiconductor fabrication involves a determination of where particular cells should optimally (or near-optimally) be located on the surface of a integrated circuit device. Due to the large number of components and the details required by the fabrication process for very large scale integrated (VLSI) devices, physical design is not practical without the aid of computers. As a result, most phases of physical design extensively use computer-aided design (CAD) tools, and many phases have already been partially or fully automated. Automation of the physical design process has increased the level of integration, reduced turn around time and enhanced chip performance. Several different programming languages have been created for electronic design automation (EDA), including Verilog, VHDL and TDML.
Faster performance and predictability of responses are elements of interest in circuit designs. As process technology scales to the submicron regime, interconnect delays increasingly dominate gate delays. Consequently, physical design optimization tools such as floorplanning, placement, and routing are becoming more "timing-driven" than the previous generation of tools. For such a tool to be effective, it must be able to efficiently compute interconnect delay since several million delay calculations are required to optimize a design. In certain types of circuits, delays exist based on circuit topology and circuit components. Delays are particularly acute in circuits having resistive and capacitive elements, or RC circuits. Circuit designers continually search for efficient techniques for accurate estimation of these delays, while determining the particular circuit's response to a load. In particular, circuit designers want to be able to calculate reliable delay information when designing the circuit. To this end, several prior art metrics (i.e., computational methods) have been developed.
The Elmore delay metric, which calculates the first moment of the impulse response, is the most widely applied and simplest interconnect delay metric that still captures some amount of metal resistance effects. The Elmore metric provides an upper bound on delay given any input waveform because the RC circuit impulse response is unimodal and positively skewed. The Elmore delay metric is commonly utilized for performance optimization tasks such as floorplanning, placement, buffer insertion, wire sizing in part and global routing. The widespread use of the Elmore delay metric is due to its closed form expression, fast computation speed, and fidelity with respect to simulation. Closed form delay equations, such as Elmore delay metric, are generally preferable due to both efficiency and ease of implementation, as long as they are sufficiently accurate.
Owing to the tremendous drop in VLSI feature size, a huge number of buffers (i.e., amplifiers or inverters) are needed for achieving timing objectives and fixing electrical violations for interconnects. It is estimated that the number of buffers will rise dramatically, reaching about 15% of the total cell count for intrablock communications for 65 nanometer technology, and close to 800,000 buffers required for 50 nanometer technologies. Therefore, both the complexity and importance of buffer insertion is increasing in an even faster pace.
Physical synthesis is prominent in the automated design of integrated circuits such as high performance processors and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Physical synthesis is the process of concurrently optimizing placement, timing, power consumption, crosstalk effects and the like in an integrated circuit design. This comprehensive approach helps to eliminate iterations between circuit analysis and place-and-route. Physical synthesis has the ability to repower gates, insert buffers, clone gates, etc., so the area of logic in the design remains fluid. However, physical synthesis can take days to complete.
During physical synthesis, buffer insertion is called for to either optimize nets for delay or to fix nets due to electrical violations. One mechanism for performing buffer insertion on a fixed Steiner integrated circuit topology is the van Ginneken algorithm, as described in "Buffer Placement in Distributed RC-tree Networks for Minimal Elmore Delay," ISCAS Proceedings pp. 865-868 (1990). Given a fixed Steiner tree topology, the van Ginneken algorithm finds the optimal buffer placement on the topology under an Elmore delay model for a single buffer type and simple gate delay model. The primary idea of van Ginneken is to choose a set of buffer candidate locations that lie on the Steiner topology at some uniformly fixed distance apart. Buffer insertion then proceeds for that particular set of candidates from sink to source. When a candidate location falls within a region that is blocked because it is too densely populated with logic, that location is skipped and a buffer is inserted into the next candidate insertion location that is not blocked while maintaining the uniform spacing.
As seen in FIG. 1, a Steiner tree representation of a net 1 places candidate buffer insertion points 2 at regular intervals along the paths from source 3 to sinks 4, 5 and 6. A logic cell 7 (or a portion of a logic cell) is present in the path of the net. The portion of the net block by logic cell 7 is skipped when determining candidate buffer insertion points 2. The spacing between candidate insertion points may be increased or decreased by the designer to achieve a particular timing requirement. Increasing the frequency of buffer insertion locations can improve timing of the net, but at an increased buffer cost.
One problem with the van Ginneken approach is that buffer insertion fails to take into consideration more realistic net parameters, such as input signal polarities and slew constraints. From extensive experiments of traditional buffer insertion algorithms on typical industrial circuits with 300,000 or more objects, there is a big difference between the slack improvement computed by buffer insertion and the slack improvement computed by a static timing analysis tool. Traditional buffer insertion does not consider these differences and may result in suboptimal results. Van Ginneken's algorithm also restricts buffer placement to uniform locations along a net, which fails to take advantage of the density of the logic in the vicinity of the candidate locations.
In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to devise an improved method of selecting buffer insertion locations to efficiently achieve timing closure. It would be further advantageous if the method could allow for buffer insertion with non-uniform spacings to take advantage of variations in the density of the logic regions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Techniques for super fast buffer insertion

International Business Machines Corporation


A screen in which icons of a plurality of information items are arranged is displayed as a information selecting screen to display information selected from the screen by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of displaying, a method of processing, an apparatus for processing, and a system for processing multimedia information with high usability in which a user can easily search a large amount of various multimedia information for desired information to select the information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in the field of television broadcast technology, the communication satellite broadcast has been developed, and it is about to start the digitization of the broadcasting satellite broadcast and the ground wave broadcast.
Namely, a large volume of various contents and various information items are going to be transmitted via broadcast media or through communications to families.
In the following description, contents and various information are collectively referred to as contents, which also applies to the claim.
Additionally, in the field of technology of personal computers (to be referred to as PC herebelow), the network configuration has been developed, and it is possible to retrieve information of the world via, for example, world wide web (WWW) using the Internet.
Although the televisions (TV) and the personal computers have been used by different users for different purposes, it is expected that the televisions or personal computers function as windows of information in the future. In this situation, the televisions and personal computers are assumed to come together into a combined form.
There has been proposed a technology of the prior art to handle a large amount of various contents, namely, a service of television broadcasting in which there is disposed a storage for several hours of video. Information changed at a broadcast of the news, weather forecast, or the like is automatically updated to the latest information so that the user can view the information at any time.
Additionally, as interfaces to select a large volume of various contents, there has been proposed, for example, a technology using characters called icons as contents information which is used to display a program list, to display a menu as a table of contents, and to display details of contents to present contents stored.
Characters such as icons are referred to as contents information herebelow, which also applies to the claim.
The televisions are combined with the personal computers as described above and hence a large amount of various contents are transmitted to the user. However, it is expectedly quite difficult for the user to select desired information from such a large volume of various contents.
The technology of the prior art regarding the interfaces above provides the display of a program list, a menu as a list of contents, and contents by contents information (icons). When the amount of contents increases, the menu or the like is required to be hierarchically configured to display all contents information. This leads to a problem that it is quite difficult for the user to select desired information from the contents information.
Furthermore, a car information system such as a car navigation system or an intelligent transport system is being installed for cars, and various information such as road guide information, traffic information, and information of amusement facilities is introduced to the car information systems. These system is also attended with a problem similar to the problem above.

Method of displaying, a method of processing, an apparatus for processing, and a system for processing multimedia information

Abstract: In the operation, icons of information items of different kinds are horizontally displayed, and a degree of details of the information is changed in the vertical direction and a degree of recommendation of the information to the user is changed in a direction of depth.

Abstract: The user can easily select desired information from a large amount of various contents supplied and the information can be optimally displayed for the user.


A dual axis leveling system (10) for a vertical support column (100), wherein, the leveling system (10) comprises a generally open rectangular base member (20) dimensioned to receive a generally rectangular bearing plate member (30); wherein, adjustment means (40) are disposed at the four corners of the base member (20) and the bearing plate member (30) for varying the relative spacing there between at those locations.

As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,913,582; 5,186,430; 2,227,713; and 1,772,708; the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse leveling arrangements.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, these patented systems do not even come close to providing the degree of variable adjustment that is provided by the arrangement that forms the basis of the present invention.
As shown in the above-mentioned patents, the prior art at best teaches the use of a pair of adjustable height elements that will only provide a height adjustment along one transverse axis.
Obviously, in instances wherein a true leveling capability is desired the height adjustment arrangement must have a dual axis adjustment capability so that a precision leveling of a vertical column can be achieved.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among both professional and part time carpenters for a new type of vertical column leveling arrangement that employs a dual axis adjustment capability, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.


A hose cleaner comprises a resilient portion supported by a support portion and having an opening extending therethrough. A dirty hose having a size larger than the opening is inserted through the opening and pulled therethrough. The opening of the resilient portion is compressed around the exterior of the hose and removes the dirt and debris from the exterior of the hose. The hose cleaner also functions as a hose holder for supporting and guiding the hose for additional purposes.

Hoses are used for a variety of applications, such as outdoor garden hoses for watering and indoor cleaning hoses connected to a cleaner for cleaning carpets and the like. When hoses are used, dirt tends to cling to the outer surfaces of the hoses. The dirt may be clipped grass and mud from the lawn, or dust and crumbs on the carpet in the house. It is desirable to clean the exterior of the hose in some situations to prevent tracking dirt into clean areas. Simply rinsing the hose to clean it may be too time-consuming or otherwise impractical, and the wet hose is likely to pick up additional dirt.


A communication apparatus and a communication method prevent responses from being simultaneously received from two or more communicating parties. A first NFC apparatus transmits data for requesting IDs, and acquires IDs sent from second and third NFC apparatuses in reply to the request. After acquiring the IDs of the second and third NFC apparatuses, the first NFC apparatus transmits data that includes their IDs as the data for the second and third NFC apparatuses. If the first NFC apparatus cannot properly acquire the IDs of the second and third NFC apparatuses, then it sends the data for requesting their IDs again. Upon receipt of the request for the IDs, the second and third NFC apparatuses generate their own IDs by using random numbers and send the generated IDs. If the second and third NFC apparatuses receive the request for their IDs again, then they re-generate their own IDs by using random numbers, and send the re-generated IDs again. The present invention can be applied to, for example, an IC card system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and a communication method and more particularly to a communication apparatus and a communication method that allow a plurality of communicating parties to be individually identified with accuracy so as to prevent responses from being simultaneously received from two or more communicating parties in, for example, near field communication or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a system used for the near field communication, an integrated circuit (IC) system, for example, is widely known. In an IC card system, a reader/writer generates electromagnetic waves to form a so-called radio frequency (RF) field or a magnetic field. When an IC card is brought close to the reader/writer, power is supplied to the IC card by electromagnetic induction and data is transferred to and from the reader/writer.
The IC card systems currently available come in, for example, type A, type B and type C.
Type A adopts the Philips' MIFARE system. Data encoding by Miller is performed for the transmission of data from a reader/writer to an IC card, while data encoding by Manchester is performed for the transmission of data from the IC card to the reader/writer. Type A uses a data transmission rate of 106 kbps (kilo bits per second).
In Type B, data encoding based on NRZ is performed for the transmission of data from a reader/writer to an IC card, while data encoding based on NRZ-L is performed for the transmission of data from the IC card to the reader/writer. Type B uses a data transmission rate of 106 kbps.
Type C is based on the FeliCa technology developed by Sony Corporation, which is the assignee of the present application. Data encoding by Manchester is performed for the transmission of data between a reader/writer and an IC card. Type C uses a data transmission rate of 212 kbps (kilo bits per second).
In an IC card system, when a plurality of IC cards are brought closely to a single reader/writer, the reader/writer is required to identify each of the IC cards so as to identify each communicating party when performing communication.
A method is available for identifying a plurality of IC cards by assigning unique identification numbers (hereinafter referred to as IDs) to the IC cards and have the IDs reported from the IC cards to the reader/writer.
If unique IDs are assigned to the IC cards, as in the case described above, then the IDs will not be overlapped among IC cards. In this case, however, memories, such as electrically erasable programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), are required to always store the unique IDs. This means that the IC cards must be provided with EEPROMs to store their IDs even when the EEPROMs are not necessary, disadvantageously resulting in higher manufacturing cost.
As a solution to the above problem, a method is available in which random numbers are generated in the IC cards and the generated random numbers are temporarily used as their IDs. This method obviates the need for always storing the IDs and therefore obviates the need for providing them with the EEPROMs for storing IDs.
However, if random numbers are used for the IDs, then the same random numbers may be used as the IDs by a plurality of IC cards. If this happens, when a reader/writer transmits data on the basis of the ID, a plurality of IC cards simultaneously responds, causing a collision to take place. This prevents the reader/writer from properly receiving the responses from the IC cards.

Communication apparatus and communication method


Microlenses including wire-grid polarizers and methods for their manufacture are disclosed. The method involves forming wire-grid polarizer patterns on a surface of the microlens. The devices and methods provide simple and economical microlenses with polarizers.

Microlenses are widely used in telecommunications systems and optical devices such as switches, circulators, isolators, and wavelength division multiplexers. Microlenses are frequently used to focus and/or collimate light emitted from a light source, for example, a laser, or other optical components into an optical fiber. In many applications, it may be necessary to maintain polarization of light in an optical device or system, and it may be necessary to insert a polarizer in the path of the light to control polarization. The addition of a separate polarizer element can add at least two or more optical surfaces to a system. Additional optical surfaces have undesirable associated transmission loss resulting from an increase in reflection.
There is a trend toward miniaturization of optical devices. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a microlens having a polarizer element that does not add two or more optical surfaces. A microlens and polarizer with fewer optical surfaces would also potentially reduce the complexity of devices and manufacturing time and cost. It would be desirable to provide a microlens and polarizer that does not require welding, soldering, or adhesives to permanently affix the separate components in place.

Microlens including wire-grid polarizer and methods of manufacture


There is provided transport apparatus for carton blanks 11. The blanks are delivered to a pair of rotating nip rollers 17 by using a segment wheel 15 and a swinging suction arm 16. The nip rollers 17 are drive at a predetermined speed so as to deliver the blanks 11 between two pairs of endless belts 18, 19 which are driven at the same speed as each other, the speed of the belts being slower than that of the nip rollers 17. The blanks 11 are, therefore, received by the nip rollers 17 in a pitched manner but the relative speeds ensures that the blanks are transported by the endless belts 18, 19 in an unpitched, end to end relationship.

The present invention relates to apparatus for transporting carton blanks in a packaging machine from a pitched carton pick mechanism to an unpitched carton folding mechanism.
In known packaging machines which are pitched, for example machines for producing multipacks of bottles or cans, carton blanks are held in a magazine and are picked off one by one by a carton feeder before being transported in a pitched manner to an area where they are folded around the articles to be packed. In a packaging machine which is not pitched, the carton blanks have to be transported to the folding area in back to back fashion, aligned with the unpitched articles supplied by the infeed mechanism of the packaging machine.
According to the present invention there is provided transport apparatus for transporting carton blanks from a pitched carton pick mechanism to an unpitched carton folding mechanism, said transport apparatus comprising: a pair of nip rollers for rotation at a first speed which rollers receive the carton blanks at pitched intervals, at least one pair of opposed endless belts which in use move at an identical second speed, the belts defining therebetween a gap, the blank being received in the gap and conveyed by the belts, the gap at the upstream end of the belts nearest the nip rollers being widened such that the nip rollers accelerate the blanks into the widened gap, the distance between the nip rollers and the non-widened section being substantially equal to the carton length such that downstream of the widened section the successive blanks are disposed in end to end relationship.
Preferably two pairs of endless belts are provided at laterally spaced locations for receiving lateral extremities of the cartons. In preferred arrangements the gaps between the pairs of belts widen slightly at their downstream ends to facilitate removal of the extremities of the cartons.
In some arrangements the length of the widened upstream section between the nip rollers and the non-widened section of the endless belts is variable to enable the apparatus to be used with cartons of different lengths. Conveniently the upstream end of one belt of each pair is guided by two spaced guide rolls at its upstream end, the axes of the rolls being located on a line parallel to the path of travel through the non-widened section, the most upstream first guide roll being of smaller diameter than the second guide roll which constitutes the junction of the widened upstream section, the smaller diameter first guide roll effecting said gap widening.
A preferred feature is that the axis of the second guide roll is movable along said parallel line to effect the variable length of the widened upstream section. Normally the lower belt of each pair is provided with said first and second guide rolls.
Typically the upstream widened section and the non-widened section of the endless belts are angled downwardly so as, in use, to approach from above a stream of product moving unpitched along a substantially horizontal product path. Also the downstream widened section of the endless belts is substantially parallel to and above part of the horizontal product patch so as, in use, to place the successive carton blanks on to successive groups of products as side folding arms engage the blank and pull the lateral extremities of the blank from between the pairs of endless belts.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in more detail.


Disclosed is a flash EEPROM cell needing only a 5 volt external source using an on-chip voltage multiplier circuit to provide high voltages necessary to effect Fowler-Nordheim tunneling during both the program and erase modes. Properties of dielectric layers between a floating gate and a control gate and between the floating gate and a drain region differ to facilitate programming and erasing of the floating gate. Also disclosed is a method for producing a flash EEPROM cell by forming the insulative layer between a floating gate and a control gate to have a capacitance lower than the capacitance of the insulating layer between the floating gate and a drain region.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) cells, and more particularly to a split gate transistor and common gate flash EEPROM cell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With conventional split gate flash EEPROM cells a disadvantage exists in that, in addition to a standard 5 volt power supply used to read the cell, a secondary power supply of 12 volts is required to program the cell. In a conventional prior art cell, a floating gate is charged with electrons by channel hot-electron programming and the floating gate is discharged by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling of electrons from the floating gate to a drain region.
A typical prior art split gate flash EEPROM cell has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,766 issued Nov. 8, 1988, to G. Samachisa et al.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate in simplified and greatly enlarged fashion first and second embodiments of a typical prior art split gate EEPROM cell such as that described in the above-referenced patent. FIG. 1 shows a cross section through a prior art EEPROM memory cell comprising various layers grown and/or deposited on P-type monocrystalline silicon substrate 1. Upon substrate 1 is grown a first gate oxide 4 having a thin dielectric portion 5. Thin dielectric portion 5 is typically formed using the well-known Kooi effect. A first polysilicon layer, which is lightly doped, is applied upon first gate oxide 4 and thin dielectric region 5, and thereafter masked and etched to define floating gate 6. Interpoly oxide 7 and second gate oxide 8 are then grown in a manner well known in the art. A second polysilicon layer is deposited over interpoly oxide 7 and second gate oxide 8, then doped, masked and etched to form control gate 9. Finally, substrate 1 is doped forming self-aligned source region 2 and drain region 3, having a small side diffusion located under one edge of control gate 9 and one edge of floating gate 6, respectively. Disposed below first gate oxide 4 and thin dielectric region 5 is first channel region 10. Below second gate oxide 8 and control gate 9 is second channel region 11 which abuts source region 2, but does not extend below floating gate 6.
FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the prior art EEPROM cell in which first gate oxide 4' is grown to a uniform thickness.
To erase the prior art EEPROM cells illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a potential of approximately 17 to 20 volts is applied to the drain region 3, control gate 9 is grounded, and source region 2 is either grounded or allowed to float. Under these conditions electrons will tunnel from floating gate 6 through thin dielectric portion 5 into drain region 3 by virtue of the well-known Fowler-Nordheim tunneling effect. As a result, floating gate 6 achieves a positive potential. In erasing an EEPROM cell of FIG. 2, tunneling through first oxide 4' is obtained if the uniform thickness of first oxide 4' is limited to approximately 200 .ANG. or below.
In programming the prior art EEPROM cells of FIGS. 1 and 2, a potential of approximately 17 to 20 volts is applied to the control gate 9, drain region 3 is held at approximately 10 volts, and source region 2 is grounded. Under these conditions, electrons enter and are trapped by floating gate 6 by the channel hot electron injection phenomenon. As a result, floating gate 6 achieves a negative potential.
During a read operation, a potential of 5 volts is applied to control gate 9 and a potential of 2 volts is applied to drain region 3. If a net positive charge exists on floating gate 6 (i.e., an erase mode has been performed), then the channel region 10 will be open to current flow from drain region 3 to source region 2. Likewise, the 5-volt potential on control gate 9 will open channel region 11 to current flow from drain region 3 to source region 2. Therefore, if a net positive charge exists on floating gate 6, current will flow across channels 10 and 11 from drain region 3 to source region 2. If a net negative charge resides on floating gate 6, current from drain region 3 will be blocked from passing to source region 2 because channel region 10 will be nonconductive.
A disadvantage with the above-described prior art EEPROM cell is that in addition to a standard 5 volt power supply necessary to perform a read function, a second power supply of 12 volts or more is required to perform the programming function described above.


A ball carrying device for the storage and removal of game balls particularly, tennis balls. The device includes a body (11) of leather formed into a U-shape with a front fold (12). The body (11) is closed along the rear upper portion (11A) by securing a divider panel (13) which then extends inside the body (11) and attaches behind the front fold (12). The divider panel (13) will divide the body (11) into an upper ball recess (14) with a top opening (15) and a lower ball recess (16) with a rear opening (17) for insertion and removal of bals from the top and rear. The lower ball recess (16) is closed on the bottom by a bottom panel (11B). An upper spacer (18) is secured through the center of the upper ball recess (14) and a lower spacer (19) is secured through the center of the lower ball recess (16) to give the center of the respective ball recess ( 14) and (16) a dimension slightly less than that of the ball. Two pieces of hooked fastening material (20) are secured inside the body (11) for each of the majority of balls in the upper ball recess (14) and each ball in the lower ball recess (16) to retain the balls inside the body (11). A belt loop assembly (24), leg strap loop (27) and leg strap (28) are provided for attaching the device to a player.

The present invention relates to ball carrying devices for storing and removing game balls, particularly tennis balls.
The need to store and retrieve tennis balls while retaining freedom of movement is a concern to the tennis player. The player's pant pockets are commonly used to carry balls. This practice can be undesirable due to the fact that most pant pockets were not designed to allow a desired number of balls to be carried comfortably.
Varying types of tennis ball carriers, worn about the player's waist, have been proposed. Some of these designs are, a rigid tubular section with the ball being compressed for storage, a belt with a plurality of single pockets to store balls, and a clip-on ball holder for a single ball. Previous ball carrying devices have stopped short of providing a distinct attractive design which would substantially enhance salability.
The limited number of tennis ball carrying devices for sale in the United States is a good example that prior ball carrying devices have failed to totally meet the needs of the tennis player and accordingly, failed to get support from the manufacturing community.
The current invention, a ball holster, worn on the player's hip opposite the racquet hand, will prove to be not only functional, but contain definite aesthetic qualities that would be of superior value and have greater marketability than previous tennis ball carrying devices.


According to one embodiment, a direct-methanol fuel cell includes an anode which includes a current collector and a first catalytic layer formed on the current collector and into which an aqueous methanol solution is introduced, a cathode which includes a current collector and a second catalytic layer formed on the current collector and into which an oxidizer is introduced and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the anode and the cathode. The second catalytic layer includes a catalyst, a perfluoroalkylsulfonic acid polymer, and a ternary metal-containing copolymer. The ternary metal-containing copolymer includes a first vinyl monomer containing an organic metal complex of Pt, a second vinyl monomer containing an organic metal complex of M1, where M1 is a metal selected from Sn, Zn, Ni, Fe, Co, Al and Cu and a third vinyl monomer containing an organic metal complex in which M2 is ionically bonded, where M2 is Eu or La.

A direct-methanol fuel cell has a cell structure provided with an anode which comprises a current collector and a catalytic layer formed on this current collector and into which an aqueous methanol (CH3OH) solution is introduced as a fuel, a cathode which comprises a current collector and a catalytic layer formed on this current collector and into which an oxidizer is introduced and a proton conductive membrane interposed between these anode and cathode in such a manner that it is in contact with each of these catalytic layers. Each catalytic layer is formed of a mixture of a catalyst and Nafion™ (manufactured by DuPont), which is a perfluoroalkylsulfonic acid polymer. The Nafion™ in each catalytic layer is superior in chemical stability and also serves to support the catalyst. Incidentally, Nafion™ is also used as the structural resin of the proton conductive membrane which is an electrolyte membrane.
In a fuel cell having such a cell structure, when ethanol (C2H5OH) as a pollutant in an atmospheric is introduced together with air as an oxidizer into the cathode, it contaminates the catalyst in the catalytic layer of the cathode to degrade catalytic activity. The ethanol diffuses from sources such as alcoholic drinks and cosmetics to an atmospheric.