A T-shaped electrode is formed on a semiconductor substrate by first forming a dielectric film on the substrate. A first layer of photoresist is applied on the upper surface of the dielectric film, and a second layer of photoresist is applied over the first layer of photoresist. The first and second layers of photoresist have different optical properties, requiring different wavelengths of ultraviolet for exposure before developing. Portions of the first and second photoresist layers and the dielectric film are selectively removed by photolithographic techniques with one masking step for forming an opening to the substrate. The first and second photoresist layers adjacent to the opening are ion etched to expose the upper surface of the dielectric film adjacent to the opening. A portion of the first photoresist layer adjacent to the opening is removed to undercut the second photoresist layer. Metal is deposited in the opening and on the exposed upper surface of the dielectric film to form a T-shaped electrode. The first and second photoresist layers are then removed, thereby also removing metal deposited on top of the second layer of photoresist.

The present invention relates to transistor electrodes and, more particularly, to a T-shaped transistor electrode and a method of manufacturing it.
For transistor electrodes, such as those used to make contact with transistor emitters, it is often desired for the electrode to have a T-shaped cross-section. The T-shape includes an upper cross-piece portion which is perpendicular to a lower stem portion. One advantage of using a T-shape electrode is that the upper cross-piece portion is usually wide and thus capable of carrying relatively large current, while the lower stem portion is narrow to reduce adverse parasitic effects at the point where the electrode makes contact with the semiconductor substrate.
Another advantage of a T-shaped electrode is that the upper cross-piece portion overhangs the lower stem portion. This overhang permits the electrode to function as a "mask" when depositing neighboring electrodes. For example, a base electrode may be deposited next to a T-shaped emitter electrode. In this scenario the overhanging portion of the upper cross-piece portion of the T-shape functions as a "mask" for one side of the base electrode during its deposition.
Prior art T-shaped electrodes are typically formed on transistor substrates by using at least two mask/metal deposition steps. The first mask and metal deposition step is used to define the stem portion of the T-shape, and the second mask and metal deposition step is used to define the upper cross-piece portion of the T-shape. The use of two mask steps results in a two piece electrode, the lower stem portion being formed from one layer of metal, and the upper cross-piece portion being formed from another layer of metal.
The performance of a heterojunction bipolar transistor can be improved by placing the emitter and base electrodes very close to each other. As will be explained in detail below, however, when prior art T-shaped emitter electrodes are used as "masks" for forming base electrodes, the resulting base electrodes are often shorted with the emitter electrodes. A transistor will not operate if its emitter electrode is shorted with its base electrode.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art transistor emitter electrode 20 having a T-shaped cross-section. The electrode 20 is formed on a transistor substrate 26. The emitter electrode 20 includes two separate pieces of electrode metal: an upper cross-piece portion 22 and a lower stem portion 24. The upper cross-piece portion is positioned perpendicular to the lower stem portion. Furthermore, the upper cross-piece portion is ideally centered over the lower stem portion. Two base electrodes 28 and 30 are located in base wells 32 and 34.
The lower stem portion of the T-shaped emitter electrode is deposited on the transistor substrate 26 during a first mask and metal deposition process. The upper cross-piece portion is deposited on the lower stem portion during a second mask and metal deposition process. Each of the mask and metal deposition processes typically requires application of a layer of photoresist, masking of the photoresist, exposure of the photoresist to ultraviolet light, removal of the exposed region, and deposition of metal.
The base wells 32 and 34 extend beneath each side of the upper cross-piece portion, as indicated by reference numerals 36 and 38, to provide clearance between the base and emitter electrodes. The purpose of the extension of the base walls is to permit the upper cross-piece portion to be used as a "mask" when the base electrodes 28 and 30 are deposited in the base wells. Using the upper cross-piece portion as a "mask" results in the right edge of one base electrode 28 being aligned with the left edge of the upper cross-piece portion, and the left edge of the other base electrode 30 being aligned with the right edge of the upper cross-piece portion.
The upper cross-piece portion includes overhang regions 40 and 42 which overhang the lower stem portion. In order for the base electrodes to be positioned properly with respect to the lower stem portion, the overhang regions should be equal in length. The overhang regions will be equal in length when the lower stem portion is positioned in the center of the upper cross-piece portion, or in other words, when the upper cross-piece portion is "aligned" with the lower stem portion. When the upper cross-piece portion and lower stem portion are aligned, the base electrodes 28 and 30 are aligned with respect to the T-shaped emitter electrode.
Thus, it is advantageous for a T-shaped electrode to have the upper cross-piece portion of the T-shape aligned with the lower stem portion of the T-shape. In practice, however, prior art T-shaped electrodes often resemble the emitter electrode 44 shown in FIG. 2 having misaligned upper and lower portions. The two piece emitter electrode includes an upper cross-piece portion 46 and a lower stem portion 48. As shown, the upper cross-piece portion is misaligned with the lower stem portion. In other words, the lower stem portion is not positioned in the center of the upper cross-piece portion. This results in unequal overhang regions of the upper cross-piece portion.
Base wells are usually formed in a substrate subsequent to formation of the emitter electrode. As discussed above, the base wells should extend beneath each side of the upper cross-piece portion. In the transistor shown in FIG. 2, when base wells 50 and 52 are formed in the substrate 54, base well 52 must undercut the lower stem portion 48 in order to underlie the upper cross-piece portion. This undercutting of the lower stem portion is due to the upper cross-piece portion being misaligned with the lower stem portion. When the upper cross-piece portion is used as a "mask" for depositing base electrode 58, the resulting base electrode 58 is shorted with the lower stem portion 48 at point 60.
Another problem caused by the parts of the emitter electrode being misaligned is that the distance between one base electrode 56 and the lower stem portion 48 is greater than the distance between the other base electrode 58 and the lower stem portion. Device performance is decreased when the base electrodes are located unequal distances from the emitter electrode. Device performance is decreased because the conductive channels which are formed in the substrate 54 between each of the base electrodes and the emitter electrode during device operation are not equal in length.
One way to prevent base and T-shaped emitter electrodes from shorting together is to increase the distance between them. However, as the separation between the emitter and base electrodes increases, the device performance decreases. Thus, this is not a desirable solution to the problem.
Thus, there has developed a need for a T-shaped electrode capable of having a neighbor electrode deposited very close by without the two electrodes coming into contact with each other.

Method for forming self-aligned t-shaped transistor electrode


A decorative sheet includes a decorative base layer; an adhesive layer disposed on a surface of the decorative base layer; and an odor absorbing scuff resistant layer disposed on an opposing surface of the base layer from the adhesive layer. The odor absorbing scuff resistant layer includes an odor absorbing agent and silicone-acrylic particles. The decorative sheet maintains odor absorbing properties while being resistant to scuffs and scratches.

Unpleasant odor and volatile organic compounds (VOC) can be a nuisance and can cause health concerns, particularly in indoor environments. For example, sick building syndrome, which is a combination of ailments associated with an individual's place of work or residence, can be attributed to inadequate ventilation and chemical contaminants With newer building standards requiring improved insulation, air quality often suffers due to, for example, decreased air turnover, which can lead to increased odor and VOCs.
Decorative films having an odor absorbing layer have been proposed to reduce odor, VOCs, or other airborne chemical contaminants These films, such as Di-Noc® sheets (3M Company), may be used as design features for walls, ceilings and the like. A layer of odor absorbing agents, such as inorganic micro-porous fillers, may be disposed on the decorative film, which can then be appropriately placed on, for example, a wall or a ceiling to absorb airborne chemicals. Such odor absorbing decorative films can reduce odors and other nuisance chemicals, improving the well-being of individuals within rooms or buildings in which the films are used. However, decorative films having odor absorbing layers tend to scuff easily. Accordingly, the durability of the decorative and aesthetic aspects of such films tends to be poor.

Odor absorbing film having scuff resistance


A method and apparatus for determining the position, size and/or shape of a ball formed on a pad of a semiconductor chip when a wire is bonded between the pad and a lead of a lead frame. The ball is detected in at least three directions from the center of the ball towards the edge of the ball.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ball detection method and apparatus for wire-bonded points and more particularly to a method and apparatus for detecting balls after the ball bonding operations.
2. Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 4, in a workpiece 3 which comprises a semiconductor chip 2 installed on a lead frame 1, wires 4 are used for connecting the pads P.sub.1, P.sub.2 . . . of a semiconductor chip 2 and the leads L.sub.1, L.sub.2 . . . of a lead frame 1. The connection between the pads and the leads are done by a wire bonding apparatus as shown, for example, in FIG. 3.
Generally, in wire bonding executed between the pads and leads, any positional shift or discrepancy between them from predetermined positions is first detected at at least two points on the semiconductor chip 2 and at least two points on the lead frame 1 by a camera 11, and then the bonding coordinates for the pads and leads stored beforehand in the bonding apparatus are corrected based upon the detected result.
When the detection of the positional shift is performed by the camera 11, an X-axis motor 12 and Y-axis motor 13 are first driven so that the central axis 11a of the camera 11 is moved directly above each measuring point. After the bonding coordinates are corrected as described above, the capillary 15, through which a bonding wire 4 passes, is moved in the X and Y directions, or horizontally, and in the Z direction, or vertically, and the wire 4 is bonded between the pads P.sub.1, P.sub.2 . . . of the semiconductor chip 2 and the leads L.sub.1, L.sub.2 . . . of the lead frame 1.
In the process described above, the central axis 11a of the camera 11 and the central axis 15a of the capillary 15 are positionally offset by a distance W. Accordingly, after the positional shifts of points to be bonded have been detected by the camera 11 and the bonding coordinates have been corrected, an XY table or the bonding table 16 that has the capillary 15 is moved horizontally the offset distance W by the X-axis motor 12 and Y-axis motor 13 so as to bring the capillary 15 above a first bonding point. Then, the wire 4 is bonded at the point of corrected bonding coordinates by moving the XY table in the X, Y and Z directions by the X-, Y- and Z-axis motors by adjusting (or raising and lowering) the capillary arm 17 (or causing the capillary arm 17 to pivot).
In FIG. 4, the capillary arm 17 is pivotally mounted to a bonding head 10, and the camera 11 is fixed to the bonding head 10 via a camera-holding arm. In this Figure, Xw represents the X-axis component of the offset distance W, and Yw represents the Y-axis component of the offset distance W.
The devices disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 4-317342 and 4-320350 are prior art examples of wire bonding apparatuses of the type described above. The methods disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 51-78174 and Japanese Patent Application Publication (Kokoku) No. 57-50059 are prior art examples of methods for correcting the positions of workpieces.
As seen from the above, a mechanically determined fixed offset distance W exists between the central axis 11a of the camera 11 and the central axis 15a of the capillary 15. Accordingly, bonding can only be accurately performed at bonding points by detecting via the camera 11 the amount of positional shift of each workpiece 3, correcting the bonding coordinates, and then moving the capillary 15 (in accordance with a predetermined program) a distance that corresponds to the offset distance so that the capillary 15 is positioned at the corrected bonding coordinates.
However, wire bonding apparatuses generally include a heating block for heating lead frames, and they also include a capillary arm which holds the capillary. In addition to the heating block, other heat-generating sources such as X- and Y-axis motors and an ultrasonic oscillation source which is installed inside the capillary arm are used in wire bonding apparatuses. A Z-axis motor which raises and lowers or pivots a capillary arm is another element used in the bonding apparatuses.
Due to the operating heat and variations in the ambient temperature caused by the heat-generating sources as described above, differences between the thermal expansion of the capillary arm and the thermal expansion of the camera-holding arm that holds the camera are created. As a result, the offset distance between the central axis of the camera and the central axis of the capillary tends to change with respect to both amount and direction, and error caused by this fluctuation results in a shift in the bonding position.
The detection of the shift in the bonding position is generally accomplished by the imaging device 11 that detects the position of the center of the ball bonded to the pad P.
The method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 5-206197 is one of the conventional methods for detecting the position of the center of the ball. This method will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 through 7.
FIG. 5 shows that the center 7 of the pad P and the center 6 of the ball 5 bonded to the pad P substantially coincide, while FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a case where the center 5 of the ball 6 is shifted considerably from the center 7 of the pad P and not coincide.
In the method of this prior art, when ascertaining the approximate position of the ball 5, a macro-recognition process that uses two-value pattern matching is first performed to detect a tentative ball center 20. Using this tentative ball center 20 as a reference point, an edge search is next performed in eight directions 21a through 21h, so that multi-value edges 22a through 22h of the ball 5 are detected. Then, these detected ball edges are divided into four sets, i.e., 22a-22e, 22b-22f, 22c-22g and 22d-22h, and the respective center coordinates (intermediate positions) 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d are calculated or obtained. After this, perpendicular lines are drawn from the center coordinates 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d, and the center-of-gravity coordinates of the ball 5, i.e., the center coordinates 6 of the ball 5, are determined from the coordinates of the respective points of intersection.
As seen from the above, in the prior art described above, the tentative ball center 20 is set by subjecting the ball 5 to a two-value conversion, and edge searches are performed in eight different directions using this tentative ball center 20 as a reference point. As a result, several problems arise. The illuminating optical system is generally set so that the ball 5 and wire 4 are dark and pad P is bright; however, the area inside the ball 5 is not evenly dark but instead shows an irregular brightness. As a result, locations which are in fact no the edges of the ball are detected in error as ball edges.
In addition, in the prior art method described above, it is necessary to calculate the center coordinates 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d of all of the ball edge combinations 22a-22e, 22b-22f, 22c-22g and 22d-22h that pass through the tentative ball center 20. Accordingly, another problem arises. If the center 6 of the ball 5 and the center 7 of the pad P roughly coincide as shown in FIG. 5, the edges of the pad P and the edges of the ball 5 are separated from each other and can be clearly distinguished so that the center coordinates 23a, 23b and 23c are calculated. Thus, there is no problem. However, if the center 6 of the ball 5 is greatly shifted from the center 7 of the pad P so that the image of the ball 5 overlaps with the edges of the pad P or comes very close to the edges of the pad P as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the pattern surrounding the ball edges 22a and 22g are detected. This results in erroneous detections. Accordingly, in such cases, the center coordinates 23a of the edge combination 22a-22e and the center coordinates 23c of the edge combination 22c-22g are detected in error, and the result is that the center coordinates 6 of the ball 5 are not accurate.
Furthermore, in the prior art method, the ball edges 22a through 22h are first detected, the center points of the respective ball edge combinations are next determined, perpendicular lines are drawn from the center points, and then the center coordinates 6 of the ball are determined from the coordinates of the respective points of intersection. Thus, it takes a long time, and detection is not accomplished in a short period of time.
In recent years, furthermore, there has been a tendency toward a decreased pad size as a result of an increase in the number of wires, i.e., an increase in the number of pins. As a result, balls are formed so as to completely cover the pads. In such cases, erroneous detection of the ball edges may occur not only when the center of a ball is greatly shifted from the center of the pad but also even when the center of the ball substantially coincides with the center of the pad. Thus, as in the case described before, the center coordinates of the ball are not calculated accurately.

Ball detection method and apparatus for wire-bonded parts


An account management system establishes an account for a user. The user enters user account information into the account and the account management system establishes a facial template for the user based on an image of the face of the user. The user requests to change user account information at a merchant POS (POS) device. The merchant POS device captures a facial image of the user and transmits the image the account management system, which generates a facial template and compares the generated facial template against the existing facial template associated with user account. If the generated facial template is less than a threshold difference from the existing facial template, the user may update user account information at the merchant POS device, which communicates the updated user account information to the account management system. The account management system associates the updated user account information with the user account.

When consumers make purchases at a merchant location, many methods of conducting a transaction are available. Consumers may use many different cards or accounts for purchases, such as gift cards, debit cards, credit cards, stored value cards, and other cards or accounts. The user account identifiers and other data represented by the cards may be communicated to the merchant system via magnetic stripes, near field communication technologies involving user computing devices, and other suitable mechanisms.
Current applications for conducting transactions at a merchant location may provide the opportunity for the consumer to make a hands-free transaction verified via biometric information of a user, such as image or voice recognition of a user at checkout. However, current applications may not adequately prevent illegitimate users from updating biometric information of a user.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Facial profile password to modify user account data for hands free transactions


A computer-implement method comprises: training a classifier with labeled data from a dataset; classifying, by the trained classifier, unlabeled data from the dataset; providing, by the classifier to a policy gradient, a reward signal for each data/query pair; transferring, by the classifier to a ranker, learning; training, by the policy gradient, the ranker; ranking data from the dataset based on a query; and retrieving data from the ranked data in response to the query.

A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that items are ranked higher, lower or equal to other items. By reducing detailed measures to a sequence of numbers, rankings make it possible evaluate complex information according to one or more criteria. For example, an Internet search engine may rank webpages based on estimated relevance. In another example, a database may retrieve files based on relevance to a query.

Data retrieval using reinforced co-learning for semi-supervised ranking


In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to an image sensor, including a first photodiode and a second photodiode disposed in a semiconductor substrate. A floating diffusion node is disposed along a frontside of the semiconductor substrate and between the first and second photodiodes. A partial backside deep trench isolation (BDTI) structure is disposed within the semiconductor substrate and between the first and second photodiodes. The partial BDTI extends from a backside of the semiconductor substrate and is spaced from the floating diffusion node. A full BDTI structure extends from the backside of the semiconductor substrate to the frontside of the semiconductor substrate.

Many modern day electronic devices, such as digital cameras and video cameras, contain image sensors to convert optical images to digital data. To achieve this, an image sensor comprises an array of pixel regions. Each pixel region contains a photodiode configured to capture optical signals (e.g., light) and convert it to digital data (e.g., a digital image). Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors are often used over charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors because of their many advantages, such as lower power consumption, faster data processing, and lower manufacturing costs.

Photo diode with dual backside deep trench isolation depth

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A reduced size optical code identifier includes a transparent body having a flat bottom surface with a rounded or domed top surface that meets the bottom surface around the perimeter of the bottom surface. An optical code is provided in the body adjacent the bottom surface and is visible through the top surface. The top surface is configured to reduce reflection to facilitate optical recognition and decoding of the optical code. The body has a maximum length or diameter of about twelve millimeters or less. The identifier can be placed on an object or structure and then used to associate information with the optical code of the identifier so that the information can be retrieved using a computing device that can optically recognize the code and communicate with a remote server.

There are a large number of tracking and identifier systems currently in use that allow people to identify objects. Such a system is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 10,296,537, which described a key identifier system using indicia elements having unique graphical indicia that are affixed to keys. In another example of using optical codes, businesses commonly use "quick response" or QR codes to direct people to a website location that contains information. QR code reading applications are commonly available for various smartphone operating systems. For example, it is common for restaurants to provide "no touch" menus by placing a printed QR code on their tables that, when read by the QR code reader application program, direct the phone's browser to a web address that provides a copy of the restaurant's menu that is then displayed on their phone. One problem with QR codes is that they tend to be relatively large, and printed materials are subject to wear and damage that defaces the code. Their size tends to preclude them from being used in certain applications, and for tracking or identification systems, the fact that they can be worn or damaged to the point of being unreadable could lead to an inability to identify the object to which they are affixed.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.

Reduced size optical code identifiers and method of using same


Injection molded articles having large, thin sections are prepared by injection molding of a composition that includes specific amounts of poly(arylene ether) and a rubber-modified polystyrene. The specific component amounts provide the composition with a shear thinning index of 6 to 17 measured at a temperature of 260 to 300° C. and shear rates of 100 and 10,000 second−1.

Poly(arylene ether)s are a class of plastics known for excellent water resistance, dimensional stability, and inherent flame retardancy, as well as high oxygen permeability and oxygen/nitrogen selectivity. Properties such as strength, stiffness, chemical resistance, and heat resistance can be tailored by blending poly(arylene ether)s with various other plastics in order to meet the requirements of a wide variety of consumer products, for example, plumbing fixtures, electrical boxes, automotive parts, and insulation for wire and cable.
Injection molding compositions including a poly(arylene ether), a rubber-modified polystyrene, and a flame retardant are commonly used to mold a variety of articles. The melt rheology properties needed for injection molding these compositions are generally known. However, the present inventor has observed that injection molding compositions exhibiting similar melt rheology properties can exhibit different molding characteristics when used to mold articles having large, thin sections. For example, some molding compositions exhibit much larger mold shrinkages and/or warping than others. There is therefore a need to identify previously unrecognized melt rheology property limitations that improve the molding of large, thin objects from poly(arylene ether) compositions. This is also a need to identify poly(arylene ether) compositions that satisfy the previously unrecognized melt rheology property limitations.

Injection molded article and method for the manufacture thereof


The present invention is generally directed to methods of making ceramics with nanoscale/microscale structure involving self-assembly of precursor materials such as, but not limited to, inorganic-based block co-polymers, inorganic-/organic-based hybrid block co-polymers, and other similar materials, and to the structures made by such methods. Where such precursor materials are themselves novel, the present invention is also generally directed to those materials and their synthesis.

Composite materials having long-range order exist in nature. Natural composites, such as seashells, exhibit extraordinary mechanical properties that stem from the unique hierarchically-ordered structure in these materials. This realization has consequently triggered an effort to mimic nature by building long-range ordered structures at the nanoscale level. Order on the nanoscale can be used in turn to create hierarchically-ordered structures on micron and millimeter scales.
The technology to produce nanoscale inorganic ordered structures includes "top-down" approaches, such as sequential deposition and nanolithography, and "bottom-up" approaches, such as self-assembly based on ionic and nonionic surfactants and block copolymers. Inorganic ceramic materials, such as silica and oxides having nanoscale order, have been obtained by self-assembly using organic species as structure-directing agents. Polymeric precursors have been used to develop nanotubes and nanofibers of boron nitride, boron carbide, and silicon carbide, and to fabricate high temperature micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) with dimensions in the micron to sub-millimeter range. Block co-polymers have been used to fabricate nanostructured arrays of carbon.
Self-assembly of inorganic precursors by way of block co-polymers or surfactants is emerging as a powerful technique to build nanoscale structures in ceramics materials. Due to excellent control of dispersity in molecular weight of block co-polymers, some of the structures built therefrom possess long-range order. Current technologies along this line use organic block co-polymers. A certain ceramic precursor additive is miscible with one block in the block co-polymer, therefore when in co-existence with the block co-polymer, the precursor additive selectively targets that particular block (phase targeting). The block co-polymer can self-assemble into various structures, with the morphology and size scale determined by molecular weight and its polydispersity, volume fraction between blocks, and processing conditions. Due to this self-assembly and phase targeting of the ceramic precursor additive, structures comprising the precursor additive can thus be realized. When the self-assembled mixture of block co-polymer and precursor additives is heated to high temperatures, the block co-polymer decomposes, and the precursor additives are converted to ceramics, with nanoscale structure (nanostructure) inherited from the block co-polymer/precursor additive hybrid (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,056,849 B2).
The above-described process, however, has areas which can be improved upon, such the effectiveness of phase targeting. Functionalization of the ceramic precursor additives is needed in order to achieve phase selectivity. In most cases, the solubility of the precursor additives in a block is limited, even after functionalization. Furthermore, the organic block co-polymer in the above-described process serves as a structure-directing template, and it is a sacrificial component that needs to be removed during ceramization. The removal of the block co-polymer template causes low overall ceramic yield, adds to the problems of volume shrinkage and gas evolution during the pyrolysis process.
As a result of the forgoing, an alternative method of generating such nanoscale ordered high-temperature ceramics would be desirable—particularly wherein such an alternative method is capable of overcoming the above-described yield and gas evolution limitations.

Inorganic block co-polymers and other similar materials as ceramic precursors for nanoscale ordered high-temperature ceramics


A sample introducing apparatus for an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric and spectrochemical analyzer is provided to have a branch pipe at a sample pipe of a plasma torch for introducing an oxygen gas controllable in flow rate. The sample, after mixed with a sufficient amount of oxygen, is burnt by a plasma to oxidize and vaporize carbon.

The present invention relates to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric and spectrochemical analyzer, and more particularly to an organic solvent sample introducing apparatus.
A conventional inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric analyzer is structured, as shown in FIG. 2, by a plasma-generating torch 4 and a chamber 9 connected to the torch 4 for serving as a sample introducing section. The chamber 9 is provided with a support member 12 at one end through an O-ring 11. The support member 12 is fitted with a nebulizer 13 to atomize a sample 18. The sample 18 contained in a sample vessel 17 is supplied through a sample supply tube 16 to the nebulizer 13. Here, a nebulizer gas reserved in a nebulizer gas supply section 15 is supplied to the nebulizer 13 through a nebulizer gas supply tube 14. The sample 18 is atomized by this nebulizer 13 and then introduced to the torch 4 by way of the chamber 9. The chamber 9 has a drain port 10 at its lowermost portion to discharge a waste solution.
The torch 4 is structured by coaxial triple pipes so that the sample 18 introduced from the chamber 9 passes through an innermost pipe 5 of the three pipes into a plasma 2. The sample 18 is ionized in the plasma 2 and analyzed by a mass spectrometer (not shown) after passing through an aperture formed in a sampling cone 1 composing an analyzing section of the inducively coupled plasma analyzer. The innermost pipe 5 of the torch 4 has thereover an intermediate pipe 8a through which an auxiliary gas is passed from an auxiliary gas supply port 8. The intermediate pipe 8a has thereover an outermost pipe 24 through which a plasma gas (a gas that itself is later turned into a plasma by an application of an radio-frequency electric power) is supplied to a tip of the torch 4.
The chamber 9 has an exit pipe 23 to introduce the finely atomized sample into the innermost pipe 5. The innermost pipe 5 and the exit pipe 23 are connected at their ends in a fluid connection by means of a clamp 6.
Where the sample 18 to be introduced is an organic solvent, the carbon C contained in the introduced sample tends to adhere to the tip of the torch 4 or the aperture of the sampling cone 1, causing plugging or decrease in analytical sensitivity. To avoid this, a gas introducing port 21 is provided in the support member 12 to supply therethrough an oxygen gas into the chamber 9 where the oxygen gas is mixed with the sample 18 and introduced into the plasma 2, thereby solving the problem. That is, the carbon C contained in the sample 18 mixed with the oxygen gas is burnt in the plasma 2 and turned into carbon dioxide CO.sub.2 or carbon monoxide CO. Since such carbon dioxide CO.sub.2 or carbon monoxide CO passes through the aperture of the sampling cone 1 or dissipated to the atmosphere, there is no carbon adhesion to the tip of the torch 4 or the aperture of the sampling cone 1.
In the above-stated prior art, however, the oxygen gas introduced through the gas introducing port 21 in the support member 12 and the organic solvent atomized through the nebulizer 13 fixed on the support member 12 are mixed within the chamber 9. At this time, if static electricity, back fire, radio frequency wave or the like causes the organic solvent mixed with the oxygen gas present within the chamber 9 to be ignited, there is a fear of burst of the chamber 9. To avoid this, the introducing amount of the oxygen gas must be kept low. However, where the amount of the introduced oxygen gas is reduced lower than the amount required to sufficiently burn the carbon C of the sample, the carbon C is not sufficiently turned into carbon dioxide CO.sub.2 or carbon monoxide CO, thus resulting in plugging at the tip of the torch 4 or the aperture of the sampling cone 1 and hence decrease in analytical sensitivity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric analyzer which is capable of solving the above-stated problem, preventing plugging and enabling high sensitivity measurement without a fear of bursting the chamber 9 even if the oxygen gas flows in a sufficient amount for suppressing the plugging at the tip of the torch 4 or the sampling cone 1 as well as the decrease in sensitivity due to the carbon C contained in a sample.

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric and spectrochemical analyzer


A cleaning apparatus used in a spinning machine wherein a row of grabs having seats can be engaged over tubes in respective spinning stations to remove the tubes from and insert the tubes into the respective stations has at least one nozzle directable into the seats of the grabs and a system for supplying air under pressure to the nozzle and thereby forming at the nozzle a jet that blows lint and the like from the seat into which the nozzle is directed.

In a standard ring-spinning machine as described in commonly owned and copending U.S. patent application 07/799,820 filed 25 November 1991 respective filaments are wound up onto respective tubes on respective spindles carried in a long row on a bank of such spindles, and in some arrangements filaments are pulled off rows of tubes similarly mounted on spindles. An equally long doffing apparatus has respective grabs that engage the tops of the tubes and remove same from the spindles, while a similar such machine or even the same one can mount replacement tubes on the spindles.
Such a machine works in an environment filled with lint and filament particles that get into everything. It is known, for instance from German patent 3,425,545 filed by I. Matsui with a claim to a Japanese priority of 11 July 1983, to provide an arrangement of blow nozzles and vacuum ports to try to control this dust, but such machines are mainly aimed at overall control of lint in the region of the machine. With time lint particles clog the seats of the grabs so that tubes cannot fit properly in them. Accordingly the machine must be periodically downed and the seats of the grabs must be individually cleaned. This is done as infrequently as possible to avoid excessive down time so that the buildup of lint is often allowed to progress to a point where several grabs of the apparatus are so fouled with lint as to be inoperative well before they are due for periodic cleaning.

Grab-clearing system for tube-changing apparatus


A fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines, having a valve body that has a guide bore, in which a valve member is axially displaceably guided for controlling an injection cross section, and that is braced with its end face remote from the combustion chamber axially against a valve holding body via an intermediate disk, and a pressure chamber, formed by a cross-sectional enlargement of the guide bore, is provided in the valve body and can be filled with high fuel pressure via a pressure conduit that penetrates the valve body, the intermediate disk, and the valve holding body. The portion of the pressure conduit extending within the valve body is embodied as an oblique bore, which has an angle of inclination of between 15 and 35xc2x0 to the longitudinal axis of the fuel injection valve.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A fuel injection valve of the type with which this invention is concerned is known, for example, from German Patent Disclosure DE 195 08 636, which discloses a valve body which discharges with its free end into the combustion chamber of the engine to be supplied. The valve body has an axial blind bore, originating at its end face remote from the combustion chamber, that serves as a guide bore for a pistonlike valve member that is axially displaceably guided in this guide bore. On its lower end toward the combustion chamber, this valve member has a valve sealing face, with which it cooperates with a valve seat face formed on the closed end of the guide bore. Downstream of the sealing line between the valve sealing face and the valve seat face, an injection opening in the wall of the valve body is provided, which originating at the guide bore discharges into the combustion chamber of the engine to be supplied; the passage of fuel to this injection opening is controlled by the sealing cross section between the valve seat face and valve sealing face.
On its end remote from the combustion chamber, the valve body of the known fuel injection valve is braced axially against a valve holding body via a lock nut; an intermediate disk is fastened between the end faces, facing one another, of the valve body and of the valve holding body.
The known fuel injection valve also has a pressure chamber in the valve body; the pressure chamber is formed by a cross-sectional enlargement of the guide bore, and the valve member protrudes into it with a pressure shoulder pointing in the opening direction. This pressure chamber extends as far as the valve seat face and is filled with high fuel pressure via a pressure conduit. To that end, the pressure conduit protrudes through the valve body, the intermediate disk, and the valve holding body, and can be connected to a high-pressure fuel pump via an external high-pressure inlet line. The part of the pressure conduit extending in the valve body is embodied, beginning at the end face toward the intermediate disk, as an oblique bore and intersects the pressure chamber at its radially outward-pointing end.
The known fuel injection valve has the disadvantage that a nip region, formed in the valve body between the guide bore and the oblique bore, severely impairs the high-pressure resistance of the entire fuel injection valve. In order to make this nip region more resistant to high-pressure, especially at the level of the entrance orifice of the oblique bore into the pressure chamber, the annular shoulders of the valve holding body and of the lock nut in the known fuel injection valve are already embodied as beveled in such a way that the axial fastening forces on the fuel injection valve introduce a radially inward-oriented force component into the valve body, in order to counteract enlargement of the guide bore in the nip region. However, even this provision is inadequate to significantly increase the high- pressure resistance of the valve body in the region of intersection among the oblique bore, guide bore and pressure chamber, since the wall rib region that remains between the oblique bore of the pressure conduit and the guide bore is still very small, and thus there is still the risk of breakage at this point under very high fuel injection pressures.
The fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines according to the invention, has the advantage over the prior art that the wall rib region between the oblique bore of the pressure conduit and the guide bore can be increased in size considerably, particularly in the region of the inlet opening of the oblique bore into the pressure chamber, compared with conventional fuel injection valves. This is advantageously made possible by greatly increasing the angle of inclination of the oblique bore to a longitudinal axis of the fuel injection valve, so that the angle of intersection is made considerably larger. The angle between the axis of the oblique bore and the longitudinal axis of the fuel injection valve is advantageously between 15 and 35xc2x0, and is preferably 23xc2x0.
The very much more-oblique disposition of the oblique bore in the valve body advantageously first becomes possible by a great reduction in the length of the oblique bore. This shortening of the oblique bore is made possible according to the invention by the provision of an annular shoulder on the end of the valve body remote from the combustion chamber; the resultant annular shoulder face can now be brought axially close to the pressure chamber in the valve body, so that large angles of inclination between the axis of the oblique bore and the longitudinal axis of the fuel injection valve become possible. What would be ideal here is a virtually perpendicular entrance of the oblique bore into the pressure chamber; the inclination of the oblique bore can now be varied via the axial length between the pressure chamber and the annular shoulder face. In order, despite the shortest possible length of the oblique bore, to furnish the largest possible guide area of the guide bore in the valve body for guiding the valve member, the valve body, on its end remote from the combustion chamber, has a tubular rib region that protrudes axially past the annular shoulder face, and the guide area for the valve member can be optimized by way of the length of this tubular rib region. The intermediate disk, fastened between the valve body and the valve holding body, is now adapted to the new geometry of the valve body, and it has a geometry complimentary thereto on its end toward the valve body. To that end, the intermediate disk is now advantageously cup-shaped, and on its open end toward the valve body it has a central receiving opening, into which the tubular rib region of the valve body protrudes. The intermediate disk is designed in such a way that the valve body comes to rest sealingly with its annular shoulder face on an axially protruding annular end face of the intermediate disk, yet a play remains between the end of the tubular rib and the end face on the bottom of the receiving opening. In this way, a secure sealing of the pressure conduit is assured at the connecting faces between the intermediate disk and the valve body and between the intermediate disk and valve holding body. Furthermore, it is possible to compensate for play in the length tolerances between the various components.
A further advantage of the fuel injection valve of the invention is achieved by increasing the diameter of the pressure conduit downstream toward the pressure chamber. The successive diameter regions in the valve holding body, intermediate disk and valve body each have a slightly larger diameter, so that the incoming fuel flow cannot be made turbulent by edges or cross-sectional reductions at the transitions between the various components.

Fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines


An automatic load transfer device is provided for automated material handling systems of the type having a tow AGV pulling a train of trailers along a predetermined path between stations. The device has a base positioned adjacent to the path with spaced apart rails that support a movable carriage which shifts between retracted and extended positions. A conveyor having a plurality of side-by-side fingers with moving conveyor elements is supported on the carriage by a lift which shifts the conveyor between lowered and raised positions. The carriage, conveyor elements, and lift have separate drives that are operably connected with a controller which sequentially activates the same to load and/or unload loads onto and/or from the trailers.

The present invention relates to automated material handling systems, as well as an automatic load transfer device therefor.
Automatic guided vehicles ("AGV"s) are well known in the art, and are used in numerous automated material handling systems to move loads of raw materials, manufactured parts and/or other commodities between various stations. AGVs are typically grouped into four different types, including unit load AGVs, cart AGVs, fork AGVs and tow AGVs. Tow AGVs have sophisticated guidance systems, and are configured to pull conventional non-powered trailers arranged in a train. Unit load AGVs also have sophisticated guidance systems, and incorporate a mechanism to load and/or unload the same. Cart AGVs also have guidance systems, and are designed to place loads directly on top of the same, while fork lift AGVs are designed to lift palletized loads and deposit the same at a desired location. In general, unit load AGVs and fork AGVs are relatively expensive, at least for many applications, since they include both sophisticated guidance systems, and some form of integrated loading and/or unloading mechanism.
A need exists for an automated material handling system which is economical, and can efficiently and reliably transport loads between various stations even in challenging environments, such as heavy manufacturing and industrial plants, outside warehouse transports and the like. Such automated material handling systems preferably should have high uptime reliability, durability, and be capable of moving even heavy loads quickly over a wide variety of floor surfaces without damage to fragile loads. It is also advantageous that the system is uncomplicated in construction, and can be readily expanded, or reconfigured to accommodate a wide variety of different applications.

Automatic load transfer device and method for automated material handling systems


An article of footwear includes a sole structure and an upper. The upper may include a first and a second section and partially define a foot-receiving cavity over the sole structure. The first section may be fixed to the sole structure and the second section may articulate between an access position and a use position. The foot-receiving cavity may be more exposed in the access position to allow easier foot entry. A strap may extend from one of the first and the second section. A looped handle may extend from the strap and may at least partially form a loop. The strap may extend across the second section of the upper when the second section is in the use position. The strap may have a distal portion configured to releasably secure to one of the first section or the second section with the looped handle exposed.

Footwear may include a sole structure configured to be located under a wearer's foot to space the foot away from the ground. A footwear upper attached to the sole structure receives the foot. The fit of the upper to the foot may be adjusted with a fastening system so that the upper is loose enough to receive the foot but can be tightened around the foot to secure the foot relative to the sole structure. For example, a closure system, such as a lacing system, may include laces that are tied once the foot is received within the upper. Traditionally, placing footwear on a foot often requires the use of one or both hands to stretch the ankle opening of an upper, and hold the rear portion during foot insertion. The fit of the upper is then adjusted following foot insertion, such as by tying laces.

Closure strap for footwear upper with looped grab handle


A multi-fferential amplifier system includes an amplifier having a plurality of amplifier inputs and a plurality of amplifier outputs; a plurality of input terminals for receiving a plurality of inputs and being interconnected with the amplifier inputs through a plurality of input impedances, respectively, and a feedback network including a plurality of summing circuits for combining the plurality of amplifier outputs in a plurality of different sets of groups each group numbering one fewer than the plurality, respectively, and feeding back the sum of each group of amplifier outputs to the remaining amplifier input for maintaining the difference between any group of amplifier outputs proportional to the difference of a corresponding group of inputs at the terminals and maintaining the average value of the amplifier outputs constant and unrelated to the inputs at the terminal. Also disclosed is a multi-fferential amplifier including a plurality of differential input/output circuits responsive to a plurality of input signals and providing a plurality of output signals; each input signal is shared between a different set of differential input/output circuits in a plurality of different sets of groups, each group numbering one fewer than the plurality; each differential input/output circuit receives one input signal at its positive input and the other input signal at its negative input.

Operational amplifiers and differential amplifiers have been available in the marketplace for a long time. In a typical application an operational amplifier accepts an input voltage referred to a node typically known as ground, and generates an output voltage referred to the same node. On the other hand, a differential amplifier accepts the difference between two voltages at its inputs and produces two output voltages whose difference is proportional to the difference of the input voltages. Ideally, a differential amplifier does not respond to the average value of the two voltages present at its inputs (also known as input common-mode voltage).
Recently, applications have emerged in the marketplace which require that three input voltages be processed to produce three output voltages such that:                1. the voltage difference between any pair of output voltages is proportional to the difference between the corresponding pair of input voltages through the same proportionality constant,        2. the average value of the three output voltages is constant and unrelated to the input voltages.One approach would be to just use three single-ended amplifiers, but this would not maintain the output common-mode voltage constant and unrelated to the input common-mode voltage.

Trifferential amplifier and trifferential amplifier system


A cooling disk unit is used in a wafer chucking device and comprises first and second heat conducting disks one of which is concentrically superposed on the other in a casing. The first heat conducting disk has a first plurality of radial channels while the second heat conducting disk has a second plurality of radial channels. The first radial channels are connected to the second radial channels at either their inside ends or their outside ends so as to flow a cooling fluid from the first (or second) radial channels to the second (or first) radial channels.

This invention relates to a cooling disk unit for use in a wafer chucking device.
Generally, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, an electrical test is performed to check whether or not a semiconductor device (e.g. an integrated circuit) normally operates after the semiconductor device is manufactured on a semiconductor wafer (e.g. a silicon wafer).
When the electrical test is carried out, the semiconductor wafer with the semiconductor device is held by a holder which is called a wafer chucking device to give simulated thermal environment to the semiconductor device. That is, the wafer chucking device holds the semiconductor wafer and heats or cools it. The simulated thermal environment is similar to actual thermal environment in which the semiconductor device will be placed and used.
Formerly, such a test is frequently carried out at relatively high temperature between room temperature and about 150xc2x0 C. Recently, however, the test is increasingly carried out at relatively low temperature between about 10xc2x0 C. and about xe2x88x9250xc2x0 C.
A conventional wafer chucking device has a thick disk shape and comprises a vacuum disk unit or a vacuum chucking unit, an electric heater unit, and a cooling disk unit. The vacuum disk unit, the electric heater unit, and the cooling disk unit are superposed on one another. The vacuum disk unit holds the semiconductor wafer by suction of a vacuum pump connected thereto. The electric heater unit heats the semiconductor wafer through the vacuum disk unit. The cooling disk unit has a passage or tunnel which runs inside thereof to pass a cooling fluid or a heat carrier therethrough. The cooling disk unit is cooled by the cooling fluid and cools the semiconductor wafer through the electric heater unit and the vacuum disk unit.
With this structure, the conventional wafer chucking device can selectively give the relatively high temperature environment or the relatively low temperature environment to the semiconductor wafer as the simulated thermal environment.
However, the cooling disk unit is inefficiently cooled by the cooling fluid and has a low heat transfer rate.
In addition, the cooling disk unit has lack of uniformity in temperature distribution on a main surface on which the electric heater unit is laid.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a cooling disk unit having a high heat transfer rate.
It is another object of this invention to provide a cooling disk unit having a uniform temperature distribution on its main surface.
Other objects of this invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
According to an aspect of this invention, a cooling disk unit is for cooling a wafer chucking device by exchanging heat with a cooling fluid passing therethrough and comprises a first heat conducting disk having a plurality of first radial channels which are connected to one another at both first inside ends and first outside ends. The cooling disk exchanges the heat with the cooling fluid flowing inward in the first radial channels. A second heat conducting disk is concentrically disposed on either a top or a bottom of the first heat conducting disk and has a plurality of second radial channels which are connected to one another at both second inside ends and second outside ends. The second radial channels are further connected to the first radial channels at either one of the second inside ends or the second outside ends. The second heat conducting disk exchanges the heat with the cooling fluid flowing outward in the second radial channels.
According to another aspect of this invention, a wafer chucking device comprises a wafer chucking unit for chucking a semiconductor wafer thereon. A cooling disk unit is disposed under the wafer chucking unit to cool the semiconductor wafer through the wafer chucking unit by passing a cooling fluid therethrough. A first heat conducting disk has a plurality of first radial channels connected to one another at both first inside ends and first outside ends. The cooling disk exchanges the heat with said cooling fluid flowing inward in the first radial channels. A second heat conducting disk is concentrically disposed on either a top or a bottom of the first heat conducting disk and has a plurality of second radial channels which are connected to one another at both second inside ends and second outside ends. The second radial channels are further connected to the first radial channels at either one of the second inside ends or the second outside ends. The second heat conducting disk exchanges the heat with the cooling fluid flowing outward in the second radial channels.

Cooling disk unit for use in a wafer chucking device


Attributes of electronic content from a meeting are identified and evaluated to determine whether sub-portions of the electronic content should or should not be attributed to a user profile. Upon determining that the sub-portion should be attributed to a user profile, attributes of the sub-portion of electronic content are compared to attributes of stored user profiles. A probability that the sub-portion corresponds to at least one stored user profile is calculated. Based on the calculated probability, the sub-portion is attributed to a stored user profile or a guest user profile.

Meetings are a very common forum where people exchange ideas, make plans, and share information. With the ubiquity of automatic speech recognition systems come vast amounts of meeting transcripts. With the abundance of these automatically generated meeting transcriptions, meeting summarization, and other downstream operations, are of great importance to both the participants of the meetings and other parties interested in the meeting content. Because of the large volume of text included in the meeting transcripts, it is often difficult to sift through the content to find relevant information or get a general idea of the content of the meeting. Therefore, the need to succinctly summarize the content of a meeting naturally arises.
Several methods of generating summaries for meeting have been created. One non-computerized method includes assigning one participant of the meeting to manually keep meeting minutes notes and prepare a formalized summary from the meeting for use by the rest of the participants. Other methods of summarizing meetings include complex multi-step pipelines that make joint optimization intractable. There are also a handful of existing deep neural models for generating text summarization. However, existing systems for are not configured to handle the semantic structures and styles of meeting transcripts, which are quite different from transcriptions from articles and conversations. Existing systems are also not configured to extract content from meetings to train models for machine transcription and subsequent summarization.
There are several types of meeting summaries that can be created, including extractive summaries and abstractive summaries. Extractive summarization is the strategy of concatenating extracts taken from a corpus (i.e., meeting transcription) into a summary, while abstractive summarization involves paraphrasing the corpus using novel sentences. Abstractive summaries are often more readable and useful but present more challenges in achieving accurate summarization as compared to extractive summarization techniques.
For example, current abstractive summarization requires complicated multi-stage machine learning pipelines, such as template generation, sentence clustering, multi-sentence compression, candidate sentence generation, and ranking. As these approaches are not end-to-end optimizable, it is hard to jointly improve various parts in the pipeline to enhance the overall performance. Moreover, some components (e.g., template generation), require extensive human involvement, rendering the solution difficult to scale or transfer between systems.
Some systems have been configured to perform document summarization, such as pointer-generator networks, reinforced summarization networks, and memory networks. These deep learning methods can effectively generate abstractive document summaries by directly optimizing defined goals. However, existing systems are not able to perform the meeting summarization task which, in contrast to general document summarization, inherently bears a number of challenges that make it more difficult for end-to-end training than document summarization.
First, for example, a meeting is carried out between multiple participants, wherein each participant has a different role or contributive function in the meeting, different semantic styles, and other variable factors that affect the meeting transcription and downstream actions in the summarization pipeline. Thus, the different semantic styles, standpoints, and roles of each participant all contribute to the heterogeneous nature of the meeting transcript. Furthermore, it is often difficult to ascertain the identity of the speaker solely based on a meeting transcription and/or audio recording for the same reasons.
Second, the transcript and summary of a single meeting are usually much longer than those of a document. For instance, in some news articles and/or news transcriptions (i.e., common datasets used to train models on summarization processes), there are on average hundreds of tokens per article. In contrast, some meeting transcriptions contain thousands of tokens per transcript and hundreds of turns (i.e., changes between speakers). This poses a great challenge to the time and space efficiency of meeting summarization methods because as models trained on non-similar datasets (e.g., news content or other non-meeting sources) are used for meeting summarization, the summary output is not optimized for the length nor the structure of the meeting transcript.
A third challenge is that the structure of the meeting transcript is very distinct from other document formats, as a meeting usually progresses according to an agenda and according to defined goals (or goals that are defined during the concourse of the meeting), while other documents tend to have a general form including an introduction, several main paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Other challenges to summarization include the problem of error propagation from the initial transcription creation through to other downstream operations. Oftentimes, the speech service (e.g., automatic speech recognition (ASR) system and/or speech-to-text system) will transcribe the audio detected from the speakers (i.e., participants) of a meeting. However, the ASR system often will not correctly transcribe every word from every speaker, causing the transcription to include certain word errors which can be defined by a word error recognition (WER) percentage.
In some instances, the speakers themselves introduce errors into the transcription, wherein the manner in which the speakers expressed themselves produced grammatical and/or syntactic errors are included in the transcription, even if the transcription process did not introduce more errors. Both machine and human induced errors can be difficult to find and correct and therefore, can be propagated through to other operations performed on the transcript. For example, in some instances, a summary generated from a meeting transcript could include errors introduced by a speech-to-text translation and/or spoken errors. Such errors greatly decrease the ability of exiting systems to generate summaries or other products based on meeting content.
It is also noted, as alluded to earlier, that existing systems are not well configured to identify participants of a meeting, particularly those that are not previously associated with a known profiled, and to attribute content of the meeting to the different participants, especially the unknown participants.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for improved systems and methods for providing meeting transcriptions and for facilitating accurate and readable subsequent downstream operations with the transcribed meeting content, such as meeting summarizations, meeting minutes, outlines, as well as to identify meeting participants and to attribute meeting content to the different meeting participants, including unknown participants.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

Automated meeting minutes generation service


A hydrocarbon-independent lean-burn NO.sub.x catalyst for treatment of products of combustion includes a porous support impregnated with two transition metals. The first transition metal has a stable upper oxidation state that is reducible to a lower oxidation state in the presence of carbon monoxide which is oxidized in the presence of the first transition metal to form carbon dioxide. The second transition metal has a stable lower oxidation state and is capable of being raised to a higher oxidation state in the presence of NO.sub.x which is reduced to nitrogen and oxygen in the presence of the second metal. The first and second metals cooperate to form a redox reaction system which regenerates the active form of the catalyst by raising the first metal to its stable oxidation state and reducing the second metal to it stable lower oxidation state by electron transfer between the first and second metals. The catalyst is based on transition metals which are less expensive than the noble metal-containing catalysts in current use.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a catalyst for treating products of combustion, and more particularly to such a catalyst that both reduces various oxides of nitrogen (NO.sub.x) and oxidizes carbon monoxide (CO) components of gaseous products of combustion.
2. Background Art
Atmospheric NO.sub.x, which primarily consists of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO.sub.2), results in air pollution as well as the production of acid rain and urban smog. More specifically, nitrogen dioxide is linked as a causative agent in bronchitis, pneumonia and alteration of the immune system in humans. NO.sub.x also participates in the formation of ground-level ozone in the presence of sunlight. Industrial and other combustion processes, e.g., internal combustion engines, produce large amounts of NO.sub.x, which is a severe threat to the environment.
About one-half of all man-made NO.sub.x can be attributed to automobile engine emissions. Recently enacted federal and state regulations impose stringent restrictions on auto engine emissions. Future regulations now being proposed will place even tighter restrictions on engine emissions.
Conventionally, noble metals such as platinum and rhodium, supported on alumina, are used for controlling auto engine emissions. The performance of noble metal based catalysts is generally improved by increasing the loading of the noble metal, which is very expensive. A vanadium-based catalyst is now being used in power plants, but poses an environmental threat due to the production of volatile vanadium compounds. More recently, the use of ammonia (NH.sub.3) has been demonstrated as the reducing agent in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO.sub.x, but use of ammonia in a mobile system may not be feasible. The use of metal substituted zeolites as candidates for NO.sub.x reduction has also been proposed. It has been found that excessively ion exchanged copper zeolites can reduce 80% of NO to nitrogen, but the decomposition is inhibited in the presence of high concentrations of oxygen such as that typically present under "lean burn" conditions required for optimum fuel economy in automobile engines. It is also known that catalysts comprised of copper zeolites, in the presence of hydrocarbons, can reduce NO under oxygen-rich conditions. In this arrangement, gasoline has been introduced, as the hydrocarbon source, into the exhaust gas mixture to optimize the performance of the catalyst. This practice reduces overall fuel economy. Catalysts in current use based on platinum or rhodium are costly, do not work under lean-burn conditions, and will not be able to meet future emission standards.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the problems set forth above. It is desirable to have a catalyst system that is economical to produce and is capable of effectively treating NO.sub.x emissions in automotive exhaust systems. It is also desirable to have such a catalyst system that does not require the use of platinum or rhodium or other rare metals. Furthermore, it is desirable to have an inexpensive catalyst that, under lean burn conditions, not only reduces NO.sub.x but also oxidizes carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Still further, it is desirable to have such a catalyst that reduces NO.sub.x under oxygen-rich conditions and is not dependent on hydrocarbon for its activity.

Metal complex derived catalyst and method of forming


Memory devices are adapted for direct interface or virtual integration with a processor or other logic device through a local bus and isolated from a system bus. Such memory devices are capable of lower power requirements and reduced size due in part to the elimination of certain redundant circuitry. Direct interfacing through the local bus facilitates the elimination or reduction of input/output (I/O) buffer circuitry by eliminating the need to step up to and step down from typical system bus voltage levels. Communication between the memory device and a separate logic device occurs across the local bus at voltage levels compatible with internal logic levels of the memory device.

Electronic information handling or computerized systems, whether large machines, microcomputers or small handheld devices, require memory for storing data and program instructions. Various memory systems have been developed over the years to address the evolving needs of information handling systems. One such memory system includes semiconductor memory devices.
Semiconductor memory devices are rapidly-accessible memory devices. In a semiconductor memory device, the time required for storing and retrieving information generally is independent of the physical location of the information within the memory device. Semiconductor memory devices typically store information in a large array of cells. Data and status information of the memory device are provided to external devices through a set of DQ or data signal lines.
One particular form of semiconductor memory device is a non-volatile memory referred to as flash memory. Flash memory includes an array of memory cells made up of floating-gate transistors. A charge stored on the floating gate of the transistor determines the threshold voltage of the transistor. Various sensing methods can be used to detect the threshold voltage and thus determine the data value associated with an individual memory cell.
Computer, communication and industrial applications are driving the demand for memory devices in a variety of electronic systems. Specialized portable devices are consuming large quantities of flash memory and are continually pushing for lower voltages and higher densities to decrease power requirements, reduce size and increase functionality. Such portable devices include digital cellular or other wireless communication applications, digital cameras, audio recorders, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and test equipment.
In system applications requiring integration of logic devices and memory devices, three approaches are known. A first approach is to combine the logic device and the memory device in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip using a low-cost memory process. Such an approach is a low-cost alternative, but memory processes lack the metal layers and circuit complexity necessary to produce a high-performance logic device. Thus, such an ASIC provides relatively limited performance of the logic core.
A second approach is to combine the logic device and the memory device in a single-chip ASIC chip using a more sophisticated logic process providing for more metal layers and masks. While more expensive than the first approach, the logic process supports high-performance logic cores. In either of these approaches, the flexibility of the ASIC is limited as the functionality of the logic core and the size of the memory device are fixed. Modifications in response to market demands or new technologies generally require extensive retooling whether the modification affects only the memory portion or the logic portion of the ASIC. In addition, for related systems differing only in the amount of memory provided, separate ASICs would be required for each system.
FIG. 1A is a simplified block diagram of an electronic system 100 produced as a single-chip ASIC and coupled to a system bus 150. The electronic system 100 generally includes a memory core block 110 containing the memory cells and sensing circuitry; a control, logic and interconnect block 112; an analog block 114 providing the various internal voltage potentials from the supply potential; a logic core block 116; a static random access memory (SRAM) block 118 for caching data between the logic core block 116 and the memory core block 110; an input/output (I/O) block 120 for interfacing with the system bus 150; and often a customer-specific block 122 containing customer-specific functionality for the ASIC. It is noted that FIG. 1A is an abstraction of an electronic system and that the physical location and relative sizing of the individual blocks in the figure are not necessarily representative of an actual electronic system.
To provide more flexibility, albeit at increased cost, size and power requirements, a third approach to integrating a logic device and a memory device uses a separate logic device and a separate memory device. In this manner, the memory device and the logic device each can be produced using a process optimized for the particular device. Furthermore, responding to changing markets or new technology is relatively easy, in that only the relevant portion need be altered. In addition, related systems differing only in the amount of memory provided may be produced simply by substituting the appropriate memory device.
FIG. 1B is a simplified block diagram of an electronic system 100 having a memory device 102 and a logic device 104 each coupled to a system bus 150. The memory device 102 generally includes a memory core block 110 containing the memory cells and sensing circuitry; a control, logic and interconnect block 112; an analog block 114 providing the various internal voltage potentials from the supply potential; and an I/O block 124 for interfacing with the system bus 150. The logic device 104 generally includes a logic core block 116; a static random access memory (SRAM) block 118 for caching data between the logic core block 116 and the memory core block 110 of the memory device 102; an input/output (I/O) block 120 for interfacing with the system bus 150; and often a customer-specific block 122 containing customer-specific functionality for the logic device 104. An electronic system of the type shown in FIG. 1B may require 5–10% additional semiconductor real estate over an equivalent system of the type shown in FIG. 1A, due to the redundancy of the I/O circuitry. It is noted that FIG. 1B is an abstraction of an electronic system and that the physical location and relative sizing of the individual blocks or semiconductor chips in the figure are not necessarily representative of an actual electronic system.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below that will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for the integration of memory devices and logic devices supporting system flexibility, lower power requirements and reduced size.


A method of forming a MOS transistor is disclosed. An example method forms an insulating film and a first silicon layer on a semiconductor substrate in order. The example method forms an impurity region by injecting impurity ions into a predetermined region of the first silicon layer, forms a common source line by forming a second silicon layer on the impurity region, and then injecting impurity ions into the second silicon layer. The example method also forms a gate oxide over whole surfaces of the first silicon layer and the common source line, forms side walls made of insulating film on the gate oxide film positioned at sides of the common source line, forms drain regions by injecting impurity ions into the first silicon layer being positioned at a predetermined distance from the common source line, and forms gate electrodes on sides of the side walls.

In general, it necessarily requires short channel length, reduction of contact depths of a source and a drain, and reduction of effective gate oxide thickness to attain high power performance, high efficiency integration, and high speed operation characteristics. The development of vertical transistors has increased with the downsizing of the semiconductor devices. Examples of known vertical transistors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,597,037, 6,486,027 6,153,468, 6,124,729, and 5,991,225.
Device performance increases should be attained by means of increase of driving current and reduction of leakage current. However, in a conventional process, there are some problems associated with fabricating a fine silicon device having such high performance. For example, although it is necessary to use new patterning techniques, such as electron beam or X-ray exposure-based techniques, of forming ultra fine patterns to fabricate nano-size channels as a conventional planar structure, because such techniques are not established until today, it is not currently possible to mass produce ultra fine silicon devices requiring ultra fine patterns.

MOS transistor and fabrication method thereof


Provided are a wireless charging system, device, and method and a device to be charged. The wireless charging system includes the wireless charging device and the device to be charged. The wireless charging device includes a wireless transmitter circuit and a first communication control circuit. The device to be charged includes a battery, a wireless receiver circuit, a first charging channel, a detection circuit and a second communication control circuit. The second communication control circuit is configured to perform wireless communication with the first communication control circuit based on the output voltage and/or the output current of the wireless receiver circuit detected by the detection circuit, such that the first communication control circuit adjusts a transmitting power of the wireless transmitter circuit, to enable the output voltage and/or the output current of the wireless receiver circuit to match a charging stage where the battery presently is.

At present, in the charging technology field, a device to be charged is typically charged in a wired charging mode.
Taking a mobile phone as an example, the mobile phone is typically charged in a wired charging mode. In detail, when there is a need to charge the mobile phone, the mobile phone may be coupled with a power supply device via a charging cable (for example, a USB (universal serial bus) cable), and an output power of the power supply device may be transmitted to the mobile phone via the charging cable, to charge a battery in the mobile phone.
For the device to be charged, it needs to use the charging cable in the wired charging mode, which results in cumbersome operation in a charging preparation stage. Thus, a wireless charging mode has been favored more and more by people. However, the conventional wireless charging mode has a bad effect, and needs improvement.

Wireless charging system, wireless charging device, wireless charging method, and device to be charged

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A method for creating one or more footwear soles that will print out with each step on a malleable surface (such as sand) or an imprintable surface (such as a sidewalk) a pattern (which may include therein an image, text, and their combination), wherein the pattern to be printed is personalized to each sole""s individual owner according to the owner""s specification of the pattern.

Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
Mass production of identical footwear does not create footwear that could provide personalized patterns from the owner""s use of the footwear on sand, mud, or other impressible surfaces, or on a sidewalk for footwear with internal ink(s). Handcrafted footwear having soles with individual patterns have been only available to those with access to craftsmen capable of transforming a description or viewed image into a carved sole. This embodiment of the invention makes feasible mass customization that combines pre-made footwear soles with individually selected and separable patterns to produce one-of-a-kind footwear without requiring handcraft work on each such sole.
2. Description of the Related Art
Footwear, and the patterns that a sole makes, are known as a means of distinguishing one individual from another; in American literature, at least, this has been described from James Fenimore Cooper""s time onwards. Hand-crafted footwear soles were also one of the earliest media of advertising. Classicists acknowledge that one of Athens"" hetaerae had the obverse form of the Greek phrase xe2x80x9cFollow Mexe2x80x9d carved into the sole of her sandals (an examplar class of footwear), producing in the dusty and sandy streets of Periclean Athens a clear trail for literate (and thus, presumably well-off), potential clients to follow to her doorstep.
Present-day cobblers can still provide personalized, hand-designed and hand-carved soles. Mass manufacturers have provided firm names and distinctive graphical patterns on footwear soles, broadly advertising their wares through mass-production. Neither have devised a means for mass-customization of footwear soles whose functional form is differentiated by the individual customer""s requested design being incorporated as a pattern on the bottom surface of a sole. Producing footwear soles with personalized patterns specific to an ordering individual has remained a handcraft art to this day, though the material of which the sole is composed now ranges from traditional leather through rubber, old tires, and foamed light plastics. The mass manufacturers have lacked the flexibility; and the handcrafters either the skill to attain the desired graphical image or the productivity to rapidly alter the soles of a large number of sandals or other footwear.
Three-dimensional output devices now exist that can produce from a graphical image an output with that image""s form as its topmost portion. The desired image of the pattern which is to be printed by the footwear sole is produced as such an output, which is then applied to the bottom of the footwear sole in such a fashion as to produce thereupon the mirror image in the bottom of the footwear sole, so that thereafter, whenever the footwear sole is placed upon an impressionable surface, the image of the desired pattern is formed in such impressionable surface.

Personalizing patterns for footwear soles


A process for forming a foamed thermoplastic earplug, comprising the steps of extruding a foamed body of thermoplastic material; shaping the foamed thermoplastic material; and at least partially separating the resulting shaped material for forming individual earplugs.

Earplugs are a common expedient to protect ears and their sensitive structures from excessive noise and from the entry of undesired debris or other matter. Recent designs for earplugs have employed plastics. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,774,938 and 3,872,559 disclose molded plastic earplugs. Other earplug designs are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,811,742; 5,573,015; 5,203,352; 5,188,123; and 4,434,794. Another recent effort to make foamed plastic earplugs is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,981. All of the above-noted patents are hereby expressly incorporated by reference for all purposes.
There remains a need in the art for a low-cost and efficient approach to the manufacture of earplugs, particularly foamed and extruded thermoplastic ear plugs. There is also a need in the art for improved earplug structures for enhancing user comfort, handling and overall earplug performance.


A process for preparing B-lactam derivatives of the formula (I): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents hydrogen or a metal salt; and R.sup.2 represents hydrogen, acetoxy methyl, (2,5-dihydro-2-methyl-6-hydroxy-5-oxo-as-triazin-3-yl)thiomethyl or (1-methyl-1-H-tetrazol-5-yl)thiomethyl is disclosed. This process comprises the steps of (a) reacting triphenylphosphine and hexachloroethane or carbon tetrachloride with 2-(2-aminothiazol-4-yl)-2-syn-methoxyimino acetic acid in an organic solvent to give the corresponding acyloxyphosphonium chloride derivative of the formula: ##STR2## (b) acylating a previously silylated derivative of 7-ACA with this acyloxyphosphonium chloride derivative without its isolation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel process for preparing .beta.-lactam derivatives, which are useful antibiotics, having the formula (I): ##STR3## wherein R.sup.1 represents hydrogen or a metal salt; and R.sup.2 represents hydrogen, acetoxy methyl, (2,5-dihydro-2-methyl-6-hydroxy-5-oxo-as-triazin-3-yl)thiomethyl or (1-methyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)thiomethyl.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, a number of processes for the preparation of semi-synthesized .beta.-lactam antibiotic materials have been proposed.
For instance, it is well known that an acylated compound of the formula (I) above can be prepared by converting an amino-protected organic acid of the formula (II): ##STR4##
wherein R.sup.3 is an amino-protecting group, into its activated derivatives, and then by acylating 7-ADCA (7-aminodesacetoxycephalosporanic acid), 7-ACA (7-aminocephalosporanic acid) or its derivatives with the activated derivatives.
The activated derivatives of the compound of the formula (II) may include an acid chloride, an acid anhydride, an activated ester, an activated amide, an activated amide solvate, and so forth.
In order to use an acid chloride as the activated derivative, the organic acid (II) is reacted with thionyl chloride (SOCl.sub.2), phosphorous trichloride (PCl.sub.3), phosphorous pentachloride (PCl.sub.5), or phosphorous oxychloride (POCl .sub.3). The resulting acid chloride is acylated with 7-ADCA, 7-ACA or its derivatives followed by removing the protecting R.sup.3 group to give a compound of the formula (I): see Japanese Laid-Open (Kokai) Patent Publication Nos. 52-102,096; 53-34,795; 53-68,796; 54-52,096; and 54-157,596; as well as U.K. Patent No. 2,025,933.
However, the process mentioned above must be carried out under severe and complicated reaction conditions, because the process is subject to protection and deprotection of the amino group in the organic acid. This process further suffers from the defect that the acid chloride is unstable.
In another method, 2-pyridinethioester, 2-benzothiazole ester, or 1-hydroxy benzotriazole ester is synthesized from an organic acid of the formula (III): ##STR5## and then the resulting ester is acylated with 7-ADCA, 7-ACA or its derivatives to give a compound of the formula (I): see Japanese Laid-Open (Kokai) Patent Publication No. 52-102,293; 54-95,593; and 56-152,488.
However, this process shows relatively low yields due to a side reaction accompanied when preparing the activated esters. Furthermore the process must be carried out at a high reaction temperature for a long period of reaction time during the acylation step, and requires a step of removing the by-products resulted from the process.
It has also been reported that in order to resolve the problems encountered in utilizing the activated esters, an activated amide solvate of a compound of the formula (III) is isolated from an organic solvent, and then is acylated with 7-ACA or its derivatives to give a compound of the formula (I): see European Patent No. 175,814. However, this process has the disadvantages that it is difficult to isolate the activated amide solvate from the organic solvent used, and that it must be carried out under the substantially similar reaction conditions to those in the cases involving an activated ester or an activated amide, requiring a high reaction temperature and a long period of reaction time.
Meanwhile, T. Fujisawa et al. have reported in Chem. Letters, 1267 (1983) that a lithium carboxylate derivative is reacted with dichlorophosphoran to give a corresponding acyloxyphosphonium salt derivative, and then the resulting acyloxyphosphonium salt is reacted with a Grignard reagent to give a corresponding diketone.

Process for the preparation of cephem derivatives


The present invention relates to a process of catalyzed isomerization of HFC-1234ze to make HFC-1234yf. The process comprises contacting HFC-1234ze with a suitable catalyst in a reactor to obtain a product mixture comprising HFC-1234yf.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates in general to the processes of catalyzed isomerization of 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFC-1234ze) to make 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFC-1234yf).
2. Description of Related Art
As a result of the Montreal Protocol phasing out ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), industry has been working for the past few decades to find replacement refrigerants. The solution for most refrigerant producers has been the commercialization of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. The new hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants, HFC-134a being the most widely used at this time, have zero ozone depletion potential and thus are not affected by the current regulatory phase out as a result of the Montreal Protocol. The production of other hydrofluorocarbons for use in applications such as solvents, blowing agents, cleaning agents, aerosol propellants, heat transfer media, dielectrics, fire extinguishants and power cycle working fluids has also been the subject of considerable interest.
There is also considerable interest in developing new refrigerants with reduced global warming potential for the mobile air-conditioning market.
Tetrafluoropropenes, having zero ozone depletion and low global warming potential, have been identified as potential refrigerants. However, the toxicity, boiling point, and other physical properties in this class of chemicals varies greatly from isomer to isomer. One tetrafluoropropenes having valuable properties is 2,3,3,3 tetrafluoropropene (HFC-1234ye). Thus, there is a need for new manufacturing processes for the production of tetrafluoropropenes.

Catalytic isomerization processes of 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene for making 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene


A tank jacket that has a top portion and a body portion made of a durable flexible material such as nylon is dimensioned to fit over the outside of a storage tank. The top portion includes a hole for receiving the regulator assembly. Specifically, the regulator assembly is removed from the tank, typically by unscrewing the assembly from the tank, and the jacket is fit over the tank so that the hole aligns with the tank's fill/dispense port. The regulator assembly is then reattached to the tank to retain the jacket on the tank. The tank jacket supports a hose support assembly for storing the supply hose and a plurality of pockets for retaining various accessories and tools.

The invention relates generally to pressurized liquid or gas storage tanks and more particularly to an improved storage system and protective device for such tanks.
Tanks for storing and dispensing pressurized gas and/or liquid are commonly used in a wide variety of industrial, medical and other applications. A typical tank comprises a hollow cylinder made of steel or other rigid impermeable material that stores the gas or liquid under relatively high pressure. A regulator assembly is in fluid flow communication with the tank and includes a regulator to control the flow of fluid from the tank and a gauge to monitor the fluid level and/or pressure. The tank may be provided with a separate valve for controlling fluid flow from the tank to the regulator assembly. A supply hose is connected to the output port of the regulator assembly for dispensing the fluid. The gauge is relatively fragile and can be damaged or unseated from the regulator assembly if it collides with an object.
Often storage tanks are used in an environment where the fluid stored in the tank is used in conjunction with other equipment for performing a particular function. Example environments are plumbing, welding, HVAC and electrical work where the tank may store a liquid fuel such as acetylene or propane. Such applications require related equipment such as brazing rods, pipe fittings, solder, flux, hand tools, torch heads or the like. Because the typical filled storage tank is heavy and difficult to transport and a wide variety of related equipment may be required at the work site, it has been difficult for a worker to easily and conveniently transport the storage tank and associated equipment.
Thus, an improved storage system and protective device for use with pressurized tanks is desired.

Storage system and protective device for tanks