This invention relates in part to the use of osmoticants to provide desiccation tolerance to growth producing cells of microorganisms upon drying and reconstitution.. This invention also relates in part to the discovery of liquid fermentation media permitting production of high levels of conidia of Trichoderma harzianum in liquid fermentation, and modifications to these media that produce conidia that are resistant to desiccation and that provide enhanced biocontrol efficacy.

It has been known for some time that cells, spores and the like, of microorganisms, which can be further propagated, tend to lose viability when dried, especially force dried e.g. by vacuum means. For commercial use of microorganisms, for example, as bioprotectants and herbicides and the like, dried material is the preferred item of commercial importance for both weight and handling considerations.
Trichoderma spp. are of increasing interest as bioprotectants against plant diseases (Harman and Lumsden, 1990, "The Rhizosphere" Lynch ed. pp.259-280, J. Wiley & Sons, NY; Harman et al., 1989, Plant Dis. 73:631-637; Papavizas, 1985, Phytopathology 74:1171-1175). Numerous papers have presented data on selection or production of strains for improved biocontrol efficacy (e.g. Hadar et al., 1984, Phytopathology 74:106-110; Sivan et al., 1987, Plant Dis. 71:587-592; Harman et al., 1989, supra; Stasz et al., 1988, Mycologia 80:141-150) and on delivery systems that provide effective biocontrol (Conway, 1986, Plant Dis. 70:835-839; Lewis et al., 1987, Plant Pathol. 36:438-446; Sivan et al., 1987, supra; Harman et al., 1989, supra). However, there is much less information on methods of producing large quantities of effective biomass as the active ingredient for microbial pesticides. Further, some work has relied upon semi-solid fermentation (Sivan et al., 1987, supra; Lewis et al., 1983, Soil Biol. Biochem. 15:351-357), which is of less interest to corporations wishing to market Trichoderma-based bioprotectants than is deep-tank fermentation.
Trichoderma spp. produces three kinds of propagules, i.e. hyphae, chlamydospores, and conidia (Papavizas, 1985, Ann. Rev. Phytopathol. 23:23-54). Biomass produced for biological control must retain a high level of viability after drying. Since hyphae do not withstand drying, hyphae biomass is not useful. Conidia are produced more abundantly than chlamydospores under optimal conditions; however, these optimal conditions usually include an aerial environment. Conidia are difficult to produce in submerged fermentation.
Some work published on production of Trichoderma biomass for biocontrol using liquid fermentation was directed toward production of chlamydospores, and required 10-21 days to produce optimal levels of biomass (Lewis et al., 1983, supra: Papavizas, et al., 1984, suora). Other work demonstrated that conidia could be produced rapidly under conditions of liquid fermentation, but did not investigate viability upon drying, or efficacy in biological control (Tabachaik, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,155).
There are a number of requirements for biomass to be used for biological control, i.e. (1) biomass of appropriate spore composition must be produced in high levels rapidly, (2) the biomass must be able to withstand drying, (3) the dried material must have a high level of germinable, vigorous propagules, and (4) biomass should be of consistent quality from batch to batch.
This invention relates in part to the use of osmoticants to provide desiccation tolerance to growth producing cells of microorganisms upon drying and reconstitution.
This invention also relates in part to the discovery of liquid fermentation media permitting production of high levels of conidia of Trichoderma harzianum in liquid fermentation, and modifications to these media that produce conidia that are resistant to desiccation and that provide enhanced biocontrol efficacy.

Method of increasing the percentage of viable dried spores of a fungus


A system, which may be used to perform simultaneous grinding and intimate mixing of edible fat-based slurries or emulsions, may include a cylindrical drum having a central longitudinal axis and a curved inner surface and mounted on springs, and a motor and tuned mass coupled to the cylindrical drum to vibrate the cylindrical drum about a center of vibration that is offset from the central longitudinal axis of the cylindrical drum. The system includes at least one pair of partition plates disposed at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical drum to divide the cylindrical drum into at least two process zones, the partition plates of the at least one pair having matching apertures and moveable relative to each other between alignment and misalignment. The system may be used, for example, in chocolate manufacture.

The present invention is directed to methods for grinding and mixing edible fat-based slurries and emulsions in a vibratory media mill. The invention has particular application to the field of manufacture of chocolate. The present invention can be used advantageously to grind and mix any edible fat-based slurry or emulsion, but has special application in manufacturing chocolate.
Generally, chocolate is a dispersion or emulsion of very fine, solid ingredient particles suspended in a fat phase. (As used herein, an "emulsion" refers to a finely divided phase dispersed in a dissimilar continuous phase, including dispersions of finely divided solid particles in a continuous fat phase (such as in chocolate), oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, water-in-oil (W/O emulsions), and the like. "Slurry" as used herein, refers to divided solids in a continuous liquid phase.)
Chocolate also may have different forms. For example, milk chocolate is a confection that contains milk solids, milk fat, chocolate liquor, a nutritive carbohydrate sweetener, cocoa butter and may include a variety of other ingredients such as emulsifying agents, flavorings and other additives. Crumb chocolate is a type of milk chocolate wherein wet milk, carbohydrate sweetener ingredients and, optionally, chocolate liquor are combined and then co-dried at elevated temperatures to form a milk crumb. The crumb is then processed into crumb chocolate.
Many different types of chocolate are identified on the basis of the relative amounts of milk or other dairy solids, chocolate liquor, cocoa solids and fat (mainly cocoa butter) contained in them. In some cases, types of chocolate can also be identified by the method used in manufacture or the suitability for a given end use. The type of chocolate used to make M&M's brand chocolate candies herein defined as "convenience chocolate," for example, is characterized by its relatively large average grain size of 40 microns. Typical fine chocolates have an average grain size less than 20 microns. Convenience chocolate also has a strong taste, making it suitable for use in confections such as M&M brand chocolate candies. Enrobing chocolate, which is liquid chocolate poured over other confections followed by solidification by cooling, has specific requirements: including a relatively low viscosity of 10,000 centipoise or less and low yield value.
The physical and textural properties of an edible, fat-based slurry or emulsion, such as chocolate, depend on the size of particles in the mixture and the degree to which the dispersed particles are mixed with the fat phase. These properties are conventionally controlled, at least in part, by grinding the particles to reduce their size and controlling the intimacy of mixing of the ingredients. Such grinding and mixing are related but distinct operations. In chocolate making, the grinding operation is typically performed on relatively low fat components in a roll refiner after which fat (cocoa butter) is added. The composition is then intimately mixed in a conche.
More particularly, this conventional process of manufacturing chocolate involves coarse grinding cocoa nibs into cocoa liquor, adding dried milk powder, sugar and some additional cocoa butter and then refining or fine grinding the mixture. The typical viscosity of a 28% fat slurry of 100-200 microns is 70,000 centipoise. The fine milling of this 28% fat slurry to 40 microns with a roll refiner converts the mixture to a sticky powder at 40 C.
A roll refiner is a precision machine usually comprising five rolls mounted vertically with the bottom feed roll offset from the other rolls. The rolls are made of cast steel and must meet extremely close tolerances with respect to their shape and surface characteristics. The operational tolerances of the roll refiner, including the distances between the rolls, the speed at which the different rolls rotate, the rate at which the rolls are cooled, and like considerations, similarly are small. Failure to operate within these tolerances can produce poor production results. A roll refiner must also be frequently cleaned and lubricated in order to operate properly. Accordingly, use of a roll refiner to make chocolate has certain disadvantages.
Further, after grinding in a roll refiner, the resulting paste is subjected to conching, or slow mixing, in a conche. In this operation, cocoa butter along with emulsifiers such as lecithin are added to and mixed with the ground particles, to form a reduced viscosity mixture. Whereas grinding in the refiner reduces particle size of the ingredients and increases viscosity, mixing of the ground paste and cocoa butter in the conche produces an intimate mixture of the ingredients, including the fat phase, to obtain lower viscosity at constant particle size. While the particle size may be somewhat reduced in the conche, the overall mixing process nevertheless lowers the viscosity of the chocolate ingredients.
The mixture is then worked in the conche at elevated temperatures to remove volatile ingredients and mellow the flavor and texture of the chocolate. Although many designs of conching equipment are known, the vast majority are batch machines, and all of them require substantial time, energy and labor to operate. Again, therefore, use of a conche has certain additional drawbacks.
A machine called the MacIntyre refiner/conche has also been used to make chocolate from raw ingredients. This equipment employs rotating scrape blades to simultaneously mix and crush the ingredients in the chocolate recipe in batch fashion. Although use of the MacIntyre refiner/conche is generally regarded as a simple and inexpensive way to make chocolate, the process performed by this unit is characterized by long batch times, which limit capacity. In addition, its operation and maintenance are complex.
Another alternative chocolate manufacturing apparatus is the so-called Wiener processor, which incorporates a ball mill to reduce or eliminate the need for a conventional roll refiner to produce ground chocolate particles. The components of the Wiener processor are the ball mill (known as a Wieneroto mill), a mixer conche and a "taste improver". The ball mill comprises a cylinder housing rotors and steel grinding balls. Material is pumped into the base of the cylinder at relatively high pressure thereby filling the cylinder. The material is then subjected to the grinding action of the balls, which are set in rotary motion by the rotors. The cylinder is ordinarily completely filled with material so that no empty head space remains. The particle size of the cocoa solids in the chocolate recipe is progressively reduced as the mixture traverses upwardly in the cylinder, and is separated from the grinding balls by a screen at the top of the cylinder. The mixture is then cycled between a mixing conche and the ball mill to obtain the chocolate emulsion. In the taste improver, thin streams of the product are exposed to heated air across their surface. This operation reduces moisture content, reduces viscosity and yield value and removes volatile constituents. Although the Wiener process eliminates the refining stage associated with conventional processes in which a roll refiner is used, operation of the ball mill itself is problematic. The process thus performed is complicated and does not eliminate conventional conching. In addition, high intensity grinding in the mill typically raises the temperature of the materials contained in it significantly, which can result in burning of the sugar components.
Given the state of the art described above, there is a long felt need for technology that can perform grinding and mixing of fat based materials in a single unit and that will thereby reduce the cost and complexity of chocolate manufacturing processes by reducing the reliance on the refiner, conche, or both.

Mixing and grinding edible fat-based slurries and emulsions using a vibratory drum


The present invention provides barrier films having reduced gas permeability for use in packaging and coating applications. The barrier films comprise an anisotropic liquid crystalline composite layer formed from phyllosilicate-polymer compositions. Phyllosilicate-polymer liquid crystalline compositions of the present invention can contain a high percentage of phyllosilicate while remaining transparent. Because of the ordering of the particles in the liquid crystalline composite, barrier films comprising liquid crystalline composites are particularly useful as barriers to gas transport.

It is common practice to blend materials such as mica, talc, kaolin, precipitated calcium carbonate, precipitated silica, fumed silica, barite, zinc oxide, carbon black, etc. into elastomeric, thermoset, and thermoplastic polymers. Inorganic fillers are added as high as 40 to 50 weight percent. The addition of minerals to polymers can improve properties such as strength, stiffness, temperature and impact resistance, dimensional stability, and scratch resistance. In conventional mineral/polymer composite materials, the mineral phases are dispersed within the polymer matrix at the micrometer scale.
Much interest has been created by the more recent advance of producing nanocomposites. Nanocomposites—nanometer sized dispersions of organophilic clays in polymers to form polymeric hybrids—have been demonstrated to produce dramatic improvements in mechanical properties, heat resistance, thermal stability, and reduced gas permeability of the base polymer without loss of impact strength. Due to their enhanced barrier properties and clarity, nanocomposites are well suited for use as gas transport barriers in packaging applications. Examples include nylon-based nanocomposites for food and beverage packaging which incorporate the nanocomposite layer within single or multi-layer films. Reduction in gas diffusion is attributed to the presence of the clay particles which act to increase diffusion path length. Current nanocomposites characteristically contain small amounts of phyllosilicates dispersed in the base polymer, typically six percent or less, producing overall improvements in reduction of gas transfer that can be calculated from simple diffusion theory and which depend on the generation of a tortuous diffusion path originating from the presence of the dispersed organoclay. A major impediment to the commercial development of nanocomposites has been the difficulty of producing homogenous dispersions of organoclays within the polymer matrix. To improve the affinity between the hydrophilic clay surface and organic polymers, clays are treated by cation exchange with high-molecular-weight onium salts (e.g., ammonium, phosphonium, and sulfonium). However, even with surface treatment, phyllosilicates can still only be dispersed at the nanoscale into polymers that contain polar functional groups. The presence of these polar functional groups makes high barrier polymers, such as PET, EVOH, and Nylon, sensitive to water, thus requiring their use as multilayer laminates which contain an external, water-barrier layer. The requirement of multilayer laminates thus increases manufacturing costs of flexible packaging films.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need to provide low cost materials which provide superior barriers against gas transport and diffusion.

Liquid crystalline composites containing phyllosilicates


In a computer-implemented method of roofing material identification, image data corresponding to one or more images of roofing materials may be received. The image data may be processed to determine pertinent characteristics of the roofing materials. The determined characteristics and a characteristics database storing data indicative of associations between a plurality of roofing material products and characteristics of the plurality of roofing material products, may be used to identify a roofing material product associated with the pertinent characteristics. An indication of the identified roofing material product may be provided (e.g., to facilitate claim processing).

Typically, when a customer experiences damage to the roof of his or her home (e.g., shingles lost or damaged due to high winds, a hail storm, a fallen tree, etc.) and files a claim with an insurance provider, the insurance provider will assign a representative to investigate the claim. The claim representative may be tasked with identifying/locating appropriate replacement materials in order to determine the appropriate payment to the customer. Because roof damage is often restricted to a particular portion or portions of the roof, and to avoid unnecessarily replacing roofing materials (e.g., shingles or tiles) on the entire roof, the claim representative may need to locate a roofing material product having the same style, color and quality as the product used on the undamaged remainder of the roof. If the same roofing material product is no longer manufactured, the claim representative may need to identify a roofing material product that is acceptably similar in appearance and quality to the roofing material product that was damaged.
Currently, for shingles, claim representatives attempt to manually identify the product (e.g., manufacturer and part number) by looking at the shingles and assessing characteristics such as the style (e.g., pattern), size, quality and color. Unfortunately, this can be a difficult task requiring a substantial amount of training and/or experience. While some experienced roofing professionals and certain commercial services may be able to identify a "match" with an existing product (i.e., an exact match, or a similar replacement product) with fairly high confidence, it may be costly, time consuming, or otherwise not feasible for an insurance provider to use such professionals and/or services. And while, in some instances, the release tape on the back of shingle tabs (or the back of tiles, panels, etc.) may have some limited identifying information, a destructive method may be required to access that information, and the information may be incomplete. If the product is misidentified, and/or a replacement product is not sufficiently similar in appearance and/or quality, the customer may be dissatisfied, and/or the insurance provider may need to arrange for a different roofing material product to be installed at an additional cost to the insurance provider.

Method for field identification of roofing materials

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


The present invention relates to a developer for developing electrostatic latent images obtained by mixing toner particles comprising a binder resin and a coloring agent with fine magnetic particles treated by hydrophobic agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to monocomponent and two-component type developer for electrophotography to be used in electrophotographic copying apparatus and printers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Images are produced by electrophotographic copying apparatus and printers by first charging the surface of an electrostatic latent image bearing member, e.g., photosensitive member, with a uniform electric charge, exposing said surface to an exposure light pattern corresponding to the image of an original document, or writing on said surface with light having an output content, so as to thereby form an electrostatic latent image on said surface of the photosensitive member. The surface of the photosensitive member having the aforesaid electrostatic latent image is developed (rendered visible) by a developing device, and the developed toner image is then transferred onto a transfer medium.
The aforesaid developing device uses a monocomponent developing material comprising only a toner, or a two-component developing material comprising a toner and a magnetic carrier to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member by uniformly contacting the surface of said photosensitive member. The toner in the aforesaid developing material normally comprises thermoset resin, coloring material, charge-controlling agent, and fluidizing agent and the like. The aforementioned two-component developing material comprises a toner and a magnetic carrier such as ferrite and the like.
Electrophotographic processes using the aforesaid developing materials have in recent years come to require high quality image production. A high degree of uniformity in the density of the solid portion of images is demanded in forming high quality images, such that excellent fluidity is required of the developing material and particularly the toner. Furthermore, improvement of image quality such as in image resolution, tone, or line reproducibility requires toner particles of very small particle diameter. However, as toner particle size becomes smaller, there is a corresponding reduction in toner fluidity which adversely affects developing material transportability, mixing characteristics and the like.
In order to eliminate the aforesaid disadvantages and improve fluidity, blocking resistance and the like, fluidizing agents are added. Fluidizing agents added to the toner use fine particles such as, for example, colloidal silica, titanium oxide, alumina and the like having a mean particle diameter of 10.about.30 nm. The necessity of adding the aforesaid fine particle becomes greater in correlation with the smaller particle diameter of the toner and carrier. However, when a large amount of a fluidizing agent is used, said fluidizing agent is dispersed to the developing apparatus during developing so as to cause toner fogging and soiling of the interior of the image forming apparatus. Furthermore, when a nonmagnetic toner is used, dispersion of the toner itself outside the developing apparatus becomes prevalent.


A rolled steel bar has a composition consisting, by mass percent, of C: 0.27 to 0.37%, Si: 0.30 to 0.75%, Mn: 1.00 to 1.45%, S: 0.008% or more and less than 0.030%, Cr: 0.05 to 0.30%, Al: 0.005 to 0.050%, V: 0.200 to 0.320%, and N: 0.0080 to 0.0200%, the balance being Fe and impurities. The contents of P, Ti and O in the impurities are, by mass percent, P: 0.030% or less, Ti: 0.0040% or less, and O: 0.0020% or less. Y1 expressed by the formula <1> is 1.05 to 1.18.Y1=C+(1/10)Si+(1/5)Mn+(5/22)Cr+1.65V−(5/7)S  <1>.

In recent years, from the viewpoint of reducing CO2 emissions, the need for improving the fuel economy has increased, and for machine structural parts that are used for automobiles, industrial machines, and the like, it has been desired to increase the strength of the parts for the purpose of decreasing the size of the parts.
Also, from the viewpoint of reducing the production cost, there has mainly been used a hot-forged part (hereinafter, a hot-forged part that is produced without being subjected to heat treatment of quenching and tempering is referred to as a "non-refined hot-forged part"), in which a steel bar produced by hot rolling (hereinafter, an as hot-rolled steel bar that is produced by hot rolling is referred to as a "rolled steel bar") is subjected to a forming process by means of hot forging without subsequently being subjected to heat treatment of quenching and tempering, that is, "refining treatment," so as to give a desired strength to the steel bar.
Many of the hot-forged parts are subjected to the forming process by mainly being rolled-down in the axial direction of the rolled steel bar, which is a starting material.
However, some of the hot-forged parts are subjected to the forming process by mainly being rolled-down in the direction perpendicular to the axis of rolled steel bar, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the rolling direction scarcely by being rolled-down in the axial direction of the rolled steel bar. For the hot-forged parts subjected to the forming process by being rolled-down in such a direction, the state of distribution of inclusions and/or precipitates formed in the hot rolling (that is, the state of distribution in the rolled steel bar of inclusions and/or precipitates elongated in the axial direction) remains even after the hot forging. Therefore, there is a tendency for the fatigue strength against the stress in the direction perpendicular to the axis of hot-forged part to decrease (hereinafter, the fatigue strength against the stress in the direction perpendicular to the axis of hot-forged part is referred to as the "transverse fatigue strength").
As the tensile strength of hot-forged part is increased, the transverse fatigue strength can also be increased. However, the increase in tensile strength of the non-refined hot-forged part produced without being subjected to refining treatment leads to a decrease in tool service life in the cutting process carried out after hot forging. For this reason, there arise problems of increasing cutting costs and an increase in cutting time.
Therefore, it is not necessarily desirable that the transverse fatigue strength of hot-forged part be improved by increasing the tensile strength.
In such a situation, Patent Document 1 (JP8-92687A) and Patent Document 2 (JP6-287677A) disclose "High strength and high toughness non-refined steel for hot forging and its production method" and "High strength non-refined steel for hot forging", respectively, as described below.
That is, Patent Document 1 (JP8-92687A) discloses a "high strength and high toughness non-refined steel for hot forging" configured such that in a steel containing, by mass percent, Si: 2% or less (excluding 0%), S: 0.10% or less (excluding 0%), N: 0.02% or less (excluding 0%), O: 0.010% or less (excluding 0%), and unavoidable impurities, the steel further contains, by mass percent, C: 0.10 to 0.6%, Mn: 0.3 to 2.5%, Cr: 0.05 to 2.5%, V: 0.03 to 0.5%, Al: 0.060% or less (excluding 0%), and Ti: 0.005 to 0.03%, and still further contains, by mass percent, as necessary one or more kinds selected from a group of Pb: 0.3% or less (excluding 0%), Ca: 0.01% or less (excluding 0%), Te: 0.3% or less (excluding 0%), Bi: 0.3% or less (excluding 0%), Zr: 0.1% or less (excluding 0%), Hf: 0.1% or less (excluding 0%), Y: 0.1% or less (excluding 0%), rare earth metals: 0.1% or less (excluding 0%), and Mg: 0.1% or less (excluding 0%), the balance being Fe and unavoidable impurities, wherein 1×102 to 1×106/mm2 of inclusions each having an average crystal grain size of 0.1 to 5 μm are contained, and the inclusions are Ti oxides/nitrides, MnS, and composite compounds consisting mainly of the Ti oxides/nitrides and MnS; and a production method therefor.
Patent Document 2 (JP6-287677A) discloses a high strength non-refined steel for hot forging containing, by mass percent, C: 0.25 to 0.50%, Si: 0.40 to 2.00%, Mn: 0.50 to 2.50%, Cr: 0.10 to 1.00%, S: 0.03 to 0.10%, V: 0.05 to 0.30%, and N: 0.0050 to 0.0200%, further containing one or two kinds of Al: 0.005 to 0.050% and Ti: 0.002 to 0.050%, and still further containing Ca: 0.0004 to 0.0050% as necessary, the balance being Fe and unavoidable impurities, wherein
the carbon equivalent Ceq. (%) expressed by the formula ofCeq. (%)=% C+(% Si)/20+(% Mn)/5+(% Cr)/9+1.54(% V)is 0.83 to 1.23%, and
the bainite transformation index Bt expressed by the formula ofBt=31.2−100(% C)−6.7(% Si)+9.0(% Mn)+4.9(% Cr)−81(% V)is 0 or less.

Abstract: C, Si, Mn, Cr, V, and S in the formula represent mass percent of the elements. A hot-forged part having a tensile strength of 900 MPa or higher and a transverse endurance ratio of 0.47 can be obtained by the rolled steel bar.

NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


An easily peelable laminated film includes a laminate of a peelable surface layer (B) having a peeling strength of 5 to 100 g/cm with a base layer (A) containing a thermoplastic resin. The laminated film of the invention provides an easily peelable laminated film excellent in water resistance as a base material for, for example, concealing seals and labels for preventing re-pasting. The easily peelable laminated film of the invention requires no specific process to start peeling.

There has been conventionally such a problem in the salesroom of foods in supermarkets and department stores that there are persons who peel off the pressure-sensitive adhesive price label of lowered price from the foods on sale nearing eatable limit and replace this price label with the price label of foods of normal price and purchase the foods at a cheaper price.
Therefore, a label for preventing re-pasting which is easily known to be the peeled label after peeling and re-pasting the label on other goods, or a label which cannot be re-pasted is required and such a label has been put to practical use. However, there are problems that these labels for preventing re-pasting are expensive, an adhesive remains on the peeled surface and sticky to the touch, or dusts are adhered on the surface.
For solving this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 99377/1996 discloses a method of manufacturing a label for preventing re-pasting, which label satisfies the equation c<a<b, taking the force required to peel off a first layer from a second layer by a peeling agent as a, the adhesive force of an adhesive layer with the material to be adhered as b, and the force required to peel off a peelable sheet from the adhesive layer as c, and the method comprises (a) a step of forming an adhesive layer on a peelable sheet, (b) a step of laminating a peeling agent layer containing a wax on one main surface of a first layer, (c) a step of forming a second layer on the surface of the peeling agent layer of the first layer, and (d) a step of superposing and laminating the surface of the adhesive layer formed on the peelable sheet and the surface of the second layer laminated on the first layer. However, this method is not only complicated but also inferior in water resistance when paper made of pulp is used as the surface material of the first layer, so that the surface material is easily broken and peeled off from the material adhered when it is brought into contact with water. Therefore, this label is not suited to be a label for a sealed vessel containing water, e.g., pickles, tofu (bean curd), konjak (devil's tongue), etc.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 258476/1998 discloses a method of obtaining a film for a label to prevent re-pasting which is excellent in water resistance comprising a fusion-laminated base layer (A) comprising a thermoplastic resin film having a thickness of from 10 to 500 μm and a backing layer (C) on the front surface and back surface of a peelable surface layer (B) comprising a thermoplastic biaxially stretched film containing from 10 to 80 wt % of an inorganic fine powder and from 90 to 20 wt % of a thermoplastic resin. The base layer (A) and the backing layer (C) of the easily peelable laminated film obtained by this method can be easily peeled once peeling starts, but it has been found that a specific process, e.g., cutting a notch or a slit only on the backing layer (C), is necessary to surely start peeling.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of background techniques and provide an easily peelable laminated film having very excellent characteristics.
That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an easily peelable laminated film which is excellent in water resistance as a base material for concealing seals and labels for preventing re-pasting and which requires no specific process to start peeling.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A repair control circuit for decreasing the driving current, fuse-cutting time and chip size by disabling a main sense amplifier without having to blow a fuse to reduce the driving current, the repair control circuit including: a column coding controller for outputting a column coding signal, a block repair controller for outputting a block repair signal, an input/output repair control signal for receiving the column coding signal and the clock repair signal and outputting a main sense amplifier disable signal, an input/output repair control signal, an input/output enable signal and a repair sense amplifier enable signal; a main sense amplifier for receiving data from a data bus and amplifying the same in accordance with a control of the main sense amplifier disable signal and the sense amplifier enable signal; a repair sense amplifier for receiving data, which is to be repaired, from the data bus and amplifying the same in accordance with a control of the input/output repair control signal, the repair sense amplifier enable signal and the sense amplifier enable signal from the input/output repair controller; and a multiplexer for selectively outputting the amplified data from the main sense amplifier and the repair sense amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a repair control circuit, and in particular to an improved repair control circuit which is capable of reducing a fuse cutting time and a chip size by reducing the number of fuses when a sense amplifier having a repair function is operated.
2. Description of the Background Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a known repair control circuit includes a block repair controller 1 for outputting a block repair control signal RB, a column coding controller 2 for outputting a column coding signal RECOL, an input/output repair controller 3 for receiving the column coding signal RECOL and outputting an input/output enable signals IOEN.sub.j, where j=0 to 3, main sense amplifier controllers 40-i, where i=1 to 4, for outputting main sense amplifier disable signals MSADIS.sub.j, where j=0 to 3, main sense amplifiers 5-i, where i=1 to 4, for receiving data from a data bus and amplifying the same in accordance with a main sense amplifier disable signal and a sense amplifier enable signal SAEN, a repair sense amplifier 6 for receiving data from the data bus and amplifying the same in accordance with a block repair control signal RB and a sense amplifier enable signal SAEN, and a multiplexer 7 for selectively outputting data from the main sense amplifiers 5-i and the repair sense amplifier 6.
Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the input/output repair controller 3 includes an inverter INV21 for inverting a column coding signal RECOL, a plurality of input/output fuses IOF21 through IOF24 for blocking the output signal from the inverter INV21, and a plurality of ground voltage fuses VSF21.about.VSF24 connected with a ground voltage VSS and the input/output fuses IOF21.about.IOF24.
As shown in FIG. 3, an example main sense amplifier controller 4 includes: a resistor R31 and a main sense amplifier fuse MF31 connected in series between an external voltage VCC and a ground voltage VSS; an inverter INV31, one input terminal of which is commonly connected with the resistor R31 and the main sense amplifier fuse MF31 for outputting a main sense amplifier disable signal MSADIS0; a PMOS transistor PM31, the drain and source of which receive an external voltage VCC, and the gate of which is commonly connected with the resistor R31 and the main sense amplifier fuse MF; and a PMOS transistor PM32, the source of which receives an external voltage VCC, the gate of which receives an output signal from the inverter INV31, and the drain of which is commonly connected with the resistor R31 and the main sense amplifier fuse MF31.
As shown in FIG. 4, an example main sense amplifier 5-L includes: a NAND-gate ND41 for receiving the main sense amplifier disable signal MSADIS0 and the sense amplifier enable signal SAEN; an inverter INV41 for inverting the output signal from the NAND-gate ND41; NMOS transistors NM41 and NM42, the gates of which receive the output signal from the inverter INV41, and the sources of which are connected with the ground voltage VSS; and main sense amplifiers MSA41 and MSA42 for receiving data DI0, DIB0, DI1 and DIB1 from the data bus in accordance with the control of the drains of the NMOS transistors NM41 and NM42 and amplifying the thusly received data and outputting main sense amplifier output data DO0 and DO1.
As shown in FIG. 5, the repair sense amplifier 6 includes: a NAND-gate ND51 for receiving a block repair control signal RB and a sense amplifier enable signal SAEN; an inverter INV51 for inverting an output signal from the NAND-gate ND51; NMOS transistors NM51 and NM52, the gates of which receive an output signal from the inverter INV51 and the source of which is connected with a ground voltage VSS; and main sense amplifiers RSA0 and RSA1 controlled by the drains of the NMOS transistors NM51 and NM52 for amplifying the data RDI0, RDIB0, RDI1 and RDIB1 inputted through the data bus and amplifying the same and outputting main sense amplifiers RSA51 and RSA52.
As shown in FIG. 6, an example output multiplexer 7 includes: inverters INV61 and INV62 for inverting the input/output repair control signal IOEN0; and transmission gates TG61 and TG62 controlled in accordance with the input/output repair control signal IOEN0 and the inverter signal for transmitting the main sense amplifier output data DO0 and DO1 and the repair sense amplifier output data RDO0 and RDO1 and selectively outputting the output data DOUT0 and DOUT1.
The operation of the known input/output repair control circuit will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, the block repair controller 1 cuts the block fuse with respect to the cell to be repaired and outputs a low output signal. As a result of the block coding, as shown in FIG. 7A, a high level enable signal is outputted to the block repair signal RB.
At this time, the input/output repair controller 3 cuts the input/output fuse with respect to the cell to be repaired, and the repair column signal RECOL which is a column signal of the cell to be repaired (as shown in FIG. 7B) is outputted as a high level input/output enable signal IOEN as shown in FIG. 7C. If there is not cell to be repaired, the input/output repair control signal IOEN cuts the ground voltage fuse VSF, and a low level input/output enable signal IOEN is outputted.
In addition, the main sense amplifier controller 4 cuts a main sense amplifier fuse MF neighboring with the main sense amplifier with respect to the input/output corresponding with the cell to be repaired, and the main sense amplifier disable signal MSADIS as shown in FIG. 7E becomes a low level, so that the main sense amplifiers MSA41 and MSA42 of the main sense amplifier 5 is disabled.
If there is a cell to be repaired, the main sense amplifier disable signal MSADIS becomes a low level, and the NMOS transistors NM41 and NM42 are turned off, so that the main sense amplifiers MSA41 and MSA42 are disabled. In addition, the repair sense amplifiers RSA51 and RSA52 of the repair sense amplifier 6 are enabled by the repair block signal RB and the sense amplifier enable signal SAEN as shown in FIG. 7D.
Therefore, if there is a cell to be repaired, the input/output repair control signal, e.g., IOEN0 which is an output signal from the input/output repair controller 3 becomes a high level, and the transmission gates TG61 and TG63 of the multiplxer 7-1 transmitting the output signals DO0 and DO1 from the main sense amplifiers MSA41 and MSA42 are turned off, and the output signals DO0 and DO1 from the main sense amplifiers MSA41 and MSA42 are not outputted. The transmission gates TG62 and TG64 of the multiplxer 7-1 transmitting the output signals RDO0 and RDO1 from the repair sense amplifiers RSA0 and RSA1 are turned on. As shown in FIGS. 7F and 7G, the output signals RDO0 and RDO1 from the repair sense amplifiers RSA51 and RSA52 are outputted as output data DOUT0 and DOUT1.
Generally, when the repair sense amplifier is operated in order to output the input/output data repaired by the repaired chip, the repair sense amplifier and the main sense amplifier are all operated, so that the driving current of the chip is increased.
Therefore, in order to reduce the above-described driving current, since the fuses disabling the main sense amplifier should be used for every main sense amplifiers, the number of the fuses is increased, so that the size of the main chip is increased, and the repairing time is increased.


A toner cartridge is to be attached to a developing device. The developing device is provided with a developing roller comprising a rotational axis extending along a horizontal direction, a first casing, and a first transporting member. The first casing includes a developing chamber for accommodating the toner to be supported by the developing roller, a first feed opening for feeding the toner from the toner cartridge to the developing chamber, and a first return opening for returning the toner from the developing chamber to the toner cartridge. The first transporting member is located within the developing chamber. The first transporting member transports the toner within the developing chamber from the first feed opening to the first return opening. The first feed opening and the first return opening are offset along the horizontal direction. The first feed opening is located higher the first return opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for using toner to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a toner cartridge that accommodates toners and a developing device to which this is to be attached.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming device (e.g., a laser printer) having a photoreceptor uses a developing device. A toner cartridge is attached to the developing device. A standard developing device comprises a casing, a supply roller, and a developing roller. The casing has a space for housing the toner cartridge, and a developing chamber that communicates with the space. The supply roller and the developing roller respectively have a rotational axis that extends along the horizontal direction. The supply roller is housed within the developing chamber. The supply roller supplies toners that were sent to the developing chamber to the developing roller. The developing roller supports the toners supplied by the supply roller.
The developing roller is in contact with the photoreceptor. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor. The developing roller supplies toners to the photoreceptor. The toners will adhere to the electrostatic latent image portion of the photoreceptor. In this way, the electrostatic latent image of the photoreceptor will be developed.
An example of a developing device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-319202. In this technology, toners circulate between the developing device and the toner cartridge. Two side wall openings are formed in a side wall that defines the developing chamber of the developing device. The two side wall openings are offset along the horizontal direction, and are located at the same height. In addition, two case openings are formed in the toner cartridge. The two case openings are offset along the horizontal direction, and are located at the same height.
When the toner cartridge is attached to the developing device, one of the case openings and one of the side wall openings face each other, and the other case opening and the other side wall opening face each other. In this way, the toner cartridge and the developing chamber communicate with each other. The toners within the toner cartridge are sent to the developing chamber via one of the case openings and one of the side wall openings. An auger is provided in the developing device. The auger transports the toners within the developing chamber from one of the side wall openings to the other of the side wall openings. The toners within the developing chamber are returned to the toner cartridge via the other of the side wall openings and the other of the case openings.


A method for a transmission line via which message cells of a plurality of virtual connections having separately defined transmission bit rates asynchronously transmitted, wherein, depending on the transmission bit rate declared for a connection and depending on the chronological spacing of message cells belonging to the same connection that are intended for forwarding, a time slot in which a message cell is to be forwarded is identified for every message cell, whereby a message cell--depending on the length of the time slot calculated for it--either is discarded or is stored for forwarding in the respective, calculated or in a following time slot.

The present invention generally is directed to asychronous data transmission in switching systems. More specifically, the invention is directed to a method for monitoring the transmission bit rate defined for asychronous transmissions of message cells during the course of the set-up of virtual connections on transmission lines in switching systems, particularly broad band switching systems, wherein message cells whose transmission would exceed the transmission bit rate defined for the relevant connection are discarded.
It is known to define a maximum transmission bit rate in asychronous transmission switching systems during the course of set-up of virtual connections between, among other things, a subscriber station and a broadband switching node. Such a transmission bit rate, for example, can be established by a defined plurality of message cells having constant lengths per unit of time. Monitoring devices, generally referred to as policing equipment, are provided at the access locations of the switching network for monitoring the defined transmission bit rate.
It is known from an article by J. S. Turner, titled "New Directions in Communications" and published in the International Zurich Seminar on Digital Communications, March 1986, at A3.1 through A3.8, to allocate a forward-backward counter in a switching node of a broadband switching system to every subscriber station connected thereto. These forward-backward counters count the message cells transmitted by the respective subscriber stations and decrement a momentary counter reading at defined times in accordance with the transmission bit rate defined by the respective subscriber station. When the momentary counter reading upwardly exceeds a value prescribable by the respective subscriber station, then the switching node recognizes an overload condition. This can be referred to as the "leaky bucket" method.
When accessing an offering trunk shared in common by a plurality of subscriber stations that, for example, connects a private branch exchange (to which the subscriber stations are connected) to the broadband switching system, temporary transgressions of the defined transmission bit rate can occur at the access location of the broadband switching system despite adherence to the defined transmission bit rate by the subscriber station terminal equipment. An increase of the subscriber station associated transmission bit rate at the access location of the broadband switching system can result when two subscriber stations wish to simultaneously access the common offering trunk and thereby cause an access conflict that is resolved by delaying the transmission of individual message cells, so that the message cell following a delayed message cell in a virtual connection thereby affected appears within a shorter time frame than would correspond to the transmission bit rate declared during the call set-up and observed by the pertinent subscriber station terminal equipment.
Connection associated policing equipment arranged at the access location of the broadband switching system that functions according to the traditional leaky bucket method must tolerate temporary, upward transgressions of brief duration of the respectively declared transmission bit rates that can derive from jitter resulting on the offering trunk. Such tolerant behavior by traditional policing equipment vis-a-vis brief duration transgressions of the connection associated declared transmission bit rates, however, could be exploited in such a way that at least a limited number of message cells are transmitted by a subscriber station terminal equipment in a more rapid succession than corresponds to the declared transmission bit rate without the policing equipment at the input of the broadband switching system responding. As a result, the performance capability of a broadband switching system can deteriorate.

Method for monitoring and smoothing data streams that are transmitted asynchronously


A casing angle adjustment mechanism capable of adjusting the angle of a casing with respect to a mounting surface by a simple operation of a leg unit is provided. When an angle adjustment mechanism of a casing rotates a leg unit in one direction, moves a part of a stopper along a connection hole of the leg unit, and slides a slide plate, a side wall of the slide plate blocks openings of engagement holes of the leg unit, and a side wall of the leg unit blocks openings of engagement grooves of the slide plate, and when it rotates the leg unit in another direction, moves the part of the stopper along the connection hole of the leg unit, and slides the slide plate, engagement grooves of the slide plate and engagement holes of the leg unit are placed to overlap.

In an electronic device such as a typical desktop telephone, it is preferred that the angle of its casing is adjustable with respect to a mounting surface of this electronic device. For example, the electronic device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a stand arm and a lock arm are rotatably connected to the rear side of its casing, and a hook of the lock arm is inserted, in such a way that it can go round in one direction, into a round path formed on the inner side surface of the side wall of the stand arm. Latching parts are formed at intervals on the outward path of the round path of the stand arm, and the hook of the lock arm is latched into one latching part, and thereby the angle of the casing with respect to the mounting surface is fixed.
In such an electronic device, when changing the casing to a standing position, the lock arm is elastically deformed so that the hook comes out of the latching part and, for example, moved along the outward path of the round path and latched into the adjacent latching part. When changing the casing from an upright standing position to a lying position, the hook of the lock arm is moved along the return path of the round path and latched into the latching part on the outward path of the round path again.

Casing angle adjustment mechanism and electronic device


An automatic supervision system using an ion beam map generated by an ion implantation machine during an ion implantation process a feature extraction circuit and a data converter. The feature extraction circuit receives a beam current signal and a display blanking signal from the ion implantation machine, and extract features of the ion beam map. The data converter is coupled to the feature extraction circuit and converts the features into indexes indicative of the alignment and symmetry of beam maps. The data converter also compares the indexes to index values or symptoms of known abnormal ion beam scanning, which allows the data converter to recognize abnormal ion beam scanning and indicate the proper corrective action to adjust the ion beam scanning. Thus, the two-dimensional beam map recognition analysis is reduced to a one-dimensional feature analysis, thereby simplifying the beam map recognition process. This simplified beam recognition process allows the automatic supervision system to achieve real time control of the ion beam scanning process, thereby reducing faulty implantation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ion implantation systems, and particularly to ion implantation systems with an automatic supervision system using an ion beam map generated during ion implantation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The electrical properties of a semiconductor crystal can be modified by introducing controlled amounts of dopant impurities into the crystal. Ion implantation and diffusion are the most commonly used methods to introduce impurities into a semiconductor wafer. In silicon semiconductor technology, for example, p-type impurities such as boron or BF.sub.2, and n-type impurities such as arsenic, phosphorus, or antimony are typical dopants.
Doping of semiconductor wafers by diffusion is done by introducing impurities into the wafer and redistributing them within the semiconductor crystals at elevated temperature. Unlike diffusion, ion implantation is a low-temperature process in which ionized dopants are accelerated to high energies so that the dopants penetrate to a certain depth when they impact on a target wafer. During the past two decades, ion implantation has become the preferred method of doping semiconductors because of its flexibility in achieving different impurity profiles, and its better control of dopant concentration.
FIG. 1A shows the block diagram of a typical ion implantation machine. The main elements of the machine include an ion source 10, beam transport 12, a target chamber 14 and a man-machine interface 16. The ion source 10 produces a high-density of ions from which the beam transport 12 extracts a focused beam of ions and transports to the target wafer in the target chamber 14.
FIG. 1B shows the schematic of a typical beam transport 12, which includes a mass analyzer 120, an accelerator 124, a focusing system 126, and a scan system 128. The mass analyzer 120 is used to select one of many types of ions from the ion source 10 through the use of a strong magnetic field that separates the ions according to their mass-to-charge ratio. After leaving the mass analyzer 120, the ion beam is accelerated by the accelerator 124 to gain the desired kinetic energy. Next, the accelerated ion beam is focused by the focusing system 126, and then is swept both vertically and horizontally by the scan system 128 across the wafer 140 to distribute the dopants uniformly over the surface of the wafer 140 which is mounted in the target chamber 14. The scan system 128 typically includes X-scan plates 1280 and Y-scan plates 1282.
The man-machine interface 16 (FIG. 1A) is used by an operator to control implantation system parameters, such as recipe, acceleration voltage or ion dosage. This interface 16 can also display other system parameters, such as beam current, on a screen so that the operator can continuously monitor the implantation process. The operator can adjust the implantation process as necessary by controlling, for example, the X-plate and Y-plate voltage by manipulating an adjustment stick, which is commonly referred to as a joystick.
FIG. 2 shows an ion beam map as displayed on the man-machine interface 16 (FIG. 1), which is typically used in supervising an ion implantation process during the fabrication of an integrated circuit. FIGS. 3A to 3H demonstrate the formation of the beam map. Referring to FIG. 3A, ion beam 30 is blocked before time t.sub.1 by the beam defining aperture 32, so that the beam current reaching the wafer 34 remains zero as shown in FIG. 3B. Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the ion beam 30 begins to sweep onto the wafer 34 at time t.sub.2. Because part of the ion beam 30 contacts the wafer 34, the beam current rises as shown in FIG. 3D. Referring to FIG. 3E, the entire ion beam 30 sweeps across the wafer 34 between time t.sub.2 and t.sub.3, resulting a constant maximum beam current as shown in FIG. 3F. Finally, as the ion beam 30 is blocked again by the other end of the beam defining aperture 32 after t.sub.3 (FIG. 3G), the beam current decreases as shown in FIG. 3H.
Each time the ion beam sweeps across the wafer, the beam map display generates a different trace. The width of the trace is proportional to the length of the beam path across the wafer. FIGS. 4A to 4D illustrate examples of different traces and the corresponding beam path across the wafer. In FIG. 4A, the ion beam path 40 sweeps through the center of the wafer 41, resulting in a trace 42 having the longest width when displayed on the beam map. This trace 42 is commonly referred to as the outmost edge, and corresponds to the outmost trace 21 shown on the composite beam map in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 4B, the beam path 43 across the wafer 41 does not pass through the center of the wafer and, thus, has a shorter length on the wafer 41 than the beam path 40 (FIG. 4A), resulting in a trace 44 as shown in FIG. 4B. As the ion beam scans nearer to the edge of the wafer 41 as in beam path 45, a narrower trace 46 is displayed as shown in FIG. 4C. When the ion beam 47 finally reaches the edge of the wafer 41, the resultant trace 48 has a narrowest width. The traces 44, 46, and 48 described above are commonly referred to as minors, which correspond to the traces under the outmost edge 21 on the composite beam map as shown in FIG. 2.
The beam map display is conventionally used as part of a supervision system in the ion implantation process to ensure that the implantation process parameters such as recipe, acceleration voltage, and ion dosage are within tolerances and the ions are uniformly implanted on the wafer. In order to keep the implantation process in proper adjustment, the operator needs to continuously observe the beam map display for the occurrence of an abnormal beam map (indicating the implantation process is out of adjustment) and take corrective measures to prevent further damage to the wafer. These corrective measures include adjusting the implantation system parameters; e.g., the X-plate and Y-plate voltage, or even shutting down the implanter. Unfortunately, the analysis of the ion beam display has no standard criterion. This analysis largely depends on the accumulated experience of the operator, which can result in unnecessary or improper adjustment. Further, this manual adjustment by the operator is usually too slow to prevent defective implantation of the wafer, resulting in the failure of the wafer during quality testing. Other approaches may include using a video camera to monitoring the beam map display, using techniques disclosed by Banks in "Signal Processing, Image processing and Pattern Recognition", Prentice Hall, 1990. Complex two-dimensional image processing techniques are used to try to recognize abnormal ion beam maps. However, this approach tends to be impractical due to the complexity of the two-dimensional image processing, which slows down the recognition process so that a relatively large number of faulty implantations occur before abnormal beam scanning is recognized. Thus, a need has arisen for a low cost supervision system that can quickly, automatically and accurately identify symptoms of abnormal ion beam scanning to maintain the quality of the ion implantation process in real time.

Automatic supervision system on the ion beam map for ion implantation process

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A skewed Log Periodic Dipole Array (LPDA) used as the element in a linear or planar array, serves to remove the element spacing restriction and hence eliminates the grating lobe problem. The skewed form of the device has all dipoles greater in length than the shortest one, i.e. the highest frequency one, skewed such that they are "Z" shaped. When the angle between the end and center segments of the Z dipole is 90 degrees, the skewed LPDA has a constant width equal to the length of the highest frequency dipole.

This invention relates to the radiating elements used in radio frequency antenna arrays such as are found, for example, in certain radar equipment and more especially it relates to very wide frequency bandwidth operation of such antenna arrays.
Electromagnetic energy is radiated from and is received by specially designed antenna structures which can exist in many topological forms. Very common and simple antenna structures are seen in applications to automobile broadcast radio reception and domestic television reception. More complicated antenna structures can be seen in radar equipment used to detect distant moving targets for both military and civil purposes.
The most complex radar antennas are examples of a class of antenna arrays, employing a plurality of individual small antenna elements which are interconnected in ways designed to enable, for example, electronic steering of the radiated beams of electromagnetic energy in space, without physical movement of the whole array.
Individual antenna elements forming an array can be, for example, simple dipoles which are well known. Such elements are referred to as fundamental elements and usually have the smallest possible dimensions for a given frequency of the radiated energy (FIG. 1). The dipole arms 1a and 1b are usually each one quarter-wavelength long at the frequency of operation and are spaced one quarter wavelength x above a metallic ground plane 2 to give radiation in the desired direction z. Transmission line 3 supplies energy to the dipole arms 1a and 1b. The ratio of length 1 to diameter d is usually>10, which gives satisfactory performance over a narrow frequency band of a few percent with respect to the centre frequency of the band. The direction of the electric field vector is indicated by the arrow E.
Antenna Arrays can be made using a plurality of such elements, distributed uniformly or non-uniformly over a prescribed surface area, and chosen to provide the desired antenna radiation characteristics. The surface may be planar or curved in more than one plane and the perimeter may be of any shape, though it is commonly circular, or rectangular, or simply a straight line, which is the degenerate case for a rectangular aperture when one side of the rectangle has zero dimension.
FIG. 2 shows a rectangular array of M.times.N dipole elements 5 located over a metallic ground plane 6. Antenna elements in the array are spaced from each other by locating them on the nodal points of a geometrical lattice 4, which might be for example either rectangular (as shown) or triangular in nature. Spacing of the elements 5 from each other s, p, and d cannot exceed certain maximum fractions of the wavelength of the radiated electromagnetic energy if undesirable features in the array polar pattern are to be avoided. If this maximum element spacing is exceeded, in an attempt to minimise the number of elements in the array, then "grating lobes" are generated in the polar pattern of the radiated energy from the array. Grating lobes are replicas of the main (fundamental) lobe of the pattern but they are in different spatial directions from it.
In radar applications it is not possible to distinguish between targets detected in the main beam and in the grating lobe beams which results in ambiguities. A target detected in a grating lobe beam will be processed as if it had been received in the main beam and will be assigned a completely erroneous spatial direction by the radar signal processor. In radar and in other applications, such as broadcasting and communications services, grating lobes carry some of the energy to unwanted spatial regions and so reduce the operating efficiency of the system.
It is usually possible, for most narrow frequency bandwidth applications, to accept the array element spacing limitation. If the main beam of the radiated pattern is not to be electronically scanned the spacing d in FIG. 2 can be up to one half-wavelength at the operating frequency. If the beam is to be electronically scanned the spacing must be reduced as the maximum scan angle increases, down to a minimum of one half-wavelength for a scan of ninety degrees from the normal to the array surface.
However, there are occasions when it is necessary to transmit and receive electromagnetic energy over a wide frequency range, for example in frequency agile radars which operate at one or more frequencies distributed over a prescribed wide frequency range. Frequency agility can allow the radar or tactical communications system to continue to operate when interference, of whatever nature, overwhelms reception on any one frequency. Agility has other advantages in target detection and signal processing that are commonly exploited in radar equipment, particularly those applied to military functions.
It is usually desirable in such frequency agile military applications to operate over as wide a frequency band as possible; at least an octave. This requires that the individual elements of the array are capable of operating over the chosen frequency range and that their separations from each other meet the maximum spacing criterion already described, at all operating frequencies. Clearly this is not possible with conventional antenna elements such as single linear dipoles, even though there are established designs for wide-band dipoles which permit operation over a band-width of about 30% with respect to the mean frequency of the band. For example, a broad band half wave dipole is described in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol AP-32, No. 4, April 1984 pp 410-412 by M. C. Bailey and describes a bow-tie shaped dipole, which has a length equal to 0.32 of the mean wave-length of the band of operation, and has been shown to have acceptable performance over a 33% band-width, centred around 600 MHz, determined on the criterion that the input Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) shall not exceed 2.0.
Even if it was possible to make a dipole capable of radiating over an octave change in frequency, it could not satisfy the separation condition necessary to ensure grating lobe free radiation over the octave range, from an array formed by a plurality of such dipoles. The length of the dipole would be between one half-wavelength at the lowest frequency and one half-wavelength at the highest frequency, and so the separation between dipoles in the array must exceed a half-wavelength at the highest frequency if physical interference between dipoles is to be avoided. Mathematical modelling of the bow-tie dipole described in the previously mentioned article in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, using the proven analysis software Numerical Electromagnetic Code (NEC), has shown that it cannot be designed to operate over an octave frequency range.
The elements used in an array antenna need not be single dipoles. A Log-Periodic Dipole Array (LPDA) as shown in FIG. 3, in which a series of half-wavelength dipoles arranged in a coplanar and parallel configuration on a parallel wire transmission line 7, may be used as a very broadband element. The five element LPDA shown in FIG. 3 is representative of the LPDA class of antennas. The number of dipole elements used in the LPDA depends on the required performance characteristics. The lengths and spacing of the dipoles in the LPDA increase logarithmically in proportion to their distance from a fixed co-ordinate reference point 8. Energy is fed to the LPDA from the feed point 9 which is close to the dipole 10, in a direction towards the reference point 8.
The first and last dipoles 10 and 11 respectively are chosen to suit the frequency band of interest which can be several octaves or even a decade in extent. Dipole 10 will have dimensions chosen to make it radiate correctly at the high frequency end of the band. A metallic ground plane 12 is located approximately one quarter-wavelength at the lowest operating frequency from dipole 11 to provide unidirectional radiation which may be desirable in applications of the invention to radar for example, where energy radiated in the backward direction may have adverse effects on the operation of the radar. Transmission line 7 is short circuited by metallic ground-plane 12 where it intersects it at point A. Such LPDA's are well known, for example UK patent no. 884889 describes such an LPDA, and are in wide use. The direction of the electric field vector radiated or received by the LPDA, known as the polarisation of the wave, is shown by the arrow E. It lies in the common plane of the dipoles (horizontal as drawn) because the dipole excitation currents all lie in that plane.
A planar array antenna could comprise a plurality of LPDA elements arranged with the planes containing their individual sets of dipoles being normal to the planar array. FIG. 4 shows elements 14-18 in the array, located on the nodal points of rectangular lattice 19.
A planar array so formed has the advantage that the side-lobes of the pattern at wide angles from its normal direction are reduced, compared with the side-lobes from a corresponding array of single dipole elements, since the beamwidth of the LPDA element is narrower than that of the dipole element. However, the same element spacing criterion which applies to the array of the dipole elements to eliminate grating lobes applies to the array of LPDA elements, but the grating lobe magnitudes will be reduced by the narrow beam pattern of the LPDA element.
The LPDA overcomes the frequency bandwidth limitations of the single dipole element but, just as with the single wide bandwidth dipole, it fails to meet the spacing criterion necessary to suppress grating lobes generated by the planar array. For example, LPDA's 14 and 15 in FIG. 4 cannot be positioned closer in the array than the longest dipole element, 11 in FIG. 3, will allow. When this is done the high frequency elements, 20 in LPDA's 14 and 15 will be separated from each other by more than one half-wavelength at the high frequency; in fact by one wavelength if the LPDA is designed to operate over an octave, and grating lobes will be formed at the higher frequencies in the operating band.


Provided is a surveillance system including a radar transmitter which transmits a detection signal to an object existing within a surveillance region, and at least one radar receiver which is installed separate from the radar transmitter within the surveillance region, receives a signal reflected by the object, and predicts a signal distance of the object which is a sum of a distance from the radar transmitter to the object and a distance from the object to the at least one radar receiver.

1. Field
Apparatuses and method consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a surveillance system and a surveillance method that use a radar sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radar sensors detect and track an object that enters a surveillance region, and ascertain information about a location of the object, by using a radio frequency (RF) signal as a radar signal.
FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a related art radar sensor 1 including a transceiver 12. Referring to FIG. 11, the related art radar sensor 1 includes an antenna 11, the transceiver 12, and a signal processing unit 13. The transceiver 12 outputs a radar signal to an object via the antenna 11 and receives a signal reflected from an object. The radar signal transmitted to the object travels in a straight line to the object and is then reflected from the object to return to the transceiver 12. The signal processor 13 may ascertain a distance, a direction, and an altitude of the object by measuring a period of time during which a signal is transmitted, reflected, and returns to the transceiver 12, and may obtain information about the object via the distance, the direction, and the altitude of the object.
General civilian radar sensors restricted by local regulations have restrictions on an object detection range due to a limitation in an intensity of RF radiation power. In other words, in the related art radar sensor 1 using a transceiver, as illustrated in FIG. 11, for example, a radar sensor having a detection range of 50 m due to a limitation in RF radiation power, a wireless radar signal moves 50 m along a transmission path and 50 m along a reception path, and thus, an overall link budget corresponds to 100 m. Therefore, for example, an application having an object detection distance of 50 m or greater needs to use other radar sensors having larger detection ranges.


An example automatic gain control (AGC) system in which an adder adds a radio frequency (RF) signal power of only the low-frequency component of an RF signal and an intermediate-frequency (IF) signal of an output from a variable-gain intermediate-frequency amplifier, which is higher than the frequency of the low-frequency component, and outputs the result to an A/D converter. This construction makes it possible to input power data for the RF stage to a demodulation LSI. The demodulation LSI separates the low-frequency component from the input signal, and by detecting the power of the extracted signal, is able to obtain the output data for the RF signal, and it separates the IF component from the input signal, and by detecting the power of the extracted signal, is able to obtain the output data for the IF signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to Automatic Gain Control (AGC) used in communication apparatuses, recording/reproduction apparatuses, and other signal-processing apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a related art, a prior AGC system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H10-65750 has been known.
FIG. 1 shows a first example of a prior delay AGC system. The input RF (Radio frequency) is supplied to and amplified by a variable-gain RF amplifier 13. Here, in order to simplify the explanation, the variable-gain RF amplifier 13 comprises a variable attenuator 131 and fixed-gain RF amplifier 132. The output signal of the variable-gain RF amplifier 13 is multiplied with the output sine wave from a local oscillator 14 by a mixer 15 and then converted to an IF (intermediate frequency) signal. The IF signal output from the mixer is band-limited by a SAW (surface acoustic wave) filter 16 to only a signal in a desired channel. In other words, the SAW filter 16 removes signals such as the adjacent channel signals. Here, in order to simplify the explanation, the total power gain of the fixed-gain RF amplifier 132, mixer 15 and SAW filter 16 for the desired channel is taken to be unity. The output IF signal from the SAW filter is supplied to and amplified by a variable-gain IF amplifier 17, and then is digitized by an A/D converter 18 and input to a demodulation LSI 19. The demodulation LSI 19 demodulates the input IF signal by appropriate signal processing, and together with decoding the transmission-data sequence, it performs AGC of the gain Gatt of the variable attenuator 131 and the gain Gif of the variable-gain IF amplifier such that the IF signal input to the A/D converter is at a suitable power Pref. AGC is performed as follows. First, with the gains Gatt and Gif set to proper values, the power Pif of the IF signal input to the A/D converter is calculated. The passband power Pin of the input signal of the system, or the RF signal input to the variable attenuator 131, can be calculated from Pif as shown below.Pin=Pif/(Gif×Gatt)  [Equation 1]
Control of the gains Gif and Gatt is performed using the equation below based on the calculated Pin.Pin<Pt: Gatt=1, Gif=Pref/Pin  [Equation 2]Pin≧Pt: Gatt=Pt/Pin, Gif=Pref/Pt  [Equation 3]
That is, when Pin is less than a constant power Pt, it is possible to minimize the noise factor by maximizing the gain Gatt, and when Pin is greater than Pt, it is possible to suppress distortion in the RF stage by limiting the passing bandwidth power of the input to the fixed-gain RF amplifier 132 to Pt.
However, in the method described above, even though it may be possible to limit the power for desired channel in the RF stage, it is not possible to limit the total power for that entire bandwidth. Therefore, when the power of a signal not in the desired channel is large, there is an inconvenience in that the signal in the RF stage becomes distorted.
In order to solve this inconvenience, a method has been proposed in which a dedicated power detector is placed in the RF stage, and is used to independently control the RF gain. This is shown in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 2 there is a power detector 25 for detecting the power of the variable-gain RF amplifier. A rectifying circuit having a diode and capacitor can be used for this power detector 25. The output from the power detector 25 is averaged by a low-pass filter 26 in order to reduce the effects of noise and short-term power fluctuations. The average power value, which is the output from the low-pass filter 26, is input to a comparator 29. The other input to the comparator 29 is set to a reference power value (REFERENCE), which will be used as a comparison. In other words, when the average power value that is input is greater than the reference power value, the gain of the variable-gain RF amplifier 20 becomes smaller according to the output from the comparator 29, and when the average power value that is input is less than the reference power value, the gain of the variable-gain RF amplifier 20 becomes larger according to the output from the comparator 29. That is, the gain of the variable-gain RF amplifier 20 is controlled such that the average power value is equal to the reference power value.
On the other hand, a demodulation LSI 28 controls the gain of the variable-gain IF amplifier 24 such that the input power to the A/D converter 27 is a proper value.
By independently performing AGC for the RF stage and IF stage, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience of delayed AGC as shown in FIG. 1 of the signal becoming distorted in the RF stage when the power of the signal not in the desired channel is large.
However, in the case shown in FIG. 2, control of the RF gain and the IF gain is performed independently, so an inconvenience occurs that total AGC for the overall system cannot be performed.
Also, since it is not possible to control the gain directly in the RF stage from the demodulation LSI, an inconvenience occurs that it is not possible to perform adaptive control of the control speed of the RF gain control. In order to solve these inconveniences, it is necessary to input the detected power information for both the RF stage and IF stage input to the demodulation LSI, and to control both the RF gain and IF gain uniformly from the demodulation LSI based on the information.
In these prior AGC systems, data related to the total power of RF stage was not input to the demodulation LSI, so there was an inconvenience in that it was difficult to perform adjustment and adaptive control for the AGC as an overall system.


Integrated circuit memory devices contain a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells and preferred circuits for selectively configuring the memory cells as multi-bit memory cells having more than two programmable states, during a multi-bit mode of operation, or for configuring the memory cells as single-bit memory cells during a single-bit mode of operation. The preferred circuits contain first and second sense amplifiers that can be electrically coupled to first and second strings of memory cells in the plurality thereof, and a pass transistor for electrically connecting sense nodes of the first and second sense amplifiers together during the multi-bit mode of operation. The first and second sense amplifiers also contain first and second latches, respectively, and the first and second latches each have normal and complementary outputs. The normal outputs of the first and second latches are electrically coupled to first and second input/output lines, respectively. First and second latch control circuits are also provided for enabling the single-bit and multi-bit modes of operation. Here, the single-bit mode of operation (i.e., two-state mode of operation) may be used for high fidelity applications requiring fault-free operation and the multi-bit mode of operation (e.g. four-state mode of operation) may be used for applications involving the storage of mass amounts of information such as audio data, where memory loss or corruption of small amounts of data does not significantly affect the fidelity of the information when read as a whole.

Semiconductor memory devices for storing data can typically be categorized as either volatile memory devices or nonvolatile memory devices. Volatile memory devices lose their stored data when their power supplies are interrupted, however nonvolatile memory devices retain their stored data even when their power supplies are interrupted. Thus, nonvolatile memory devices are widely used in applications where the possibility of power supply interruption is present.
Conventional nonvolatile memory devices include a type of electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) device typically referred to as a flash EEPROM device. Flash EEPROM devices typically include a semiconductor substrate of first conductivity type (e.g., P-type), spaced source and drain regions of second conductivity type (e.g., N-type) in the substrate, a channel region at a face of the substrate, between the spaced source and drain regions, a floating gate for storing charge carriers when the device is programmed and a control gate which overlies the floating gate, opposite the channel region. Operation of a flash EEPROM device is typically divided into three modes including programming, erasing and reading.
Programming of a flash EEPROM device is typically achieved by biasing the drain region to a first positive bias, relative to the source region, and biasing the control gate to a second positive bias which is greater than the first positive bias. In the absence of any stored charge on the floating gate, these biases cause the formation of an inversion-layer channel of electrons at the face of the substrate, between the source and drain regions. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the drain-to-source voltage accelerates these electrons through the channel to the drain region where they acquire sufficiently large kinetic energy and are typically referred to as "hot" electrons. The larger positive bias on the control gate also establishes an electrical field in a tunneling oxide layer which separates the floating gate from the channel region. This electric field attracts the hot electrons and accelerates them toward the floating gate, which is disposed between the control gate and the channel region, by a process known as tunneling. The floating gate then accumulates and traps the accumulated charge. Fortunately, the process of charging the floating gate is self-limiting. The negative charge that accumulates on the floating gate reduces the strength of the electric field in the tunneling oxide layer to the point where it is no longer capable of accelerating "hot" electrons from the drain side of the channel region.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the accumulation of a large quantity of trapped charge (electrons) on the floating gate will cause the effective threshold voltage (V.sup.th) of the field effect transistor comprising the source region, drain region, channel region and control gate to increase. If this increase is sufficiently large, the field effect transistor will remain in a nonconductive "off" state when a predetermined "read" voltage is applied to the control gate during a read operation (i.e., V.sub.th >V.sub.read). In this state, known as the programmed state, the EEPROM device may be said to be storing a logic 0. Once programmed, the EEPROM device retains its higher threshold voltage even when its power supply is interrupted or turned off for long periods of time.
Reading of the EEPROM device is achieved by applying a predetermined read voltage (V.sub.read) to the control gate, typically via a word line connecting a row of identical EEPROM devices or "cells", and applying a positive bias to the drain region, typically via a bit line connecting a column of identical EEPROM cells. If the EEPROM device is programmed, it will not conduct drain current (I.sub.ds). However, if the EEPROM device has not been programmed (or has been erased), it will heavily conduct. In this state, the EEPROM device may be said to be storing a logic 1. Thus, by monitoring the bit line current, the programmed state (i.e., 1 or 0) of the EEPROM device can be determined.
Erasing of the EEPROM device may also be achieved by removing the stored charge from the floating gate. The erasure process can be achieved, for example, by grounding the control gate and applying a positive bias to the substrate (e.g., 10-20 Volts). Accordingly, flash EEPROM devices typically require bulk erasure of large portions of an array of cells since the effects of applying a large substrate bias typically cannot be confined to a single EEPROM cell.
Although the above-described memory cells have been described as two-state devices having only one erased and one programmed state, accurate control of the threshold voltages of an EEPROM cell can be utilized to provide a multi-bit memory device having more than two states. For example, rather than just an erased state where Vth.ltoreq.-3V and a programmed state where Vth.gtoreq.1V, an EEPROM memory cell may be carefully programmed to have four (4) states, for example, where a Vth.ltoreq.-2V represents state "11", Vth=-1 represents state "10", Vth=0V represents state "01" and Vth=1V represents state "00". Thus, an EEPROM memory cell can be programmed as a two-bit device instead of just a one-bit device to advantageously double the amount of information an EEPROM memory cell may contain. Exemplary integrated circuit memory devices containing multi-bit cells therein are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,125 to Fazio et al. entitled Method and Circuitry for Storing Discrete Amounts of Charge in a Single Memory Element and U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,772 to Gill entitled Memory Array Utilizing Multi-State Memory Cells.
An integrated circuit memory device containing multi-bit cells therein is also described in an article by M. Bauer et al. entitled A Multilevel-Cell 32 Mb Flash Memory, ISSC Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 132-133, February (1995). In the Bauer et al. article, a memory cell array is arranged in a NOR-type arrangement. Each memory cell is capable of storing one of four states with two bits such as "00", "01", "10" and "11". Each of the four states corresponds to a unique voltage level, e.g., "00"=2.5V, "01"=1.5V, "10"=0.5V and "11"=-3V. The voltage levels are stored as threshold voltages of the cells.
To detect a state of a multi-bit memory cell, a read voltage having a level interposed between a threshold voltage level (or positioned on a lower side or a higher side from the level of a threshold voltage) must be applied to gates of the memory cells through a word line coupled thereto. Here, the width between adjacent threshold voltages (hereinafter referred to as the threshold voltage "window") is less than in a normal flash memory. For example, the window in a four-state flash memory is about 0.6V. Furthermore, when a word line voltage for reading is located in the window of about 0.6V, the margin from an edge of the threshold voltage profile and the level of the word line voltage may be not more than about 0.3V. Therefore, if a multi-bit flash memory is made with accompanying variations in the manufacturing process or influenced by variations in word line voltage level and temperature, the possibility of experiencing an invalid sensing operation (i.e., read operation) is increased. Such weak immunity against variations in external conditions typically limits the utility of these multi-bit devices to the storage of mass information such as audio data, where memory loss or corruption of small amounts of data does not significantly affect the fidelity of the information when read as a whole. Moreover, even though the advantages of the normal single-bit and newer multi-bit flash memories are well known, the two types of flash memories are typically fabricated on separate semiconductor chips.
Thus, notwithstanding the above described techniques for improving the capacity of an integrated circuit memory device by employing multi-bit memory devices therein, there continues to be a need for improved memory devices which can advantageously use multi-bit devices therein.

Integrated circuit memory devices having reconfigurable nonvolatile multi-bit memory cells therein and methods of operating same


A normally closed ignition grounding switch mounted on the engine operates in concert with the fuel valve such that in order to “kill” the engine, the fuel valve must be moved from its open position. In one embodiment, a normally closed push button switch is mounted on the engine shroud in a position such that it is aligned with the sliding fuel valve lever so that the switch is released only when the fuel valve is moved toward its closed position. In an alternative embodiment, a normally open push button switch is mounted to the engine shroud aligned with the lever of the fuel valve such that closing the fuel valve depresses the push button switch.

This invention pertains to small gasoline engines and particularly to apparatus to force closure of the fuel supply valve to cause the engine to stop.
In the typical small gasoline engine, a manually activated switch is provided on the engine body which grounds the magneto of the engine when the user wishes to stop the engine from running. The engine is also equipped with a manually operable valve which may be activated to close the fuel line leading from the fuel reservoir to the engine fuel intake. When a small internal combustion engine is to be moved, it is especially advisable to close the fuel valve to prevent gasoline from draining into the engine as the engine is jostled and moved about, leading to overload of the intake valve of the carburetor and permitting gasoline to enter the combustion chamber. Gasoline in the combustion chamber when the engine is not running can cause delubrication of parts of the engine, namely the piston rings and cylinder wall. Manuals for small engines often carry instructions for the user to close the fuel supply valve when the engine is not running especially if it is to be moved, but many users pay little heed to these instructions, instead merely killing the engine and proceeding to move the equipment. As a result, lawn mowers, pressure washers, cement finishing equipment, and many other transportable devices powered by gasoline engines are transported from worksite to worksite with their fuel supply valves open, allowing gasoline to enter the engine eventually causing premature failure of the engine components. The loss of engines due to premature failure is a common and expensive problem which could be avoided with proper precautions or a system which would require closure of the fuel supply valve when the engine is stopped.


A MEMS device including a getter film formed inside a hermetic chamber provides stable performance of the MEMS device by electrically stabilizing the getter film. The MEMS device includes a movable portion and a fixed portion formed inside the hermetic chamber. The hermetic chamber is formed by a base material of the MEMS device and glass substrates and having a cavity and cavities made therein. A part of any continuous getter film formed inside the hermetic chamber connects to only one of any one or a plurality of predetermined electrical potentials of the fixed portion and a ground potential of the fixed portion through the base material of the MEMS device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) device formed inside a hermetic chamber having a getter film.
2. Description of the Related Art
Silicon-based MEMS devices are rapidly progressing in a growing number of technical fields. In recent years, MEMS devices are utilized not only in micro turbines and sensors, but also in communications and medical fields. Getter technology represents a fundamental element of MEMS technology. Getters are important for stabilizing a performance of MEMS devices formed inside hermetic chambers. Improved getter technology is indispensable to an advancement of many fields, especially fields requiring miniaturization in applications such as sensors.
Conventional getters are formed by vapor deposition on a bottom of a cavity made in a glass substrate. A hermetic chamber is formed, for example, by bonding silicon and glass substrates by anodic bonding. The getter absorbs an amount of oxygen or other residual gases remaining after the anodic bonding, as described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 10-122869.
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 10-213441 discusses a method of reactivating a getter formed on a bottom of a cavity made in a glass substrate, wherein the reactivation is performed after sealing the chamber by applying difference in electrical potentials to the getter to produce an electric current therein.
Unfortunately, a location of the getter film inside the hermetic chamber may affect various aspects of performance of the MEMS device. For example, in the case where a portion of a getter is too close to an electrode formed on a MEMS device, even though no physical contact is made therebetween, electric noise may transmit from the electrode via the getter film coupled capacitively to an electrode of a sensor or a driver, thereby impairing the operation of the MEMS device.
Such problems are especially pronounced in the case where a miniature MEMS device is utilized in, for example, a resonator gyroscope chip having a substantially square cross-section occupying 100 mm2 or less when viewed from the front, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In particular, the miniaturization of a device requires a smaller volume of hermetic chamber. Gases such as residual gases and gases released into the hermetic chamber during production remain inside the hermetic chamber. The smaller hermetic chamber volume results in stronger influences of these gases on the pressure inside the hermetic chamber. As a result, a detection sensitivity of a MEMS sensor, for example, may be noticeably impaired. Thus, the technical significance of the getter region for miniature MEMS devices is particularly high. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to form conventional getters that solve the problems recited above while maintaining the required gas absorption capabilities.

MEMS device formed inside hermetic chamber having getter film


A method and system for managing accounts that control access to resources of different providers. The account management system allows providers to use a common logon procedure through an account management server. The account management system dynamically creates accounts when users request to access resources. To access to a resource, a user provides their credentials (e.g., user identifier and password) through a certain location (e.g., client computer) and identifies the resource (e.g., application). The account management system determines whether an account has already been created for those credentials. If not, the account management system authenticates the user, creates a new account for those credentials (i.e., registration), and associates the identified resource with the account.

Techniques for accessing computer resources (e.g., application programs and computer data) require that the accessing user be authorized to access the computer resource. The authorization is typically verified using a logon procedure in which a user supplies their credentials (e.g., user identifier and password) to the system that controls access to the computer resource. When the system receives the credentials, it determines whether the user is authorized to access the resource (e.g., by checking capabilities associated with the user identifier). If so, then the system allows the user to access the computer resource. For example, a database program may require a user to supply their user identifier and password before accessing (e.g., reading and writing) the data in the database.
Such techniques for accessing computer resources are well adapted to environments in which the computer resources (e.g., data in a database) are provided by a single source. For example, a news service may require a user to logon before accessing any news stories during that logon session. The news service may then bill the user on a monthly basis for all the news stories accessed during the month. Each provider of computer resources typically develops their own logon procedures. A problem with such development is that each provider duplicates the efforts of other providers when developing their own logon procedures. Another problem with such development is that each provider may use different types of logon procedures which tends to confuse users. For example, one provider may require a password to be at least 8 characters while another provider may require that passwords be 5 to 7 characters. Thus, a user who accesses the computer resources of both providers needs to remember different passwords. Even if different providers were to use the same logon procedures, a problem would still exist in that a user would receive separate bills from each provider. This problem may not be significant if a user uses the computer resources of only a few providers, but it is significant when a user (e.g., an Internet user) accesses the computer resources of many different providers (e.g., different news organizations and associations).
These problems could be solved if a procedure was provided by a logon organization that is not related to providers. For example, a user would logon through a logon organization with a single set of credentials and then access the computer resources for different providers. Providers, however, typically find it undesirable to have their logon procedures provided by an unrelated source for several reasons. First, providers prefer to have the displays associated with the logon of their users to be integrated with the look and feel of the user interface provided by the developer. Second, providers may prefer to have provider accounts used when accessing the providers' services and resources. It would be desirable to have a technique that would combine the advantages of the logon organization to avoid these difficulties, and yet enable providers to use established accounts and provider-supplied logon elements.

Method and system for account management