A processor in a haptic joystick renders force effects that are applied to control handle gripped by a user. A plurality of force effects specified by a host computer to the processor are stored in a random access memory (RAM) that is coupled to the processor. Further, a plurality of force effects are stored in a read only memory (ROM) that is coupled to the processor. The processor employs a scheduler to render the force effects in a specified order, for specified time intervals. The scheduler controls how the force effects are rendered, i.e., sequentially, concatenated, and/or superimposed. A play list employed by the scheduler indicates for each increment of a servo clock when each force effect should be rendered by the processor. The scheduler has a round robin queue that can implement at least five types of effects, including: behavioral, synthesized, wave table, variable parameter, and process list.

Force feedback can simulate the sense of touch (referred to as a haptic effect) for a user of a control device, such as a joystick, by generating a force that may be responsive to the user's input or alternatively, produce a feedback force that simulates a condition in a virtual world environment. Typically, a force feedback device employs a servo motor that has a servo loop rate, which is at least an order of magnitude faster than the device's ability to mechanically transmit a force to the user. For example, the user of a force feedback device with a relatively stiff mechanism, e.g., having a maximum rate of 50 Hz, will require a servo loop rate of 500 Hz or better if the user is to perceive a realistic haptic effect.
Historically, a host computer has been employed to render the calculations for the servo loop so that a servo motor could transmit or apply a desired haptic effect to the user. In the prior art, as each effect is rendered, it is downloaded by the host computer to the force feedback device for transmission to the user. Even though many host computers are capable of rendering the calculations in real time, a concurrent application implemented by the host computer that is computationally intensive (employing extensive graphics and sound) can cause a latency in the calculation and subsequent transmission of the haptic effect to the user. Whenever a latency occurs, the effect is no longer synchronized with the concurrent application and the user will not experience the effect in real time. The sense of reality intended by the haptic is thus adversely affected due to such problems, as well as potential instability of closed loop effects such as springs.
There are two techniques commonly employed in the prior art for rendering force feedback effects to the user. The first technique employs a force feedback device that has a memory capable of storing an effect used in an application; the effect is activated by the application sending a command to the haptic feedback device, or in response to the user activating a control on the device. The host computer only provides the parameters for the stored effect, and the device produces the force output based on the supplied parameters.
In the second technique, the host computer and the force feedback device share a common "world view" or co-simulation. The host computer renders the graphics and sound of a virtual world and indicates the characteristics of objects and their physics in the virtual world to the force feedback device. The device is employed to render the physics of the virtual world and report the disposition of movable objects of interest to the host. Significantly, both approaches have inherent problems in rendering real time haptic effects. The first approach requires the host to continuously interact with the force feedback device in order to vary the time period of each haptic effect and schedule the transmission of the effect to the user. The second approach requires large amounts of processing power to be concentrated in the force feedback device for calculating the physics and position of objects disposed in the virtual world.
Clearly, an approach is required that avoids the problems of the above prior art techniques for rendering force feedback effects. It would be preferable to schedule a plurality of indicated haptic effects for generation by the force feedback device so that these effects can be implemented without requiring extensive communication between the device and the host computer. An effect that is to be employed by an application, if not stored in the force feedback device, should be downloadable from the host computer to the processor in the device. The host computer should be able to indicate an effect that should be applied to the processor when an application has called for the effect to be generated based upon an identification code assigned to the effect. A scheduler in the device should control the order in which the effects are rendered by the processor without any further interaction being required between the host computer and the device. It should be possible to schedule sequential, concatenated, or superimposed effects to enable the rendering of extremely complex effects. Currently, no known prior art haptic control system implements this approach to achieve the real-time rendering of effects.


A semiconductor device includes a clock generation unit which generates a clock signal, a first module which asserts a clock-control request signal, and one or more second modules, each of which receives the clock signal and the clock-control request signal, and asserts a clock-control acknowledge signal after stopping an operation thereof upon completion of a currently performed operation in response to the assertion of the clock-control request signal, wherein the clock generation unit selectively changes the clock signal supplied to the one or more second modules in response to assertion of all clock-control acknowledge signals output from the one or more second modules.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices operating in synchronization with a clock signal, and particularly relates to a semiconductor device in which electric power consumption can be reduced by controlling a clock signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In semiconductor devices such as processors, the frequency of a clock signal is lowered or suspended for the purpose of reducing power consumption during a period in which high-speed processing is not required. Namely, the frequency of a clock signal is switched in a step-like manner as necessary (hereinafter called a "clock gear"), or the supply of the clock signal is suspended with respect to module blocks that do not need to be operating (hereinafter called a "power-down mode").
The clock gear is generally implemented by supplying a synchronizing signal for mask purposes that corresponds to the fastest clock signal used in the processor and by reducing the number of clock pulses by use of a gated clock buffer. Alternatively, the clock gear is implemented by dividing the frequency of a clock signal by a frequency divider. The power-down mode is generally implemented by masking the supply of a clock signal to all or part of the modules in the processor during a period in which their operations are not necessary. Such clock control is generally attended to by a clock control unit of the processor operating based on settings provided to chip terminal pins and software control provided by programs.
When a shift of the clock gear or a shift to the power-down mode is to be made in a configuration having an on-chip bus or an internal peripheral bus provided via a bus bridge inside the processor, a predetermined procedure must be performed based on software control. Namely, when a shift of the clock gear or a shift to the power-down mode is to be made, software-based operations need to be performed as preparation for such a shift in compliance with the predetermined protocols (operation specifications) relating to bus transfer and the like.
If the clock gear is changed during data transfer trough a bus (especially, during an instruction fetch) without performing such a required procedure, there is a risk of causing the processor to suffer a hang-up state due to the failure to fetch an instruction. Further, when a store instruction is carried out as a released operation handed over to a module that is connected to an internal peripheral bus via a bus bridge, for example, a write operation continues to be performed on the internal peripheral bus even after transfer on the on-chip bus is completed. If the clock gear is shifted without waiting for the store operation to be completed, there is a risk that the storing of data is not properly carried out. Further, when an SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random memory) controller is provided on a chip, for example, data of the SDRAM will be destroyed if the clock of the SDRAM controller is suspended without making the SDRAM shift into a self-refresh mode.
In order to avoid the problems as described above, a software program for performing a predetermined procedure necessary for a clock-gear shift or a transition to the power-down mode must be created in advance. If this predetermined procedure is not perfect up to minute details, however, an unpredictable hang-up or the like may occur.
Especially when a clock control program needs to be created for processors having an on-chip bus, a bus bridge, a chip-external bus (i.e., a bus that is connected to an SDRAM, SRAM, ROM, companion chip, or the like) operating based on complicated transfer protocols, the control procedure needs to take into account various conditions. It is thus difficult to eliminate all the risks of causing a hang-up state or data transfer errors through human errors.
Accordingly, there is a need for a semiconductor device that is provided with a hardware mechanism for eliminating the risk of causing a hang-up state at the time of a clock-gear shift or a transition to the power-down mode.

Semiconductor device with a hardware mechanism for proper clock control


In aspects of quantum-based security for hardware devices, a computing device includes a processor for application processing in a trusted execution environment, and includes a quantum random number generator to generate quantum random numbers sourced by multiple hardware devices in the computing device. The computing device also includes an embedded secure element that manages connection security of the multiple hardware devices, and is a single root of trust as a secure controller of the quantum random number generator. The computing device also includes a secure switch controlled by the embedded secure element, the secure switch being switchable to connect at least one of the multiple hardware devices to obtain a quantum random number from the quantum random number generator. The secure switch may be a virtualized secure switch implemented in the embedded secure element.

Computing devices utilize random number generators to generate random cryptographic keys for data encryption so that data can be transmitted securely, such as in accordance with Internet encryption protocols. Many conventional devices use random number generation techniques that have a deterministic output, and if the input seed to a random number generator is known, or if enough of the output sequence can be observed, then the output can be determined, which is detrimental when used for cryptographic key generation. In an effort to improve data security in conventional devices that use random number generators, a quantum element is implemented as a quantum random number generator used to generate quantum random numbers for data encryption and security, such as for secure payment and other financial transactions. A truly random number is a number generated by a random process having an outcome that is unpredictable, and which cannot be reliably reproduced. Given that quantum physics is fundamentally random, the use of a quantum process as source of randomness provides an unpredictable output of a quantum random number generator.
Computing devices implement various hardware devices, and current implementations of dedicated embedded secure elements and/or quantum random number generators are not able to combine the advantages of both hardware-based security with the hardware utilized as a root of trust for secure random number generation. Conventional techniques provide one or the other, but not both, due to the current lack of integration in the manufacturing of hardware devices. Given the physical nature of a quantum random number generator as an entropy source, hardware-based security is unlikely to be able to integrate these into a single package, such as integrated in an application processor. The components of a quantum random number generator are not incorporated with an application processor, and the components are not manufactured together. The implementation is difficult for the lower lithography, and given that it is desirable to generate the seed for random number generation from within the most trusted environment, the embedded secure element would have a higher level as a dedicated certified component, which is physically isolated from the subsystems of the application processor.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Quantum-based security for hardware devices


A circuit and method are provided for ensuring that a fingerprint sensor is started automatically when a finger is rested thereon such that a sufficiently contrasting image can be produced. A difference between a maximum and a minimum value of the sensor signals is generated wherein, if the difference is sufficiently large, indicating a sufficient contrast of an image to be produced, a normal scanning operation of the fingerprint sensor is initiated, thus ensuring that the complete fingerprint image is produced, a normal scanning operation of the fingerprint sensor is initiated, thus ensuring that the complete fingerprint images produced are of satisfactory quality.

In the case of a fingerprint sensor, a raster-shaped arrangement of individual sensor elements that are assigned to the points of the image to be detected is usually present in one plane, and electronic circuit components for determining a signal are connected thereto. The individual sensor elements that are set up for capacitive measurement, for example, are driven in series. This can be done by row or column in the case of a rectangular raster and, thus, of a matrix-like arrangement of the pixels. To date, a fingerprint sensor is always started anew and delivers a complete fingerprint image after each start. This is done independently of how rich in contrast the image produced turns out to be. In particular, fingerprint images are also supplied whenever the finger is not yet correctly resting on the support surface of the sensor. It would be desirable, on the other hand, for it to be possible to operate the sensor in a fashion ensuring that complete fingerprint images are delivered only whenever a finger rests on the support surface such that a clear and contrasty image can be produced.
It is an object of the present invention to determine how a fingerprint sensor can be used to always produce sufficiently contrasty images when a finger is rested thereon.

Circuit arrangement and method for operating a fingerprint sensor


A 3-(Z)-propenyl cephem compound is selectively prepared by reacting a phosphoranylidene cephem compound with acetaldehyde in the presence of a base in a solvent mixture comprising diethyl ether, formula (I), wherein R is a carboxyl protecting group; R1 is hydrogen or R2CH2CO—; and R2 is ethyl, 2-thiophenyl, phenyl, p-hydroxyphenyl or phenoxy

Cefprozil, an oral cephalosporin antibiotic, is a mixture of antibiotic BMY-28100 of formula I (the Z- or cis-isomer) and antibiotic BMY-28167 of formula II (the E- or trans-isomer), the mixture having a Z- to E-isomer ratio in the range of 89:11 to 94:6. The preparation of cefprozil is usually carried out using a 3-(Z)-propenyl cephem of formula III.
wherein R is a carboxyl protecting group; R1 is hydrogen or R2CH2CO—; and R2 is ethyl, 2-thiophenyl, phenyl, p-hydroxy or phenoxy.
The propenyl group at position C3 of the cephem compound is usually introduced by the so-called Wittig reaction which produces both Z- and E-isomers of the propenyl double bond. As cefprozil has a Z-isomer content in the range of 89 to 94%, there have been reported many methods for adjusting the Z- to E-isomer ratio, e.g., in the Wittig reaction product.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,979 discloses a method of raising the Z- to E-isomer ratio to about 9:1 by conducting a Wittig reaction in the presence of about 10 equivalents of LiBr based on the phosphoranylidene cephem compound with benzylidene amino protection group. However, this method is not applicable to other compounds having an amino protective group other than benzylidene.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,070 teaches a method of converting a cefprozil composition containing 85% Z-isomer and 15% E-isomer into an imidazolidinone sodium derivative, removing E-imidazolidinone sodium by a different solubility, and then treating with 1N HCl, to obtain cefprozil containing 98.5% Z-isomer and 1.5% E-isomer. Although the product purity is good, this two-step purification method gives a low yield of about 78%.
International Patent Application No. PCT/EP 92/02965 also discloses a method of lowering the E-isomer content by exploiting solubility differences of various salts of the E- and Z-isomers of deprotected cephem. This method also has disadvantages of a low efficiency and low yield.

Process for the selective preparation of 3-(z) propenyl-cephem compound


A safe instruction recognition method and apparatus for use in a pipelined floating-point processor is described. It is based on the examination of the exponents of each operand. A simple symmetric test, applicable to each exponent, is disclosed using the same fixed upper and lower limits. A parallel safe instruction recognition network is described that allows the simultaneous testing of both operand exponent lower and upper limits. All operands declared safe by this method ensure against floating-point processor overflow and underflow exceptions for add, subtract, multiply and divide operations.

Floating-point instructions have a much longer latency than integer instructions. This creates a problem because certain floating-point exceptions can only occur after the instruction has completed. If an unmasked exception is generated by a floating-point instruction, a fault must occur immediately before the next "wait" instruction or non-control type floating-point instruction. Because of the pipelined implementation of some floating-point units (FPUs), and because instructions can be executed in parallel with other instructions in a superscalar machine, the next instruction might already have been executed. Thus, by the time the exception were known, it would be too late to signal a fault. To avoid this situation, safe instruction recognition (SIR) may be implemented in the FPU. SIR works on the premise that safe instructions (instructions that do not have to jump to the internal micro-code exception handler to complete) can be recognized quickly and easily before the entire operation has completed. If an instruction is unsafe, that means it might, or might not cause an internal exception. This final determination can only be made after the operation has completed. If an instruction is unsafe, then the pipeline must be stalled until this final determination can be made. However, if the instruction is found to be safe (which is the usual case) then no stall is needed and the full performance of the pipeline is realized.
The present invention provides for the rapid and efficient detection of unsafe conditions that could lead to abnormal operation of the floating-point processor when executing add, subtract, multiply or divide operations.

Floating point safe instruction recognition method


A resistive non-volatile memory cell is programmed. A programming voltage is applied to a first terminal of the resistive non-volatile memory cell. Sensing, during the applying the programming voltage, determines if the resistive non-volatile memory cell has been programmed. Current is limited through the resistive non-volatile memory cell to a first magnitude. After a predetermined time, if the sensing has not detected that the resistive non-volatile memory cell has been programmed, the current through the resistive non-volatile memory cell is limited to a second magnitude greater than the first magnitude. The resistive non-volatile memory cell is also erased.

Field
This disclosure relates generally to semiconductor memory devices, and more specifically, to resistive memory with program and erase verify capability.
Related Art
Memories with resistive storage elements are under development across the semiconductor industry that are geared to replace conventional NVM devices, and in some cases even dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and RAM devices. The resistive memory devices include magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), Resistive random-access memory (RRAM or ReRAM), phase-change memory (PCM), among others. Most of the resistive memory devices are implemented in one transistor/one resistive element or one diode/one resistive element memory cell configurations, which provide minimal cell area but exhibit relatively slow read and write performance (e.g., approximately 30 nanoseconds or more per operation). Thus, resistive memory devices are not a viable substitute for much of the SRAM in a higher performance system where read/write operations occur within a few clock cycles unless the time required to perform program and erase operations is reduced. The reliability of the memory cells must be considered as schemes to reduce program and erase times are considered. While increased current and voltages may be used to speed operation, the level of current of a cell dictates the reliability during programming and the level of voltage of a cell dictates reliability during erase. Thus, the minimum necessary level of current and voltage would ideally be used during program and erase operation.

Resistive memory with program verify and erase verify capability


A structure for connecting an integrated circuit chip to a wiring substrate which implements high-density packaging, high-density connection, high-speed signal transmission, and low cost. An integrated circuit is connected to a wiring substrate by means of flip-chip die bonding using an adhesive film. A direct through-hole connection is formed directly below a connecting pad so as to pass through the adhesive film and the wiring substrate. This direct through-hole connection directly connects the connecting pad to the wire. As a result of reduced area and thickness of the chip, the chip is mounted in high density, and high-density inputs and outputs are implemented by means of minute two-dimensional connections. Short wire connections directly connected to the chip permit high speed signal transmission, and high reliability is ensured by the dispersion of stress. Low-cost packaging can be effected by simple processes and facilities.

This invention relates to a connection structure between an integrated circuit chip and a wiring substrate and, more particularly, to a chip connection structure suitable for use in high-density, high-performance and low-cost packaging.
Conventional technologies for connecting an integrated circuit chip to a wiring substrate are disclosed in, for example, "Multichip Module Technologies and Alternatives: The Basics", New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, pp. 56-66, 302-303, 1993.
Wire bonding (WB), Tape Automated Bonding (TAB), Flip Chip Solder Bump (FCSB), and High Density Interconnections (HDI) are widely known as representative chip connection technologies.
WB is a technology used for connecting an integrated circuit to a wiring substrate using a metal wire. This technology is the oldest and has been most widely used. According to above-mentioned references, for instance, a bonding pad 711 laid along the periphery of a chip 710 is connected to a bonding pad 713 of a substrate 714 by a wire 712, as shown in FIG. 7A.
TAB is a technology for connecting a chip to a substrate using a TAB tape. As shown in FIG. 7B, an inner lead 723 of a TAB tape 724 is connected to a bump 722 formed on an I/O pad 721 along the periphery of a chip 720. An outer lead 725 of the tape 724 is connected to an I/O pad 727 of a substrate 726. TAB makes it possible to connect a chip on smaller pitches and to provide a larger number of pins, compared with WB. The tape automated bonding is the second most popular technology, after WB.
FCSB is a technology for connecting a chip to a substrate using a spherical solder bump. As shown in FIG. 7C, a chip 730 is mounted on a substrate 734 with its circuit side facing down. An I/O pad 731 of the chip 730 and an I/O pad of the substrate 734 are connected together by a solder bump 732. FCSB can implement area array layout as well as layout along the periphery of the chip 730. Compared with TAB, FCSB is used for high-speed chip connection with a larger number of pins.
HDI is a technology for laminating a thin film wiring on the surface of a chip and the substrate. As shown in FIG. 7D, a chip 740 is mounted inside a cavity 749 formed in a substrate 748. Insulating films 742 and 744 are laid on top of the other on the surface of the chip 740 and the substrate 748, and via-holes 746, 747 and wires 743, 745 are formed in turn. An I/O pad 741 of the chip 740 and wires 743, 745 are connected together by the via-holes 746, 747. HDI is used for high-speed chip connection on smaller pitches.
There is a strong demand for improved cost-performance and downsizing in many processors, from a high-speed computer to a portable terminal equipment. Particularly in the case of memory, a lot of packing area is occupied by substrates and cards which form hardware. The realization of a smaller and less expensive memory module having a larger capacity is a very important problem facing designers. Further, in the field of an IC card and personal equipment, a reduction in thickness as well as in size is demanded.
Associated with these demands, an improved packaging density, improved electrical and mechanical performance, and reduced costs for facilities and packaging are more required. There is a tendency for microprocessor chips and memory chips such as, dynamic random access memory, and static random access memory to be increased in speed, size and the number of pins. It is required to address the previously mentioned problems based on this tendency.
As mentioned in detail in the above listed literature, the conventional chip connection technologies have both merits and demerits with respect to the above described problems. They may solve one problem but are not suitable for solving the other problem. In this way, the conventional solutions to the problems are in a trade-off relationship with each other.
Of the prior art technologies, WB and TAB are disadvantageous with respect to packaging density, that is, they require a larger packaging area compared with the packaging area needed by FCSB and HDI. As shown in FIG. 7, a bonding area for a wire 712 is additionally needed in the surrounding of a chip 710 in addition to a footprint of the chip itself. TAB requires a tape area 724 between an inner lead 723 and an outer lead 725, and a bonding area for an outer lead 725, as shown in FIG. 7B. TAB usually requires a larger packaging area than the packaging area of WB.
To increase packaging density in a thicknesswise direction, attempts have been made to reduce the thickness of a chip itself by chemical etching or mechanical polishing. However, WB requires a predetermined thickness for bending a wire (the wire 712 shown in FIG. 7A), and FCSB also requires a predetermined thickness for a solder bump (a bump 732 shown in FIG. 7C). Therefore, these two technologies are not suitable for reducing the thickness of the package.
Compared with FCSB and HDI wherein a chip and a wiring substrate are two-dimensionally connected together along the surface of the chip, WB and TAB have a limit to the number of connections because the chip and the wiring substrate are connected together along the periphery of the chip. In consideration of the large packaging area, WB and TAB are disadvantageous in view of a connection density.
Compared with FCSB and HDI, WB and TAB are not suitable for high-speed signal transmission with regard to electrical performance. In the case of WB and TAB, the length of a connection between pads of a chip and pads of a substrate becomes longer, as can be seen from FIGS. 7A and 7B, whereby resistance and inductance become larger. If short TAB or two-layer TAB is used in lieu of conventional single-layer TAB, better performance will be obtained. However, it may require a higher cost.
FCSB requires careful design compared with the other technologies with respect to mechanical performance, particularly, reliability against thermal stress and external stress. In the case of WB and TAB, it is possible for the wire 712 and the tape 724, shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, to absorb stress. In the case of FCSB, stress concentrates on solder bumps 732, shown in FIG. 7C, and particularly on the bumps arranged along the outer periphery of the chip. In the worst case, the bumps may fracture. To reinforce the bumps, a space between bumps is filled with resin, which incurs extra process cost.
WB is most inexpensive in view of cost. On the other hand, TAB, FCSB, and HDI are expensive with respect to costs for facilities and connection process. A facility for TAB which performs connection on small pitches is very expensive. Infrastructure, such as chips or facilities, for FCSB is not yet established, and the automation of FCSB is not as well implemented as with WB and TAB. TAB and FCSB require a process for forming bumps on a chip or a substrate, and hence a chip requires special design. TAB further incurs the cost for producing a tape. HDI needs a laborious process for laying films 742, 744 and wires 743, 745, on top of the other, on the surfaces of the chip and the substrate, as shown in FIG. 7D. Reworking of HDI is very difficult and complicated, and therefore HDI is the most expensive among the conventional technologies.
The conventional representative chip connection technologies have been described above. The conventional technologies have their own merits, and variations on the conventional technologies are also conceivable. However, none of them provides a totally satisfactory solution to our challenges.

Chip connection structure having diret through-hole connections through adhesive film and wiring substrate


The present invention provides a deodorizer consisting of the water-soluble metallophthalocyanine represented by the formula: ##STR1## wherein, "Met" is a central metal, X is an acidic group or alkali metal salt thereof, m and p are respectively an integer of from 1 to 15, and m+p is not more than 16. The deodorizer shows excellent deodorizing ability for an aldehyde-origin odor.

It is conventionally known that phthalocyanine derivatives can be used as a deodorizer for deodorizing bad smell in living atmospheres. The deodorizing process by using phthalocyaninepolycarboxylic acid and phthalocyaninepolysulfonic acid, for example, is noticed as an artificial enzymatic oxidation deodorizing process, and is partially put into practice.
These phthalocyanine derivatives show excellent deodorizing ability for an ammonia odor (an amine-origin odor) and a mercaptan odor (a sulfur-origin odor), however, show insufficient deodorizing ability for an aldehyde-origin odor which is one of main components of a tobacco odor. It has been reported that ironphthalocyanine shows relatively good deodorizing ability. However, the deodorizing ability is insufficient for the aldehyde-origin odor, and is not practical as a deodorizer.
Further, ironphthalocyanine shows poor deodorizing ability for a sulfur-origin odor by comparison with cobaltphthalocyanine, and has poor stability in an alkali solution which is used for depositing it on a support. The deodorizing ability of the ironphthalocyanine, therefore, does not continue for a long period.
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 63355/1981 discloses an ironphthalocyanine derivative, and the like obtained by the urea method, and it is described that the phthalocyanine derivative has deodorizing ability for an aldehyde-origin odor. However, the deodorizing ability thereof is not sufficient.
This kind of metallophthalocyanine is generally produced by the urea method (the Weilar method, or the phthalic anhydride liquid phase method, in other words), phthalonitrile method, and the like. The phthalonitrile method uses phthalonitriles as a raw material, and has the merits that reaction time is relatively short and yield is excellent. However, the phthalonitriles used as a raw material are expensive, and consequently the production cost becomes high. Further, it is pointed out that the phthalonitriles are toxic and, handling thereof requires attention from the view point of safety.
On the other hand, the urea method, particularly the phthalic anhydride liquid phase method is a method in which a phthalic acid derivative (for example, trimellitic anhydride), urea, a metallizing agent, and a catalyst are heated in a solvent. The raw materials used in the urea method are relatively inexpensive and have low toxicity, therefore, the urea method is low-cost and safe. However, a hydrophobic organic solvent such as nitrobenzene and trichlorobenzene is usually used as a solvent. It is therefore necessary to distill, remove, and recover the solvent from a reaction mixture after completion of the reaction.
When a solvent is distilled off from a reaction mixture, the reaction mixture is kept at high temperature under reduced pressure so that the mixture does not bump. This step takes a lot of time and labor, especially when the scale of the reaction becomes large. Therefore, the urea method has a demerit that the production process is complicated, especially upon mass production. Further, the hydrophobic organic solvents are harmful to the human body and to the environment, and handling thereof requires attention from the view point of safety.
The phthalic anhydride solid phase method does not use an organic solvent as a reaction solvent, therefore, it does not require labor for separating and recovering the organic solvent. However, the yield of this method is low, and the method is not suitable for mass production.

Deodorizer consisting of metallophthalocyanine and process for preparing metallophthalocyanine


A drill bit, drill bit assembly and related methods of manufacture as disclosed involve a head portion having a circumference and a face surface, and a shank portion extending longitudinally from a side of the head portion opposite to the face surface. A central flushing channel extends longitudinally through the shank portion and a distance within the head portion, and a lateral flushing channel extends from the central flushing channel to the circumference of the head portion. A first portion of the lateral flushing channel is inclined, in a flushing fluid flowing direction, towards the face surface with respect to said second portion, and correspondingly, a second portion is inclined, in a flushing fluid flowing direction, towards the shank portion.

Flushing fluid is commonly used to flush drill cuttings from the drill hole, ahead of the drill bit. This enables the drill bit to effectively act on the ground to be drilled instead of on excessive drill cuttings residing in the drill hole.
It has been recognized that using flushing fluid might cause problems when drilling in sensitive ground conditions. In soft ground, the flushing fluid may remove an excessive amount ground surrounding the drill bit, which is known as over-drilling. This is particularly problematic when drilling piles to the ground, as a too big drill hole does not support the pile in a desired manner, making the pile less capable of supporting a structure on top of it. Another problem associated with using flushing in sensitive ground conditions is that the flushing fluid may travel long distances along certain ground formations, such as clay formations. Consequently, in densely built areas, flushing fluid may unexpectedly travel up to existing piles or foundations and weaken their structure. Thus, it has been a general concern to minimize the effects of the flushing fluid when drilling.

Drill bit for percussive drilling, a drill bit assembly, and a method for manufacturing such a drill bit


A combination programmable key for storing encrypted data and a receptacle system for reading and programming the programmable key. The programmable key uses a memory storage unit which may be programmed and reprogrammed to store the encrypted data. A receptacle system is used for reading and programming the memory storage unit. The receptacle system has a front plate having a centrally located aperture through which the programmable key is inserted when the receptacle system is to read and/or program the programmable key. A terminal block is coupled to the front plate. The terminal block houses a plurality of contact terminals which are used for contacting the memory storage unit of the programmable key in order to allow a programming device coupled to the receptacle system to read and program the memory storage unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to programmable keys and, more specifically, to a programmable key for storing encrypted data and a receptacle system for reading and programming the programmable key.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, there are numerous types of programmable electronic keys. These electronic keys may be used for a variety of different purposes. For example, the programmable key could be used as a cash key, hotel key, data storage for storing information related to the individual holder, etc. However, many of the present methods used for above mentioned purposes have inherent flaws associated with them which will be addressed below.
Magnetic strip cards are one example of an electronic key which has been in use for the last several years. The majority of adults in the United States use a magnetic strip card for one reason or another. Magnetic strip cards are most frequently associated with credit cards and Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) cards. While the magnetic strip card may be widely used, it is susceptible to fraud and damage. New specialized optical encoding methods, as well as personal pictures on the front of the magnetic strip cards, have been implemented in order to help reduce the amount of credit card fraud. These precautions still do not deter a technically knowledgeable person from making a fraudulent card and using it in an ATM where no human presence is available to visually inspect the person and the magnetic strip card. Furthermore, most magnetic strip cards are extremely vulnerable to magnetic fields which can erase or damage the important 18 to 36 bytes of data stored on the card. When this happens, the customer's magnetic strip card is regulated to being a ticket from which a human attendant must manually enter in the account information on the front of the card. If the customer is unlucky enough to be at an ATM, the customer will not be able to get the needed funds.
Smart cards are a recent step towards greater security and flexibility in monetary transfer. Each smart card contains an integrated circuit which may be a EEPROM, ROM, RAM, processor, or a combination of the four. Already, throughout Europe, smart cards have been successfully hacked and emulated in both phone cards and satellite television applications. Due to the availability of complete technical specification and information on the smart card, a novice electronic hobbyist may be able to read and emulate a smart card.
The smart card's flaws do not stop there. Not only may smart cards be forged and emulated, but several different standards exist for smart cards. Currently, most smart cards are designed with eight (8) contacts, six (6) of which are utilized in data transfer and storage. However, contact positions on the cards vary widely and many manufacturers have developed smart cards with more than the normal eight (8) contacts. This means that if at any time a new smart card standard takes effect, most people will be forced to retrofit any device that utilizes a smart card with a new reader that will accommodate all the different standards. Furthermore, the smart card is readily susceptible to bending and scratched or damaged contacts which cause the data stored on the smart card to be lost or destroyed. In fact, most smart cards come with a warning label stating that the smart card should not be bent or unnecessarily removed form the smart card reader.
Therefore, a need existed to provide an improved programmable electronic key which may be used for the transfer of money and other important information. The improved electronic key must provided maximum security in order to prevent the improved electronic key from being forged and emulated. The improved electronic key must provided data integrity so that important data stored on the improved electronic key will not be lost or destroyed. Furthermore, the improved electronic key must be cost effective. The improved electronic key must be able to provide maximum security and data integrity at a price that is economically feasible to the average consumer.

Programmable key and receptacle system and method therefor


Tire tread having at least two wearing layers, provided with at least one continuous groove having in the as new condition a plurality of external cavities opening onto the tread surface and a plurality of internal cavities placed radially and completely inside the tread surface, such that: the difference between the mean lengths of the internal cavities and of the external cavities is at most equal to 20% of the longest mean length, the difference in the mean cross-sectional areas of the internal and external cavities is at most equal to 20% of the largest mean area, each external cavity of a continuous groove being connected to at least two internal cavities of the same groove and having a plurality of incisions opening onto the tread surface, each connecting two consecutive external cavities of the same groove and at least two connecting channels and at least one internal cavity.

As is known, the use of tires under wet-weather driving conditions requires the water present in the region of contact between the tire and the road surface to be cleared away as quickly as possible so as to ensure that material of which the tread is made makes contact with this road surface. Any water which is not pushed in front of the tire flows into or is partially collected by the grooves and incisions formed in the tire tread.

COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN


A school bus is equipped with a crossing arm mechanism that is mounted on the front bumper at the passenger side. The mechanism includes a crossing arm assembly that is pivoted between a retracted (stored) position adjacent the front bumper and an extended (operative) position where the crossing arm assembly extends outwardly of the bus bumper in a perpendicular fashion to control pedestrian traffic. The crossing arm assembly includes a plastic bracket that is pivotally attached to an actuating mechanism and a cantilever beam that is attached to the bracket at one end. The bracket has two vertically spaced pivot arms and a beam mounting portion that supports the cantilever beam. The cantilever beam is a plastic extrusion that comprises upper and lower tubular sections that are interconnected by a web portion. The extrusion is modified at one end for attachment to the bracket.

This invention relates generally to safety equipment for school busses and more particularly to a crossing arm assembly for mounting on the front end of a school bus. When the school bus stops the crossing arm assembly is extended to a perpendicular position to prevent departing passengers from crossing immediately in front of the school bus as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,239 granted to me Oct. 18, 1994. In my earlier patent the crossing arm assembly, also referred to as a safety gate, is shown as a solid bar that is attached to a metal bracket at one end for pivotally mounting the solid bar on a housing.
Attempts have been made to provide improved crossing arm arrangements. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,541 granted to James H. Wicker Oct. 6, 1987 discloses a crossing arm unit that comprises a short pivot plate of a sturdy relatively heavy gage metal (e.g. 3.5 in. of 14 gauge steel), a longer support plate 32 of relatively light gage metal (e.g. 20 in. of 0.08 in. aluminum plate) and a long U-shaped rod (e.g. 4 ft. of 1/4 in. aluminum rod). According to the Wicker patent specification the crossing arm unit is light weight to avoid structural problems with its pivotal support, is easily supported, is simple in construction, and is economical to manufacture. The Wicker patent at column 1 also states that crossing arms have been made of light weight fiber glass rods and that his construction is an improvement over these prior art constructions.
The Wicker construction, however, is unduly complicated particularly when assembly is taken into account. Moreover, the long U-shaped rod is fragile, deforms easily and requires a strut that further complicates the construction and adds to the expense of the Wicker construction. Furthermore, the U-shaped rod which serves as the pedestrian barrier has low visibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,754 granted to Lowell J. D. Freeman discloses a crossing arm or barrier which is of tubular fiberglass construction. While the Freeman crossing arm is simple in construction in comparison to the Wicker construction, the Freeman single rod is also fragile and also has low visibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,398 granted to George LaVerne Runkle and Gilbert S. Sheets Oct. 20, 1964 discloses a crossing arm structure that comprises a channel shaped section of light sheet metal that is stiffened by a U-section having out-turned legs fixed to the back of the channel shaped section. The crossing arm assembly is shaped to fit in a recess in the front bumper and also includes a rubber guard structure that has a hollow rectangular center portion that is cemented to the channel section and flange portions that seal off the bumper recess.
This crossing arm structure of this arrangement is also unduly complicated and expensive to manufacture. Furthermore the arrangement requires a hinge structure for attaching the crossing arm to the bumper that further complicates the construction and adds to the expense.


A magnesium-based medical device which can adjust a degree of corrosion within a wide range of period such that the device can maintain a sufficient strength only during a desired period and disappears within a desired period thereafter and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. A magnesium-based medical device of the present invention is a magnesium-based medical device in which a base material is made of magnesium or a magnesium alloy, wherein a corrosion-resistant film is formed on a surface of the base material, and variation in surface hardness of the formed corrosion-resistant film in the in-plane direction is less than 21 in terms of a dispersion value of Vickers hardness.

Conventionally, a metallic medical device which is used in general remains in a body unless the medical device is removed by an operation or the like after being embedded in the body. Depending on applications, it is desirable that such a metallic medical device maintains a mechanical strength during a period that peripheral tissues are recovered, and is degraded and disappears without requiring an operation after the recovery of the peripheral tissues.
A magnesium material shows high corrosion rate in an environment where chloride ions are present and hence, the use of the magnesium material as a general-purpose-use material such as parts of transportation equipment or household appliances is limited. On the other hand, the magnesium material shows low harmful property to a living body, and is corroded, is degraded and disappears at an extremely high speed in an approximately neutral aqueous solution containing chloride ions such as a body fluid. Accordingly, the magnesium material is expected to be used as a medical biodegradation metallic material which is gradually degraded and absorbed after being embedded in a living body, so that the development of the magnesium material has been under way (see patent documents 1 and 2).
Depending on a kind of a device or a condition of an affected part, a strength holding period which the device is required to satisfy varies in an extremely wide range. For example, with respect to a blood vessel treatment device such as a stent, it is desirable that the device maintains a strength for a period of five months to six months necessary for repairing a narrowed part of a blood vessel, and the degradation of the whole device is almost finished within one week to twelve weeks after the vessel is repaired. This is because when the stent remains in the blood vessel even after the blood vessel wall is repaired, due o the mechanical stimulation and chemical irritation which the stent continuously contacts to the blood vessel wall, vascular endothelial cells are excessively grown thus causing restenosis of the blood vessel whereby the disappearance of the stent after repairing of the blood vessel is extremely important.
On the other hand, with respect to a fracture fixation device, it is desirable that the device supports a load during three months to one year until fracture is cured and, thereafter, the degradation of the whole device is almost finished within eight month to five years.
In this manner, along with the degradation and disappearance of the device after the fracture is cured, a load is gradually applied to a cured bone and hence, it is possible to suppress the load interception which is a phenomenon that the device supports the load in place of the bone. This leads o the suppression of re-fracture which occurs due to bone absorption (thinning of bone) attributed to the load interception. Further, it is unnecessary to perform an operation for taking out the device after the fracture is cured and hence, a burden imposed on a patient can be reduced. In this manner, the strength holding period which the device is required to satisfy varies in a wide range, and may be a long period of several months or more in some cases.
Accordingly, it is considered desirable if it could be possible to control the progress of degradation during a period in which the strength holding is required and a following period in which degradation progresses. However, in case of the biodegradable magnesium material proposed in patent document 1, for example, the degradation period is controlled corresponding to a size of device. Accordingly, in a living body where the degradation of the device starts immediately after embedding of the magnesium material and, at the same time, a space in which the device is to be embedded is limited, there may be a case that the device having a necessary size is not applicable whereby, it is substantially impossible to properly use the magnesium material as a device which is required to hold a strength for a particularly long period.
Further, with respect to a biodegradable magnesium material which inventors of the present invention proposed in patent document 2, the magnesium material is configured to control a strength-ductility balance of the material and a degradation speed of the material in a living body to desired values based on the composition of the material or a control of the internal structure of the material. For example, the degradation speed can be controlled by controlling a kind and the concentration of an adding element.
However, the control of the degradation speed due to the formation of an alloy using an adding element is limited and hence, the adjustment of the degradation period in a wide range is difficult. That is, the concentration of the adding element in the alloy is dependent on and defined by a desired strength-ductility balance and hence, the limitation of the adjustment range of corrosion resistance is inevitable.    Patent document 1: JP-A-2004-160236    Patent document 2: International Publication WO2007/58276 brochure

Magnesium-based medical device and manufacturing method thereof

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE


A disclosed semiconductor wafer includes plural semiconductor chip areas each having a color pattern capable of tracing the positional information of the semiconductor chip with respect to the semiconductor wafer. Each of the plural semiconductor chip areas arranged in a matrix manner on the semiconductor wafer includes an underlying insulation film; a wiring pattern and a frame-shaped wiring dummy pattern formed on the underlying insulation film; and plural insulation films formed on the upper side of the underlying insulation film, the wiring pattern, and the wiring dummy pattern. At least one SOG film is included in the plural insulation films, in which a color pattern in accordance with a distance from the center of the semiconductor wafer based on the SOG film is formed on a surface of the insulator film within the wiring dummy pattern in top view.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor wafer on which plural semiconductor chips are arranged in a matrix manner, a semiconductor chip cut from the semiconductor wafer, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a defect of a semiconductor chip is found after the semiconductor chip is mounted on a product and shipped to market, individual information, or so-called traceability of manufacturing information, of the defective chip becomes extremely important for analyzing the cause of the defect. The individual information includes what manufacturing process has been applied to the chip. To that end, various methods of providing the individual information regarding the manufacturing process (such as a lot number, a wafer number, a chip address) have been disclosed.
For example, according to a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H4-111438, plural fuses are formed on a semiconductor chip (hereinafter may be abbreviated as "a chip"), and a prescribed fuse(s) among the formed fuses is cut so that the individual information of the manufacturing process can be indicated.
Further according to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-228341, a method of forming a pattern in a chip by using an exposure apparatus, a method of writing the individual information using a laser, and a method of supplying the individual information to a programmable random access memory (PROM) through the input terminal of the PROM are disclosed.
However, when the method of cutting the fuse(s) as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H4-111438 is used, an extra step of cutting the fuse(s) becomes necessary, thereby increasing the number of manufacturing steps.
On the other hand, when any of the methods disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-228341 is used, there is also a drawback. For example, when a different pattern is attempted to be formed on each of the chips using an exposure apparatus, the exposing process time may be greatly increased. Further, when information is attempted to be input to the chip by using a laser or through the input terminal of the PROM, an extra step of inputting the information becomes necessary, thereby increasing the number of manufacturing steps.
Further, when more and more items of the individual information such as the lot number, the wafer number, and positional information of the chip on the wafer surface become necessary for each semiconductor chip, the amount of information is accordingly increased and managing the information becomes more difficult. Further, recently and continuing to the present, the size of a semiconductor chip is becoming smaller and smaller and the amount of information indicating the relative position of the semiconductor chip with respect to the semiconductor wafer is increasing.
To obtain the positional information of a chip on a wafer surface, a method has been used in which a single mask pattern for the whole surface of the wafer is used. In this method, different patterns for each of the chips are included in the mask pattern, so that each chip has its separate positional information. However, soon, this method may not be good enough. This is because semiconductor chips have become more and more highly integrated and densely fabricated. As a result, a method is becoming more and more used in which a single mask pattern is repeatedly exposed in several shots on a wafer surface by scanning the exposure position, so that a pattern for the whole surface of the wafer is formed by the repeated exposure of the same mask pattern. Unfortunately, when this method is used, it is difficult to obtain accurate positional information of the chip on the wafer even if different patterns for each chip are formed on the single mask pattern.

Semiconductor wafer, semiconductor chip cut from the semiconductor wafer, and method of manufacturing semiconductor wafer


Methods are described to provide a new and improved display of phase identification measurements in a three-phase power distribution network, that is easier and more intuitive to interpret and define tagging reference phase. A short sequence of individual phase measurements are displayed as dots inside a static phase attribute display circle. The 3 primary, 12 secondary, and 6 three-phase attributes are displayed around the outside of the phase circle. When using a touch screen Smartphone or Tablet display device, the user simply touches inside the phase circle to rotate the dots around the center of the phase circle, so they line up with the known conductor phase attribute. This rotation defines the tagging reference phase for the circuit.

Electric power distribution networks are used by the electric utilities to deliver electricity from generating plants to customers. Although the actual distribution voltages will vary from utility to utility, in a typical network, three-phase power at high voltage 345,000 volts phase-to-phase (345 KV) is delivered to multiple high voltage substations at which transformers step this high voltage down to a lower three-phase voltage 115 KV. Multiple transmission substations further lower the voltage to 69 KV. This 69 KV three-phase power then feeds multiple distribution substations whose transformers further step down the voltage to the distribution voltage (12,470 volts phase-to-phase) and separate the power into three single-phase feeder cables. Typically, these feeder cables operate at 7,200 volts phase-to-ground. Each of these feeder cables branch into multiple circuits to power a plurality of local pole-mounted or pad-mounted transformers which step the voltage down to a final voltage of 120 and 240 volts for delivery to commercial and residential customers.
The instantaneous phases of the three conductors in a three-phase system are separated by 120 degrees. A phase attribute of A, B, or C is typically assigned to each of the three conductors to identify them. The initial assignment of phase attribute to each of the three conductors typically takes place at a transmission or distribution substation and this assignment is somewhat arbitrary. The attributes assigned at the substations become known as the tagging reference phases for that substation because the goal is to consistently tag, mark, or identify each conductor with its proper phase attribute throughout the substation's distribution region.
Most currently available phase identification instruments use GPS timing signals to obtain instantaneous phase measurements at a reference location and field location at the same instant of time. The phase attribute at the reference location is known which allows the phase attribute at the field location to be determined.
Piesinger's, U.S. Pat. No. 8,570,024 issued Oct. 29, 2013 describes a Non-Contact Phase Identification Method and Apparatus and is incorporated herein by reference. It uses an innovative method that allows the phase of all 3 high overhead 3-phase conductors to be determined from a single phase measurement.
Currently, all phase identification instruments indicate conductor phase as a discrete attribute, typically derived from one or two phase measurements. This is a handicap in cases where line voltage glitches produce phase measurements that don't match, causing the lineman to have to repeat the phase measurements.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for setting up the initial tagging reference phase and for displaying the results of phase identification measurements that are easier and more intuitive for the lineman to perform and interpret.


A robot apparatus that is able to perform jumping. In a leg structure 110 of the robot apparatus, connecting bars 113, 114 and pivots 112a to 112d constitute a four-point link mechanism. A rod 117 is inserted into an opening formed in the distal end of a leg part 116. A coil spring 118 as an elastic member is provided between one end of the rod 117 and the distal end of the leg part 116. A bar member 120 is connected and secured to a preset point of a connecting member 115 as a knee joint. The coil spring 118 is extended/contracted by the stretching/contraction of the connecting member 115. By the operation of the four-point link mechanism, the trajectory of the distal end of the leg part is linear. The coil spring 118 is mounted at a position such that the distance between a driving shaft 101 and the distal end of the bar member 120 has a substantially linear relationship with respect to the force virtually operating between a driving shaft 101 and the distal end of the bar member 120.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a robot apparatus performing jumping and a method for controlling the jumping of the robot apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, a proposal has been made for a robot apparatus simulating the shape of an animal, or a so-called pet robot. This robot apparatus has the shape like that of a dog or a cat kept in a household at large, and behaves autonomously responsive to actions from a user (keeper) such as xe2x80x9cstrikingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccaressingxe2x80x9d or to surrounding environment. The autonomous behavior may be enumerated by, for example, xe2x80x9cbarkingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clying downxe2x80x9d, as in the case of actual animals.
If the robot apparatus can behave more like actual animals, the apparatus can be felt to resemble actual living animals more closely, such that the user (keeper) feels more akin to and satisfied with the robot apparatus. This also enhances amusement properties of the robot apparatus.
For example, if a robot apparatus can jump as actual living animals, the keeper feels more akin to and satisfied with the robot apparatus.
Meanwhile, a number of researches and developments have been conducted on dynamic running movements of a quadruped robot apparatus. For example, towards the middle of eighties, Raibert developed a robot apparatus, inclusive of a quadruped robot, performing a series of jumping ands running movements. This quadruped robot could perform running in four running styles, namely trotting, which is running at a rapid speed, pacing, which is running at a constant speed, pronking, which is jumping with all of four legs, approximately simultaneously, and bounding, which is jumping as front and back legs alternately touch the ground. Raibert also proposed running control, comprised of three elements, which control can be applied in substantially the same manner to one-legged, two-legged and quadruped robots,
More recently, Buehler et al., attempted to improve the three-element algorithm and realized a stable bounding for quadruped robots by taking advantage of torque control at a stance position and quasi-static slip control algorithm.
Moreover, Talebi and Buehler showed that a simplified control rule can be exploited in order to stabilize the running despite the fact that task-level feedback, such as feedback on the level of advancing speed or trunk angle, is not used, and further expanded this operation. By this approach, more efficient and powerful running could be achieved.
In addition, Akiyama and Kimura et al., realized planar running using a biologically disclosed motor control model.
The results of the above-mentioned researches are shown for example in the following publications:
[1] M. H. Raibert, xe2x80x9cLegged Robot That Balancexe2x80x9d, MIT Press. Cambridge, Mass., 1986;
[2] M. H. Raibert, 1990 Trotting, Pacing, and Bounding by a Quadruped Robot, J. Biomechamics, Vol.23, Suppl. 1, 79-98;
[3] D. Papadopoulos and M. Buehler, xe2x80x9cStable Running in a Quadruped Robot with Compliant Legsxe2x80x9d, IEEEInt. Conf. Robotics and Automation, San Francisco, Calif., April 2000;
[4] S. Talebi, I. Poulakakis, E. Papadopoulos and M. Buehler, xe2x80x9cQuadruped Robot Running with a Bounding Gaitxe2x80x9d, Int. Symp. Experimental Robotics, Honolulu, Hi., Dec. 2000;
[5] S. Akiyama and H. Kimura, xe2x80x9cDynamic Quadruped Walk Using Neural Oscillators-Realization of Pace and Trotxe2x80x9d 23th Annual Conf. RSJ, p.227 to 228, 1995.
Among the results of past searches in a robot apparatus, performing stabilized jumping, that by MIT Legged Laboratory is most well-known. This technique uses a highly simplified control rule, which is thought to represent effective means in application to a robot apparatus, for which cost is of primary consideration, such as an entertainment robot, e.g., a pet robot.
However, this technique is premised on the use of a pneumatically driven translatory joint, performing stretching/contracting movements, at the legs, and hence is difficult to apply to a robot apparatus having a leg structure simulating an animal, such as a pet robot walking on four legs. That is, such pet robot has joints driven by an actuator, with its leg structure simulating that of an animal, so that the above-mentioned pneumatically driven translatory joint cannot be used, thus raising difficulties in performing stabilized jumping movements.
That is, in a robot apparatus having a leg structure simulating that of an animal, walking on four legs, it has not been possible to realize a low-cost mechanism of high reliability which enables jumping movements.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a robot apparatus enabling jumping movements and a jumping controlling method for this robot apparatus.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a robot apparatus in which a leg part including a link mechanism connected to an elastic member is rotationally mounted to a trunk part through driving means, wherein the elastic member is mounted so that a substantially linear relation will be maintained between the distance between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part and a force virtually operating between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part.
The link mechanism includes a first connecting bar having its one end rotationally connected to a rotational member rotated by the driving means and having its other end rotationally connected to a connecting member, and a second connecting bar having its one end rotationally connected to the rotational member and having its other end rotationally connected to the connecting member, to form a four-point link mechanism, which four-point link mechanism is formed to provide for a linear trajectory of the distal end of the leg part.
With this leg part of the robot apparatus, the distance between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part has a substantially linear relation with respect to a force virtually operating between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part. In another aspect, the present invention provides a robot apparatus having at least one pair of leg parts provided protruding from a main body portion, in which at least one pair of the leg parts may transfer from a stance state with the distal ends of the leg parts touching the ground to a flight state with the distal ends floating in air after lapse of a preset time, by way of performing jumping.
The robot apparatus includes a pair of front leg parts and a air of back leg parts, wherein at least one of the front and back leg parts may transfer from a stance state with the distal ends of the leg parts touching the ground to a flight state with the distal ends floating in air after lapse of a preset time.
With the robot apparatus, the jumping mode can be switched by changing the touchdown angle and the delay time of at least one leg part. The jumping mode may at least include a pronking mode of jumping with both the front and back legs touching the ground and jumping substantially simultaneously and abounding mode of jumping with the front and back leg parts alternately touching the ground.
With this robot apparatus, at least one of the leg parts may transfer from the stance state, in which the distal end of the leg part touches the ground, to a flight state in which the distal end of the leg part is floated in air, after lapse of a preset time, to perform jumping. The jumping mode can be switched by varying the touch angle of the leg and the delay time.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides a method for controlling the jumping of a robot apparatus in which a leg part including a link mechanism connected to an elastic member is rotationally mounted to a trunk pat through driving means, wherein the elastic member is mounted so that a substantially linear relation will be maintained between the distance between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part and a force virtually operating between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part.
The link mechanism may include a first connecting bar having its one end rotationally connected to a rotational member rotated by the driving means and having its other end rotationally connected to a connecting members and a second connecting bar having its one end rotationally connected to the rotational member and having its other end rotationally connected to the connecting member, to form a four-point link mechanism, which four-point link mechanism is formed to provide for a linear trajectory of the distal end of the leg part.
With this jump controlling method for the robot apparatus, a substantially linear relation may be maintained between the distance between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part and a force virtually operating between the driving means and the distal end of the leg part.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method for controlling the jumping of a robot apparatus having at least one pair of leg parts protruding from a main body portion, in which the method includes a delaying step for providing a delay of a preset time from the stance state with the at least one pair of leg parts touching the ground and a step of transferring to a flight state with the at least one pair of legs floating in air after lapse of the delay time. The transferring step is made sequentially from the stance state through the delaying step to the flight state to perform jumping.
The robot apparatus may include a pair of front leg parts and a pair of back leg parts. At least one of the front leg parts and the back leg parts is subjected to delay of a preset time in the delay step.
The touchdown angle and the delay time of the at least one leg part may be changed to switch the jumping mode, The jumping mode may at least include a pronking mode of jumping with both the front and back legs touching the ground and jumping substantially simultaneously and a bounding mode of jumping with the front and back leg parts alternately touching the ground.
With this method for controlling the jumping of a robot apparatus, at least one pair of the leg parts may transfer from the stance state in which the distal ends of the leg parts touch the ground to a flight state in which the distal ends of the leg parts float in air, after lapse of a preset time, to perform jumping. Moreover, the jumping mode can be switched by changing the touchdown angle of the leg part and the delay angle.

Robot apparatus and method for controlling jumping of robot device


One aspect of the invention relates to hexafluoroleucine and congeners thereof, and methods of making the compounds. Another aspect of the nvention relates to the synthesis of protein cores comprising hexafluoroleucine and congeners thereof. Certain peptides comprising hexafluorleucine and congeners thereof have been characterized using comparative biophysical studies. In general, the fluorinated peptides show higher thermal stability and enhanced resistance to chemical denaturation. Further, mixed hydrocarbonfluorocarbon cores self-sort into homogeneous bundles, suggesting new avenues for the design and manipulation of protein-protein interfaces.

Proteins fold to adopt unique three dimensional structures, usually as a result of multiple non-covalent interactions that contribute to their conformational stability. Creighton, T. E. Proteins: Structures and Molecular Properties; 2nd ed.; W. H. Freeman: New York, 1993. Removal of hydrophobic surface area from aqueous solvent plays a dominant role in stabilizing protein structures. Tanford, C. Science 1978, 200, 1012–1018; and Kauzmann, W. Adv. Protein Chem. 1959, 14, 1–63. For instance, a buried leucine or phenylalanine residue can contribute ˜2–5 kcal/mol in stability when compared to alanine. Although hydrogen bonds and salt bridges, when present in hydrophobic environments, can contribute as much as 3 kcal/mol to protein stability, solvent exposed electrostatic interactions contribute far less, usually 0.5 kcal/mol. Yu, Y. H.; Monera, O. D.; Hodges, R. S.; Privalov, P. L. J. Mol. Biol. 1996, 255, 367–372; and Lumb, K. J.; Kim, P. S. Science 1995, 268, 436–439. Hydrogen bonds between small polar side chains and backbone amides can be worth 1–2 kcal/mol, as seen in the case of N-terminal helical caps. Aurora, R.; Rose, G. D. Protein Sci. 1998, 7, 21–38. The energetic balance of these intramolecular forces and interactions with the solvent determines the shape and the stability of the fold.
While electrostatic interactions in designed structures can provide conformational specificity at the expense of thermodynamic stability, hydrophobic interactions afford a very powerful driving force for stabilizing structures. Recent studies have focused on the introduction of non-proteinogenic, fluorine containing amino acids as a means for increasing hydrophobicity, without significant concurrent alteration of protein structure. Bilgicer, B.; Fichera, A.; Kumar, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 4393–4399; and Tang, Y.; Ghirlanda, G.; Vaidehi, N.; Kua, J.; Mainz, D. T.; Goddard, W. A.; DeGrado, W. F.; Tirrell, D. A. Biochemistry 2001, 40, 2790–2796. The estimated average volumes of CH2 and CH3 groups are 27 and 54 Å3, respectively, as compared to the much larger 38 and 92 Å3 for CF2 and CF3 groups. Israelachvili, J. N.; Mitchell, D. J.; Ninham, B. W. Biochim. Biophysica Acta 1977, 470, 185–201. Given that the hydrophobic effect is roughly proportional to the solvent exposed surface area, the large size and volume of trifluoromethyl groups, in combination with the low polarizability of fluorine atoms, results in enhanced hydrophobicity. Tanford, C. The Hydrophobic Effect: Formation of Micelles and Biological Membranes; 2d ed.; Wiley: New York, 1980. Indeed, partition coefficients point to the superior hydrophobicity of CF3 (Π=1.07) over CH3 (Π=0.50) groups. Resnati, G. Tetrahedron 1993, 49, 9385–9445. The low polarizability of fluorine also results in low cohesive energy densities of liquid fluorocarbons and is manifested in their low propensities for intermolecular interactions. Riess, J. G. Colloid Surf.-A 1994, 84, 33–48; and Scott, R. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1948, 70, 4090–4093. These unique properties of fluorine simultaneously bestow hydrophobic and lipophobic character to biopolymers with high fluorine content. Marsh, E. N. G. Chem. Biol. 2000, 7, R153–R157.
Introduction of amino acids containing terminal trifluoromethyl groups at appropriate positions on protein folds increases the thermal stability and enhances resistance to chemical denaturants. Bilgicer, B.; Fichera, A.; Kumar, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 4393–4399; and Tang, Y.; Ghirlanda, G.; Vaidehi, N.; Kua, J.; Mainz, D. T.; Goddard, W. A.; DeGrado, W. F.; Tirrell, D. A. Biochemistry 2001, 40, 2790–2796. Furthermore, specific protein-protein interactions can be programmed by the use of fluorocarbon and hydrocarbon side chains. Bilgicer, B.; Xing, X.; Kumar, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 11815–11816. Because specificity is determined by the thermodynamic stability of all possible protein-protein interactions, a detailed fundamental understanding of the various combinations is essential.
The so-called "leucine zipper" protein motif, originally discovered in DNA-binding proteins but also found in protein-binding proteins, consists of a set of four or five consecutive leucine residues repeated every seven amino acids in the primary sequence of a protein. In a helical configuration, a protein containing a leucine zipper motif presents a line of leucines on one side of the helix. With two such helixes alongside each other, the arrays of leucines can interdigitate like a zipper and/or form side-to-side contacts, thus forming a stable link between the two helices. Moreover, an increase in the hydrophobicity of the leucine sidechains, e.g., by substitution of hydrogens with fluorines, in a leucine zipper motif should increase the strength of the zipper.
Selective fluorination of biologically active compounds is often accompanied by dramatic changes in physiological activities. (a) Welch, T.; Eswarakrishnan, S. Fluorine in Bioorganic Chemistry; Wiley-Interscience: New York, 1991 and references cited therein; (b) Fluorine-containing Amino Acids; Kukhar', V. P., Soloshonok, V. A., Eds.; John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, 1994; (c) Williams, R. M. Synthesis of Optically Active α-Amino Acids, Pergamon Press: Oxford, 1989; (d) Ojima, I.; Kato, K.; Nakahashi, K.; Fuchikami, T.; Fujita, M. J. Org. Chem. 1989, 54, 4511–4522; (e) Tsushima, T.; Kawada, K.; Ishihara, S.; Uchida, N.; Shiratori, O.; Higaki, J.; Hirata, M. Tetrahedron 1988, 44, 5375–5387; (f) Weinges, K.; Kromm, E. Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1985, 90–102; (g) Eberle, M. K.; Keese, R.; Stoeckli-Evans, H. Helv. Chim. Acta 1998, 81, 182–186; and (h) Tolman, V. Amino Acids 1996, 11, 15–36. Further, fluorinated amino acids have been synthesized and studied as potential inhibitors of enzymes and as therapeutic agents. Kollonitsch, J.; Patchett A. A.; Marburg, S.; Maycock, A. L.; Perkins, L. M.; Doldouras, G. A.; Duggan, D. E.; Aster, S. D. Nature 1978, 274, 906–908. Trifluoromethyl containing amino acids acting as potential antimetabolites have also been reported. (a) Walborsky, H. M.; Baum, M. E. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1958, 80, 187–192; (b) Walborsky, H. M.; Baum, M.; Loncrini, D. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1955, 77, 3637–3640; and (c) Hill, H. M.; Towne, E. B.; Dickey, J. B. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1950, 72, 3289–3289.
We describe herein inter alia the design, synthesis, thermodynamic characterization and programmed self-sorting of peptide systems with orthogonally miscible hydrocarbon and fluorous, i.e., highly fluorinated cores.

Non-racemic hexafluoroleucine, and methods of making and using it


An electrically insulated switching element driver includes: a pulse transformer driving unit into which a switching element driving signal and a duty signal are input and which drives, in accordance with the duty signal, a first or second pulse transformer that is selected depending on a state of the switching element driving signal; a first edge detection unit that outputs an on-off signal according to an edge in a pre-rectification output of the first pulse transformer; a second edge detection unit that outputs an on-off signal according to an edge in a pre-rectification output of the second pulse transformer; and a control driving unit that drives a switching element to be driven, based on the output of the first and second edge detection units, wherein the first and second edge detection units and the control driving unit operate with power resulting from rectifying the output of the first and second pulse transformers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrically insulated switching element driver that transmits power and signals from a primary side to a secondary side, via a pulse transformer, and that drives a switching element on the basis of signals transmitted to the secondary side, and relates also to a method for controlling the electrically insulated switching element driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-307653 (JP-A-7-307653) discloses a switching element driving circuit provided with a control circuit that generates a control signal made up of pulses whose duty ratio is controlled; a frequency dividing circuit that outputs first and second control signals; a first driving circuit that generates a first driving signal, the first driving circuit being made up of a pulse transformer and a clamp circuit that clamps the back emf voltage generated by the pulse transformer; a second driving circuit that generates a second driving signal, the second driving circuit being made up of a pulse transformer and a clamp circuit that clamps the back emf voltage generated by the pulse transformer; and a synthesizing circuit that generates a driving signal that drives a switching element. In the above switching element driving circuit, the frequency dividing circuit divides the frequency of the control signal and outputs a first control signal in which a high level period and a low level period are arranged, and a second control signal in which a high level period is arranged during the low level period of the first control signal and a low level period is arranged during the high level period of the first control signal. The first driving circuit generates a first driving signal by operating in synchrony with the first control signal, and the second driving circuit generates a second driving signal by operating in synchrony with the second control signal, where a high level period is arranged during the low level period of the first driving signal and a low level period is arranged during the high level period of the first driving signal. The synthesizing circuit generates the above-described driving signal by combining the first driving signal and the second driving signal.
In the above switching element driving circuit, however, a driving signal for driving the switching element is transmitted via a pulse transformer, and is not necessarily be an exact square wave. Therefore, the driving signal may not be transmitted properly.

Electrically insulated switching element driver and method for controlling same


A transmission power control method subdivides one or more transmission power steps as defined in a system specification into multiple sub-steps. A base station (290) instructs a mobile station (280) to use a defined power step, and the mobile station (280) initially selects a maximum power sub-step within the requested power step during an initial RACH (225) transmission. During the duration of the call, the mobile station (280) dynamically adjusts the power sub-step based on measured signal reception quality and channel conditions. The result is an improvement in call completion rates with only a minor reduction in battery life.

In certain cellular communication systems, a stationary base station controls the transmission power level of a mobile station. In communication systems such as Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), base stations instruct portable stations as to which one of several defined power steps should be used at each point in time. For example, the GSM specification defines fifteen uplink power control steps, each spaced 2 dBm apart and each having a tolerance of .+-.3 dBm.
A GSM base station broadcasts a power step command on a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) signal that is received by compatible mobile stations in its coverage area before any access attempt is made by a mobile station. Thus, when a portable telephone or other mobile station tries to contact the base station using a Random Access Channel (RACH) signal, it has instructions on which power step to use to initiate and maintain contact. A mobile station that has a maximum transmission power step lower than the power step stated in the BCCH signal simply uses the transmission power level corresponding to its maximum power step.
After a dedicated communication channel has been established between the base station and the mobile station, the base station sends further power step commands for that particular mobile station on a Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH) signal. These further power step commands are determined based on reception level measurements performed by the base transceiver station and reception quality measurements taken and reported by the mobile station.
Base station power control allows the cellular system to improve overall spectral efficiency and also increase the battery life of the mobile station. In order to further increase the battery life of a mobile station, a portable telephone or other mobile station may transmit at a power other than the nominal power stated in the communication system specifications. For example, a GSM phone instructed to use power step 5 might transmit at 32 dBm instead of the nominal 33 dBm defined in the GSM specification. Although this lower power output increases the talk time of the phone, it may also cause a cellular telephone call to drop when a phone having a power output at the nominal 33 dBm would have successfully continued the call. If the mobile station is in a weak RF coverage area, the difference between the nominal power output and the increased talk time power output could cause the uplink signal to fail to reach the base station. Thus, there is a need for a power control system that extends the battery life of the mobile station, yet continues to obey base station power step commands and does not suffer from increased reliability problems in areas of weak RF signal coverage.


A safety device for preventing accidental contact of a user's fingers with the live blades of an electrical plug during inserting or removal of the plug from a wall socket and a method for attaching the safety device to an electrical plug. The safety device includes a housing with a collapsible shield and a connector for connecting the housing to the front end of the electrical plug. The shield extends outwardly from the front end of the housing and surrounds the blades when the safety device is attached to the plug. The connector comprises a pair of opposing detents that extend outwardly away from the rear wall of the housing. The detents flex to allow the front end of the plug to pass between them but do not allow the front end of the plug to be withdrawn therethrough. The shield collapses toward the front end of the housing when the plug is inserted into a wall socket and re-expands to its original position when the plug is withdrawn from the wall socket.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to electrical plugs. More particularly, the invention relates to a safety device which may be attached to an electrical plug for preventing the user's fingers from contacting the blades when the plug is inserted or removed from an electrical outlet. Specifically, the invention relates to a safety device that includes spring-biased detents for connecting the safety device and the electrical plug together.
2. Background of the Invention
There is a growing concern for the safety of infants and young children. Particularly, the concern is for children who have not yet reached the age at which they may be reasoned with and instructed as to the dangers of household electricity. Such children may typically range in age from that of a toddler who may yet only be crawling—typically, seven to 15 months of age—up to preschool aged children who have yet to learn discipline, or have yet to reach the age at which they may be spoken to about the dangers of certain actions which they might undertake.
Almost any home where any such children live or are expected to visit, will possibly have covers placed over any unused wall sockets so as to preclude prying fingers or child-wielded objects from being inserted into the electrical wall sockets. When these covers are in place on unused wall sockets, the danger to a toddler is greatly reduced as the wall socket is not accessible and the covers are difficult to remove. When, however, a household appliance such as a lamp, is plugged into a wall socket, a completely different danger exists. In this instance, the toddler may be enticed to remove and reinsert the plug into the wall socket. This exposes them to the risk of contacting the blades of the electrical plug while they are still live, i.e., while between 110 and 130 volts (in North America) is imposed across the blades. If the blades are contacted by the toddler's fingers, there is a high risk of electric shock to the toddler.
Devices have been proposed in the prior art for reducing such a risk. U.S. Pat. No. 6,577,081 B2, issued Jun. 10, 2003, to the present inventor, discloses such a device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,577,081 discloses a safety device on a transformer for an electrical appliance such as a baby monitor. The transformer has electrical blades projecting outwardly therefrom and a cavity is formed in the transformer housing around the area from which the blades project. An insulator is disposed within the cavity. The insulator is collapsible when the blades are inserted into a wall socket and expandable when the blades are removed from the wall socket. The insulator is in the form of a bellows-like structure that has convoluted and compressible walls.
While this transformer is specifically manufactured to ensure that the electric shock risk to toddlers is reduced, there are numerous standard electric plugs, both grounded and ungrounded, where there is no protective feature to prevent toddlers' fingers from coming into direct contact with the electrical blades of the plugs while they are live. There is therefore a need in the art to provide a safety device for use with standard electrical plugs.

Safety device for electrical plugs and a method of attaching the same


A combination product comprising: (A) a compound of formula (I) R-L-CO—X (I) wherein R is a C10-24 unsaturated hydrocarbon group optionally interrupted by one or more heteroatoms or groups of heteroatoms selected from S, O, N, SO, SO2, said hydrocarbon group comprising at least 4 non-conjugated double bonds; L is a linking group forming a bridge of 1 to 5 atoms between the R group and the carbonyl CO wherein L comprises at least one heteroatom in the backbone of the linking group; and X is an electron withdrawing group; or a salt thereof; and (B) a compound of formula (X) where R1 is phenyl wherein said phenyl is substituted by lower alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by cyano; R3 is lower alkyl, such as methyl; and R4 is quinolinyl unsubstituted or substituted by halogen; or a tautomer thereof, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, or a hydrate or solvate thereof.

Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC), which represents ˜15% of all breast cancers, is an aggressive molecular subtype of the disease associated with poor prognosis. Most BLBCs are triple-negative (lacking expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) and thus unresponsive to currently available targeted therapies. Hence, new molecular targets for treatment are called for.
The present inventors have devised a new combination therapy that targets proliferative conditions in general and breast cancer in particular.
The invention relies on the combination of a long chain polyunsaturated ketone compound and a specific dual inhibitor of PI3K and mTOR. The present inventors have surprisingly found that the combination of these two compounds leads to a combination therapy that works synergistically. In particular, the combination has been shown to synergistically reduce breast cancer cell viability.

Combination therapy for proliferative diseases