A method of forming a semiconductor device comprises patterning a mask material adjacent to an array of transistors, forming an electrically conductive material between adjacent portions of the patterned mask material, forming an additional mask material over the patterned mask material to form a mask structure, the additional mask material having an arcuate cross-sectional shape, removing a portion of the additional mask material to reduce a spacing between adjacent portions of the additional mask material, and forming capacitor structures in openings between the mask structure. Additional methods of forming a semiconductor device, and related semiconductor devices and related systems are also disclosed.

Fabrication of semiconductor devices includes forming (e.g., patterning) one or more materials to have a desired size and spacing. For example, conductive materials may be patterned into conductive lines, such as access lines (e.g., word lines), digit lines (e.g., sense lines, bit lines), conductive contacts, and conductive traces. Other features may be patterned to form, for example, select devices of memory cells, memory storage elements, and other components of semiconductor devices.
As the feature size of semiconductor devices continues to shrink, it is more and more difficult to form patterns of features having a desired critical dimension. In addition, as the complexity of semiconductor devices increases, stack structures including materials to be patterned may exhibit a greater thickness (e.g., height). Further, as the number of patterning acts increases due to the increased complexity of semiconductor devices, a dimension (e.g., a height) or an aspect ratio (defined as a ratio between a height and a width of a structure) of mask materials, such as photoresist materials and hard mask materials, may increase to facilitate patterning of a desired number of features of the semiconductor device. However, as the height and/or aspect ratio of the mask material increases, materials formed through the mask may exhibit an undesired increase in spacer width roughness (SWR), a line width roughness (LWR), or a combination thereof. In addition, as the height of the mask material increases, the mask material may exhibit a lateral opening at a top portion thereof that is greater than a lateral width at a lower portion thereof. Accordingly, the mask material may exhibit so-called tapering and materials formed through the mask material may exhibit a corresponding taper, which may result in formation of a structure having a different spacing or critical dimension than desired. The tapered structures may exhibit a greater lateral dimension at upper portions thereof and a relatively narrower dimension at lower portions thereof.
During formation of features in the semiconductor device, a height of the mask material may be reduced during exposure of the mask material to various etch chemistries, even if the etch chemistries are formulated and configured to selectively remove other portions of the semiconductor device relative to the mask material. Accordingly, forming the mask material to an initial lower height to overcome the problems of tapering and increased spacer width roughness may not be a feasible alternative, since a mask material having a relatively shorter height may be insufficient for fabrication of the semiconductor device.

Methods of forming semiconductor devices using mask materials, and related semiconductor devices and systems


A networking device connects to a router and to an autonomous system (AS). The networking device receives a routing table from the router, exchanges routing information with the AS, updates the routing table in response to exchanging information with the AS, coalesces the updated routing table into a compressed routing table, and sends the compressed routing table back to the router. The compressed routing table causes the router to forward data in a manner that is identical to the received routing table.

The Internet has become a primary communication channel for the world, as it continues to grow in traffic volumes and reach. The types of applications supported over the Internet are also changing, from basic applications such as web browsing to applications with real-time constraints such as Internet Protocol (IP) telephony. As traffic volumes grow, network providers must maintain sufficient capacity for the existing traffic and plan for the growth in traffic volumes. By more efficiently utilizing existing resources within a network, network providers can delay the need to replace network hardware.
A router is a specialized computing device for routing and forwarding data packets over a network. A router includes a routing information base (RIB) that stores the set of routes advertised from neighboring routers, and a forwarding information base (FIB) that maps incoming packets to outgoing links. The RIB includes attributes and reachability information for hundreds of thousands of prefixes, including information about each neighboring router's forwarding capabilities. A router maintains the RIB by exchanging information with neighboring routers, and updates the FIB based upon the new information.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.

System and method for compressing internet protocol routing tables


A pipe joint device using flanges is provided. The pipe joint device includes: flanges mounted to ends of pipes to be coupled together or ends of both a pipe and a pipe joint to be coupled together, the flange having at least one ring groove around an outer circumferential surface thereof; a packing mounted to the flanges and having inner rings around an inner circumferential surface thereof to closely engage with the ring grooves of the flanges; and a clamp having a packing seat to seat the packing therein, with a support sidewall formed by a radial inward extension of each side of the clamp, the clamp being divided into a plurality of clamp parts so that the clamp parts are placed around the packing and are fastened together by a locking member.

Generally, pipe joint devices must firmly joint pipes and need to be easily and simply manipulated by workers on a site. To joint pipes together to provide a pipeline in the related art, pipes having appropriate lengths suitable for being manipulated by workers are arranged along a designed pipeline on a site and are jointed together through a welding process using pipe joints, such as reducers, tees and/or elbows. Furthermore, a valve may be installed in a jointed junction of the pipes when it is necessary to control the flow of fluid passing through the pipeline. Hereinbelow, a conventional technique of jointing a valve to a pipe using flanges will be described with reference to FIG. 11. As shown in the drawing, a flange 130 is welded to each of the pipe 110 and the valve 120, and thereafter, the flange of the pipe is jointed to the flange of the valve using nuts and bolts 150 with a gasket 140 interposed between the two flanges.
The above-mentioned pipe jointing technique is advantageous in that it provides a firmly jointed state of the pipe and valve, but the technique is problematic in that cracks may be formed at the jointed junction to cause leakage of fluid from the junction. Furthermore, when the pipe jointing technique is adapted to a city water supply pipeline, the jointed junctions of the pipeline cannot accommodate displacement of pipes which may occur due to the extension and contraction of the pipes caused by temperature variation owing to climate change, or due to the application of impact to the pipes owing to, for example, an earthquake. Such displacement of the pipes may cause breakage of the pipeline, resulting in leakage and contamination of city water. Furthermore, the conventional pipe jointing technique may cause a gas explosion due to gas leakage when the technique is adapted to a gas pipeline, or may cause a safety accident and the loss of lives when the technique is adapted to a pipeline in a nuclear power plant.
In addition to the above-mentioned pipe jointing technique, another jointing technique using clamps and rubber packings has been widely used. However, this jointing technique is problematic in that jointed pipes may be removed from rubber packings when horizontal or vertical force is applied to the jointed pipes. In an effort to overcome the above-mentioned problem, a packing having an improved structure was proposed, which is provided with a ring-shaped channel along an inner surface thereof as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 13 shows pipes 110 jointed together using both the above-mentioned packing 160 and a clamp 170. When horizontal force is applied to the jointed pipes to make the interval between the pipes wider, the packing 160 is elastically deformed to widen its channel A, thus maintaining its close contact state relative to the pipes 110. When the horizontal force is removed from the pipes, the packing 160 elastically restores its original shape and returns the pipes to their original positions. The above-mentioned packing having the improved structure is advantageous in that the packing effectively maintains the sealed state of the jointed pipes regardless of an application of external force to the pipes and elastically returns the pipes to their original positions. However, the packing is problematic in that impurities may be deposited in the channel of the packing which could reduce the fluid transmission capacity of a pipeline and cause propagation of bacteria in the channel. Furthermore, the above-mentioned packing is specifically shaped to provide the channel as described above, so that the packing may fail to resist fluid pressure.


A digitally tuned digital radio frequency memory that captures a portion of a first radio frequency signal and retransmits the portion as a coherent radio frequency signal. The digitally tuned radio frequency memory may include a track and hold configured to track and hold the first radio frequency signal and to output a shaped signal; a digitizer configured to convert the shaped signal to a digital word; a memory configured to store the digital word; and a direct digital frequency synthesizer configured to provide a sampling clock signal, wherein the sampling clock signal is provided to the track and hold.

1. Field
This disclosure relates to a method, a system and an apparatus for storing samples of received radio frequency signals for subsequent retransmission. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) that provides wideband coherent jammer coverage.
2. Related Art
Electromagnetic (EM) signals, such as Radio Frequency (RF) radar signals, can be captured and selectively retransmitted using a Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM). In particular, an EM signal may be received, digitized and captured in a DRFM. Subsequently, the EM signal may be selectively replicated and retransmitted coherently with the original EM signal to create false range targets both behind and ahead of a target intended to be protected. DRFMs are frequently used in Electronic Warfare (EW) to jam or provide false information to enemy radar.

Digitally tuned digital radio frequency memory


In a method of displaying an image from an image store to a display device, each pixel has a color represented by pixel values which define a position within color space. A plurality of regions are defined within the color space, and each pixel value used within the image is allocated to one of these regions within the color space. Then, one or more areas of the image are selected, and for each of the selected areas, one of the defined regions within the color space is selected. For each selected area of the image, pixels which have been allocated to the selected region within the color space are identified and added to the image store. Different areas of the image and regions of the color space are selected in succession until all pixels of the image have been added to the image store for display.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus and a display method. Embodiments of the invention relate to displaying an image in accordance with a special effect.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of special effects which can be applied to still pictures exist. These may involve distorting the spatial characteristics or an image, or adapting the colours within an image to produce a desired visual effect. These effects can be applied as a function of time, thereby making the display of a still image appear as a time dependent sequence of images. In addition, effects can be applied to gradually introduce an image on a display apparatus by increasing the luminance of the pixels of the image from zero to a final value as a function of time.


A first mobile communication device is configured to transmit video and audio content to a second mobile communication device utilizing a server. The first mobile communication device, via the server, transmits a share request or “knock” with the second mobile communication device. The second device must either accept the request or reject the request. If the second mobile communication device accepts the knock, it transmits a share accept message to the server. The first mobile communication device then transmits the video and audio content to the second mobile communication device via the server.

Wireless or mobile communication devices, including mobile phones and smart phones, have become increasingly popular. Such communication devices are compact in size and provide powerful features and functions. For example, most mobile communication devices are equipped with a digital camera allowing users to easily take photo images without needing to carry a separate camera.
Currently, camera-enabled mobile communication devices, along with the use of wireless mobile data networks, allow users of such devices to easily store, access, maintain and share their digital pictures wirelessly with other mobile communication device users. However, due to the limitations in the bandwidth of current wireless mobile data networks and the limited processing power of existing mobile communication devices, users of current mobile communication devices are not able to quickly and efficiently transmit photo and video images wirelessly across mobile data networks.
Thus, to facilitate the sharing of multimedia content, such as photos and video content & voice, over a wireless mobile data network, including a mobile phone network, there is a need for a system and method to efficiently identify whether data can be transferred between two or more mobile communication devices. In addition, there is a need for a system and method to allow users to share photos and videos over a wireless mobile data network. Furthermore, there is a need for a system and method to allow users to share multimedia data, such as images and videos, over a wireless mobile data network using a relay server connection to transmit data. In addition, there is a need for a system and method to allow users to share data between their mobile communication devices using any suitable wireless network including, but not limited to, mobile data networks like WiFi, Bluetooth, and the like. This system needs to be designed in such a way that it supports user to share the photo and video while the device is connected to internet via WiFi or any other wireless network including the mobile data networks.


An image forming method and apparatus is disclosed. The method may include charging a rotating latent image bearing member with a rotating charger selected from at least one of contact chargers and short range chargers; irradiating the rotating latent image bearing member with imagewise light to form an electrostatic latent image on the latent image bearing member; developing the electrostatic latent image with a developer including a toner having a charge to form a toner image on the latent image bearing member; transferring the toner image onto a receiving material; and forming an electric field between the charger and the latent image bearing member after the toner image transferring such that charged materials present on the surface of the charger fly toward the latent image bearing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus utilizing an image forming process such as electrophotography and electrostatic recording. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus in which an image bearing member can be uniformly charged.
2. Discussion of the Background
Image forming apparatus utilizing an image forming process such as electrophotography and electrostatic recording typically include the following processes:
(1) uniformly charging the surface of a latent image bearing member such as photoreceptors (charging process);
(2) irradiating the charged latent image bearing member with light including image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the latent image bearing member (electrostatic latent image forming process);
(3) developing the electrostatic latent image with a developer including a toner to form a toner image on the latent image bearing member (developing process);
(4) transferring the toner image to a receiving material such as papers optionally via an intermediate transfer medium (transfer process); and
(5) fixing the toner image on the receiving material, resulting in output of an image (fixing process).
In the charging process, corotron chargers using corona discharging and scorotron chargers which are modified corotron chargers and which are modified so as to be able to uniformly charge latent image bearing members have been used. Corotron chargers and scorotron chargers (hereinafter referred to as charging methods utilizing aerial discharging) typically include an electroconductive wire (such as tungsten wires) and a counter electrode which is set 5 to 10 mm apart from the wire. By applying a high voltage to the wire, the molecules in the air surrounding the wire are excited and ionized, resulting in formation of charged particles. The charged particles thus formed adhere to the surface of a latent image bearing member, thereby charging the latent image bearing member.
Although the charging methods utilizing aerial discharging have an advantage such that an image bearing member can be uniformly charged, the charging methods have drawbacks such that a large amount of discharge products such as ozone and NOx are generated due to ionization of molecules in the air; and the chargers are not easy to handle.
In attempting to remedy the drawbacks, other charging methods have been developed. For example, charging rollers made of an electroconductive material such as electroconductive rubbers and resins or charging brushes made of an electroconductive material such as electroconductive fibers have been developed. By contacting such charging rollers or brushes with an image bearing member, charges are directly transported to the image bearing member (this charging device is hereinafter referred to as contact charging device). Alternatively, the chargers may be set close to an image bearing member such that charges formed by discharging at a small gap therebetween are transported to the image bearing member (this charging device is hereinafter referred to as charge injection type charging device).
The contact charging devices typically use a roller having an outermost layer made of a rubber as disclosed in published unexamined Japanese patent applications Nos. (hereinafter referred to as JP-As) 06-348110, 06-348112 and 06-348114.
JP-A 06-348110 discloses a charging roller having a layered structure such that an elastic layer including a pressure sensitive electroconductive rubber is formed on a metal shaft and an outermost layer is formed on the elastic layer. In the charging roller, the pressure applied to the roller is adjusted such that the image bearing member is uniformly charged so as to have a predetermined potential over a long period of time.
JP-A 06-348112 discloses a technique such that a photoreceptor is charged by a DC direct charging method so as to have a relatively low potential of from 300 to 650V. It is described therein that by using this technique, the photoreceptor can be uniformly charged and therefore good images without defective images such as streak images can be formed.
JP-A 06-348114 discloses a technique in that the electric properties of the charging roller are checked when the charging roller is located on a non-image area of the photoreceptor to be charged. If it is detected that the electric properties of the charging roller are changed, the conditions for DC charging are changed depending on the electric property changes such that the photoreceptor can be uniformly charged to have a predetermined potential.
Although these contact charging devices have an advantage such that the amount of discharge products such as ozone and NOx can be reduced, the devices have a drawback such that foreign materials remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor are transferred to the charging roller, resulting in contamination of the charging roller. When the charging roller is contaminated, the surface of the charging roller cannot be uniformly contacted with the surface of the photoreceptor, resulting in uneven charging of the photoreceptor. Alternatively, the resistance of the surface of the charging roller is changed due to the adhered foreign materials, and thereby the charging roller cannot uniformly charge the photoreceptor. When the charging roller is contaminated, the charging device including the charging roller or the process unit including the charging device has to be replaced with new one. This replacement operation is troublesome for users and increases the running costs.
In attempting to remedy the drawback of the contact charging devices, JP-A 2002-229307 discloses a short range charger in which a charging roller is set close to a photoreceptor with a small gap therebetween to uniformly charge the photoreceptor.
By using this charger, the chance of occurrence of the charging roller contamination problem can be reduced. However, foreign materials, which remain on the surface of a photoreceptor even after a cleaning process and which have a charge, fly to the surface of the charging roller, resulting in adhesion of the materials to the surface of the charging roller. In addition, when the charging roller applies a combination of a DC bias and an AC bias, charges are induced in the residual foreign materials on the surface of the photoreceptor or in the air surrounding the charging roller even when the foreign materials are not charged. The thus charged foreign materials also fly to the charging roller due to the AC bias effect. When such flying foreign materials are contacted with the charging roller, the materials are adhered thereto by means of a physical adhesion force such as van der Waals force.
The amount of the foreign materials thus adhered to the surface of a photoreceptor is much smaller than that in a case using a contact charging roller. However, when the charging roller is used for a long period of time and such foreign materials are adhered to the surface of the charging roller, the above-mentioned defective charging problem is caused.
When a short range charging device is used, a cleaning device is typically provided to clean the surface of such a short range charging roller. In this case, when a passage through which the materials collected by the cleaning device are transported to be discharged from the cleaning device is provided, the image forming apparatus is jumboized. Therefore, the collected materials are typically contained in the cleaning device. In this case, when the cleaning device is fully filled with the collected materials, the cleaning device has to be replaced with new one (i.e., the life of the cleaning device expires).
In the case of contact charging rollers, there is a possibility that the foreign materials adhered to the surface of the contact charging rollers are transferred to the surface of the photoreceptor. However, in the case of short range charging rollers, the foreign materials adhered to the surface of the contact charging rollers are hardly transferred to the surface of the photoreceptor.
Because of these reasons, a need exists for a cleaning method for removing foreign materials on a charging member without using a mechanical cleaning device such as cleaning blades.

Image forming method and image forming apparatus


A flipper control circuit is disclosed in which at least one flipper is controlled by the game microprocessor which attempts to hit a desired target. The processor activates the flipper in response to playfield sensors which detect the ball in proximity to the flipper. Playfield switches provide feedback to the processor on the accuracy of the shot allowing the processor to correct its "aim" for subsequent shots.

This invention relates to pinball games in general and to methods and apparatus for actuating flippers in particular. As is well known in the pinball art, flippers are pivotally-mounted members positioned on the game playfield to enable players to hold, and/or redirect steel game balls while in play on the game playing field. A flipper must be capable of delivering sufficient force to propel a steel ball under dynamic conditions, that is, while both the ball and flipper are in motion as well as supporting the ball to position it for a shot. In this latter "static" state, the flipper is activated or energized, but neither the flipper nor ball are in motion.
Traditionally, flippers have been actuated by the player operating a flipper switch located on the side of the pinball cabinet. When closed, the switch completes an electric circuit to a solenoid mechanism which is linked to the flipper. Movement of the solenoid rotates the flipper, causing it to propel the ball, or hold it on the flipper. When the flipper button is released, the solenoid is deactivated.
Examples of flipper solenoids and circuits are shown in prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,790,536 to Deger and 4,384,716 to Powers and in application Ser. Number 579,782 to Coldebella assigned to the present assignee. In Deger, a solenoid having two parallel coils are employed. Both coils are used to achieve the first power level, while only one coil is used for holding purposes. In Powers, a coil is fully activated for the power stroke and then power to the solenoid is decreased by phase control in the manner of a light dimmer.
In the Coldebella application, the flipper assembly disclosed in Deger is augmented with "slip detect" and timer circuitry to reenergize the flipper in the event that the ball striking the flipper causes it to slip from its fully energized position.
All of these disclosures are concerned with enhancing the operation of the flipper to improve player appeal. In particular, they increase the force of the flipper, maintain the flipper in an extended position and prevent slippage, while at the same time preventing overheating of the solenoid which would occur if full power was applied to the solenoid for long periods. In each case, however, the flipper is directly controlled by the player through operation of a flipper switch.
According to the present invention, it is desired to interpose the game microprocessor between the player and the flippers. This provides a number of advantages not found in the prior art. First, the processor can monitor the flipper coil operation and, if necessary, intercede to prevent overheating. This also improves flipper power by reducing power loss since only low voltage signal lines run from the player operated flipper buttons to the processor.
Controlling the flippers with the game processor provides additional advantages however, including the possibility of permitting the processor to activate one or more flippers independently of the player. This can be used as a reward to the player for making a difficult shot, to assist an inexperienced player or simply to create a unique playfield attraction. More specifically, the game processor can be programmed to attempt to make a difficult flipper shot using feedback from playfield sensors (switches). The processor can "learn" and improve its aim much to the amazement and satisfaction of game players.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic flipper control circuit in which the game micro-processor controls actuation of the flippers to enhance player appeal.
It is a further object of the invention to provide apparatus in which game software is able to control flipper actuation, therefore to permit the player and/or the game software to enable or disable all or selected ones of the flippers.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description of the invention provided below.

Automatic flipper control circuit for pinball games


A water purifying unit generates pure water by eliminating impurity ions from dielectric fluid. A corrosion-protection-ion generating unit generates corrosion protection ions, substitutes predetermined cations for impurity cations contained in the dielectric fluid, and substitutes the corrosion protection ions for impurity anions contained in the dielectric fluid. A switching unit switches a supply of the dielectric fluid between the water purifying unit and the corrosion-protection-ion generating unit. A switching control unit controls the switching unit based on a conductivity of the dielectric fluid measured by a conductivity measuring unit.

In an electrical-discharge-machining process for machining a workpiece by applying a pulsed voltage between the workpiece and an electrode through a dielectric fluid to generate discharge, it is necessary to control conductivity (specific resistance) of the dielectric fluid to fall within a predetermined range to make it easier to generate discharge under stable conditions. In addition, to prevent the workpiece from being dissolved because of a change in a hydrogen ion concentration (or hydroxyl ion concentration) of the dielectric fluid as a result of control over the conductivity of the dielectric fluid, it is necessary to control a pH of the dielectric fluid to fall within a predetermined range determined according to a quality of a material for the workpiece. There has been conventionally proposed a technique for measuring the conductivity and the pH of the workpiece used in the electrical-discharge-machining process by a conductivity meter and a pH meter, respectively, and for controlling the fluid quality of the dielectric fluid based on measurement results (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).
Furthermore, in the electrical-discharge-machining process, if the workpiece is immersed into the dielectric fluid for a long time, metal that constitutes the workpiece is corroded. To prevent the metal corrosion, a corrosion inhibitor is sometimes added to the fluid. However, when a concentration of the corrosion inhibitor increases, then the conductivity of the dielectric fluid increases and stable discharge cannot be performed. To prevent this disadvantage, there has been conventionally proposed an iron-based metal corrosion protecting method capable of protecting an iron-based metal in water from corrosion using an anion exchange resin in which one or more types of ions from among nitride ions and carbonate ions, hydrogen carbonate ions, and hydroxyl ions are fixed, and ensuring stable discharge (see, for example, Patent Document 4). In addition, there has been conventionally proposed a corrosion protecting method for protecting a cemented carbide or a metal in water from corrosion by adding a water-soluble metal anticorrosive to the water although the method is not applied to the electrical-discharge-machining process (see, for example, Patent Document 5).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S63-191514
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H4-141319
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-42414
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-301624
Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-145491

Electrical-discharge machining apparatus and method and apparatus for dielectric-fluid quality control


A method for the in-instrument recombination of volatiles using a gas chromatograph with mass spectrometry and olfactometry detection is described. Compounds that are introduced into the modified GC are separated conventionally on an analytical capillary GC column. The elution profile of volatiles can be segmented, analyzed and arbitrarily combined. In-line with the GC column, a pneumatic flow switch and splitter are connected to a detector and olfactometer. A cold trap allows the user to build a mixture of separated volatiles that is held until the cryotrap is rapidly heated, releasing the mixture for a subject to smell at the olfactory port and to evaluate. The instrument allows for characterization of the aroma quality of specific fractions of aroma volatiles obtained from foods, flowers or beverages without the need for pure chemical standards or the calculation of individual compound concentrations or sensory thresholds.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains generally to the characterization and analysis of aromatic mixtures, and more particularly to human perceptual characterization and analysis of aromatic mixtures using in-instrument gas chromatography recomposition-olfactometry methods and apparatus.
2. Background
Aromas are typically mixtures of small volatile molecules that are able to stimulate a physiological response in low concentrations. Volatile chemicals that are present in inhaled air stimulate olfactory receptors and nerves in the nasal epithelium producing a signal that is transmitted to the brain. Processing of the signal by the brain includes a comparison with previously experienced smells, accounting for the high subjectivity seen in human aroma perceptions. Aromas also play a dominant role in the multisensory perception of flavor.
The mammalian olfactory system is a highly complex and efficient odor detection system derived from millions of years of evolutionary development. More than a thousand olfactory genes have been identified that produce receptor proteins involved in the interpretation of aromas and account for about two percent of the known genes in the genome.
Large numbers of olfactory receptors provide a system that is capable of detecting and discriminating between many different aroma compounds because the receptors have a broad sensitivity and may be activated by different aroma molecules with similar molecular structures. In addition, the majority of aroma molecules are capable of activating more than one type of olfactory receptor. Consequently, different combinations of receptors may be activated by a particular aroma molecule. The possible combinations of activated receptors are substantial so that the overall olfactory system is able to detect thousands of different molecules, even those that have not been encountered before.
The experienced perception of the group of aroma compounds that is sensed from the environment is considered to be the smell or aroma of a particular material. The aroma-derived components of flavors are perceptual constructs created by the brain in response to stimulation of the olfactory system as the brain detects and interprets mixtures of volatile chemicals and mixtures.
Quantifying the relationship between aroma perception and chemical composition in complex mixtures such as foods and beverages has been complicated by the observed complexity of aroma mixtures, the subjective olfactory memory and description standardizations. Generally, the chemical analysis of mixtures of odorous compounds can be complicated due to the phenomena of synergy, inhibition and masking that can take place between different compounds. Furthermore, when mixtures of aroma molecules combine, some of the aroma components in the resulting mixture may delete or accentuate the contributions of other aroma molecules creating unexpected perceptual results.
Approaches that are based on analytical chemistry for characterizing aromas or flavors typically rely on separation-based chromatographic methods that quantify the aroma strength of individual compounds in a mixture, reflected as either the concentration present in the mixture divided by a measured sensory threshold concentration (Odor Activity Value, OAV) or the number of N-fold dilutions required to suppress detectability of a compound when analyzed by gas chromatography with a human subject acting as an olfactory detector (GC-Olfactometry or GC-O; CHARM; or Aroma Extract Dilution Analysis). Reconstitution and omission experiments evaluate the role of specific compounds in the perceived aroma of a mixture, whereby a blend of compounds hypothesized to be detectable in a food, beverage, or other sample by OAV is mixed from chemical standards, and compared to similar mixtures prepared by omitting one of these compounds at a time. If a difference is detectable in the "whole" mix versus a "whole-minus-one-compound" mix, that particular compound is considered important to the aroma of the sample.
Knowledge acquired from other disciplines studying aromas, such as sensory psychophysics, cognitive psychology, and molecular neurobiology, suggest that there are limitations in these methodologies. Chromatographic techniques only assess the aroma quality of individual compounds, rather than mixtures of compounds. However, the aroma of a mixture is frequently perceptually distinct from that of its individual components and may have qualities not found in any of these individual components. The mixing-dependent nature of aroma quality is evidenced by the relative lack of aroma impact compounds, or those compounds that are singularly responsible for the overall aroma impression of a food or beverage. On the other hand, omission experiments rely on an assumption that all sensorially important compounds have been correctly identified and quantified and that any compound occurring at a concentration below its putative sensory threshold is not important to the overall aroma. However, this assumption is not always accurate. Despite having identical concentration profiles of supra-threshold odorants, the aroma of a reconstitution sometimes still smells different from the original mixture, a phenomenon referred to as "reconstitution discrepancy".
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method of identifying and quantifying subsets of aroma compounds and the contribution of the compounds on the perceived aroma. There is also a need for an apparatus and method that is accurate and can reliably show the relation between the aroma mixture composition and olfactory perception regardless of concentration so that models can be created. The present invention satisfies these needs as well as others and is generally an improvement over the art.

Gas chromatography recomposition-olfactometry for characterization of aroma mixtures

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


A wafer-level test module is disclosed to include a base layer having multiple first apertures spaced from one another at a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the image sensor chips of an integrated circuit wafer, a cover layer having second apertures respectively axially aimed at the first apertures, and an optical layer sandwiched between the base layer and the cover layer having multiple optical lenses of which the optical axes pass through the first apertures and the second apertures, so that when one image capturing device of the image sensor chips of an integrated circuit wafer is adjusted to the image plane of one of the optical lenses and the wafer-level test module is set in alignment with the integrated circuit wafer horizontally and vertically, then the effective test light can be simultaneously projected onto the image capturing devices of the respective image sensor chips through the wafer-level test module to achieve an effective wafer-level test on multiple image sensor chips of the integrated circuit wafer accurately and rapidly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wafer-level test system and more particularly, to a wafer-level test module for testing image sensor chips of an integrated circuit wafer. The invention relates also to a wafer-level test method of image sensor chips using the wafer-level test module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices fabrication must proceed some steps of test engineering respectively corresponding to the specific processing steps, especially for package-level test engineering after the wafer-level manufacturing and product test engineering before the final product modularization. Under the severe market competition, every manufactory emphasizes high-performance wafer-level test methods to effectively save packaging process for package-level test and control the quality of main process steps. Therefore, a complete wafer-level test system is an important test engineering to every manufactory.
A camera built inside the cell phone, PDA, leg-top computer, or any other portable electronic product is commonly formed of an image sensor module, which comprises a set of optical lens and an image sensor chip made subject to an integrated circuit process. When the set of optical lens projects the image on the image sensor chip, the circuit of the image sensor chip is operated to capture the image and store the image data in the portable electronic product. As a result, the electrical characteristics of the image sensor chip are highly photo-electronic related. Therefore, the wafer-level test engineering of an image sensor chip during the manufacturing process is important to the inspection of the electrical characteristics of the image sensor chip.
Even the wafer-level test on integrated circuit electronic devices has been well developed, when considering both the optical sensing technology and the circuit operation of the image sensor chip, there is still no any perfect wafer-level test system for testing multiple image sensor chips of an integrated circuit wafer accurately and rapidly. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional test apparatus 1 of image sensor chips. This test apparatus 1 is comprised of a probe card 11 and a lens set 12. The lens set 12 is installed in the non-test circuit zone at the center of the probe card 11, and comprised of four optical lenses 120 and a lens mount 121. The lens mount 121 holds the optical lenses 120 in the probe card 11, allowing adjustment of every optical lens 120 to focus the incident light on a respective image sensor chip. The probe card 11 provides test signals to the respective image sensor chips then obtains each feedback test result from each of the image sensor chips respectively focused by the optical lenses 120. In view of the dimensional structure of an IC process, the dimension of one single optical lens 120 covers several image sensor chips in an integrated circuit wafer, however, only an image capturing device of the image sensor chip that is aligned with the optical axis of the respective optical lens 120 can receive an effective optical image, and the other circuit devices of the image sensor chip beyond the optical axis of the optical lens 120 cannot induce photo-electronic characteristics. As shown in FIG. 2, a standard integrated circuit wafer with 200 mm diameter has more than fifty or sixty unit chips. However, the lens set 12 simply covers a limited number of the unit chips (X-marked blocks in FIG. 2). Completing an electrical test engineering on the integrated circuit wafer which is integrated with image sensor chips needs to repeat more than ten times of the calibration procedure to align the optical axis of every optical lens 120 with an image capturing device of the respective image sensor chip. This test procedure is not a time-effective method. Further, it is difficult to control the optical precision when making optical axis alignment of the relatively larger size of the optical lenses 120 with the microsized image capturing devices of the corresponding image sensor chips.

Wafer-level test module for testing image sensor chips, the related test method and fabrication


A stator blade 13 has a blade tip 14, a blade trailing edge 15, a back 16 and a face 17. The blade tip 14 is an edge of the peripheral surface of the stator blade 13 near the turbine. The blade trailing edge 15 is an edge of the peripheral surface of the stator blade 13 near the impeller. The back 16 is a portion of the peripheral surface of the stator blade 13 extending between the blade tip 14 and the blade trailing edge 15 and opposed to the impeller 4, and has a streamline section. The face 17 is a portion of the peripheral surface of the stator blade 13 extending between the blade tip 14 and the blade trailing edge 15 and opposed to the turbine 5, and is formed of a streamline portion 17a and a plane portion 17b located near the blade tip 14. The shape of the stator blade 13 is such that a capacity coefficient (Cf) of a torque converter is lower when a speed ratio (e) is 0, and thereby improving fuel consumption during idling.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stator blade of a stator which is disposed between an impeller and a turbine in a torque converter.
B. Description of the Background Art
A torque converter is a device which includes an impeller, a turbine and a stator, and transmits torque through a working fluid which fills the inner spaces defined within the torque convertor. In an outer peripheral portion of the torque converter, the working fluid flows from the impeller to turbine, and in an inner peripheral portion of the torque converter the working fluid flows from the turbine to the impeller through the stator.
The stator is a member disposed between the impeller and the turbine, and is fixed to a stator shaft via a one-way clutch. The stator shaft is typically engaged with a fixed, non-rotating portion of a transmission housing. The stator is typically made of molded resin, aluminum alloy or the like, and is basically formed with an annular shell, an annular core and stator blades which extend between the shell and the core. The stator blades are disposed at circumferentially spaced positions, respectively, and extend from the shell at the radially inner position to the core at the radially outer position for the purpose of, e.g., controlling a direction of the working fluid returning from the turbine toward the impeller.
During idling of a vehicle provided with the torque converter, the impeller coupled to a crank shaft of an engine continuously rotates while rotation of the turbine is being restricted. Even during idling, therefore, the engine operates under a load, which increases a fuel consumption.
The fuel consumption can be improved by lowering a capacity coefficient (Cf) during idling, i.e., when a speed ratio (e) at a rotation speed (Ni) of the impeller to a rotation speed (No) of the turbine is 0. The capacity coefficient (Cf) is obtained by dividing the torque (Ti) of the impeller by the square of the rotation speed (Ni) of the impeller. If the capacity coefficient (Cf) is low, only a small energy is required for rotating the impeller during idling so that the fuel consumption of the vehicle during idling is improved.


A system-in-package structure includes a carrier substrate having a molding area and a periphery area, at least a chip disposed in the molding area, an encapsulation covering the chip and the molding area, a plurality of solder pads disposed in the periphery area, and a solder mask disposed in the periphery area and partially exposing the surface of the solder pads. The solder mask includes at least a void therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system-in-package, and more particularly, to a system-in-package having a void in the periphery area of a carrier substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The functionality of electronic products continues to increase, and mirror that is the development of packaging processes. Packaging processes continue a trend toward the high density, miniature size, multi-chip, and three dimensional design. In general, various high density package structures commonly utilized today include wafer level packages, three dimensional packages, multi-chip packages, and system-in-package structures. Preferably, an ideal package structure involves the incorporation of virtually all of the integrated circuits into a silicon chip, such as a system on chip (SoC) design. However, how to successfully incorporate the complex circuit functions into a single chip has not only increased the fabrication difficulty, but has also increased the size of the chip and the overall cost and yield of the fabrication process. Hence, a system-in-package structure that emphasizes the traits of small volume, high frequency, high speed, short production cycle, low cost, and the ability to integrate chips with different circuit functions has become a popular packaging technique.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective diagram illustrating a system-in-package structure 10 according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the system-in-package structure 10 includes a carrier substrate 16, in which the surface of the carrier substrate 16 defines a molding area 30 and a periphery area 32. The molding area 30 includes a chip 12 disposed on the carrier substrate 16, an adhesive layer 14 disposed between the carrier substrate 16 and the chip 12, and a molding compound 24 covering the chip 12 and part of the carrier substrate 16. Additionally, the system-in-package structure 10 includes a plurality of wires 18 electrically connected to the chip 12 and the carrier substrate 16 and a plurality of solder balls 22 disposed on the bottom surface of the carrier substrate 16, in which the solder balls 22 are connected to the chip 12 through the circuits (not shown) within the carrier substrate 16. The periphery area 32 includes a solder mask 32 and a plurality of solder pads 36 disposed on the surface of the carrier substrate 16, in which the height of the surface of the solder pads 36 is equivalent to the height of the solder mask 34 surface.
However, the molding compound 24 covering the chip 12 and the carrier substrate 16 often flush out of the molding area 30 and flood the surface of the periphery area 32 during a molding process. Since the height of the solder mask 36 surface is equal to the height of the solder pads 36 surface, excessive molding compound 24 utilized during the molding process will flood. The flood covers the solder pads 36 and the solder mask 34 in the periphery area 32 thereby influencing the ball mounting process thereafter. Consequently, the stability of the passive devices (not shown), active devices (not shown), and solder balls (not shown) disposed on the solder pads 36 is not ideal.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


A vinyl alcohol polymer is provided that is particularly useful for efficiently producing an inkjet recording material having an ink-receiving layer which is not cracked on its surface, which is highly glossy, which can absorb ink well and which is highly transparent, wherein the vinyl alcohol polymer has specific polyoxyalkylene group-containing monomer units and where the product of the viscosity-average degree of polymerization, P, of the vinyl alcohol polymer and the content, S (mol %), of polyoxyalkylene group-containing monomer units, P×S, and the number, n, of the oxyalkylene repeating units in the polyoxyalkylene group-containing monomer unit satisfy specific relational formulae.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vinyl alcohol polymer, a method for producing the vinyl alcohol polymer, a coating agent that contains the vinyl alcohol polymer, and a coated article, such as an inkjet recording material, produced by applying the coating agent to a substrate.
2. Discussion of the Background
Vinyl alcohol-based polymers (typically referred to as vinyl alcohol polymers) (hereinafter vinyl alcohol polymer may be abbreviated as PVA) are known as water-soluble synthetic polymers, and are used as a raw material for synthetic fiber vinylon based on its strength property. In addition, they are used for paper processing agents, textile sizing agents, dispersants, adhesives, films and others, based on their excellent film-forming ability, surface activity and hydrogen bond-forming ability. Especially in the field of paper processing applications, vinyl alcohol polymers are used for improving the quality of printed matter, for example, as a surface-sizing agent for printing and writing paper; an under-sizing agent for artificial paper and coated paper; fluorescent dye dispersant; and as a filler binder for ink-jet recording materials.
Recently, inkjet printers have grown in popularity, and inkjet recording materials are used for color proofs in commercial printing, for design image outputting in the field of designing, and for sheets for over-head projectors. The demand characteristics of the inkjet recording materials for those applications are that the surface of the ink-receiving layer thereof is highly glossy, the ink-receiving layer thereof is highly transparent, the image density on these is high, their color reproducibility is good, their ink absorbability is good, and their dot reproducibility is good.
With respect to the above-mentioned characteristics for such inkjet recording materials, a recording material is known, which has, as an ink-receiving layer, a microporous layer comprising inorganic fine particles and a hydrophilic binder (JP-A 7-137434). The recording material attains both good ink absorbability and good waterproofness owing to its capillary based ink-absorbing mechanism. However, in order to form capillaries in the ink-receiving layer, in general, the layer must contain a large amount of fine particles relative to the amount of binder contained. In such a case, the ratio of binder to fine particles in the ink-receiving layer is low and therefore the layer is extremely stiff and hard. Accordingly, when a coating liquid that comprises inorganic fine particles and a hydrophilic binder is applied to a substrate to form an ink-receiving layer, internal stresses may occur when the coating layer is dried, or fine impurities may enter the layer and, as a result, the ink-receiving layer has the problem that it can be readily cracked.
To solve this problem of cracking of the coating layer, a method of thickening the coating layer before it is dried may be employed. One such method has been proposed, which comprises using a coating liquid prepared by adding boric acid as a curing agent to a polyvinyl alcohol having a high degree of polymerization, and cooling the coating layer formed from the liquid to 20° C. or lower (JP-A2001-150805). When the coating layer is cooled to 20° C. or lower in the method of JP '805, supposedly a stiff three-dimensional structure may be formed therein owing to the interaction between the polyvinyl alcohol and boric acid, and, as a result, cracking of the layer may be prevented. In this method, however, the coating layer must be cooled after it has been formed, and the energy loss in the process is great. Therefore, the method is problematic in that formation of the coating film takes a lot of time and the production speed could not be readily increased. In addition, in the method, the viscosity of the coating liquid is high since polyvinyl alcohol having a high degree of polymerization is used, and the concentration of the coating liquid must be kept low, in view of the desired handlability thereof. Accordingly, the method has another problem in that the film-drying operation takes a lot of time and the production speed could not be readily increased.
For controlling the viscosity of a coating liquid that comprises a vinyl alcohol polymer, another method of using a modified polyvinyl alcohol may be taken into consideration in addition to the above-mentioned method of adding a reactive additive to polyvinyl alcohol. There are not so many trials using a modified polyvinyl alcohol for controlling the solution viscosity behavior of polyvinyl alcohol relative to temperature change. For a polyvinyl alcohol that is responsive to heat in the form of its aqueous solution, block copolymers and graft copolymers are known, that comprise a polyvinyl alcohol component and a polyalkenyl ether component, wherein the aqueous solution shows a clouding point. A block copolymer that comprises polyvinyl alcohol and poly(2-methoxyethyl vinyl ether) has been described. The temperature dependency of the viscosity of the aqueous solution of the block copolymer within a temperature range of from 40 to 90° C. is lower than that of polyvinyl alcohol (JP-A 6-136036). A graft copolymer that comprises polyvinyl alcohol as the stem component and poly(2-methoxyethyl vinyl ether) as the branch component has also been described. The viscosity of the aqueous solution of the graft copolymer increases and the aqueous solution becomes cloudy at temperatures around the clouding point of the aqueous solution of each polymer of the stem component and the branch component of the graft copolymer (JP-A 11-322866).
One typical example of a vinyl alcohol polymer that has a polyether component and is known in the art is a saponified product of a random copolymer obtained through copolymerization of a polyoxyalkylene group-containing monomer and a vinyl ester monomer, in which the polyoxyalkylene group is essentially a polyoxyethylene or polyoxypropylene group. Based on the hydrophobic property of the polyoxypropylene group contained therein, a polyoxypropylene group-containing vinyl alcohol polymer may be used as a dispersing stabilizer which is suitable for suspension polymerization, emulsion polymerization or postemulsification (JP-A11-1505, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,426); as a textile sizing agent to which the amount of the oil to be added may be small (JP-A61-47878); as a composition effective for preventing paper from adhering to a blanket in offset printing (JP-A 2001-342320); and as a dispersant for heat-sensitive dyes to give thermal recording materials that have a high degree of whiteness (JP-A 4-182189). Based on the flexibility of polyoxypropylene group-containing polyvinyl alcohol, there has been developed a melt-molding method for polyvinyl alcohol containing no added plasticizer (JP-A 3-203932, corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,712); and a method of producing polyvinyl alcohol moldings that comprises contacting a polyoxypropylene group-containing polyvinyl alcohol with a boron compound, followed by melt-molding the resulting mixture (JP-A 6-256533).
However, these approaches disclose nothing about the thermal responsiveness of an aqueous solution of a polyoxypropylene group-containing vinyl alcohol polymer, and no one has heretofore made successful efforts to control the viscosity behavior, relative to temperature change, of an aqueous solution of a polyoxypropylene group-containing vinyl alcohol polymer by controlling the amount of the polyoxypropylene group in the polymer and controlling the number of the oxypropylene repeating units in the polyoxypropylene group.


This invention provides a speaker system that minimizes the number of wires used to provide power and audio signal to all of the speakers. This is accomplished by without generating interference noises from shared signal wire implementations. The invention also provides a methodology for reducing power signals from being transmitted to headphones inserted into a headphone jack. The invention may use four wires to operate the speaker system. A first wire may be used to provide the control data signal common and control power common, and, if a headphone is used, the first wire may also serve as a common ground connection for the earpieces in the headphone. The second wire may provide a substantially constant current, so that constant current may be carried in the first wire regardless of the voltage on the second power/data wire. This way, the first wire may serve as a common control circuitry and the headphone as well. There may be no interference associated with sharing the first wire because constant current may be provided as a source of power that is independent of the voltage that appears on the second wire in the system. If a headphone is used, the current may be substantially constant in the second wire so that the voltage change in the second wire may not change the voltage in the first wire. Without the voltage change in the first wire, the signals to the headphone is not disturbed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an audio system that minimizes the wires that are used to electrically couple the speakers thus minimizing the chances that high power audio signals may be directed to a headphone jack.
2. Related Art
A speaker system is commonly hooked up to an audio system such as those typically found in desktop and laptop computers to enhance the listening experience. A typical computer based speaker system generally may include left and right satellite speakers typically placed on either side of the computer, and possibly a subwoofer is usually located nearby. The subwoofer may be larger than the two satellite speakers because of its larger diaphragm typically required for production of bass sounds. The subwoofer may house a power amplifier and controls for the speaker system. By placing the controls on the subwoofer, audio system control management is often inconveniently located. For convenience, a speaker system may provide controls on one of the satellite speakers so the controls are within the reach of the listener to adjust the volume, treble, and bass. Besides these controls, a headphone output for private listening may be provided with the speaker system or computer system.
Cables may be used to provide power and audio signals to all of the speakers. Each cable may have more than ten wires to provide all of the control functionality to the satellite speakers and the headphone connection. Using ten or more wires, however, can make the cable bulky, stiff, and expensive to manufacture. Asthetically, with all of the wires feed into the rear panel on of the computer presents a cluttered and unappealing appearance. In addition, the additional wires increases the number of connectors. However, besides increasing manufacturing costs, connectors are an unreliable component creating opportunities for system failure, malfunction or noise.
Others have tried to minimize the number of wires in a speaker system by transmitting power, control, and audio signals through shared wires. Using one wire for multiple purposes, however, can cause signal interference. As the control signals are transmitted via the same wire carrying power for the speaker, signal interference may create audible artifacts in the audio signal. Thus, using one wire for multiple purposes can degrade the quality of the sound that is produced by the speaker system, as well as create other malfunctions.
In addition to the controls, the satellite speakers may have headphone jack hookups. When the headphone plug is inserted into the jack, a switching mechanism is usually provided to provide audio signals to the headphone rather than to the loudspeakers, i.e., the satellite speakers and the subwoofer. The switching mechanism generally reacts to contacts or the mechanical motion of the plug being inserted into the jack. This scheme creates a potential risk to a user when the headphone plug is initially inserted into the headphone jack. One alternative is to make electrical contact before the mechanical switch is actuated, thereby redirecting the high power signal for the loudspeaker to the headphone. However, this could either damage the earpieces in the headphones or injure the listener's ear.
Therefore, a need exists for (1) preventing high power audio signals from being directed to the headphone jack and (2) a speaker system that minimizes the number of wires that are used without implementing shared signal wires.

Audio system for minimizing the chance that high power audio signals may be directed to a headphone jack

Harman International Industries, Incorporated


Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a portable communication device may have multiple processors and a memory. Portions of the memory may only be accessible by one of the processors.

As the features and functionality of communication or computing systems increase it is often desirable to design such systems with more that one processor. Multi-processor systems may be desirable because then the processors may be tailored to specialize in particular tasks. For example, a digital signal processor that performs mathematically intense computations may be combined with an application processor that may be used to execute user applications.
Conventional systems that involve more than one processor may have multiple memory devices that are each dedicated to one processor; the memory being used to store data and/or instructions for the processors. Separate, dedicated memory systems are typically used to reduce the risk of access conflicts that might arise should two processors have to access a shared memory at the same time.
However, the use of dedicate memory devices for each processor may increase the size, complexity, and cost of the overall system. Thus, there is a continuing need for better ways to share memory in a system have two or more processors.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

Memory adapted to provide dedicated and or shared memory to multiple processors and method therefor


A semi-pneumatic tire includes a tread portion configured to make contact with a road surface, a non-pneumatic portion coupled to an inner circumferential surface of the tread portion. The semi-pneumatic tire further includes a pneumatic portion coupled to an inner circumferential surface of the non-pneumatic portion and provided with a space into which an air is filled, and bonding layers respectively interposed between the tread portion and the non-pneumatic portion and between the non-pneumatic portion and the pneumatic portion. The non-pneumatic portion includes a band portion including an inner band coupled to an outer circumferential surface of the pneumatic portion and an outer band spaced apart from the inner band and surrounding an outer circumferential surface of the inner band, and spokes provided between the inner band and the outer band to connect the inner band and the outer band.

Tires are mounted on wheels of various motor vehicles ranging from small motor vehicles to heavy motor vehicles and are configured to perform a function of supporting the load of a motor vehicle, a power transmission function of transmitting the power of a motor vehicle to the ground, and a function of absorbing vibrations or shocks generated from the ground when a motor vehicle travels.
In general, a pneumatic tire has been mainly used as the aforementioned tire. The pneumatic tire maintains an air pressure therein and has an action of buffering collision and bending/stretching, thereby providing excellent ride comport and vibration-absorbing performance. However, when the pneumatic tire is broken due to getting pricked by an external object or a shock, the internal air pressure is not maintained. In this case, the pneumatic tire is difficult to perform a function as a tire. In addition, if the pneumatic tire is broken during the travel of a motor vehicle, the steering or braking ability of the motor vehicle is reduced. This may lead to a safety problem.
In order to solve such a problem, there has been developed a non-pneumatic tire that does not require filling of an air. In the non-pneumatic tire, elastic spokes are provided between a tread and a wheel in order to perform a function of an internal air pressure of a conventional pneumatic tire.
The non-pneumatic tire has an effect of preventing puncture under various vehicle travel environments. However, due to the limited flexibility of the spokes, the non-pneumatic tire suffers from a problem that the ride comfort and the vibration-preventing performance are considerably reduced. Accordingly, a demand has existed for a study on a tire capable of combining merits of a pneumatic tire and a non-pneumatic tire and remedying demerits thereof.

Semi-pneumatic tire and semi-pneumatic tire manufacturing method


A device for processing a wire having an outer surface and moving along a given path in a give direction. The device comprises a conductive contact tube surrounding said path and electrically engageable with the wire as it moves along the path and through the tue and a dielectric sleeve adjacent the contact tube and extending in the given direction from the contact tube and around the path to define an annular gas passage between the dielectric sleeve ad the wire. An inlet for processing gas is adjacent the contact tube in and a conductive electrode sleeve is around the dielectric sleeve so a high frequency, high voltage signal between said electrode sleeve ad the contact tube creates a dielectric barrier discharge plasma of the progressing gas in the annular passage.

Electric arc welding normally involves the use of an elongated, continuous welding wire directed toward a workpiece so an electric arc between the electrode or wire and the workpiece melts the welding wire and deposits the molten metal onto the workpiece. The wire for electric arc welding can be solid metal wire, such as steel or aluminum, or a cored metal wire with a center core of alloying materials and/or flux. In welding applications, large amounts of welding wire is stored on reels or in drums or boxes for feeding into the welding process; therefore, a tremendous amount of welding wire is produced. In the manufacture of welding wire, both solid and cored, the wire is processed through a drawing procedure where drawing compounds are often used. Consequently, as the wire exits the manufacturing apparatus, it is often desirable to clean it to remove unwanted material accumulated on the wire. Furthermore, it is somewhat standard practice to deposit a very thin layer onto the cleaned welding wire as it moves along a given path at the exit end of the manufacturing process preparatory to winding the wire onto a spool or laying the wire into packages, such as drums and boxes. The cleaning and coating of the rapidly moving wire has substantially increased the cost and time of the wire making process. Consequently, there is a substantial demand for improved means for cleaning and processing the rapidly moving welding wire as it issues from the drawing stands. One attempt to accomplish the cleaning of the wire is disclosed in Stava U.S. Pat. No. 6,265,864; however, this process has not solved the problems of cleaning the wire and does not accomplish the desired thin coating on the wire which must be done by a coating or dipping process. The present invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning and processing a rapidly moving welding wire, either solid or cored, in a manner to avoid contact with the wire, but sufficient to perform the desired processes on the moving wire.


A resilient, laminated polishing pad for chemical mechanical polishing is disclosed. The polishing pad includes a base layer and a polishing layer bonded by a hot-melt adhesive. The hot-melt adhesive of the present invention provides a Tpeel strength for the polishing pad of at least greater than 40 Newtons at 305 mm/min, reducing pad delamination.

The present invention relates to polishing pads for chemical mechanical polishing of substrates, and in particular, relates to resilient, laminated polishing pads and methods therefor.
In the fabrication of integrated circuits and other electronic devices, multiple layers of conducting, semiconducting, and dielectric materials are deposited on or removed from a surface of a semiconductor wafer. Thin layers of conducting, semiconducting, and dielectric materials may be deposited by a number of deposition techniques. Common deposition techniques in modem processing include physical vapor deposition (PVD), also known as sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and electrochemical plating (ECP).
As layers of materials are sequentially deposited and removed, the uppermost surface of the wafer becomes non-planar. Because subsequent semiconductor processing (e.g., metallization) requires the wafer to have a flat surface, the wafer needs to be planarized. Planarization is useful in removing undesired surface topography and surface defects, such as rough surfaces, agglomerated materials, crystal lattice damages, scratches, and contaminated layers or materials.
Chemical mechanical planarization, or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), is a common technique used to planarize substrates such as semiconductor wafers. In conventional CMP, a wafer is mounted on a carrier assembly and positioned in contact with a polishing pad in a CMP apparatus. The carrier assembly provides a controllable pressure to the wafer, pressing it against the polishing pad. The pad is optionally moved (e.g., rotated) relative to the wafer by an external driving force. Simultaneously therewith, a chemical composition or other fluid medium ("slurry") is flowed onto the polishing pad and into the gap between the wafer and the polishing pad. The wafer surface is thus polished and made planar by the chemical and mechanical action of the pad surface and slurry.
Rutherford et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,407, discloses polishing pads for performing CMP that are formed by laminating two layers of different materials. The typical two-layer polishing pad includes an upper polishing layer formed of a material, such as, polyurethane suitable for polishing the surface of a substrate in the presence of a polishing solution (e.g., slurry). The upper polishing layer is attached to a lower layer or "sub-pad" formed from a material suitable for supporting the polishing layer. The sub-pad typically has higher compressibility and lower stiffness than the polishing layer and essentially acts as supporting "cushions" for the polishing layer. Conventionally, the two layers are bonded with a pressure-sensitive adhesive ("PSA"). However, PSAs have relatively low bonding strength and marginal chemical resistance. Consequently, a laminated polishing pad utilizing PSAs tend to cause the sub-pad to separate ("delaminate") from the upper polishing layer, or vice versa, during polishing, rendering the pad useless and impeding the polishing process.
Also, certain polishing pads for performing CMP have windows formed therein. These windows allow light from an in-situ end point detection measurement system to reach the wafer being polished to monitor the polishing process. Pad windows need to be strongly bonded to the pads, otherwise they can also separate from the sub-pad and/or polishing layer and become damaged, rendering the pad and the window useless.
Therefore, what is needed is a polishing pad for chemical mechanical polishing, including polishing pads with windows, which resists delamination and are cost effective to manufacture.

Resilient polishing pad for chemical mechanical polishing

Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials CMP Holdings, Inc.


A peri-arterial blood flow booster apparatus for improving blood pressure and flow, to be implanted around a blood vessel of a patient. The booster comprises a pressure applying device (56) comprising at least one balloon (44), placed alongside a portion of the blood vessel and a restrainer (54) for restraining the balloon and providing counter-forces. It further comprises a control console (60) comprising: an inflating unit (66) for rapidly inflating and deflating the balloon, the inflating unit connected to the balloon; sensing means (68) for sensing electrocardiograph signals of the patient; a control unit (72) for controlling the operation of the inflating unit correlating to the electrocardiograph signals detected by the sensing means. When the balloon is inflated the restrainer forces it to compress the portion of the blood vessel preventing backflow and exerting forces on the blood vessel forcing blood within the portion of the blood vessel to flow antegradely.

Many in western societies suffer from vascular diseases, some of which are diseases of peripheral blood vessels (excluding the heart and brain). An example of such diseases is peripheral occlusive arterial disease (PAOD). In the aforementioned diseases, blood vessels become narrowed or clogged. Most common cause for PAOD is atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a gradual process in which a fibrous, calcified, fatty, or scar tissue builds up, forming plaque that obstructs blood flow to the body periphery. Plaque deposits build up along artery walls and affect blood circulation. When blood flow is severely restricted, intermittent claudication (painful cramping in the leg or hip, particularly when walking), rest pain, ulceration and in extreme cases tissue gangrene ensues which may require, in severe cases, amputation of the affected limb. It is a major cause of life and limb loss, especially in aging population. Several treatment options are currently available, including medical treatment, angioplasty, atherectomy and peripheral bypasses of occluded arterial segments. Currently, no effective drug therapy for opening occluded vessels is available. The success rate of the above-mentioned therapeutic methods is moderate. Furthermore, many patients are not fit for such operations, either on medical grounds or due to anatomical limitations. Also, many cases are not amenable to surgical reconstruction and may end up in gangrene and amputation. Amputation rate in western societies is estimated at about 300 cases per million of population, annually, causing severe suffering and physical disability for patients, as well as imposing heavy financial burdens. To avoid amputation many patients need complex and potentially dangerous operations, between 300-400 vascular reconstructions being performed upon the peripheral arterial tree, per million of population, annually. The present invention provides an alternative treatment to the conventional treatments whereby blood flow is peripherally assisted through the area of impedance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,573 (Habib), titled BLOOD FLOW, filed in 1990, discloses a method for improving the blood flow peripherally, through the use of a pump placed in or around a blood vessel supplying blood to a region of increased impedance, and acting to pump blood in the required direction. The pump comprises a housing annularly surrounding a blood vessel, said housing containing a plurality of flexible inflatable containers mounted around the blood vessel and means for effecting sequential inflation and deflation of said containers so as to create a peristaltic pumping effect. A problem arises with the described pump, as it is considerably complicated for assembling, controlling and implanting.
US 20030233023 (Khaghani et al.) discloses a blood circulation assistance device, for location around a blood conduit. The device comprises: an inflatable bladder moveable between a contracted form and an expanded form, for compressing the blood conduit to provide counterpulsation. Pump means in fluid communication with the bladder move the bladder from the contracted form to the expanded form. The pump means comprises a centrifugal impeller rotatable about an axis to effect pumping. The impeller is moveable axially between first and second positions to effect a reversal of the direction of pumping. Control means, in communication with the pump means, is capable of monitoring the cardiac cycle of an individual and triggering the pump means to move the bladder to the expanded form at diastole. An outer cuff, surrounds at least a portion of the bladder, providing an outer limiting extent to the movement of the bladder.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a blood flow booster, which is compact, made up of relatively fewer parts, and fairly simple to implant, if implantation is sought.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a blood flow booster, which is extra-arterial.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a blood flow booster, which is non-occluding.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a blood flow booster, which is ECG sensitive.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a blood flow booster, which is electromechanical.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a blood flow booster, which is also tissue compatible that does not interfere with normal antegrade (i.e. in the correct direction) blood flow.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a blood flow booster having relatively simple structure.
More objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Technion Research and Development Foundation Ltd.


An image display apparatus includes a display panel formed by arranging in juxtaposition a face plate carrying thereon a phosphor and a rear plate carrying thereon electron-emitting devices within a housing. The phosphor is so arranged as to be irradiated with electrons emitted from the electron-emitting devices to display images. The image display apparatus further includes an air blower for causing air to flow between the display panel and the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a flat type image display apparatus comprising an electron source.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, lightweight and slim so-called flat type image display apparatuses are drawing attention and expected to rapidly replace conventional heavy and plumpy display apparatuses that comprise a cathode ray tube. While tremendous research efforts have been paid in the technological development of liquid crystal displays in order to realize a slim and flat profile, they are accompanied by the problem of a rather dark view screen and a limited viewing angle along with other problems. An emission type flat type display apparatus comprising an electron source for emitting electron beams and a phosphor that produces visible images when irradiated with electron beams is advantageous in that it has a bright screen and a wide viewing angle and therefore can adapt itself to a large screen arrangement and highly defined images if compared with a liquid crystal display. The demand for emission type flat panel display apparatuses is remarkably increasing because of these and other advantages.
An emission type flat type image display apparatus that utilizes electron beams for producing images typically comprises a number of electron-emitting devices arranged in the form of a matrix between a face plate and a rear plate. A number of flat type image display apparatuses comprising surface conduction electron-emitting devices for emitting electron beams and a phosphor for displaying images when irradiated by accelerated electron beams have already been disclosed and applied for patent, including those invented by the applicant of the present patent application. (See inter alia Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-261024.)
FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings is a simplified schematic sectional view of a typical flat type image display apparatus comprising surface conduction electron-emitting devices as mentioned above.
Referring to FIG. 10, the image display apparatus comprises a substrate 1001 made of an insulating material such as soda lime glass, a number of surface conduction electron-emitting devices 1002 arranged on the substrate 1001, an insulation layer 1003 formed on the substrate 1001 and grids 1004, each having a hole for allowing electron beams to pass therethrough and operating as a modulation electrode. The apparatus further comprises a face plate 1005 made of soda lime glass and provided on the inside with a phosphor 1006 covered by a metal back 1007 of aluminum thin film and a lateral frame 1009 disposed between and bonded to said substrate 1001 and said face plate 1005 by means of frit glass 1008 to form a sealed envelope. The surface conduction electron-emitting devices 1002 and the grids 1003 are electrically connected to an external drive circuit (not shown), while the metal back 1007 is electrically connected to a high voltage power source 1013 by way of a high voltage power cable 1014.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a surface conduction electron-emitting device 1002, showing its configuration in detail.
Referring to FIG. 11, it comprises a pair of device electrodes 1102 and 1103 separated from each other by a predetermined distance L and a thin film 1104 prepared by applying an organic palladium compound (e.g., ccp-4230: available from Okuno Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) onto the device and having an electron-emitting region 1105 produced in the thin film by subjecting the latter to an electrically energizing process called "forming". "Forming" is a process in which a voltage is applied between the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 to partly destruct, deform or modify the composition of the thin film 1104 and to produce an electron-emitting region 1105 which is electrically highly resistant.
The electron-emitting region 1105 may be an area of the thin film 1104 having fissures. If such is the case, electrons are emitted from and near the fissures. Proposed materials that can suitably be used for the thin film of a surface conduction electron-emitting device include SnO.sub.2, Au G. Dittmer: "Thin Solid Films", 9, 317 (1972)!, In.sub.2 O.sub.3 /SnO.sub.2 M. Hartwell and C. G. Fonstad: "IEEE Trans. ED Conf.", 519 (1975)! and carbon H. Araki et al.: "Vacuum", Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 22 (1983)!.
When the internal pressure of the above described image display apparatus is held to about 10.sup.-6 Torr and a drive pulse voltage is applied to the device electrodes 1102 and 1103 of the surface conduction electron-emitting device having a configuration as shown in FIG. 11 by the external drive circuit, the device emits an electron beam. The electron beam then passes through the corresponding grid 1004 and is accelerated by the positive voltage being applied to the phosphor 1006 and the metal back 1007 by the high voltage power source 1013 to eventually collide with the phosphor 1006 and make it emit light. The speed at which the electron beam travels can be controlled by the voltage applied to the grid 1006 by the drive circuit (not shown) so that consequently the fluorescent body may emit light in a controlled manner to produce an intended image on the screen.
Electron-emitting devices other than those of the surface conduction type include those utilizing thermoelectron sources, field emission electron-emitting devices W. P. Dyke & W. W. Dolan, "Field emission", Advance in Electron Physics, 8, 89 (1956) and C. A. Spindt, "Physical properties of thin-film field emission cathodes with molybdenum cones", J. Appl. Phys., 47, 5248 (1976)! and metal/insulation layer/metal electron-emitting devices C. A. Mead, "The tunnel-emission amplifier", J. Appl. Phys., 32, 646 (1961)!.
In any of the above mentioned image display apparatuses, heat is inevitably generated therein when electrons are made to collide with a phosphor for emission of light, when electron-emitting devices are electrically energized to emit electrons and/or when electron-emitting devices arranged on a plane are sequentially driven to operate by way of wires.
As heat is generated, the substrate 1001 and the face plate 1005 of the apparatus are heated to show a temperature difference between them and/or an uneven thermal distribution within the apparatus, which can in turn result in a differentiated thermal expansion that may give rise to a distorted display screen, a color breakup and/or other problems. These problems will be serious when the image display apparatus has a large display screen.


The invention provides a circuit breaker panel with several safety features. The main breaker is separated from the circuit breakers by a non-conducting shield. The main breaker is also covered by a transparent, non-conducting shield. A further transparent non-conducting shield separates the circuit breakers from the neutral and ground bus bars. The neutral and ground bus bars are offset from one another to prevent wire crowding. Bending posts extending from the back plate of the panel help control the wire in the panel to prevent it from crossing bus bars or circuit breakers.

Injury from electrical shock is possible whenever operating or working in close proximity to electrical equipment. When a person's body completes a circuit, connecting a power source with the ground, an electrical burn or injury occurs. Fatal injuries may result from high-voltage exposure. For this reason electrical safety is important in both work and home environments. While professionals that service or work in close proximity to live power lines are trained in proper handling procedures, many injuries and deaths occur each year. Furthermore, untrained individuals are often exposed live power lines and the prospect of electrocution. Further, many residential fires are the result of unsafe or crowded electrical wiring.
A common place for someone to be injured by electrical shock is a breaker panel given the amount of work done at electrical panels and the likelihood of numerous electrical conductors in close proximity to the work being done. Generally, a breaker panel is a metal box in which multiple circuits are connected to a power source. The breaker panel also houses the individual circuit breakers that serve to automatically interrupt the flow of an electrical current. A breaker panel includes a main breaker which receives the power from the main service lines and provides a means for interrupting or cutting power to the facility or devices serviced by the breaker panel. Contact with the main service lines, as well as conductors exposed within the breaker panel can result in injury or death.
Blown fuses or tripped breakers are often perceived as the reason that electrical equipment ceases to operate. In an attempt to remedy the situation, trained and untrained individuals often seek out the breaker panels and investigate within. A variety of adverse conditions, such as absence of adequate lighting and improper tools, can compromise a person's ability to evaluate and work within the breaker panel. Unfortunately, the conditions outlined above, alone or in combination, can result in injury or death. Finally, crowded or improper wiring in breaker panels is sometimes a source of electrical fires.
Therefore, what is needed in the art is a breaker panel that includes safety devices that safeguard against inadvertent contact with live wires, that minimizes the potential for electrical faults and can aid in more orderly wiring of panels.


A honeycomb structure 1 comprising a honeycomb segment bonded body 10 having a number of honeycomb segments 2 integrated on each bonding planes via bonding material layers 9 has a structure so that a number of cells 5 providing fluid flow channels are disposed in parallel in the direction of center axis thereof. The honeycomb structure 1 is constructed so that the porosity of an outer portion of the bonding material layers 9 (an area from the interface with the honeycomb segment-bonding plane to a point apart from that interface by a distance equivalent to 20% of the entire layer thickness) is smaller than the porosity of a central portion located inward of the outer portion, and so that the bonding material layers 9 have a compression Young's modulus along the Z-axis of 5 to 100 MPa.

A honeycomb structure is incorporated in an exhaust gas system of diesel engines as a diesel particulate filter (DPF) to remove particulates (particulate matter) contained in exhaust gas discharged from a diesel engine and the like.
Such a honeycomb structure has a number of cells partitioned by porous partition walls made of silicon carbide (SiC) or the like. The cells serve as fluid channels and are disposed in parallel in the direction of the center axis of the honeycomb structure. The ends of the cells are alternately sealed so that the end of the honeycomb structure exhibits a checkered pattern. Specifically, a certain cell is open at one end (first end) and is plugged at the other end, while another cell adjoining that cell is plugged at the first end and is open at the other end.
According to this structure, exhaust gas introduced into a specific cell (inlet cell) from the first end can be caused to pass through the porous partitions and flowed out from the other cells (outlet cells) adjacent to the inlet cell. It is possible to clean the exhaust gas by entrapping particulate matter in the exhaust gas by the partition walls when the exhaust gas passes therethrough.
In order to continuously use such a honeycomb structure (filter) for a long time, the filter must be regenerated. That is, in order to remove a pressure loss increase due to the particulate matter accumulating on the filter, it is necessary to remove the accumulated particulate matter by burning. During regeneration of the filter, the honeycomb structure undergoes a large thermal stress which may produce defects in the honeycomb structure such as a crack, destruction, and the like. Responding to the demand for increasing shock resistance to such a thermal stress, a divided-type honeycomb structure provided with a function of distributing or reducing thermal stress by integrally bonding a number of honeycomb segments by bonding material layers has been proposed, showing some improvement on the thermal shock resistance. Such a divided-type honeycomb structure has a number of honeycomb segments, each having a configuration which forms a part of the entire structure installed in the direction vertical to the axis so as to form the entire structure by being integrated with other segments by bonding material layers so that the cross section of the resulting structure cut along the plane vertical to the center axis has a specified shape such as a circle. The outer surface of the honeycomb structure is coated with a coating material.
Along with the demand for enlargement of filters in recent years, the thermal stress generated during regeneration of the filter has also increased. In order to prevent the above-mentioned defects, an increase in the thermal shock resistance of the honeycomb structure is strongly desired. In particular, the bonding material layer for integrally bonding the two or more honeycomb segments is desired to possess an excellent stress relaxation effect and excellent bonding strength to improve the thermal shock resistance of the honeycomb structure.
In order to avoid occurrence of such defects, a ceramic structure (honeycomb structure) designed to increase durability by suppressing migration in the course of drying and curing by adding an inorganic fiber and an organic binder to the sealing material (bonding material layer) has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).    (Patent Document 1) Japanese Patent No. 3121497


The present invention relates to HVAC units with condensate drainage systems, for use in motorized vehicles.

In HVAC units, heat exchangers, due to changing temperature and other conditions within an essentially closed environment, end up forming condensate from the air inputted into the HVAC unit. It is undesirable for excess humidity or condensate to remain in the HVAC unit, or to be distributed downstream of the heat exchangers after the air is conditioned in the unit to the outside areas, such as the passenger and other motor vehicle compartments.
In prior art HVAC unit, this undesirable condensate has often been drained from the area of the heat exchanger, such as an evaporator, by exhausting and/or evacuating the condensate from areas beneath the evaporator via a separate or 'segregated' channel which is found away from the main airflow path through the HVAC unit, and, particularly, the airflow path coming from the air propulsion device or blower. The air in this airflow path, therefore, flows, after blower, into an expansion zone and possible turning housing downstream of the blower expansion zone. In most cases, the condensate channel or drain is found underneath the blower or blower expansion region in a separate or segregated fashion or downstream of the evaporator. The drain is separate from the main air flow function of the HVAC. Prior art HVAC's, therefore allow the water to drain unhindered by the main airflow in the HVAC and, the drain air path is never exposed to the blown airflow upstream of the evaporator. Because of this HVAC architecture, prior art HVAC units are often designed so that condensate in the drain or channel does not interact with the blown air of the HVAC itself in any appreciable way. Hence the condensate drains away freely, unhindered or disturbed by the airflow from the blower in the HVAC.
The present architectures mean that if a drain were open up to an area at or just downstream of the blower, a negative impact would result due to the fact that there would be a direct open air path allowing drainage wall to be entrained into the airflow path to HVAC unit from the blower expansion zone through the drain to the exterior of the HVAC unit. An open drain anywhere between the area of the blower expansion zone up to the evaporator intake region, (possibly a turning area), would normally be thought of as a detriment to the airflow quantity requirement of the unit if, an excessive quantity of air escaped.

Abstract: The present invention provides for at least two or dual condensate drain paths with no extra parts required pre-distribution of the treated air from the HVAC unit, the drainage means or channel situated to allow condensate to ‘fall back’ or, to run upstream back from the evaporator in the opposite direction to the air in the main airflow or stream which continues to run downstream from the drainage area to be conditioned by the heat exchanger.