A process for forming a catalyst layer for carbon nanotube growth comprising forming a catalyst layer having a first and second portion over one of a cathode metal layer or a ballast resistor layer; patterning a photoresist over the first portion; etching the second portion with a chlorine/argon plasma; removing the photoresist with an ash process; and removing the veils and preparing the surface for carbon nanotube growth with a semi-aqueous hydroxylamine solution.

Carbon is one of the most important known elements and can be combined with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and the like. Carbon has four known unique crystalline structures including diamond, graphite, fullerene and carbon nanotubes. In particular, carbon nanotubes refer to a helical tubular structure grown with a single wall or multi-wall, and commonly referred to as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs), or multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs), respectively. These types of structures are obtained by rolling a sheet formed of a plurality of hexagons. The sheet is formed by combining each carbon atom thereof with three neighboring carbon atoms to form a helical tube. Carbon nanotubes typically have a diameter on the order of a fraction of a nanometer to a few hundred nanometers.
A carbon nanotube is known to be useful for providing electron emission in a vacuum device, such as a field emission display. The use of a carbon nanotube as an electron emitter has reduced the cost of vacuum devices, including the cost of a field emission display. The reduction in cost of the field emission display has been obtained with the carbon nanotube replacing other electron emitters (e.g., a Spindt tip), which generally have higher fabrication costs as compared to a carbon nanotube based electron emitter.
The manufacturing costs for vacuum devices (e.g., a field emission display) that use a carbon nanotube can be further reduced if the carbon nanotube is grown on the field emission substrate from a catalytic surface using chemical vapor deposition or other film deposition techniques. Nanotube growth can be conducted as a last deposition process preventing the degradation of the electron emitter properties by other device processing techniques or steps (e.g., wet processes).
Carbon nanotubes can also function as either a conductor, like metal, or a semiconductor, according to the rolled shape and the diameter of the helical tubes. With metallic-like nanotubes, it has been found that a one-dimensional carbon-based structure can conduct a current at room temperature with essentially no resistance. Further, electrons can be considered as moving freely through the structure, so that metallic-like nanotubes can be used as ideal interconnects. When semiconductor nanotubes are connected to two metal electrodes, the structure can function as a field effect transistor wherein the nanotubes can be switched from a conducting to an insulating state by applying a voltage to a gate electrode. Therefore, carbon nanotubes are potential building blocks for nanoelectronic devices because of their unique structural, physical, and chemical properties.
Existing methods for the production of nanotubes include arc-discharge and laser ablation techniques. Unfortunately, these methods typically yield bulk materials with tangled nanotubes. Recently, reported by J. Kong, A. M. Cassell, and H Dai, in Chem. Phys. Lett. 292, 567 (1998) and J. Hafner, M. Bronikowski, B. Azamian, P. Nikoleav, D. Colbert, K. Smith, and R. Smalley, in Chem. Phys Lett. 296, 195 (1998) was the formation of high quality individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) demonstrated via thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) approach, using Fe/Mo or Fe nanoparticles as a catalyst. The CVD process has allowed selective growth of individual SWNTs, and simplified the process for making SWNT based devices. However, the choice of catalyst materials that can be used to promote SWNT growth in a CVD process has typically been limited to Fe/Mo nanoparticles. Furthermore, the catalytic nanoparticles were usually derived by wet chemical routes, which are time consuming and difficult to use for patterning small features.
Another approach for fabricating nanotubes is to deposit metal films using ion beam sputtering to form catalytic nanoparticles. In an article by L. Delzeit, B. Chen, A. Cassell, R. Stevens, C. Nguyen and M. Meyyappan in Chem. Phys. Lett. 348, 368 (2002), CVD growth of SWNTs at temperatures of 900° C. and above was described using Fe or an Fe/Mo bi-layer thin film supported with a thin aluminum under layer. However, the required high growth temperature prevents integration of CNTs growth with other device fabrication processes.
Ni has been used as one of the catalytic materials for formation of SWNTs during laser ablation and arc discharge process as described by A. Thess, R. Lee, P. Nikolaev, H. Dai, P. Petit, J. Robert, C. Xu, Y. H. Lee, S. G. Kim, A. G. Rinzler, D. T. Colbert, G. E. Scuseria, D. Tomanet, J. E. Fischer, and R. E. Smalley in Science, 273, 483 (1996) and by D. S. Bethune, C. H. Kiang, M. S. de Vries, G. Gorman, R. Savory, J. Vazquez, and R. Beyers in Nature, 363, 605 (1993).
Regardless of how the nickel catalyst nanoparticles are formed, an oxidation layer forms on the catalyst nanoparticles in the ambient environment. Conventionally, hydrogen is used in the reduction phase of growth cycle, to remove the oxidation prior to growing the nanotubes. However, this must be done immediately prior to growing the nanotubes, and depending on the CNT growth technique and process conditions employed, such as thermal versus plasma enhanced, active gas composition, gas temperature, not all of the oxidation is removed. This results in a decrease of catalyst activity and in a reduction of the active site density leading consequently to the prevention of carbon nanotubes from growing on the catalyst as desired.
One known method for positioning carbon nanotubes comprises depositing the carbon nanotubes over a substrate having deep embossed holes, and shaking or vibrating the substrate until the carbon nanotubes have fallen into the holes. Another known method for positioning microtips comprises depositing a lift-off layer over a substrate with holes through the lift-off layer to the substrate. A material is deposited into the holes to form the tips with any of the material deposited onto the lift-off layer being removed when the lift-off layer is removed. Yet another known method comprises etching an emitter area into a dielectric beneath a gate layer and to a cathode layer on the substrate. A resistance layer is formed over the gate layer and on the surfaces within and around the emitter area. After etching in the emitter area to expose the cathode layer, a catalyst material is deposited on the cathode layer, followed by growth of nanotubes on the catalyst material.
Catalyst films are easily degraded by etch and clean chemistries which lead to reduced field emission and device performance characteristics. Any residual catalyst not removed leads to growth of emitters in undesired areas and leakage paths. One single nanotube or one cluster of nanotubes can render a display useless through the creation of "always on" emission sites. Such unwanted residue may also precipitate amorphous carbon during the nanotube growth process leading to leakage and shorting paths. Additionally, the presence of residue or veils (undesirable redeposition of material created by a dry etch process) from the resist operation can occlude carbon nanotube growth, thereby degrading the displays performance.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a process for producing a stable catalyst for carbon nanotube growth. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.

Plasma etch process for defining catalyst pads on nanoemissive displays


A light diffusing screen for a single light source-type rear projection television, for use in combination with a Fresnel lens sheet, which can reduce scintillation and, regulate the surface roughness of the screen and provide good images. The light diffusing screen includes: a lens layer which can horizontally refract projected light; and a light diffusing layer provided on a light outgoing side as compared with the lens layer. The light diffusing layer includes a light transparent matrix and light diffusing fine particles formed of a light transparent material dispersed in the light transparent matrix. The light diffusing layer has a multilayer structure of which the outermost layer on the light outgoing side of the light diffusing layer is a layer which diffuses light most strongly, the outermost surface layer on the light outgoing side in the light diffusing screen having a surface roughness Ra of 0.2 μm≦Ra≦1.0 μm.

CRT light sources have hitherto been mainly used as light sources for rear projection-type projection televisions. In recent years, however, single tube-type light sources such as LCDs or DMDs are becoming mainly used.
In order to reduce external light reflection from the surface of televisions, the formation of a low-reflection layer on the screen surface or the formation of fine concaves and convexes on the screen surface (hereinafter referred to as "mattering") are favorably carried out.
Further, in the conventional transmission screen, since resin materials are generally used, disadvantageously, the screen surface is likely to be scratched and undergo deposition of dust. To overcome this problem, it is common practice to adopt the formation of a hardcoat layer on the screen surface or the antistatic treatment of the screen surface.


The invention relates to novel methods for affecting, controlling and/or directing various reactions and/or reaction pathways or systems by exposing one or more components in a holoreaction system to at least one spectral energy pattern. In a first aspect of the invention, at least one spectral energy pattern can be applied to a reaction system. In a second aspect of the invention, at least one spectral energy conditioning pattern can be applied to a conditioning reaction system. The spectral energy conditioning pattern can, for example, be applied at a separate location from the reaction vessel (e.g., in a conditioning reaction vessel) or can be applied in (or to) the reaction vessel, but prior to other reaction system participants being introduced into the reaction vessel.

Electrochemistry can be summarized as two simple and mirrored concepts: (1) the passage of an electrical current to cause chemical transformation of matter; and (2) the chemical transformation of matter to cause the passage of an electrical current.
Electrochemistry involves numerous oxidation and reduction reactions at or near anodes, cathodes and electrolytes in various electrochemical and electrolytic cells. The specific reactions can occur by applying a current to various chemical reactants contained in a system to achieve a desired chemical species (e.g., electrolysis) or conversely, chemical reactions can result in the production of electricity (e.g., electrochemical reactions). In certain systems both electrolytic and electrochemical reactions occur (e.g., rechargeable cells or rechargeable batteries). Oxidation reactions are those reactions which lose electrons, whereas reduction reactions are those reactions which gain electrons. Oxidation and reduction reactions occur in many chemical systems. For example, the rusting of metals, photosynthesis in the leaves of green plants, the conversion of foods to energy in the body, the generation of current from batteries and fuel cells, etc., are all examples of chemical changes that involve the transfer of electrons from one chemical species to another. When such reactions result in electrons flowing through a wire or when the flow of electrons causes a particular reduction reaction to occur, the processes are generally referred to as electrochemical reactions. Whereas the study and/or application of these electrochemical reactions is often referred to as electrochemistry.
The applications of electrochemistry are widespread, as discussed above. Additionally, electrical measurements are used to monitor chemical reactions in a wide variety of reactions, including those reactions occurring in an element as small as a living cell. Further, numerous important chemicals are manufactured by electrochemical means. In addition, electrochemistry is used to form a variety of important metals (e.g., aluminum and magnesium). Still further, electrochemistry is used in corrosion protection, brine electrolysis, electrocrystallization, electroforming, electrolyte pickling, electrometallurgy, electroplating, electrorefining, electrowinning, galvanizing, photoelectrochemistry; photoelectrosynthesis and sonoelectrochemistry.
Many reactions that occur in the aforementioned systems appear to involve a shifting of electron density from one atom to another. Collectively, this shifting of electron density is referred to as oxidation/reduction reactions or more simply, redox reactions. The term "oxidation" refers to the loss of electrons by one reactant and the term "reduction" refers to the gain of electrons by another. Oxidation and reduction typically occur together. In particular, if one substance is oxidized, another substance is typically reduced. Otherwise, electrons would be a product of a reaction, and this has not been observed in these reactions. During a redox reaction the substance that accepts the electrons that another substance loses is known as an "oxidizing agent", because it helps something else to be oxidized. Moreover, the substance that supplies electrons is termed the "reducing agent" because it helps something else to be reduced.
The various reactions that occur in the aforementioned electrochemical systems are driven by energy. The energy comes primarily in two different forms: chemical and electrical. There are many other forms of energy that drive chemical transformation, however, including thermal, mechanical, acoustic, and electromagnetic. Various features of each type of energy are thought to contribute in different ways to the driving of chemical reactions. Irrespective of the type of energy involved, chemical reactions and transformations are undeniably and inextricably intertwined with the transfer and combination of energy. An understanding of energy is, therefore, vital to an understanding of chemical reactions, including electrochemical reactions.
A chemical reaction can be controlled and/or directed either by the addition of energy to the reaction medium in the form of thermal, mechanical, acoustic, electrical, magnetic, and/or electromagnetic energy or by means of transferring energy through a physical catalyst. These methods are traditionally not that energy efficient and can produce, for example, either unwanted by-products, decomposition of required transients, and/or intermediates and/or activated complexes and/or insufficient quantities of preferred products of a reaction.
It has been generally believed that chemical reactions occur as a result of collisions between reacting molecules. In terms of the collision theory of chemical kinetics, it has been expected that the rate of a reaction is directly proportional to the number of the molecular collisions per second:rate α number of collisions/sec
This simple relationship has been used to explain the dependence of reaction rates on concentration. Additionally, with few exceptions, reaction rates have been believed to increase with increasing temperature because of increased collisions.
The dependence of the rate constant k of a reaction can be expressed by the following equation, known as the Arrhenius equation:k=Ae−Ea/RT where Eα is the activation energy of the reaction which is the minimum amount of energy required to initiate a chemical reaction, R is the gas constant, T is the absolute temperature and e is the base of the natural logarithm scale. The quantity A represents the collision rate and shows that the rate constant is directly proportional to A and, therefore, to the collision rate. Furthermore, because of the minus sign associated with the exponent Eα/RT, the rate constant decreases with increasing activation energy and increases with increasing temperature.
Normally, only a small fraction of the colliding molecules, typically the fastest-moving ones, have enough kinetic energy to exceed the activation energy, therefore, the increase in the rate constant k has been explained with the temperature increase. Since more high-energy molecules are present at a higher temperature, the rate of product formation is also greater at the higher temperature. But, with increased temperatures there are a number of problems which can be introduced into the cell reaction system. With thermal excitation other competing processes, such as bond rupture, may occur before the desired energy state can be reached. Also, there are a number of decomposition products which often produce fragments that are extremely reactive, but they can be so short-lived because of their thermodynamic instability, that a preferred reaction may be dampened.
In electrochemical reactions, it is generally believed that chemical transformations occur as the result of the passage of an electrical current, or conversely that a chemical reaction produces an electrical current. In this regard, electrochemistry involves the science of ionically conducting solutions, as well as the science of electrically charged interfaces. There are four important aspects of ionically conducting solutions: (1) ion interactions with the solvent; (2) ion interactions with other ions (either of the same or different species); (3) movement of ions in solutions; and (4) ionic liquids or "pure electrolytes"
Electrodics, the same science of electrically charged interfaces, involves the transfer of charge across solid-solution interfaces and interfacial regions. Electrodics thus involves the transfer of electrical charge between two phases of matter. These phases can exist on surfaces of materials not customarily thought of as solid-solution interfaces. Corrosion is a good example of this, wherein a material is covered by a thick invisible film of moisture. Atoms on the surface of the material leave the material and dissolve into the ion-containing film of moisture. Thus, in electrochemistry, the familiar kinetic catalysts of chemical reactions by molecules and atoms colliding with each other is replaced by species colliding with electrodes. In this regard, the electrodes can be thought of as separate "charge-transfer catalysts".
Radiant or light energy is another form of energy that may be added to the reaction medium that also may have negative side effects but which may be different from (or the same as) those side effects from thermal energy. Addition of radiant energy to a system produces electronically excited molecules that are capable of undergoing chemical reactions.
A molecule in which all the electrons are in stable orbitals is said to be in the ground electronic state. These orbitals may be either bonding or non-bonding. If a photon of the proper energy collides with the molecule the photon may be absorbed and one of the electrons may be promoted to an unoccupied orbital of higher energy. Electronic excitation results in spatial redistribution of the valence electrons with concomitant changes in internuclear configurations. Since chemical reactions are controlled to a great extent by these factors, an electronically excited molecule undergoes a chemical reaction that may be distinctly different from those of its ground-state counterpart.
The energy of a photon is defined in terms of its frequency or wavelength,E=hv=hc/λwhere E is energy; h is Plank's constant, 6.6×10−34 J·sec; v is the frequency of the radiation, sec−1; c is the speed of light; and λ is the wavelength of the radiation. When a photon is absorbed, all of its energy is typically imparted to the absorbing species. The primary act following absorption depends on the wavelength of the incident light. Photochemistry studies photons whose energies lie in the ultraviolet region (e.g., 100 Å-4000 Å) and in the visible region (e.g., 4000 Å-7000 Å) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such photons are primarily a cause of electronically excited molecules.
Since the molecules are imbued with electronic energy upon absorption of light, reactions occur from different potential-energy surfaces from those encountered in thermally excited systems. However, there are several drawbacks of using the known techniques of photochemistry, that being, utilizing a broad band of frequencies thereby causing unwanted side reactions, undue experimentation, and poor quantum yield. Some good examples of photochemistry are shown in the following patents.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,877 issued to Cooper, et al. al., (1992) discloses an apparatus for the photocatalytic treatment of liquids. In particular, it is disclosed that ultraviolet light irradiates the surface of a prepared slurry to activate the photocatalytic properties of the particles contained in the slurry. The transparency of the slurry affects, for example, absorption of radiation. Moreover, discussions of different frequencies suitable for achieving desirable photocatalytic activity are disclosed.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,269 issued to Brumer, et al. al., (1998) discloses a photodisassociation process for disassociating various molecules in a known energy level. In particular, it is disclosed that different disassociation pathways are possible and the different pathways can be followed due to selecting different frequencies of certain electromagnetic radiation. It is further disclosed that the amplitude of electromagnetic radiation applied corresponds to amounts of product produced.
Selective excitation of different species is shown in the following three (3) patents. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,301 to Rich, et al. al., (1977) discloses vapor phase chemical reactions that are selectively excited by using vibrational modes corresponding to the continuously flowing reactant species. Particularly, a continuous wave laser emits radiation that is absorbed by the vibrational mode of the reactant species.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,634 issued to Wan, et al., (1993) discloses a process of selectively converting methane to a desired oxygenate. In particular, methane is irradiated in the presence of a catalyst with pulsed microwave radiation to convert reactants to desirable products. The physical catalyst disclosed comprises nickel and the microwave radiation is applied in the range of about 1.5 to 3.0 GHz.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,349 issued to Suib, et al. al., (1991) discloses a method for cracking a hydrocarbon to create cracked reaction products. It is disclosed that a stream of hydrocarbon is exposed to a microwave energy which creates a low power density microwave discharge plasma, wherein the microwave energy is adjusted to achieve desired results. A particular frequency desired of microwave energy is disclosed as being 2.45 GHz.
Photoelectrochemistry has focussed on three main areas. In the first, light is shone on a metal electrode, but metals absorb broadband light very poorly and so this method is not greatly effective. The second area of photoelectric chemistry involves the passage of electrons in a solution by absorption of light by photoactive species resulting in electron generation. Again, these techniques use broadband methods and have drawbacks. The third area of photoelectricalchemistry considered by many to be the most promising involves the absorption of light by semiconductors in cell reaction systems, elevating electrons from valence bands to conduction bands. The semiconductors in electrodes function as photo-induced charge transfer catalysts.
Physical catalysts are well known in the art. Specifically, a physical catalyst is a substance which alters the reaction rate of a chemical reaction without appearing in the end product. It is known that some reactions can be speeded up or controlled by the presence of substances which themselves appear to remain unchanged after the reaction has ended. By increasing the velocity of a desired reaction relative to unwanted reactions, the formation of a desired product can be maximized compared with unwanted by-products. Often only a trace of physical catalyst is necessary to accelerate the reaction. Also, it has been observed that some substances, which if added in trace amounts, can slow down the rate of a reaction. This looks like the reverse of catalysis, and, in fact, substances which slow down a reaction rate have been called negative catalysts or poisons. Known physical catalysts go through a cycle in which they are used and regenerated so that they can be used again and again. A physical catalyst operates by providing another path for the reaction which can have a higher reaction rate or slower rate than available in the absence of the physical catalyst. At the end of the reaction, because the physical catalyst can be recovered, it appears the physical catalyst is not involved in the reaction. But, the physical catalyst must somehow take part in the reaction, or else the rate of the reaction would not change. The catalytic act has historically been represented by five essential steps originally postulated by Ostwald around the late 1800's:
1. Diffusion to the catalytic site (reactant);
2. Bond formation at the catalytic site (reactant);
3. Reaction of the catalyst-reactant complex;
4. Bond rupture at the catalytic site (product); and
5. Diffusion away from the catalytic site (product).
The exact mechanisms of catalytic actions are unknown in the art but it is known that physical catalysts can speed up a reaction that otherwise would take place too slowly to be practical.
There are a number of problems involved with known industrial catalysts: firstly, physical catalysts can not only lose their efficiency but also their selectivity, which can occur due to, for example, overheating or contamination of the catalyst; secondly, many physical catalysts include costly metals such as platinum or silver and have only a limited life span, some are difficult to rejuvenate, and the precious metals may not be easily reclaimed. There are numerous physical limitations associated with physical catalysts which render them less than ideal participants in many reactions.
Accordingly, what is needed is an understanding of the catalytic process so that biological processing, chemical processing, industrial processing, etc., can be engineered by more precisely controlling the multitude of reaction processes that currently exist, as well as developing completely new reaction pathways and/or reaction products. Examples of such understandings include methods to catalyze reactions without the drawbacks of: (1) known physical catalysts; and (2) utilizing energy with much greater specificity than the prior art teachings which utilize less than ideal thermal and electromagnetic radiation methods and which result in numerous inefficiencies.
Accordingly, what is also needed are techniques for electrochemistry which improve the functioning of electrodes as charge-transfer catalysts. Further, improvements are required in the transport of ions and charges through electrolyte solutions. Passage of electrons through metals and semiconductors is not rate-limiting, rather it is the passage of ions and charged species through solutions that is slow.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Provided is a photodiode array that is capable of outputting an electric signal with a large electric power and an optical microwave transmission system receiver that supplies an electric power with the aid of an optical fiber and does not require the electric power line from the external. An input modulation light is branched and input to a plurality of photodiode elements (1), electric output terminals (5) of the plurality of photodiode elements (1) are connected in parallel to each other, and a combined electric output is extracted. The electric output terminal (5) of the photodiode array configured as described above is connected to an antenna (7) without an intermediation of an amplifier circuit.

A photodiode has been widely employed as a photodetector that operates at high speed in an optical transmission device. Similarly, in an optical fiber radio communication device, the photodiode is essential as a key device. The optical fiber radio communication device is a transmission device having various advantages by which the transmission of a broad band and high capacity is enabled, various processor circuits can be downsized because the wavelength of light is short, a transmission loss is very low, and an electromagnetic interference is extremely reduced.
In the optical fiber radio communication device, light is modulated according to an RF electric signal and transmitted, and the modulated light is detected by a photodiode, to thereby reproduce an original RF electric signal. The reproduced RF electric signal is transmitted to a succeeding processor circuit or radiated toward a space by means of an antenna.
In general, an electric signal that is output from the photodiode is very weak. For that reason, when the electric signal that is extracted from the photodiode is transmitted to a circuit at a post-stage, it is necessary to amplify the signal with the aid of an amplifier circuit such as amplifier. For example, even in a case where the signal that has been transmitted through the optical fiber radio communication is radiated toward the space from the antenna, it is necessary to provide an electric power for radiating the electric signal toward the space after the electric signal has been detected by the photodiode, so the electric signal needs to be amplified by means of an amplifier circuit.
However, a power supply is required in an amplifier circuit such as an amplifier involving a power consumption. In addition, a space for the amplifier circuit is required, so it is difficult to downsize the device. Further, an electric power line that supplies an electric power is required, and an electromagnetic interference occurs due to an electromagnetic field from the electric power line, thereby making it impossible to sufficiently utilize the features of the optical fiber radio communication device with no electromagnetic interference.
As a method of increasing the electric power of an output electric signal from a photodiode, there has been proposed a traveling wave photodiode (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). This inputs a light to a plurality of photodiodes with a delay time bits by bits, and extracts output electric signals gradually with a delay time so as to cancel the delay time that has been given previously. However, in this method, since it is necessary to perfectly match those delay times with each other, and the impedance matching at the time of combining the electric powers is difficult, the output electric power that is actually obtained is not yet limited under the existing circumstances.
Patent Document 1: WO 2003-516641

Photodiode array configured to increase electrical output power and optical microwave transmission system receiver utilizing the same


An apparatus having an operative mode and a non-operative mode with a method for counting events with a volatile counter and a non-volatile electronic memory having a number N of memory areas, includes counting events with the volatile counter, when the count value has been incremented by a predetermined number M or when the apparatus passes into the non-operative mode, saving the count value to one of the memory areas, with cycling switching of the memory area into which the count value is written; and when the apparatus passes into the operative mode, initializing the counter with the maximum of the count values stored in the N memory areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, e.g. a copier or printer, implementing a method for counting the number of "clicks," i.e. the number copies that have been made.
2. Description of Background Art
In image forming apparatuses such as printers, copiers and multipurpose reproduction devices, it is frequently required to count the number of hard copies that have been made, e.g. for the purpose of determining suitable maintenance intervals, or, more importantly, for billing purposes. In conventional apparatus, mechanical counters are used for that purpose because such counters are known to be very robust and reliable. In particular, mechanical counters will retain their count values even in case of an unexpected power breakdown of the machine. On the other hand, since mechanical counters are relatively expensive, it would be desirable to replace them with electronic counters, while preserving a comparable level of robustness and reliability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,544 discloses an image forming apparatus, wherein a method of the type described above is used for counting the number of copies. The "clicks" are counted by a CPU of the machine control, which comprises a non-volatile memory. An EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) is provided as a non-volatile memory for saving the count values to make them persistent during those times when the power supply for the CPU is turned down. The contents of an EEPROM can be read as often as desired, but can be erased and re-written only a limited number of times. Since this number is significantly smaller than the number of copies that is expected to be made and to be counted during the total lifetime of the image forming apparatus, this EEPROM is subdivided into a plurality of memory areas each of which can store a complete count value, so that the storage capacity of the EEPROM is multiplied. Each time when a "click" is counted, the new count value is written in one of the memory areas of the EEPROM, and when the number of erase and write cycles of that memory area becomes exhausted, the future count values will be written into another memory area.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,568,626 and 5,450,460 disclose other counting methods dealing with the problem of the limited number of write cycles of an EEPROM.
However, all these methods require a considerable amount of storage capacity of the non-volatile memory, which increases the costs for these memory devices. Moreover, these known methods address the problem that the count values that are stored in the non-volatile memory may become corrupted only to a limited extent. Therefore, for example, when a machine error leads to an unexpected shutdown or when a power failure of the machine control system takes place at the very moment when new data are written into the EEPROM, the write procedure will be disturbed and the value that will be written into the memory area of the EEPROM becomes unpredictable. A similar problem will occur when an EEPROM or a specific memory area thereof reaches the end of its lifetime (earlier than expected).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,497 describes an odometer wherein a traveled distance is counted in a volatile counter, and certain increments of that distance, e.g. 100 m, are saved in a non-volatile memory having a plurality of memory areas. Another count value is saved when the power is switched off. When power is switched on again, the counter is initialized with the maximum of the count values read from the memory areas.

Image forming apparatus for counting images formed by the apparatus


A method and a system determines failure of a urea quality sensor. The method may include: determining whether a urea temperature is higher than a predetermined temperature; determining, if the urea temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature, whether a vehicle speed is faster than a predetermined vehicle speed; determining, if the vehicle speed is faster than the predetermined vehicle speed, whether a difference between a current urea quality and a previous urea quality is higher than a predetermined urea quality; and storing a failure code if the difference between the current urea quality and the previous urea quality is higher than the predetermined urea quality.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a system of determining failure of a urea quality sensor and, more particularly, to the method and a system of determining the failure of the urea quality sensor that indicates the failure of the urea quality sensor to a driver and operates compulsory inducement if a urea quality is bad.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, an exhaust gas exhausted through an exhaust manifold from an engine is led to a catalytic converter formed on an exhaust pipe and is purified. After that, noise of the exhaust gas is reduced during passing through a muffler and is exhausted to the air through a tail pipe.
A selective catalytic reduction (SCR) converter is one type of such catalytic converters. The SCR means that reducing agents such as urea, ammonia, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon (HC) react better with nitrogen oxide than oxygen.
An exhaust system of a vehicle provided with the SCR converter includes a urea tank and a dosing module. The dosing module injects the reducing agents such as the urea into the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust pipe. Thereby, the SCR converter can reduce the nitrogen oxide efficiently.
However, purifying efficiency of the nitrogen oxide in the SCR converter is greatly affected by urea quality. That is, if the urea quality is not suitable, the SCR converter is hard to purify the nitrogen oxide. Therefore, regulations demand that means for warning unsuitable urea quality should be mounted at the vehicle.
Urea quality sensors are increasingly used for warning the unsuitable urea quality. In order to use the urea quality sensor, however, a method of determining failure of the urea quality sensor should be also used.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Method and system of determining failure of urea quality sensor


The invention is a display article having a flexible substrate which includes a writing surface capable of being used as a dry erase surface. A peripheral edge extends around the writing surface. A flexible framing strip is affixed to the writing surface at a position proximate to the peripheral edge. One embodiment of the display article can be made by forming a substrate having a writing surface. The substrate defines a periphery edge, a back surface, and a plurality of mushroom shaped hooks extending from the back surface substantially over the entire back surface. The writing surface is capable of being used as a dry erase surface. At least a portion of the periphery of the writing substrate is folded over to form a framing strip having a plurality of exposed mushroom shaped hooks. The framing strip is secured to the writing surface.

The invention relates generally to articles having an erasable writing surface.
As commonly used, the term "dry erase" as applied to an article (e.g., a white board) refers to the ability to write or mark on that article with ink (e.g., using a felt tip marking pen), and later erase the ink without the need of a liquid cleaner. In practice, inks intended for use with dry erase surfaces are often specifically formulated for use with individual surface compositions, and may not be useful on all types of dry erase materials.
Dry erase articles are known in the art generally as articles having surfaces that a user may write upon using ink markers. The user may then erase written indicia using an eraser (e.g. a cloth or a felt pad).
Commonly available dry erase substrates (sometimes referred to as "dry erase boards" or "whiteboards") sold commercially comprise a rigid backing material, a front dry erasable surface, a stiff frame surrounding the edge of the dry erasable surface, a stiff tray positioned at the bottom for holding dry erase markers and erasers, and a mechanical attachment mechanism for mounting the product to a wall (e.g. screw-in mounting brackets). Typically, these products range in size from small (e.g. 8½ in×11 in) to very large (e.g. 48 in×96 in, and larger). The larger conventional dry erase products are disadvantaged in that they are heavy, and typically designed for permanent mounting on the wall, which makes them ill-suited for transportation to meetings and also for mounting on office partition walls. Also, these dry erase products are often difficult to mount, typically requiring the use of power tools. The smaller dry erase boards provide limited space for written material.
Exemplary dry erase boards using cured melamine resins are manufactured by GBC Office Products, Skokie, Ill., Boone International, Corona, Calif., and RoseArt Company, Wood Ridge, N.J. Exemplary dry erase boards using porcelain covered steel are available from GBC Office Products and Boone International. Exemplary dry erase articles using fluoropolymer film can be obtained from Walltalkers, Inc., Fairlawn, Ohio.
Boards designed to be carried and displayed at various locations are also commercially available. These boards are lighter than conventional dry erase boards, and some fold for transport. In addition, lighter boards specifically designed for mounting on office partition walls have been commercialized. These boards often feature hook and loop type or office partition type mounting attachments for securing the boards to vertical surfaces. The cost of these transportable boards can be quite expensive. The mobile and cubicle boards also have a number of shortcomings with respect to performance. Many of the mobile boards are only marginally easy to transport and require installation at the destination using either a wall-mounted rail or separate cubicle hooks. Additionally, these boards are stiff and awkward to carry, and the desire for a compact carrying size limits the available writing area. Moreover, transportability often means a loss of other desirable product features. For example, means to mount the boards, as well as means to store markers and erasers are often absent from the mobile products.
Examples of mobile dry erase surfaces include, the Boone® Off The Wall Modular System Dry Erase Boards, manufactured ACCO World Corporation, Lincolnshire, Ill. and the Quartet Cubicle Dry-Erase Board with Graphite Frame, manufactured by General Binding Corporation, Northbrook, Ill.
Dry erase surfaces formed on flexible sheeting are also known in the art. These surfaces allow for high ease of transportation of the surface. The thin sheet format of the surface allows the user to erroneously write past the edge of the sheet, which can cause the user to write on the underlying surface (e.g. a wall), resulting in unsightly marks. The thin sheets similarly do not adequately prevent accidental movement of the eraser past the edge of the sheet, which can result in unsightly "smudging" of the wall due to deposition of ink dust by the eraser. Additionally, means to mount the boards, as well as means to store markers and erasers are often absent from these products. The mounting mechanisms used often result in sagging of the sheet, due to the flexible nature of the surface.
Examples of flexible sheeting dry erase surfaces are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,581 (Boyd) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,500 (Varga & Baechle), and in U.S. Patent Application Nos. 2003/0008095 and 2004/0091849. Commercially available flexible dry erase surfaces include vinyl films, and ultraviolet radiation (UV) curable hardcoat films. Exemplary vinyl dry erase articles are sold by Best-Rite Manufacturing, Temple, Tex. Exemplary WV curable hardcoat film dry erase boards are commercially available from General Binding Corporation, Northbrook, Ill. and ACCO World Corporation, Lincolnshire, Ill.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an easily transportable dry erase surface that allows for a variety of writing surface areas without significantly altering the ease of transportation, and which preserves the written material on the dry erase surface during transport. It would also be desirable to provide a user friendly surface to the user that helps prevent the user from writing or erasing past the peripheral edge of the sheet onto the supporting surface. Further, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism for storing markers, erasers, and other items with the dry erase surface without substantially compromising its transportability.


The invention relates to a telephone system and method for use by a residential user. A residential telephone system is electrically coupled to an external telephone service facility and electrically coupled to a user telephone. The system comprises a telephone service facility interface for receiving an incoming call signal from the external telephone service facility and a user telephone interface for transmitting the incoming call signal to the user telephone and for receiving an administrative signal from the user telephone. The system also comprises a memory and a messaging module for storing in the memory a calling party message received from a calling party in the incoming call signal. The system further comprises a connection module responsive to the administrative signal received from the user telephone via the user telephone interface for receiving an incoming call signal and processing the incoming call signal to either connect the incoming call signal to the messaging module or to transmit the incoming call signal to the user telephone via the user telephone interface. The invention also relates to a system for remotely administering a residential telephone system. The invention further relates a system and method for call management of incoming calls by a residential telephone system.

Telephone systems and services provide users with many benefits but also provide users with problems such as unwanted interruptions from calls. Unwanted telephone calls consist of intrusive sales calls, fraudulent promotions and other solicitations, and malicious calls intended to harass or intimidate.
Systems and methods have been disclosed in the prior art for reducing or eliminating unwanted telephone calls that have received varying degrees of success and user satisfaction. These systems and methods may be categorized into deterministic and nondeterministic solutions. Nondeterministic solutions are those, which do not have an immediate and verifiable result. One example of a nondeterministic solution is to answer the telephone call, then upon discovering the same call is from an unwanted source, simply ask the calling party not to call back again and abruptly end the call. Nondeterministic solutions require one's engagement and seldom have any lasting effect. Another common nondeterministic solution is to place a telephone number on a list from which solicitors are forbidden to place calls.
Deterministic solutions for eliminating unwanted phone calls may be divided into two groups. These are special added services that are offered to a user by the telephone service provider, and electronic devices for processing incoming telephone calls in the users' own residence. Deterministic solutions provide the means for preventing the completion of an unwanted phone call. Hence, an interruption does not take place and the user is not notified of the attempted incoming phone call. Special added services offered by the telephone service provider are not universally available and become costly when the same monthly charge is incurred over a period of time. For purposes of reducing unwanted telephone calls, several special added services are often necessary for use in conjunction with each other. Electronic devices located at the residence vary widely in their means and effectiveness. Some are quite unique, but not all electronic devices are completely deterministic. Several electronic devices require the engagement of the user, while others necessarily inconvenience every calling party so that unwanted calls are more or less restricted by its operation.
Probably the most common single hardware device employed for mitigating unwanted phone calls in a user's residence is the ubiquitous answering machine. An answering machine greets each calling party with a message prepared beforehand by the user, then offers the calling party an opportunity to record a message intended for the user. When used to intercept telephone calls, a user compels every calling party to listen to the recorded greeting. By doing so, callers are detained unnecessarily and become annoyed when the user cannot be immediately reached. The user is consequently engaged in the screening process when listening to the calling party begin to leave a message, and then choosing whether or not to pick up the telephone receiver and complete the call personally. The inconvenience to callers becomes worse if the user chooses only to later return calls, after reviewing complete messages left by callers.
Caller ID is a special added service offered to users by a telephone service provider, and made possible by the use of an electronic device connected to the user's telephone line. Such an electronic device includes a display that the user can glance at upon hearing the phone ring. The display receives the calling party data between the first and second ringing cycles and provides a display of the calling party data to identify the party attempting to call the user. The action of responding to a ringing phone, only to peer at a Caller ID display to learn that the calling party is unwanted is often inconvenient. Caller ID has been described as the key element in the operation of numerous patented inventions seeking to improve upon the basic system and operation. Most such inventions are designed to determine automatically if an incoming telephone call is from a desirable and friendly caller, before the telephone rings for the first time. After a determination is made, the phone call is either allowed to continue to the user's phones or is blocked altogether. This is certainly a deterministic solution, but one which fails in practice. While display indicating UNAVAILABLE or OUT OF AREA are often considered to be a soliciting entity or person, this is not necessarily the case. It is possible for a desirable and friendly calling party to produce such a result, defectively so. In such a case, the user will not know that the calling party was actually desirable and friendly. It is also possible for a determined calling party to deceive Caller ID system based on the a manipulation of the Caller ID system. Also, where Caller ID is not available or is not subscribed by the user, an equally deterministic solution is not available.
Additionally, electronic devices located in the residence may intercept incoming phone calls and require a calling party to enter a numerical passcode. Upon entering a passcode that matches a user-selected passcode, either a separate annunciation is made or the telephone is made to ring normally. If the correct passcode is not received, the calling party is disconnected or sent to an attached answering machine. This is a very deterministic solution, but requires the user to distribute the passcode to every possible desirable and friendly caller. This is both undesirable and administratively burdensome.
The advantages to such a passcode system are many and worth preserving, if an improvement eliminates the inconvenience to friendly and desirable callers. Some of the advantages of the passcode solution include the definite elimination of unwanted phone calls without added monthly expenses incurred by special added services, the certainty of preventing deception by sophisticated apparatus, the elimination of user engagement and consequential distraction of momentarily processing individual telephone calls by visual or audible means, the enjoyable option of altering an older passcode in favor of a newly chosen one to increase the user's security, and the elimination of any inconvenience to a calling party compelling them to listen to a lengthy greeting intended only for message recording.
Numerous call screening devices necessarily inconvenience callers and cannot produce both an efficient and unencumbered experience for the calling party while affording the user a maximum of privacy. U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,760 to Fuller discloses playing sounds intended to deceive unwitting callers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,812 to Weber discloses requiring callers to phone a first time, hang up, then call back. Issuing a randomly generated passcode for each call is the method disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,367 to Robuck. This scheme requires the calling party to listen to a greeting in its entirety before entering the passcode, which is announced to the calling party in the greeting. U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,797 to Adcock and U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,648 to Wanner disclose a timer to confound callers by permitting a call to immediately pass to the user's phone only at certain predetermined times. Prioritizing different types of calls according to a schedule is the object of U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,970 to Burgess.
Some call screening devices do not use a ring generator, but only provide local annunciation of the incoming call attempt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,743 to Lutz and U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,013 to Rose represent devices intended for use with a single phone in close proximity to the user. A ring generator is necessary to activate a separate answering machine, and call screening devices that include a ring generator are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,335 to Fuller and U.S. Pat. No. 6,456,706 to Blood. Other call screening devices utilize a ring generator to ring telephones and an answering machine such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,098 to Novak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,854 to Sarakas, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,935 to Small. These disclose a separate answering machine for recording messages and for providing a path for callers who do not have the passcode. U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,330 to McClure discloses a call-screening device with a ring generator to activate a separate answering machine and to ring individual telephones. In McClure callers are distinguished by the code entered and routed accordingly. McClure is an example of a basic downstream switcher. Other known systems include an adjunct unit that is attached to every phone in a user's residence. Each adjunct unit is designed to ring the single telephone to which it is connected. A single unit combination of a telephone and an answering machine that includes one method of call screening is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,205 to Kondo and U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,603 to Anderson. However, these disclosed systems require that a user be physically at the unit and commonly include some combination of keypad and display. Other known systems provide a telephone and answering machine combination that feature limited call screening features. However, the user is required to physically attend to each unit to change any of the settings, with each unit being limited to controlling a single user phone.
Caller ID has frequently been described as a means for screening callers. A device that blocks calls due to the absence of Caller ID information is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,080 to Nutter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,289 to Logsdon is an example of other devices that block incoming calls until Caller ID information is obtained and the calling party is identified from a list. Blocking a call without seizing the line is commonly referred to as ring suppression. Following the Caller ID screening process, subsequent ringing is simply passed to the user's phones. In the system disclosed in Logsdon, delays can be annoying, since there is not a ring generator to immediately ring the telephones. This type of system is further disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,400,814 to Adams and U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,249 to Miller.
The use of a passcode is treated as an afterthought when the calling party is required to enter it only in the case of corrupted Caller ID data as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,150 to Schneyer and U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,122 to Horne. A central office implementation is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,053 to Mitchell. A similar feature is offered by public switched telephone network service providers under various names that are generally referred to as call rejection services.
The use of Caller ID and a list to match individual callers with individual users is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,599 to Sasano, U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,445 to Ball, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,263 to Sherwood. Other systems require a list of allowed callers to be screened, or of callers to be blocked, before Caller ID information can be used to screen calls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,196 to Morganstein, U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,405 to Morganstein, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,731 to Arbel are examples. Devices have also been disclosed that use Caller ID information to additionally route callers, after first determining the nature of a call, such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,629 to Chow and U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,408 to Morganstein. Because these systems perform routing, they also require a separate path to be wired to each telephone. None of these retransmit Caller ID information to all the user's phones and any adjunct Caller ID displays, however, see U.S. Patent Publication 20020018546 to Horne in which Caller ID is retransmitted when the ringing is passed. Retransmitting Caller ID requires retransmitting ringing signals since Caller ID requires interaction with the ringing signal.
Several central phone system designs have been proposed. Many require the use of special telephones or a network of special transceivers each connected to a phone, such a network as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,900 to Ensor and U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,537 to Ensor. U.S. Pat. No. 6,229,878 to Moganti discloses a computer and hard drive that performs as an answering machine and utilizes Caller ID information to handle calls in various ways. U.S. Pat. No. 6,456,715 to Kennedy also depends on a computer for use with a telephone. Commands are received through an interface port and result in a change of the connection status of the telephone.
Still others are intended for connection to and an active presence on a computer network such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,920 to Kikinis, U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,808 to Wood, U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,449 to Saxena, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,788 to Kim. Examples of those requiring the cooperation of a central office are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,388 to Redd, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,414 to Bartholomew, U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,904 to An, U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,148 to Bleile, U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,320 to Swan, U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,779 to Council, U.S. Pat. No. 6,353,663 to Stevens, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,898 to Lew.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,944 to Hansen, II offers a small business solution by providing communications between a voice mail system and a telephone system or PBX, but does not provide for screening callers beyond listening to the calling party and deciding whether to accept the call or not, nor does this system provide essential central office capability. Instead, similar to U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,356 to McKendry, low level voice and command signals are conducted by a digital switching matrix. Many small business telephone systems are basically downstream switchers and U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,791 to Lee is another example of switching low level signals.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,134 to Foster has been proposed as a call processing platform suitable for homes, Foster does not disclose a galvanic default path. Because of an emphasis on one application of voice recognition to the command and control of the described call processing platform, the audio path is intentionally comprised of active circuits alone. Unfortunately, in the event of power failure where emergency or battery backup is not provided, the connected telephones become inoperable. This is a well-known drawback of smaller commercial PBX systems also, to which the same disclosure can be compared. As is apparent from the detailed drawings and description of Foster, telephone conversations conducted between a calling party and the user across the described call processing platform would not take place along a metallic path. Communications conducted in such a way can be expected to suffer losses and delays associated with the series arrangement of two codecs (e.g., coder/decoders). That this is the intended arrangement can be verified by noting that upon placing an outgoing call, digits entered by the user are first captured, then reissued by the external communications circuit. Furthermore, the dial tone presented to a user upon lifting the telephone receiver to place a call is either locally generated, or is converted from the telephone line. Additional limitations result from an external interface and a local interface that are not simultaneously and independently controlled. This limitation is apparent from both the system diagram and the flow diagrams. In Foster, the delay imposed by such a call processing platform is clear. In one case, the user cannot place an outgoing call until and unless the processing of a coincident incoming call has been completed. In another case, only one access to the message memory can take place at a time. Once a remote access by a calling party begins, the user is unable to use a telephone. Additional limitations are manifested in the inconvenience imposed on both the calling party and the user. The user is forced to respond to every call immediately, individually issuing a command trigger to dispose of the call in one way or another during ringing. If incoming Caller ID is detected, it is used only to block certain calls, or to allow certain calls from a list to pass. Caller ID may also be announced to the user when the incoming call is responded to by the user. But, Caller ID is not retransmitted, nor combined with the use of a passcode to provide the desired screening functionality. The local interface referred to as a Telephone Line Interface Circuit is particularly limiting as described by the same disclosure. If calls can be routed to one phone, but not another, a separate path would have to be provided for each. If only one Telephone Line Interface Circuit is used as is shown in Foster, then when one telephone is in use, none of the other telephones would be operable. This is due to the disclosed switching arrangement of Foster.
Some small business telephone systems use proprietary digital phones or standard analog phones to accomplish similar features for the small business telephone system. Such systems may incorporate voice mail and phone switching into a single unit, but only provide simple call screening capabilities such as a Do Not Disturb feature that sends callers automatically into a voice mailbox. The same telephone system also requires one to attach a computer to configure the system. The same telephone system does not retransmit incoming Caller ID information to any of the telephones in the system.
A direct connection to a device from a remote location for transferring files can be made in several different ways. Using DTMF alone to transfer data slowly by phone is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,739 to DiSalvo and U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,323 to Ali. A universal infrared remote control that can be upgraded by downloading new code data directly through a receiving port from the telephone line is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,077 to Darbee. However, the source of new code data is not disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,692 to Shanahan describes a method by which audio files first selected by a user, are then downloaded to a device, such as a portable device. Several different devices that use audio files are mentioned by the disclosure, but a wireless telephone is the principal target. Following installation of the audio file, it can serve to announce incoming calls. Because a direct access arrangement is not expected to be part of many devices, to program these with downloaded audio files a separate programmer module is added to the scheme.
Using a modem to make a direct connection with a device to perform data transfer is common and well known. For use in programming a video recorder, the apparatus and method disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,756 to Levine includes a modem that is attached to a phone jack, and a telephone that shares the same connection. If a video recorder or other device is connected to the modem, the telephone can be used to summon a remote computer. In turn, the remote computer responds to signals issued by the telephone and transmits initialization signals to the video recorder, through the modem. Programming a video recorder by using a telephone is also the object of U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,209 to Cannon. Cannon discloses a telephone answering device having a call signal decoder and output adapter that is implemented as a remote programmer. A user placing a telephone call to the device can program the video recorder using the telephone. A cordless telephone can also be used to program the video recorder, if adapted to include a call signal decoder.
A well-known procedure for remotely accessing secure mainframe computers is one in which a call is first placed to a server requesting access. Caller ID associated with the calling party is used to return the call. After the calling party responds to the server callback, access is permitted since the calling party has been proven. If Caller ID service is not available, then the calling party can enter the telephone number manually. U.S. Pat. No. 6,480,586 to Hayes describes a system for establishing remote control of an appliance by telephone, using a similar method. In such a system, an Appliance Gateway is configured to control appliances and recognizes Caller ID associated with an incoming call from an Appliance Server. The Appliance Gateway then returns a telephone call to the familiar Calling Station, thereby establishing a communication session. An advantage of using Caller ID is that data can be conveyed by the Calling Station to the appliance without incurring a charge for making the telephone call. Caller ID is also described by the same disclosure as a means for directly conveying commands, a scheme that is compared to various dated methods of signaling an appliance using patterns of ringing. Where Caller ID is not available, FAX tones are transmitted instead. Means are added to the Appliance Server and the Appliance Gateway to distinguish between apparatus that can use Caller ID, and apparatus that cannot. The preferred embodiment includes a display, but where such terminal like devices are implemented, the user is required to go to the unit. An Appliance Server as disclosed in the disclosure cannot "transmit" Caller ID across a Public Switched Telephone Network, and references to the on-hook receipt of calling party identification at the Appliance Gateway applies to a locally generated signal. A "first data modem for sending Caller ID signals" is a similar reference. Examples of such applications are in a factory, or large office complex.
Several disclosures introduce a special intermediate programming module or transfer device to convey downloaded settings to a household appliance. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,711 to Yuen that discloses a remote controller to transfer initializing settings such as a clock setting to an appliance. The remote controller necessarily includes another clock that is made to agree with the clock settings conveyed by the remote computer, thereby permitting some delay in the manual transfer of settings to the appliance from the remote controller. The same disclosure does not suggest a relationship between the remote site and the Internet. Background information pertaining to the particular appliance must be sent to the remote site using the involved telephone, in the form of a series of commands. The consequential response of the remote site and downloading of settings can only take place using the same telephone connection. An alternate embodiment is disclosed where a microphone operates as the remote controller. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,123 to Chan various methods of error checking and a plurality of tests are disclosed to overcome transmission losses associated with the use of a microphone as a remote controller.
In the same way that a flurry of innovations describing various applications of Caller ID to call screening began to appear with the introduction of Caller ID services by the public switched telephone companies, an abundance of Internet related innovations has appeared with the wide spread use of the Internet. U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,904 to An and U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,694 to Swartz disclose means for employing an Internet webpage to establish central office control of a subscriber's phone service. A device that accesses the Internet directly is referred to as an Internet appliance. Such a device typically places an outgoing call, the call being made automatically or under the direction of a user. Once a connection is made to a certain IP address, the device transfers selected files. A method and apparatus representing an Internet appliance is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,088 to Li and U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,141 to Giordano, III. U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,038 to DeFosse discloses a local area network comprised of a host and numerous application controllers, each application controller being associated with a vending machine. Data pertaining to the disposition of each vending machine is received by the host from all the application controllers, then exchanged with a further wide area network. The data is finally placed into a database accessible across the Internet. An answering machine periodically connects to the Internet to check for emails and downloads new emails for the user is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,442 to Cooper.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,906 to Iggulden discloses accessing an Internet website to establish various settings and preferences there, followed by the downloading of the settings to the same computer used to access the Internet website. The settings are then conveyed to the appliance by a portable transfer device. The same disclosure includes one embodiment in which the settings are downloaded directly to the appliance by a direct connection with the computer used to access the Internet website. Also suggested is another embodiment in which settings are downloaded directly to the portable transfer device from a remote computer associated with the Internet website. In such a system, subsequent user notification or access security is not disclosed. Each appliance setting operation is conducted substantially in a manual fashion. Every step requires the intimate interaction of the user. When the settings are downloaded directly to the appliance from a remote computer associated with the Internet website, this must be done by manually and temporarily making a telephone connection with the appliance. Some measure of security is inherent in the connecting and disconnecting of an appliance from the telephone connection.
Therefore, there is a need for a residential telephone system that provides user programmable screening and security features for enhancing call management of incoming telephone calls while at the same time minimizing inconvenience to friendly and desirable callers. There is also a need for a residential telephone system and method as disclosed herein that provides call management features that were not previously capable by prior art systems. Additionally, there is a need for a residential telephone system that may be configured by a remote server to provide operating software, features and configuration management. The residential telephone system as described herein provides novel configuration management of a residential telephone system thereby providing the user with improved call management features and configuration control. There is also a need to provide a residential telephone system with an integrated messaging system that may be remotely configured. The invention disclosed herein addresses these as well as other needs of residential telephone users.


The present invention relates to a multi-function exacter knife structure designed with a handle to correlate with the angle of the grip of the user as well as providing a slant panel for slanting the knife, and a wheel structure assisting in cutting and an adjustable structure allowing for adjusting cutting depth. The said structure provides multi function through a safer knife usage design, cutting depth adjustment and angle cutting capability, as well as the capability to cut straight lines without damaging rulers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-functional exacting knife structure, and specifically a handle design matching the grasping angle of the user, a slant board, a wheel structure and an adjustment structure. Through the said structures the design of the present invention provides a structure allowing adjustment of cutting depth and angle, resulting in a knife tool design with multi-function and safety designs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
I""m sure that you and I are both very familiar with exacting knifes which primarily provide a simple cutting function and therefore have blades differing in sharpness from most other knifes. There are different demands for the use of exacting knives based on the scope of different applications in different industries. For example, they are used for cutting a thin paneling in the refurbishing industry, but in other industries are used for cutting out letters or other shapes, etc. Thus we find that exacting knives play an important role in both living and work life.
The structure of traditional exacting knives consists of a handle with a blade holder, inside of which is a blade with an adjustable appliance at the end of the blade allowing the blade to either be extended or contracted thereby providing the user with an instrument of cutting everything.
However, surely everyone has had the experience of being cut because of improperly using an exacter knife. The reason for this is that exacter knife designs do not take in account cutting angles and usage methods.
Also, when using an exacter knife to cut in a straight line a ruler must be used for guidance and if the ruler is made of wood or plastic then its edge will often be cut and damaged by the knife. On the other hand if the ruler is made of metal it will damage sharpness of the knife blade. Also, exacter knives also have no way of controlling cutting depth and it is therefore inconvenient to always have to place a board underneath whatever is being cut.
In addition to this exacter knives have no way of regulating the cutting angle and when needing to make curved cuts (for example artists or refinishers) the user often has to switch to using a tool with special specifications in order to complete the job.
Due to the above described reasons the present inventor has developed a new multi-functional exacter knife structure with the hope of solving well known deficiencies while providing a more safe and convenient to use exacter knife.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a handle design that corresponds to the gripping angle of the user, thereby allowing the user to save energy while cutting while increasing usage safety.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a structure allowing the adjusting the blade cutting depth, thereby maintaining the blade and allowing the blade to not be affected by excessive pressure and influencing blade life because of cutting too deep, as well as being concerned for safety by reducing dangerous breakage because of excessive pressure during cutting.
Yet a further objective for the design of the present invention is to provide the ability to cut at angles thereby increasing knife function and solving the problem and inconvenience of having to use a special ruler when cutting at an angle.
For a detailed explanation and technical content of the present invention see the following explanation in combination with the attached FIGS.:

Multi-functional exacting knife structure


An ion source 2 has a heating furnace 4 for annealing a solid material 6 to generate a steam 8 and a plasma generator 16 for ionizing the steam 8 to generate a plasma 24. The ion source 2 is for generating ion beam. An indium trifluoride is used as said solid material which has been once heated at temperature in the range of 600xc2x0 C. to lower than 1170xc2x0 C., thereby enabling to generate the indium ion beam in a stable amount. For the solid material 6, In(OF)xF3xe2x88x92x (x is 1, 2 or 3) may be used.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus of generating an indium ion beam from an ion source, which is applied to, such as an ion beam irradiating apparatus as an ion implantation apparatus. The present invention especially relates to a method and an apparatus of generating an indium ion beam in a stable amount.
The indium ion has been noticeable in a technical field of production of semi-conductors. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei 03-13576 describes a method of generating an indium ion beam from an ion source, comprising the steps of pre-annealing a heating furnace (carbon container) including an indium iodide therein at temperature in the range of 100 to 200xc2x0 C., increasing the temperature of the heating furnace at 300 to 500xc2x0 C. to vaporize the indium iodide, introducing the steam of the indium iodide vaporized the indium iodide into a plasma generator (discharging chamber) to ionize it therein by an arc discharge and thus generates plasma, and deriving an indium ion beam from this plasma.
But, in this method, since a melting point of the indium iodide is at 210xc2x0 C., if the heating furnace is operated at 300 to 500xc2x0 C. as mentioned, the indium iodide is completely melted into a liquid. As a result, the heating furnace, the plasma generator, and further a steam introducing pipe between both and the like are adhered with the liquidized indium iodide being like mucus. Therefore, the inside of the heating furnace, the plasma generator, and the steam introducing pipe are smudged by the liquidized indium iodide being like mucus. The steam pipe is clogging, so that the indium ion beam cannot be taken out stably.
Besides, owing to smudging, the heating furnace, the plasma generator, and the steam introducing pipe must be cleaned or exchanged frequently. For example, each time when the operation of the ion source is stopped, the heating furnace, the plasma generator, and the steam introducing pipe must be cleaned or exchanged. This is practically intolerable.
On the other hand, an inventor of this invention find the following steps for generating the indium ion beam, while avoiding the pipe from adhering the liquidized indium trifluoride and avoiding the heating furnace, the plasma generator, and the steam introducing pipe therebetween from smudging and clogging.
A first step is pre-annealing of the indium trifluoride at 250 to 450xc2x0 C. for removing water content. The indium trifluoride as a solid material is introduced at the heating furnace. A second step is to increase the temperature of the heating furnace from 450xc2x0 C. to lower than 1170xc2x0 C. of the melting point of the indium trifluoride for vaporization of the indium trifluoride. A third step is to introduce the steam of the indium trifluoride into. a plasma generator. A forth step is ionizing the steam of the indium trifluoride by an arc discharge to generate a plasma. A fifth step is deriving the indium ion beam from the plasma.
But, it was found that there still remained rooms as mentioned below for improving the above mentioned method employing the indium trifluoride as the solid material.
The vapor pressure of the indium trifluoride becomes very high by presence of water content. When the water content contained in the indium trifluoride is much, the steam amount of the indium trifluoride becomes more. Therefore, the amount of the indium ion is much, since the ionized steam amount of the indium trifluoride is increasing.
When the temperature of the heating furnace is constant, the steam amount of the indium trifluoride goes down in a short time together with lost of the water content contained in the indium trifluoride. Therefore, the amount of the indium ion beam generated from the ion source also goes down. For example, the amount of the indium ion beam decreases 20% to 70% of an initial amount (i.e., at starting time) in an hour after starting the generation thereof.
One example is shown in FIG. 2 as a comparative example. FIG. 2 shows changes in the amount of the indium ion beam accompanying with passing time from generating the indium ion beam, when the temperature of the heating furnace was maintained constant. The amount of the indium ion beam rapidly goes down until about 30% of the initial amount in one hour after the indium ion beam starts to generate in the comparative example. In the comparative example an indium trifluoride anhydride is used as the solid material, and the pre-annealing is performed at 450xc2x0 C. for one hour.
Such rapid decrease in the amount of the indium ion beam is not preferable. For example, this makes difficult in the ion source to control the amount of the indium ion beam generated therefrom and control an implantation amount of the indium ion, when the indium ion beam is applied to the ion implantation.
More specifically, the amount of the indium ion beam rapidly goes down, even if the temperature of the heating furnace for compensation for decreasing the amount of the indium ion beam is increasing, the amount of the indium ion beam again rapidly goes down. Such repetition goes on and the amount of the indium ion beam is not stabilized indefinitely. For instance, it takes 3 to 4 days for stabilizing the amount of the indium ion beam. It is not practical use.
For using the indium trifluoride, in spite of pre-annealing at 250 to 450xc2x0 C. to remove the water content, the problem as mentioned above has been present.
For using a substance called as an indium trifluoride anhydride, which contains no water, the similar tendency has existed as mentioned.
It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and a method enabling to generate the indium ion beam in a stable amount.
As one of methods of generating the indium ion beam according to the invention, a method of generating an indium ion beam comprises steps of annealing a solid material including an indium compound in a heating furnace to generate a steam therefrom, and ionizing the steam supplied from the heating furnace in a plasma generator for ionizing the steam supplied from the heating furnace to generate plasma. In this method it is characterized by using an indium trifluoride as said solid material which is pre-annealed at a temperature in the range of 600xc2x0 C. to lower than 1170xc2x0 C. in the furnace.
The invention is included as mentioned above, and has the following effects.
It is possible to remove unstable factors in the vaporizing amount of the solid material included the indium compound so that the indium ion beam can be generated in the stable amount. As a result, the control of the amount of the indium ion beam and the control of the amount of implanting the indium ion using the indium ion beam are very easy.
Passing through various investigations, it is found that the water content contained in the indium trifluoride being the solid material has two types. First is water content merely adhered to the molecule of the indium trifluoride (InF3). This can easily be vaporized by pre-annealing at 250 to 450xc2x0 C. Only this water content has been studied, so that it has been satisfied with the removal of the water content.
However, it has been found a second of the water content is exited. This is the water content combined with a molecule of the indium trifluoride (InF3) through a molecular combination, namely, the water content of the molecular combination of a formation of InF3xe2x88x92x (H2O). x is 1, 2 or 3, and typically 3.
The water content remains after the indium ion beam starts to generate, since the water content of this molecular combination could not be removed by the conventional pre-annealing temperature. Therefore, the water content slowly goes down. It makes unstable the amount of vaporizing the indium trifluoride.
A substance called as the indium trifluoride. anhydride absorbs the water, if it is exposed to an atmospheric air even a little. Since the portion of the water combines with the molecule of the indium trifluoride via molecule combination, it cannot be easily removed.
On the other hand, it has been found that if once pre-annealing the indium trifluoride as the solid matters at 600xc2x0 C. or higher, the following chemical reaction was rapidly accelerated.
InF3xe2x88x92x(H2O)+heatxe2x86x92In(OF)xF3xe2x88x92x+xH2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83[Formula 1]
x=1, 2 or 3.
By the reaction, it is possible to rapidly dissolve the water content (H2O in the left side of the formula) molecule-combined as an unstable factor in the amount of vaporizing the indium trifluoride. xe2x80x9cIn(OF)xF3xe2x88x92xxe2x80x9d in the right side has oxygen but contains no water.
When the indium trifluoride is heated once, the indium trifluoride changed into In(OF)xF3xe2x88x92x contains no water. Therefore, the vaporizing amount of the indium trifluoride by annealing is stable. It keeps the indium ion beam generating in the stable amount by annealing In(OF)xF3xe2x88x92x as the solid material in the heating furnace. In other words, the time rate of change in the amount of the indium ion beam respect to a passing time from gegenerating the indium ion beam can be made smaller considerably than in comparison with the related art. The results are shown in FIG. 2 and will be referred to later.
If the annealing temperature of the indium trifluoride is less than 600xc2x0 C., the reaction of the formula 1 scarcely appears and an effect cannot be obtained.
If the annealing temperature of the indium trifluoride is 1170xc2x0 C. of the melting point of the indium trifluoride or higher, the indium trifluoride is melted to smudge or clog the heating furnace, the plasma generator and the steam pipe therebetween.
However, if increasing the annealing temperature too high, the effect of causing the reaction of the formula 1 is not changed so much. Accordingly, the pre-annealing temperature of the indium trifluoride is preferably from 600 to 700xc2x0 C. in the above range, and this temperature range is most practical.
The pre-annealing time of the indium trifluoride depends on annealing temperature. If the annealing temperature is in the range of 600 to 700xc2x0 C., around 30 to 90 minutes are desirable for the pre-annealing time. It is insufficient to take less than 30 minutes for the pre-annealing time to uniformly heat the whole of the indium trifluoride as the solid material. But if it takes more than 90 minutes, the annealing effect is hardly available and uselessness of time is much. Thus, around one hour is more desirable for the pre-annealing time of the indium trifluoride.
Incidentally, there may be installed a control device for controlling the pre-annealing temperature of the indium trifluoride in the heating furnace, so that the temperature in the heating furnace keeps in the range of 600xc2x0 C. to less than 1170xc2x0 C. prior to properly generating the indium ion beam prior to generating the indium ion beam of an predetermined amount. In such a manner, the operation of the ion source may be curtailed otherwise automatized.
In accordance with the above invention, It is possible to remove unstable factors in the vaporizing amount of the solid material included the indium compound so that the indium ion beam can be generated in the stable amount. As a result, the control of the amount of the indium ion beam and the control of the amount of implanting the indium ion using the indium ion beam are very easy, while the ion source can be curtailed or automatized.
Further, as In(OF)xF3xe2x88x92x is made by the pre-annealing as mentioned above, in substitution for the indium trifluoride, In(OF)xF3xe2x88x92x (x=1, 2 or 3) may be employed as the solid material to be supplied to the heating furnace, and also in this case a same effect is obtained. Namely, the indium ion beam can be generated in the stable amount.
The invention is included as mentioned above, and has the following effects.
It is possible to remove unstable factors in the vaporizing amount of the solid material included the indium compound so that the indium ion beam can be generated in the stable amount. As a result, the control of the amount of the indium ion beam and the control of the amount of implanting the indium ion using the indium ion beam are very easy.

Apparatus and method for generating indium ion beam


An identifier which indicates a reason why a direct change is disabled upon application of a specific conflict resolution rule can be described in a conflict resolution rule description file (301). In case of a process executed when a UI is not displayed, a status variable list (304) that holds setup values and status values is accessed in place of an internal structure (305) to easily check if each setup item is enabled/disabled. Upon matching overall data, a start point list which lists setup items in a given priority order is loaded to execute conflict resolution in turn, thus resolving conflicts among setup items.

There are many apparatuses which accept a plurality of setup values input from the user via a user interface (to be also referred to as a "UI" hereinafter) and are controlled based on these setup values. An example of such apparatus is an image forming system (printer system) which is connected to a host computer, and executes an image forming process based on information set by the host computer. The host computer of the printer system normally has a so-called printer driver for controlling a print process, and a print process related program including a UI that accepts a print setup and the like from the user.
Every time a setup value input from the user is accepted via the UI, the print process related program evaluates the relationship between the input setup value and an associated one of a plurality of setup values set so far, and checks if conflicts occur between the setup values. Examples of conflicts include a setup disadvantageous for the user (e.g., a setup of a two-sided print process for an OHP sheet set as a print medium), a setup that tries to make a printer execute impossible operations, and the like.
If any conflicts are found, conflict resolution for resolving such conflicts must be executed.
In a conventional method, a plurality of setup value conditions (conflict resolution rules) that require conflict resolution are saved as a list in, e.g., a file, and conflict resolution is executed by loading that file by a conflict resolution program. Such method is better since the conflict resolution program can be versatilely used independently of a specific setup value.
Some conflict resolution executes a process for informing the user of not only a change in setup value in a data structure but also a change in setup value on the control of the UI (to be also simply referred to as "control" hereinafter), and a process for informing the user that a given setup item cannot be directly changed (by, e.g., a mouse) by graying out a control (displaying the setup item in light gray).
As a result of the conflict resolution including such process, the user can recognize that a control which is inhibited from being used depending on another item cannot be directly changed, since that control is grayed out, but he or she cannot easily understand a cause of denial of the direct change (e.g., the other item with dependency) if such cause is present on another one of a plurality of sheets and dialog boxes. To solve this problem, some program displays a message that contains a reason why the direct change of the control is denied near the grayed-out control.
Conventionally, in order to display the reason why a direct change of a grayed-out control is denied, a dedicated reason detect program must be prepared in addition to a description of the conflict resolution. In order to accurately detect a reason, program codes of reason detect processes corresponding to processes for graying out a control are required. Preparation of such program codes requires much labor, and upon adding/changing grayout processes, reason detect processes readily encounter errors or inconsistency.
Also, a plurality of reasons for graying out a given control are often present (for example, that control cannot be used unless a specific device option (e.g., a staple finisher) is attached, and the control has an exclusive relationship with another item). In such case, the reason detect processes become more complicated, and the aforementioned problem upon preparing for the program becomes more conspicuous.
In some cases, setup values of an internal structure which saves setups on the user interface may be directly changed by another program without the intervention of the user interface (i.e., without displaying the user interface). In such case, conflicts with items associated with the changed setup values must be evaluated, and the same conflict resolution as that executed when the user changes them via the user interface must be executed.
Upon changing the setups of a device or during link processes to an application, the consistency of setups in the internal structure may be lost. Upon opening the user interface or before a print process is executed, a matching process for overall data is required. In such case, the same matching process results as those obtained when the user makes operation by opening the user interface must be obtained.
Both the conflict resolution and the matching process for overall data executed when the user interface is not displayed use the same conflict resolution rules. Hence, a conflict resolution module may be divided into a data processing module and user interface processing module, and only the data processing module may be used when the user interface is not displayed.
However, in a process executed when the user interface is not displayed, even an item, which cannot be directly changed since it is grayed out (a setup item is displayed in light gray) while the user interface is displayed, may undergo an inadvertent change process upon generation of a change request event. For this reason, it is difficult to use a common processing module.
The matching process for overall data must be done under a different precondition. That is, when the user interface is displayed, matching with an associated item is evaluated to have as a start point an item whose setup has been changed, and if an update process is required, matching with the next associated item is evaluated. However, in case of the process for entire data, there is no start point upon changing the setup, and overall check is required. Hence, it is difficult to use a common processing module.
However, if these processes are implemented as independent modules, independent processing codes must be created although they have nearly the same algorithms. In addition, upon adding or changing the conflict detect processes, respective processes may readily encounter errors or inconsistency.

User interface control apparatus and method