A selectable Coulomb aperture in charged particle system comprises a non-magnetic conductive plate with a plurality of holes therein. The plurality of holes has variant sizes or diameters to select different beam currents of primary beam in the charged particle system. The charged particle system may include a charged particle source for emitting a primary beam, a condenser lens for receiving the primary beam and condensing the primary beam, an objective lens for receiving the primary beam and focusing the primary beam on a surface of a specimen. The selectable Coulomb aperture is positioned between the charged particle source and the condenser lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charged particle optical apparatus, and more particularly to a SEM with lowered electron-electron interaction.
2. Description of Related Art
Defect inspection of semiconductor wafers and masks for IC manufacturing is an accepted production process for yield enhancement. The information obtained from a wafer defect inspection tool can be used to flag defective dies for repair, or improve wafer processing parameters. The systems used for inspection were typically optical microscopy in nature. However, for imaging of nanoscale objects, optical microscopy has limited resolution since the objects are often much smaller than the wavelength of measuring light. Electron beam systems can have much higher resolution than optical systems because the wavelength of the electron can be in the angstrom regime.
Imaging of an electron beam system are usually carried out using a tightly focused beam (electron probe), the spatial resolution of the system refers to the smallest beam diameter from which spatial information can be obtained. The probe size in general is determined by the electron source size, lens aberrations and electron diffraction at the condenser aperture; however, it can in principle be broadened by Coulomb interactions between the electrons within the electron beam illumination system.
The image resolution of an electron beam system is subject to degradation by lens aberrations. Usually chromatic aberration is the most important factor, since the energy and angular widths of the focused electrons are considerable. Adopting a monochromator or an energy filtered unit to the electron beam system can decrease energy spread of the electron beam and thereafter reduce the chromatic aberration of the system.
However, how to decrease Coulomb interactions between electrons is still an important issue in electron beam system. A conventional solution to this issue is to increase primary beam energy, but landing energy is also increased. If a higher landing energy is not preferred to the practice, a larger retarding force must be applied to the focused primary beam between the objective lens and the specimen, which will incur much more complicated mechanism to the electron beam system. Therefore, the present invention discloses an apparatus to reduce the Coulomb interactions between the electrons and improves the resolution of the electron beam system with a simple and more reliable design.

Selectable coulomb aperture in E-beam system


A tuning system for controlling a voltage controlled oscillator is described herein. The tuning system makes use of a dual edge phase detector.

Induction heating generally refers to the process of heating an object (usually a metal object) by exposing the object to a time-varying magnetic field and, thereby, inducing a current (e.g., an eddy current) in the object. The induced current creates heat. To create the time-varying magnetic field, an induction heating system may be used. An induction heating system typically includes: (1) a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for producing a time varying signal (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) signal) and (2) a tank circuit (a.k.a., "load") comprising a coil coupled to the VCO (the coil may be coupled to the VCO by a drive circuit). The coil produces the time-varying magnetic field based on the output of the VCO. In many applications, it is desirable that the frequency of the time varying signal match the resonant frequency of the tank circuit.
Digital phase detectors have been used for many years in phase locked loops to control the output of a VCO. Generally, the intent is to sense the phase and/or frequency of the VCO output and compare this in some fashion to a reference, and then to adjust the VCO as a result. The goal may be to make a fixed phase relationship between the VCO and the reference, or to make a fixed frequency relationship between the VCO and the reference.
Digital phase detectors may be sensitive to input level (high or low) or to input signal edges (rising or falling) for their operation. Those that are edge sensitive have been known to compare edges at either the beginning of a cycle or the end of a cycle. Control loop adjustment of a VCO as a result will then align the sensed edges as the desired target condition.
In some applications, one of the signals to be compared may be of variable duty cycle. This could be so that an amplitude can be controlled. Further, there are applications where resonance of a load circuit must be determined and tracked where one of the sensed signals has a variable duty cycle and the other may not be. For a parallel resonant load, for example, a power bridge drive circuit may have a variable duty cycle current into the load and the voltage across the load may be nearly a sine wave (see FIG. 1). At the point of phase resonance, the timing of the current pulse will be in phase with the voltage such that the current is equally spaced in time from the zero crossings of the voltage waveform, as shown in FIG. 1 (in all graphs shown, time is increasing along the horizontal axis). When a conventional phase detector is used, the zero crossing of the voltage waveform will be aligned with only one side of the current waveform. Changes to the current duty cycle then cause a variation in phase between the waveforms, resulting in a frequency error.
There is a need therefore to overcome this disadvantage of conventional digital phase detectors.


The invention relates to a drill thread milling cutter (1) for producing a bore and for the subsequent milling of a thread in the bore, said drill thread milling cutter (1) having a working region (2), on the circumference (3) of which a number of drilling and milling cutting edges are arranged. A number of milling cutting edges (7, 8, 9, 10) greater than the number of drilling cutting edges (17) by a factor greater than 2 are arranged or are effective in the direction of rotation.

Drill thread milling cutters of this type are known, for example, from WO 2004/022274 A1 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,374 A or U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,844 A or from Handbuch der Gewindetechnik und Frastechnik [Manual of threading practice and milling practice], publisher: EMUGE-FRANKEN, publishing firm: Publicis Corporate Publishing, year of publication: 2004 (ISBN 3-89578-232-7), page 354. With such a tool, it is possible first of all to make a generally cylindrical bore in a workpiece. For this purpose, known drill thread milling cutters have drilling cutting edges with which the bore can be produced. Once this has been done, the cutter is fed in radially, i.e. it is displaced from the centre of the bore into a position parallel to the bore axis. Arranged on the shank of the tool are milling cutting edges or milling teeth, with which a thread can then be made in the bore by means of circular thread milling. In the process, the cutting edges or milling teeth of the cutter engage jointly in a bore wall, the thread being produced by the tool being rotated and by a helical movement of the entire tool being carried out at the same time.
The drill thread milling cutter according to WO 2004/022274 A1 is said to be suitable for steel and to this end is provided with core-hole-producing cutting edges in a drilling region and with thread-producing cutting edges in an axially adjoining thread milling region. In their radial dimensions, the thread-producing cutting edges are 3% smaller than the core-hole-producing cutting edges. The absolute radial difference in distance between the core-hole-producing cutting edges and the thread-producing cutting edges therefore depends on the diameter of the drill thread milling cutter. At a typical diameter of a drill thread milling cutter of about 8 mm, the radial difference in distance between the core-hole-producing cutting edges and the thread-producing cutting edges is thus about 0.24 mm or 240 μm. Two drilling flutes arranged offset from one another by 180° are provided, at the end face of which the core-hole-producing cutting edges or drilling cutting edges are located and adjoining which in axial extension is a first axial row of thread-producing teeth or cutting edges. Furthermore, two smaller milling flutes, offset by about 90° are provided between the two drilling flutes, at which milling flutes in each case additional axial rows of milling cutting edges or milling teeth are located as additional thread-producing cutting edges. The first rows of thread-producing cutting edges at the drilling flutes are set back radially or are lowered relative to the drilling flute, in each case in order to reduce the effect of the drilling chip, which is removed by the drilling flute, on these thread-producing cutting edges at the drilling flute. The flutes become smaller from the tip of the tool towards the drill shank, as a result of which the drill thread milling cutter is strengthened in its lateral rigidity. The core diameter at the flutes is thus increased from the tip towards the shank.
Publications U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,374 A and U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,844 A concurrently describe (FIGS. 1 to 4) a drill thread milling cutter having four flutes which are offset from one another by 90° and whose cross-sections and volumes are the same, the cross-section and volume being identical axially over their entire length relative to the tool axis. At two flutes offset from one another by 180°, end drilling cutting edges are provided at the tip of the tool, these end drilling cutting edges tapering to a drill point, and, axially adjoining the end drilling cutting edges, thread milling cutting edges in the form of tooth rows are arranged at these drilling flutes. No drilling cutting edges are provided at the other two flutes, but rather only thread milling cutting edges designed as axial tooth rows. These further flutes therefore merely serve as milling flutes. The milling teeth are formed on annular segments arranged perpendicularly to the tool axis. Running centrally through the tool shank and the thread milling region is a coolant passage, which branches in the drilling region into four sectional passages which open out at the drill point in the tooth webs at which the thread milling teeth are located. The thread milling region with its thread milling cutting edges or thread milling teeth has a uniform maximum diameter which is equal to the maximum diameter of the drilling region, so that the thread milling region can be directed without interference into the bore which the drilling region has produced.
In addition to U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,374 A, U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,844 A discloses further embodiments of drill thread milling cutters (FIG. 5 to FIG. 12), in which only two flutes are provided, at which both drilling cutting edges and, following them, thread milling cutting edges are located as tooth rows. In this case, in addition to a drilling region for producing the bores, an end milling region and also a drilling region having a central recess are also disclosed. The thread milling cutting edges of the thread milling region again have a maximum diameter which is equal to or not greater than the maximum diameter of the bore-producing region, so that the thread milling region can be inserted without interference into the bore which has been produced by the bore-producing region. In addition, a countersinking bevel is provided between the thread milling region and the shank. The two flutes in this further embodiment also have the same cross-section and the same volume over the entire length of the working region.
In the drill thread milling cutter according to WO 2004/022274 A1, the angular pitches between milling cutting edges following one another in the direction of rotation amount to an angle greater than 90° between a milling cutting edge at the drilling flute and a milling cutting edge preceding in the direction of rotation, this angle being around 103° according to the drawing, and correspondingly to the complementary angle of 77° at the milling cutting edge following in the direction of rotation. In the drill thread milling cutter according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,374 A and U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,844 A, the angular pitches are constant and equal to 90° or 180° and thus an identical pitch is realized.
Whereas drill thread milling cutters of the previously known type can usually readily work short-chipping material, such as grey cast iron and brass for example, problems arise if long-chipping material, such as steel for example, is to be machined. This is because the long chips get into the thread milling region of the tool during the drilling, so that said thread milling regions may be damaged or destroyed.
Furthermore, it has been found in tests carried out by the applicant that the previously known drill thread milling cutters of the type mentioned at the beginning are relatively susceptible to fracture, in particular when long-chipping and/or high-strength material such as steel is machined.
In addition, the known drill thread milling cutters, as long as they are ready for operation, have a relatively low cutting capacity.

EMUGE-Werk Richard Glimbel GmbH & Co. Fabrik für Präzisionswerkzeuge


An agricultural working machine, method, and power take-off transmission are provided. The agricultural working machine includes an internal combustion engine, at least one power take-off, and an arrangement for dynamically adjusting at least one of a speed and a torque of the PTO. The arrangement includes an electric machine and a transmission summing the driving force of the internal combustion engine and the electric machine. The transmission includes at least two gear elements that are magnetically coupled.

The disclosure concerns a power take-off transmission, an agricultural vehicle with a power take-off transmission and the use of a power take-off transmission. Agricultural machines, such as tractors, may be equipped with a power take-off shaft to drive attachable implements. Part of the drive power of a tractor's main drive motor may be provided as an auxiliary drive for the power take-off (PTO). This provides a mechanical drive source that may be switched on at a secondary output of the transmission, especially for tractors. The mechanical drive energy can be used directly via a cardan shaft to drive, e.g., balers, mounted cutter bars, belt drives, or hydraulic pumps.


The embodiment of the disclosure provides an unlocking control method and related products. The method includes: acquiring an environmental parameter; acquiring first biometric information; determining a first biometric control parameter and second biometric control information corresponding to the environmental parameter; performing a first biometric recognition on the first biometric information according to the first biometric control parameter; when the first biometric information is recognized, acquiring second biometric information and performing a second biometric recognition on the second biometric information according to the second biometric control information; performing a next unlocking process when the second biometric information is recognized. Thus, control parameters of recognition processes can be set suitable for the environment, and recognition processes are controlled based on these control parameters, thereby improving the pass rate and the efficiency of the multi-biometric recognition.

With the widespread use of electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and the like, more and more applications can be supported by the electronic devices, and thereby their functions are becoming more and more powerful. Electronic devices are developing in a diversified and personalized way and becoming indispensable for users.
At present, multi-biometric recognition is increasingly favored by electronic equipment manufacturers. However, multi-biometric recognition may be affected by the environment, thereby reducing the recognition efficiency. Therefore, it is needed to be solved how to improve the recognition efficiency of multi-biometric recognition.

Unlocking control method and related products

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


The object of the present invention is to provide a washdown flush toilet which can maintain effective waste discharging performance even with a relatively smaller amount of flush water.

Conventionally, as one type of flush toilet, a washdown flush toilet has been known wherein the washdown flush toilet adopts a principle that waste is washed away by a flow of water caused by the water's falling down.
For example, JP-A-2016-176320 has disclosed a washdown flush toilet in which a protruding part is provided at a water discharge socket connected to a water discharge trap conduit in order to prevent a siphon phenomenon in a conduit under a floor. JP-A-2018-112004 has disclosed a washdown flush toilet in which a bottom surface at an upstream end of a trap descending pipe part of a water discharge trap conduit is made into a descending sloped surface.
Waste (such as excrement or toilet paper) discharging performance of a washdown flush toilet mainly depends on a water level difference of a reserved water in a bowl part when the washdown flush toilet is operated (flushed). More specifically, waste discharging performance is determined dependent on a water level difference between a water level of the reserved water before a flushing operation and a highest water level of the reserved water when flush water has been supplied by the flushing operation. In general, when the water level difference is greater, the waste discharging performance is also greater.

Abstract: The present invention is a washdown flush toilet including: a bowl part configured to receive waste, and a water discharge trap conduit connected to a lower portion of the bowl part. The water discharge trap conduit includes: an inlet pipe part whose one end is continuous or connected to the lower portion of the bowl part; a trap ascending pipe part whose one end is continuous or connected to the other end of the inlet pipe part and which forms an ascending flow channel; and a trap descending pipe part whose one end is continuous or connected to the other end of the trap ascending pipe part and which forms a descending flow channel. With regard to a cross section perpendicular to a flow direction of the ascending flow channel, a portion on a downstream side of the ascending flow channel is provided with an enlarged part which has a cross section area larger than that on an upstream side of the ascending flow channel. The enlarged part is enlarged on an upper side of the ascending flow channel. An upstream end of a top surface of the enlarged part is located below a highest reachable position of a bottom surface of the ascending flow channel.


The present disclosure includes systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media that generate and provide return of incremental digital content user interfaces that improve performance and efficiency of multi-channel, multi-region digital content campaigns. In particular, one or more embodiments generate and provide a user interface that comprises a return of incremental digital content expenditure regression curve and return of incremental digital content expenditure point representations that accurately and intuitively detail digital content campaign expenditure efficiency for combinations of channels and regions during multiple time periods in a time window. For example, the resulting return of incremental digital content expenditure user interface effectively utilizes limited computing device display space and resources to enable a publisher to quickly and accurately optimize and project high level expenditure allocation in order to improve digital content campaigns.

Developers have achieved significant improvements in digital content campaign systems that provide digital content to users of client devices across multiple digital channels. For example, in response to receiving digital content campaign parameters from publishers, convention systems can provide personalized digital content including digital assets to a client computing device of a targeted user. Moreover, conventional systems can generate and provide analysis tools in association with information related to digital content campaigns such that publishers can attempt to quantify the efficacy of the digital content campaigns.
Although conventional digital content campaign systems provide analysis tools associated with digital content campaign information, these systems have a number of shortcomings. For example, conventional digital content campaign systems provide inefficient user interfaces for navigating digital information related to digital content campaigns. To illustrate, conventional digital content campaign systems provide overwhelming amounts of digital analytics information regarding digital content campaigns through various user interfaces (e.g., performance versus predefined target chart interfaces, unit versus spend curve interface elements, revenue versus spend curve interfaces, or overall campaign revenue over time elements). Conventional digital content campaign systems often require users of computing devices to scroll through and switch views many times to find pertinent information with regard to efficiency of content campaigns. Because computing devices can only display a limited amount of information via a display screen, conventional digital content systems divide data and functionality into many layers or views in different user interfaces. This leads to user interfaces that are slow, complex and difficult to learn—particularly for inexperienced users.
In addition, conventional digital content campaign systems often utilize significant computing resources. Indeed, because publisher client devices navigate through a myriad of different user interfaces to identify pertinent digital information, conventional digital content campaign systems often result in repeatedly generating visualization and optimization tools through a variety of different user interfaces as publishers seek to tease out pertinent information. Accordingly, conventional digital content campaign systems often waste system resources and publisher time.
Additionally, conventional digital content campaign systems lack accuracy and flexibility. For instance, conventional systems often determine annual recurring revenue and implement digital content campaigns using static, pre-calculated, and aggregated values that fail to accurately or flexibly account for varying driving factors across different channels and regions. Moreover, utilizing generic analysis and display tools from conventional digital content campaign systems, publishers often misinterpret analysis results and execute inaccurate and non-optimized digital content campaigns. For example, utilizing analytics tools provided by conventional systems, publishers often select digital content campaign parameters that lead to inefficiently providing digital content to incorrectly targeted users of client computing devices. Accordingly, the inaccuracies of conventional digital content campaign systems further contribute to wasted resources by both publisher and client computing systems.

Generating and providing return of incremental digital content user interfaces for improving performance and efficiency of multi-channel digital content campaigns


A Raman optical amplifier includes a fiber amplifier for Raman-amplifying an input optical signal to form a primarily-amplified optical signal, and a semiconductor optical amplifier for outputting a Raman pumping light of a predetermined wavelength adapted to Raman-pump the fiber amplifier, while amplifying the primarily-amplified optical signal to form a secondarily-amplified optical signal. A circulator allows the fiber and semiconductor amplifiers to communicate the lights and signals and operates with fiber grating, which acts as a filter, to output the secondarily-amplified optical signal

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical amplifier for optical communication, and more particularly to a Raman optical amplifier that includes a Raman pumping light source and a fiber amplifier in order to Raman-amplify an optical signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
For long-distance transmission of optical signals, optical communication networks use various optical amplifiers adapted to amplify the intensity of an optical signal to be transmitted. However, such optical amplifiers not only amplify the intensity of an optical signal to be transmitted, but also amplify noise contained in the optical signal.
The erbium-doped fiber amplifier is mainly used in backbone networks and metro networks by virtue of its high gain, low noise figure, and high saturated output power. However, it is expensive and relatively large in size, as compared to other optical amplifiers, even though it has many advantages as mentioned above. Semiconductor optical amplifiers feature low cost and relatively wide amplification band. However, they have limited application due to their high noise characteristics. To avoid increasing noise upon amplification without encountering the above problems, a Raman optical amplifier has been proposed which is configured by adding a Raman pumping light source to an optical amplifier having a conventional configuration.
FIG. 1 illustrates a Raman optical amplifier including a conventional fiber amplifier and a Raman pumping light source. The Raman optical amplifier module includes a Raman optical fiber amplifier 110, a Raman pumping light source 130 for Raman pumping the fiber amplifier 110, and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) 140 for secondarily amplifying an optical signal Raman-amplified by the fiber amplifier 110. The Raman optical amplifier module also includes a first isolator 150, a second isolator 160, and a wavelength selective coupler (WSC) 120.
The fiber amplifier 110 is Raman-amplified by a Raman pumping light of a predetermined wavelength, thereby Raman-amplifying an optical signal inputted thereto. For the fiber amplifier 110, a single-mode optical fiber may be used.
The first isolator 150 outputs, to the fiber amplifier 110, an optical signal to be amplified. The first isolator 150 also prevents the optical signal, amplified by the fiber amplifier 110, from flowing back, thereby minimizing loss of the optical signal.
The Raman pumping light source 130 serves to output the Raman pumping light of predetermined wavelength for Raman-pumping the fiber amplifier 110. For the Raman pumping light source 130, a semiconductor laser may be used.
For the wavelength selective coupler 120, an arrayed waveguide grating having a Y-branch structure may be used. The wavelength selective coupler 120 is connected to the Raman pumping light source 130, fiber amplifier 110, and semiconductor optical amplifier 140. Accordingly, the wavelength selective coupler 120 outputs the Raman pumping light emitted from the Raman pumping light source 130, while outputting the Raman-amplified optical signal from the fiber amplifier 110 to the semiconductor optical amplifier 140.
The semiconductor optical amplifier 140 performs a secondary amplification for the Raman-amplified optical signal from the fiber amplifier 110, that is, re-amplifies the Raman-amplified optical signal, and then outputs the resultant optical signal to the second isolator 160. As the optical signal already amplified in the fiber amplifier 110 is re-amplified by the semiconductor optical amplifier 140, an improvement in amplification gain is achieved. Also, since the optical signal is Raman-amplified in the fiber amplifier 110, it is possible to reduce the noise caused by the amplification of the optical signal carried out in the semiconductor optical amplifier 140.
The second isolator 160 externally outputs the optical signal amplified by the semiconductor optical amplifier 140. The second isolator 160 also serves to prevent the optical signal, inputted thereto, from flowing into the semiconductor optical amplifier 140.
In a Raman fiber amplifier having the above mentioned configuration, however, it is necessary to additionally use a separate pumping light source for Raman-amplifying the fiber amplifier, and a semiconductor optical amplifier. Energization of the pumping light source and semiconductor optical amplifier increases power consumption. The addition of the pumping light source and semiconductor optical amplifier also increases manufacturing costs and the volume of the Raman fiber amplifier.


An ink jet recording apparatus is provided with at least one first electrode at least in either a recording head or ink retaining member, dielectric adjacent to the first electrode or laying between the first electrodes, a second electrode electrically connected to the first electrode through the dielectric and ink, power supply to apply and release voltage to and from the first electrode, potential difference detector for detecting the potential of the second electrode, and equivalent circuit to determine the ink remains at least in either one of the recording head and ink retaining member in accordance with the potential of the second electrode detected by potential difference detector. In this way, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having equivalent circuit for detecting ink shortage, and expect a highly precise detection thereof, and also, to provide information processing systems having such recording apparatus for its output device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for outputting characters, images, and other information on a recording medium, a method for determining reduced ink remains of the ink jet recording apparatus, and an information processing apparatus using the ink jet recording apparatus as its output means, such as a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a printer, a wordprocessor, and a computer.
2. Related Background Art
Recording apparatuses to perform recording on a recording medium, paper, cloth, plastic sheet, or OHP sheet (hereinafter just referred to as a recording sheet), have hitherto been proposed with various recording methods, such as wire dot, thermosensitive, or ink jet in the mode that its recording head is mountable.
Of these methods, the ink jet is one of the non-impact types where ink is discharged onto a recording sheet to which it adheres directly in lower noises. By the formation methods of ink droplets and methods of generating discharge energy, this method is roughly divided into a continuous method (including charged particle controlling, and spraying), and on-demand method (including such as to use piezoelectric, spark, or bubble jet method).
The continuous method is such that ink is continuously discharged, and only needed ink droplets are charged. The charged droplets are allowed to adhere to the recording sheet while others are discarded. In contrast, the on-demand method is such that ink is discharged only when it is needed for printing and, therefore, no ink is wasted without staining the interior of the apparatus. Also, the on-demand method is arranged to start or suspend ink discharge as required. Consequently, its response frequency is low as compared to the continuous method. This lower frequency is compensated with an increased number of nozzles in order to materialize a higher recording. Therefore, most of the recording apparatuses currently in use are of the on-demand type. Since it is possible for a recording apparatus provided with an ink jet method of the kind to execute recording operations in high density at high speeds, this apparatus is utilized and practically adopted as an output means of an information processing system serving as a printer for a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, an electronic typewriter, a word processor, or a work station, or adopted as a handy or portable printer provided for a personal computer, a host computer, an optical disc device, or a video apparatus, for example. In such cases, each of the ink jet recording apparatuses is arranged in accordance with the functions, modes of use, and other characteristics of the respective equipment for which each of them is adopted.
As an ink jet recording apparatus in general, it comprises a carriage having recording means (recording head) and ink tank mounted thereon, means for feeding recording sheets, and means for controlling them. Then, a recording head, which is capable of discharging ink droplets from a plurality of discharge ports, is arranged to scan serially in the direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the feeding direction (sub-scanning direction) of a recording sheet, while the recording sheet is intermittently fed in an amount equal to the recording width at the time of the recording head is being disengaged from recording operation. This recording method is to discharge ink on a recording sheet for recording in response to recording signals. It is widely used as a quiet recording method, which is operable at low running costs. Also, with a recording head in which many numbers of nozzles are arranged on a straight line for discharging ink in the sub-scanning direction, the recording is performed by one-time scan of the recording head on a recording sheet in a width that corresponds to the nozzle numbers. Therefore, it is possible to attain a higher speed recording.
Further, in a case of an ink jet recording apparatus capable of recording in colors, color images are formed by superposing ink droplets discharged from a plurality of recording heads for color use. In general, when a color recording is executed, it is required to prepare recording heads for the three primary colors, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) or four kinds of recording heads and ink cartridges for use of the three primary colors and one black (Bk). In recent years, the apparatuses, which are capable of forming images in full colors, have been practically in use by means of recording heads for three to four colors.
Moreover, it is comparatively easy for an ink jet recording apparatus of the kind to arrange its structure so that it can record on a large sheet in A-1 size. In other words, recording apparatuses, a printer for use of CAD output or some other plotters, for example, have been actually manufactured to execute color recording on a recording sheet of A-1 size. Here, a source document is copied on it by connecting an image reader to the ink jet recording apparatus. Also, there have been various demands on different uses of the recording apparatus of this type. Particularly, it has been increasingly required to make the apparatus capable of recording on OHP films that may be used for projection of presentations in conferences, lectures, or the like. In order to meet such demands, the development and production are being attempted to provide an apparatus capable of recording on a selected medium as desired in an excellent condition at any time, irrespective of the kinds of recording media having different characteristics of ink absorption, for example.
In addition, ink jet recording apparatuses are increasingly on demand in wider fields of industries (in an apparel industry or the like, for example) as an excellent recording means. Thus it is required still more to provide images in a higher quality.
In this respect, however, the conventional ink jet recording apparatuses present a problem as its drawback in some cases that ink runs out while in printing. More specifically, when an automatic sheet feeder is installed on a recording apparatus to execute printing on a plurality of recording sheets in succession by use of a continuous sheet feeding, for example, there is a possibility that ink is completely consumed while in printing (hereinafter referred to as "ink shortage"). Here, the following problems are also encountered. For example, unless the user is informed of such ink shortage, the time that is taken in printing after the "ink shortage" is just a waste. Also, the unclear printing continues in the so-called "scratchy letters" immediately before the ink shortage. As a result, a number of recording sheets are used wastefully in some cases.
Also, in an ink jet recording apparatus of bubble jet type using electrothermal transducing elements, not only the problems occur as described above, but those given below will take place. In other words, if the discharge heaters of the recording head are driven continuously in a state that no ink is present in the ink discharge ports, the recording head is caused to be overheated, leading to drawbacks such as deformation or damages brought to the recording head in some cases.
Therefore, in order to avoid such drawbacks, there have been invented various means for detecting ink shortage (means for detecting ink remains) in recent years. As means for detecting ink shortage, a structure has been proposed, for example, wherein an ink tank is formed by an elastic material, and then, the deformation of the ink tank, which takes place along the reduction of ink contained ink in it, is detected by a mechanical switch. Also, a method has been proposed, in which detection current flows across two electrodes installed dedicatedly therefor in positions directly in contact with ink in the ink tank so as to detect the resistance value across them for sensing the reduction of ink remains. Also, a method is known, in which discharged dot numbers are summed up and stored in order to estimate the accumulated amount of ink consumption and predict the time of ink shortage.
For the structure or methods described above, however, it is necessary to prepare the member dedicated to sensing the ink shortage. As a result, significant cost increase is inevitable, yet a problem is still encountered that the detection of ink shortage obtainable by the proposed structure or methods is not sufficiently precise.

Ink jet recording apparatus, method for determining reduced ink remains, and information processing apparatus


A reclining vehicle seat hinge assembly includes a first housing, a second housing having a plurality of teeth, a primary cam member having primary and secondary camming surfaces, a primary spring, and a secondary cam having at least one spring arm and a plurality of windows, with each window having at least one camming edge. Each of a pair of primary pawls is configured to be driven into an engaged position by a primary camming surface of the primary cam and a camming edge, and into a disengaged position by a camming edge of the secondary cam. Each of a pair of secondary pawls is configured to be driven into an engaged position by a secondary camming surface of the primary cam and into a disengaged position by a camming edge of the secondary cam.

Reclining vehicle seat hinge assemblies are well known in the art, and typically include pawls with a plurality of teeth that releasably engage a circular set of teeth in a housing attached to the seat. Upon movement of a lever, the pawl teeth are released from engagement with the housing teeth, allowing the user to pivot the seat back to a desired position. When the desired position is reached, the lever is released and the pawl teeth engage the housing teeth, locking the seat back at the desired position. Many known reclining vehicle seat hinge assemblies include a pair of pawls with teeth that engage the housing teeth. Such assemblies with just a pair of pawls must have a substantial thickness in order to provide the strength required to absorb the impact forces that result when the vehicle is involved in a collision.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reclining vehicle seat hinge assembly that reduces or overcomes some or all of the difficulties inherent in prior known devices. Particular objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, those who are knowledgeable or experienced in this field of technology, in view of the following disclosure of the invention and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments.


A gold plating solution comprising iodide ions, gold iodide complex ions and a non-aqueous solvent, which is less toxic and stable, while having a performance comparable to a cyanide type gold plating solution. The present invention further provides a gold plating solution comprising iodide ions, gold iodide complex ions, a non-aqueous solvent and a water-soluble polymer, which is less toxic and stable, while having a performance comparable to a cyanide type gold plating solution and which is capable of forming a gold plating film in which gold crystal particle sizes are very fine and grain boundaries are dense. The present invention further provides a gold plating method employing such a gold plating solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gold plating solution and a gold plating method, particularly to a noncyanide type electrolytic plating solution and a gold electroplating method employing such a gold plating solution.
2. Discussion of Background
As a gold plating solution, a cyanide type plating solution has been known from long ago. By using a cyanide type gold plating solution, it is possible to deposit a gold plated film having excellent characteristics such that it is dense and has a smooth surface. Besides, the cyanide type plating solution is stable, and its control is easy. Accordingly, it is widely used. However, cyanide has a strong toxicity and has had many problems with respect to the working environment, the waste liquid treatment, etc.
Therefore, various noncyanide type low toxicity gold plating solutions have been proposed. For example, a gold plating solution has been widely used wherein gold sulfite is dissolved (JP-A-11-61480). However, with this gold plating solution, sulfite ions in the solution tend to be readily oxidized by dissolved oxygen or oxygen in the atmosphere, and the useful life as a gold plating solution tends to be short. Accordingly, it has been required to take a measure to prevent oxidation, e.g. by nitrogen sealing, during the storage or even during the plating operation, and thus, there has been a problem that its handling is cumbersome.
Further, a gold plating solution is also proposed in 10 which a thiosulfate/gold complex, a sulfite, boric acid and ethylene glycol are dissolved (JP-A-51-47539). However, also this gold plating solution has had the same problems as the above-mentioned gold plating solution employing gold sulfite, since sulfite ions in the plating solution tend to be oxidized.
Further, a gold plating solution obtained by dissolving a gold compound selected from the group consisting of various gold complexes such as acetylcysteine/gold complexes, and acetylcysteine as a complexing agent, or a gold plating solution containing at least one alkane sulfonic acid or alkanol sulfonic acid, gold ions and a non-ionic surfactant, has, for example, been proposed (JP-A-10-317183, JP-A-8-41676). However, like the gold plating solution containing gold sulfite, each of them contains monovalent gold ions, whereby deposition of gold by the reaction 3Au+→2Au+Au3+ is likely to take place, and thus, there is a problem of instability of the gold plating solution.
Therefore, a gold plating solution has been proposed wherein an ethylene diamine/gold complex as trivalent gold ions is dissolved (JP-A-11-293487, JP-A-2000-204496, JP-A-2000-355792, JP-A-2001-110832). However, ethylene diamine has a problem of harmful effects such that there have been cases of accidental death due to percutaneous and inhalation exposure (Chemical Substance Toxicity Handbook vol. II, II-84, (1999) published by Maruzen). Accordingly, a gold plating solution is desired which is safe and excellent in handling efficiency.
Further, after the applicants' Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-068691 filed on Mar. 13, 2002 from which the priority is claimed in the present application, a case has been reported wherein a gold plated film of black color was obtained by carrying out gold plating in the presence of an organic solvent when gold electroplating was carried out by means of a gold solution having gold dissolved in a solution containing iodine (I2) and iodide ions (I−) (2002 National Science Education General Assembly, vol. 24, p. 66-67). However, in this case, the crystal particles of gold in the gold plated film formed were coarse, whereby the gold plated film exhibited a black color, and a glossy beautiful gold plated film was not obtained.
As mentioned above, the prior art has had problems such as 1) a problem in the working environment or waste liquid treatment due to a toxic substance, 2) low chemical stability such as susceptibility to oxidation, and 3) thickening growth of gold crystal particles in the gold plated film. Especially when the gold crystal particles in a gold plated film are coarse, glossiness or smoothness of the gold plated film tends to be low, and it tends to be difficult to apply such a film to ornamental or electronic components. Accordingly, a gold plating solution is desired which is safe, chemically stable and excellent in handling efficiency and which is, at the same time, capable of forming a smooth gold plated film wherein gold crystal particles are fine and dense.

Gold plating solution and gold plating method


A tree harvester for felling, limbing and cross-cutting tree trunks, comprising a limbing head (15) and felling head (16) assembly which is carried by a boom system. The limbing head (15) and the felling head (16) are detachably connectable to one another and are commonly pivotal about a point (21) on the boom system in conjunction with a tree felling operation. The limbing head (15) and the felling head (16) can be moved away from one another along the boom system (10, 18) in conjunction with a tree-trunk limbing and cross-cutting operation, and also in different directions away from the location on the boom system at which they are commonly pivotal.

A tree harvester of this kind is known, for instance, from Swedish Patent Specification 8600948-7 publication number 463 067). The limbing head and the felling head of this earlier known tree harvester can be connected detachably to one another and the assembly is mounted as a unit for pivotal movement about a pivot point at one end of an arm system to a tree-felling position in which the limbing head and the felling head are able to commonly grip the tree to be felled. The arm system includes at least one fixed first boom and a second boom which can be moved longitudinally in relation to the fixed boom, e.g. telescoped, wherein the limbing head is attached to the further boom and the felling head is attached to the fixed, first boom. The limbing head and the felling head are mutually separated when the second boom is extended out from the first boom, and the tree is limbed by moving the limbing head away from the felling head with the trunk of the tree held firmly by the gripping claws of the felling head. The axially movable second boom is moved in the longitudinal direction of the first boom with the aid of pivot arms.
One drawback with the aforesaid known arrangement is that very long booms and pivot arms are required in order to obtain an acceptable length of movement between the limbing head and the felling head in conjunction with a tree limbing and cross-cutting operation.


The invention relates to a circuit arrangement for testing the operation of a current monitoring circuit for a power transistor. The power transistor consists of several single transistors of the same size connected in parallel, through which a fraction of the total current supplied to the power transistor flows. A monitoring signal proportional to the current flowing through one of the single transistors, is supplied to the current monitoring circuit, which generates an alarm signal when this monitoring signal exceeds a specified threshold value. The single transistors are divided into a group containing a small number of single transistors (T.sub.1.1 -T.sub.1.9) connected in parallel and a group with a larger number of single transistors (T.sub.2.1,1 -T.sub.2.2,9) connected in parallel, which can be driven independently of each other, where the single transistor (T.sub.S) supplying the monitoring signal belongs to the smaller group. A control circuit (ST) is provided, which, in one monitoring mode, in which only a current that is reduced in relation to the number of single transistors in the two groups, is supplied to the power transistor (T.sub.S, T.sub.1, T.sub.2), puts the larger group of single transistors into the off-state.

This invention relates to a circuit arrangement for testing the operation of a current monitoring circuit for a power transistor, which consists of several single transistors connected in parallel, through which a fraction of the total current supplied to the power transistor flows, where a monitoring signal proportional to the current flowing through one of the single transistors, is supplied to the current monitoring circuit, which generates an alarm signal when this signal exceeds a specified threshold value.
Texas Instruments Incorporated have already produced and marketed an integrated circuit of the above type under the type designation TRICO1O6, in which a power transistor is present, which controls a current flowing through a motor. In order to monitor the current flowing through the motor, a current monitoring circuit is used, which contains a comparator, which always emits a monitoring signal when the current flowing through the power transistor and thus also through the motor, exceeds a predetermined value. It was only possible to monitor this integrated circuit, in particular the current monitoring function, in this circuit after completion and in practical operation with the high currents actually flowing through the motor. However, when producing integrated semi-conductor circuits, it is desirable to check the operation of at least parts of the circuit, at the earliest possible stage of production, preferably even before bonding and contacting. For these checking processes, test probes are used which are/applied to the bond contact surfaces, which are to be contacted at a later stage, of the integrated semiconductor circuit and through which the currents and control signals are supplied during test running. Checking the current monitoring circuit of the power transistor in the case of the known circuit described, is, however, not possible with test probes, because with test probes, currents of more than 1 A cannot be supplied because of the small contact surfaces.

Circuit arrangement for testing the operation of a current monitoring circuit for a power transistor


A method of reducing duplications of content items across multiple content item lists presented to a user is disclosed. A first set of content items is received. It is detected that the first set of content items was communicated for presentation to a user in a first list. A second set of content items is received. It is determined that the second set of content items includes a duplicate content item, the duplicate content item being a content item that was included in the first set of content items. Based on a satisfaction of an omission criterion, an indication is provided that the content item is to be omitted from the second set of content items before the second set of content items is communicated for presentation to the user in a second list.

Various network-based publication systems (e.g., EBAY®, AMAZON®, or CRAIGSLIST®) may facilitate buying or selling of items (e.g., goods or services) by their users. In some cases, users may be presented with various lists of items. For example, a user may be presented with lists of items that are recommended for the user (e.g., based on other items that the user has purchased and the purchasing behavior of other users of the system who have purchased those other items). Or the user may be presented with lists of items that match particular keyword that the user has performed and saved for future use. Or the user may be presented with lists of items through targeted advertising managed by the network-based publication system.

Managing duplication of content items across multiple content item lists


A substrate of the present invention sequentially includes an insulating substrate, a lower layer, a first insulating film, a second insulating film, and an upper layer. The substrate is provided with a hole reaching at least one of the lower layer or the insulating substrate through at least the first insulating film and the second insulating film. The first insulating film includes in a region with the hole a protrusion that protrudes from an end portion in contact with the first insulating film of the second insulating film. The substrate includes a stepwise structure including the protrusion and the end portion. The upper layer coats the stepwise structure. An upper surface portion of the first insulating film in a region with the protrusion and an upper surface portion of the first insulating film in a region below the end portion of the second insulating film are coplanar.

Electronic devices are required to have various functions, whereby substrates for such electronic devices have complicated structures. For example, in a liquid crystal display panel with high definition, an active matrix substrate including thin-film transistors (TFTs) has an increased number of layers and a complicated structure, whereby insulating layers are disposed in many layers.
As a technique for producing a substrate by etching multiple layers, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a substrate including: a base board; a first insulating layer; a second insulating layer; a third insulating layer; a pad electrode; and a hole formed to penetrate the base board, the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer, and the third insulating layer and reaching the pad electrode from the base board, wherein a diameter of the hole in the first insulating layer is larger than a diameter of the hole in the second insulating layer, and the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer are formed using different materials from each other and the second insulating layer and the third insulating layer are formed using different materials from each other.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a TFT display panel including: a gate electrode formed on an insulation substrate; a gate insulting layer; an oxide semiconductor layer; a drain electrode; and a passivation layer, wherein the passivation layer includes a first passivation layer and a second passivation layer, the passivation layer has a first contact hole, and the first contact hole has a shape in which the cross-sectional area increases from the bottom surface to the top.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a method for producing a low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistor, including: forming a polysilicon layer on a substrate; sequentially forming on the polysilicon layer a gate insulating layer having a laminate structure including silicon oxide and silicon nitride and a gate layer; forming a photoresist on the gate layer; removing the silicon nitride and the gate layer in region(s) not covered with the photoresist by treating the substrate by plasma etching and reactive ion etching; forming a gate foot and a gate; and forming a source/drain and a lightly doped drain.

Substrate and method for producing substrate


An environmental control dike system constructed of a plurality of bolted steel sections supported by steel posts set in concrete below average frost depths, the interior area of the steel wall having a synthetic liner cover with mating geotextile pad, joined to the flanged top of the steel wall by a plurality of V-shaped steel clamps sized to securely form the synthetic liner and geotextile pad, compressed gently but firmly, into a 180 degree fold around the flanged top of the steel wall, the V-shaped steel clamp being held securely in place by a plurality of self drilling screws into the top flange of the steel wall. The connection between the steel wall and steel posts is secured with two bolts having a gasketed steel washer under the head of the bolt, the bolt passes through a round hole in the steel wall and through a slotted hole in the post allowing differential movement due to frost heaving between the post and the wall, the post having been set in concrete below average frost depth moves very little due to frost heaving of the soil, the wall sheet placed no more than six inches into the soil will be moved a greater distance due to frost heaving, the bolt passing through the slotted opening in the post having a concentric steel bushing with a dimension greater than the thickness of the steel post when the nut is tightened on the bolt prevents subsequent locking action between the post and the wall. The posts can support a fencing system thereby avoiding the need to install a duplicate system.

There is a need for environmental control dike installations where the accidental release of stored chemicals poses a threat to the environment and human safety. There are many sites around the world where petroleum-contaminated process water, industrial chemicals, liquid agricultural chemicals or other corrosive chemicals are stored in tanks. When the tank or the connecting pipes fail the liquids are released into the environment with disastrous consequences to the environment and human safety. Business entities which maintain such facilities perform maintenance on the tanks and piping and also construct dikes to prevent the accidental spills from spreading. Most dikes are constructed of earth, concrete or wood in such a way as to be permanent. Expansion for added capacity is impractical and expensive. The permanent systems are costly and leave a permanent scar on the area, even when vacated.
One system of temporary concrete bolt together panels has no effective system of covering the horizontal surface of the ground inside the vertical walls.
Metal containment dike systems are known. These systems can be easily transported to remote locations and are easily assembled. They are useful for containment of many types of materials. Prior metal systems, however, are not useful in the containment of material such as liquid fertilizers, which are highly reactive to metals.
Prior metal systems having wall sections which are directly bolted to support posts are susceptible to frost heave damage. In particular, differential frost heavage between the wall sections and the support posts causes the seal of the containment wall to be compromised and requires costly maintenance.
A metal containment dike system is required which can be used for containment of corrosive liquids. A metal containment dike system is also required which can be used in areas where frost heavage is a concern.
Dike systems are often used in combination with fencing systems. The fencing systems act to prevent entry of animals and unauthorized personnel. Fencing systems are often installed outside of the metal containment system requiring installation of a duplicate set of posts in concrete.
A metal containment dike is required which can be combined with a fencing system.

Containment dike assembly and method for construction thereof


Pixel electrodes and active elements for supplying data signals to the pixel electrodes in accordance with control signals are formed on one of a pair of opposing transparent substrates, and a counter electrode is formed on the other substrate. An antiferroelectric liquid crystal having a small difference between a voltage for changing liquid crystal molecules from the first or second ferroelectric phase to an antiferroelectric phase as an intermediate aligned state between the first and second ferroelectric phase and a voltage for changing the liquid crystal molecules from the antiferroelectric phase to the first or second ferroelectric phase and having optical characteristics changing along a curve in accordance with the applied voltage is sealed between the substrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device and a apparatus, and methods of driving the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device having a larger field angle and a higher response than those of a conventional TN type liquid crystal display device has received a great deal of attention.
Ferroelectric liquid crystal display devices are classified into a ferroelectric liquid crystal display device using a ferroelectric liquid crystal exhibiting bistable characteristics (bistable states) in the aligned states of liquid crystal molecules, and an antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device using an antiferroelectric liquid crystal exhibiting tristable characteristics in the aligned states of liquid crystal molecules. Extensive studies have been recently made on antiferroelectric liquid crystal display devices.
The antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device exhibits tristable characteristics in the aligned states of the liquid crystal molecules. When a voltage exceeding the first threshold value is applied to the element, the liquid crystal is oriented in the first or second ferroelectric phase in which the molecules align in the first or the second direction, in accordance with the polarity of the voltage applied to the element. When a voltage having a value smaller than the second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value is applied to the antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device, the liquid crystal is aligned in an antiferroelectric phase in which the molecules point in an intermediate direction between the first and second directions. For this reason, the transmission axes of a pair of polarizing plates located on both sides of the liquid crystal display device are set with reference to the optical axis of the antiferroelectric phase to control the light transmittance, thereby displaying an image.
The antiferroelectric liquid crystal has a memory function (bistable states) of maintaining the aligned state in the first or second ferroelectric phase or the antiferroelectric phase regardless of changes in applied voltage to the liquid crystal if this voltage falls within the range between the first and second threshold values. A conventional antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device utilizes this memory function of the aligned state and is therefore driven in accordance with a simple matrix scheme.
The memory function of the aligned state of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal is enhanced as the difference between the first and second threshold values is larger. For this reason, the conventional antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device driven by the simple matrix scheme uses an antiferroelectric liquid crystal having a large difference between the first and second threshold values.
In the liquid crystal display device using the liquid crystal having a large difference between the first and second threshold values, a drive voltage for the liquid crystal display device is inevitably high. For this reason, it is difficult to drive the conventional antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device, using a conventional liquid crystal display device drive LSI.
The antiferroelectric liquid crystal has a high response speed in alignment from the antiferroelectric phase to the first or second ferroelectric phase. However, it has a low response speed in alignment from the first or second ferroelectric phase to the antiferroelectric phase. For this reason, when liquid crystal molecules are to be aligned in the antiferroelectric phase in the liquid crystal display device of a simple matrix type, the selection period may end before the liquid crystal is perfectly aligned in the antiferroelectric phase. If this occurs, the contrast of the display image is lowered. When the selection period is prolonged to prevent the above trouble, it is difficult to drive the antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device at a high duty ratio.
The voltage vs. transmittance characteristics of the conventional antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device have a large hysteresis, as shown in FIG. 1. In the graph of FIG. 1, the maximum transmittance of the liquid crystal display device is defined as 100%, and the minimum transmittance is defined as 0%. When a large hysteresis is present in the voltage vs. transmittance characteristics, the transmittance of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal display device greatly varies even if a voltage applied to the element is kept unchanged. For this reason, it is difficult to control the transmittance so as to perform gradation display.

Antiferroelectric liquid crystal display element and device, and method of driving the same


A weight load generating apparatus for variably outputting a weight load exerted on a load. A load is connected to, for example, an electromagnetic clutch which is driven by a drive source such as a motor to develop a weight load on the load. A physical quantity detector, for example, a torque sensor is connected to the load, and outputs a torque signal indicative of a torque exerted on the load and an angle signal indicative of an angle through which the load is displaced. A signal producing circuit produces a weight signal, a resiliency signal, a viscosity signal, and an inertia signal on the basis of the torque signal and angle signal. A driver circuit controls the magnetic clutch in accordance with the signals produced by the signal producing circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable weight load generating apparatus where the weight exhibited by a viscous friction load and/or a resilient load may be continuously varied at will. The invention may be applied to, for example, the training of sportsmen or patients for improving their muscular power. The invention is also applicable to actuators for robots.
2. Prior Art
There has not been a variable weight load generating apparatus for use in improving the muscular power of sportsmen and patients. Thus, weight loads were implemented by using the weight of discrete objects. A proper weight is selected from different weights to provide a specific weight value. Selecting the proper weight from a variety of discrete weights is rather cumbersome and cannot provide a continuously variable weight. For example, load-applying apparatuses used in robot actuators are designed to hold and/or carry predetermined parts and objects with predetermined pressures or forces. However, the apparatuses are not adapted to continuously vary the holding pressures or weights, or to finely vary them under specific conditions.
The aforementioned prior art apparatuses are of the construction where the torque of a rotative drive source such as a motor, is merely transmitted by way of a friction element or clutch. Accordingly, loads are only transmitted in steps in a discontinuous manner. Thus, the prior art apparatuses find no application in muscular power training for athletes or patients under rehabilitation where stable and variable loads are required. In robotics, a holding or securing force is often required to be varied according to the shape and the nature of the workpieces. The prior art apparatuses are not suitable for this type of applications.


An electronic device for discriminating, identifying and analyzing liquid, semi-liquid and solid samples containing volatile components, by performing simultaneous evaluation of odor and taste of the samples, the device having a closable and thermally stable chamber wherein the sample to be analyzed is placed, the chamber including, in direct contact with the sample, a set of electronic sensors for sensing a non-vapor phase of the sample, a second set of sensors for sensing a vapor phase of the sample and humidity and temperature sensors, with the signals from the sensors being processed and sent to a computing platform comprising a pattern-recognizing program and/or a multivaried-data analysis program.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of the analysis of substances, compounds and any matter in general, and particularly refers to a portable electronic device for discriminating, identifying and analyzing liquid, semi-liquid and solid samples containing volatile components, wherein the general analysis of the matter is based on the simultaneous evaluation of several properties of the samples by a plurality of sensors, preferably sensors having a low chemical specificity, wherein the sensors provide signals that are processed in a computing platform having a pattern-recognizing program and wherein the properties may be associated to what is generally called the odor and taste of the sample. For the purposes of this description the word flavour may be understood as a combination of odor and taste of a sample.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Several electronic devices are known today for analysing those properties of any matter associated to the smell and taste thereof.
In relation to the sense of smell the devices have been developed to discriminate the samples having volatile components by detecting and recognizing the mixture components of the sample vapour, the mixture being named "odor" of the sample. Such devices are known as "electronic noses" and the employed methodology is named "artificial olfaction". Examples of such electronic noses are the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,459; U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,008; U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,905 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,724. Such devices are comprised of arrays of non-specific gas sensors, based in several materials with varied function principles. By the signals generated by the sensor arrays the electronic noses obtain a digital print or sign of each of the analysed odors and, through the use of multivaried-data analysis try to recognize odor patterns.
There are devices that are employed for in-situ quality analysis of agricultural products, U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,008, WO 0107907; for discriminating, by the analysis of a patient's breathing, a medicine the patient has ingested, WO 0134024, CA 2,390,261; for detecting molecular compounds having chiral structures, WO 9940423; for diagnosing pulmonary infections, U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,109; U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,107 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,461,306.
One of the main drawbacks of these devices is that they analyse only the vapour phase of the sample without resolving the problem of analysing the vapour and no-vapour phases. For example, when analysing wine, said devices are unable of analysing the features of the liquid phase per se.
Another main drawback of the above mentioned devices, such as those of U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,348; U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,107 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,802, is that vapour from the samples are suctioned or draught from a place where the sample is placed and the vapour is carried to a chamber containing the sensors. In the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,658 the vapours from the sample are suctioned and collected, by adsorption, in an adsorbing material, then the vapours are desorbed and finally transported by nay draft means to a chamber containing the sensors. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,333 employs a similar method. These processes are based in separating the odor from the sample which separation no only needs of two chambers, one for the sample and the other one for containing the array of sensors, but also provide a clear and remarkable separation between the vapour phase and the no-vapour phase.
There are also devices that get inspiration from the sense of taste. Their operation is based in the analysis of a non gaseous phase of a sample using sensor arrays. To this purpose, sensors based on noble metal electrodes may be employed, with the same electrodes producing different electrical potentials according to the substances contained in the sample. It is also known the use of electrodes employing PVC membranes modified with organic macromolecules, surface wave sensors and other devices that modify their electrical or optical properties according to the substances in contact to the sensors. In such cases where a global analysis of the sensors signals can be done such devices are named "electronic tongues". Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,610,367; U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,154 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,541,617, for example.
The main drawback of the electronic tongues is that these devices are only able to analyse the non-vapour, or non gaseous, phase of the sample, therefore the information contained in the vapour phase is completely disregarded. Even when the sample sensed in the electronic tongue could be brought to an electronic nose for further analysis, said analysis would not be done under the same environment conditions under which the analysis in the electronic tongue has been done and, in addition, the time passed between the two analysis leads to another disparity in the sample conditions.
In virtue of the present state of the art it would be very convenient to have a device capable of carrying out the simultaneous analysis of odor and taste in a sample in order to prevent variations in the sample conditions.


A vacuum film forming apparatus including a vacuum vessel having an interior divided into a first vacuum chamber and a second vacuum chamber. First evacuating means is arranged for the first vacuum chamber while it is communicated with the first vacuum chamber, and second evacuating means is arranged for the second vacuum chamber while it is communicated with the second vacuum chamber. In addition, a substrate heater is arranged in the first vacuum chamber, and gas supplying means is arranged in the second vacuum chamber. The apparatus further includes a substrate holder for holding a substrate thereon such that a film forming surface of the substrate is oriented toward the second vacuum chamber. The substrate holder is arranged at a position where the first vacuum chamber and the second vacuum chamber are gastightly isolated from each other with the substrate holder interposed therebetween together with the substrate.

The present invention relates to a vacuum film forming apparatus of the type including a substrate heating unit in a vacuum chamber so as to epitaxially grow a semiconductor film on a substrate.
Many proposals have been hitherto made as to a vacuum film forming apparatus of the foregoing type. For example, a chemical vapor deposition method closely associated with the film forming apparatus including a substrate heater is described in each of the following documents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,156,591 granted to Arthur P. Hale, et al. to provide a chemical vapor deposition method and titled "Epitaxial growth through silicon dioxide mask in a vacuum vapor deposition process",
Paper published by T. Ohmi, et al. in Applied Physics Letter 52(14) published Apr. 4, 1988 and titled "High-rate growth at low temperatures by free-jet molecular flow: Surface-reaction film-forming technology",
Paper published by K. Fujinaga, et al. in Journal of Vacuum Society B5(6) published Dec. 11, 1987 and titled "Silicon epitaxy on germanium using a SiH.sub.4 low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition process",
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 257322/1989 titled "Method of producing a semiconductor",
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 230225/1989 titled "Apparatus for producing a semiconductor", and
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 230226/1989 titled "Apparatus for producing a semiconductor".
With respect to a conventional gas source epitaxy apparatus including a substrate heater such that a heat source required for heating a substrate is arranged in a vacuum chamber, not only the substrate but also the heat source are exposed to a source gas.
When the substrate is heated in the conventional apparatus as a source gas is introduced into a treatment chamber, the source gas is thermally decomposed on the heat source as well as in the region peripheral to the heat source, whereby a resultant product is produced in a wide region inclusive of the substrate to be treated.
In addition, when a resultant product is deposited on a substrate heating unit, there arise some problems in that the thermal insulating property of the substrate heating unit is degraded, the heater serving as a heat source fails to be turned on, the intensity of heat ray irradiation from the heat source fluctuates, and the uniformity of heat ray irradiation is deteriorated.
Additionally, it has been found that a resultant product deposited on the substrate heating unit and other components leads to a the formation of dust particles, resulting in the rate at which a thin film is formed being reduced undesirably.
Further, another problem is that impurities such as carbon or the like fly from the heater onto the substrate as the heater is heated.


A connector with a transceiver and a socket on a substrate receiving the transceiver. The transceiver is movable within the socket into a locked position in a direction parallel to the substrate. The socket and transceiver include complementary locking sections cooperating when the transceiver is in the locked position. During the movement the transceiver wipes over contacts, e.g., on the substrate or on an interposer.

In optical communication systems optical fiber cables are typically coupled to an opto-electronic transceiver which is in turn coupled to a substrate, such as a circuit board. Such a transceiver typically includes a housing with opto-electronic elements, an array of contacts to be coupled to associated contacts on the substrate, and an optical contact unit configured to connect to a complementary optical cable connector.
Such transceivers can be coupled to a substrate by means of a socket holding the transceiver. In some cases the socket may comprise an interposer, which is a board with a lower side presenting an array of contacts, typically a ball grid array (BGA), to be connected to contacts on the substrate, and a top side similarly provided with an array of contacts, generally of a different type, to be connected to contacts at the lower side of the transceiver. To obtain high quality signal transfer, the contacts should be clean and the pressure on the contacts by the transceiver should be substantially equal for all contacts.
In the transceiver heat is generated which should be dissipated as much as possible in order to prevent failure. For that reason it is desirable to maximize outer surface area of the transceiver module.
The transceiver in such an LGA configuration should preferably be held in the socket in a releasable manner, e.g., to enable replacement of the transceiver in case of failure. To this end release mechanisms can be used, but such release mechanism typically require finger space for accessibility and actuation by a user. This limits the maximum number of sockets which could be placed per unit area. Moreover, the release mechanisms typically interrupt top and/or side faces of the board connector, thereby reducing heat dissipation surface.
It is an object of the invention to provide a system for connecting a transceiver to a socket reducing the risk of signal transfer failures due to contamination of the contacts or due to uneven contacting pressure. It is a further object to provide a releasable connection without requiring extra space for manual actuation. It is a further object to provide a release mechanism leaving a larger area for heat dissipation.


According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for optimizing an integrated circuit design is provided. The method may include identifying one or more nets crossing a boundary between a parent block, having parent logic, and a child block, having child logic. The method may include inserting interior buffers on the nets inside of the child block and exterior buffers on the nets outside of the child block and inside of the parent block, wherein the interior buffers and the exterior buffers define a buffer pair for each of the nets. The method may further include determining a first placement for the parent logic and a second placement for the child logic, such that the buffers of the buffer pair for each net are placed substantially near to one another. The method may further include determining pin locations for the child block based on the second placement.

The present invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuit (IC) design, and more particularly to placement and optimization of components during the physical design stage of IC design.
IC design can be broken down into multiple stages of design. In the initial stages of IC design, circuit specifications, architectural design, and logic design are completed. The completion of the logic design stage typically results in a computer software model that describes the structure, design, and operation of the IC. The model can be written in one or more of a variety of computer readable languages, commonly called a hardware description language (HDL). A common hardware description language is the very high speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) hardware description language (VHDL). The HDL model can include descriptions of certain areas of the IC which are considered "timing critical," which means that the time frame in which information is conveyed through the circuit in the form of signals needs to be designed in an accurate manner to ensure the correct operation of the IC as a whole.
In the physical design stage of IC design, engineers use the HDL model to generate physical parameters of the components that make up the IC. Physical design uses electronic design automation (EDA) tools to model the physical attributes of the IC. EDA tools use two main strategies to perform physical design: flat design and hierarchical design. In a flat design, the EDA tool places all of the components in the IC at once. Hierarchical design presents a divide and conquer approach in which certain subsets of the IC components are placed separately and later inserted into the complete parent design. The subsets of the circuit that are modeled separately are called "child blocks" and, when built, will be self-contained as a single unit having one or more pins connecting the child block components to the parent block components.

Optimization of integrated circuit physical design

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for controlling measurement in a motor-driven in-line screw type injection molding machine using servo-motors as a measurement driving source and an injection driving source. Control is made so that all of a measured value of back pressure controlled by the measurement servo-motor, a measured value of an astern speed of a screw controlled by the injection servo-motor, and a measured rotational speed of the screw turn zero concurrently at timing when the screw reaches a measurement completion position. Thus, suck-back can be made dispensable.

In a motor-driven in-line screw type injection molding machine in the background art, a measuring stroke is often controlled as follows. That is, a measurement servo-motor is controlled by rotational velocity feedback control so that the rotational velocity of a screw coincides with a set value, while an injection servo-motor is controlled by pressure feedback control so that the back pressure applied onto the screw (resistant pressure against astern movement of the screw) coincides with a set value. When such rotational velocity feedback control is performed on the measurement servo-motor while such pressure feedback control is performed on the injection servo-motor, the back pressure applied to the screw is improved to coincide with the set value. However, assume that setting is done to make the back pressure zero at the end of measurement. When control is performed in this setting to make the back pressure zero at the end of measurement, there must be a variation in the position where the screw stops its astern movement, due to the injection servo-motor subjected to the feedback control giving preference to pressure.
Therefore, the present inventor has proposed a measurement control method in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-199230. In the measurement control method, measuring operation is carried out as follows. That is, speed feedback control is performed on an injection servo-motor so that the astern speed of a screw follows an astern speed setting pattern, while pressure feedback control is performed on a measurement servo-motor so that the back pressure applied to the screw follows a back pressure setting pattern (in other words, feedback control is performed to control the measuring rotational velocity to follow the back pressure setting pattern). Thus, the position where measurement is completed is made to coincide with a set position.
In the previously proposed measurement control method, feedback control is applied to a rotational velocity command to be supplied to the measurement motor so that the back pressure follows the back pressure setting pattern. Accordingly, in the beginning of measurement, shortage of raw resin leads to failure in expected increase of the back pressure. As a result, the measuring operation may be unstable. In addition, the measuring operation may be unstable in some operating condition of a raw resin supply system or in some dry condition of the resin. This is because the feed rate of the resin fed by the screw is not always increased in spite of increase in rotational velocity of the measurement motor, with the result that the back pressure does not increase to its expected value.
Therefore, the following configuration is also conceivable. That is, in a period between the start of a measuring stroke and the middle of the measuring stroke, driving of the measurement servo-motor is controlled by open control in which the set rotation number is constant, while driving of the injection servo-motor is controlled by back pressure feedback control in which the astern speed of the screw is controlled to make a measured back pressure value coincide with a set back pressure value. On and after the middle of the measuring stroke in which the astern speed of the screw is stabilized (that is, the back pressure is stabilized), the driving of the measurement servo-motor is controlled by back pressure feedback control in which the rotational velocity of the measurement servo-motor is controlled to follow a back pressure setting pattern. Thus, the back pressure can be controlled stably by the measurement servo-motor. On the other hand, the injection servo-motor is controlled by astern speed control in which the position where the screw stops its astern movement is made to coincide with the position where the measurement is completed. When control is performed thus, the position where the measurement is completed can be controlled to coincide with its set position by the injection servo-motor, while back pressure can be controlled stably by feedback control using the measurement motor on and after the middle of the measuring stroke.
When control is performed thus, the following problem remains in spite of various advantages. That is, setting is done so that the position where the astern speed is zero in a deceleration setting pattern for the injection servo-motor in the ending of the measuring stroke coincides with the predetermined position where the measuring stroke is completed. Further, the driving of the measurement servo-motor is controlled by back pressure feedback control following a back pressure decompression setting pattern calculated into a value proportional to the deceleration setting pattern. In spite of such control, there is a problem that it cannot be guaranteed that all of a measured value of the astern speed of the screw controlled by the injection servo-motor, a measured value of the back pressure controlled by the measurement servo-motor and a measured rotational velocity of the screw turn zero concurrently at timing when the screw reaches a position where measurement is completed. The background art has showed no consideration for the control to make all of the measured value of the astern speed of the screw, the measured value of the back pressure and the measured rotational velocity of the screw zero concurrently. That is, in the background art, the deceleration setting pattern for the astern speed of the screw is not proper but is apt to be set to be steep. Accordingly, the deceleration in the rotational velocity control upon the measurement servo-motor controlling the back pressure cannot follow the control in which the astern speed of the screw approaches zero rapidly. Even when the astern speed of the screw is close to zero, the measurement servo-motor has a certain degree of rotational velocity (resin is fed at a certain rate). Thus, the back pressure is adversely increased near the zero point of the astern speed of the screw. As a result, a known suck-back operation has to be carried out after the completion of the measuring operation.

Injection molding machine for controlling measurement of an in-line screw


A method and apparatus for generating an acoustic signal having a single mode of propagation along borehole walls. The method includes generating an n-pole (monopole, dipole, quadrupole, and so on) acoustic signal and calculating the tool position and borehole shape from the signals received at one or more receivers. If the tool contains matched sources and balanced receivers, is in the center of the borehole, and the borehole is circular, the pure, single mode acoustic signal will propagate along the borehole walls with a single mode of propagation. If the acoustic signal traveling along borehole walls does not have a single mode of propagation, the signal's amplitudes and time delays are adjusted to produce a second acoustic signal. The second acoustic signal's amplitudes and time delays are further adjusted until the signal traveling along the borehole walls has a single mode of propagation.

Petroleum drilling and production operations require large quantities of information relating to parameters and conditions downhole. Such information typically includes characteristics of the earth formations traversed by the wellbore, along with data relating to the size and configuration of the borehole itself. The collection of information relating to conditions downhole, which commonly is referred to as "logging," can be performed by several techniques.
In conventional oil well wireline logging, a probe or "sonde" housing formation sensors is lowered into the borehole after some or all of the well has been drilled, and is used to determine certain characteristics of the formations traversed by the borehole. The upper end of the sonde is attached to a conductive wireline that suspends the sonde in the borehole. Power is transmitted to the sensors and instrumentation in the sonde through the conductive wireline. Similarly, the instrumentation in the sonde communicates information to the surface by electrical signals transmitted through the wireline.
The problem with obtaining downhole measurements via wireline is that the drilling assembly must be removed from the drilled borehole before the desired borehole information can be obtained. This can be both time-consuming and extremely costly, especially in situations where a substantial portion of the well has been drilled. In this situation, thousands of feet of tubing may need to be removed and stacked on the platform (if offshore). Typically, drilling rigs are rented by the day at a substantial cost. Consequently, the cost of drilling a well is directly proportional to the time required to complete the drilling process. Removing thousands of feet of tubing to insert a wireline logging tool can be an expensive proposition.
As a result, there has been an increased emphasis on the collection of data during the drilling process. Collecting and processing data during the drilling process eliminates the necessity of removing the drilling assembly to insert a wireline logging tool. It consequently allows the driller to make accurate modifications or corrections as needed to optimize performance while minimizing down time. Designs for measuring conditions and formation properties downhole including the movement and location of the drilling assembly contemporaneously with the drilling of the well have come to be known as "logging-while-drilling" techniques, or "LWD."
When oil wells or other boreholes are being drilled, it is frequently necessary or desirable to determine the direction and inclination of the drill bit and downhole motor so that the assembly can be steered in the correct direction. Additionally, information may be required concerning the nature of the strata being drilled, such as the formation's resistivity, velocity, porosity, density and its measure of gamma radiation. It is also frequently desirable to know other downhole parameters, such as the temperature and the pressure at the base of the borehole, for example. Once this data is gathered at the bottom of the borehole, it is necessary to communicate it to the surface for use and analysis by the driller.
In LWD systems, sources and receivers are typically located at the lower end of the drill string. Typically, the downhole sources and receivers employed in LWD applications are positioned in a cylindrical drill section that is positioned close to the drill bit. As the drill bit progresses through the formation, drilling noise, the noncircular shape of the borehole, and the location of the logging tool in the borehole may effect the collection of formation data. Each of the sources may be programmed to generate a pure n-pole acoustic signal with a single mode of propagation. Thus, n=1 is a monopole acoustic signal with monopole mode of propagation, n=2 dipole acoustic signal with dipole mode of propagation, n=4 quadrupole acoustic signal, n=6 hexapole acoustic signal, and so on. Acoustic signals generated by the sources travel through the borehole, and along the borehole walls of the formation or into the formation depending on the velocity of the acoustic signal in the formation (Vf) and the velocity of the acoustic signal in the borehole (Vb). Each type of n-pole acoustic signal permits determination of different formation properties as described in more detail below. If the borehole is not circular, the tool is not in the center of the borehole, the sources are mismatched (i.e., sources given the same input do not generate identical acoustic signals), or the receivers are not balanced (i.e., receivers see identical acoustic signals at their inputs but generate varying electrical outputs for each signal), the signals at the receivers may have multiple modes of propagation (e.g., signal with both monopole mode and dipole modes of propagation). An acoustic signal with multiple modes of propagation arriving at the receivers interfere with each other and make the determination of formation properties inaccurate and difficult.
Thus, there is a continuing need for generating an n-pole acoustic signal with a single mode of propagation along the walls of the borehole that compensates for drilling noise, noncircular imperfections in the shape of the borehole, and the location of the logging tool in the borehole.

Method and apparatus for generating acoustic signals with a single mode of propagation


A new and distinct Abelia hybrid which is characterized by compact upright habit, large compound panicles of fragrant, lavender flowers with straw-green/rose sepals, and green summer foliage turning burgundy purple in the winter.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of the ornamental flowering shrub Abelia, hereinafter referred to by the varietal denomination 'Lavender Mist'. 'Lavender Mist' originated from an interspecific cross made in 1998 between the cultivar 'Edward Goucher' (unpatented) and Abelia chinensis R. Br. 'Edward Goucher' is a purple-flowered cultivar that was derived from an interspecific cross between Abelia×grandiflora and A. parvifolia (schumanii) and released in 1911. Seeds from the cross were sown in 1999, and eleven seedlings were obtained. These seedlings were planted in a field plot in Griffin, Ga. in the fall of 1999 and were evaluated for three years for flowering and foliage characteristics, plant form and height, cold hardiness and drought tolerance. Plant 99-6-11 was selected among these plants, and assigned the name 'Lavender Mist'.
'Lavender Mist' forms a dense compact shrub with a slight spreading habit. A 4-year old, unpruned, field grown plant measured 159 cm tall and 290 cm wide. Check cultivars 'Compacta' (unpatented), 'Golden Glow' (unpatented), 'Francis Mason' (unpatented), 'Little Richard' (unpatented), and 'Rose Creek' (unpatented) were similar in height, but all less in width.
The foliage color in summer is an attractive dark green. In the fall the leaves on the shoot tips turn burgundy purple, and by mid winter the foliage is dark purple. 'Lavender Mist' is semi-deciduous in USDA Zone 7.
'Lavender Mist' is a heavy bloomer, with clusters of lavender flowers beginning in mid-June and continuing into autumn. Two heavy-blooming periods generally occur in June and again in August, with scattered blooms throughout the rest of the season. The fragrant lavender flowers are borne in compound panicles, averaging 16 cm, long by 14 cm wide. The sepals are straw green at base becoming rose at the tips.
Laboratory evaluations of cold hardiness in Griffin, Ga. during the winter of 2003-04 revealed a mid-winter hardiness of −15 to −17° C., similar to the check cultivars 'Canyon Creek' and 'Rose Creek'. Plants grown in Blairsville and Griffin, Ga. during the 2003-04 winter had no damage.
'Lavender Mist' has drought tolerance typical of abelia, and once established grows and blooms without irrigation, although leaf drop occurs under drought stress conditions.

University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.