An optical imaging device includes a reference scanning unit offering a high signal-to-noise ratio and capable of scanning an object rapidly. An interference optical system can be realized inexpensively. In the optical imaging device, low coherent light passed through an optical coupler and another optical coupler, irradiated from an optical scanner probe, reflected from an observed point in a living tissue, returned to the optical coupler, propagated over a fourth SM optical fiber, and routed to another optical coupler shall be referred to as sample light. Light passed through an optical length variation optical system via the optical coupler and routed to the optical coupler shall be referred to as reference light. At this time, a difference between a delay time undergone by the sample light and a delay time undergone by the reference light is proportional to a difference between an optical length for the sample light and an optical length for the reference light. When the optical length difference falls within a coherence length, the sample light and reference light interfere with each other. An interfering signal is acquired into a computer through detectors, a differential amplifier, a demodulator, and an A/D converter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical imaging device for irradiating low coherent light to an object, and constructing tomographic images of the object using information-bearing light scattered from the object.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, optical coherent tomography (OCT) for constructing tomographic images of a tissue using low coherent light has been proposed in, for example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 5459570 and Patent Publication No. WO98/52021 as a modality for optically detecting and visualizing information of a living tissue to assess a lesion in the living tissue.
According to the U.S. Patent Publication No. 5459570, a reference mirror is advanced or withdrawn in order to detect light scattered or reflected from a specific depth in a living tissue. For constructing tomographic images of the living tissue, a light beam is irradiated to the living tissue for the purpose of scanning. Synchronously with the scanning, the reference mirror is advanced or withdrawn.
On the other hand, the patent publication No. WO98/52021 has proposed an optical coherent tomography (OCT) system capable of being driven with a voltage having several tens of kilohertz. According to a method described in the patent publication, a diffraction grating is used to disperse the spectrum of light for the purpose of detecting light scattered or reflected from a specific depth in a living tissue. A galvanometer mirror or an acoustooptic modulator (AOM) may be used to irradiate light for the purpose of scanning, whereby the phase of reference light and the group velocity thereof are changed.
However, the U.S. Patent Publication No. 5459570 has revealed that since the reference mirror is relatively heavy, the frequency of a voltage to be applied to drive the reference mirror so as to advance or withdraw it by about 5 mm is limited to several tens of hertz. A continuous motion picture cannot therefore be produced. This discourages diagnosis of a living tissue in that image quality is poor due to blurring deriving from motions including heartbeats.
A Michelson interferometer may be employed. In this case, an optical coupler works most efficiently while offering a branching ratio of 1:1. Assuming that the power of a light source is P and the reflectance of light from an object is R, light returning to a detector is expressed as P×R/4. Assuming that the reflectance for a mirror is 1, the amount of light returning to the detector over a reference light path is expressed as P/4. The amount of light finally returning to the detector is expressed as (P×R/4+P/4). However, signal light that must be detected is detected through heterodyning and therefore expressed as √(P×R/4×P/4)=P√(R/4). The reflectance R observed in a living body is approximately 10−4 or less in general. The signal light is therefore very small for the amount of light returning to the detector. It is therefore hard to improve a signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, 75% of feeble light reflected from a living body is abandoned. This also degrades the signal-to-noise ratio.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 3565335 has disclosed as a method for improving the signal-to-noise ratio using the Michelson interferometer. According to the disclosed method, light that returns to the detector is attenuated to the same extent as signal light by disposing an attenuator on the reference light path, and thus the amount of light returning to the detector is adjusted. However, this method has a drawback that light detected through heterodyning is also attenuated. The U.S. Patent Publication No. 3565335 has disclosed adoption of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer as a method superior in principles to the method of adopting the Michelson interferometer. However, the Mach-Zehnder interferometer is structured to move a corner mirror serving as an optical length varying means. In this case, it is hard to rapidly scan an object in a direction of its depth and observe the object in real time.
Furthermore, in the Michelson interferometer, up to a quarter of source light returns to the light source over the reference light path. The return light causes destruction of a low coherent light source realized with a super-luminescence diode (SLD) or the like. The Michelson interferometer has a drawback that an expensive isolator or the like is usually needed to treat light of wavelengths falling outside a wavelength band assigned to optical communication (1.3 or 1.55 μm).
Furthermore, since the Michelson interferometer employs optical fibers, a polarization controller or the like must be used to match polarization of object light, that is, light to be irradiated to an object with polarization of reference light, that is, light used as a reference. This is mandatory to produce coherent light of a maximum power. However, assume that a reflection type rapid light delay line like the one described in "In Vivo Video Rate Optical Coherence Tomography" written by A. M. Rollins et. al (optics Express, Vol. 3, No. 6, P219, 1998) is used in combination with a device having the property of causing polarization such as a diffraction grating. In this case, an incidence optical fiber and an emission optical fiber are identical to each other. Even when the reference light path, object light path, and polarization controllers lying on the reference light path and object light path respectively are adjusted, polarization of the reference light is not always matched with that of the object light with the use efficiency of the reference light held high. There is a possibility that only coherent light of a low power can be produced.
Furthermore, when the reflection type rapid delay line is adopted, light reflected from an end of an optical fiber or the surface of an optical device other than a movable mirror serves as return light. Noise light other than signal light required may therefore be generated. This also deteriorates the signal-to-noise ratio.
Moreover, when a reference arm is employed, a mirror is displaced rapidly relative to light in order to change the phase and group velocity of light. At this time, a phase change causes a Doppler shift. Therefore, when signal light received by a photodetector is detected through heterodyning, an interfering signal can be detected highly sensitively.
However, for rapidly displacing a galvanometer mirror or the like, it is necessary to drive the galvanometer mirror with a voltage proportional to the sine of an angle of displacement. In this case, the Doppler shift occurs at a rate proportional to the cosine of the angle of displacement that is regarded as the derivative of the Doppler shift to the angle of displacement. Moreover, a heterodyne frequency to be detected varies. Consequently, the signal-to-noise ratio is degraded. Otherwise, since light undergoing little Doppler shift is detected, the efficiency in detection is deteriorated.

Rapid depth scanning optical imaging device


An input port of an add/drop node receives a plurality of optical channels. An add/drop port transmits a first drop channel of the plurality of channels when in a first channel mode and a second drop channel of the plurality of optical channels during a second channel mode. When the add/drop node is tuned from the first channel to the second channel, the output port transmits the plurality of channels spectrally located between the first channel and the second channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to one or more optical networking components and, more particularly, to add/drop nodes.
2. Background of the Invention
Optical networks include one or more optical fibers that each carry several channels of information. Each channel of information is carried in a light signal having a different wavelength. A variety of optical networks also include one or more add/drop nodes where one or more channels of information is added to an optical fiber or dropped from an optical fiber.
Many add/drop nodes allow a first signal of a channel of information to be dropped from an optical fiber and allow another signal of the same channel to be added to the same optical fiber. Different information can be carried within the channel using the different signals. For instance, the first signal of the channel can be destined for a first city and the second signal can originate at the first city and be destined for a second city. When the add drop node is located in the first city, the first signal on the channel can be dropped from the optical fiber for processing in the first city. The second signal on the channel can be added to the fiber optic and directed to the second city by the network.
Add/drop nodes can be tunable. A tunable add/drop node allows the channel of information that is dropped and/or added at a particular add/drop node to be selected. When the add/drop nodes changes the channel that is added and/or dropped from a first channel to a second channel, the add/drop node must scan through each of the channels between the first channel and the second channel. As a result, a fiber optic carrying a channel dropped at the node would temporarily carry each of the channels between the first channel and the second channel. Hence, information carried in the channels between the first channel and the second channel can be lost as the add/drop node is tuned.
There is a need, therefore, for an add/drop node that can be tuned without loss of information.

Tunable add/drop node for optical network


Provided is a disposable multi-layered filtration device for the separation of blood plasma which can be applied to a biochip and appropriate for disposal uses. The filtration device for the separation of blood plasma includes: an upper substrate including a blood inlet; an intermediate substrate including a filtering unit for extracting blood plasma from blood flowing through the blood inlet; and a lower substrate including an air outlet, wherein the upper substrate, the intermediate substrate, and the lower substrate are stacked and adhered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filtration device for the separation of blood plasma used to separate blood plasma from whole blood, and more particularly, to a disposable multi-layered filtration device for the separation of blood plasma which can be applied to a biochip.
The present invention was supported by the IT R&D Program of MIC/IITA [2006-S-007-02, Ubiquitous Health Management Module/System].
2. Description of the Related Art
Blood circulates around the body through blood vessels of a person or an animal. The blood has various functions of supplying oxygen inhaled via lungs to tissues, carrying carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs to be exhaled, supplying nutrients absorbed by the digestive organs to other organs or the tissues, transporting a waste product of metabolism produced by cells to the kidney so that the kidney secretes the waste product into the urine, transporting hormones produced by the endocrine glands to corresponding organs and tissues, transporting heat through the body to regulate the body temperature, attacking and detoxifying infections agents and foreign substances, and the like.
Blood is used as an important indicator for diagnosing diseases or health states. Particularly, a protein chip is a kind of biochip for detecting or measuring an expression of a specific protein or an amount of a specific protein in a blood sample to diagnose diseases associated with the protein and manages convalescence.
Blood is composed of a liquid called blood plasma and blood cells suspended within the plasma. The blood plasma is predominantly water containing dissolved proteins, glucoses, fatty acids, minerals, and other substances, and the blood cells present in blood are red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Since the protein to be detected generally presents in blood plasma, a protein chip needs a filter element for separating only blood plasma from blood in order to obtain quantitative results with high sensitivity.
A general blood filter is used to process rapidly a large amount of blood. However, a blood filter of the protein chip requires fast separation using a small amount of blood without contamination of blood plasma.
As existing methods introduced to separate blood plasma from whole blood, there are a method of separating blood cells and blood plasma from each other by using centrifugal force, a method of disposing a microstructure having a size smaller than blood cells at a flowpath and pumping blood so that blood cells are filtered out and only blood plasma is remained, a method of disposing a diaphragm having a small height so as not to enable blood cells to pass through but to enable blood plasma to pass through the diaphragm, a method of disposing a paper, a glass fiber, a porous medium, or a membrane at a side or front surface of flows of blood to separate blood cells, a method of using sedimentation effects of blood cells caused by gravity so that blood cells and blood plasma are layered so that the blood plasma can be extracted, a method of applying an electrical signal to deflect flows of blood cells, and the like.
Specifically, as an example, PCT International Publication No. WO2004/084974 (titled "BLOOD FILTER DEVICE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME", published on Oct. 7, 2004) discloses a blood filter device which has a flow inlet formed at a side surface of a dome portion horizontally so that blood flowing through the flow inlet into the dome portion passes through a filter and flows out through an outlet and impurities, thrombus, and the like in the blood are removed to remain only blood plasma. Here, air bubbles in the blood can be easily removed through an air outlet provided in the top of the dome portion.
As another example, PCT International Publication No. WO2004/046716 (titled "PLASMA OR SERUM SEPARATION MEMBRANE AND FILTER APPARATUS INCLUDING THE PLASMA OR SERUM SEPARATION MEMBRANE", published on Jun. 3, 2004) discloses a filter apparatus which has a tube-shaped member including a filter member provided at the top portion of the tube-shaped member. After the tube-shaped member is sealed and fixed, the tube-shaped member is decompressed so that blood collected in the tube-shaped member is filtered to separate blood plasma or serum.
As another example, PCT International Publication No. WO99/058172 (titled "FILTER DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING BLOOD", published on Nov. 18, 1999) discloses a filter device for processing blood to effectively remove specific components from a large amount of blood. In the filter device, a blood filter layer and a space layer on a sheet where blood flows more easily through the spacer layer than through the filter layer are stacked and coiled, and an end portion of the spacer layer on the sheet is exposed to an outer circumference of a filter member, so that several liters of blood are processed and desired target materials can be easily removed.
However, most of the existing blood filters are used to process a large amount of blood and cannot be implemented as chips.
In addition, existing blood filter devices have structures including filter members such as papers, glass fibers, membranes, porous media, and the like, so that manufacturing processes are complex and high manufacturing costs are required, and the filter devices are not appropriate for disposable uses.
In addition, the existing blood filter devices have problems such as blocked flow paths, decreases in blood plasma separation efficiency, increases in separation time, and complex operations, and the like, due to structural characteristics.

Disposable multi-layered filtration device for the separation of blood plasma

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A color image reading apparatus reads an original image by a line sensor through sequentially lighting respective light sources of a plurality of colors with respect to a scan line. An analog-to-digital converter converts an analog image signal read by said line sensor to digital image data. A lighting frequency ratio setting part sets the lighting frequency ratio for the light sources such that not all of the light sources are equally lighted. A thinning control part performs thinning control of lighting lines according to the lighting frequency ratio at which the light sources are lighted. A read data combining part combines read data of the plurality of colors according to a predetermined combination, said read data being obtained by the thinning control.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to one-pass scan type (line scanning type) color image reading apparatuses capable of eliminating or reducing moiré in the sub-scanning direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Smaller and manufacturing-cost-saving color image reading apparatuses that light (energize) each of the light sources of RGB in a line sequential order and use an equi-magnification image sensor are achieved. Such color image reading apparatuses are widely used in image scanners and facsimile machines.
The color image reading apparatuses can generate color image data for one line by sequentially lighting each of the light sources of RGB such that an area of an original corresponding to one line is scanned by each of the light sources of RGB equally for ⅓ of the line, and by combining obtained color component signals.
The conventional color image reading apparatuses read an image by emitting lights of R, G and B to an original image and forming an image with the reflected lights on an acceptance surface having a plurality of image pickup devices. In such color image reading apparatuses, an optical system is provided between an imaging part (lens) and the acceptance surface (photo acceptance unit). The optical system includes at least two kinds of low-pass characteristics with respect to the direction in which the photo acceptance unit is arranged.
The ratio of the area scanned by each of the light sources of RGB is equal irrespective of the resolution in the sub-scanning direction of output color image data. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the ratio among RGB is 1:1:1 in either a case where color image data of the resolution in the sub-scanning direction of 200 dpi are generated or a case where color image data of 600 dpi are generated. It should be noted that FIG. 1A shows a case where light emitting elements are lighted in the order of R, G and B, however, the same applies to a case where the light emitting elements are lighted in the order of R, B and G.
On the other hand, when performing exquisite color printing, a dot process (screening) is performed as a color expression technique. In the dot process, as shown in FIG. 1B, three colors of ink, cyan (C), magenta (M) and yellow (Y), are arranged in dot states. Various colors are expressed by the existence of dots of each color C, M, Y and the magnitude relation among the diameters.
Generally, the arrangement of dots of each color is determined using visual characteristics of human beings. More specifically, dots of yellow (Y), for which color human beings possess a low visual sensitivity, are laid out in the horizontal/vertical directions in which the visual sensitivity of human beings is high with respect to the angle. Dots of the other colors are laid out in oblique directions at separation angles of 30°.
In accordance with such an arrangement, dot intervals of each color and the size of the diameters of dots determine "smoothness" of a print. As for the dot interval, approximately 200 dpi is widely used.
When such a print is read by the one-pass scan type color image reading apparatus, depending on the resolution, moiré might be generated for a specific color.
For example, a case is examined where a color print in which dots are laid out at an interval of 190 dpi in the sub-scanning direction is read by matching the up and down direction of the original image with the reading direction at the resolution of 200 dpi in the sub-scanning direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the dot intervals of the other colors are (¾)1/2 and ½ where the dot interval of Y (yellow) is 1 and dots of Y (yellow) are laid out in the vertical direction with respect to so-called raster scanning. The color having the closest dot interval to the interval of the scan resolution is Y (yellow). Accordingly, moiré tends to occur in Y (yellow) (refer to FIG. 10A).
Such a phenomenon tends to occur in an area where dots of Y (yellow) have the size with which size the dots are not coupled. For example, when expressing gray, which is a color of the original, such moiré of Y (yellow) occurs. When moiré of Y (yellow) occurs in the read image of such an area, a periodic solid area of Y (yellow) that does not seemingly exist in the original tends to be conspicuous. Thus, the quality of the print image is degraded. In addition, when the original is read at an angle, moiré as mentioned above might occur with respect to a color other than Y (yellow).
Further, it should be noted that moiré as mentioned above occurs not only when reading with RGB but also when reading a color original image by light sources of the other three colors or more than three colors.
Conventionally, a variety of countermeasures against moiré have been proposed. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 05-196894 proposes a moiré reducing method of eliminating moiré by using two kinds of optical low-pass filters. However, in this method, the dedicated components (optical low-pass filters) are used, and besides, the method can only be applied to the reading part of a demagnification optical system using a CCD.

Color image reading apparatus and color image reading method for eliminating or reducing moire


An improved modular support assembly is disclosed for reinforcing an end of a transverse beam disposed upon a longitudinally extending beam of a manufactured home. The modular support comprises a truss portion comprising an upper member, a depending member and a brace. The upper member is positioned to be supported by the longitudinally extending beam. The depending member is connected to extend downwardly from the upper member. The brace interconnects the upper member and the depending members. The truss portion is connected to the transverse beam for enabling the brace to coact with the longitudinally extending beam of a manufactured home for providing a bracing between the upper member and the longitudinally extending beam for supporting the end of the transverse beam thereby.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to manufactured homes and more particularly to an improved modular support assembly for a manufactured home.
2. Background of the Invention
In recent years, the manufactured home industry has substantially increased the quality of materials and construction of manufactured homes. This increase in quality and construction has been the result of superior materials, superior construction techniques, and new innovations which have resulted in a substantial increase in performance with a reduction in cost.
In general, a manufactured home is erected in an automated manufacturing factory using modern patterns, assembly line, and modern assembly equipment. The use of these automation techniques substantially reduces the cost and the time of construction of the manufactured home. After the manufactured home is completed, the manufactured home is stored on supports to await transportation to a permanent site for the manufactured home.
The manufactured home is loaded on a transportation carrier for transportation to the permanent site for the manufactured home. The manufactured home is positioned onto the transportation carrier by crane or other lifting means. The transportation carrier comprises a steel frame assembly supported by plural axles and transport wheels. The transportation carrier includes a hitch for attaching the transportation carrier to a towing vehicle such as a truck for transporting the manufactured home to the permanent site.
After the manufactured home is towed to the permanent site, the manufactured home is removed from the transportation carrier by a crane or other lifting means and the manufactured home is positioned on a foundation at the permanent home site. After removal of the manufactured home, the carrier transport is towed back to the manufacturing factory by a towing vehicle such as a truck for use in delivering another manufactured home. Unfortunately, the carrier transport is returned to the manufacturing factory without a load thereby substantially increasing the overall cost of delivery of the manufactured home. It is estimated that the cost of returning the carrier transport to the manufacturing factory is approximately one dollar per mile. Furthermore, the task of moving the manufactured home from the carrier transport to the foundation at the permanent home site requires the use of a crane or other lifting means. Accordingly, the transportation and installation of manufactured homes requiring the use of a carrier transport substantially adds to the overall cost of the manufactured home.
Among the most significant construction innovations developed in the manufactured home industry is the use of a dual purpose flooring system for a manufactured home. The dual purpose flooring system for a manufactured home comprises plural longitudinally extending beams and a multiplicity of transverse cross beams. The plural longitudinally extending beams are preferably steel I-beams with the multiplicity of transverse cross beams comprising wooden trusses.
The dual purpose flooring system provides a first function for the manufactured home by providing a removable transport wheel assembly and a removable hitch assembly for transporting the manufactured home to the permanent home site. A removable transport wheel assembly and a removable hitch assembly are secured to the plural longitudinally extending beams for transporting the manufactured home and eliminating the need for an independent transportation carrier. When the manufactured home reaches the permanent home site, the removable transport wheel assembly and a removable hitch assembly are removed from the manufactured home and are shipped to the manufacturing factory. Only the removable transport wheel assembly and a removable hitch assembly which comprise the most expensive portions of a transport carrier need to be returned to the manufacturing factory. In addition, the removable transport wheel assembly and a removable hitch may be returned to the manufacturing factory by a conventional freight carrier thus eliminating the need for using the towing vehicle as was the problem in the prior art manufactured home carrier transports.
The dual purpose flooring system provides a second function for the manufactured home by reducing the overall height of the manufactured home when the manufactured home is being transported to the permanent home site. Since the removable transport wheel assembly and the removable hitch assembly are directly secured to the plural longitudinally extending beams of the manufactured home, the dual purpose flooring system reduces the overall height of the manufactured home during transportation by the thickness of the frame of the carrier transport of the prior art.
The dual purpose flooring system provides a second function for the manufactured home by providing a rigid floor for supporting the manufactured home at the permanent home site. The plural longitudinally extending beams remain with the manufactured home after removal of the removable transport wheel assembly and the removable hitch assembly to provide a rigid support to the permanently mounted manufactured home. The plural longitudinally extending beams remain with the manufactured home to add to the structural integrity and strength of the flooring system. Several examples of the aforementioned dual purpose flooring system are disclosed in the following U.S. Letters Patent of the present inventor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,299 to Lindsay discloses an improved floor assembly being incorporated into a mobile building. A pair of identical frame assemblies form the floor of the building each including a plurality of middle beams mounted to and atop lower beams and further including a pair of adjacent interior sidewalls attached to the middle beams and extending therebeneath being adjacent the lower beams. The exterior sidewalls are mounted to the frame assemblies. Wheeled carriages are removably mountable to the assemblies facilitating transportation of the assemblies to a building site. A skirt is permanently mounted externally to the sidewalls and extends adjacent the floor assembly. A bracket is connected to the middle beam and the bottom beam of each frame assembly and in addition is connected to a pole which supports the adjacent middle portions of the frame assemblies. The interior sidewalls are slidably received in the bracket. In an alternate embodiment, the floor frame assembly is incorporated into a floor joist.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,189 to Lindsay discloses a floor frame assembly, formed principally of wood material, having two load-bearing outer beams and front and rear end members defining a periphery and a plurality of transverse load-supporting trusses connected normal to the outer beam between the end members. In a preferred embodiment, each truss has an upper elongate member, a shorter central elongate member attached parallel thereto by vertical cross-braced elements, and on either side of the central member a braced vertical member spaced therefrom to provide gaps of predetermined height and width. Each truss also has an end portion of the upper elongate member in cantilever form for contact thereat with a load-supporting surface at the permanent location of the floor assembly, so that additional external beams or continuous wall surfaces to support the completed floor frame assembly and any superstructure thereon is rendered unnecessary. The floor frame assembly may be further supported by conventional piers or jackposts at points under two elongate, load-supporting, inner beams closely received and connected to the trusses within the gaps. These inner beams may optionally be made of wood material, wood material supported along the edges at selected portions by metal reinforcement, or entirely formed of I-section beam lengths. In one aspect of the invention, at least one of the load-supporting outer beams has a larger vertical dimension than the other outer beam and two floor frame assemblies thus formed may be united at their respective wider outer beams and provide additional support thereunder to generate a commensurately larger floor frame assembly structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,072 to Lindsay discloses a unified floor frame assembly having two elongate outer load supporting beams formed of elongate beam sections that are butt-spliced to be cambered in parallel vertical planes to counter forces that may tend to cause sagging of the floor frame assembly during transportation. At inner vertical perimeter surfaces of the elongate beams are provided attachment plates for attachment, first, of a wheel carrier assembly detachably mountable thereto with a plurality of wheels partially recessed within the floor frame assembly and, second, a towing hitch assembly attachable to a forward end of the floor frame assembly for applying a towing force thereat. A moisture, dirt, insect and pest excluding thin covering is provided underneath the floor frame assembly and sections of heating and ventilating ducting, piping, wiring and the like are included during manufacture of the floor frame assembly. Individual floor frame assemblies may be supported at their permanent location underneath the periphery or, where two such floor frame assemblies are to be coupled to obtain a larger size floor, central elongate beams may be supported by metal posts. Upon delivery of the floor frame assembly to its intended location, the wheel carrier assembly and the towing hitch assembly are both detached and removed therefrom for reuse.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,546 to Lindsay discloses a towable unified floor frame assembly deriving lengthwise strength from two elongate I-beams disposed symmetrically about a longitudinal axis. The I-beams are separated by a plurality of angle-sectioned metal cross members welded therebetween. A plurality of trusses, corresponding in number and location to the metal cross members, is disposed to support an outer perimeter and a floor thereabove. Each truss incorporates upwardly inclined bracing elements located outwardly of the I-beams connected to flat metal connecting elements individually unified to the I-beams, preferably by welding. A waterproof and dirt excluding cover entirely covers the underneath of the floor frame assembly. Heating and ventilating ducts, power and telephone wires, water and waste pipes, thermal insulation and the like, are installed within the floor frame assembly. The entire floor frame assembly, and any superstructure built thereon, may be readily towed to a selected location on a plurality of wheels detachably mounted to brackets provided underneath the I-beams, a towing force being applied by a forwardly disposed detachable towing hitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,809 to Lindsay discloses a lightweight, strong, safely transportable modular unified floor assembly including a lengthwise wooden girder beam formed with male and female ends to facilitate cooperative integration thereby to another similar floor assembly. In another aspect of the invention, the floor assembly is manufactured with a stairwell opening of selected size and at a selected location. The floor assembly even with a stairwell opening according to this invention is strong enough to be transported comfortably and safely from its point of manufacture to the site at which it is to be located for use.
A significant improvement in the dual purpose floor system is set forth in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,189 and my U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,546. In these patents, I disclosed a transverse beam for interconnecting a first and a second I-beam for creating a dual purpose floor system. The transverse beams in combination with the first and second I-beams provided a strength sufficient for transporting the manufactured home to the permanent home site and for providing a rigid floor after the manufactured home is installed at the permanent home site. These improved transverse beams worked remarkably well and provided a substantial improvement to the manufactured home industry.
The transverse beam incorporated a first and a second slot for respectively receiving a first and a second I-beam. When the first and second I-beams were disposed within the first and second slots, a metal connecting element or bearing block was inserted between each of the first and transverse beam and each of the first and second I-beams. The metal connecting elements or bearing blocks was required to engage a side surface of the vertical portion of the I-beam that is recessed relative to the top horizontal portion of the I-beam. The metal connecting element or the bearing block was manually inserted between the transverse beam and the first and second I-beams.
In some cases, the transverse beams were manufactured at a remote location from the manufacturing factory of the manufactured home. These transverse beams have a length of nine to fourteen feet in length. In such instances, the cost of transporting the transverse beams to the manufacturing factory was a significant part of the cost of the transverse beam.
It is a primary purpose of the present invention to improve upon the aforementioned dual purpose flooring system to provide a more superior manufactured home. It is a specific purpose of the present invention to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home which enhances the aforementioned transverse beams.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home for reinforcing the terminal ends of the transverse beam of the manufactured home.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home for reinforcing the transverse beam of the manufactured home which may be installed after the transverse beams are affixed in place.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home for reinforcing the transverse beam of the manufactured home which may be installed with different spacings for accommodating for different loadings of the manufactured home.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home that is capable of easy transportation to the manufacturing factory for assembly thereat.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home wherein the modular components of the modular support may be transported in component form and assembled at the manufacturing factory to provide a substantial savings in shipping costs.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home that is capable of accommodating manufactured homes of variable size and width.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home that eliminates the need for metal connecting elements or bearing blocks.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home that is adaptable to existing manufacturing processes of manufactured homes.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home that facilitates the assembly of the manufactured home in the manufacturing factory.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved modular support for a manufactured home that reduces the overall cost of the manufactured home.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed as being merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention with in the scope of the invention. Accordingly other objects in a full understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention, the detailed description setting forth the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


This invention presented herein is a hybrid batting and sliding glove that will reduce the number of hand injuries associated with sliding head first into a base in the sports of baseball and softball. There are three key features. The Tendon Feature gently pulls the hand back keeping the fingers off the ground and into a safer position for sliding. The wrist closure feature keeps the wrist from hyperextending. The figure feature component keeps the fingers together.

There exists many gloves designed to be used in sporting events. A particular type of glove is common among baseball and softball players that are worn when at bat or on base. Some sports gloves have specific features designed to address a particular problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,190 issued 1993 Jul. 13, is designed to protect the hand when a base runner is sliding. U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,772, issued in 1996-06-25, is an inner glove-like device designed to be worn inside another conventional glove to protect the hand by providing padding. Additional gloves, often used for other sports such as motorcycling or golf, also have features that may apply to the baseball and softball. However there is a need for a baseball or softball glove that protects the batter when at bat or sliding, and yet is easy to manufacture and use.


An automatic main distributing frame (MDF) apparatus for connecting and disconnecting an exchange and a user terminal includes a first-staged matrix board having a plurality of input/output lines, the input/output lines being disposed in a matrix pattern. The MDF apparatus also includes second-staged and third-staged matrix boards having a plurality of input/output lines, the input/output lines also being disposed in matrix patterns. The second-staged matrix board is disposed perpendicular to the first matrix board and the third-staged matrix board is disposed perpendicular to the second matrix board. A center board is disposed between the first-staged matrix board and the second-staged matrix board and between the second-staged matrix board and the third-staged matrix board. The center board, the first-staged matrix board, the second-staged matrix board, and the third-staged matrix board are mutually connected through connectors.

The present invention relates to a main distributing frame (MDF) apparatus, in particular, to an automatic wiring apparatus for causing a robot to perform a jumpering operation of an MDF apparatus that connects an exchange and a subscriber line.
In recent years, various services for telephone communications have been performed as communication networks have grown. The number of subscribers who have such services is increasing year after year. In an exchange, for example, when a telephone subscriber or a user terminal is changed, the connection between the exchange and the user terminal should be removed and changed. Such operations are performed by an MDF apparatus. By inserting or removing a connection pin into/from a particular pin hole of an array on a matrix board, the exchange and the subscriber terminal are connected or disconnected. The inserting operation and removing operation of the connection pins into/from the pin holes on the matrix board of the MDF apparatus are performed by an automatic pin inserting/removing robot from a view point of efficiency.
The matrix board on the MDF apparatus is used for wiring between the subscriber and the exchange between dedicated line networks, between trunk lines, between an exchange and a transmission unit, and so forth. The matrix board is a multiple-layered plate of which a plurality of X axis paired-line patterns and a plurality of Y axis paired-line patterns are alternately formed. Pin holes are formed at all lattice points of which the X axis patterns intersect with the Y axis patterns.
To connect the X axis patterns and the Y axis patterns on the matrix board, a connection pin is inserted into a pin hole formed where an X axis pattern intersect with a Y axis pattern. When many matrix boards and connection pins are used, a large scaled MDF apparatus can be formed.
The automatic pin inserting/removing robot, which inserts or removes a connection pin into/from a pin hole on the matrix board, is composed of a robot hand portion (that holds a connection pin) and a drive mechanism. The automatic pin inserting/removing robot is designed to move in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction on a plane region opposite to many matrix boards. The automatic pin inserting/removing robot inserts or removes a connection pin into/from a pin hole by moving the robot hand portion to a position opposite to the pin hole and inserting the connection pin into the pin hole or removing the connection pin from the pin hole.
However, actually, since many matrix boards are used and/or a large robot hand portion is used for improved reliability of the automatic pin inserting/removing robot, the MDF apparatus itself becomes large.
To solve such a problem, an MDF apparatus in which an automatic pin inserting robot and a plurality of matrix boards are integrated as one unit and a plurality of units are used has been proposed. In this apparatus, each unit has a robot hand portion that moves in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction in a frame corresponding to the plane region opposite to a plurality of matrix boards. In this apparatus, a zero point aligning portion of the robot hand portion is assigned. The apparatus moves the robot hand portion to a desired connection pin or a position opposite to a pin hole corresponding to the zero point position and inserts the connection pin into the pin hole or removes the connection pin from the pin hole.


A cleaning system for a printing line having a plurality of printing units which each include a plurality of printing cylinders, such as blanket cylinders and/or plate cylinders. The cleaning system includes a cleaning device associated with each printing cylinder, which includes a rotatable brush roller that is selectively movable into and out of engagement with the respective printing cylinder. Each cleaning device further includes a cleaning fluid distribution tube for applying cleaning fluid to the brush roller to facilitate removal of foreign matter from the printing cylinder during a cleaning operation and a flicker bar that is selectively engageable with the brush roller to effect removal of foreign matter and used fluid carried thereby. Each printing unit includes an associated control module that is operable for connecting the cleaning devices of the associated printing unit with outside pneumatic, hydraulic, cleaning fluid, and electrical power sources and for controlling the operation of the cleaning devices of the associated printing unit.

During the operation of printing presses, the blankets on the blanket cylinders and the plates on the plate cylinders accumulate foreign matter, such as dried ink or ink build-up, paper, lint, clay, dirt and the like that must be removed to maintain high quality printing. As a result thereof, during a specific run or printing job, the blankets and plates must be cleaned at various times. The blankets must also be cleaned to remove the image when a particular printing job is completed.
To be effective, the blanket and plate cleaning devices must be capable of removing the foreign matter from the surface being cleaned and then discharging such removed materials from the cleaning device. For this purpose, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,307 assigned to the same assignee as the present application, blanket cleaning devices are known which include a cylindrical brush roller that is engageable with the blanket cylinder and rotatable against the blanket or plate cylinder. Solvents preferably are applied to the brush roller during the scrubbing cycle to enhance the cleaning action, and a flicker bar is mounted in engaging relation with the underside of the brush roller for causing the bristles of the brush to flex as they are directed over the flicker bar and eject foreign matter and solvent carried by the brush roller from the blanket cylinder.
While such cleaning devices have been found to effectively clean blanket cylinders, they have had certain design and operating limitations. Since the brush roller rotates against the blanket cylinder and the flicker bar engages the underside of the brush roller, reactionary forces exerted on the brush roller by the resistance of the flicker bar increase the pressure by which the brush roller bears against the blanket cylinder. When the brush roller strikes a gap in the blanket cylinder between blankets, the brush roller tends to be suddenly urged forwardly and then bounce rearwardly in reaction thereto. As the speed of the brush roller increases, so does the bouncing and vibratory action of the brush roller, which can result in undesirable streaking on the blanket being cleaned. The speed of brush roller rotation, therefore, must be limited to prevent such streaking. Moreover, since rotation of the brush roller is resisted both by its engagement with the blanket cylinder, as well as the flicker bar, a relatively high torque drive motor generally is required for the brush roller. The action of the flicker bar on the brush roller, furthermore, has been found to remove approximately 10 to 25 percent of the solvent that is applied to the brush roller during the cleaning operation. Hence, the cleaning device must be provided with solvent in sufficiently large quantities to compensate for the amount of solvent that is removed by the flicker bar, which increases the operating costs of the system.
It also is necessary that blanket and plate cleaning devices not allow excessive amounts of solvent to be applied to the moving sheet material. Since dryers utilized in high quality printing lines can accommodate only predetermined levels of solvent without creating a potentially flammable condition, caution must be taken to ensure that solvent applied to the blankets and plates during a cleaning operation and in turn to the sheet material for transport through the dryer does not exceed the capacity of the dryer. Indeed, while it is often desirable to employ four to ten printing units operating on a moving web, depending upon the color and printing requirements, the number of printing units may be limited by the amount of solvent that is imparted to the web from the blanket and plate cleaning devices. Hence, the capacity of the dryer, together with the amount of solvent applied to the web by the blanket or plate cleaning devices, can limit the printing units that may be available for the printing operation. Since heretofore it has been difficult to precisely control the amount of solvent applied to the web, it has been equally difficult to reliably determine the maximum number of printing units that may be employed without exceeding the safety limits of the dryer.
The blanket and plate cleaning devices, furthermore, must permit reliable discharge of solvent and foreign matter removed from the brush roller without creating a clogged or overflow condition that can cause the brush roller to apply excessive solvent to the moving web. In addition, in prior blanket and plate cleaning devices dangerous conditions can result in the event of a breakdown or malfunction in the mechanical or control systems of the cleaning device. For example, when solenoid control valves are employed, if the blanket or plate cleaning device breaks down with the valve in an open condition, solvent may be continuously directed onto the brush roller during the period of the malfunction, again resulting in the application of excessive solvent to the web or sheet material which is carried to the dryer. Moreover, in prior blanket and plate cleaning devices, it is frequently difficult to effect service or repair, and space limitations about the press often necessitate the added cost of custom design and installation.
Large newspaper printing presses have further distinct blanket cylinder cleaning requirements. A complete newspaper must be simultaneously printed on the printing press line within strict time restraints, and the need therefor has existed for maintaining the printing cylinders in a clean condition without interruption of the printing operation. Heretofore, this has created significant problems. Due to the ineffectiveness of conventional blanket cleaning devices on such newspaper printing lines the build up of contaminants on the blanket cylinders can occur to the extent that the web tends to adhere to the blanket cylinders, causing the web to ultimately be damaged or torn, which in turn interrupts the entire printing operation and results in costly down time and the waste of large amounts of paper. Large metropolitan newspapers can incur an excess of $50 million a year in waste paper alone associated with inadequately cleaned blanket cylinders.
Such large newspaper printing presses furthermore are relatively complex, comprising a number of printing towers each typically having a plurality of individually configured vertical stacks of printing units. Conventional blanket cleaning devices have not been well suited for adaptation in such printing lines without considerable custom design and engineering. A further problem with such large newspaper printing lines, particularly in metropolitan areas, is the limitation in the amount of volatile organic compounds or solvents that can be used in the printing and cleaning operations. The need for monitoring and precisely controlling the use of such volatile organic compounds has existed in order to ensure a safe environment and to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements. Again conventional blanket cleaning systems have been inadequate in that regard.


An apparatus for wavelength conversion of laser light which can prevent optical destruction of a wavelength conversion element and achieve a high wavelength conversion efficiency. The apparatus for wavelength conversion of laser light has an optical focusing system for focusing the input laser light on the wavelength conversion element in an optical cavity, which optical focusing system makes the cross-sectional shape of a light beam non-circular, for example, elliptical.

When a strong coherent light such as a laser light passes through a medium having a secondary non-linear optical effect (or a wavelength conversion element, hereinafter referred to as a crystal because such a medium is often an optical crystal), such crystal outputs a light wave having a frequency double the frequency of the input light. Such a crystal also outputs a light wave having a frequency which is the sum or difference of the frequencies of two input components if the input light includes a plurality of frequency components. These are referred to as the generation of a second harmonic, generation of a sum frequency, and generation of a difference frequency, respectively. To enhance the conversion efficiency of a crystal, or the ratio of the converted output light intensity of a new frequency to the input light intensity, it is necessary to satisfy a condition called phase match.
The condition for phase match requires that the refractive indexes of a crystal for a fundamental wave (input light) and a generated second harmonic (output light) are equal in the case of the generation of the second harmonic. Such phase match can be accomplished by utilizing the birefringence of a crystal, for example, by using an ordinary ray as the fundamental wave (input light) and an extraordinary ray as the second harmonic (output light). Depending on the crystal type, by appropriately selecting the orientation and temperature of the crystal, this phase match condition can be achieved within a predetermined wavelength range of the input light. Particularly, a crystal which accomplishes the phase match condition by changing crystal orientation is called an angle phase match type crystal.
As an example of an angle phase match type crystal, there is beta-barium borate (.beta.-BaB.sub.2 O.sub.4) (hereinafter referred to as BBO). BBO has several excellent features as a wavelength conversion element. It is a uniaxial crystal that has a large non-linear susceptibility to the ultraviolet region, a wide transparency region, phase match in a wide wavelength range, chemical stability, and a relatively high optical destruction strength. It has been proposed in the past to use such BBO as a wavelength conversion element in combination with an optical cavity having a plurality of reflecting surfaces for converting laser light (H. Souma, T. Sato, T. Nishimata, I. Shindo: Proceeding of International Quantum Electronics Conference 1988 Tokyo, PD-7 (1988) 19-22).
If the intensity of the input light is low, the intensity of the output light of the wavelength converter is proportional to the square of the intensity of the input light. If a low-intensity light from a continuous-wave laser is used as the input light, the conversion efficiency is extremely low. Accordingly, for high conversion efficiency, it is necessary to use an optical focusing system in combination with an optical cavity to focus the fundamental wave (input light) onto the crystal. However, since the intensity of the light within the optical cavity is much larger than that of the output light which is emitted outside of the cavity, the crystal is readily destroyed or damaged if the light within the cavity is focused to one point on the crystal by an optical focusing system having spherical lenses.
Thus, in previously known systems, the practical conversion efficiency of an apparatus for wavelength conversion of laser light is determined by the optical destruction or damage condition of the crystal.
With respect to focusing light, it has been proposed that light be focused on a non-linear optical crystal (such as BBO), which is a wavelength conversion element, by using cylindrical lenses (T. G. M. Freegarde, J. Courts, A Corney, "Second Harmonic Generation in Beta-Barium Borate using Elliptical Focusing, "Non-linear Optical Properties of Materials, 1988 Technical Digest Series Volume 9, Aug. 22-25, 1988, Troy, N.Y., pp. 77-80" and V. D. Volosov, E. V. Nilov, "Effect of the Spatial Structure of a Laser Beam on the Second Harmonic in ADP and KDP Crystals," Optical Spectroscopy (USSR) Vol. 21 (1966), pp. 392-394). However, in these references, placing a wavelength conversion element in an optical cavity was not considered, and thus light was not strongly amplified and the optical destruction of the wavelength conversion element was not a significant problem. In addition, in these references, there was no suggestion with respect to the enhancement of the wavelength conversion efficiency of continuous-wave laser lights of relatively low outputs.

Apparatus for wavelength conversion of laser light

International Business Machines Corporation


A communications system in which event based charging is implemented and in which service flows between end user equipments and application servers are filtered for charging purposes by a traffic plane function (TPF). The TPF identifies a service flow between an end user equipment and an application server and implements event based charging by sending a message to an Event Owner for the service flow requesting notification of Events associated with the service flow. The Event Owner sends a message containing an Event Result to the TPF when an Event associated with the service flow occurs and the TPF correlates the Event Result with the service flow. This correlation may include the matching of the Event Result to the service flow which the TPF then notifies to a billing control function so that the billing control function can bill the end user appropriately based on the Events. This correlation may also include the matching of the Event Result to a data download detected by the TPF on the service flow so that the system operator can confirm that the service flows filtered by the TPF match the Events notified to the TPF by the Event Owner.

End users of an Internet Protocol (IP) network, such as a private or public internet or intranet may communicate with the IP network via an access network. The end user uses an end user equipment such as a mobile or stationary telephone or computing device connected to the access network in order to send and receive communications over the IP network. The IP network may be made up of several sub-networks interfaced with each other.
The access network may be a packet switched network, such as a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network as defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The IP network and the access network are generally interfaced by a gateway node of the access network, which is an example of a traffic plane function (TPF). Where the access network is a GPRS network the gateway node will typically be a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). The gateway node transports data packets between the access network and the IP network. For charging purposes the gateway node, or a network entity associated with the gateway node, identifies packet streams or service flows between an end user connected to the access network and the IP network. Each packet stream or service flow is a flow of data transported between the access network and the IP network via the gateway node and associated with a particular application, service or group of applications and services, such as browsing on a particular site of the IP network or a VoIP (Voice over IP) or multimedia call carried over the IP network.
Content based billing (CBB) may be used for charging the end user for their use of the communications system. In content based billing, the traffic plane function (TPF) (eg. the GGSN or other equivalent device) filters the service flows it transports by matching the service flows to given criteria and measuring the network resource used by a service flow and/or detecting application-level events so that appropriate tariffs can be applied to the service flows based on the matching of the criteria. For example, network resource may be measured by each filter having an associated bucket in which the number of bytes transported over the service flow associated with that filter is stored. A service flow as identified by a gateway may correspond to one or more user data flows.
In the case of online charging, where an end user has paid up front for access to the communications system the TPF is granted a token for an identified service flow. The token is granted by a Service Control Point (SCP) or Online Charging System (OCS), more generically referred to herein as a billing control function and an example of a billing system. Then the TPF measures the network resource consumed by the service flow and/or detects application-level events and decrements the associated token accordingly. In the case of offline charging, where an end user pays later for access to the communication system, the TPF measures the network resource used by service flows and/or detects application-level events and stores the results in a charging log based on instructions from a billing system and/or on gateway local policy. The charging log is sent periodically to the billing system which uses the information to bill the end user.
So far in content based billing the TPF is less aware of the status of the application servers to which a service flow relates than is desirable. Accordingly, the TPF can measure the network resource used by a service flow based only on a limited number of criteria.
In addition, there are service delivery and charging models which the operator of the communications system (referred to herein as the network operator, generally a business organization) may not want to implement for certain application servers which are operated by a business organization different from the network operator and so are not fully trusted by the network operator. For example, the network operator may be requested to charge the end user based on information reported by a third party delivering the service. A level of control and/or monitoring by the network operator of the information reported by the third party is required, beyond that which is currently available, in order for the network operator to verify the reliability of the information reported to it by the third party. In addition the network operator may wish to ensure that the end user is charged only if a service provided by the third party is successfully delivered, which again requires a level of control and/or monitoring by the network operator which is not currently available.

Event based charging in a communications system


A microconnector in which elastic contact force is improved and a manufacturing method of a socket therefore, are provided.

As a conventional technology, there is an example of a microconnector that is made small in a similar shape to an electric connecter in which a pitch between adjacent contact terminals is of the order of a few millimeters to several hundred micrometers. In this conventional microconnector, plural tuning-fork type contact terminals are prepared on a female side, that is, on a board of a socket, and plural rod-like contact terminals are provided on a male side, that is, on a board of a plug. The rod-like contact terminals enter between the tuning-fork type contact terminals, and the rod-like contact terminals are held by the spring forces of the tuning-fork type contact terminals, so that electrical connection of both is achieved. For example, JP-A-2002-246117 (FIG. 1) discloses this example.
However, in the above microconnector, when the distance between the adjacent contact terminals, that is, the pitch between the terminals becomes as fine as a few hundred to several tens micrometers, the contact terminal itself naturally becomes fine and thin, and in the contact terminal made of metal such as phosphor bronze which is widely used in a general electric connector, the spring force becomes insufficient, and the electrical connection between both the contact terminals becomes fragile. In other words, in the microconnector, the improvement of this spring force is one of subjects to be solved.
Then, a task of the invention is to provide a microconnector in which spring force of the contact terminal is improved and a manufacturing method of a socket therefor.

Microconnector and manufacturing method of socket therefor

Abstract: The microconnector includes:                the socket 10 in which plural cantilever terminal blocks 14 having pressure receiving parts 16 are integrally formed on a board 11 made of single crystal silicon, and socket leads 15 are disposed on the terminal blocks 14; and        a plug 20 in which plug leads 21 corresponding to the socket leads 15 are provided on a plug board 23.

Abstract: The manufacturing method of the socket 10 includes:                a step of applying a resist to one surface of the board 11;         a step of patterning the terminal blocks 14 by photolithography;        a step of performing anisotropic etching to form the terminal blocks 14 to predetermined heights while a bottom is made to remain;        a step of applying a resist to the other surface of the board 11;         a step of patterning the pressure receiving parts 16 by photolithography; and        a step of performing isotropic etching to remove the bottom.


A method of exchanging fluids with suspended particles includes providing a microfluidic device with a first inlet channel operatively coupled to a source of particles and a second inlet channel operatively coupled to an exchange fluid. A transfer channel is connected at a proximal end to the first inlet channel and the second inlet channel. First and second outlet channels are connected to a distal end of the transfer channel. The source of particles is flowed at a first flow rate into the first inlet channel while the exchange fluid is flowed at a second flow rate into the second inlet channel wherein the ratio of the second flow rate to the first flow rate is at least 1.5. Particles are collected in one of the first and second outlet channels while fluid substantially free of particles is collected in the other of the first and second outlet channels.

The current standard technique to transfer particles or cells from one solution to another at the macroscale level involves centrifugation and re-suspension. This is a manual labor and time intensive process that is not easily miniaturized or integrated due to the bulk of the centrifuge machine and manual pipetting steps required. Centrifugation and pipetting steps are, of course, labor and time intensive processing steps. Attempts have been made to miniaturize this capability using microstructures to divert cells while not diverting the fluid component. For example, Morton et al. discloses an asymmetric post array used in pressure-driven microfluidic flow to move particles of interest across multiple, independent chemical streams. See Morton, K. J. et al., Crossing microfluidic streamlines to lyse, label and wash cells, Lab Chip 8, 1448-1453 (2008).
Others have used dielectrophoresis (DEP) to transfer particles electrically. For example, Tronay et al. have used activated DEP electrodes in a microfluidic device where particles can be continuously functionalized in flow. The device uses a particle exchanger which allows for particles to be taken from one medium and exposed to some reagent while minimizing mixing of the two liquids. In the exchanger, two liquids are brought in contact and particles are pushed from one to the other by the application of a dielectrophoretic force. See Tornay, R. et al., Dielectrophoresis-based particle exchanger for the manipulation and surface functionalization of particles, Lab Chip 8, 267-273 (2008). Still others have used acoustic manipulation of suspended particles, in which particles in a laminar flow microchannel are continuously translated from one medium to another with virtually no mixing. See Petersson, F. et al., Carrier Medium Exchange through Ultrasonic Particle Switching in Microfluidic Channels, Anal. Chem. 77, 1216-1221 (2005). Yet another approach uses hydrodynamic filtration in which the virtual width of flow in a microchannel determines the size of filtered cells/particles. See Yamada M. et al., Millisecond treatment of cells using microfluidic devices via two-step carrier medium exchange, Lab Chip, 8, 772-778 (2008).
While some microfluidic-based sorting devices have been proposed for solution exchange, there are concerns about device complexity, and the speed of operation. In many cases, the speed of exchange is rather slow and cannot be integrated, for example, with additional downstream processing applications such as cytometry. Microfluidic-based solution exchange systems should have high-throughput, be easy to multiplex, should be able to position particles or cells for possible downstream interrogation, and should have fast transfer. The prior techniques do not satisfy all of these criteria.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and device for high-throughput solution exchange for cell and particle suspensions

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


The present invention discloses an engine device for motorcycles in which a starter motor for transmitting drive force to a crankshaft through a reduction gear train can be disposed closer to the crankcase. The engine has a starter motor with a motor shaft, a crankshaft, and a reduction gear train for transmitting drive force of the starter motor to the crankshaft. The reduction gear train includes first gears supported for rotation on the first support shaft disposed parallel to the motor shaft of the starter motor, second gears supported on the second support shaft disposed parallel to the first support shaft, third gears supported on the generator shaft disposed parallel to the second support shaft, and a starter gear provided on the crankshaft disposed parallel to the generator shaft. The motor shaft of the starter motor is located closer to the generator shaft than the first support shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine device for motorcycles.
2. Description of Related Art
An engine device for motorcycles has been conventionally provided with a motor type starting device for starting an engine. The motor type starting device transmits drive force of the starter motor, for example, to a crankshaft through a reduction gear train housed in a side space within the crankcase (See Japanese Patent Document JP-A-Hei 6-341327, for example).
Such a reduction gear train is made up of a plurality of transmission gears each supported for rotation on a plurality of the respective support shafts disposed parallel to a motor shaft of the starter motor and the crankshaft.
Sometimes, however, a generator, which is usually provided integrally for rotation at the end of a crankshaft, is provided integrally for rotation at the end of a generator shaft disposed parallel to and offset from the crankshaft, depending on the layout of the vehicle body.
Therefore, some of transmission gears of the reduction gear train in the motor type starting device are configured such that they are supported on the generator shaft, but such a transmission gear is required to have an outside diameter greater than that of the rotor of the generator having a relatively large diameter.
Thus, the starter motor, which transmits drive force to the crankshaft through a reduction gear train having a relatively large outside diameter, is disposed at the upper part of the crankcase distant from the crankshaft. The starter motor has a strong influence on the weight balance of the vehicle in the longitudinal or the lateral direction because of its heavy weight and might cause a deviation of the weight balance because of its disposition distant from the crankshaft.
In addition, in the case where a V-type engine is provided with a motor type starting device, the starter motor can be disposed forward of the engine only at the upper part of the crankcase. In this case, the starter motor which is disposed away from the crankshaft, is disposed further forward of a cylinder block of the engine, and a running wind hitting against cooling fins might be blocked in an air-cooled engine.


A pattern of contacts that includes high speed transmitter contacts disposed in a first portion of the pattern, where the high speed transmitter contacts are disposed in first ordered channels of adjacent transmitter differential pairs. High speed receiver contacts are disposed in a second portion of the pattern, where the first portion of the pattern is not interspersed with the second portion of the pattern, and the high speed receiver contacts are disposed in first ordered channels of adjacent receiver differential pairs. At least one unbroken line of other contacts is disposed between the first portion of the pattern and the second portion of the pattern, where the other contacts do not contain any high speed transmitter contacts and high speed receiver contacts. Low speed IO contacts are disposed in a third portion of the pattern. The first ordered channels are ordered to match an order of transmitter channels of a connector or another component on a printed circuit board to which the transmitter differential pairs are routed, and the second ordered channels are ordered to match an order of receiver channels of a connector or another component on a printed circuit board to which the receiver differential pairs are routed.

Integrated circuits are operating at ever increasing speeds. For example, integrated circuits for markets such as communication and storage are often embedded with multiple cores that send and receive signals at speeds greater than about one gigabit per second, which is defined herein to be a high speed signal or a high speed device.
As the term is used herein, "integrated circuit" includes devices such as those formed on monolithic semiconducting substrates, such as those formed of group IV materials like silicon or germanium, or group III-V compounds like gallium arsenide, or mixtures of such materials. The term includes all types of devices formed, such as memory and logic, and all designs of such devices, such as MOS and bipolar.
Integrated circuits are typically formed into packaged devices with a package substrate. The package substrate provides all of the electrical connections to the integrated circuit, and provides separate electrical connections to another structure, typically referred to as the printed circuit board. Thus, as the terms are used herein, there are three different structure types used in an electrical circuit, which structures are the integrated circuit, the printed circuit board, and the interface between the integrated circuit and the printed circuit board, which is the package substrate. As contemplated herein, the integrated circuit does not at any time physically contact the printed circuit board, and the printed circuit board and the package substrate are physically separate elements that are manufactured at different times and using different processes.
The distinction between the printed circuit board and the package substrate is further exemplified by the time at which they are electrically connected to the integrated circuit. The package substrate is considered to be a part of the packaged integrated circuit, and the integrated circuit is typically not shipped from the integrated circuit manufacturer until it is assembled as a packaged device with the package substrate. However, the packaged substrate is typically assembled with the printed circuit board in a different facility at a later time by a purchaser of the packed integrated circuit. Thus, one skilled in the art is able to quickly distinguish between a printed circuit board and a package substrate.
For high speed integrated circuits, isolation between the transmitter and receiver pairs of the high speed signals and between the high speed signals and the other signals in the integrated circuit, package substrate, and printed circuit board is becoming a critical factor for ensuring the proper performance of the system. As a result, package designers strive to route integrated circuits so that the high speed signals are adequately isolated in the package substrate, and at the same time the package substrate design allows for adequate isolation in the printed circuit board. In addition, the package substrate design preferably enables routing of the high speed signals in the lowest possible number of printed circuit board layers, since this is a direct contributor to the overall cost of the system. High speed signals are those such as are implemented in Fibre Channel, Ethernet, PCI Express, Serial ATA, and SAS.
What is needed, therefore, is a system of routing high speed signals in a manner that overcomes problems and achieves goals, such as those described above, at least in part.


A method for forming a contact hole of semiconductor device is disclosed and comprises forming a word line and a first internal insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, forming an insulating film spacer at the side wall of the word line and the first internal insulating film, forming a nitride film as a second internal insulating film at a predetermined thickness on the resultant structure, forming a planarization layer on the second internal insulating film, etching the planarization layer in an atmosphere comprising C.sub.4 F.sub.8 gas, Ar gas and a hydrogen-containing gas in the presence of a contact mask, to create a contact hole through which the second internal insulating film is exposed. The hydrogen-containing gas acts to generate C--H type polymers weaker in bond strength but at a larger amount than C--C type polymers, thereby preventing the etching stop phenomenon as well as the underlying layer damage caused by overetch during the etching process of a contact hole. This allows the contact hole to be formed without increasing junction leakage current, resulting in a significant improvement in the reliability and the high integration of a semiconductor device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a method for forming a contact hole of a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to the use of hydrogen-containing gas as an etching gas in forming a contact hole, thereby preventing an underlying layer of a planarization layer to be damaged.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to better understand the background of the invention, a conventional method for forming a contact hole of a semiconductor device will be described in conjunction with FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, a semiconductor substrate 31 is provided on which two stacks of a word line 33 and a first internal insulating film 35 are formed. Then, a spacer 37 is formed at the side wall of the stack. Here, the first internal insulating film 35 and the insulating spacer 37 may be made of oxide or nitride.
Next, on the top surface of the resultant structure, a second internal insulating film 39 is deposited at a predetermined thickness, which is, then, covered with a blanket of a step coverage layer for planarization. This planarization layer 41 is typically made of an insulating layer showing good flowage while the second insulating film 39 is made of nitride. For example, spin-on-glass (hereinafter referred to as "SOG") or borophospho silicate glass (hereinafter referred to as "BPSG") may be used for the planarization layer 41.
Thereafter, a photoresist pattern (not shown) is created on the planarization layer 41 by an exposure and developing process using a contact mask (not shown). With the photoresist pattern serving as a mask, the planarization layer 41 is etched to form a contact hole 43 through which the second internal insulating film 39 is exposed. Then, the photoresist pattern is removed.
When C.sub.4 F.sub.8 and Ar are used as an etching gas for the contact hole 43, either etch stop or breakage of the second internal insulating film 39 as denoted by reference letter "a", occurs frequently. The etch stop is caused when the etching gas is used at flow rates more than a critical value since the polymer component generated at the etching process is mainly comprised of C--C bond. The breakage of the second internal insulating film results from the use of etching gas at lower flow rates than the value. The breakage of the insulating film gives rise to an increase of junction leakage current, making it difficult to form the contact hole in self-alignment.

Method for forming contact hole of semiconductor device

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A transparent resistive pressure sensor and method of making the same are disclosed. The transparent resistive pressure sensor may include a flexible pressure substrate, a pressure electrode layer, an elastic dielectric spacer with microstructure, a transparent pressure-sensitive composite layer composed of a transparent polymer dielectric matrix and a conductive one-dimensional nanomaterial oriented substantially in a thickness direction of the transparent pressure-sensitive composite layer, a support electrode layer, and a support substrate, where the elastic dielectric spacer with microstructure may include a transparent elastic dielectric film and a plurality of size-varied straight holes penetrating through the transparent elastic dielectric film in a thickness direction of the transparent elastic dielectric film.

A pressure sensor is one of the most commonly used sensors today. For example, the pressure sensors have been widely applied in various electronic products such as appliances, televisions, computers, monitors, and portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, smart watch, tablet computers, electronic books, portable game consoles, etc. Most recently, a display touchscreen pressure sensor and three-dimension touch pressure sensor have attracted extensive attention.
The pressure sensor typically generates a signal related to an applied force to measure the applied force in a specific area where the force is applied. One type of the most common pressure sensors is based on a conductive pressure-sensitive composite to achieve pressure response. The conductive pressure-sensitive composite relies on tunneling current between conductive particles embedded in an elastic polymer medium to detect pressure such as touch pressure. When the pressure-sensitive composite is compressed by a mechanical load, for example, by a finger, the electrical properties of the pressure-sensitive composite, such as resistance or resistivity, will change in response to an applied pressure. However, the practical application of the pressure-sensitive composite requires the composite to be completely and uniformly compressed in its functional region, thus requiring a large force to achieve its proper function. As a result, the polymer-conductive particle composite lacks the ability to measure the local pressure precisely and accurately and is limited to sensing the existence and difference of the overall force exerted on the composite. In addition, most conductive pressure-sensitive composites lack high optical transparency due to the requirements of the high concentration of the conductive particles and/or long-term durability under repeated deformation, which limits their applications in visual display products. Therefore, there is a need for improved pressure-sensitive composites and pressure sensing devices.

Resistive pressure sensor with improved structure design


In a computer system having a number of nodes, wherein one of the nodes has a number of processors which share a single cache, a method of providing release consistent memory coherency. Initially, a write stream is divided into separate intervals or epochs at each cache, delineated by processor synch operations. When a write miss is detected, a counter corresponding to the current epoch is incremented. When the write miss globally completes, the same epoch counter is decremented. Synch operations issued to the cache stall the issuing processor until all epochs up to and including the epoch that the synch ended have no misses outstanding. Write cache misses complete from the standpoint of the cache when ownership and data are present. This allows the latency of writes operations to be partially hidden in any combination of shared cache (both hardware and software controlled), and multiple context processors. The epoch mechanism can be used to build release consistent multiprocessor systems in the presence of shared caches.

Caching is an accepted technique to increase computer performance while reducing cost. High performance computers are built with a hierarchy of storage devices, the fastest, smallest and most expensive part of the hierarchy being placed closest to the processor, with successively slower, larger and cheaper levels of storage being further away. The innermost level of the hierarchy is the processor registers, with successive levels being primary cache memory, secondary cache memory, main memory and disk. With each further level the cost per byte of the memory decreases and the access time increases. Each level of the memory hierarchy replicates a subset of the memory hierarchy below it.
Caches are effective because programs exhibit spatial and temporal locality. Temporal locality specifies that memory locations that are accessed by a processor tend to be accessed again soon. Spatial locality specifies that memory locations that are accessed by a processor tend to be near memory locations that will be accessed soon. Caches are cost effective because they limit the amount of faster more expensive storage that must be used to obtain a certain performance point. The processor attempts to access all memory from the closest level of the hierarchy, going to the next level of the hierarchy only when the closer level does not contain the data.
Multiprocessor systems with multiple processors and shared global memory also use caches to reduce memory latency. FIG. 1 contains a logical representation of a distributed multiprocessor with caches, one per processor. The memory is physically distributed among the processors, but is addressed as one large shared memory through the network.
The presence of multiple caches permits multiple copies of the data and introduces an additional level of complexity. Data can become out-of-date in one cache because another processor has written the same data in another cache. To keep the caches coherent (see J. Archibald and J. L. Baer, An Economical Solution to the Cache Coherence Problem. In Proceedings of the 12th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, pp. 355-362, IEEE, New York, June 1985.) so that all processors always use the most up-to-date version of a piece of data, cache coherency algorithms are used.
For scalable machines with distributed memory, an invalidation-based single writer protocol (see L. Censier, and P. Feautrier, A New Solution to Coherence Problems in Multicache Systems, IEEE Transactions on Computers, C(27):1112-1118, 1978.) is often used to provide coherency. Under such protocols, each cache keeps track of the state of each cache line. A cache line is either in the readable state, the writeable state or the invalid state. In the readable state, the cache line can be read by a processor, but not written. In the writeable state, it can be read and written. In the invalid state it can be neither read nor written. A cache line can be in the readable state in multiple caches simultaneously but can be cached in the writeable state by at most one cache. The cache which contains the line in the writeable state is said to be the owner of the line. The ownership information for memory is tracked by a distributed set of directories, or by a central directory. For a processor to write a cache line, all other cached copies elsewhere in the system must be invalidated. Those caches that are invalidated will subsequently take cache misses if the cache line is accessed again, fetching the most up-to-date copy of the cache line from the last writer.
In large multiprocessor systems, cache misses that interact with remote caches can take a long time, relative to processor operating speeds. It is, therefore, desirable to overlap the long miss latency with further computation. To overlap miss latency with subsequent computation, write misses are often pipelined such that the processor resumes operation before the write miss is complete (see D. Lenoski, J. Laudon, K. Gharachorloo, W. D. Weber, A. Gupta, J. Hennessy, M. Horowitz and M. Lam, The Stanford DASH Multiprocessor. IEEE Computer, 25(3):63-79, March 1992., and J. Kuskin, D. Ofelt, M. Heinrich, J. Heinlein, R. Simoni, K. Gharachorloo, J. Chapin, D. Nakahira, J. Baxter, M. Horowitz, A. Gupta, M. Rosenblum and J. Hennessy, The Stanford FLASH Multiprocessor. In Proceedings of the 21st Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, pp. 302-313, April 1994.). In such systems, with multiple caches and multiple processors, a write miss caused by a processor has three distinct parts that can occur partly in parallel.
1. The up-to-date data must be brought into the cache that initiated the miss, if not already present. PA1 2. The ownership of the cache line must be transferred to the cache. The transfer of ownership can be implied in the data arriving in the writeable state. PA1 3. All other caches with readable copies of the cache line must invalidate their copies.
From the standpoint of the cache that initiated the miss, the miss is complete when steps one and two have occurred. At that point ownership is considered to have been transferred to the new cache, the write miss is cleared, and the write miss can be retired from any write buffer, if present. The transaction is not fully complete globally, however, until all other readable copies have been invalidated. Hence, the write miss continues to go on while the processor that caused the write miss resumes operation. In this way, long write latency is partially pipelined with further computation. In addition, the processor write buffer is used more efficiently (if present), since it can retire the write earlier.
In order to guarantee correctness of programs that overlap write latency in the manner described above, a programmer must properly label the program synchronization, whereby all accesses to shared memory are protected by special labeled locks and barriers. Locks and barriers are forms of program synchronization. Properly labeled programs do not expect a data item to be coherent until the synchronization object that protects that object is acquired (see K. Gharachorloo, D. Lenoski, J. Laudon, P. Gibbons, A. Gupta and J. Hennessy, Memory Consistency and Event Ordering in Scalable Shared-Memory Multiprocessors. In Proceedings of the 17th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, pp 15-26, May 1990.).
Synchronization operations are further broken down into acquire and release events. Machines that pipeline write misses in the manner described above need to ensure that, before any user synchronization object is released by a processor, all previous writes by that processor are globally complete (steps one, two and three are completed). Such machines are said to operate under the assumption of Release Consistency (see K. Gharachorloo, D. Lenoski, J. Laudon, P. Gibbons, A. Gupta and J. Hennessy, Memory Consistency and Event Ordering in Scalable Shared-Memory Multiprocessors. In Proceedings of the 17th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, pp 15-26, May 1990.). Release consistency stipulates that a processor must not release a synchronization object until all writes between the acquire and the release have been globally completed. A write is not globally complete until all other cached copies of the data have been invalidated.
When a write is globally complete, it is visible to all processors in the system: any processor in the system reading the memory location that was written will read the new value. To implement this behavior, a synch memory operation is defined. When a processor issues a synch operation, it stalls until all its previous writes have globally completed. This guarantee is stronger than what is required by release consistency, but easier to implement. To provide user synchronization that conforms to the release consistent model, the user synchronization library routines, for example barriers and lock releases, call synch before attempting to execute the respective synchronization. The synch call does not typically stall the processor, because most writes will have globally completed by the time the processor issues the next synch. In summary, the programmer agrees to conform to the rules of release consistency to obtain better performance.
The synch operation, as described above, for a multiprocessor system with a single processor per cache, is typically implemented using one counter per processor. FIG. 2 shows a possible block-level diagram for a multiprocessor system with one processor per cache, showing one node expanded. The cache controller increments the counter when a write miss occurs and decrements it when a write miss globally completes. System operation provides for signaling to a cache controller when a miss has globally completed. In a directory based system, either the global completion can be deduced by the requesting node when all invalidation acknowledgments return (see D. Lenoski, J. Laudon, K. Gharachorloo, W. D. Weber, A. Gupta, J. Hennessy, M. Horowitz and M. Lam, The Stanford DASH Multiprocessor. IEEE Computer, 25(3):63-79, March 1992.) or the global completion is detected by the home and an explicit message indicating completion is sent to the original requester (see J. Kuskin, D. Ofelt, M. Heinrich, J. Heinlein, R. Simoni, K. Gharachorloo, J. Chapin, D. Nakahira, J. Baxter, M. Horowitz, A. Gupta, M. Rosenblum and J. Hennessy, The Stanford FLASH Multiprocessor. In Proceedings of the 21st Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, pp. 302-313, April 1994.).! If the processor issues a synch operation, as part of a barrier or lock release for example, the synch operation will stall until the write miss counter decreases to zero.
Systems can also be built with multiple processors sharing a cache (shared-cache systems), as shown in FIG. 3. The system contains multiple nodes where each node contains multiple processors sharing a cache. In such systems it is once again desirable to implement a cache controller such that cache misses can be retired when ownership is returned, before global completion of the write miss occurs. In such systems the counter scheme used in prior art to implement a synch operation will not work (scheme is shown in FIG. 3). If a single counter per cache is used to keep track of the outstanding global misses to that cache, then the counter may not be used by any one processor to guarantee that previous writes have completed, while guaranteeing forward progress: another processor may take a cache miss and increment the counter even after the first processor stalls on the counter, such that it never goes to zero.
A scheme that uses simple per-processor outstanding-miss counters will not work in shared-cache systems either, without changing the processor hit mechanism. For example, take the following case: One processor takes a write miss, incrementing its outstanding-miss counter. The data and ownership return to the cache and the write miss is retired, but global completion of the write continues on in parallel. Another processor attached to the same cache then writes a different part of the same cache line. That write will hit in. the cache, since the write miss has been cleared. However, for correctness, that processor should wait at its next release point until the write miss for that cache line globally completes. But, since its outstanding-miss counter has not been incremented, it will not wait, and incorrect operation will result.
Prior art schemes, therefore, do not permit the pipelining of write miss latency in the presence of shared caches.
Although the problem has been described in terms of hardware multiprocessors sharing a hardware cache, the same problem exists in multiple context processors, where multiple threads of program execution again access the same shared hardware cache.
The problem also exists in shared-memory computer systems that use the virtual memory mapping hardware to maintain coherency on a virtual page basis and have multiple threads of execution accessing the main-memory page cache, on each node virtual shared-memory systems (see K. Li and P. Hudak, Memory Coherence in Shared Virtual Memory Systems. Transactions on Computers, 7(4):321-359, November 1989.)!. The page cache would then by managed by software.
As technology advances, it is likely that hardware shared cache systems with multiple threads of execution per cache will be built. Therefore, there is a need in the prior art for a cache management scheme that can hide write latency while maintaining the memory semantics of release consistency for shared cache, multiple-context and virtual shared-memory systems. The present invention provides a scheme that permits these types of systems to hide write latency by pipelining write misses.

Method to pipeline write misses in shared cache multiprocessor systems