According to one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a roller cone drill bit including a bit body having at least one support arm extending therefrom, a cone assembly containing bearings or retaining balls and rotatably mounted on a journal extending from each support arm, a lubricant reservoir disposed in each support arm, a lubricant chamber disposed in each support arm and fluidly coupled to the bearings or retaining balls, a bore disposed in each support arm to communicate lubricant between the lubricant reservoir and the lubricant chamber, and a pressure release mechanism disposed within the bore. The pressure release mechanism may be operable to relieve lubricant from the lubricant reservoir into the lubricant chamber when lubricant pressure within the lubricant reservoir exceeds pressure of the lubricant in the lubricant chamber. According to another embodiment, the disclosure relates to methods of relieving lubricant in such a bit.

Roller cone drill bits have been and are currently used to form wellbores in subterranean formations. Such drill bits generally include at least one support arm and often three support arms. A respective cone assembly may be rotatably mounted on interior portions of each support arm.
Each cone assembly often includes a base with a cavity or opening formed therein. Each cone cavity may be sized to receive exterior portions of an associated journal or spindle to allow rotation of the cone assembly relative to the associated journal or spindle while drilling a wellbore. A wide variety of bearings, bearing assemblies, bearing surfaces, seals and/or other supporting structures may be disposed between interior portions of each cone assembly and exterior portions of the associated journal or spindle.
Roller cone drill bits often include lubricant systems to supply lubricant to journals, bearings, bearing assemblies, bearing surfaces, seals and/or other supporting structures associated with rotation of each cone assembly mounted on a respective support arm. A variety of lubricants may be used with roller cone drill bits to accommodate rotation of each cone assembly relative to the respective spindle. A wide variety of seals and seal assemblies may be used to block communication between downhole well fluids and lubricants associated with rotation of each cone assembly. Various types of systems have been used to maintain lubricant system pressure to minimize potential damage to bearings, bearing assemblies, seals, journals and other supporting structures associated with rotation of a cone assembly relative to an associated support arm.

Methods and system for lubrication pressure relief for a roller cone drill bit


A chassis and skin of a delivery Autonomous Ground Vehicle include discrete upper and lower thermal management systems. The lower thermal management system is indirect, as is moves air through a closed duct that is in contact with high-heat dissipating components via heat sinks. The upper thermal management system is direct, as it moves air into the interior cavity of the AGV to cool sensors and other electronic equipment.

The present invention relates to autonomous ground vehicles, and more particularly to thermal management systems, and methods relating to delivery AGVs.
Delivery robots have been proposed and disclosed for delivery of various items to an end-customer or business. A typical delivery robot is moveable under its own power and includes a housing that covers or contains a payload, which can include groceries, take-out food orders, and the like. Delivery robots can, in many circumstances, be exposed to weather, such as rain, which can harm electronic parts and electric motors, in addition to harming the payload.
Delivery AGVs often are propelled by battery powered, motorized wheels to move packages or other items to a home or business. At times, it is expected that the cargo area of a delivery AGVs will be exposed to rain or other precipitation, such as when a customer opens a lid to access the package while exposed to rain. At other times, the delivery AGV will operate in a driving rainstorm and/or drive through puddles and be exposed to other splashing water.
The battery powered components of an AGV, such as motor controllers and voltage regulators, give off heat. Some other electronic components, such as sensors, do not produce as much heat as the heat-generating components for powering the electric drive motors.

Thermal management for a delivery autonomous ground vehicle


An opto-electronic housing and an opto-electronic assembly. The housing includes an enclosure defining a cavity. An opening through a wall of the enclosure is adapted to receive a substrate. A mount projects into the cavity opposite the opening. The mount is adapted to support an opto-electronic device. Adjacent the mount is an optically transmissive region in a wall of the enclosure. An opto-electronic assembly also includes a substrate disposed in the opening and an opto-electronic device supported by the mount.

Transmitter optical assemblies and receiver optical assemblies are known. Each such optical assembly typically includes a housing containing a substrate and an opto-electronic device. The opto-electronic device is electrically connected to a set of electrical contacts on the substrate using wire bonds. This set of electrical contacts on the substrate is in turn electrically connected, also using wire bonds, to first ends of a set of leads disposed within the housing. Second ends of the leads are accessible outside the housing. During manufacture the assembly is connected to a main circuit board carrying an electronic circuit to which the opto-electronic device is to be connected. This connection is effected by means of, for instance, a soldered connection between the second ends of the leads of the assembly and corresponding electrical conductors on the main circuit board.
Optical assemblies are typically used in optical transceivers of telecommunication network equipment and are expected to work for about ten years without any failure. The many levels of interconnections adversely affect the reliability of such assemblies. Furthermore, the opto-electronic device consists of an active light emitting or light receiving surface (or both) that must be accurately positioned so as to be optically aligned with a lens and a fiber receptacle attached to the housing. This alignment needs to be maintained over a range of operating temperatures.
For the foregoing reasons, it is necessary to carefully select the materials of which the optical assembly is fabricated so that thermal expansion will not cause optical misalignment. In addition, the material selected for the housing must allow for dissipation of any heat generated by the opto-electronic device. And the components of the optical assembly must be manufactured with high precision so that linear dimensions are accurate, usually to within about one micron, to prevent a stacking-up of tolerances that would hamper proper alignment.

Opto-electronic housing and optical assembly

Avago Technologies Fiber IP (Singapore) Ltd. Pte.


A tractor including: an engine mounted on a traveling body; a post-processing device configured to purify exhaust gas of the engine; and a tail pipe long in an up-down direction and configured to emit exhaust gas having passed through the post-processing device to the outside. The post-processing device is arranged in a standing posture in front of an operation unit on the traveling body so that the exhaust gas flows from the bottom to the top. An upwardly protruding outlet pipe is provided on an upper surface side of the post-processing device. The inner diameter of an exhaust gas inlet side of the tail pipe is set larger than the outer diameter of the outlet pipe which is inserted and communicated with the exhaust gas inlet side of the tail pipe.

Traditionally, a technology which purifies exhaust gas discharged from a diesel engine, by providing an exhaust path with a case having therein a diesel particulate filter (hereinafter, DPF case) and a case having therein a selectively reducing catalyst (hereinafter, SCR case), as a post-processing device (also referred to as exhaust gas purification device), and introducing the exhaust gas discharged from the diesel engine into both cases (see for example Patent Literatures 1 and 2; hereinafter, referred to as PTL 1 and PTL 2, respectively) is known.
In the prior art, the SCR case is arranged in a standing posture in front of an operation unit on a traveling body, in such a manner that exhaust gas flows from bottom to top. Further, a tail pipe which is long in an up-down direction is coupled to an upper surface side of the SCR case. From an exhaust gas outlet at the upper end side of the tail pipe, the exhaust gas having passed the SCR case is emitted to the outside.


An improved soft underlayer structure for perpendicular magnetic recording. The structure includes at least two soft underlayers separated by a non-magnetic spacer layer. The soft underlayer structure incorporates exchange coupling induced anisotropy for improved perpendicular magnetic recording properties, including an improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reduced adjacent track erasure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a perpendicular magnetic recording medium. In particular, the present invention is directed to a perpendicular magnetic recording medium that includes a soft magnetic underlayer that incorporates exchange coupling induced anisotropy for improved magnetic recording properties, including an improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reduced adjacent track erasure.
2. Description of Related Art
Thin film magnetic recording media are composed of multiple layers, including one or more magnetic recording layers, disposed on a substrate. Typically, the magnetic recording layer includes small magnetic grains that have an easy magnetization axis that is magnetically oriented longitudinally (i.e., in plane) with respect to the magnetic layer.
The areal density of longitudinal magnetic recording media has been increasing at a compounded growth rate of about 60% per year and areal densities as high as 100 gigabits per square inch (Gbit/in2) have been demonstrated. Scaling longitudinal recording media to higher areal densities requires smaller magnetic grains. However, as the grain size is reduced, thermal fluctuations can cause the magnetic domains to "flip", causing a loss of magnetization over a period of time. Media having a higher magnetic coercivity and an increased track density (tracks per inch, or TPI) can mitigate this problem. However, the large write head gaps that are needed for good overwrite of high coercivity media lead to excessive fringing, negatively affecting the data written on adjacent tracks.
Perpendicular (vertical) magnetic recording media have been proposed as a way to increase areal densities beyond 100 Gb/in2. Perpendicular magnetic recording media include a magnetic recording layer having an easy magnetization axis that is substantially perpendicular to the magnetic layer. A perpendicular write head, such as a monopole write head or a shielded pole write head, is utilized to magnetize the grains in the perpendicular recording layer. Examples of perpendicular recording media and perpendicular write heads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,546 by Mallary and U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,525 by Perlov, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The write head for perpendicular recording includes a write pole and a return pole that is coupled to the write pole. An electrically conductive magnetizing coil surrounds the yoke of the write pole to switch the polarity of the magnetic field applied to the write pole. During operation, the recording head flies above the magnetic recording medium by a distance referred to as the fly height. An electrical current is passed through the coil to create a magnetic flux within the write pole. The magnetic flux passes from the write pole tip through the magnetic recording layer and into a magnetically soft underlayer disposed beneath the magnetic recording layer. The soft magnetic underlayer causes the magnetic flux to pass across to the return pole. In addition, the soft underlayer produces magnetic charge images of the magnetic recording layer during read operations, increasing the magnetic flux and increasing the playback signal.
Perpendicular recording media can support higher areal densities than conventional longitudinal media, in part due to reduced demagnetizing fields in the recording transitions. While substantial advances have been made, further improvements in the magnetic recording media are necessary for the practical implementation of perpendicular magnetic recording devices. For example, the soft underlayer domains contribute to noise and lead to a lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The magnetic domains in the soft underlayer also increase spike noises. Further, the remnant magnetization from the soft underlayer can lead to distortions in the giant magnetorestrictive (GMR) read sensitivity. Therefore, the soft underlayer should have high magnetization and permeability from the writing point of view and almost zero remnant magnetization from the reading point of view.
U.S. patent application Publication No. U.S. 2002/0028357 by Shukh et al. discloses a perpendicular magnetic recording medium with anti-ferro magnetic coupling in a soft magnetic underlayer. The soft magnetic underlayer includes a first magnetic soft layer, a first interface layer on the first magnetic soft layer, a second magnetic soft layer, a second interface layer on a second magnetic soft layer and a non-magnetic coupling layer between the first interface layer and the second interface layer.
U.S. patent application Publication No. U.S. 2003/0022023 by Carey et al. discloses a dual-layered type perpendicular magnetic recording disk for use in a perpendicular magnetic recording system. The magnetic recording disk includes a laminated underlayer that has at least two ferromagnetic films exchange-coupled across an anti-ferromagnetic coupling layer. The magnetic moments of the ferromagnetic layers in the laminated underlayer are oriented anti-parallel.
During the repeated application of magnetic fields from the head to write information on any particular track on the recording media, the leakage fields from the head can erase the information written on the adjacent tracks. This adjacent track erasure is considered to be a major hurdle to the implementation of perpendicular recording, particularly due to the magnification of head leakage fields by the magnetically soft underlayer that is necessary for perpendicular recording media.
There remains a need for an improved perpendicular recording medium having improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a decreased pulse width (PW50) and reduced adjacent track erasure.

Soft magnetic underlayer with exchange coupling induced anisotropy for perpendicular magnetic recording media


The present disclosure relates to stable cosmetic compositions that include high levels of free glycolic acid. The cosmetic compositions typically include: glycolic acid and/or a salt thereof; at least one non-silicone fatty compound; at least one emulsifier; at least one water-soluble solvent; at least one silicone; and water. The cosmetic compositions are in the form of an emulsion, in particular, a water-in-oil emulsion, and typically have a low pH of below 7. Also, the cosmetic compositions have high amount of free glycolic acid, for example, at least 6 wt. % of free glycolic acid, based on the total weight of the cosmetic composition. The cosmetic compositions are particularly useful for improving the appearance of skin. Accordingly, the instant disclosure relates to methods of treating skin, for example, improving the appearance of skin using the cosmetic compositions.

Skin acts as a natural barrier between internal and external environments and therefore plays an important role in vital biological functions such as protection against mechanical and chemical injury, micro-organisms, and ultraviolet damage. The health and appearance of skin, however, can deteriorate due to environmental factors, genetic makeup, nutrition, and sun exposure.
With aging, the outer skin layer (epidermis) thins, even though the number of cell layers remains unchanged. The number of pigment-containing cells (melanocytes), however, decreases. Therefore, the skin appears pale and translucent. Large pigmented spots (age spots, liver spots, or lentigos) may appear in sun-exposed areas. Changes in the connective tissue reduce the skin's strength and elasticity. This is known as elastosis. It is more noticeable in sun-exposed areas (solar elastosis). Elastosis produces the leathery, weather-beaten appearance common to farmers, sailors, and others who spend a large amount of time outdoors. Dehydration increases the risk of skin injury. Poor nutrition can also negatively impact the skin, causing dryness, rash, and puffiness.
Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) are a class of chemical compounds that include a carboxylic acid substituted with a hydroxyl group on the adjacent carbon. They may be either naturally occurring or synthetic. AHAs are commonly found in foods. For example, AHAs include citric acid (found in citrus fruits), glycolic acid (found in sugar cane), lactic acid (found in sour milk), malic acid (found in apples), tartaric acid (found in grapes), and others.
AHAs can been used in cosmetic products that aid in the reduction of wrinkles as well as to soften strong, defining lines and improve the overall look and feel of the skin. They are also used as chemical peels available in a dermatologist's office, beauty and health spas and home kits, which usually contain a concentration of around 4%.
AHAs have an impact on keratinization, which is clinically detectable by the formation of a new stratum corneum. It appears that AHAs modulate this formation through diminished cellular cohesion between corneocytes at the lowest levels of the stratum corneum. AHAs with greater bioavailability appear to have deeper dermal effects. Glycolic acid, lactic acid, and citric acid, on topical application to photodamaged skin, have been shown to produce increased amounts of mucopolysaccharides and collagen and increased skin thickness without detectable inflammation, as monitored by skin biopsies.

Cosmetic composition comprising glycolic acid and methods of use


An inkjet recording apparatus includes a head assembly, an installation base, a positioning member, and a regulation member. The head assembly includes a recording head that ejects ink. The head assembly is installed in the installation base. The positioning member is provided for the installation base and determines a position of the head assembly. The regulation member is provided for the installation base and regulates the position of the head assembly. The regulation member is configured to press the head assembly in a pressing direction. The positioning member protrudes in a direction that intersects with the pressing direction. The head assembly includes an insertion hole into which the positioning member is inserted. The insertion hole is larger in dimension in the pressing direction than the positioning member.

The present disclosure relates to an inkjet recording apparatus.
A linehead type inkjet recording apparatus is one type of ink jet recording apparatus. The linehead type inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head. The linehead type inkjet recording apparatus conveys a recording medium and ejects ink from the recording head toward the recording medium being conveyed, thereby recording an image on the recording medium. The recording head includes a nozzle surface in which multiple nozzle orifices that allow ink to be ejected therefrom are formed.
In general, the linehead type inkjet recording apparatus includes a head assembly including recording heads in general. The recording heads are arranged in a width direction of a recording medium. Here, the width direction is perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the recording medium. The linehead type inkjet recording apparatus is also configured to eject ink of the same color (one color) from each of the recording heads of the one head assembly. A linehead type inkjet recording apparatus for color printing therefore includes for example four head assemblies. Specifically, this inkjet recording apparatus includes a main body equipped with respective head assemblies for yellow, cyan, magenta, and black colors. The head assemblies for the different colors are arranged side by side in the conveyance direction of the recording medium.
What is needed in the linehead type inkjet recording apparatuses is a more accurate positioning of the recording heads. For example, the recording heads for the different colors having different positions in the width direction of the recording medium may result in a decline in image quality because respective landing positions of ink of the different colors do not match during color printing. Specifically, vertical strips may occur in an image. Therefore, what is needed for installation of head assemblies in a main body of an inkjet recording apparatus is a more accurate positioning of the head assemblies.


The process kit is mounted on the apparatus main body from above. By the support frame, the photosensitive drum, main charger and cleaning unit are integrally supported to compose the process kit. At both ends of the support frame, handle members made of flexible resin or metal are provided. The handle members are furnished with fixing pawls for fixing the process kit to the mounting position of the apparatus main body by engaging with the fixing recesses provided at the apparatus main body side. When the process kit is lifted, since the both ends are securely supported and are kept in balance by both hands, the support state of the process kit may be always stable. Whether the process kit is installed securely in the mounting position may be judged easily. That is, any user without professional knowledge can accurately and easily install the process kit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process kit of image forming apparatus combining a plurality of constituent units such as photosensitive drum and cleaning unit contained in an image forming apparatus such as laser printer of electrostatic transfer type, and more particularly to a process kit mounted on the apparatus main body from above.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of an image forming apparatus such as laser printer of electrostatic transfer type, when it is used for a long time, it is necessary to replace the photosensitive drum, and replace or adjust other units, and usually such must be assigned to the serviceman having the professional knowledge.
Recently, by furnishing the apparatus main body with a process kit combining a plurality of constituent units such as photosensitive drum, developing unit and cleaning unit contained in the apparatus, the user of the image forming apparatus can do servicing only by replacing the process kit without asking the serviceman having the professional knowledge.
In such image forming apparatus, the user without professional knowledge can replace the process kit, and hence it is required to do the work as easily as possible.
However, lately, to cope with the trend of smaller size, lighter wight and lower cost of the apparatus, the process kit having the photosensitive drum exposed on the outside is often used. In such process kit, if the photosensitive drum touches the other member when installing the process kit, the surface is easily damaged, and particular attention is needed when mounting the process kit.
Accordingly, in such image forming apparatus, usually, in order that the mounting state can be visually checked by the user when mounting the process kit, and to cope with the thinner trend of the apparatus, the upper part of the apparatus main body is opened, and the process kit is mounted from above the apparatus main body.
Generally, such process kit is provided with a handle member for lifting by the user when mounting. As the handle member to be disposed in the process kit, as disclosed in the Japanese Examined Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. JP-B2 61-18181 (1986), when the unit for accommodating the toner is assembled in the process kit, a bar shaped handle member extending in the longitudinal direction of the process kit is widely used, which is considered so that the toner may not be shifted to one side when carrying the process kit by holding the handle member, and the handle member is provided in the upper part of the process kit in the process kit of the type for mounting from above the apparatus main body as mentioned above.
The user grips the handle member, lifts the process kit while keeping horizontal in the longitudinal direction, and mounts the process kit on the apparatus main body.
In such conventional constitution, when mounting the process kit, a certain user may hold nearly the middle of the handle member by one hand. However, when the process kit is lifted while keeping horizontal in the longitudinal direction, the supporting state is unstable if the middle of the handle member is supported by one hand, and it is difficult to keep balance as the process kit is heavier and longer. Therefore, when mounting the process kit on the apparatus main body, the balance may be broken, and, for example, the exposed photosensitive drum may be hit against the member of the apparatus main body side, and the photosensitive drum may be damaged. In particular, the supporting position of the handle member is deviated from the middle part, the process kit is installed in an inclined state, and when mounting the process kit the instability increases.
Besides, since the process kit is mounted by the user without professional knowledge, the user cannot judge, after mounting the process kit, if the process kit has been securely installed in the specified mounting position. Hence, without knowing that the process kit has been installed at a position off the specified mounting position, the opened upper part of the apparatus main body may be closed, which may lead to damage of the photosensitive drum or the like.
What is more, when dismounting the process kit and cleaning the constituent members of the image forming apparatus, cleaning members may be provided or prepared separately from the process kit, which is very bothering.


A state machine; a BIST circuit including a test pattern generator and an expected value comparison circuit; a state monitoring circuit configured to monitor whether or not a state of the state machine is a specific state; and a transition request detection circuit configured to detect a transition request signal from the specific state to a next state, are held. When the state monitoring circuit decides that the state of the state machine is the specific state, the state machine outputs a signal indicating the specific state as a state output of the state machine, and the BIST circuit performs a test of the state machine. When the transition request detection circuit detects the transition request signal while the test is performed, the BIST circuit stops the test of the state machine.

A semiconductor integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration) mounted on products such as vehicles, medical devices is required to prevent occurrences of troubles by a system before incurring a serious trouble by performing a failure detection. An idea improving security by mounting a function to reduce a risk when an element constituting the system and a mounted component are failed is called as a functional safety.
A general test method of the LSI is that a test pattern is input to the LSI by using an LSI tester, an output value thereof is taken into the LSI tester, it is compared with an expected value to decide presence/absence of failure. There is a BIST (Built in Self-Test) as one technology for a design for testability (DFT) of the LSI. According to the BIST, it is possible to decide the presence/absence of failure by a single LSI by including a test pattern generation circuit generating the test pattern and an expected value comparison circuit comparing the output value and the expected value in the LSI in advance and performing the test of the LSI. The test of the LSI using the BIST circuit is generally performed before shipping of the LSI.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a BIST circuit. An LSI 100 having the BIST circuit includes a test object circuit 101, a test pattern generator (TPG) 102, an expected value comparison circuit 103, and a multiplexer 104. A normal input SIN or a test input TIN is input to the test object circuit 101 via the multiplexer 104 controlled by a mode signal TMD from a test mode switching control part 105. In a normal operation, the normal input SIN is input to the test object circuit 101, and in a test operation, the test input TIN being a test pattern generated by the test pattern generator 102 is input to the test object circuit 101. The test object circuit 101 outputs an output value being a process result as a normal output SOUT. In the test operation, the expected value comparison circuit 103 decides the presence/absence of failure by comparing the output value of the test object circuit 101 and the expected value, and outputs a decision result as a test output (admission decision) TOUT.
Besides, a BIST circuit including an expected value generation circuit receiving an output signal from an interface part to a memory circuit and generating an expected value signal, and a comparison decision circuit performing a decision of matching or unmatching by comparing the output signal of the interface part and the expected value signal, and capable of performing a test of the interface part of a memory LSI is proposed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-339675
A BIST circuit of the related art is a circuit assumed to perform a test of an LSI when the LSI is before shipping and a test object circuit is in a non-operation state such as in a sleep mode, and it is not assumed to perform the test when the LSI is in actual operation. It is desirable that it is possible to perform the test by using the BIST circuit even in actual operation after the LSI is incorporated in a product or a system from a point of view of functional safety. There is a finite state machine (FSM) being an important component managing a control function as one of logic circuits whose reliability is required in the LSI.

Semiconductor integrated circuit including a state machine


A semiconductor device includes, a lead frame having a die pad and a plurality of leads each disposed around the die pad, a semiconductor element rested on the die pad of the lead frame, and bonding wires for electrically interconnecting the lead of the lead frame and the semiconductor element. The lead frame, the semiconductor element, and the bonding wires are sealed with a sealing resin section. The sealing resin section includes a central region provided over and around the semiconductor device, and a marginal region provided in the periphery of the central region. Thickness of the central region is greater than that of the marginal region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices and methods for manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a semiconductor device capable of improving mounting reliability and to a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, high-density integration and miniaturization technology of semiconductor devices has been progressed, and electronic appliances tend to be more miniaturized, light-weighted, and have higher performance. Due to these facts, semiconductor devices are increasingly accelerated to have higher-density integration and higher functionality, such as the ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) in LSI (Large Scale Integration). In such semiconductor devices with high-density integration and high functionality, the total number of external terminals (pins) and the layout of more terminals (pins) are being required to be increased.
Examples of such semiconductor devices are semiconductor packages that include IC chips, LSI chips, or other semiconductor chips mounted on a lead frame and sealed with dielectric-resin. As these semiconductor packages, types that are thin and have small mounting area such as QFN (Quad-Flat No-lead) packages and SON (Small Outline No-lead) packages are known. The resin-sealed types of semiconductor devices, called BGAs (Ball Grid Arrays), that are surface-mounted types of packages with solder balls serving as external terminals of the package, are also mass-produced. In addition, semiconductor devices called LGAs (Land Grid Arrays) are present as another surface-mounted type of packages. In LGAs, matrix-formed planar electrodes are provided as external terminals thereof instead of the solder balls provided in a BGA.
Examples of these conventional semiconductor devices are described in, for example, JP-A-8-227964 (1996) and JP-A-8-138988 (1996).
The semiconductor integrated circuit device disclosed in JP-A-8-227964 includes a lead frame with a circular outline and leads extending radially from a die pad disposed centrally. According to JP-A-8-227964, this conventional semiconductor-integrated circuit device has high mounting reliability for a gull-wing lead package. However, this conventional circuit device does not meet the needs of recent years for the thinning-down and downsizing of packages.
In addition, although JP-A-8-138988 describes a package including a chip of a polygonal shape with at least six sides (or of a circular shape), it is considered to be difficult to fabricate such a polygonal or circular chip.
Recently, compact semiconductor devices of lead frame types (QFN, SON, LGA, etc.), for example, are being required to have further improved mounting reliability. When a semiconductor is used in a high-temperature environment, for example in an automobile, thermal stresses are applied to the semiconductor device. Mounting reliability against such thermal stresses is particularly expected to be further improved by bringing a thermal expansion coefficient of the semiconductor device close to that of its mounting substrate.
Meanwhile, the semiconductor package of a BGA type semiconductor device disclosed in JP-A-2001-230338 has an insulating substrate formed in a circular shape so that the stresses do not concentrate at corners, and instead be applied equally according to the distance from the center. This BGA type of semiconductor device is enhanced in reliability against thermal shocks and other environmental changes. However, when mounting reliability against thermal stresses is to be further improved, such construction may be insufficient.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method therefor


A laser scanner computes a range from a laser line to an imaging sensor. The laser line illuminates a detail within an area covered by the imaging sensor, the area having a first dimension and a second dimension. The detail has a dimension perpendicular to the area. A traverse moves a laser emitter coupled to the imaging sensor, at a height above the area. The laser emitter is positioned at an offset along the scan direction with respect to the imaging sensor, and is oriented at a depression angle with respect to the area. The laser emitter projects the laser line along the second dimension of the area at a position where a image frame is acquired. The imaging sensor is sensitive to laser reflections from the detail produced by the laser line. The imaging sensor images the laser reflections from the detail to generate the image frame. A computer having a pipeline structure is connected to the imaging sensor for reception of the image frame, and for computing the range to the detail using height, depression angle and/or offset. The computer displays the range to the area and detail thereon covered by the image frame.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the field of laser scanners used for detection and measurement of three dimensional details on a target area.
2. Description of the Related Art
One challenge of scanning technology is that of translating the dimensions of an object into a computer compatible format. The idea is to acquire the object's image and digitize it for further digital manipulation. In this context, area scanners have been described to acquire the contours of an object by scanning the object and converting the image into a digital representation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,822 to Fright et al. titled Arbitrary Geometry Laser Area Scanner describes an optical non-contact area scanning apparatus and method. The three dimensional coordinates of an illuminated profile or spot on the object are recorded and the area is reconstructed using spatial location and orientation information from a spatial location system associated with the object, illumination means and image recording means. The digitized output from Fright contains information about the image scanned by the apparatus.
Similarly, another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,877 to Shulz titled Method and Apparatus for Three Dimensional Non-Contact Shape Sensing also describes sensing of numerous points on the area of an object utilizing two stages to sense a shape.
While both above systems and others in the prior art digitize an image into a computer file, at least two critical factors are only tangentially addressed, and need to be considered with respect to the present invention:
a) the time necessary to acquire the image inclusive of the time to process the acquired image information to detect small details in the image;
b) the degree of resolution to which the image has to be digitized to detect relatively small details within the image.
Typically, in the prior art, the object to be analyzed is presented to the image sensor, for example a Charge Coupled Device (CCD). The image of interest is contained in the output generated by the CCD, a large two dimensional array of individual pixel amplitudes. The output of the CCD is representative of the object presented to the camera and is processed to extract the image contained therein to create a usable computer file. The output from such a scanner is typically a large amount of data. For example, a digital image having 1024 by 1024 pixels, each pixel represented by 16 bits of amplitude to resolve small details, translates to approximately 16 million bits per image. The 16 million bits represent a substantial computational load, especially if thousands of images have to analyzed in minutes.
An approach towards reducing the time to process images of objects is to use an increased scan rate, that is, acquire more information per unit time. Such an approach is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,225 to Stern et al, titled System and Method of Selective Scanning of an Object or Pattern Including Scan Correction. Here, an optical system quickly sweeps a light beam over the image to be acquired. A scan correction is applied to compensate for motion related errors.
However, even with the faster scan rate of the '225 patent, the rate of creating and analyzing images may be insufficient when a large number of images have to be captured and analyzed to detect small details in a short time. For example, where thousands of tiles each 3 in by 3 in have to be analyzed to detect relatively small details, such as area flaws in the order of 0.1 in by 0.1 in at a depth of 0.008 in, the prior art may not be satisfactory because of the delay involved to image the overall area of each tile and extract all features to the level where a small (0.1 by 0.1 by 0.008 in) detail is reliably detected. The prior art may require relatively large memories to store the output of high resolution analog to digital (A/D) converters. The high A/D resolution is needed to detect the small change corresponding to a small flaw in the object being examined, in the order of one part in 10000 (approximately 3 in/0.01 in). This means the computing load is quite large, and the analyzed results probably delayed, not available in real time. This is because a large amount of detailed (possibly 16 bit resolution) CCD data has to be stored, then processed to extract and detect the existence of small flaws on a large object. The large object is represented by a relatively vast digital output from the image(video) A/Ds, while the flaws are a small part ( 1/10000) thereof. Hence, the large computing load in detecting small flaws in a large digital image would delay output and the utility of a prior art system.

High speed three-dimensional laser scanner with real time processing

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)


A hexapod system is provided for aligning an optical element in semiconductor clean rooms or in a vacuum, particularly in an illumination device for a microlithographic EUV projection exposure apparatus. The system includes six hexapod supporting structures. Using a set of at least two replaceable spacer elements having a different extent in at least one direction, at least one of the six supporting structures can be adjusted. The latter is adapted so that a spacer element can be removed or a spacer element can be added while the coupling of the first coupling end to the carrying structure and the coupling of the second coupling end to the optical element are maintained. A method for aligning an optical element in semiconductor clean rooms or in a vacuum including using a hexapod system is provided.

Microlithographic projection exposure apparatuses are used to transfer structures arranged on a mask onto a photosensitive layer, for example a photoresist or the like. For this purpose, the projection exposure apparatus includes an illumination device having a light source and an illumination system, which conditions the projection light generated by the light source and directs the conditioned light onto the mask. The mask illuminated by the illumination device is imaged onto the photosensitive layer by a projection objective.
When the wavelength of the projection light is shorter, commensurately smaller structures can be defined on the photosensitive layer with the aid of the projection exposure apparatus. For this reason, increasing use is now being made of projection light in the extreme ultraviolet spectral range, i.e. so-called EUV radiation, the central wavelength of which is at 13.5 nm. Such projection exposure apparatuses are often referred to for short as EUV projection exposure apparatuses.
Because, in general, there are no optical materials which have a sufficiently high transmissivity for such short wavelengths, an EUV projection exposure apparatus usually includes reflective optical elements in the form of mirrors. The mirrors are arranged in the illumination device of the EUV projection exposure apparatus, and the mirrors are used to guide the light onto the mask to illuminate the mask. With the aid of the mirrors of the associated projection objective, the illuminated mask is correspondingly imaged onto the photosensitive layer.
In order to carry this out with the desired accuracy, the mirrors are aligned precisely in all six degrees of freedom.
For precise alignment of mirrors in a projection objective, among other things, hexapod systems are known which operate according to different principles.
Thus, for example, hexapod systems are known which have a baseplate as a carrying structure which can be adjusted via replaceable spacer elements. With these known hexapods, to replace a spacer element and align the mirror carried by the hexapod, the mirror is first separated from the supporting structures and removed from the hexapod. After particular spacer elements have been replaced, the mirror is reconnected to the supporting structures of the hexapod. However, forces are exerted on the components involved, so that the alignment of the mirror is changed from the desired target alignment relative to the hexapod. If appropriate, this is corrected by readjustment which may, in turn, be subject to these perturbing influences.
Other known hexapod systems operate according to another principle and include solid-state articulations. Examples are described, for example, in EP 1 632 799 B1 or DE 10 2009 044 957 A1. Such hexapods include six supporting structures in the form of supporting arms, by which the optical element is carried and which cooperate in parallel kinematics. Two supporting arms in this case respectively form a bipod unit. In EP 1 632 799 B1, one coupling end of a supporting arm can move so that the angle between the optical element and the supporting arm in question changes and the position of the optical element is modified. The working length of the supporting arm, which was mentioned in the introduction, in this case remains unchanged. In DE 10 2009 044 957 A1, the supporting arms are formed as flexural elements. When such a flexural element bends, its working length shortens.
The carrying structure is generally installed in a stationary manner in the housing of the illumination device, and may also be formed by the housing or a frame of the illumination device itself.
The interior of an illumination device is usually evacuated, typically to attain a high vacuum. For this reason—and in principle when an illumination device is used in a semiconductor clean room—the use of a drive mechanism for changing the position of a mirror (for example, in the form of actuators, micrometer screws or differential thread apparatus) is not possible or only very limitedly possible. For actuators, elaborate encapsulations are generally used to prevent degassing of actuator materials.
In the course of the operation of an illumination device, it may furthermore occur that a mirror is removed repeatedly from the illumination system and replaced by another mirror, before being remounted at a given time. Besides precise alignment of the mirrors per se, a particularly important aspect when using mirrors in an illumination device is then the reproducibility of the position and alignment of the mirror, even if for a certain time it is not used and has been temporarily stored in a storage place. When this mirror is reinstalled, it is fully positioned and aligned again. The reproducibility of the position and alignment of a mirror after its storage and refitting into the illumination device is, for known systems, in the range of up to 10 μm, so that the realignment of the mirror is comparatively elaborate.
The removal and refitting of a mirror may, however, lead to insufficiently calculable position and situation displacements of the mirror relative to the carrying structure, which impairs the accuracy of its alignment. Here, the fastening mechanism by which the mirror or the carrying structure is coupled to the supporting structure is an important factor.
Overall, the desired accuracy for the alignment of a mirror of an illumination device for microlithographic EUV projection exposure apparatuses is increasing constantly from year to year. The position and alignment of each mirror in the illumination device should nowadays preferably be adjustable with tolerances of merely 2 μm to 3 μm, or up to 7 μrad per degree of freedom.

Systems for aligning an optical element and method for same


Vector Doppler Imaging (VDI) improves on conventional Color Doppler Imaging (CDI) by giving speed and direction of blood flow at each pixel of a display generated by a computing system. Multiple angles of Plane wave transmissions (PWT) via an ultrasound transducer conveniently give projected Doppler measurements over a wide field of view, providing enough angular diversity to identify velocity vectors in a short time window while capturing transitory flow dynamics. A fast, aliasing-resistant velocity vector estimator for PWT is presented, and VDI imaging of a carotid artery with a 5 MHz linear array is shown using a novel synthetic particle flow visualization method.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure pertains to ultrasound imaging and, more particularly, to an ultrasound imaging system utilizing velocity vector estimation for generation of a vector Doppler color image in which a synthetic particle flow visualization method is employed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrasound Imaging has developed into an effective tool for diagnosing a wide variety of disease states and conditions. The market for ultrasound equipment has seen steady growth over the years, fueled by improvements in image quality and the capability to differentiate various types of tissue. Unfortunately, there are still many applications for ultrasound systems where the equipment costs are too high for significant adoption. Examples are application areas such as breast cancer detection, prostate imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, and interventional radiology. In these areas and others, the diagnostic efficacy of ultrasound imaging depends on excellent spatial and contrast resolution for differentiation and identification of various tissue types. These performance capabilities are found only on the more expensive ultrasound systems, which have more extensive processing capabilities.
Ultrasound imaging has always required extensive signal and image processing methods, especially for array systems employing as many as 128 or more transducer elements, each with unique signal processing requirements. The last decade has seen a transition to the improved accuracy and flexibility of digital signal processing in almost all systems except for those at the lowest tiers of the market. This transition has the potential for reducing system costs in the long term by utilizing highly integrated digital circuitry. Unfortunately, the low manufacturing volumes of ultrasound systems results in substantial overhead and fixed costs for these unique circuits, and thus the transition to digital signal processing has not significantly reduced system cost.
Doppler methods in medical ultrasound encompass a number of related techniques for imaging and quantifying blood flow. For stationary targets, the round trip travel time of a pulse reflected from the target back to the transducer is the same for each transmission. Conversely, successive echographic returns from a moving object will arrive at different times with respect to the transmit pulse, and by cross correlating these echoes the velocity of the object can be estimated. Because the ultrasound path is directional (along the beam axis), only axial motion produces a Doppler signal. Flow that is transverse to the beam is not detectable, and thus the velocity magnitudes obtained in conventional Doppler methods represent only the axial component of the flow velocity vector. In order to estimate the true magnitude of the flow velocity vector, Vector Doppler methods are employed. Generally, these methods rely on multiple beam angle data to estimate the direction of the flow vector and the flow velocity vector.
Several Doppler-based methods have been developed to present different aspects of blood flow. Typically, "spatial imaging" of the flow field is used to locate vessels, to measure their size, and to observe flow structure. "Flow imaging" is used in conjunction with echographic imaging in a "duplex" mode that combines both types of images in an overlay, with echographic amplitude presented in grayscale and flow velocity rendered in color. The flow field is computed within a region of interest (ROI) that is a subset of the larger echographic image, because flow imaging is more demanding in both acquisition time and processing load.
Detailed quantification of flow velocity is possible within a much smaller sample volume chosen within the ROI. The smallest volume that can be sampled and processed independently is given by the axial length (the transmit pulse length) and the lateral beam widths (in and out of the imaging plane). Spatial resolution of any method depends on the size of the sample volume and also on the system sensitivity settings for that location.
The Spectral Doppler method reports the spectrum of flow velocity and how it varies over the cardiac cycle, and it usually presents the spectrum graphically as a spectrogram and audibly through loudspeakers. Moreover, the Spectral Doppler method computes the power spectrum of flow velocity obtained over a sequence of transmissions, and usually presents the spectrum graphically as a spectrogram and audibly through loudspeakers. Access to the full time-varying spectrum of blood velocities allows accurate calculation of mean and peak flow velocities within the sample region and provides the most complete characterization of flow disturbances of all the ultrasound Doppler methods.
Color Flow Doppler imaging of the velocity field within a region of interest is a method that presents flow using a color palette that typically renders higher velocities more brightly than slower ones, and distinguishes between different flow directions (generally toward the transducer or away from it) by using warm (reddish) and cool (bluish) tones. Very slowly moving and stationary regions are not colored, and a "wall filter" threshold is used to set the minimum cutoff velocity. Color Flow Doppler can provide approximate mean flow velocities in the region of interest, but accuracy is limited due to the short acquisition sequences needed to maintain reasonable frame rates.
Color Flow Doppler requires the acquisition of a rapid sequence of identical transmit-receive events, or "ensemble", to detect and quantify motion by various means, essentially looking for correlated differences in arrival time, or phase, of the signal. The pulse repetition frequency (PRF) can be as fast as permitted by the round trip travel time of sound from the transducer to the maximum depth of the image and back again, but is generally adjusted to the minimum permitted to visualize peak blood velocities without aliasing. Typically, an ensemble of between 8 and 16 pulse-echo events is used for each Doppler scan line in the ROI. Choice of transmit beam focus parameters usually leads to Doppler scan lines that are 2 to 3 times broader than those used for echographic imaging. The requirement to transmit an ensemble of pulses in each beam direction generally leads to slower frame rates for Color Flow Doppler than for echographic imaging. Artifacts from slow frame rate can often be more noticeable in Doppler imaging than in grayscale echography because significant changes in flow can occur over a fraction of a cardiac cycle, and even slight probe motion may result in apparent flow over the entire ROI.
Using a small ROI can improve frame rates, but may limit the assessment of flow abnormalities. For example, a Color Flow ROI using 10 Doppler lines and ensembles of 12 pulses requires 120 events, similar to a full frame echographic image.
In general, high quality Doppler imaging is more technically difficult than echographic imaging in great part because backscattering from blood is very weak compared to tissue. Well known fundamental challenges to producing uncluttered and artifact-free Color Flow images include:                The requirement for highly repeatable transmit pulses, and very low noise and phase jitter in the acquisition hardware.        Flow signals are often of the same order of magnitude as various sources of noise, but averaging has an adverse impact on frame rate and other motion artifacts.        The large contrast between the scattering amplitudes of tissue and blood leads to difficulty in discriminating between vessel walls (strong echo) and moving blood (weak echo), even when the velocity contrast is high. In addition, blood flow velocity is often very slow near vessel walls, which often move (pulsate) in synchrony with the cardiac cycle.        Doppler pulses are typically longer than echographic pulses, and care must be taken to spatially register the flow and echo images which have different resolutions. This is particularly challenging for small blood vessels since the sample volume for Doppler pulses can be larger than the vessel diameter.

Estimation and display for vector doppler imaging using plane wave transmissions


A pattern inspection apparatus includes a stage configured to mount thereon a target workpiece to be inspected where patterns are formed, at least one sensor configured to move relatively to the stage and capture optical images of the target workpiece to be inspected, a first comparing unit configured to compare first pixel data of an optical image captured by one of the at least one sensor with first reference data at a position corresponding to a position of the first pixel data, and a second comparing unit configured to compare second pixel data of an optical image captured by one of the at least one sensor at a position shifted by a sub-pixel unit from the position where the optical image of the first pixel data is captured, with second reference data at a position corresponding to the position of the second pixel data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pattern inspection apparatus and a pattern inspection method. For example, it relates to an inspection apparatus and method for inspecting patterns by using a line sensor.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, with an increase in high integration and large capacity of large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits, a circuit line width required for semiconductor elements is becoming narrower and narrower. These semiconductor elements are manufactured by exposing and transferring a pattern onto a wafer to form a circuit by means of a reduced projection exposure apparatus, known as a stepper, while using a master or "original" pattern (also called a mask or a reticle, and hereinafter generically referred to as a mask) with a circuit pattern formed thereon. Therefore, in order to manufacture a mask for transfer printing a fine circuit pattern onto a wafer, an electron beam pattern writing apparatus capable of writing or "drawing" fine circuit patterns needs to be employed. The pattern circuits maybe directly written onto a wafer by the pattern writing apparatus. In addition to the writing apparatus using electron beams, a laser beam writing apparatus which uses laser beams to write patterns is also under development.
Since a lot of manufacturing cost is needed for the production of LSI, an improvement in yield is a crucial issue. However, as typified by a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) of 1 giga-bit class, the order of a pattern constituting the LSI has been changing from submicron to nano-meter. Then, one of major factors that decrease the yield is a pattern defect of a mask used in exposing and transferring an ultrafine pattern onto a semiconductor wafer by a photolithography technique. In recent years, with miniaturization of an LSI pattern formed on a semiconductor wafer, dimensions to be detected as a pattern defect have become extremely small. Thus, a pattern inspection apparatus for inspecting defects of a transfer mask used in manufacturing the LSI needs to be highly accurate.
Incidentally, with development of multimedia technologies, the size of a liquid crystal substrate of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is becoming larger, e.g., 500 mm×600 mm or more, and a pattern of a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) or the like formed on the liquid crystal substrate is becoming finer. Therefore, it is increasingly required to inspect an ultra-fine pattern defect in a large range. For this reason, it is urgently required to develop a pattern inspection apparatus which efficiently inspects defects of a pattern of a large-area LCD and a photomask used in manufacturing the large-area LCD in a short time.
As an inspection method, there is known the method of comparing an optical image obtained by capturing a pattern formed on a target workpiece or "sample" such as a lithography mask at a predetermined magnification by use of a magnification optical system with design data, or comparing it with an optical image of an identical pattern on the target workpiece. For example, the following is known as pattern inspection methods: "die to die inspection" that compares optical image data obtained by capturing images of identical patterns at different positions on the same mask, and "die to database inspection" having the steps of inputting into an inspection apparatus the writing data (design pattern data) generated by converting pattern CAD data into an appropriate format for input to a writing apparatus when writing a pattern on a mask, generating design image data (reference image) based on the input writing data, and comparing the design image data with an optical image serving as measurement data obtained by capturing the image of the pattern. When inspecting using the inspection apparatus, the target workpiece is placed on a stage to be scanned by a flux of light while the stage is moving to perform inspection. The target workpiece is irradiated with a flux of light from a light source and an illumination optical system. Light transmitted through the target workpiece or reflected therefrom is focused on a sensor through the optical system. The image captured by the sensor is transmitted to a comparison circuit as measurement data. In the comparison circuit, after position alignment of the images, the measurement data and the reference data are compared based on an appropriate algorithm. If there is no matching between them, it is judged that a pattern defect exists.
FIGS. 23A and 23B show an example of a method for judging defects. FIG. 23A shows where a defect 84 exists in one of a plurality of light receiving elements 80. In this case, it is supposed the pixel value (gray level value) of the transmitting part is adjusted to be "20" and that of the shading part to be "0", for example. Then, a pixel 82 with no defect 84 being a shading part has a gray level value "20", whereas the pixel 82 with imaged defect 84 has a gray level value "10" as shown in FIG. 23B. Although not shown, gray level values of all the pixels in the reference data are respectively "20" because there is no defect 84. If the defect judgment threshold value for judging a defect is defined to be 7, for example, when a difference between the gray level value of a pixel and that of the reference data is 7 or more, it is judged that there is a defect. In the case of FIGS. 23A and 23B, since the pixel 82 having imaged the defect 84 has a gray level value of "10", it is judged that there is a defect because of being different from the gray level value of the reference data by 7 or more gray levels.
If a defect exists at a position straddling the boundary of a pixel region which is captured by a sensor, inspection sensitivity falls because a part of information of the defect is missing.
FIGS. 24A and 24B show an example of the situation of a defect position straddling the boundary of a pixel region. For example, when the center of a defect 86 straddles the boundary of a pixel region as shown in FIG. 24A, the two straddled light receiving elements 80 respectively capture half of the defect 86. In that case, the pixel 82 without the defect 86 has a gray level value of 20, whereas the pixel 82 having captured half of the defect 86 has a gray level value of 15 as shown in FIG. 24B. As mentioned above, if the defect judgment threshold value is defined to be 7, since the pixel 82 having imaged half of the defect 86 has a gray level value of 15, it differs from the gray level value of the reference data by only 5 gray levels. Thus, it is not judged that there is a defect, thereby making an incorrect judgment.
Now, although not related to the case of a defect straddling the boundary of a pixel region to be captured by a sensor, in the die-to-die inspection method using the inspection apparatus, a technique is disclosed that makes the relation between a pixel of chip A and a pattern be the same as the relation between a pixel of chip A′ to be compared and the pattern (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 2004-212221). Moreover, another technique is disclosed that performs mesh dividing into grids each being smaller than the size of a pixel when generating reference data from design data in the inspection apparatus (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 10-104168).
As mentioned above, if a defect exists at the position straddling the boundary of a pixel region of the sensor, since detect information is distributed into two straddled pixel regions, the inspection sensitivity is decreased, thereby resulting in a problem of overlooking defects.


A light-tight cassette (10) has an anti-clockspringing method for preventing clockspringing of a wound roll of web material (14) within the cassette (10) during storage and shipment. The web material (14) is mounted on a tubular web core (12) arranged to rotate about an axis within the cassette (10). Cassette (10) has at least one end cap (22) having a tubularly shaped hub member (34). Hub member (34) has a diametrically extending bar (38) for receiving an anti-clockspring means comprising a fork (44) having a central member (52) comprising spaced anti-rotation arms (42,44) for receiving bar (38). Fork (44), moreover, comprises at least one flexible latch finger (46) that latchingly engages the end cap (22) and a flexible lock finger (48) that is wedged between and into an annular gap formed when the hub member (20) is inserted into the web core (12) for locking the web core (12) against rotation.

It is generally known in the art to provide a web cassette for holding and dispensing a roll of unexposed light-sensitive web material for use in phototypesetting apparatus, in semi-automatic process cameras, for instance, for handling diffusion transfer material in a daylight environment, etc. In such web cassettes, the end caps have peripheral slots for receiving side edges of the cassette jacket, and are secured in light-tight relation to the side edges by adhesive and/or staples. Accordingly, a shortcoming of the prior art web cassettes is that the assembly steps of applying the adhesive to the side edges of the jacket and stapling together the mating edges of the end caps and jacket side edges add to the cost of manufacturing the web cassettes.
One prior art attempt to solve the aforementioned problem includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,833 which teaches a cartridge for light sensitive web-type material having inwardly extending annular rings in the housing ends which terminate in close running relation to the adjacent outside surface of a spool end flange to support the media material and to prevent telescoping in the event the cartridge or cassette is mishandled or dropped. While the cartridge therein disclosed may have sufficed for its intended purpose, it does not fulfill the present need set forth hereinabove.
Moreover, in various cassettes now in use for webs of photosensitive film and paper, the web is wound on a spool or core, with or without flanges, and is disposed within a cassette which totally surrounds the web and protects it from light and other damaging effects. One end of the web is normally secured to the core or spool center, and the other end extends out of the cassette through an exit slot therein. The other end of the web is fastened to the surface of the cassette, and is released therefrom for insertion into a camera or the like. It has been found that there is a tendency for the web in such cassettes to unwind during handling and shipping. Inasmuch as the inner end of the web is connected to the core or the spool center, and the other end is normally secured to the outer surface of the cassette, the web acts as a released clockspring, turning the spool as it unwinds. Such web clockspringing can result in scratching of the surface of adjacent web convolutions, causing a deterioration in the quality of the image that may be recorded thereon. In other instances the web can clockspring outwardly to the extent that the outer convolution of web jams against the inner surface of the cassette, making subsequent unreeling of the web difficult or impossible. In those situations in which the outer end of the web is not fastened to the surface of the cassette or is inadvertently released from the cassette surface, the clockspringing can cause the outer end of the web to be pulled back through the slot into the cassette, resulting in a cartridge that is completely unusable.
Various attempts have been made to provide a method of preventing clockspringing, i.e, unwinding of the web in cassettes. For example, one such method using a core locking device for a web dispensing cassette is disclosed and published as Item No. 16352 in the November 1977 issue of Research Disclosure. In this core-locking device, the web winding core is provided with a slotted end, and a core-locking member is provided that is captive and slidable in one of the two end caps of the cassette. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,881, an anti-backup device is disclosed comprising a fork-like member located within a hollow core on a rotatable film take-up core. The control member has flexible outwardly extending arms projecting from a body portion. In an engaged position of the control member, the arms thereof slide over internal cam or ratchet surfaces of the take-up core during rotation of the core in the forward (take-up) direction, and hence permits such rotation. On the other hand, these arms engage the cam or ratchet surfaces of the core post to block rotation of the core when an attempt is made to rotate the core in the reverse (unwinding) direction. When the film cartridge is placed within a camera, the fork-like member can be moved axially until it is out of engagement with the camera ratchet surfaces, thereby permitting free rotation of the core in both the forward and reverse directions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,418, an anticlockspringing apparatus is disclosed comprising a clip separate from the core and cassette, having opposite ends thereof insertable through aligned notches and slots in the core and cassette respectively, for locking the core to the cassette.
Therefore a need exists for a light tight web cassette that is easy to assemble and economical to manufacture and, an improved anti-clockspring method for preventing unwinding of the web in the cassette thereby reducing incidences of damaged cartridges.

Anti-clockspringing cassette for a roll of web material and method


Surface-decorated utensil includes a ceramic ware and a plurality of decorative laminar elements of noble metal on its surface. As an alternative, the spacing between neighboring laminar elements is not less than 0.2 mm and the maximum length of each laminar element is not more than 8.5 mm. As another alternative, the spacing between neighboring laminar elements is not less than 10 mm and the maximum length of each laminar element is not more than 12 mm. In addition, the laminar elements are coated with a frit layer. The surface-decorated utensil is not damaged when used in an electronic range, while it is superior in chemical durability and coloration.

In a ceramic utensil, such as pottery, china ware or porcelain, glassware or enamelware, gold or silver colored beautiful decoration is sometimes applied to its surface for imparting graceful or gorgeous impression. The conventional surface-decorated utensil is produced by coating a liquid gold (metal) containing an organic compound of noble metals, typified by gold resin balsam sulfide, on the surface of the utensil, by brushing or spraying or using a transfer paper etc., and subsequently firing the coated utensil. However, if the surface-decorated utensil, thus produced, is heated in, for example, an electronic range, sparks are generated on the surface of the decorative members of noble metal by the high-frequency electro-magnetic waves emanated by the electronic range thus producing cracks in the decorative members or peeling off of the decorative members. This is ascribable to the fact that the noble metal compounds making up the decorative members of noble metal is electrically conductive. For this reason, researches are recently under progress into the electrically non-conductive noble metal decorations insusceptible to damages when used in an electronic range.
For example, in JP Patents Kokal JP-A-55-51776 and JP-A-55-56079, a frit not containing or containing only a small amount of lead is added in a gold-colored or golden ingredient(s). it is stated in these Kokai publications that particles of noble metal are enclosed in the frit mixed therein and vitrified by melting of the frit caused by firing thus assuring excellent wear resistance and resistance against chemicals as well as excellent withstand voltage characteristics.
In JP Patents Kokoku JP-B-2-36558 and JP-B-5-13113 are disclosed liquid-gold or paste-gold for overglaze decoration comprised of a mixture of organic compounds of bismuth, indium and silicon. It is stated in these Patents that the noble metal decoration formed of the noble metal for overglaze decoration, that is a gold alloy, becomes electrically non-conductive by the presence of the above ingredients.
In JP Patent Kokai JP-A-6-48779, barium is added in addition to the ingredients that make the gold alloy electrically non-conductive for improving coloration in gold or silver color.
The conventional ceramic utensils, such as pottery, china ware or porcelain, glassware or enamelware, on which are applied gold or silver colored decorative members of noble metal usable on an electronic range, are made electrically insulating by adding insulating organic components in the form of organic compounds or frit into the noble metal for overglaze decoration, so that the utensil is not subjected to sparking when used in an electronic range.
In JP Patent Kokoku JP-B-3-3481 (or USA-4,713,512), there is described a tableware having a decorative member by net elements having spacings between the elements of at least 0.2 mm and a maximum size of 5 mm for withstanding microwaves.

Surface-decorated utensil with noble metal usable in electric range


A hydraulic engine which may generate rotational power by using environmentally friendly electric energy and have improved performance and a long life span, and more particularly, environmentally friendly hydraulic power units that that may extrude a working fluid to realize an engine and has a long life span. The hydraulic engine includes: a housing; a rotor that is rotatably supported in the housing and allows rotor blades to be disposed therearound; a plurality of hydraulic power units that are disposed around the rotor to be spaced apart from one another; and an output shaft that rotates as the rotor rotates and the output shaft protrudes beyond the housing, wherein a fluid extruded from hydraulic power units pressurizes the rotor blades and generates a rotational force of the output shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic power unit and a hydraulic engine including the same, and more particularly, to a hydraulic power unit that includes a ceramic oscillator and may introduce or extrude a fluid due to an operation of the ceramic oscillator, and a hydraulic engine that includes the hydraulic power unit and generates a rotational force.
2. Description of the Related Art
Power, which is used for driving vehicles, various machines, or mechanisms, is usually obtained by burning fossil fuel. When fossil fuel is burnt, a lot of carbon dioxide is generated and various other harmful materials are produced, thereby polluting the environment. Also, since there is a limited amount of fossil fuel such as crude oil or coal on the earth, there is a limitation to depending on such fossil fuel. Accordingly, attempts to find new energy sources and develop methods of efficiently using existing energy sources have been conducted.
Results of the attempts made so far include a method of generating electric energy by charging batteries to power vehicles or other machines and a hybrid method using both combustion of fossil fuel and energy from batteries. However, there is a performance limitation with respect to conventional power systems (engines) using electric energy. Accordingly, there is a demand for a power system which does not generate carbon dioxide, generates environmentally friendly electric energy, and has improved performance and a long life span.

Hydraulic power unit including ceramic oscillator and hydraulic engine including the hydraulic power unit


A method of fabricating bamboo slats into bamboo blinds, wherein bamboo wood is cut into bamboo strips of predetermined length. The bamboo strips are polished, then boiled in a hydrogen peroxide solution for bleaching the strips. The bamboo strips are then spliced into raw bamboo slats of a predetermined thickness. Next, the bamboo slats are subjected to grinding. Subsequently the bamboo slats are primed, and then molded by heat pressing. Holes are then punched in the bamboo slats for insertion of a pull cord, so that the finished bamboo slats can be assembled into a Venetian blind.

Conventionally, the slats for Venetian blinds are made from wooden material for the advantages for fine touch and goof outer appearance. However, because forests are over-cultivated in recent years, it is difficult to obtain sufficient supply of wooden material, and the cost of wooden material has become very high. Furthermore, because the fiber structure of wooden material can not bear high compression strength. Polyvinyl chloride and aluminum are also conventionally used for making slats for Venetian blinds. However, the fabrication of plastic slats will cause pollution. The way may hurt the fingers.
This application is related to U.S application Ser. No. 09/055,748, filed on Apr. 7, 1998, entitled "METHOD OF FABRICATING bamboo SLATS FOR BAMBOO BLINDS", INCORPORATED HEREIN BY reference.

Method of fabricating bamboo slats for venetian blinds


An operation lever assembly includes an operation lever including a manipulator to operate a vehicle electric equipment switch assembly. The operation lever assembly includes a guide configured to guide the manipulator into the operation lever for regular mounting.

The invention relates to operation lever assembly used for a combination switch.
The patent application publication laid-open No. Hei11-134973 discloses a combination switch mounted to a steering shaft. The combination switch includes a lever projected to operate the combination switch. This lever includes an operation portion on one side, while including, on the other side, an arm member to operate a switch assembly. The operation portion moves a manipulator, allowing contact with the switch assembly to be switched.
When the arm member, however, is mounted to the other side of the operation lever, the arm member is mountable in a regular mounting direction or in the opposite direction. This causes false mounting of the arm member to the switch assembly, or mounting in the opposite direction. In this case, the operation portion does not regularly operate the switch assembly, thus failing to switch the contact.

Vehicle electric equipment switch assembly and operation lever assembly thereof


An illumination optical unit for projection lithography serves to illuminate an object field along an illumination light beam path. The illumination optical unit includes an optical rod with end-side entrance and exit areas. The optical rod is designed in such a way that illumination light is mixed and homogenized at lateral walls of the optical rod by multiple instances of total internal reflection. An optical rod illumination specification element is disposed upstream of the optical rod in the illumination light beam path and serves to specify an illumination of the entrance area with a distribution, specified over the entrance area, of an illumination intensity and, simultaneously, an illumination angle distribution. The specified illumination intensity distribution deviates from a homogeneous distribution over the entrance area. This can result in an illumination optical unit including an optical rod, in which a specified illumination setting can be set with lower illumination light losses.

Illumination optical units for projection lithography are known from DE 195 20 563 A1. Further illumination optical units are known from WO 2005/006079 A1, WO 2003/046663A2, DE 10 2007 055 443 A, U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,218 A, US 2003/0038931 A, U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,092 A, WO 2009/024 164 A and JP 2007/27240 A.

Illumination optical element for projection lithography


The dimensional boundaries of a part are determined in a computer CAD/CAM system, including x, y, and z dimensions. A reference surface is provided and a first incremental layer of mold material is formed on the reference surface. The first incremental layer of mold material is selectively interrupted to define at least one dimensional boundary of the object. A first incremental layer of object material is formed upon at least the reference surface and assumes the dimensions defined by the interruption in the layer of mold material. The steps of forming incremental layers of mold and object material are repeated until the object or part is fully fabricated and all dimensional boundaries are defined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for fabricating three-dimensional objects. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for fabricating three-dimensional objects in incremental layers employing data generated in a CAD/CAM system, the method steps being controlled by a central computer or distributed data processing system.
2. Background Information
Recently, there have been great strides in technology relating to rapid prototyping and manufacturing ("RP&M"), particularly to the integration of CAD/CAM ("Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing") systems into the object fabrication process beyond simple object design and drafting. A goal of this technology is to obtain a final or near-final three-dimensional object or part from CAD/CAM data with as little human intervention as possible. A comprehensive discussion of the state of the RP&M art is found in Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing, P. Jacobs et al. (Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 1992). Another useful reference discussing the state of the art is found in Automated Fabrication: Improving Productivity in Manufacturing, M. Burns (PTR Prentice Hall, 1993).
One technology that has received a great deal of attention in this regard is known as "stereolithography," which literally means "three-dimensional printing." In stereolithography, dimensional data generated in a CAD/CAM system is employed to "print" an object in a fully or near-fully automated fabrication system. The most commercially successful stereolithography method and apparatus is disclosed in a number of patents assigned to 3-D Systems Inc. of Valencia, Calif. The 3-D Systems method and apparatus employs CAD/CAM data to control a beam of radiant energy (laser). The beam of radiant energy is directed into a bath of radiantly (ultra-violet) cured liquid polymer (photopolymer) to selectively cure the polymer and thus build an object through accumulation of incremental layers of cured polymer. Thus, the three-dimensional printing is accomplished by selective curing of substantially two-dimensional layers of polymeric material.
Another method and apparatus for RP&M is disclosed in a series of patents assigned to the University of Texas. In this method, a CAD/CAM system is employed to control a laser, which selectively sinters particles of material, typically a plastic powder, to form the object through accumulation of incremental layers of sintered material.
Other known RP&M systems adhesively laminate together layers of polymeric or paper tape. Each layer is trimmed by a laser or other means to the cross-sectional dimensions of the object, wherein accumulation of layers of tape forms the fully fabricated object. A generic term for all of these RP&M apparatus is "free-form" fabricators.
A drawback to all of these methods is that the ultimate part or object, while in some respects satisfactory for model building, generally lacks the material properties desired of a satisfactory prototype part. For example, the parts resulting from the cured liquid polymer processes tend to be brittle. The parts resulting from the laser sintering process suffer from the porosity and strength problems typical of sintered parts.
One attempted solution to this problem is disclosed in a series of patents assigned to the University of Southern California. In this process, liquid metal is deposited in droplet form and the droplet stream is manipulated to form the object through accumulation and solidification of the metal droplets. This process results in a satisfactory metallic prototype part or object, but is extremely complex, even in the context of this complex technological area, is extremely expensive, and the control systems are not sufficiently developed to accurately and repeatably produce prototype parts with satisfactory dimensional tolerances.
A further drawback to these methods is that they are time-consuming and expensive, typically costing several hundred thousand dollars at initial purchase price. Unwieldy (tape and vats of liquid or powdered polymer) and hazardous (ultraviolet-cured photopolymers) materials are used in several of these processes. Moreover, these RP&M methods require relatively large apparatus operating under controlled conditions. Nevertheless, the time and expense consumed by these RP&M methods is small compared to the time and cost necessary to produce a prototype part using conventional tooling and manufacturing processes.
The previously mentioned 3-D Systems Inc. has advanced the state of RP&M technology with its Actua 2100.TM. modeler. This system uses an "ink-jet" technology to deposit layers of a waxy polymer to build up a model. This system is faster than laser-driven photopolymer or sintering systems, has a smaller "footprint" than prior stereolithography apparatus, and costs less than one hundred thousand dollars. Nevertheless, because the Actua 2100.TM. is confined by the "ink-jet" process that it uses to waxy polymers, there is room for improvement in the material properties of the resulting part.
A need exists, therefore, for a method of fabricating objects, employing free-form fabricators, that produces a prototype part having satisfactory material properties in a shorter time interval and using a less bulky apparatus.

Method of incremental layered object fabrication


A system and method are disclosed for an odor removal treatment system that includes a liquid oxidizing agent that includes a peroxide and water, a liquid buffering agent that includes a carbonate salt and water, and a cleaning device, wherein the liquid oxidizing agent is stored separately from the liquid buffering agent in a pre-application mode, and combinable with the liquid buffering agent to form a solution in an application mode just prior to applying the solution to a textile. The cleaning device may be a portable vacuum cleaning mechanism onboard a vehicle. The peroxide may be hydrogen peroxide and the solution may have a hydrogen peroxide weight percent of about 1.5%.

In the cleaning industry, cleaning compounds, such as soaps, detergents, and surfactants, are used for extracting contaminants from the surface of a textile. Generally, such cleaning compounds are effective because their chemical structures include both polar (hydrophilic) and non-polar (hydrophobic) components. Therefore, cleaning compounds can be dissolved with a polar solvent, such as water, and are capable of dissolving and extracting non-polar solutes, such as oil, grease, dirt, and other contaminants. Once the contaminants have been extracted from the textile, the solution, now holding the suspended contaminants, can then be lifted from the textile and expelled, thus leaving behind a clean surface.
In some applications, extracting contaminants from the textile is not the main goal. For example, when treating textiles that have an unpleasant smell (i.e. textiles that have been saturated with animal urine), some cleaning compounds target the malodorous contaminants to simply mask the bad smell. Other compounds do not mask the smell but instead alter the malodorous contaminants in such a way so as to decrease the foul odor that emanates from them.
However, conventional cleaning compounds are often stored as solids and require thorough mixing in order to dissolve the solid cleaning compounds into the cleaning solvent (e.g. water). This process of thoroughly mixing the solid cleaning chemical into a solvent can take a lot of time and may reduce the cleaning power of the chemical compound.
For example, a cleaning crew that drives a portable cleaning vehicle to a site may have to spend valuable time ensuring that the proper amount of solid chemicals are dissolved into a cleaning solvent and that the solid chemicals are sufficiently suspended in the solvent. Once dissolved, the cleaning crew must continually check to make sure that solid cleaning compounds do not precipitate out of solution, which would decrease the cleaning/oxidizing power of the cleaning system and potentially waste valuable chemicals. Additionally, any solid cleaning compounds that are not completely dissolved into the solvent may remain on the textile after the cleaning process and thus toxic and/or harmful chemicals may be left at the cleaning site.

Odor removal treatment comprising a peroxide/carbonate mixture


A system and method estimates symbol timing of long training symbols and coarse carrier frequency offset in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing receiver of a wireless local area network. The system and method estimates the symbol timing and coarse carrier frequency offset during short training symbols of a preamble of a data packet. Fine carrier frequency offset is estimated during long training symbols. Channel estimates during a data portion of the data packet are adapted.

A wireless local area network (WLAN) uses radio frequency (RF) signals to transmit and receive data between electronic devices. WLANs provide all of the features and benefits of traditional hard-wired LANs without requiring cable connections between the devices. In WLANs, transmitters and receivers (often implemented as wireless network interface cards) provide a wireless interface between a client and a wireless access point to create a transparent connection between the client and the network. Alternately, the WLAN provides a wireless interface directly between two devices.
The access point is the wireless equivalent of a hub. The access point is typically connected to the WLAN backbone through a standard Ethernet cable and communicates with the wireless devices using an antenna. The wireless access point maintains the connections to clients that are located in a coverage area of the access point. The wireless access point also typically handles security by granting or denying access.
IEEE section 802.11(a), which is hereby incorporated by reference, standardized WLANs that operate at approximately 5 GHz with data speeds up to 54 Mbps. A low band operates at frequencies from 5.15 to 5.25 GHz with a maximum power output of 50 mW. A middle band operates at frequencies from 5.25 to 5.35 GHz with a maximum power output of 250 mW. A high band operates at frequencies from 5.75 to 5.85 GHz with a maximum power output of 1000 mW.
Because of the high power output, wireless devices operating in the high band will tend to include building-to-building and outdoor applications. The low and middle bands are more suitable for in-building applications. IEEE section 802.11(a) employs orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) instead of direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) that is employed by IEEE section 802.11(b). OFDM provides higher data rates and reduces transmission echo and distortion that are caused by multipath propagation and radio frequency interference (RFI).
Referring now to FIG. 1, data packets include a preamble 10 that is specified by IEEE section 802.11(a). The preamble 10 includes a plurality of short training symbols 12 (S0, . . . , S9). The short training symbols 12 are followed by a guard interval 14 (Guard) and two long training symbols 16-1 and 16-2 (L0, L1). The duration of the short training symbol 12 is Tshort, the duration of the guard interval 14 is TG12, the duration of the long training symbols 16 is Tlong, the duration of the guard interval 15 for data symbols is TG1, and the duration of data symbols 18 is Tdata. Guard intervals 15 and data symbols 18 alternate after the long training symbols 16. According to IEEE section 802.11(a), Tshort=0.8 μs, TG1=0.8 μs, TG12=1.6 μs, Tlong=3.2 μs, and Tdata=4 μs.
One important task of the OFDM receiver is the estimation of symbol timing and carrier frequency offset. Symbol timing is needed to determine the samples of each OFDM symbol that correspond to the guard interval and the samples that are used for fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing. Compensation of the carrier frequency offset is also needed to maximize signal amplitude and minimize inter-carrier interference (ICI).
Conventional symbol timing circuits correlate two halves of a single OFDM training symbol whose duration is equal to the duration of the data symbols. For example, see the symbol timing circuit disclosed in T. Schmidl and D.C. Cox, "Robust Frequency and Timing Synchronization for OFDM", IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 45, no. 12, (December 1999), pp. 1613–1621, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The conventional symbol timing circuit exhibits a plateau when there is no intersymbol interference (ISI). The duration of the plateau is the duration of the guard interval that is not affected by ISI. The plateau in the conventional symbol timing circuit corresponds to the range of acceptable times for the start of the frame. For example, the center of the plateau is a desirable estimate of the symbol timing. Since only one training symbol is employed, the conventional symbol timing circuit does not allow time for possible switching of antennas and corresponding AGC settling during packet detection.

Method and apparatus for estimation of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbol timing and carrier frequency offset


A new and distinct variety that is characterized by producing a freestone fruit with good coloration and that is ripe for commercial harvesting and shipment June 15-25 in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. The new variety is closely similar to the ‘Saucer’ peach tree (non-patented) from which it is a bud sport and from which it is distinguishable in that the fruit is much more highly colored, and has yellow flesh.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach tree (Prunus persica) which will hereinafter be denominated varietally as the 'JR 7827' peach and more particularly as a peach tree which produces free stone fruit which can mature for commercial harvest between approximately June 15-25 of each year.
The present invention is a bud sport of a 'Saucer' peach (nonpatented) that was discovered in a 'Saucer' peach planting in the Goshen area of the San Joaquin Valley of Central California in the year 2000. This new variety has the appearance of a 'Saucer' peach as far as the fruit shape (saucer), however it is very highly colored and is yellow fleshed. This bud sport was grafted on a 'Nemaguard' rootstock and planted on the property of the inventor in 2002. By the third year, 2005, the tree had produced a very good crop. The inventor examined the progeny and found that it possessed all the characteristics of the parent.


Provided is a semiconductor structure. The semiconductor structure is formed on a substrate, and includes a first region and a second region surrounded by the first region. The first region has a first pattern density, and the second region has a second pattern density. The first pattern density is smaller than the second pattern density. The second region includes a central region and a boundary region. The central region has a first critical dimension, and the boundary region has a second critical dimension. Variation between the first critical dimension and the second critical dimension is smaller than 6.5%.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a photomask and a semiconductor structure.
2. Description of Related Art
As the critical dimension (CD) of semiconductor structures continues to be reduced, the requirement on the resolution of photolithography also becomes higher. Generally speaking, there is usually a high pattern density device region (e.g. memory cell region or array region) and a low pattern density device region (e.g. peripheral region). In a boundary region of the high pattern density device region, which is close to the low pattern density device region, holes in uneven sizes and even blind hole defects of the semiconductor structure are commonly produced due to a significant difference in pattern density. As a result, the product reliability is reduced. Thus, how to improve the uniformity of critical dimension in the boundary region and reduce the defects and blind holes in the semiconductor structure, thereby improving the product reliability, has become an important issue.