Contact structures having I shapes and L shapes, and methods of fabricating I-shaped and L-shaped contact structures, are employed in semiconductor devices and, in certain instances, phase-change nonvolatile memory devices. The I-shaped and L-shaped contact structures produced by these methods exhibit relatively small active areas. The methods that determine the contact structure dimensions employ conventional semiconductor deposit and etch processing steps that are capable of creating readily reproducible results.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and fabrication methods and, more particularly, to methods for fabricating contacts for use in phase change memory devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Solid-state memory devices are used throughout the field of electronics. Typical memory applications include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), and flash memory. These can be divided into volatile and non-volatile memories. The primary element of the non-volatile devices, such as an EEPROM, typically employs a floating gate field effect transistor. A charge is stored on the gate of the field effect transistor to program each memory bit and has limited reprogrammability. These classes of memories may also be relatively slow to program. Although the memory cells of SRAMs, ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, and flash memories do not require refreshing, they may suffer from disadvantages such as lower storage densities, larger size, and greater cost to manufacture compared to volatile DRAM devices.
The prior art has endeavored to create memory devices that are both random access and non-volatile using phase changing memory elements, as opposed to the charge storage memory elements used in many commercial memory devices. The term memory material will be used herein to refer to a material exhibiting structure phase changes in response to external stimuli. An example of a memory material is a phase-change material such as chalcogenide. The use of phase change memory materials that can be electrically switched between a generally amorphous first structural state and a generally crystalline second structural state for electronic memory applications is thus known in the art. Phase change materials may also be electrically switched between different detectable states of local order across an entire spectrum between the completely amorphous and the completely crystalline states. These materials are also truly non-volatile in that, when set in either a crystalline, semi-crystalline, amorphous, or semi-amorphous state, they possess a fixed resistance value. That resistance value is retained until reset as it represents a physical state of the material (e.g., crystalline or amorphous).
The large dynamic range of resistance values offered by phase change memory materials theoretically provides for the storage of multiple bits of binary information in a single cell. This could possibly be achieved by encoding binary information in analog form and, thereby, storing multiple bits of binary encoded information as multiple resistance values in a single cell. Thus, phase change memories may be able to be operated as traditional binary memories or as memories with numerical bases greater than two.
Typical materials suitable for phase change memory material applications include those utilizing various chalcogenide-including materials. Typical chalcogenide-including materials used for phase change memory applications may contain, for example, at least one of Te, Se, Ge, Sb, Bi, Pb, Sn, As, S, Si, P, and/or O. These non-volatile memory devices may use for example a monolithic body of chalcogenide material. A resulting memory structure, at least in theory, may require very little chip real estate to store a bit of information, thereby providing for inherently high-density memory chips.
One characteristic common among solid state memory devices including phase change memory devices is significant power consumption, particularly in setting or resetting memory elements. Even as downscaling of component sizes continues, power consumption continues to be a significant consideration, particularly in portable devices that rely on power cells (e.g., batteries). The reduction in power consumption of a memory device continues to be a priority.
The operation of chalcogenide memory cells requires that a region of the chalcogenide memory material, referred to as the active region, be subjected to a current pulse to set or reset the value retained by the cell. The switching voltages, currents, and powers of chalcogenide memory elements are believed to be scalable with device size and contact area, so that smaller contacts may produce smaller active regions with correspondingly lower power consumptions. With conventional semiconductor processing technology, the minimum achievable dimensions of a contact for a chalcogenide memory device may be limited by photolithography tools. Such dimensions may cause switching currents, voltages, and switching times to be too large and cycle life to be too small for integration with many leading-edge semiconductor technologies. Additionally, conventional chalcogenide memory fabrication methods may not be able to efficiently and reliably produce the uniform memory elements needed for large-scale memory devices.
A need thus exists in the prior art to provide memory contacts having a reduced size and a method for reliably manufacturing the contacts for phase-change memory devices so that, among other benefits, power requirements to program the memory devices may be reduced.

I-shaped and L-shaped contact structures and their fabrication methods


A collapsible snow probe includes a tip and a plurality of elongate tubular members each of which has an interior bore. A cable is provided having a first end and a second end. The first end is secured to the tip. The cable extends through the interior bore of each of the tubular members with the second end protruding. A cable engaging member secured to the cable. A clamping member that clamps onto the cable engaging member and bears against a remote end of the plurality of tubular members when positioned in end to end relation, such that the cable is maintained in tension and the interior bores of the tubular members are maintained in axial alignment.

When an avalanche occurs, snow probes are used in a frantic search to find persons buried alive beneath a thick layer of snow. Each probe consists of a slender rod, six or more feet in length, that is used to probe for objects concealed beneath the layer of snow. To facilitate transportation and storage, these probes are manufactured in a plurality of mating sections. Persons buried live beneath the snow will suffocate if not located in a timely fashion. It is, therefore, important that the time required for assembly of equipment be kept to a minimum.
The industry has gone to a snow probe consisting of a plurality of tubular sections connected by a cable. A cable engaging screw member is secured to the cable. A nut is provided that is adapted to be threaded onto the screw member. In order to assemble the collapsible snow probe, the tubular sections are position in end to end relation. The nut is then threaded onto the screw member until it bears against a remote end of the plurality of tubular sections. This maintains the cable in tension and the interior bores of the tubular members are maintained in axial alignment.
Problems have been experienced with the screw and nut engagement. It is difficult to couple the screw member and the nut in cold weather when one is wearing gloves. As a result, the screw member and the nut can become cross-threaded. It takes time to thread the nut onto the screw member. Ice tends to form on the screw member and the nut, making it difficult, if not impossible, to separate the nut from the screw member without first melting the ice. The torque necessary to undo the nut sometimes results in a twisting of the cable. When the cable twists, instead of being loosened, the nut engages the screw member more tightly; so tightly they sometimes must be returned to the factory for removal.


An unbacked transport and conditioning printing system for printing a pattern on a fabric is disclosed. The system includes a fabric characterization and tension control subsystem for gathering information on variations in the fabric and an irregularity detection subsystem for detecting irregularities in the fabric, as well as, crease detection and removal. The fabric passes through a fabric drying and conditioning subsystem for characterization of the fabric. The system also includes a fabric control subsystem for advancing the fabric through a print zone, where a pattern is printed on an unbacked fabric. The fabric is transported through a drying and post-processing subsystem and a closed-loop color control subsystem.

In the fabric printing industry, fabrics are typically colored with coloring agents, such as dyes or pigments, using a screen printing technology. Most large-scale fabric printing operations employ rotary screen printing technologies that utilize patterns incorporated into fine metal screens that are shaped into cylindrical forms. The coloring agents, are often in a fluid paste form, are pumped through dedicated tubing into the interior of fine cylindrical metal screens and are subsequently transferred to the fabric through the patterned pathways in the fine metal screens by a squeegee that presses the paste through the screens and onto the fabric. After each screen print run, with each color way (i.e., a color variant of the same pattern that uses different color combination), the rotary screen printer must be shut down to clean the various color pastes from the tubing and screens. This cleanup process is time intensive and environmentally unfriendly because it produces a large amount of effluent stream during the cleanup process. In addition to cleaning the rotary screen printer, a different screen must be inserted, aligned and adjusted into the printer to print a different pattern on the fabric.
To ensure that the pattern printed on the fabric is not distorted, industrial fabric printing machines stretch the fabric, and subsequently glue the stretched fabric to a belt that is run through the printing machine. The moving belt is indexed through the printing machine and the various screen stages. By attaching the fabric to the belt, the fabric is prohibited from moving with respect to the belt, which ensures fabric motion control that helps guarantee adequate registration of the fabric through the various stages in such a way that the fabric moves in a path corresponding to the movement path of the belt. However, gluing the fabric to the belt is an extremely dirty process that creates a significant environmentally unfriendly waste stream resulting from the gluing process and the subsequent washing and stripping processes. These inherent problems make industrial fabric printing processes prohibitive for use by smaller-scale users in the short run or sample printing situations. Furthermore the need for short and sample quantity runs generally exists in an office or a store setting, which generally is not designed to handle, treat and dispose of industrial waste streams.
To remedy the need for printing processes available on a smaller than industrial scale, digital ink-jet printing processes on fabrics have been developed. As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, digital printers utilize minute droplets of ink colorant that are ejected from nozzles of the ink-jet printer onto a target surface, such as, paper or fabric. In order to produce an image or pattern with the desired print quality on the fabric, special pre and post-treatment processes are employed. Pre & Post printing processes are used to deposit an ink receptive layer, and then to condition the fabric and the ink receptive layer for optimal print quality condition. Finally, the colorants require a fixing process (post processing) that either physically or chemically fix the colorants to the fabric fibers. The pre-printing conditioning steps are used to initially control the humidity and temperature of the fabric to provide an optional ink reception state for the fabric, and the post-processing steps are used to "fix" the ink colorant to the fabric, after the ink colorant has been received by the fibers in the fabric. In addition, pre-treating the fabric with organic materials increases ink receptivity and reduces the amount of ink spread, which arises from bleeding of the printed ink along the fibers in the fabric. The ink colorant is generally prevented from "blowing through" in digital printing systems by laminating the fabric with a paper-backing layer. This produces a barrier to the ink "blow through." The paper layer also stabilizes the fabric for feeding through a traditional ink-jet printer media path.
Backed fabrics may be passed through some modified ink-jet printers for the printing of a pattern on the backed fabric. However, the use of off-line paper backings may be costly, time consuming, and may limit the range of fabrics that may be fed through the ink-jet printer. Furthermore, the fabric may be damaged when the fabric is removed from the paper backing. Thus, printing on unbacked fabrics is often desirable.
As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the problems of printing on unbacked fabrics using an ink-jet printer are not trivial. The fundamental nature of woven fabrics makes feeding the unbacked fabric and printing a pattern on the unbacked fabric more complex than traditional ink-jet printing on paper. For instance, fabrics have an almost infinite variation in fabric characteristics due to various factors including, but not limited to, the type of fiber used in the fabric, the fiber weight, the fabric weight, the different blends of materials used in the fiber, the weave pattern used to create the fabric, the environmental conditions existing at the time of printing, the pre-treatments used on the fabric, the surface finish of the fabric, the varying moisture contents of the fiber in the fabric, the non-linear behavior of woven materials, and the difference in fabric behavior between wet and dry fabrics. These factors prohibit the unbacked fabrics from moving accurately and uniformly through the printing processes using standard media-moving machines used in the traditional ink-jet printers.
The challenge is to make a clean, versatile and user-friendly, unbacked printing system for non-mill applications for producing printed fabrics in the short run and sampling quantities. An inkjet textile printing system that addresses the issues of tension control, closed-loop displacement control, fabric conditioning, and fabric motion control using an unbacked fabric transfer system would be desirable. A digital ink-jet textile printing system that produces printed patterns consistently, with a low level of distortion, and yet is practical for use in the short-run and sampling industries, would likewise be desirable. Of course, improvements to a printing system that allow the ink-jet printer to print a pattern with a low level of distortion on the unbacked fabric would also have utility in industrial screen printing processes, especially for proofing, color matching, and precise pattern replication needs.

Unbacked fabric transport and condition system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An article holder for concealed use beneath an outer garment about a wearers torso in a selected position at the waist or chest. The holder comprises an elongated elastic band having loop and hook securing members attached at each end for adjustable attachment thereof about said wearers torso. At least one pistol holster is formed on one side of the band in the vicinity of an end thereof. The pistol holster is positioned diagonally of the band for easy access. A non-elastic strap, which is connectable with the holster, is provided for securing a weapon therein. A plurality of multi-compartment pockets are formed with the band. The compartments are selectively sized to receive ammunition magazines, pocket knives, keys, money cartridges, identification, etc.

The invention relates to a multi-article holder which is designed to be secured about a wearer's torso in the area of the chest beneath the arms or in the area of the waist. The article holder is designed for use beneath outer garments in a concealed condition. A primary use of the article holder is as a holster for a concealed weapon.
Article carriers and especially weapon holders are well known. Normally, these known devices are limited to a carrier for a single weapon and do not contemplate the provision of additional compartments for ammunition, identification, keys, knives, etc. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,029,242; 4,966,320; 5,054,671; and 4,579,265.
Also known is the use of elastic belts, connectable with hook and loop connectors, for use as concealed article holders. These belts do not envision the inclusion of weapon holsters. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,341,331 and 4,440,525.
The present invention has for its object an article carrier designed with a multiple of compartments for selective use about the chest area beneath the arms or about the waist and beneath an outer garment.
Another object of the invention is an elastic article holder of adjustable length.
Another object of the invention is an article holder constructed with a plurality of compartments designed to accommodate a variety of different items.
Another object of the invention is an article holder provided with non-chafing pads.
Another object of the invention is an article holder which includes an over the shoulder support strap.
Another object of the invention is an article holder which includes an adjustable mounting for its holster compartments.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a economical, reliable, concealable article holder.


Bisphenol A polycarbonate containing at least 15 mole % of fluorinated bisphenol monomer units such as 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane (6F-Bisphenol A) can be blended with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) to form thermodynamically miscible, transparent, single phase blends at all compositions.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention pertains to mixtures of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonates which contain at least 15 mole % of fluorinated bisphenol monomer units (F-PC) such as 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-hexafluoropropane (6F-bisphenol A), herein referred to as F-PC. Blends of F-PC and PMMA are thermodynamically miscible, single phase systems which are transparent in all ratios.
2. Discussion of the Background:
Blends of polycarbonates and polymethyl methacrylates are known. Generally, polycarbonates exhibit properties such as high temperature stability, good dimensional stability, high impact strength, good stiffness and most notably good transparency. For these reasons, PC is used in a variety of applications including glass replacement, housings, medical devices and containers. Nevertheless, PC does have drawbacks such as poor scratch resistance, poor long-term U.V. resistance and stress birefringence which have to be dealt with, particularly in demanding optical applications.
Polymethyl methacrylates, on the other hand, are limited by their relatively poor dimensional stability, low impact strength and low temperature stability. They are, however, known for their clarity, surface hardness, U.V. resistance and generally good weatherability and chemical resistance. For this reason, they are extensively used in applications such as window glazings, aircraft windows and automotive lenses/ lightcovers.
Blends of PC and PMMA would therefore be expected to eliminate the individual deficiencies of the respective components and result in a material having considerably improved mechanical and optical properties for a wide range of applications. Unfortunately, blends of PC and typical polymethyl methacrylates are not thermodynamically miscible at most compositions and their mixtures result in opaque materials which are not acceptable for transparent, optical applications. The technical literature has previously debated the miscibility of these mixtures but the current understanding (for example see Polymer, Volume 32, page 272, 1991) shows that traditional, free-radically polymerized PMMA does not form a single, thermodynamically miscible, transparent blend but does demonstrate mechanical compatibility with PC. The term "thermodynamically miscible" refers to a polymer blend that is mixed on the molecular level so as to form a single homogeneous phase which exhibits only one glass transition. In contrast, the term "mechanically compatible" is taken to mean that mixing of the polymers is on a small scale but larger than the molecular level. Furthermore, "mechanically compatible" implies that the multiple phases exhibit good adhesion to one another so as to yield good mechanical properties. Although both thermodynamically miscible and mechanically compatible blends exhibit good mechanical properties, thermodynamically miscible blends will generally be stronger, and only thermodynamically miscible blends are transparent, owing to their single phase nature.
Many references now exist which describe mixtures of PC and PMMA as immiscible in most proportions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,003 teaches that blends of PC and PMMA are opaque and do not possess the advantageous properties exhibited by either polymer. In Polymer Preprints, Volume 23, pages 258-259, 1982 and in Advances in Chemistry, Volume 206, Number 9, pages 129-148, 1984, indications of immiscibility in all typical PC/PMMA blends are reported; as a matter of fact, these blends were observed to be opaque over the entire composition range. Among several other references which confirm that these mixtures are immiscible ar JP 7216063 and EP 0297285.
Ways of overcoming the drawbacks associated with the immiscibility of typical PC/PMMA blends have been previously proposed. Among them, the addition of copolymer additives (DE 2264268); PMMA/acrylamide copolymers (DE 3632946); and PMMA-ester copolymers containing carboxylic groups (U.S. 4,906,696). In U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,003, the use of a block copolymer of PC and PMMA instead of a physical mixture of the two components is proposed.
Similarly, processes have been developed and proposed which can also produce transparent PC/PMMA blends. According to DE 3,833,218, transparent mixtures of aromatic polycarbonates and polyalkyl methacrylates can be produced by melting the two components in the presence of a supercritical gas. Also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,743,654 and 4,745,029 disclose that one may produce solutions of the two polymers in organic solvents, allow the organic solvent to evaporate and thus produce a transparent material. Unfortunately all of these methods suffer from the drawback of bubble formation and other imperfections in the final product which would render them unsuitable for many applications. Since care must be taken in such processes, these methods most certainly would be relatively slow in comparison to traditional melt forming processes such as all forms of extrusion and molding and most likely would be limited to thin films as opposed to larger, more bulkier articles. A further disadvantage could be deterioration of properties and breakage arising from separation of the two phases since a blend produced by such processes would be metastable.
Accordingly the task existed of discovering and producing transparent PC/PMMA blends which exhibit all of the beneficial properties expected of such a mixture which is processable by known melt processing techniques.

Blends of polycarbonate containing fluorinated-bisphenol A and polymethyl methacrylate


A diffuse reflectance apparatus includes a housing having a window formed therein, and a diffuse reflectance mirror spaced from the window and having an aperture extending therethrough. A light source provides a beam of light. A first mirror assembly is positioned to reflect the beam of light through the aperture such that it passes through the window. A second mirror assembly is positioned to reflect scattered light from the concave mirror to a detector.

Diffuse reflectance is a useful method for measuring the chemical spectra of materials in a spectrometer, such as a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer. The main mechanism for producing such a spectrum is that some of the illumination light passes through a portion of the sample material before being scattered back out, thus the light is affected by the absorbance of the sample at wavelengths of interest for the measurement. Diffuse reflectance can thus be considered a misnomer, but it is a term that is widely used in the industry. The diffuse reflectance measurement is an absorbance measurement, and one that provides information about the chemical composition of the sample, such as the concentration of chemical compounds within the sample, including moisture and impurities.
The diffuse reflectance measurement has a number of benefits: The portion of the sample that produces the spectrum is typically fairly thin, thus the spectrum is not affected by fully absorbing peaks. Preparation of the sample is simplified because the sample does not have to be thinned or diluted, and can often be left in a container such as a glass vial, a bottle, or a cup. Very large samples can be accommodated without interfering with the design or size of the spectrometer. This includes sample cups that are spun on an axis to allow averaging over a portion of a sample.
When diffuse reflectance is used in a typical chemical analysis application, it is desirable for the measurement to be a function of the bulk chemical properties of the sample—at least of the portion of the sample near its surface—and not of purely optical properties such as specular reflection from the sample surface and from its container. A dark-field reflectance measurement can satisfy this criterion. Dark-field reflectance measurement is used to refer to illumination and collection that do not share the same solid angle space, so that specular reflected light is not collected.
A prior art apparatus for diffuse reflectance in a spectrometer, such as a FT-IR spectrometer, may include an integrating sphere. However, integrating spheres can be cumbersome and expensive.
It would be desirable to provide a diffuse reflectance apparatus that reduces or overcomes some or all of the difficulties inherent in prior known processes. Particular objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, those who are knowledgeable or experienced in this field of technology, in view of the following disclosure and detailed description of certain embodiments.

Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments LLC


An OCT appliance (optical coherence tomography appliance) comprises an OCT module and a camera for observing the fundus of an eye. By recognizing characteristic features (biometric features), the means defining the region observed by the OCT module, in particular the scanner of the OCT module, is adjusted so that a predefined region of interest is imaged by the OCT module. In preferred embodiments, the apparatus is apt to be operated by a patient himself, and the data are transferred to a clinical server so that a more frequent, hence closer observation of the eyes of the patient is possible.

The present invention relates to an ophthalmologic apparatus, according to the preamble of claim 1.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an established noninvasive, noncontact imaging technology which can image eye structures, and more importantly high resolution cross sectional images of the retina not only on the surface, but also up to certain depth are produced. Basics of this method is available on the internet (e.g. in the Wikipedia).
An apparatus and a method for diagnosing and monitoring eye diseases by OCT is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,674. U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,512 proposes to perform relatively slow OCT scans to obtain a high signal-to-noise ratio. Eye movements during the scan are compensated by a tracking system. The tracking system uses a point photo detector and a dithering light path for scanning a certain region around a distinct point of the retina (particularly more reflective, darker etc.). Any movement out of the center of the scanned region is registered and accused to adjust mirrors in the general light path of the instrument to compensate for this movement, i.e. a movement of the eye. Obviously, this provision requires fast reacting and exact working mechanical means, hence is prone to wear and sensitive to mechanical effects (shock, vibration).
An OCT apparatus of improved vision and resolution of retinal images is presented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,005. The distortion of the eye is determined by observing a laser light spot on the retina using a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor and compensating the aberration using e.g. a deformable mirror.
This patent still contains an extensive list of patent and non-patent prior art.
All the known and described apparatuses are designed to be used by professionals and are stationary. In consequence, to begin an examination, the OCT apparatus has to be adjusted to the properties of the eye (myopic, hyperopic).
Furthermore, the professional (e.g. ophthalmologist) has to search manually a region of interest which is to be observed more closely.
OCT has proven to be a precious diagnostic tool for e.g. glaucoma, vitreo-retinal-disorders or AMD (age-related macular disease). In the latter case, OCT may not only be useful to determine the extent of the concerned region of the retina, but also to aim a laser to the correct target region for therapy.
A disadvantage of the known apparatuses is that they have to be adjusted to each patient and that the ophthalmologist or a well instructed expert has each time to search for the region of interest and to perform the corresponding adjustments manually.
Another aspect is that in many cases, the state of the eyes of a patient, and more particularly one or more distinct "regions of interest" (ROI), have to be examined regularly in order to determine as early as possible a change thereof. However, due to the fact that the patient has to visit a professional therefor, it was impossible to perform the examinations as often as desirable.
US-A-2006/0187462 discloses an automatic method of obtaining OCT images of the retina. The OCT device first performs linear survey OCT scans. Each such scan consists of two linear scans yielding each a cross-section of the retina oriented about orthogonally with respect to each other. From the position of a characteristic land mark feature in the images, a correction of the orientation of the device is calculated to center it on the land mark. Generally, due to irregularities of the eye, this procedure has to be performed more than once to achieve an exact aiming of the device. Then the actual OCT image is taken.
The survey scans are performed sufficiently rapidly that a misalignment due to eye movements is avoided.
This approach requires a particular design of the OCT unit to allow high precision and survey scans, and algorithms for rapid evaluation of the survey scans.

Ophthalmologic apparatus for imaging an eye by optical coherence tomography


A lens plate and an illumination lamp which are not affected by heat from a light source even if the lens plate is small. The lens plate for an illumination lamp has the lens part covering the light source, and the lens part is formed in such a way that a concentric lens pattern is separately formed on an outer central part and an inner peripheral part so as not to be overlapped.

The following Patent Literature 1 discloses that the above-mentioned lens plate for an illumination lamp forms a Fresnel lens for condensing light on a surface to which light enters from the light source. Patent Literature 2 discloses a Fresnel lens for an illumination lamp wherein a fine pattern of a Fresnel lens is transformed by heat-pressing a transparent soft silicone rubber sheet with a master mold.

Lens plate for illumination lamp, and illumination lamp


An image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge, including an image carrying member and an operation member with respect to image forming, facing the image carrying member, is movably provided. An opening on the process cartridge in accordance with the operation member is covered by a shielding member in the main body of the apparatus when the process cartridge is moved from the apparatus in response to an opening movement of an external cover which provides access to the interior of the apparatus.

This invention concerns an image forming apparatus by which a toner image is formed on an image carrying member by an electrophotographic method and is transferred onto a transfer material to obtain an image. This invention specifically concerns an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile which incorporates a process cartridge, in which is integrally provided an image carrying member and at least one of developing means and cleaning means.
Image forming apparatuses are becoming increasingly complex with their declining size and weight, as well as the more advanced functions of apparatuses such as printers and copiers. On the other hand, image forming apparatus equipped with a process cartridge that combines at least developing means or cleaning means with an image carrying member have been developed in order to enable unskilled operators to perform maintenance and management easily.
Image forming apparatuses such as printers and copiers which possess this process cartridge are designed to be used by operators who do not have technical knowledge, who can easily perform maintenance and management of the image forming apparatus when the image carrying member inside the process cartridge is exhausted or depleted. For this purpose, a guide member for the process cartridge is provided to the apparatus so that correct loading, in which an optimum image can be obtained, is realized by simply inserting the process cartridge along this guide member. In conventional apparatus, the direction of handling the process cartridge and the direction of handling materials were different in fact crossing at right angles, which, in turn, not only made work troublesome but created an inevitable spatial limitation for installing an image forming apparatus. Furthermore, much space was required for maintenance work.
Patent Application Laid Open No. 61-279870 was proposed to solve these problems. An image forming apparatus which is capable of simplifying handling and operation of expendables and reducing limitations of work space by matching the loading direction of materials and the loading/unloading direction of the process cartridge installed on the upper frame has been proposed.
However, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Application Laid Open No. 61-279870 requires opening of the upper frame for an operator to pull out and remove the process cartridge from the upper frame when replacing the process cartridge. For this reason, not only is this work very troublesome but requires considerable force on the part of the operator if the process cartridge is heavy or bulky. Furthermore, it is necessary for an operator to put his hand into a small space to remove transfer materials when a jam occurs, and such jam procedure work is difficult as sufficient work space cannot be secured, no matter how far the upper frame is opened. Moreover, the operators hand sometimes comes into direct contact with portions stained by toner or with the image carrying member itself. Furthermore, moving or removing the process cartridge required a significant pulling motion of the process cartridge by the operator from the upper frame to secure that work space, making this work troublesome and creating a defect of difficult jam procedure.
In addition, this invention concerns technology for accomplishing an improvement of handling and maintenance work as well as compactization of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
It is desirable to keep the image carrying body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, i.e. generally a belt-shaped or drum-shaped body which is referred to as photoreceptor belt or photosensitive drum, in a light-sealed condition at all times because its photosensitivity will diminish when left in a lighted room. Unfortunately, it is necessary to open a part of the outer cover to observe the condition inside and to take proper measures in order to remove or recover jammed papers which occurs around photoreceptor in the image forming apparatus. As a photoreceptor belt or photosensitive drum is deteriorated after being exposed to bright light at that time, the apparatus is designed in such a way that a protective cover, which is provided where the photoreceptor is exposed, is opened and closed according to the opening and closing of the outer cover. However, it is difficult to shut out light completely, and the mechanism becomes complex and leakage of light still occurs. If much time is spent dealing with troubles, then the photoreceptor will actually be exposed without a cover for a long period of time.
In particular, although cartridges have been introduced to areas around the photoreceptor to further compactize the image forming apparatus and improve operability, light sealing measures are not perfect and deterioration of the photoreceptor is not completely eliminated.


There is provided a film forming method capable of enhancing adhesion efficiency of a metal powder by use of a low-pressure compressed gas even in the case of spraying the metal powder remaining in a solid-phase state to a substrate, to form a film, the method being a film forming method of spraying a metal powder p in a solid-phase state to a surface 11a of a substrate 11 along with a compressed gas, to form a film 12 of the metal powder p on the surface 11a of the substrate 11, wherein a powder, which at least contains a powder for film formation having an apparent density of 1.4 to 2.0 g/cm3 and an average grain size of not larger than 25 μm, is used as the metal powder p.

A power module used in a vehicle inverter and the like has hitherto been constituted of electronic components shown in FIG. 9. Specifically, a power module 70 at least includes a power element 71 made of a silicon element, an insulating member 73 made of aluminum nitride to which the power element 71 is fixed through a solder layer 72, and a heat sink member 74 made of aluminum. Further, between the insulating member 73 and the heat sink member 74, a buffer member 75 made of copper-molybdenum (Cu—Mo) or aluminum-silicon carbide (Al—SiC) is installed for the purpose of transmitting a heat generated from the power element 71 to the heat sink member 74 and dissipating the heat as well as for the purpose of alleviating the difference in thermal expansion between the insulating member 73 and the heat sink member 74. The buffer member 75 is fixed to the insulating member 73 by a solder layer 76, and is fixed to the heat sink member 74 by a silicon grease 77. As thus described, the buffer member 75 in combination with the heat sink member 74 constitutes a thermal conduction member for dissipating the heat from the power element 71.
However, in the power module 70, the silicon grease 77 that fixes the buffer member 75 has lower thermal conductance than those of the other members, and has thus been an obstacle in transmission of the heat from the power element 71 to the heat sink member 74. In order to avoid this, for example, a method can be considered in which copper-molybdenum (Cu—Mo) is metallized directly on the surface of the heat sink member 74 without using the silicon grease 77, to form the buffer member 75 as a film. However, since the metal powder is melt and the melt metal is further sprayed to the substrate in this method, the film is significantly oxidized and the substrate is also significantly thermally affected, whereby the method cannot be the to be preferred.
Thereat, a film forming method called cold spraying has recently been proposed. This cold spraying is a method of increasing a flow rate of a compressed gas heated to a temperature lower than a melting point or a softening temperature of a material for the film by use of a tapered and widened (laval) nozzle, putting a powder as the material for the film into the gas flow for acceleration, and colliding the powder remaining in a solid-phase state with the substrate at a high rate, to form a film (e.g. see JP Patent Publication (Kokai) NO. 6-37438A (1994)).

Method of forming a metal powder film a thermal conduction member, power module, vehicle inverter, and vehicle formed thereof


A damper disk assembly includes a clutch plate 4, a retaining plate 5 arranged coaxially and parallel to the clutch plate 4, a separate flange 3 arranged coaxially between the plates 4 and 5, a plurality of plate coupling portions 30 extending integrally from an outer peripheral portion of the clutch plate 4 to an outer peripheral portion of the retaining plate 5 and being arranged at the clutch plate 4 with a circumferentially equal space between each other, a ring member 35 arranged coaxially to the retaining plate 5 for cooperating with the plate coupling portions 30 to fix the plates 4 and 5 together, and coil springs for circumferentially elastically coupling the plates 4 and 5 to the separate flange 3.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a damper disk assembly, and in particular to a damper disk assembly having a pair of first disk members fixed together, a second disk member disposed between the pair of first disk members, and an elastic member for coupling the first disk members to the disk member allowing limited rotary displacement between the first and second disk members.
B. Description of the Background Art
A damper disk assembly used in a clutch disk for a motorized vehicle typically includes a pair of input plates opposed to each other, an output hub formed integrally with a radially extending flange, the flange extending between the pair of input plates, and torsion springs for circumferentially coupling the pair of input plates to the flange. The paired input plates are fixed together at their outer peripheral portions by a plurality of stop pins. The stop pins extend between the paired input plates and further extend through recesses formed on the outer periphery of the flange. The paired input plates and the flange are relatively rotatable with respect to each other through a predetermined angle, and are prevented from further relative rotation when the stop pins come into contact with edges of the recesses.
In the conventional clutch disk assembly, the stop pins are used also for fixing the paired input plates together. The stop pins complicate the manufacturing process with regard to fixing the paired input plates to one another.

Configuration for connecting outer radial portions of disk portions of a damper disk assembly


An information handling system with a display device, and a software program for controlling the information handling system to process an information file to produce qualitative measurements of multiple attributes of the information file, and to generate an iconic graph with preselected dimensions for visually representing and displaying the qualitative measurements on the display device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information handling systems. More specifically, the present invention is related to a method and apparatus for providing a visual representation of multiple, quantifiable attributes of an information record on an information handling system display.
2. Background Information
The ability to convert information into digital format, and to store that information for later use has made the libraries of the world available to individuals for on-line searching and retrieval. It has also made it possible to send messages, in voice or text, that can be converted to digital text formats and stored in electronic mailboxes for an individual to retrieve and review. With the proper information handling system, such as a desk top computer, network computer, laptop computer, or wireless device hooked up to a network, such as the internet or world wide web, or a local area network, an individual can access and view any or all of this information.
Unfortunately, the vast quantity of information that an individual can retrieve with an electronic search, or receive in an electronic mailbox on an average day, can render the value of such search or electronic mail useless due to information overload. That is, with so much information, how do you determine which document or mail to read first, or which ones to delete without reading? Therefore, it has been desirable to come up with new methods and apparatus to present to the user a visual indication of the information that is of greatest interest to the recipient.
Typical solutions to the problem have included: (1) Using only the file name, as in a directory listing. This often fails to convey adequate information and often misleads the user concerning the contents of the document. (2) Using the document title. Many titles fail to adequately describe the contents of their documents, and often are so long that they must be truncated to fit, thereby cutting off information necessary to determine the contents of the document. (3) Using keywords. Adequate keywords to fully characterize a document takes a lot of space. Besides taking a lot of space, the first words of a document often fail to summarize a document's contents. (4) Using a textual summary of the document. Besides taking a lot of space, the writing of the summary is typically a manual process by a human being, and as such, could only be done for a small selection of information records.
Information handling systems loaded with standard software application programs such as electronic mail (e-mail) and search engines and Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) have made possible the collection and display of certain characteristics of information records. In the case of e-mail, it is known to display in text format such information as the author of the message, the date the information record or document was created, the size of the message, and a subject as provided by the author. It is also known that an icon, such as a representation of an envelope as shown in FIG. 1 can be associated with the text information to show if the message has been viewed, or the urgency that the author placed on the message. However, as will be explained in greater detail below, such icons as are known in the art do not provide for quantitative representations of multiple attributes associated with a document that would allow the recipient to visually determine if the message is worth reading sooner than another message as the title and urgency selected by the author does not always reflect the interest or the urgency that the recipient places on the same message. In addition, the representation of a document by its title and other textual identification has the disadvantage of taking large amounts of space in the visual field while failing to properly identify the contents of the document or information record in many cases. This problem is applicable to any collection of documents or information records, including the presentation of electronic document search results.
In the case of data base searches, it is known to provide lists of documents that relate to certain topics that the requester defined for the search. One full text search system, as shown in FIG. 2, provides for the use of tilebars in which graphic information is presented along with the text information. A program on an information handling system generates a "tilebar" that aids visualization of the size of the documents by varying the length of the tilebar. It also visually displays the distribution of the search terms within the document. In such a system, the length and width of each tilebar varies depending on the number of search terms used, in that for each term searched, there is one corresponding layer of the tilebar, and the length of the tilebar varies with the length of the document. While such a system of visualization is an improvement over prior systems of displaying the output of a document search, such a search system still requires greater analysis on the part of the viewer, thereby requiring more time to determine how important a specific document is in relation to all the other documents. Also, the tilebar is a large graphic, taking up valuable display screen area. Nor does such a system provide for quantifiable measurement of multiple attributes of the document itself, rather, such systems display measurements of one document against all the other documents retrieved in a search.
As shown in FIG. 8, it is known that an application program running under Microsoft Windows.RTM. 3.11 operating system could produce a three bar graph 800 to indicate the current level of resource usage (bars 801, 803, 805) of the host computer. When the application was running, the three bar graphs were annotated and labeled. When the application was minimized, the icon for the application consisted of the same three bars in the same three colors, but since the graph then resided in a 16.times.16 bit icon, no labels or annotation were visible. The result was a compact representation of the state of a computer system. However, this has never been applied to document visualization.
Thus, it is desirable to be able to provide an improved visual representation of multiple attributes of a document, as well as a system and method of providing a visual representation of multiple, quantifiable attributes of a document on an information handling system display.

Method and apparatus for improved information visualization


A satellite radio signal receiver includes a receiving section and a processor. The receiving section receives a radio signal from a satellite and demodulates the signal to identify each received bit of the signal. The processor compares the identified received bit with estimated bits which are estimated to be received within a possible deviation range set for a current date and time acquired as a reception time of the received bit, so as to obtain information on comparison result in relation to a deviation from the current date and time. The processor detects the deviation which satisfies a predetermined match condition of comparison results for received bits. The processor acquires date and time information based on the detected deviation which satisfies the predetermined match condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to satellite radio signal receiver that receives a radio signal from a positioning satellite to acquire date and time information, an electronic timepiece, a date and time information acquiring method and a recording medium.
2. Description of Related Art
There have been electronic timepieces (radio timepieces) that have a function of keeping their counting time correct by receiving a radio signal from a navigation satellite (positioning satellite) of the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and acquiring date and time information. Such radio timepieces do not require a user manual operation and can keep the counting and displaying date and time correct all over the world.
However, receiving a satellite radio signal places a load much greater than that of counting or displaying the date and time in an electronic timepiece. Accordingly, a problem with such radio timepieces is that a function of receiving a satellite radio signal requires a large battery, which results in the increased size and weight of the electronic timepiece. To cope with the problem, a variety of techniques for reducing power consumption have been developed.
One of such techniques for reducing power consumption is to reduce the reception time of a radio signal. For example, JP 2009-36748A, which is a Japanese patent document, discloses a technique of synchronizing signal reception with signal transmission of a predetermined part including the date and time information according to the format of the signal (navigation message) transmitted from GPS satellites. The signal reception is suspended while unnecessary information is being sent. At the time of the signal reception, to avoid false identification of the date and time, a parity data of the block including the predetermined part is acquired so that the integrity of the received data is checked.
However, decoding the date and time after identifying the code and then further performing a verification such as a parity check increases the processing load during the signal reception. Accordingly, a problem is that such techniques are likely to result in an increase in processing load and power consumption.

Satellite radio signal receiver, electronic timepiece, date and time information acquiring method and recording medium


A delayed locked loop (DLL) circuit for reducing power consumption in updating a delay value of an external clock after locking. The DLL circuit includes a phase comparator for comparing a phase of a feedback clock and a phase of an external clock, and a delay unit for delaying an external clock in response to a comparison signal from the phase comparison. A replica unit receives the delayed external clock and outputs the feedback clock. A toggling controller disables toggling of the delayed external clock that is inputted to the replica unit for a predetermined time at a regular interval after locking.

The present invention relates to a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit, and more particularly, to a DLL circuit for reducing power consumption in updating a delay value of an external clock after locking.
A synchronous semiconductor device such as a Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAM (DDR SDRAM) receives an external clock from an external device such as a memory controller and uses it as an internal clock of a semiconductor device. The synchronous semiconductor device transmits data to external devices using an inputted internal clock. Therefore, temporal synchronization between the external clock and data is very important in order to stably transmit data between a memory and a memory controller.
The external clock is inputted to the semiconductor device and distributed throughout the entire semiconductor device as an internal clock. The internal clock may be significantly delayed when the internal clock is transferred to a part that is comparatively far away from an input pin compared to an internal clock transferred to a part adjacent to the input pin. Therefore, a phase difference is generated between the internal clock and the external clock.
In order to overcome such a problem, the synchronous semiconductor device includes a clock synchronization circuit such as a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit. The DLL circuit generates an internal clock by compensating a clock delay component which is generated while transferring the internal clock to the data output end of the semiconductor device, thereby synchronizing the internal clock used for inputting and outputting final data of the semiconductor device with the external clock.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit according to the related art.
As shown, the DLL circuit according to the related art includes a phase comparator 103, a replica unit 105, a delay controller 107, and a delay line unit 109.
The phase comparator 103 compares a phase of an external clock EXT_CLK with a phase of a feedback clock FB_CLK outputted from the replica unit 105. Here, the feedback clock FB_CLK is a clock modeled based on a clock delay component in the semiconductor device. The phase comparator 103 compares the phases by determining a logical level of the feedback clock FB_CLK at a rising edge of the external clock EXT_CLK and outputs a comparison signal CMP to the delay controller 107.
The delay controller 107 receives the comparison signal CMP and outputs a delay control signal DELAY for controlling a delay value Dd of the delay line unit 109 by deciding increment or decrement of the delay value Dd. The delay line unit 109 receives the delay control signal DELAY, delays the external clock EXT_CLK, and outputs the delayed external clock DL_CLK.
The delayed external clock DL_CLK is fed back to the replica unit 105. The delayed external clock DL_CLK is inputted to the phase comparator 103 through the replica unit 105 as a feedback clock FB_CLK. Then, the phase comparator 103 compares phases again and the above described processes are repeated until the phase of the external clock EXT_CLK is matched with the phase of the feedback clock FB_CLK.
If the phases of the external clock and the feedback clock FB_CLK are matched, the delay value Dd of the external clock EXT_CLK is locked in the DLL circuit (locking).
As shown, the DLL circuit according to the related art may further include a mode generator 113. The mode generator 113 receives the comparison signal CMP of the phase comparator 103 and decides an increment amount of the delay value Dd of the external clock EXT_CLK which can be a large increment or small increment. For example, if the phase difference between the external clock EXT_CLK and the feedback clock FB_CLK is great, the mode generator 113 generates a mode signal MODE to greatly increase the delay value Dd so as to quickly lock the DLL circuit. That is, the mode signal MODE is a signal for deciding one of a first mode for greatly increasing the delay value and a second mode for not greatly increasing the delay value.
The mode generator 113 also determines whether the DLL circuit is locked or not. For example, the mode generator 113 determines that the DLL circuit is locked if the phase comparator 103 alternatively outputs a high level comparison signal CMP and a low level comparison signal CMP. That is, if a ban bang error is generated, the mode generator 113 determines that the DLL circuit is locked. Since it is difficult to precisely match phases when the delay value Dd is digitally controlled, the phase comparator 103 may generate the bang bang error. If the delay value of the external clock EXT_CLK is locked in the DLL circuit, the mode generator 113 enables a locking signal LOCK and outputs the enabled locking signal LOCK.
The locking processes are stably controlled by the pulse generator 115 at the DLL circuit. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a pulse signal of the pulse generator 115.
Referring to FIG. 2, the pulse generator 115 generates a plurality of pulse signals that are synchronized with the external clock EXT_CLK and have a regular period. The pulse signal of the pulse generator 115 sequentially enables each part of the DLL circuit.
That is, the pulse signal of the pulse generator 115 sequentially enables the phase comparator 103, the mode generator 113, and the delay controller 107 according to the locking processes. The pulse signal of the pulse generator 115 may be referred to as an enable signal of each element of the DLL circuit. The phase comparator 103 operates in response to a phase comparison enable signal PD_EN. The mode generator 113 operates in response to a mode enable signal MODE_EN and the delay controller 107 also operates in response to a delay control signal DELAY EN.
Operation results of each element are sustained until the next operation is performed, and the operations results may be used for the next operation. For example, a latch may be included at an output unit of the phase comparator 103 in order to sustain a phase comparison result between the enabling periods of the phase comparison enable signal PD_EN and the mode enable signal MODE_EN until an enable point of the mode enable signal MODE_EN where the mode generator 113 operates. According to design, various methods may be applied.
Referring to FIG. 1 again, if the delay value Dd is locked (locking) in the DLL circuit, an update process is performed. In the update process, a phase of the external clock EXT_CLK is compared with a phase of a feedback clock FB_CLK and the delay value Dd of the external clock EXT_CLK is corrected at a regular interval after locking. As described above, it is not necessary to frequently compare the phases of the external clock EXT_CLK and the feedback clock FB_CLK and to frequently control the delay value Dd of the external clock because the phases of the external clock EXT_CLK and the feedback clock FB_CLK are not greatly mismatched after locking. Therefore, enable signals having long intervals PD_EN, MODE_EN, and DELAY_EN are used in the update process compared with the enable signals in the locking process of the DLL circuit.
In the update process after locking, the delay value Dd of the external clock is corrected with a comparatively long interval compared to that for the locking process. That is, although the correction of the delay value Dd in the update process is performed less frequently than that in the locking process, the feedback clock FB_CLK is always toggled in the update process according to the related art. Therefore, the power consumption of the DLL circuit disadvantageously increases.

Delay locked loop circuit and method thereof


A process has been developed in which a capacitor structure can be simultaneously fabricated with NFET and PFET devices, to be used in EEPROM, SRAM or DRAM cells. The process features the use of a silicon nitride layer, protecting an underlying capacitor dielectric layer from an oxidation ambient, presented during a subsequent NFET source and drain drive-in procedure.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes used to fabricate semiconductor devices, and specifically to a process used to simultaneously fabricate a capacitor structure and metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors, (MOSFET), devices.
(2) Description of Prior Art
The semiconductor industry is continually striving to improve the performance of semiconductor chips, while still attempting to decrease the cost of these same semiconductor chips. These objectives have been partially realized via the trend to micro-miniaturization, or the ability of the semiconductor industry to fabricate semiconductor devices featuring sub-micron features. The use of sub-micron features result in smaller devices, reducing device capacitances and resistances, thus offering performance benefits. In addition the attainment of smaller chips, via micro-miniaturazation, allows a greater number of these smaller chips to be obtained from a specific size starting substrate, thus reducing the processing cost for a specific chip. The ability to create semiconductor devices with sub-micron features has resulted from advances in specific semiconductor fabrication disciplines, such as photolithography and reactive ion etching. For example the use of more advanced exposure cameras, as well as the use of more sensitive photoresist materials, have enabled sub-micron images to be routinely obtained in photoresist layers. In addition the development of more sophisticated dry etching tools and processes have allowed the sub-micron images in photoresist layers to be successfully transferred to underlying materials used in the creation of semiconductor devices.
Another method used to reduce the processing costs for semiconductor chips, is the technique of simultaneously fabricating the various device types needed for a specific semiconductor chip. For example logic and memory chips, used for static random access memory, (SRAM), dynamic random access memory, (DRAM), erasable electrically programmable read only memory, (EEPROM), cells, incorporate various semiconductor devices such as capacitors, resistors, diodes, as well as p-channel MOSFETS, (PFET), and n-channel MOSFET, (NFET), devices. The ability to simultaneously fabricate, and integrate these specific device types, simplifies, and reduces the cost of the fabrication process. One such design benefitting from the cost reducing, and simplified, integrated process is the design using a capacitor, in addition to both PFET and NFET devices. One polysilicon layer is used for the plate of the capacitor, as well as for the gate structure for both PFET and NFET devices. However in this design the capacitor dielectric, a silicon oxide layer grown on the underlying polysilicon plate, is exposed to a source and drain drive-in sequence, used for PFET and NFET processing. The drive-in, although performed in an non-oxidizing ambient, such as nitrogen, still presents a finite level of moisture or oxygen in the nitrogen gas or in the anneal furnace, which can result in an unwanted, and random increase in capacitor dielectric thickness, adversely influencing the attainment of the desired capacitor characteristics. This invention will present a process for integrating PFET and NFET devices, with capacitor structures, however using a structure and process which protects the capacitor dielectric from the effects of the source and drain drive-in ambient. In this invention a layer of silicon nitride is integrated into the capacitor structure, at a point in the process prior to the source and drain drive-in. Prior art, such as Sandhu, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,593, describe a capacitor with dielectric layers of silicon nitride and silicon oxide, however without the integration of the PFET and NFET devices, and specifically without the drive-in cycles, which adversely influences the unprotected capacitor dielectric layer.

Fabrication process for MOSFET devices and a reproducible capacitor structure

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


The present invention relates to a packaging and dispensing system especially suitable for semi-fluid or fluid cement admixtures. The admixture is encapsulated in a material, such as gelatin or wax, which ruptures, shatters, or disintegrates in the wet cementitious mixture during a period of mechanical mixing. The present invention also contemplates a method of modifying the properties of cementitious mixtures by adding thereto an encapsulated admixture in a predetermined amount sufficient to provide a modified cementitious composition having the desired properties.

Admixtures are known in the art as materials used as ingredients in cementitious compositions to modify some property or properties of the cementitious compositions before, during or after the cementitious compositions have been formulated. Set retarding agents, accelerators, water reducers, superplasticizers and air-entraining agents are typical admixtures commonly used in the industry.
The successful use of admixtures depends in part upon the amount used for any given batch of cementitious mixture. Excess or insufficient amounts added to the mix may deleteriously affect the properties of the mix, and often result in considerable waste, not only of the admixture proper, but of the improperly dosed mix as well.
Conventional techniques for dispensing semi-fluid admixtures into cementitious compositions generally require extensive apparatus, which is costly, time-consuming and labor-intensive. In addition, use of such apparatus can result in spills, the generation of fumes, and may result in workers physically contracting the admixture, which can be undesirable. Most materials used as admixtures for cementitious mixtures are in aqueous, highly fluid states or in solid or powdered states. Semi-fluid admixture materials that have high viscosity at temperatures of 30.degree.-100.degree. F. are especially difficult to dispense into cementitious mixtures. One mechanism for metering such admixtures is a bulk blending station including bulk tanks, pump motors, electromagnetic meters, calibrated sight vessels, and necessary hoses.
In the case of solid or powdered admixtures, typically the dispensing involves manually introducing loose admixtures into the cementitious mixture by mass or volumetric measurement. Another device involves water-soluble containers that envelop solid or powdered material, and the containers dissolve and release their contents while being blended into the wet cementitious mixture. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,790 to Smith et al. discloses a device comprising a solid or powdered concrete admixture contained in a water-soluble container. When the container is introduced into a wet mixer and agitated, the water-soluble container is dissolved and the contents are thereby released into the mixer.
However, there is currently no viable packaging and dispensing technique for concrete admixtures that address the problem of dispensing admixtures that are in a semi-fluid or fluid state into cementitious mixtures without the use of extensive apparatus, or without the high probability that admixtures may spill in transit.

Packaging and dispensing system for fluid and semi-fluid cement admixtures


A data structure, called an ordered sparse accumulator (Ordered SPA), permits sequencing in numeric order by index and dynamic alteration of the nonzero structure of the active column in sparse matrix computations during the sequencing operation.

Computation with sparse matrices is at the heart of a wide range of applications in computational science and modeling. Many sparse matrix algorithms use an active column (or active row, or group of active columns or rows) in which a major part of the numerical computation takes place. The requirements for representing and manipulating the active column typically differ from the requirements for an entire sparse matrix in two ways:
More flexible and efficient access is required to the active column than to the whole matrix. For example, it may be necessary to sequence through the nonzero elements of the active column, and also to access individual elements at random. PA1 The active column is a relatively small part of the data used in the computation, so the requirement to conserve space in its representation is not as stringent as it is for the larger data structures.
A structure called the sparse accumulator, or SPA, has been used to represent an active column by several workers, including Gilbert, Moler, and Schreiber, "Sparse Matrices in Matlab: Design and Implementation", SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications, 13:333-356, 1992. The SPA permits random access to individual elements, and sequencing through individual elements, both in constant time per element accessed. In the sequencing operation, the nonzero elements cannot be accessed in numerical order by index; and the nonzero structure of the SPA cannot be altered during the sequencing operation.

Ordered sparse accumulator and its use in efficient sparse matrix computation


The invention relates to a circuit for supplying a consumer (10) with electric energy provided by a battery (11). The battery voltage (Ub) is prevented from falling below a predetermined minimum voltage (Umin) by a regulator (18) which adjusts the battery voltage (Ub) to a predetermined minimum voltage (Umin) by influencing the average amount of energy which is provided to the consumer (10). Preferably, the inventive circuit is used in a motor vehicle.

The present invention is based on a circuit arrangement for supplying electrical energy to a load.
German Patent Application No. 39 36 638 describes a circuit arrangement that ensures the supply of energy to electrical loads in an electrical system of a motor vehicle. By deactivating individual loads in controlled fashion, the vehicle voltage is prevented from dropping below a predefined value. This action ensures that the energy content of the motor vehicle battery is at least sufficient for a starting operation. In order to prevent excessively frequent activation and deactivation of individual loads when a threshold battery voltage value is reached, it is necessary to provide a hysteresis which ensures that after being deactivated, a load is not reactivated again until the voltage has risen by an amount equal to the hysteresis.
An object of the present invention is to provide a circuit arrangement for supplying electrical energy to a load that prevents the residual energy contained in a battery from dropping below a predefined quantity.
The circuit arrangement according to the present invention has the advantage that the energy stored in the battery can be made completely available for powering the loads until a predefined minimum battery voltage is reached. The fact that the circuit arrangement according to the present invention operates continuously prevents frequent complete activation and deactivation of the load.
The advantages are achieved by the fact that a controller is provided that regulates the battery voltage to the minimum battery voltage by delivering a manipulated variable, which defines the electrical power consumption of the load. A prerequisite is that the power of the load be controllable at least within predefined limits. If the circuit arrangement according to the present invention is arranged in a motor vehicle, such loads are, for example, a fan, an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a receiver of a remote control system or, for example, an alarm system. The minimum battery voltage that is to be defined is established in such a way that on the one hand the functionality of the load can still be maintained, and on the other hand a reserve still remains so that, for example in a motor vehicle, a starting operation can be performed.
A first advantageous embodiment provides for the power consumption of the load to be defined by a pulse-width modulation of the supply voltage of the load. The clock frequency is preferably defined in such a way that the load current flows as continuously as possible.
Another embodiment provides for the manipulated variable that defines the electrical power consumption of the load to be limited to a lower value. The limitation to a lower value can advisable in terms of the behavior of the load. Another considerable advantage is the fact that the voltage of the battery can largely be prevented from dropping below the predefined minimum battery voltage in the context of control fluctuations.
An advantageous embodiment provides for the minimum battery voltage to be influenced as a function of correction variables such as, for example, the battery temperature or the current flowing through the battery.
A preferred use of the circuit arrangement according to the present invention exists in a motor vehicle that has a vehicle electrical system with a battery. An air conditioner or at least one fan is provided, for example, as the load. A remote control system or an alarm system can also be provided as the load. These loads can be active while the vehicle is unoccupied, with no risk that the battery voltage will fall below the predefined minimum.

Circuit for supplying a consumer with electric energy


The present disclosure relates to methods of preparing sols of titanium dioxide nanoparticles that are photoactive, neutral, and in a substantially concentrated form. The methods particularly provide for concentrated sols in light of washing and dewatering under low cation concentrations and utilizing rapid peptizing through addition of the filter case to the peptizing agent. Concentrated acid may be utilized to maintain high TiO2 concentration while still avoiding precipitation of the colloidal TiO2. Concentrated photoactive, neutral titanium dioxide sols are also provided as well as compositions thereof and photoactive coatings formed therewith.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) sols are useful in forming substantially transparent or translucent coatings that are beneficial in removing pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (i.e., NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), from air. Such capabilities are known to arise from the photocatalytic properties of the nanoparticulate titanium dioxide wherein application of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and near-UV radiation promotes formation of radicals that can degrade (e.g., oxidize) NOx and VOCs. Such coatings are also beneficially self-cleaning since many soiling materials (e.g., grease, mildew, mold, algae, bacteria, etc.) are also oxidized on the coating surface due to the photoactivity of the titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the coating.
It is beneficial to provide photoactive titanium dioxide coatings in a neutral pH, which can be substantially odorless and non-flammable. Such neutral sols can be applied as environmentally friendly photoactive water-based surface coatings.
Presently available photoactive, neutral titanium dioxide sols provide the foregoing uses but are limited due to the substantially low titanium dioxide concentration in the colloidal solution. Because of the inherent difficulty in forming a neutral titanium dioxide sol, such known materials are limited in concentration to the range of about 10-15% by weight titanium dioxide nanoparticles. While such low concentration sols are effective in providing the desired activities, the low concentration inherently requires the presence of a substantially large volume of solvent.
The inherently high solvent concentration can lead to various difficulties in the use of photoactive, neutral titanium dioxide sols. For example, if used as an additive in other coating materials, the addition of the titanium dioxide can also add a substantially large and undesired volume of solvent to the other coating material. Additionally, because approximately 90% by weight of the typical photoactive, neutral titanium dioxide sol consists of solvent, transportation of the titanium dioxide sol includes excessive space and cost requirements that could be minimized if the titanium dioxide sol could be provided in a more concentrated form. Moreover, a photoactive, neutral titanium dioxide sol with a greater concentration could find expanded uses in light of simplified storage and transportation and the ability to dilute the sol at the time of use as needed to provide desired formulations, particularly in admixture with further coating materials. Accordingly, there remains a need in the field for methods of forming photoactive, neutral titanium dioxide sols in a highly concentrated form and the compositions formed by such methods.


An improved locking device of sliding drawer comprises a sliding rail and a locking device, when the sliding drawer is pushed back to a cabinet body, the locking device is initiated when a second sliding track moves along the sliding rail towards a direction of the cabinet body. When one of the circumferential parts of the locking device comes into contact with a protruding portion of a first sliding track, an attaching portion is rotated around the rotating shaft at a rotation center thereby biasing a flexible part of the locking device and generating a first restoring force, a flexible device of the first sliding track is triggered by the second sliding track to generate a second restoring force, when the protruding portion is inserted through the trench and seated within the arc-shaped structure, the first restoring force of the flexible device is released such that the drawer is now locked within the cabinet body.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates a locking device of sliding drawer particularly the present invention relates a locking device of a sliding drawer, capable of locking the drawer within a cabinet body automatically, when it is being pushed back to the cabinet body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Present-day, the main objective of the conventional designs of the sliding drawers in the market is to increase the convenient operation of the sliding drawer. Most of the conventional designs are used to install one end of two sliding paths onto the inner sides of a cabinet body. Another two sliding paths are provided at the external sides of the cabinet body so that the drawer can be pushed in and out. Ball shaped objects, such as bearings or rollers are designed within the sliding paths to increase the sliding movement of the drawer. Those conventional sliding drawer's designs constitute some problems. When the drawer is slid in and out from the cabinet body, the slight vibration resulted from the external force or the collision would cause the drawer falling out from the cabinet body easily without warning. The unpleasant mess caused by falling out of objects from the drawer and the damage to the drawer or the sliding paths is a big problem. Furthermore, this kind of design of sliding drawer can cause seriously body harm to the user when the sliding drawer falls out.
One of the conventional designs of the sliding drawer is to increase the height of the front part of the cabinet body or the front end of the sliding path slightly so that the front part of the drawer is higher than the back part of the drawer to prevent the drawer from sliding out completely from the cabinet body. This design still cannot secure the sliding drawer in the cabinet body during moving or earthquake activity, when the incline angle is increased, the sliding drawer can be slid out from the cabinet body easily resulting greater damage.
Another type of conventional designs is to utilize the locking device to secure the drawer within the cabinet body and ensure the privacy of the objects in the drawer. A locking key is normally required to unlock the drawer, and pull out the drawer from the cabinet body, the locking key is also required to secure the drawer in the cabinet body. Once the locking key is lost, it creates inconvenience to the user. Therefore, those conventional designs of the sliding drawers constitute some defaults and inconvenience to the users.


Fasteners, drivers, punches, fastener systems, and methods of making fasteners, drivers, punches, and fastener systems are disclosed herein. The fasteners may include a recess having a groove in an inner transition surface. Corresponding drivers may include one or more stabilizing ribs for interfacing with the groove in the fastener recces for providing stability.

Use of powered tools to drive threaded fasteners at high speed and high torque loads results in high forces applied by the driver to the fastener. Although many threaded fastener drive systems, particularly those with a driver-engageable recess in the fastener head, are designed to have surfaces that are engaged by corresponding surfaces on the driver, such ideal surface-to-surface engagement, at best, is difficult to achieve in practice. Rather than surface-to-surface engagement between the driver and fastener, by which the driving load can be distributed over a broad surface area, driver-recess engagement often is concentrated in small areas or points. Further, this is exasperated when the driver-recess engagement is not in line.
This may result from a number of factors such as inconsistencies in the manufacture of the fastener or the driver, as well as difficulties encountered in the field. Field-encountered difficulties may include, for example, misalignment of the driver and fastener or inability to fully seat the driver in the recess because of paint or other debris that may have collected in the recess. Even slight misalignment between the driver and the fastener, or a variation of the fastener or driver from design specifications, can result in substantial reduction in the area of contact between the driver and fastener, in many cases resulting in near point-like contact of several portions of the driver and fastener. Application of high torque under such circumstances necessarily results in concentrated stresses in the materials of the driver and the recess that, in turn, can lead to failure of the material, either by plastic deformation or fracture. Even slight plastic deformation of the engagement surfaces of the recess and driver can adversely affect system performance. If the recess deforms to define ramp-like surfaces inclined from the vertical, the driver may "cam-out" of the recess under the influence of the applied load. Such cam-out is undesirable, not only because it results in premature or uncontrollable disengagement of the driver and recess, but also because the suddenly disengaged driver can slip onto and damage the work piece. Additionally, excessive stress in the driver blade while driving the fastener can cause the blade to deform in a manner that reduces the surface area contact with the fastener and effectively shifts the region of contact radially inwardly, thereby reducing the effectiveness of driver-recess engagement and increasing the risk of failure.
It would be desirable to provide improvements in recessed head fasteners and drivers by which the foregoing and other difficulties are reduced or eliminated and stability is increased.


A touch-panel-integrated liquid crystal display device (display system) includes a liquid crystal display device, and a touch panel input device, provided on a liquid crystal panel of the liquid crystal display device, which has upper and lower electrodes (conductive thin plates) for detecting a position via which information is inputted from the outside. The display system includes a liquid crystal display device driving section for driving the liquid crystal display device and a noise canceling signal generator (signal application section) for applying, to the touch panel input device, a noise canceling signal having an amplitude and a phase that are equal to an amplitude and a phase of a driving signal applied from the liquid crystal display device driving section to the liquid crystal panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display system in which a device including a conductive thin plate such as a touch panel is provided on a display device such as a liquid crystal display device so that the display device and the conductive thin plate are integrated with each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
An input device such as a touch panel which detects a point on a panel surface which point is touched with a pen or a finger includes a conductive sheet. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 167677/2003 (Tokukai 2003-167677) discloses a touch-panel-integrated display device in which the input device and the display device such as a liquid crystal display device are combined with each other. The touch panel is electrically connected to a touch panel controller so as to detect a position via which information is inputted to the touch panel with a pen. Normally, the touch-panel-integrated display device is arranged so that the touch panel controller is completely independent from a driving circuit for driving the display device.
Recently, the above-mentioned touch-panel-integrated display device (display system) has been more widely used as a portable device, so that the display device has become thinner and lighter. Thus, there are tendencies to make the device thinner by making the glass constituting the touch panel thinner and to make the device lighter by using plastic instead of glass.
In a case of using such a touch panel, this raises the following problem: a driving signal of the display device influences the touch panel, so that the touch panel is vibrated, which results in noise. This noise is generated as follows. The display device or the touch panel is electrically charged by static electricity generated in the production step, sliding of the pen when in contact with the touch panel, friction generated in pressing the pen against the panel surface, exfoliation, and the like, and an electric charge thereof is influenced by the driving signal of the display device, so that a force which varies with the passage of time is generated. In a portable information terminal having a sound collecting function or a telephone function, the noise is audible, so that the foregoing problem is more noticeable.
There is presently known a technique for suppressing the occurrence of abnormal minute vibration or abnormal noise in a thinner liquid crystal display device (see Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 295162/2003 (Tokukai 2003-295162). However, it has not been reported or disclosed that any discovery or study has been made regarding the above-described problems with the display device provided with the device having the conductive sheet such as the touch panel. Thus, the inventors of the present application have not found any document which identifies or recognizes the above-described problems.


A resin molded semiconductor device having wiring layers and interlayer insulating layers inclusive of an SOG film, capable of suppressing generation of cracks in an SOG film to be caused by thermal stress. In the outer peripheral area of a semiconductor chip, via holes are formed in an interlayer insulating layer inclusive of an SOG film to substantially reduce residual SOG film. As an underlying layer of the interlayer insulating layer inclusive of the SOG film, dummy wiring patterns are formed to thin the SOG film on the dummy wiring patterns. Dummy wiring patterns may also be formed by using a higher level wiring layer, burying the via holes and contacting the lower level dummy wiring patterns.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin molded semiconductor device, and more particularly to a semiconductor device capable of suppressing generation of cracks to be caused by thermal stress at a peripheral area of a semiconductor chip.
b) Description of the Related Art
Common problems associated with resin molded semiconductor devices whose chips are resin-molded, are a shift of wiring patterns and generation of cracks in a passivation film to be caused by thermal stress generated by a difference of thermal expansion coefficients between semiconductor chips and sealing resin.
The surface of a semiconductor chip is generally divided into an inner pattern region where wiring patterns and functional elements such as transistors and resistors are formed, a bonding pad region outside the inner pattern region where bonding pads are disposed, and a reserved region from the outer periphery of the bonding pad region to the chip periphery.
In order to suppress a shift of wiring patterns and generation of cracks in a passivation film to be caused by thermal stress of the semiconductor chip, it has been proposed to form slits in a wiring pattern or form dummy wiring patterns. Most of conventional methods form such crack preventing structures in the inner pattern region.
FIG. 6 is a partial plan view showing an example of the layout of a semiconductor chip. At the outside area of a hatched inner pattern region b, a bonding pad region a is disposed which has a plurality of bonding pads a1 to a5. The bonding pad region a has an area from the outer periphery of the inner pattern region to the line extending through the outer sides of the bonding pads. Each bonding pad is a rectangle having a side length of, for example, about 100 .mu.m.
An area from the outer periphery of the bonding pad region to the outer periphery of the semiconductor chip is a reserved region c where no circuit element is formed. The reserved region has a width of 20 .mu.m to 100 .mu.m and is used for preventing cracks at a scribed surface from entering into the inner pattern region containing functional elements, when the wafer is diced into chips.
FIG. 7 shows an example of a cross sectional structure of a semiconductor chip, showing a portion from a bonding pad to a chip periphery. Formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate 1 are a field oxide film 2, a first interlayer insulating film 3, and a first wiring layer 4 on the first interlayer insulating film 3. The first wiring layer 4 forms a bonding pad 4a and a metal seal ring pattern 4c. On the surface of the first wiring layer 4, a second interlayer insulating layer 5 and a passivation film 8 of SiN.sub.x are formed. The second interlayer insulating layer 5 is a laminate of a pair of plasma CVD SiO.sub.2 films 5a and 5b and a spin-on-glass (SOG) film 6 sandwiched therebetween. In the inner pattern region, a second wiring layer is formed on the second interlayer insulating layer 5 and is covered with the passivation film 8. The surface of the passivation film 8 is sealed with a resin region 9 used for sealing the semiconductor chip.
Many semiconductor devices have a multi-layer structure with a plurality of wiring layers and interlayer insulating layers. If the surface of an underlying layer is uneven, the precision of photolithography is lowered and step coverage of a higher level wiring layer becomes bad so that breakage of wiring layers or other defects are likely to occur. For planarization of the surface of an underlying layer, an SOG film effective for planarization is often used as part of an interlayer insulating layer. If the SOG film alone is used, moisture becomes easy to invade. An interlayer insulating layer including an SOG film between a pair of CVD insulating films is used in most cases.
An SOG film is formed by spin-coating liquid material over the substrate and thereafter heating it. The liquid material may be organic silane containing source material dissolved by solvent or a mixture of SiO.sub.2 particles and binder.
The liquid SOG film source material fills a recess in the underlying layer and planarizes the surface. The quality of an SOG film as an insulating film is not good. Therefore, the SOG film may be etched back by setting the etching rates of the SOG film and the underlying layer equal to each other. With this etch-back, the SOG film is left only at the recess, and the other SOG film on the upper flat surface of the stepped underlying layer is removed.
Spin-coated SOG film source material becomes thick and stagnant in a broad area because of a dam formed by the metal seal ring pattern at the chip peripheral area. Even after the etch-back, the SOG film is left in the broad area of the chip peripheral area. If a semiconductor device with such an SOG film is subjected to heat cycle tests, for example, in a temperature range from 150.degree. C. to minus 65.degree. C. about 500 to 1000 times, the interfaces between the broadly stagnant SOG film and CVD insulating films are stripped or peeled off, and therefore cracks are likely to be generated in the SOG film.
FIG. 8 is a diagram sketched from an enlarged photograph of an SOG film cross section of a semiconductor device after heat cycle tests. An SOG film 6 is flaked at either an interface to an upper plasma CVD SiO.sub.2 film 5b or to a lower one 5a, and cracks are formed in the SOG film 6.
Cracks are easy to be formed in the SOG film at the reserved region c (refer to FIG. 6) of a semiconductor chip. Cracks are easy to be formed particularly near at the corners of a semiconductor chip where more stress is likely to be applied.
Cracks formed in the SOG film at the reserved region c often induce generation of cracks reaching the inner pattern region b. Moisture may enter from these cracks. If moisture enters further the inner pattern region b, the characteristics of functional elements such as transistors are adversely affected. For example, if moisture reaches an oxide film, H.sup.+ ions enter the oxide film. If these H.sup.+ ions reach the gate oxide film, the threshold value of the transistor may vary, or if they reach near the lower interface of the field oxide film, negative charges may be induced in a p-type well, forming an n-type channel. Entered moisture often corrodes electrode material such as Al. Cracks formed in the SOG film may break a higher level wiring pattern.

Semiconductor chip capable of suppressing cracks in the insulating layer


A method of particle mitigation which includes obtaining a semiconductor wafer having a nonfunctional backside and a functional frontside on which semiconductor devices are formed by one or more lithography processes; coating the backside with a mitigating layer comprising silicon or amorphous carbon; patterning the mitigating layer to form indentations in the mitigating layer; placing the semiconductor wafer onto a wafer chuck such that the wafer chuck makes direct contact with the coated and patterned backside mitigating layer; and while maintaining the coated and patterned backside mitigating layer in direct contact with the wafer chuck, performing a first lithographic process on the frontside.

The present exemplary embodiments relate to mitigating particle contamination on the backside of a semiconductor wafer, and more particularly, relate to mitigating particle contamination by providing a patterned surface on the backside of the semiconductor wafer to capture the contaminating particulate matter within the patterned features.
Particulate matter may be generated from wafer handling devices (such as pics, pins and pads) as the semiconductor wafers travel through a multitude of tools in the line. Some particulate matter, and especially scratches and dents, are inevitable, regardless of any sort of preemptive cleaning or wiping methods.
The semiconductor wafers are typically handled with a so-called wafer chuck, one example of a wafer chuck being an electrostatic wafer chuck, which secures the semiconductor wafer during processing. However, conventional electrostatic chucks maintain a high percent point of contact with the backside of the semiconductor wafer. This large area of contact is highly susceptible to semiconductor wafer backside particulate manner and scratches, which can create wafer topography during lithography exposure and lead to "hot spots". A hot spot in the present context is a lithography term for a localized pattern distortion (i.e., defocus) of which one cause is wafer topography.

International Business Machines Corporation