A method of controlling a digital photographing device for storing an image file obtained by taking a photograph in a storage medium, and reproducing an image file stored in the storage medium to display on a display unit, the method including: marking an image file corresponding to an image last displayed on the display unit when a playback mode for displaying an image on a display unit is terminated; and loading, when a playback mode is started, an image file corresponding to an image that has been last displayed on the display unit when a previous playback mode is terminated, to display on the display unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling a digital photographing device and a digital photographing device using the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of controlling a digital photographing device and a digital photographing device using the same that can improve a user's convenience in a playback mode for displaying an image on a display unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional digital photographing device, an image file obtained in a photographing operation in a photographing mode is stored in a storage medium, and the image file stored in the storage medium can be loaded and displayed on a display unit in a playback mode. Additionally, the image file obtained in the photographing operation can be displayed in the photographing mode.
When a playback mode is started, the conventional digital photographing device is set to display on the display unit the lastly taken and stored image file. That is, when a user desired image file stored in the storage medium is displayed on the display unit in a playback mode and the playback mode is terminated and then restarted, the lastly taken and stored image file is automatically displayed on the display unit. Therefore, in order to display the desired image file that is displayed on the display unit before the playback mode is terminated, a user must perform a search operation until the desired image is displayed on the display unit. Particularly, when the playback mode is erroneously terminated by incorrect manipulation of a user while the user desired image is being displayed on the display unit, such a problem causes significant user inconvenience.

Method of controlling digital photographing device and digital photographing device using the same


Measuring unit with at least a pressure sensor and signal transmission means, intended to be fitted on a tire/wheel assembly, characterized in that it comprises a logic indicator with two states, active and inactive, and in that the logic indicator becomes active each time the pressure measured by the pressure sensor is below a given threshold, close to zero.

Monitoring systems for vehicles fitted with standard tires are in very widespread use. These systems usually warn the driver of the vehicle when the pressure of one of the tires drops below a given threshold relative to the recommended inflation pressures.
For a few years, tire manufacturers have been developing solutions making it possible to run with the same tire, according to certain limits that have to be observed, after a puncture or a drop in pressure. This makes it possible, for example, to get to a repair point without having to stop, in circumstances that are often hazardous, to fit the spare wheel. These tire solutions are known as "extended mobility tires".
Two broad types of technologies for extended mobility are now emerging on the motor vehicle market. On the one hand, there are self-supporting tires, often designated "zero pressure" (ZP) tires. The self-supporting tires are capable of supporting a load at reduced pressure, even no pressure, thanks to their reinforced side walls, more often than not by means of inserts made of rubbery material provided in the side walls.
On the other hand, there are wheels fitted with supports, capable of supporting the inside of the tread of a tire in the event of a weakening of the side walls following a drop in pressure. This solution is advantageously coupled with a tire comprising a bottom area capable of minimizing the risk of the tire slipping off the rim. This solution is advantageous since it makes it possible to keep the running characteristics substantially intact in normal conditions. On the other hand, it entails the drawback of requiring an additional piece, the support, for each of the wheels of the vehicle.
For all vehicles fitted with extended mobility tires, a pressure monitoring system is mandatory to be able to warn the driver of the vehicle of a loss of pressure and that a tire is beginning to operate in extended mode. The driver then knows that he must limit his speed and that his running autonomy is limited. Some monitoring systems are designed to manage the remaining autonomy.
At the present time, the measuring units usually used in the pressure monitoring systems are not physically attached to the tire itself, but are fixed behind the wheel valves. Thus, after a tire and wheel assembly has been removed, it is no longer possible to guarantee a relationship between the identification code of the measuring unit and the type of tire fitted.
Another problem arises when the driver of the vehicle decides to replace one or more of the extended mobility tires with standard tires. The monitoring system of the extended mobility tires of the vehicle risks no longer being suitable for monitoring standard tires. In such a case, how can the monitoring system be notified of the change of tire type?

Unit for measuring and system for monitoring tire pressure in tires of the extended mobility or other type


A technique for identifying a geographical location of a mobile terminal which includes receiving a set of characteristics from the mobile terminal, comparing the set of characteristics from the mobile terminal with a set of attributes for each of the cells, and identifying one of the sub-cells whose attributes most closely match the characteristics from the mobile terminal as the sub-cell in which the mobile terminal located. The attributes may include discrete RF attributes, such as average pilot strength, chip offset, or pilot strength. The attributes may also include continuous features, such as signature waveforms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for performing pattern recognition-based geolocation under various RF propagation conditions, and more particularly, to a technique for locating a mobile caller within a cellular service area under various RF propagation conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cellular telephone system must be able to locate a mobile caller within a cellular service area under various RF propagation conditions.
Conventional methods are based on either a triangulation technique, which requires signals from or to three or more base stations, or an angle of arrival technique, which requires at least two base stations. In many areas, the number of base stations that the mobile unit can detect or can be detected by, is less than two. Furthermore, both the triangulation and angle of arrival techniques suffer from inaccuracies and signal fading which result from multi-path propagation.
The present invention solves these problems by providing a method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and propagated signal which utilize pattern recognition-based geolocation to locate a mobile caller within a cellular service area under various RF propagation conditions.
The present invention matches the observed RF characteristics associated with the signal transmitted by a mobile unit (or signal received and reported back to a base station by a mobile unit) to a known set of RF characteristics and other information of a particular location. The location of the mobile unit is determined or estimated when a closely match pattern is found. Pattern recognition technology is utilized to find the matched pattern. In one embodiment, the pattern recognition technique is a Bayes formula for optimal estimation. The main advantages of the present invention are eliminating the need for detecting more than one base station and eliminating inaccuracies caused by multi-path propagation.


The general inventive concepts provide a side-light type backlight unit. The side-light type backlight unit comprises a light guide plate and a light source located at the side of the light incident surface of the light guide plate. The light source comprises a circuit board which comprises a first region opposite to the light incident surface of the light guide plate and a second region adjacent to the first region. The first region and the second region are provided with LED lamps. By arranging LED lamps in both the first region and the second region of the circuit board of the side-light type backlight unit, the incident light of the side-light type backlight unit is increased, thereby improving the luminance of the side-light type backlight unit in 3D state. The disclosure further provides a display device comprising such a side-light type backlight unit.

With the development of display technology and the increase of people's pursuit for entertainment, 3D display technology has caused concerns among certain segments of the display-producing market. The common principle utilized in producing 3D images is providing different images to the left eye and the right eye respectively. The methods of implementing this principle mainly include spectrophotometric methods, time division, and complementary color method.
At present, in 3D displays employing the time division method, in order to increase display quality, backlight unit (BLU) scanning is generally used to drive the 3D display, and a two-short side backlight unit operates in cooperation with the BLU scanning so as to reduce 3D cross talk and improve display quality. Specifically, referring to FIG. 1, a conventional side-light type backlight unit comprises a cooling plate 1′, a light source 2′, and a light guide plate 3′ arranged above the cooling plate 1′ as well as an optical film material 4′, wherein the light source 2′ comprises a circuit board 21′ and a LED lamp 22′ on the circuit board 21′, the light source 2′ is arranged at the side of a light incident surface 31′ of the light guide plate 3′, and the LED lamp 22′ is arranged opposite to the light incident surface 31′ of the light guide plate 3′, such that the light emitted by the LED lamp 22′ can reach the light guide plate 3′ better, so as to provide a light source for the 3D display device. However, limited by the structure of the conventional two-short side backlight unit, BLU scanning in 3D state may result in a relatively low luminance of 3D display and influence the 3D display effect.

Beijing Boe Display Technology Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a composition comprising a prepolymer as component (A), wherein the prepolymer comprises aziridino groups and is characterized by an equivalent weight EW1, a crosslinker as component (B), wherein the crosslinker has a structure being different from the structure of the prepolymer and comprises aziridino groups and is characterized by an equivalent weight EW2, an initiator as component (C) being able to start curing of the composition, optionally filler(s) as component (D) and optionally additive(s) as component (E), wherein equivalent weight is defined as (molecular mass of the molecule)/(number of aziridino groups present in the molecule) and wherein EW1>EW2. The invention also relates to the use of the composition for coating, sealing, moulding, adhering, making impressions, producing a dental material.

Due to their chemical nature, polyethers are inherently hydrophilic and are a well-recognized class of materials, especially for dental applications. Polyether-containing compositions and their use in the dental field are also subject of several patent applications.
US 2004/0014924 A1 relates to silicone based aziridino compounds. The materials described show functionality of at least two aziridino groups in the average molecule having a prepolymeric structure. The general formula shows structures with aziridino functions pendant from a silicone backbone.
US 2004/0014907 A1 describes linear and branched prepolymeric silicones bearing terminal and/or pendant aziridino moieties and curable compositions made thereof.
WO 2004/014323 A1 relates to monofunctional aziridine compounds which can be used to enhance speed of cure. The addition of monofunctional aziridine compounds to a given concentration of aziridine compounds with at least two aziridine rings enhances speed of cure.
Other publications that mention the use of aziridines are WO 92/19655 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,467 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,698 A1.
So far achieving a sufficient tear strength value of the compositions described has not been an issue. Some of the compositions, however, might lack sufficient tear strength bearing the risk of rupture of thin parts of material when the set impression is removed from the mouth or a plaster model is removed from the impression.
Thus, there is a need for a polyether containing composition having improved properties, especially with regard to tear strength.

Composition containing aziridino groups and use thereof


The invention relates to a liquid store for an inhaler (10), in particular for an electronic cigarette product, having an outlet end (53) which can be fluidically connected to a heating element (60) in order to evaporate liquid (50) supplied to the heating element (60) from the liquid store (18). The liquid store (18) has at least one air inlet end (52) and at least one channel (51). The channel (51) extends from the air inlet end (52) to the outlet end (53) through the liquid store (18), wherein the channel (51) is designed to transfer the liquid (50) stored in the liquid store (18) to the outlet end (53) through the channel (51) via capillary forces.

A large number of electronic cigarette products are known in the prior art, in which the liquid store is either designed as a reservoir or a tank, or in which the liquid is stored in a sponge, for example made of acetate. In both cases, the reservoir communicates with the outside world at least via a wick and the heating element, which is arranged in an air channel that is open to the outside and is in pressure equilibrium with the outside world.
Both variants described above have the disadvantage of leakage. On the one hand, liquid can escape if there is a marked change in the ambient pressure, for example in an aircraft. On the other hand, if the evaporator function is not available, for example when the energy store of the electronic cigarette product is empty, the user can suck the liquid directly out of the liquid store by means of a puff and the resulting negative pressure. This is unpleasant and leads to irritation in the mouth region.
In the prior art, there is still partial or complete dry running of the evaporator unit and insufficient wetting of the surface of the evaporator. In both cases, the lack of cooling caused by the liquid to be evaporated results in temperatures above 250° C., which leads to the formation of harmful substances through decomposition and radicalisation of the liquid components, especially glycerol and propylene glycol. Due to an uncontrolled or undetected supply and evaporation of liquid, the quality of the aerosol produced is unintentionally and uncontrollably influenced.

Liquid store for an inhaler, in particular for an electronic cigarette product


The present invention relates to a method of using biologically active peptide compounds comprising the tri-peptide motif KDI derived from the neurite outgrowth-promoting domain of laminin-1 as inhibitors of ionotropic glutamate receptors. The peptide compounds are therefore useful in methods of treating disorders responsive to the blockade of these receptors, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS or stroke.

Laminins were identified in late 1970's as extracellular matrix proteins and components of basement membranes (Martin and Timpl, 1987) and they presently form a growing family of glycoproteins with diverse functions (Miner and Yurchenco, 2004). In recent years, the central nervous system functions of various laminins have been extensively studied, and their multiple roles in the developing and mature CNS have started to emerge (Liesi, 1990; Miners and Mercado, 2003). Numerous studies have established that laminins are widely expressed in both CNS neurons and glial cells (Wiksten et al., 2004b; Liesi et al., 2001a). One of the neurite outgrowth domains of laminin-1 has been mapped to the C-terminal decapeptide RDIAEIIKDI (Liesi et al., 1989) of the γ1-chain of laminin-1. Specifically, the γ1 laminin has been linked in promoting neurite outgrowth (Liesi et al., 2001b), neuronal migration (Liesi, 1990), and axon guidance (Wiksten et al., 2003).
Interestingly, the neurite outgrowth function of the γ1 laminin is mediated by a tri-peptide sequence KDI (Lys-Asp-Ile) located in C-terminus of the protein (Liesi et al. 2001b). This tri-peptide enhances both viability and directional neurite outgrowth of human spinal cord neurons in vitro (Wiksten et al., 2003; Liebkind et al., 2003). Recent data indicate that the KDI domain possesses dramatic neuroprotective functions in vivo: it was shown (1) to prevent kainic acid induced neuronal death in hippocampal and cortical areas of the rat (Wiksten et al., 2004b), and (2) to promote healing and functional regeneration of surgically induced spinal cord injury resulting in hind limb paralysis of adult rats (Wiksten et al., 2004a). Microscopic and molecular analyses of KDI-treated spinal cords and hippocampal tissues indicate that application of soluble KDI-peptide reduces tissue damage at the lesion site and enables both neurite outgrowth through the injured area and neuronal survival (Wiksten et al., 2004a and 2004b).
Previous studies have also shown aggregation of inwardly rectifying potassium channels (Guadagno and Moukhles, 2004) and most recently voltage gated calcium channels (Nishimune et al., 2004) by binding of a particular laminin to the channel protein, but no electrical responses were reported for this interaction.
Even though the adhesive properties have been shown to play an important role in such biological events as promotion of neurite outgrowth, neuronal migration and regeneration, the data of the present invention indicate that the neurite outgrowth KDI domain of γ1 laminin has additional diverse and important functions that shed new relevance for expression of γ1 laminin in adult CNS neurons (Wiksten et al., 2004b), and in CNS after trauma (Liesi and Kauppila, 2002) or in a neurological disorder, such as Alzheimer's disease (Murtomäki et al., 1992; Palu and Liesi, 2002).
As compelling evidence indicates that glutamate neurotoxicity (glutamate-mediated neuronal death, excitotoxicity) is a major player in all CNS trauma and neurodegenerative disorders (Mattson, 2003), most of the presently available novel drugs used clinically to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease and ALS or stroke are inhibitors of glutamate receptor function. However, many of these drugs cause significant side effects, e.g. neurotoxicity. Therefore, novel, effective, safe and non-toxic inhibitors of this receptor function are constantly needed.

Methods of inhibiting glutamate receptors by administering the tripeptide KDI


A security assembly includes a first building structure at least partially defining a building opening. The first building structure has a first surface. A movable building structure is movable between a closed position in which the movable building structure covers the opening and an open position in which the movable building structure uncovers the opening. The movable building structure has a perimeter with a second surface disposed in opposition to the first surface when the movable building structure is in the closed position. An optical sensor apparatus includes an electronics module mounted in association with the first surface or the second surface. The electronics module has an optical emitter and an optical receiver. The optical emitter emits a first beam. A reflector arrangement is mounted in association with the other of the first surface and the second surface. The reflector arrangement provides a plurality of sequential reflections of the first beam to thereby produce a second beam directed at the optical receiver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surveillance system sensors, and, more particularly, to surveillance system sensors for detecting the opening of a door or window.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surveillance systems, also known as security systems, are known to include door sensors for monitoring the opening and closing of a door. Door sensors are known to be in the form of a pushbutton that is held in a depressed state by the door when the door is in a closed position. When opening, the door moves away from the pushbutton, thereby releasing the pushbutton from the depressed state. A controller monitors the state of the pushbutton, and may issue an alarm signal if the door is opened without authorization. A problem with this type of sensor is that an intruder can defeat it by inserting a thin object, such as a piece of sheet metal, between the door and the pushbutton such that the object holds the pushbutton in a depressed state when the door is opened. Thus, the controller cannot detect that the door has been opened.
Another type of door sensor is the magnetic reed switch type that includes a reed switch sensor mounted on the door frame. The sensor detects and monitors the presence of a magnet that is mounted on the door at a location that is adjacent to the sensor when the door is in the closed position. Thus, the magnet may be detected by the sensor only when the door is closed. A problem with this type of sensor is that it too may be defeated by an intruder. For example, the intruder may attach another magnet adjacent to the reed switch sensor before opening the door such that the sensor's detection of the presence of a magnet is uninterrupted. Here too, the sensor, and a controller connected to the sensor, cannot detect that the door has been opened.
What is needed in the art is a door/window sensor that cannot be easily defeated by an intruder and that can be incorporated into a security system.


Aircraft guidance assistance systems and computer readable media are disclosed. The present subject matter includes systems and computer readable media for providing task guidance for managing flight operations during normal operating procedures or exceptional situations caused by abnormal events. In some aspects, a system for providing task guidance can include a processor, memory, and a flight assistance module configured to receive data from multiple servers. The assistance module can display possible aircraft flight phases while indicating the flight phase. The assistance module can also display operations to be carried out for the flight phases, and the actions corresponding to these operations.

During general operation of an aircraft, the systems management functions allow the operating crew to interact and to monitor the state of the aircraft's systems in situations of normal management, as well as offering warnings and procedures in the case of exceptional situations during flight operations.
During flight operations under normal conditions, the operating crew can follow standard operating procedures and verification checklists in which the standard operations are defined. In order to carry out these standard operations, crew members execute the actions constituting these procedures in a prescribed order using control devices disposed throughout the aircraft cockpit. These control devices are not only situated on control panels located above the crew members, but also on a central console located between the crew members or on panels in the instrument panel.
In emergency situations or exceptional situations such as a system fault, other control devices are dedicated to the management of the aircraft systems in those situations. These control devices contain display devices presenting the actions to be executed by the crew that are necessary for the continued operation of the aircraft in the given exceptional situation.
Currently, there is not a system for assisting the guidance of actions to be carried out by the operating crew whereby the standard and exceptional procedures and controls are centralized into one system. Currently, these control systems are disposed throughout the aircraft instrument panel in such a way that there is no centralized system for assisting the crew in carrying out the necessary actions on the control devices for either normal or exceptional flight situations.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems that would centrally locate the standard and exceptional procedures and controls in one system for ease of operation by the crew. There is also a need for disposing the control devices into one central system location for ease of operation by the crew.

Systems for tasks guidance of operations management in an aircraft cockpit


The rubber foot mounting structure has a base 20b equipped with a boss hole 30 in the shape of substantially a cylinder and a rubber foot 40 that is formed on an outer side face of a body section 40d in the shape of substantially a column and is made capable of being press-fit to the boss hole 30 by means of flanges 40a1 to 40a4 formed on the outer side face of the body section 40d. Four flanges 40a1 to 40a4 formed on the outer side face of the rubber foot 40 contact the boss hole 30 and the rubber foot 40 gets inserted into the boss hole 30 while the four flanges 40a1 to 40a4 are being compressed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rubber foot mounting structure and a projector equipped with the rubber foot mounting structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional projector adopted a rubber foot mounting structure as shown in FIG. 10. That is, a round hole 1a is opened in a bottom case 1, a thrusting rod 2c of a rubber foot 2 with a rubber head 2a fixed on its tip is threaded through the round hole 1a, from the viewable face side to the inside, and the thrusting rod 2c is fixed to the round hole 1a with a backward blocker 2b. With this structure, the rubber head 2a protrudes to the below from the undersurface of the bottom case 1, and the rubber head 2a keeps the bottom case 1 at a predetermined height.
As a mounting structure of a rubber foot that is attached on the undersurface of the electric/electronic appliance including the projector, holds the electric/electronic appliance at a predetermined height, and gives the electric/electronic appliance a buffering function, the following is disclosed. That is, JP No. 03-4596 A discloses a rubber foot such that a trench is provided in the rubber foot, a frame is set in the rubber foot, and a base housing is fastened using a protrusion provided on the rubber foot. Moreover, JP No. 10-270863 A discloses a leg for electric appliance such that a rubber foot provided with a through hole in its core is press-fit to a pin provided in the bottom of the electric appliance and a side face of the rubber foot is covered with a cylindrical rib provided in the perimeter of the pin. Furthermore, JP No. 2002-9454 A discloses a rubber foot mounting structure such that a trunk of the rubber foot is provided with a hole and a protrusion, when the rubber foot is inserted into an insertion orifice of the rubber foot, the rubber foot is tacked by the protrusion, and the rubber foot is fixed by inserting a rib into the hole at the time of assembly.
However, since in the conventional rubber foot mounting structure, the thrusting rod 2c and the backward blocker 2b protrude from the undersurface of the bottom case 1 to the top face in the conventional rubber foot mounting structure, if this structure is applied to an appliance whose pedestal part is independent, the thrusting rod 2c and the backward blocker 2b protrude from the top face and are exposed.
Moreover, a rubber foot described by JP No. 03-4596 A is unsuited to be used for an appliance whose pedestal part is self-supporting because a part thereof protrudes above the top face of a base housing. Further, the protrusion part must support the whole weight of the base housing, and it is unsuited to be used in an appliance with a heavy weight.
Still moreover, a leg for electronic appliance described by JP No. 10-270863 A has the following unsatisfactory problem: when the pin is inserted into a through hole for fixing of a rubber foot, if the diameter of the hole for fixing is excessively large to the diameter of the pin, the rubber foot is easy to fall out of the pint; there are troubles that, if the diameter of the through hole for fixing is formed to be somewhat smaller than the diameter of the pin, it becomes difficult to perform press-fit smoothly and once the pin is set in the hole, it becomes hard to remove.
Even moreover, a rubber foot mounting structure of an enclosure described by JP No. 2002-9454 A is unsuited to be applied to an appliance whose pedestal part is self-supporting because a part of the rubber foot protrudes above the top face of the case. Further, once the enclosure is assembled, in order to remove the rubber foot, the rib must be removed; and then in order to remove the rib, the enclosure must be dissembled. So, this structure gives poor workability in the case of removing the rubber foot, such as in rework in which the rubber foot is removed, for example, because the pedestal is found defective in a factory.

Rubber foot mounting structure and projector


A hairpiece includes a foundation having a central portion and a circumscribing flap and further including an apron extending from the lower face of the foundation adjacent the flap and circumscribing a portion of the central area. The apron includes slits for receiving hair therethrough from adjacent a bald area on a person's head for anchoring the hairpiece on the bald area. The flap folds over and covers the apron with adhesive therebetween to hold the hair received through the slits in the anchoring position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention deals with the field of hairpieces. In particular, the invention is concerned with a hairpiece including a foundation having a central portion and a circumscribing flap and further including an apron extending from the lower face of the foundation adjacent the flap and circumscribing a portion of the central area. The apron includes slits for receiving hair therethrough from adjacent a bald area on a person's head for anchoring the hairpiece on the bald area. The flap folds over and covers the apron with adhesive therebetween to hold the hair received through the slits in the anchoring position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of hairpieces, the prior art discloses a variety of techniques for holding a hairpiece in position on a bald area on a person's head. Some of these techniques are not appropriate for all circumstances and others may be ineffective. Still other techniques are time consuming to implement.


An oscillator generates a triangular wave signal whose inclination for charging a capacitor and inclination for discharging the same are the same and which is used to turn on/off FETs Qp1 and Qn1. A signal generation part generates first drive signal in a period shorter than a half period of the triangular wave signal to drive the Qp1, and generates a second drive signal having a pulse width substantially equal to that of the first drive signal and a phase difference of about 180 degrees with respect to the first drive signal, to drive the Qn1 and provide a current to the discharge tube in a direction opposite to the current driven by the first drive signal. Furthermore a pulse current generation circuit converts a synchronization pulse voltage signal into a pulse current that alternates between positive and negative current values.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional discharge tube lighting apparatus with no synchronization signal being inputted thereto. FIG. 2 is a timing chart illustrating signals at various parts of the conventional discharge tube lighting apparatus with no synchronization signal being input thereto. In the discharge tube lighting apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 1, connected between a DC power source Vin and the ground is a first series circuit having a high-side p-type MOSFET Qp1 (referred to as p-type FET Qp1) and a low-side n-type MOSFET Qn1 (referred to as n-type FET Qn1). Between a connection point of the p-type FETQp1 and n-type FET Qn1 and the ground GND, there is connected a series circuit having a capacitor C3 and a primary winding P of a transformer T. Both ends of a secondary winding S of the transformer T are connected to a series circuit having a reactor Lr and a capacitor C4
A source of the p-type FET Qp1 receives the DC power source Vin and a gate of the p-type FET Qp1 is connected to a terminal DRV1 of a controller IC 1. A gate of the n-type FET Qn1 is connected to a terminal DRV2 of the controller IC 1.
The controller IC 1 has a start circuit 10, a constant current determination circuit 11, an oscillator 12, a frequency divider 13, an error amplifier 15, a PWM comparator 16, a NAND gate 17a, an AND gate 17b, and drivers 18a and 18b. The constant current determination circuit 11 is connected through a terminal RF to an end of a constant current determination resistor R1. The oscillator 12 is connected through a terminal CF to an end of a capacitor C1.
The start circuit 10 receives source power from the DC power source Vin to generate a predetermined voltage REG and supply the same to various internal parts. The constant current determination circuit 11 passes a constant current that is optionally set by the constant current determination resistor R1. According to the constant current from the constant current determination circuit 11, the oscillator 12 charges and discharges the capacitor C1, to generate a sawtooth oscillating waveform illustrated in FIG. 2 (illustrated in FIG. 2 is a charge/discharge voltage of the capacitor C1 at the terminal CF), and according to the sawtooth oscillating waveform, generates a clock CK. The clock CK has, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a pulse voltage waveform that is synchronized with the sawtooth oscillating waveform at the terminal CF so that it becomes high level during a rise period of the sawtooth oscillating waveform and low level during a fall period of the same. The clock CK is sent to the frequency divider 13.
An end of the secondary winding S of the transformer T is connected through the reactor Lr to an electrode of a discharge tube 3, the other electrode of the discharge tube 3 being connected to a tube current detection circuit 5. The tube current detection circuit 5 has diodes D1 and D2 and resistors R3 and R4, to detect a current passing through the discharge tube 3 and output a voltage proportional to the detected current to an inverting terminal (as depicted by "−") of the error amplifier 15 through a feedback terminal FB of the controller IC 1.
The error amplifier 15 amplifiers an error voltage FBOUT between the voltage from the tube current detection circuit 5 input to the inverting terminal and a reference voltage E1 input to a non-inverting terminal (as depicted by "+") and sends the error voltage FBOUT to a non-inverting terminal (as depicted by "+") of the PWM comparator 16. The PWM comparator 16 generates a pulse signal that is high level if the error voltage FBOUT from the error amplifier 15 inputted to the non-inverting terminal is equal to or higher than the sawtooth waveform voltage from the terminal CF input to a non-inverting terminal (as depicted by "+") and low level if the error voltage FBOUT is lower than the sawtooth waveform voltage. The pulse signal is outputted to the NAND gate 17a and AND gate 17b.
The frequency divider 13 divides the frequency of the pulse signal from the oscillator 12 and provides the NAND gate 17a with a frequency-divided pulse signal Q and the AND gate 17b with a pulse signal (having a predetermined dead time with respect to the frequency-divided pulse signal Q) formed by inverting the frequency-divided pulse signal Q. The NAND gate 17a operates the NAND function of the frequency-divided pulse signal from the frequency divider 13 and the signal from the PWM comparator 16 and outputs a drive signal through the driver 18a and terminal DRV1 to the p-type FET Qp1. The AND gate 17b operates the AND function of the inverted frequency-divided pulse signal from the frequency divider 13 and the signal from the PWM comparator 16 and outputs a drive signal through the driver 18b and terminal DRV2 to the n-type FET Qn1.
During from time t1 to t2, for example, the output from the PWM comparator 16 is high level, the output from the frequency divider 13 is high level, and the output of the NAND gate 17a is low level. As a result, the terminal DRV1 provides a low-level output to turn on the p-type FET Qp1. From time t4 to t5, the output from the PWM comparator 16 is high level, the inverted output from the frequency divider 13 is high level, and the output from the AND gate 17b is high level. As a result, the terminal DRV2 provides a high-level outputted to turn on the n-type FET Qn1.
Namely, the drive signals are formed by synthesis with the outputs from the frequency divider 13 and are alternately sent to the terminals DRV1 and DRV2 in synchronization with the clock CK with a fall period of the sawtooth oscillating waveform serving as a dead time. With the above-mentioned operation, the controller IC 1 alternately turns on/off the p-type FET Qp1 and n-type FET Qn1 at the frequency of the sawtooth oscillating waveform. As results, power is supplied to the discharge tube 3 and a current passing through the discharge tube 3 is controlled at a predetermined value.
The oscillation frequency of the oscillator 12 arranged in the discharge tube lighting apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 is generally determined by the resistor R1 and capacitor C1. However, due to variations among the employed parts (the resistor and capacitor), the oscillation frequency may interfere with a low oscillation frequency of burst dimming and the oscillation frequency of an SMPS arranged before the discharge tube lighting apparatus, to cause screen flickering that is critical for a display device.
To cope with this, there is a method that inputs an external synchronization pulse voltage signal to the discharge tube lighting apparatus, to synchronize and regulate the oscillation frequency of the oscillator 12 with respect to the external synchronization pulse voltage signal. In this case, the lighting frequency of a discharge tube is synchronized with the frequency of the external synchronization pulse voltage signal, or ½ of the frequency of the external synchronization pulse voltage signal. For example, to synchronize the lighting frequency of a discharge tube with a synchronization pulse voltage signal from a microcomputer, a synchronization circuit illustrated in FIG. 3 is added.
The synchronization circuit illustrated in FIG. 3 has a one-shot circuit 2 to generate a one-shot pulse at a rise time of an external synchronization pulse voltage signal TRI, a diode D3 connected to an output of the one-shot circuit 2 and an end of a capacitor C1, and a Zener diode ZD1 connected to both ends of the capacitor C1. This synchronization circuit provides the capacitor C1 with the synchronization pulse voltage signal TRI whose frequency is higher than the frequency of a sawtooth oscillating waveform CF of the capacitor C1, as illustrated in FIG. 4, to synchronize the sawtooth oscillating waveform CF of the capacitor C1 with the frequency of the synchronization pulse voltage signal TRI, thereby synchronizing the lighting frequency of the discharge tube 3 with ½ of the frequency of the synchronization pulse voltage signal TRI.
A known related art is, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,093. According to this document, a secondary winding of a transformer is connected to a load. A primary winding of the transformer is provided with a semiconductor switch circuit. Each switch of the semiconductor switch circuit is PWM-controlled to conduct constant-current control. If a state of instructing the stoppage of an operation/stop signal is established, a power source to a control circuit part is disconnected to set a standby state. At the same time, switch drive signals that turn on the switches in the semiconductor switch circuit are turned off, to prevent the occurrence of an excessive current at the time of shifting to the standby state.

Frequency synchronizing method for discharge tube lighting apparatus, discharge tube lighting apparatus, and semiconductor integrated circuit


An electric power switch suitable for use as a capacitor switch that includes a drive unit having a bi-directional toggle mechanism and linearly opposing opening and closing spring latches. The opening and closing spring latches are located on opposing sides of the toggle mechanism, which includes an open-cage spring mechanism with coaxial, nested opening and closing springs operated by a rotating, motor-driven charging cam. To open the circuit interrupter, the opening spring latch is tripped to release the opening spring and thereby remove the capacitor bank from the electric power circuit. To introduce the capacitor bank into the electric power circuit, the motor rotates the charging cam through one complete rotation, which charges the opening and closing springs and trips the closing spring latch to release the closing spring to close the circuit interrupter and thereby introduce the capacitor bank into the electric power circuit.

Switching of capacitor banks is a common occurrence in electric power systems. The inductive reactance of motors in home and industrial use cause less than unity power factors, which if uncorrected can increase system losses and cause voltage levels delivered to end-use customers to drop to unacceptable levels. Capacitor banks are typically switched into the electric power circuits during high levels of inductive loading, typically during the daylight and early evening hours when most people are awake and using electric power, to correct the power factor, reduce delivery losses, and boost the voltage to the end-use customers. Once the high level inductive loading subside, typically at night, the capacitor banks are switched out of the electric power circuit. Daily cyclical use of capacitors is therefore a common practice to balance the capacitive reactance with inductive loads, and thus minimizing the stated problem, as electric loads increase and decrease on a daily basis.
Because inductive residential loads typically increase and decrease on a daily cycle, capacitor switching in response to residential loads typically occurs on a daily basis. Capacitor switching can also occur multiple times daily, for example when residential loads are combined with industrial or municipal loads that occur at night or multiple times per day. Coal mining equipment, aluminum smelters, manufacturing assembly lines, municipal water pumps, and electric transportation loads, to name but a few examples, can place large, cyclical or intermittent inductive loads on an electric power system. As a result, capacitor switches often experience several hundred to several thousand operations per year. Circuit breakers that are designed to operate in response to overload and other emergency conditions, by comparison, typically operate much less frequently, on the order of only a few isolated operations up to a couple of dozen times per year.
Nevertheless, electric utilities have often utilized the same circuit switching technology used in circuit breakers for capacitor switching applications, despite the fact that the circuit breaker technology is not designed to operate nearly as frequently as capacitor switches typically experience. For example, circuit breakers are typically designed for an industry standard of 2,000 to 10,000 operations, which is intended to cover the entire lifetime of the circuit breaker. While this standard is robust and appropriate for a circuit breaker that can be expected to operate only a couple of dozen times per year, it is inadequate for a capacitor switch that can be expected to operate several hundred to several thousand operations per year. Conventional circuit breaker technology can therefore be expected to wear out too quickly when put into operation for capacitor switching applications. Circuit breakers are also designed to switch under very high short-circuit emergency current conditions, which capacitor switches are not expected to experience in normal daily operation. It is therefore inefficient and to utilize circuit breaker technology for capacitor switching applications.
As a result, capacitor switches have been designed to withstand tens of thousands of cycles. Commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,115,828; 7,078,643; 6,583,978; 6,483,679; 6,316,742 and 6,236,010 are good examples of electric power switching technology designed specifically for the capacitor switching application. For these capacitor switches, the spring mechanism that accelerates the electrical contactor is a critical component. Because a capacitor switch normally operates to switch the capacitor bank into or out of an energized power circuit on both the opening and the closing stroke, the electrical contactor must be accelerated to an appropriate speed on both the opening and the closing strokes. In addition, because the capacitor switch is designed to cycle on at least a daily basis, the capacitor switch is preferably motorized so that it can be operated from a remote control center or automatically in response to monitored line conditions. When the capacitor switches are well designed and cost effective, an electric utility typically finds it economically feasible to install capacitor banks in many locations throughout the electric power sub-transmissions and distribution system, resulting in a dozens or hundreds of economical capacitor switch installations for a particular electric utility, and thousands of economical capacitor switch installations across the greater power grid. Considerable effort therefore goes into designing capacitor switches that have advantageous size, cost, operating and reliability characteristics.
One prior capacitor switch design in described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,602, which discloses a capacitor switch with a bi-directional toggle mechanism and nested opening and closing springs. However, the toggle mechanism in this design relies on expanding and contracting latch rings on a piston inside a cylinder to charge and release the opening and closing springs. Although this design is functional, the latch and trip mechanisms for the expanding and contracting latch rings are complex and can cause undesirable binding in the slide mechanism. The piston and cylinder arrangement is also a relatively large, bulky and heavy design. Placing the trip and latch components within a closed cylinder also makes it difficult to inspect and service these components, requiring disassembly of the drive unit and removal of the piston and cylinder latch mechanism.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for a cost effective electric power switch suitable for use as a capacitor switch. There is a further need for a capacitor switch that includes an improved bi-directional toggle mechanism that does not rely on expanding and contracting latch rings located on a piston inside a cylinder to charge and release the opening and closing springs.

Capacitor switch including a bi-directional toggle mechanism and linearly opposing opening and closing spring latches


The present invention refers to an injection moulding machine including an injection moulding tool which includes at least one female die and one male die. A blow moulding tool is arranged in closely spaced relationship with the injection moulding tool. A transfer member is arranged between the injection moulding tool and the blow moulding tool, the transfer member being used for transferring a preform from the injection moulding tool to the blow moulding tool. The movement of the transfer member is synchronized with the opening and closing movements of the injection moulding tool and of the blow moulding tool in such a way that said transfer member moves into the tool area of the open injection moulding tool, removes the respective preform from the male die or from the female die, moves out of the tool area and introduces the preform into the blow moulding tool that is open to an adequate extent.

Such machines are, of course, known in the prior art to a large extent and they are used in great variety of cases. Such injection moulding machines are often also used for producing preforms which are subsequently subjected to a blowing process. In the production of large-volume beverage bottles of plastic material, for example, it is known to produce a preform in an injection moulding machine and to let said preform cool down so that it can then be given its final shape after an appropriate thermal pretreatment directly at the beverage-manufacturing firm. In this connection there are, however, also solutions in the case of which the preform is removed from the injection moulding machine and supplied to a conveyor means passing with said preform a large number of intermediate processing steps, such as e.g. crystallization of the thread area for the screw top. Finally, a heat treatment step is carried out prior to the actual blowing process. These processes known in the prior art have the great disadvantage that they are specially adapted to the production of beverage bottles and that this type of device has not gained general acceptance for producing other injection-moulded/blow-moulded parts.


Methods for conducting property inspections and property inspection systems that include: a computer having a memory configured to store a program and a processor to execute the program; a project template generator adapted to provide a plurality of inspection projects, each inspection project including a plurality of inspection locations based on a property floor plan and a plurality of possible defects relating to an inspection location; a camera in communication with the computer, the camera adapted to capture an image of a defect with a property and store the image in the memory; and, an image association program executed by the processor configured to associate an image with a project, an inspection location, and a defect related to the inspection location.

Mobile devices are starting to be used as inspection tools for conducting real estate inspections. SnapInspect App (www.snapinspect.com) of SnapInspect International LLC and HG Companion software of HomeGauge of Asheville, N.C. (www.internachigauge.com) provide programs that enable mobile devices to be used in real estate inspections. With HG Companion, the user has to transfer the photos and videos to a laptop or desktop computer to create and complete a report. One common problem with both software programs is that they offer fixed inspection checklist or templates. For instance, if you have downloaded a template for a 3 bedroom house and the house you inspect has a 3 bedroom plus a bonus room, you cannot add the bonus room into your inspection because it is not in the template. They also have no floor plans within the system, so it may be confusing to distinguish one bedroom from another. Photos or videos for the bedrooms may easily be mixed up.
Another problem with both software programs is that they do not have the ability to label the videos with displayed text, such as the location where the video was taken. Thus, videos may get misidentified. Yet another problem with the above software program is that their programs allow users to skip taking photos or videos of certain inspection locations or completing information related to a photo or a video. Inspectors may have to return to the inspection site because they failed to take photos or videos of an important location, or because they could not remember the details they needed to add to a photo or video. Finally, a problem with the above software program is they are designed for inspecting a single property. They cannot provide comparisons between the multiple properties inspected. Thus, if you want any statistical data based on multiple properties that were inspected, these two software programs will not provide them.


A subsystem of an avionics system is operated in a first mode for receiving software via a port; and in a second mode in accordance with a circuit that includes a terminator coupled to the port. By using the terminator to convey information regarding a desired configuration for operation in the second mode, communication and wiring is avoided between subsystems of the avionics system for conveying such information. In one implementation, operation in the second mode includes performing a collision avoidance function (e.g., providing a TCAS advisory). Configuration information in accordance with the circuit may specify an arrangement of shared antennas between multiple transponders and/or mode changes related to using an antenna for a collision avoidance function in a hijack mode of operation.

Electronic equipment, especially cockpit avionics, are conventionally designed to operate according to parametric values established for a particular installation. By relying on parametric values that are associated with variations in installations (e.g., on different aircraft), the cost of design and qualification of avionics can be spread across many different installations and maintenance costs for a population of avionics may be reduced. In a typical installation and configuration, tables of alternative parametric values are stored in memory of a processor of the avionics; and, some external indication is ascertained for the selection of values particularly suitable for the current installation.
One technique is to choose a connector that is part of the permanent installation of the avionics (e.g., a connection already required for power, input, or output signals), reserve contacts in the connector for short circuits, define a code for the shorts, opens, and/or resistance between reserved contacts of that connector, and associate the code with a table of parametric values. In operation, the processor reads interface circuits that provide the code, uses the code as an index into the table, reads the parametric values from the table, and establishes, in accordance with the parameters, any operational criteria, such as, power conditioning, circuit functions, initial conditions, modes of operation, use of resources, identifications, limit conditions, and branch conditions. Giving effect to various parametric values may require switching circuitry for routing signals in alternate ways.
Avionics may be designed to permit the in situ installation of new software for use by the avionics. In a conventional arrangement, the avionics may have an interface connector (e.g., on a front or rear panel) for data communication signals used to accept the new software when on the ground or otherwise not in service. In situ installation of software avoids the expense of removing the avionics from some or all of its permanent installation (e.g., releasing mechanical restraints, extending circuit assemblies out of the position used in flight, disconnecting cables). Unfortunately, in situ installation of software is expensive in that it requires access to skilled personnel and equipment capable of providing the digital communication signals for transferring the software from such equipment to the avionics.
Without new methods for configuring avionics, the installation and maintenance of avionics will continue to be limited

System having termination for data loading port

Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems, LLC


To provide a method of rapid methylation of alkenes, which is applicable to the preparation of a PET tracer and which enables alkenes to be methylated through cross coupling between SP2 (alkenyl) and SP3 (alkyl) carbon atoms rapidly and in a high yield. Methyl iodide and an alkenyltrialkylstannane are subjected to cross coupling in an aprotic polar solvent in the presence of a palladium complex having a valence of 0, a phosphine ligand, a cuprous halide, and a carbonate and/or alkali metal fluoride.

In a PET method, a labeled compound labeled with short-lived radionuclide that emits positron is administered into a living body, γ rays generated by this labeled compound (hereinafter, referred to as "tracer") are measured by using a PET camera (a detector including a gamma-ray scintillator and a photomultiplier), and the distribution thereof in the body is imaged by using a computer. This PET method is used in identification of a site of a tumor such as a cancer cell as an examination of nuclear medicine; a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, brain infarction, and the like; a diagnosis of a mental disorder such as depression; an evaluation of treatment; and an evaluation of pharmacokinetics and drug efficacy.
A PET method uses a tracer labeled with a short-lived radionuclide such as 11C, 18F, and the like. Among them, a 11C-labeled tracer has many advantages as mentioned below.
(1) Since a 11C-labeled tracer uses a carbon atom existing in all organic compounds, it is applicable in an extremely wide range.
(2) A method for preparing compounds such as 11CH3I, 11CO, 11CO2 serving as a precursor for synthesizing a 11C-labeled tracer is well established. Therefore, purified precursors can be stably obtained.
(3) Since a 11C-containing tracer has a short half-life (20.3 min), it is possible to carry out a large number of trials and clinical tests for basic studies in a day. Furthermore, it is not necessary to pay a particular attention to processing of radiolabeled byproducts generated after a synthesis reaction, and the like.
Therefore, it can be said that the 11C-labeled tracer is the most excellent tracer used in the PET method. However, since the half-life of 11C is such an extremely short time as 20 minutes, it is necessary to carry out purification and administration of the product within 40 minutes after starting the reaction. Therefore, a synthesizing reaction of the tracer has to be completed for about 5 to 10 minutes. A method for carrying out a rapid reaction in a high yield has not been established, which has been an obstacle in using a 11C-labeled tracer in the PET method.
By the way, a method for synthesizing a PET tracer using 11C as a radionuclide includes a method of binding a 11C-labeled methyl group to a heteroatom such as O, C, N, and the like, and a method of binding a 11C-labeled methyl group to carbon of the carbon skeleton. The tracers obtained by binding a 11C-labeled methyl group to a heteroatom such as O, C, N, and the like, are often changed into other compounds rapidly by the metabolism in the body. Therefore, when such tracers are clinically used, the tracers may be changed before they reach the target organ, thus making it impossible to conduct a diagnosis and to provide a treatment accurately. Furthermore, since a compound after methylation shows an utterly different bioactivity from that of a compound before methylation, it is not suitable as a means for searching a candidate for drug discovery. On the contrary, the tracer obtained by binding 11C methyl to carbon of the carbon skeleton has the following advantages: (1) Since a methyl group is a three-dimensionally smallest and non-polar functional group, the effect of the methyl group on the parent compound after it is introduced is minimum; and (2) Since a C-methylated product shows higher stability with respect to the metabolism as compared with an O-methylated product or a N-methylated product, the resultant image has higher reliability and an appropriate diagnosis of disease can be conducted.
Under such circumstances, the present inventors have developed a rapid methylation method in which methyl iodide and an organic tin compound are subjected to a Stille-coupling reaction, and received much attention (non-patent document 1). This method has enabled a cross coupling between SP2 and SP3 carbons atoms, which has been considered to be conventionally difficult in the Stille-coupling reaction. For example, when methyl iodide, an excess tributyl(phenyl)stannane, tri-o-tolylphosphine and unsaturated palladium are reacted in a DMF solvent in the presence of copper salt and potassium carbonate at 60° C. for 5 minutes, methylation proceeds in a yield of 90% or more. This method has been demonstrated to be useful. For example, this method has been actually applied to a prostaglandin derivative tracer and succeeded in imaging a prostaglandin receptor in the human brain.
Besides, the Stille-coupling reaction relating to the present invention has been described in the below mentioned documents (non-patent documents 2 to 4).
[Non-patent document 1] M. Suzuki, H. Doi, M. Bjorkman, Y. Anderson, B. Langstrom, Y. Watanabe and R. Noyori, Chem. Eur. J., 1997, 3(12), 2039-2042
[Non-patent document 2] K. Menzel and G. C. Fu, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2003, 125, 3718-3719
[Non-patent document 3] H. Tang, K. Menzel and G. C. Fu, Angew, Int. Ed. Engl., 2003, 42, 5079-5082
[Non-patent document 4] J. Baldwin et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2004, 43, 1132-1136

Method of rapid methylation of alkene compound and kit for PET tracer preparation using the same


The present invention relates to a programming mode for improving the reliability of a multi-layer storage flash memory device in a semiconductor storage field. The present invention provides several programming modes for improving the reliability of a multi-layer storage flash memory device and switching control methods thereof, based on the technical conception of skipping some specific logic pages in the programming process to reduce the impact of the floating gate coupling effect on the operation of the flash memory. By skipping some logic pages, the present invention effectively reduces the floating gate coupling effect in the horizontal, diagonal and vertical directions of the multi-layer storage flash memory in the programming process. Therefore, the error rate is reduced, the service life of the device is prolonged, and the reliability of the whole system is enhanced.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor storage field, and more particularly to a programming mode for improving the reliability of a multi-layer storage flash memory device in a solid-state hard disk controller, a flash memory controller, and the like, where the flash memory device is used as a storage medium.
Related Art
Different from a single-layer storage flash memory, a storage unit of a multi-layer storage flash memory device can save multi-bit logic information through setting multiple groups of threshold voltages, so as to significantly increase the storage capacity of the flash memory device without increasing hardware overhead. With the advantages of a high integration degree and low cost, the multi-layer storage flash memory device becomes the mainstream for flash memory devices.
To save multi-bit data in one same storage unit, a storage unit in a multi-layer storage flash memory need several times of programming, as shown in FIG. 1. When a write operation only needs to be performed on a most significant bit (MSB) bit in the multi-layer storage flash memory, the multi-layer storage flash memory directly transfers from an erasing state "E" to a second programming state "D2", which requires the least time for programming. When a write operation is performed on an LSB page in the multi-layer storage flash memory, the multi-layer storage flash memory switches from the erasing state "E" to a first programming state "D1". When the multi-layer storage flash memory needs to change the states of the MSB and LSB bits, the programming work is completed through two rounds of operations: in the first round operation, the erasing state "E" is first switched to the first programming state "D1", and in the second round operation, the first programming state "D1" is then switched to the third programming state "D3".
An array structure inside the multi-layer storage flash memory is shown in FIG. 2. An MSB bit and an LSB bit of a physical unit in the multi-layer storage flash memory are mapping into an MSB page and an LSB page, respectively. The physical unit in line WL0 is mapped into pages 0, 1, 4, and 5, respectively, in which page 0 and page 1 are MSB pages, whereas page 4 and page 5 are LSB pages. The physical unit in line WL1 is mapped into pages 2, 3, 8, and 9, respectively, in which page 2 and page 3 are MSB pages, whereas page 8 and page 9 are LSB pages. In this manner, in the last line WL63, page 250 and page 251 are MSB pages, whereas page 254 and page 255 are LSB pages.
A severe floating gate coupling effect exists in a flash memory device smaller than 45 nm. As shown in FIG. 3, the change of a floating gate voltage of a storage unit in the flash memory array causes a disturbance to a floating gate voltage of an adjacent storage unit, resulting in unexpected flipping of data saved in the adjacent storage unit.
Such a floating gate coupling effect in the flash memory device severely interferes with data saved in the flash memory. Especially for a multi-layer storage flash memory, because storage units require several times of programming, the influences caused by the floating gate coupling effect are severer. The reliability of a multi-layer storage flash memory is far lower than that of a conventional single-layer storage flash memory. Therefore, a reliability enhancement technology needs to be adopted in a flash memory controller to constrain the error rate of the multi-layer storage flash memory and prolong the service life of a device.

Programming mode for multi-layer storage flash memory array and switching control method thereof


A method and apparatus for marker aided autonomous vehicle localization are disclosed. Marker aided autonomous vehicle localization may include an autonomous vehicle identifying transportation network information, identifying an origin, identifying a destination, generating a plurality of candidate routes from the origin to the destination based on the transportation network information, wherein each route from the plurality of routes indicates a distinct combination of road segments and lanes, generating an action cost probability distribution for each action in each candidate route, generating a route cost probability distribution based at least in part on the action cost probability distribution, identify an optimal route from the plurality of candidate routes based at least in part on the route cost probability distribution, and operate the autonomous vehicle to travel from the origin to the destination using the optimal route.

An autonomous vehicle may be controlled autonomously, without direct human intervention, to traverse a route of travel from an origin to a destination. An autonomous vehicle may include a control system that may generate and maintain the route of travel and may control the autonomous vehicle to traverse the route of travel. Accordingly, a method and apparatus for marker aided autonomous vehicle localization may be advantageous.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A top emission organic light emitting display with a reflective layer therein is provided. The reflective layer, a first electrode, an organic layer, and a transparent second electrode are subsequently formed on the substrate. When a bias voltage is applied to the first electrode and the transparent second electrode, the organic layer emits radiation. The reflective layer reflects radiation from the organic layer toward the transparent second electrode, and therefore the emission efficiency of the OLED increases.

As technologies progress, an organic light emitting display (OLED) has become one of the most potential future displays. A conventional OLED includes a metal cathode and a transparent anode, and an organic layer is interposed between the cathode and the anode. The metal cathode is made of metal having a low work function, such as Mg, Al or alloy thereof while the transparent anode is made of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) or Indium Zinc Oxide (IZO). Light exits from the organic layer through the transparent anode, which is called "back emission".
For integrating the organic light emitting display, a controlled circuit, such as an active matrix utilizing thin film transistors (TFT), has to be arranged under the anode. In that case, the aperture ratio decreases as the OLED emits light from the anode. To solve the problem, a top emission construction of the OLED was proposed. FIG. 1 illustrates an active matrix OLED. The organic layer 106 is disposed between the transparent anode 108 and the transparent cathode 104. The cap layer 102 is disposed on the transparent cathode 104. The TFT 306 is coupled to the transparent anode 108 via the electronic connection unit 308 for controlling the light emitted from the organic layer 106.
However, light from the organic layer emits in all direction. If light is not emitted toward the transparent cathode, power is consumed and brightness of the OLED cannot be improved. A demand for an OLED with improved emission efficiency and brightness therefore derives.

Top emission light emitting display having reflective layer


The invention provides a pad removal apparatus and method that enables improved pad removal from a platen.

CMP is a combination of chemical reaction and mechanical buffing. A conventional CMP system includes a polishing head with a retaining ring that holds and rotates a substrate (also referred to interchangeably as a wafer) against a polishing pad surface rotating in the same direction. The polishing pad can be made of cast and sliced polyurethane (or other polymers) with a filler or a urethane coated felt.
During rotation of the substrate against the polishing pad, a slurry of silica (and/or other abrasives) suspended in a mild etchant, such as potassium or ammonium hydroxide, is dispensed onto the polishing pad. The combination of chemical reaction from the slurry and mechanical buffing from the polishing pad removes vertical inconsistencies on the surface of the substrate, thereby forming an extremely flat surface.
After a pad is used, it must be removed from a platen on which it rests, which can be labor intensive and time consuming and can result in injury to an operator. The effort needed and the potential for injury is due to the high force required to overcome the attachment of the pad to the platen caused by a pressure sensitive adhesive disposed between the pad and platen. Further, the effort and potential for injury has increased as the industry has moved from 200 mm wafers to 300 mm wafer since the larger surface area of pads used increases the force required to remove them from platens.
Therefore, a new polishing pad removal apparatus and method are needed that overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings while substantially decreasing the amount of human effort required.

Apparatus and method for removing a CMP polishing pad from a platen


Grafted thermoplastic elastomer compositions formed by melt blending of a minor proportion of a thermoplastic material having a high softening point with a minor proportion of a glycidyl-containing copolymer, followed by melt blending of the thermoplastic material/glycidyl-containing copolymer blend with a major proportion of an acid-containing ethylene copolymer have a unique combination of unexpectedly good high temperature properties, compression set resistance and/or rebound.

Japanese patent publication 59/115352 published Jul. 3, 1984 to Unitika discloses compositions of 100 parts by weight of a thermoplastic polyester, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polybutylene terephthalate (PBT); 1-50 parts by weight of an olefin/glycidyl(meth)acrylate copolymer, optionally also containing vinyl acetate; and 3-50 parts by weight of a polyolefin modified with up to 10 mole percent of an alicyclic carboxylic acid. The goal of the invention is a polyester-type resin composition with improved impact resistance. The composition of this publication is a thermoplastic engineering resin, while that of the present invention is a thermoplastic elastomer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,859 granted Oct. 30, 1979 to Epstein, discloses a hard thermoplastic composition consisting of 60-99 weight percent thermoplastic polyester, toughened with a discrete soft elastomeric phase. Among the tougheners specifically disclosed are ethylene/vinyl acetate/glycidyl methacrylate (E/VA/GMA) and the zinc salt of E/iso-butyl acrylate (iBA)/methacrylic acid (MAA). Combinations of tougheners are permitted. This patent, however, does not disclose compositions with a minor proportion of polyester, nor recognize the need for sequential addition.
WO85/03718 published Aug. 29, 1985, discloses also a polyester rich (60-97%) composition, thus not a thermoplastic elastomer. The polyester is toughened with up to 40 weight percent of an ethylene copolymer such as E/n-butyl acrylate (nBA)/GMA. Less than 16% of an ionomer may be added as a nucleating agent. Again, no mention is made of sequential addition. The present invention is directed to soft flexible resins where the ionomer is the major component.
Japanese patent publication 57-187350 published Nov. 18, 1982 to Dainippon, discloses a blend of PET (100 parts by weight) with ionomer (0.1-15 parts by weight), aromatic polyester-polyether elastomer (0.5 to 25.0 parts by weight), and 0-10 parts by weight of polycarboxylic anhydrides, polyepoxides and/or polyisocyanates. The composition of the present invention has much less PET, and is a thermoplastic elastomer, rather than a toughened molding compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,540 granted Aug. 18, 1981 to Iida et al, discloses polyethylene terephthalate (PET) molding compositions which comprise PET resins, a copolymer of alpha-olefins and glycidyl ester and barium salt of fatty acids. This reference does not contain an acid copolymer or ionomer as does the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,546, granted Nov. 26, 1985 to Patel, discloses compatabilized polymer blends of olefin polymer, cross-linkable acrylic ester copolymer rubber, and a compatabilizing graft copolymer which is comprised of segments compatible with the olefin polymer and the copolymer rubber, respectively. However, nothing in Patel suggests the particular selection of ingredients which are used to make the compositions of the present invention, much less the particular quantitative limits specified for such ingredients, or the need for sequential addition of those ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,638, granted Jan. 12, 1982 to Coran et al, discloses thermoplastic elastomeric compositions comprising neutralized acrylic copolymer rubber modified with nylon. Coran discloses a simple two-component blend where one component comprises 60-98% neutralized acrylic rubber and the other component comprises 2-40% nylon. Coran does not recognize the significance of a third component which grafts the other two components together.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,042 granted Sep. 15, 1987 to McKee et al, discloses thermoplastic molding materials containing 5-50 parts by volume thermoplastic material as a coherent phase and 95-50 parts by volume of crosslinked emulsion polymerized elastomeric polymer. No mention is made of a GMA containing copolymer.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-086677 published May 18, 1984 to Sumitomo Chemical K.K., discloses blends of polyesters, glycidyl-containing ethylene copolymers and vinyl hydrocarbon polymers which have excellent adhesiveness, molding properties and workability. Those compositions, however, contain greater than 30% polyester and do not disclose an acid-containing ethylene copolymer. In addition, no mention is made of the importance of the order of addition of the components of the composition.
European Patent Publication No. 234819 published Sep. 2, 1987 to Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited discloses binary blends of 5-59 parts polyamide and 95 to 41 parts of an acid-containing ethylene copolymer. No mention is made of a glycidyl-containing copolymer.
Great Britain Patent Publication No. 2,164,342, published Mar. 19, 1986 discloses a moldable composition comprising a blend of a resilient thermoplastic material and a potentially ionizable copolymer of ethylene and an alpha, beta-unsaturated carboxylic acid which is ionized. This reference does not contain a glycidyl-containing copolymer as does the present invention.


According to one embodiment, there is provided a memory system including a non-volatile memory device, a monitoring unit, and a changing unit. The non-volatile memory device stores data. The monitoring unit monitors a characteristic of the non-volatile memory device when writing and erasing processes are performed to write and erase the data to and from the non-volatile memory device. The changing unit changes at least one of a value of a writing start voltage and an increase width of a writing voltage in the writing process in accordance with the monitored characteristic so that a time for the writing process is substantially identical to a target value. The writing process is a process in which a writing operation and a verification operation are alternately repeated.

Some memory systems such as SSDs (solid state drive) or memory cards include a plurality of NAND-type flash memory devices in which an erasing process is necessary before a writing process is performed. In a process of writing and erasing data to and from the NAND-type flash memory device, electrons are injected to and discharged from a floating gate by applying a high voltage between a substrate and a control gate. If the data writing and erasing process is performed many times to write and erase data in and from the NAND-type flash memory device, a gate insulation film near the floating gate may deteriorate. Thus, the reliability of the NAND-type flash memory device (non-volatile memory device) tends to deteriorate.


An electron device comprises a first dielectric layer (103) having a first thickness determined to allow the tunneling of carriers therethrough and a first dielectric constant, a second dielectric layer (104) provided in contact with the first dielectric layer, the second dielectric layer having a second thickness substantially larger than the first thickness and a second dielectric constant that is substantially larger than the first dielectric constant, a first electrode (101) provided on the first dielectric layer for injecting the carriers, and a second electrode (108) provided in contact with the second dielectric layer for controlling a flow of the carriers through the second dielectric layer in response to a control voltage supplied thereto.

Generally, transistors are formed from semiconductor materials such as silicon, germanium, or various compound semiconductor materials, and various transistors have been proposed so far.
FIGS. 1 through 12 show the examples of conventional transistors and diodes, wherein FIGS. 1 and 2 show the structure and the band structure of a typical bipolar transistor.
Referring to FIG. 1, the bipolar transistor includes an n-type emitter 11 surrounded by a p-type base 12, and a collector 13 surrounds the base 12 including the emitter 11. Under the collector 13, an n.sup.+ -type buried collector region 14 is formed, and the collector current obtained at the collector 13 is lead to the surface of the structure via the buried collector region 14 and further through an n.sup.+ -type contact region 15. Further, a substrate 16 of p-type silicon supports the foregoing vertical bipolar transistor structure. In correspondence to the emitter region 11, base region 12 and the collector contact region 15, an emitter electrode 17, a base electrode 18 and a collector electrode 19 are formed. As is commonly practiced, such bipolar transistor is formed by combining p-type and n-type silicon layers.
FIG. 2 shows the band structure of the bipolar transistor of FIG. 1. As can be seen therein, the n-type emitter region 11 has electrons, shown by solid circles in the drawing, in the conduction band as the carriers. On the other hand, the p-type base region 12 has holes, shown by open circles in the drawing, in the valence band thereof as the carriers. Further, the n-type collector region 13 has the electrons, also shown by the solid circles in the drawing, in the conduction band thereof as the carriers.
In operation, the base voltage at the base region 11 is controlled by the voltage that is applied to the base electrode 18. When a positive base voltage is applied, for example, the energy level of the base region 12 shifts in the downward direction. In response to such a downward shift of the base energy level, the potential barrier that has been formed by the conduction band of the base region 12 between the emitter region 11 and the collector region 13 substantially disappears. When this occurs, the electrons are injected from the emitter region 11 to the base region 12 and are transported through the base region 12 by the diffusion of the minority carriers. Thereby, the injected carriers reach the collector region 13 and a collector current flows through the transistor.
In such a bipolar transistor, the operational speed is mainly limited by the transit time of the carriers passing through the base region 12. Thus, in order to increase the operational speed of bipolar transistors, it is desired to form the base region by a semiconductor material having a high electron mobility. Alternately, the thickness of the base region 12 may be reduced for reducing the transit time of electrons through the base region. When the latter approach is employed, however, there arises a problem of increased lateral resistance of the base region. When this occurs, the voltage level within the base region is not controlled effectively and hence, the switching operation of the transistor. When the thickness of the base region 12 is reduced further, the depletion region accompanying the collector region is substantially overlapped with the depletion region that accompanies the emitter region. Such an overlapping of the depletion regions causes the so-called punch-through, wherein the flow of current through the base cannot be controlled anymore by the base voltage.
On the other hand, when the former approach is adopted, there is a limitation in the selection of suitable material, as the semiconductor materials other than silicon and germanium that can be doped to the p-type or n-type with controlled carrier concentration level, are relatively limited. Particularly, such conventional bipolar transistors cannot use the excellent electric properties of recently found high temperature superconductors.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the structure of a conventional hot electron transistor and the band structure thereof.
Referring to FIG. 3, the device has an emitter region 21, a base region 23 and a collector region 25 each formed from a conductive material such as metal, and an emitter barrier region 22 and a collector barrier region 24 both of a wide gap semiconductor material are interposed between the emitter region 21 and the base region 23, and between the base region 23 and the collector region 25. The layered structure of the layers 21 through 24 is formed on a substrate 26, and the emitter region 21, the base region 23 and the collector region 25 have respective electrodes 17, 18 and 19.
In the hot electron transistor of such a construction, metals or doped semiconductors can be used for the emitter region, base region and the collector region, while insulating materials or semi-insulating materials can be used for the emitter barrier layer and the collector barrier layer. Further, such a structure does not require the exact control of the conductivity type for the emitter region, base region and the collector region.
As shown in the band diagram of FIG. 4, the emitter barrier region 22 and the collector barrier region 24 form the energy barrier against the passage of the carriers from the emitter region 21 to the collector region 25. With the increasing forward biasing across the base region 23 and emitter region 21, the barrier height of the emitter barrier 22 is decreased and the carriers in the emitter region start to cause tunneling through the region 22 to the base region 23. When there is a sufficiently large biasing across the collector region 25 and the emitter region 21, those electrons injected into the base region 23 and still maintaining the original energy pass through the base region 23 and reach the collector region 25. Thereby, a collector current flows in the transistor from the emitter region 21 to the collector region 25. The collector barrier 24 merely forms a potential barrier that separates the base region 23 from the collector region 25 electrically.
In such a hot electron transistor, however, there exists a problem in that, when the carriers injected to the base region 23 lose their energy by the scattering and the like, the carriers are confined between the barrier region 22 and the barrier region 24. Thus, the carriers thus trapped in the base region form a base current. In other words, the hot electron transistors tend to show an insufficient current gain.
FIG. 5 shows the band structure of a bipolar resonant tunneling transistor. The transistor basically has a structure of bipolar transistor and comprises an n-type GaAs emitter region 31, a p-type GaAs base region 32 and an n-type GaAs collector region 33. Between the emitter region 31 and the base region 32, there are formed a pair of resonant barrier region 34 of AlGaAs such that there is formed a two-dimensional quantum well between the two barrier regions 34. In operation, the barrier level of the base region 32 is changed in response to the base voltage, and the current flows from the emitter to the base upon the lowering of the barrier level of the base region 32.
In such a two-dimensional quantum well, a number of quantized states are formed with respective energy levels, and the incident carries that causes the resonance with the quantum level in the resonant barrier region 34 are selectively passed. Thus, the resonant tunneling transistor shows a strong non-linear characteristic that is not provided by other types of transistors.
In the band structure of FIG. 5, because of the lack of the collector barrier layer in contrast to the structure of FIG. 4, the problem of unsatisfactory common emitter current gain is eliminated. However, this structure still has the problem of transit time of carriers through the base similar to the transistor of FIG. 1 and the operational speed is limited. Further, the transistor requires a precise conductivity control for the collector, base and the emitter regions.
FIG. 6 shows the band structure of a resonant hot electron transistor. In contrast to the hot electron transistor of FIG. 3, the transistor of FIG. 6 has a resonant barrier region 36 for the base barrier region. Similar to the structure of FIG. 5, the resonant barrier region 36 comprises a pair of potential barriers that confine a two-dimensional quantum well therebetween. The resonant tunneling of the carriers occurs through the region 36 as a result of energetical resonance of the carriers with the quantum levels formed in the resonant barrier region 36. This transistor can use various metals and insulating materials and thus, the restriction about the materials that can be used for the transistor is relaxed. On the other hand, the transistor has the problem in that the common emitter current gain may be insufficient because of the trapping of the carriers in the base region 23.
FIG. 7 is a band diagram showing a tunnel transistor that has a structure of bipolar transistor. Referring to FIG. 7, the transistor comprises a p-type emitter region 41 and a p-type collector region 42 of GaAsSb wit an intervening base region 43 of n-type GaInAs. The thickness of the base region 43 is set small enough such that the carriers cause the tunneling from the emitter region 41 to the collector region 42 in response to a bias voltage applied to the base region 43. Typically, the thickness d of the base region 43 is set to about 50 .ANG..
GaAsSb forming the emitter region 41 and the collector region 42 has a composition of GaAs.sub.0.5 Sb.sub.0.5 with the carrier concentration level of 10.sup.16 cm.sup.-3 or less. On the other hand, the base region 43 has a high impurity concentration level and thus a high conductivity. Thereby, the potential barrier formed in correspondence to the base region 43 can be controlled in response to the base voltage applied to the base electrode. As the thickness of the base region 43 is thin, the reduced thickness of the barrier height causes immediately the tunneling of the holes from the emitter region 41 to the collector region 42, passing through the base region 43. The transit of the holes through the base region 43 by the tunneling is controlled by the base voltage and thus, the current flowing between the emitter and collector of the transistor is controlled by the base voltage. The time necessary for the holes to transit through the base region 43 is much smaller than the life time of the holes in the base region because of the reduced thickness of the base. Thus, the common base current gain of approximately 100% can be achieved by this conventional transistor.
This transistor, however, has a problem, associated with the extreme thickness of the base region 43, in that the base region 43 has an appreciable lateral resistance. When the base resistance is large, the time needed for controlling the potential barrier of the base region is increased because of the increased time constant formed as a result of the resistance and parasitic capacitance of the base region. Thus, the transistor generally fails to provide the high speed characteristics that is expected. The doping to reduce the lateral resistance of the base 43 is not successful, as such a doping causes an increased scattering of the holes in the base region and thus the reduced current gain. Further, this transistor also has the problem of limitation in the material that can be used for forming the active part thereof. For example, the high temperature superconductors that has been developed in the past several years cannot be employed.
Further, there is proposed a low temperature tunneling transistor as disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 60-142580, wherein the carrier transit time across a pair of adjacent electrodes is minimized by flowing the carriers in the form of tunneling current.
FIG. 9 shows the principle of this prior art transistor, wherein a GaAs channel layer 52 is provided on an insulating substrate 51, and source, gate and drain electrodes 53, 55 and 54 are provided on the channel layer 52. The channel layer 52 is formed to act as an insulator having the energy barrier of 2-3 meV in the low temperature region and this barrier is controlled in response to the gate voltage applied to the gate 55. FIG. 10 shows an improvement of the device of FIG. 9 wherein an insulating film 57 is interposed between the channel 52 and the gate electrode 55 for securing the channel-gate isolation.
This transistor of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 has a serious problem, arising from the basic principle of the transistor, in that it has to satisfy two, mutually inconsistent requirements as follows. In the first requirement, to avoid the diversion of the tunneling current to the gate electrode and to maximize the current gain, it is necessary to separate the gate electrode 55 from the channel layer 52 as much as possible. In the second requirement, the gate electrode 55 has to be provided as close as possible to the channel layer 52 in order to achieve an efficient control of the barrier height in the channel layer 52 by the control voltage applied to the gate electrode 55. The separation between the gate electrode 55 and the channel layer 52 has to be set such that a tunnel current flows between the source 55 and the drain 54, and associated therewith, the gate 55 has to be provided closer to the channel layer 52 than the distance between the source electrode 53 and the drain electrode 54. However, such an arrangement inevitably causes the tunneling current flowing also through the gate electrode 55. The insulator film 57 of FIG. 10 is provided to avoid this problem. However, such an insulator film 57 decreases the potential coupling between the barrier in the channel layer 52 and the gate voltage. This problem may seem to be solved by setting a large distance between the source and drain electrodes and reducing the barrier height between the source and drain electrodes. However, the barrier height between the source and drain electrodes is determined by the contact potential between the source electrode 53 and the channel layer 52, and the contact potential between the channel layer 52 and the drain electrode 54. Thus it is generally not possible to realize the barrier height of 2-3 meV as is needed for this purpose.
FIG. 11 shows a typical conventional diode. Referring to FIG. 11, the diode comprises a cathode region 61 of n-type single crystal silicon and an anode region 62 of a p-type single crystal silicon contacted with each other to form a p-n junction. FIG. 12 shows the band structure of the diode of FIG. 11, wherein E.sub.F represents the Fermi level in the thermal equilibrium state, E.sub.C represents the bottom of the conduction band in the thermal equilibrium state, and E.sub.V represents the top of the valence band in the thermal equilibrium state. .PHI. represents the barrier height formed in the conduction band in the thermal equilibrium state.
In operation, a forward bias voltage is applied across the anode region 62 and the cathode region 61. In response to this, the Fermi level changes from E.sub.F to E.sub.F ', the conduction band from E.sub.C to E.sub.C ', and the valence band from E.sub.V to E.sub.V '.
In response to the application of the forward bias voltage, electrons are injected from the cathode region 61 to the anode region 62 as the minority carriers while holes are injected from the anode region 62 to the cathode region 61 as the minority carriers. Thereby a current flows across the diode. On the other hand, when the diode is reversely biased, the depletion region is formed at the p-n junction interface and the carriers do not flow across the p-n junction Thus, the diode shows the rectification operation.
The foregoing rectification is obtained by the existence of the barrier of which height .PHI. is determined by the band gap of the semiconductor material used for the cathode and anode. It should be noted that the barrier height .PHI. is decreased, when a forward biasing is applied, such that the current density in the diode is represented as EQU J=AT.sup.2 .multidot.exp(-.PHI..sub.o /kT)(exp(eV/kT)-1),
where A stands for the Richardson's constant T represents the absolute temperature, .PHI..sub.o represents the barrier height at the no bias voltage, k stands for the Boltzmann's constant, and V represents the forward bias voltage.
From this equation, it can be seen that the term eV has to have a value close to .PHI..sub.o in order that a sufficient forward current is obtained. In other words, there exists a forward threshold voltage in such a diode for causing to flow currents under the forward biasing state. This threshold voltage changes depending on the material and takes a value of about 0.6 volts in silicon and 0.2 volts in germanium. Thus, the conventional diode has required to have the input signal amplitude of at least 0.6 volts in the commonly used silicon diode. However, such a limitation excludes the possibility of rectifying signals such as the electromagnetic signals traveled over a long distance path or feeble radar echo signals from a distant target. It should be noted that such signals may have the signal amplitude of only 20 mV-30 mV in the maximum. In the case of the Josephson integrated circuits, a similar problem occurs. As the output logic amplitude of the Josephson processors is typically in the order Of 3 mV, the conventional diodes cannot process the output signal of the Josephson processors. As a matter of fact, there is no known diode that can rectify the output logic signal of Josephson processors directly.

Electron device having a current channel of dielectric material


An improved ultrasound probe includes a support member, a signal cable having a plurality of electrically conductive members and an ultrasound transducer array. Distal end portions of each of the conductive members may be separately embodied within and extend through the support member to a first side thereof. In turn, the ultrasound transducer array may be supportably mounted to the first side of the support member, wherein transducer elements comprising the ultrasound transducer array are electrically interconnected to different ones of the electrically conductive members. The support member preferably includes an acoustic dampening material. In one embodiment, the ultrasound transducer array may be defined by a piezoelectric layer having electrically conductive signal and ground layers on opposing sides thereof.

Known ultrasound imaging probe arrangements typically include a multi-conductor signal cable, one end of which is connected to an imaging system (e.g. comprising a signal processor and display monitor), and the other end of which is indirectly connected to an ultrasound transducer array. In response to an imaging system drive signal the ultrasound transducer array transmits acoustic waves into and receives echo pulses from a region of interest (ROI) to yield an image signal. In turn, the image signal is utilized by the imaging system to form an image of the ROI.
In some approaches, the indirect interconnection between the signal cable and ultrasound transducer array is established by a transitional device, e.g. a flexible printed circuit or printed circuit board). See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,626. Such transitional devices not only add expense and complexity, but also limit the maneuverability and reliability of the ultrasound probes.