In a defect inspection apparatus which combines a plurality of probes for measuring electric properties of a specimen including a fine circuit line pattern with a charged particle beam apparatus, the charged particle beam apparatus reduces a degradation in resolution even with an image-shift of ±75 μm or more. The defect inspection apparatus has a CAD navigation function associated with an image-shift function. The CAD navigation function uses coordinates for converting an image-shift moving amount to a DUT stage moving amount in communications between an image processing unit for processing charged particle beam images and a memory for storing information on circuit line patterns. The defect inspection provides the user with significantly improved usability.

The present invention relates to a charged particle beam apparatus, for example, an apparatus such as a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for observing a fine pattern on a semiconductor or a general specimen, and a defect inspection apparatus for measuring electrical properties of an electronic device using a fine probe, and more particularly, to a field of view determining method for bringing a probe into contact with a specimen using an image-shift function of a charged particle beam apparatus, and a defect inspection apparatus using the field of view determining method.
Conventionally, known inspection apparatuses for detecting electrical defects in fine electronic circuits formed on semiconductor chips include inspection apparatuses such as an electron beam tester, i.e., EB tester, a probing apparatus, and the like. The EB tester is an apparatus which irradiates an electron beam onto a site under measurement, and detects electrically defective sites of an LSI, taking advantage of the fact that the amount of secondary electrons generated from a site under measurement varies depending on a voltage at the site under measurement. The probing apparatus in turn is an apparatus which brings a plurality of probes or mechanical probes, arranged to match the positions of property measuring pads of an LSI, into contact with measuring pads and plugs to measure the electrical properties of the LSI. With these EB tester and probing apparatus, an operator manually confirms a site with which a probe should be brought into contact, while viewing an image of wires such as an optical microscope (OM) image, a SEM image and the like.
In recent years, increasingly complicated circuit patterns have been formed on semiconductor devices such as LSI's, thereby making it more and more difficult to move a probe to an optimal probing position in a short time. To overcome the difficulties, a technique called "CAD navigation" displays the wiring layout of a semiconductor device in agreement with an actual image of the semiconductor device, referenced by an operator, during a probing operation to reduce a time required for the probing operation.
The SEM image is observed using a scanning electron microscope which scans a primary electron beam on a specimen or semiconductor to capture a scanned image of a fine pattern on the specimen. In order to correctly move a scan area or field of view of the primary electron beam to a point under observation on a specimen, an apparatus intended to observe a fine pattern on the specimen has an image-shift function which electrically deflects the primary electron beam to electrically move a view area in a range of several μm to approximately 10 μm using deflectors systems in series.
Also, since the image-shift function directs the primary electron beam obliquely into an objective lens, off-axis aberrations of the objective lens cause a degradation in the resolution of SEM images. To solve this problem, JP-A-10-247465, for example, discloses a technique for removing the off-axis aberrations as a function of an image-shift amount. Particularly, observations on patterned specimen such as semiconductors are generally made on the order of sub-nanometers or nanometers using low accelerating voltages equal to or lower than 5 kV in order to prevent the specimen from being charged up. When the image-shift function is used for the foregoing purposes under the foregoing conditions, it is necessary to reduce off-axis chromatic aberration and chromatic aberration associated with image-shift deflection.
When the image-shift function is not used, i.e., when the object point of an objective lens does not move, chromatic aberration of the objective lens is effectively reduced to improve the resolution by a retarding method which involves applying a negative voltage to a specimen, or by a boosting method which involves applying a positive voltage into an objective lens. On the other hand, when a specimen is irradiated with an oblique primary electron beam, i.e., in beam tilting, the primary electron beam is intentionally directed out of the axis of an objective lens to generate chromatic aberration, and the chromatic aberration is canceled out using an electrostatic and magnetic multipolor, as disclosed, for example, in JP-A-2001-15055.
While the aforementioned image-shift based movements of the field of view can be substituted by mechanical movements of a DUT stage, the image-shift function is superior in terms of the moving speed and accuracy. Even if the specimen stage (DUT) stage is improved in moving accuracy, mechanical movements cause vibrations at all times. Mechanical vibrations, if any, could damage probes because several probes are often simultaneously brought into contact with measurement plugs during a simultaneous observation in the same SEM field before other probes are brought into contact.
Thus, the operability of a defect analyzer will be significantly improved to reduce a burden on the user if the primary electron beam can be irradiated to a widest possible area, and if the CAD navigation function can be associated with the image-shift function which reduces chromatic aberration.

Defect inspection and charged particle beam apparatus


An indirectly heated cathode includes a cathode sleeve (2) housing a heater (1), a caplike base (3) attached onto the cathode sleeve (2), and an electron emitter layer (4) formed on a surface of the base (3). The cathode sleeve (2) is made of a metal material that contains nickel and chromium as main components and further contains at least silicon, aluminum, cerium, and lanthanum. According to this construction, the cathode sleeve (2) is kept from heat deformation. Hence a reliable indirectly heated cathode which suppresses variations in cutoff voltage can be realized.

An indirectly heated cathode, such as an indirectly heated cathode 100 shown in FIG. 7, is conventionally used as a cathode of an electron gun which is housed in a neck of a cathode ray tube.
As shown in the drawing, the indirectly heated cathode 100 includes a cylindrical cathode sleeve 102 enclosing a spiral heater 101, a caplike base 103 provided on the cathode sleeve 102, and an electron emitter layer 104 formed by coating an upper surface of the base 103 with an electron emitting material such as an alkaline earth metal using a spray or the like.
The cathode sleeve 102 is placed in a cylindrical cathode holder 105, and held by the cathode holder 105 via cathode supporters 106.
The cathode sleeve 102 has a function of transmitting heat generated from the heater 101 to the electron emitter layer 104. The cathode sleeve 102 is made of a material that contains nickel (Ni) and chromium (Cr) as main components.
When a cathode ray tube having this conventional indirectly heated cathode 100 is used for a longtime, however, the cathode sleeve 102 is significantly deformed by the heat generated from the heater 101. In particular, if the cathode sleeve 102 expands or contracts in the direction A shown in FIG. 7 and as a result its overall length changes, a distance between the base 103 and electrodes in the electron gun such as a control electrode changes, which causes a cutoff voltage to vary.
In cathode ray tubes, the cutoff voltage is an important parameter for setting the amount of electron beam emission. If the cutoff voltage varies, a proper image display cannot be achieved. Especially in the case of color cathode ray tubes that use three cathodes for R, G, and B, a color balance of a display image is greatly disturbed if the cutoff voltage in each cathode changes, which makes it impossible to properly display the image.
In view of this problem, an indirectly heated cathode in which a metal material of a cathode sleeve is formed into two or more layers of crystal structure is proposed in order to increase a resistance to heat deformation and thereby suppress variations in cutoff voltage (e.g. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H09-102266).
This type of indirectly heated cathode, however, requires a complex manufacturing process since the crystal structure needs to be formed by repeating annealing and rolling. Besides, indirectly heated cathodes produced in separate furnaces may differ from each other. Furthermore, a sufficient resistance to heat deformation cannot be attained.
The present invention was conceived to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a reliable indirectly heated cathode that is easy to manufacture, suppresses variations in cutoff voltage by keeping a cathode sleeve from heat deformation caused by a long operation of a cathode ray tube, and exhibits little dispersion between products. The present invention also aims to provide a cathode ray tube having such an indirectly heated cathode.

Indirectly heated cathode and cathode ray tube having same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present disclosure concerns embodiments of an improved chainsaw guard. The saw guard includes a pivotable guard arm that may include downwardly extending saw chain guarding walls. In particular embodiments, the guard arm is pivotally connected to a mounting bracket, which is adapted to accommodate mounting the guard to the bar studs of various chainsaws having different bar stud spacing. The mounting bracket may be swept back to facilitate mounting to a wide variety of chainsaw models. The guard arm may include a handle adjacent the chainsaw housing to permit the guard arm to be lifted away from the guide bar so as to provide access to the upper run of the saw chain such as to perform maintenance or to permit positioning of the saw chain against a work piece in an undercutting operation.

While a chainsaw is a very useful tool it is also a very hazardous tool because of the presence of the rapidly moving saw chain that is supported on the saw bar that protrudes from the motor or engine propelling the chain. Very serious and sometimes fatal injuries have been caused by so called kickback of the saw bar resulting when the rapidly moving chain hits some rigid or immovable object and causes the forward portion of the saw bar to be propelled upwardly and backwardly towards the user so that the user is struck by the rapidly moving chain on the upper course of the saw bar. U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,297 provides one example of a safety guard designed to provide an intervening member between the saw chain and the user in the event of such kickback.


The present invention relates to a method for characterizing a polyacrylonitrile-based fiber, the method having a reduced error. In a spectroscopic analysis method for a polyacrylonitrile-based fiber according to the present invention, a contact degree between an inspection target and an attenuated total reflection crystal is predicted through Equation 2 and is applied to Equation 1 to correct a spectrum peak height, and thus, the peak height of the infrared spectroscopy spectrum may be measured with repeatability.

By virtue of continuous application development efforts seeking to take advantage of fully employing characteristics, such as light weight, high strength, and high heat resistance, carbon fibers are being widely used in various industrial fields from aerospace to construction industries, including civil engineering and construction. Such fields include construction materials concrete structures, earth-quake reinforcements, alternative energy and green energy fields such as CNG tanks, wind power generation blades, centrifugal rotors, flywheels, high-speed transportation apparatus fields, such as ships, vehicles, ocean development and deep sea oilfield development, high performance apparatus, medical welfare apparatuses, electricity conduction applications, ultra heat resistance, and the like. Carbon fiber is widening its application as a third general-purpose material forming a basis for new era that is capable of replacing iron, aluminum, or the like by virtue the unparalleled characteristics thereof. In particular, it is expected that the carbon fiber will be employed as a component material for aircrafts such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus 380, which are ultrasonic aircraft, and thus the amount of carbon fiber used in various advanced material fields will increase.
Polyacrylonitrile-based precursor fiber (hereinafter, referred to as PAN fiber) known as most suitable precursors in producing carbon fiber is converted into a carbon fiber or graphite fiber via a series of stabilization or oxidation and carbonization, and selectively via a graphitizing process stage and a series of surface treatment and sizing process stages.
In addition, according to the cost structure of carbon fibers, the PAN fiber is the largest weight of about 43%, and hence in order to obtain a carbon fiber with excellent physical properties, it is essential to secure the PAN fiber technology. As a way of securing PAN fiber technology, it is necessary to accurately understand the molecular structure of PAN fiber, and to use this well-understood molecular structure to produce PAN fiber having excellent physical properties.
Infrared spectroscopy is a technology with which spectra are measured over an infrared wavelength range, and from the measurement results, and an energy level distribution of a material, transitions between energy levels (transition from a low vibration energy level to a higher vibration energy level) can be analyzed. For example, intra-molecule functional groups or the like may be analyzed on the basis of energy absorbed when molecular bonds in a compound is in bending vibration or stretching vibration.
That is, determining the molecular structure of a compound, for example, a polymer, is an important issue in science and industry, and infrared spectroscopy is being advantageously used in various industries.
An example of such infrared spectroscopy is an infrared spectroscopy spectrum analysis method using an attenuated total reflection method (hereinafter, referred to as IR-ATR). IR-ATR is a technique in which the spectrum of an inspection target contacting an ATR crystal while light passes through the crystal is measured, and is advantageously applicable to various inspection samples. IT-ATR is useful for accurately obtaining chemical information of the surface of the inspection target, and being capable of measuring without preprocessing.
IR-ATR performs measurements through contact between the inspection target and the crystal, and the spectrum strength may vary according to the contact degree (or contact pressure). Thus, the contact degree between the inspection target and the crystal serves as an important factor for analysis accuracy.
When there is a change in the structure of the inspection target due to reaction or the like, it is necessary to quantitatively check the degree of change. When analyzing the change using IR-ATR, the spectrum strength may vary according to the contact degree, unless the contact degree is known or maintained the same, and thus a large error is generated. Consequently, accurate analysis results cannot be obtained. Thus, it is necessary to develop an analysis method in which error is reduced by reducing a change in the spectrum strength of an inspection target due to a change in contact degree.
An aspect of the present invention provides a method for analyzing an infrared spectroscopy spectrum of a polyacrylonitrile-based fiber with reduced error by correcting a contact degree between an attenuated total reflection crystal and an inspection target.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of characterizing a polyacrylonitrile-based fiber, the method including: measuring an infrared spectroscopy spectrum using an attenuated total reflection method for an inspection target (step 1); and correcting a C≡N peak height in the infrared spectroscopy spectrum through Equations 1 and 2 below using the measured spectrum (step 2):
                              Peak                                                              height                                                              correction                                                              value                =                              B            2                    C                                    [                  Equation                                                              1                ]                                C        =                                            A              2                        -                          (                                                A                  1                                ×                                                      B                    2                                                        B                    1                                                              )                                            A            0                                              [                  Equation                                                              2                ]
in Equations 1 and 2,
A0, A1, A2, B1 and B2 are respective measured peak height values of the infrared spectroscopy spectrum,
A0 is a C—H peak height of a nonvolatile liquid material, A1 is a C—H peak height of a polyacrylonitrile-based fiber, A2 is a C—H peak height of the polyacrylonitrile-based fiber infiltrated by the nonvolatile liquid material, B1 is a C≡N peak height of the polyacrylonitrile-based fiber, and B2 is a C≡N peak height of the polyacrylonitrile-based fiber infiltrated by the nonvolatile liquid material, wherein the nonvolatile liquid material is one or more selected from among paraffin oil, aliphatic ester compounds, aliphatic ether compounds, and aliphatic alcoholic compounds.
In a method for analyzing an infrared spectroscopy spectrum of a polyacrylonitrile-based fiber according to the present invention, the contact degree between an inspection target and an attenuated total reflection crystal is predicted through Equation 2 and is applied to Equation 1 to correct a spectrum peak height, and thus, the peak height of an infrared spectroscopy spectrum may be measured with repeatability.

Method for analyzing infrared spectroscopy spectrum of polyacrylonitrile-based fiber


A polishing technique wherein scratches, peeling, dishing and erosion are suppressed, a complex cleaning process and slurry supply/processing equipment are not required, and the cost of consumable items such as slurries and polishing pads is reduced A metal film formed on an insulating film comprising a groove is polished with a polishing solution containing an oxidizer and a substance which renders oxides water-soluble, but not containing a polishing abrasive.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to polishing of a metal film, and in particular to a method of polishing a metal film in a semiconductor device interconnection process.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, as semiconductor integrated circuits (referred to hereafter as LSI) become more complex, new microtechniques are being developed. One of these is chemical mechanical polishing (referred to hereafter as CMP), which is often used in LSI manufacture in particular flattening of interlayer insulating films, forming metal plugs and inlay of interconnections in multi-layer interconnection processes.
This technology is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,836.
To achieve higher speeds of LSI attempts are being made to use low resistance copper alloy instead of the conventional aluminum alloys as an interconnection material, however with copper alloy, microprocessing by dry etching which was used with aluminum alloy is difficult. Therefore the "damascene" method is mainly employed, wherein an inlaid interconnection is formed by depositing a copper alloy thin film on an insulating film on which a groove is formed by dry etching, and the copper alloy thin film is removed by CMP excepting for the part inlaid in the groove. This technique is disclosed for example in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2-278822.
In general, slurries used for CMP of a copper alloy interconnection comprise a solid abrasive and oxidizing substance as the main components. The basic mechanism of CMP is to mechanically remove the oxide by a solid abrasive while oxidizing the surface of the metal by the oxidizing action of an oxidizing substance. This is disclosed on p. 299 of "The Science of CMP", edited by Masahiro Kashiwagi and published by Science Forum on Aug. 20, 1997 (in Japanese).
As solid abrasives an alumina abrasive and silica abrasive are known with a particle diameter of a several 10several 100 nm, but most solid abrasives for metal polishing on the market are of the alumina type.
Generally, as oxidizing substances, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), ferric nitrate (Fe(NO3)3) and potassium iodate (KIO3) are used, and these are described on p. 299–p. 300 of the aforementioned "Science of CMP".
However, when interconnections and plugs were formed by CMP using a conventional slurry containing a solid abrasive for metal film polishing as a main component the following problems (1)–(8) occurred.
(1) Denting (referred to hereafter as dishing) occurs wherein the surface of the central part of the metal interconnection inlaid in the groove formed in the insulating film is polished excessively compared to the periphery, or a phenomenon (referred to hereafter as erosion) occurs wherein the insulating film surface around the interconnection is polished (FIGS. 5A, 5B).
The metal/insulating film selective ratio of a slurry intended for metal film polishing is as high as ten or more. This value is obtained by performing CMP on a wafer with only a flat metal film, and a wafer with only a flat insulating film, and comparing the polishing rates in the two cases.
However, it is known that when CMP is applied to a wafer where a metal film is deposited on an insulating film having a groove which is an interconnection pattern, excessive polishing occurs locally. This is due to the fact that there is unevenness on the surface of the metal film before CMP is performed, reflecting the groove which is the interconnection pattern. When CMP is applied, high pressure occurs locally according to the pattern density, and the polishing rate at these points is faster.
There fore dishing and erosion become conspicuous problems in pads of large area (area of about 0.1 mm side) or with crowded interconnection patterns. These problems are mentioned in J.Electrochem.Soc., p. 2842–2848, Vol. 141, No. 10, Oct. 1994.
(2) Scratches (polishing marks) occur due to the solid abrasive used for polishing. In particular, alumina which is the main material used as a metal polishing abrasive, has a greater hardness than silicon dioxide which is the main material of the insulating film. Therefore, scratches occur on the surface of an insulating film exposed by CMP in addition to the surface of the metal film used for the interconnection. Slurry remains behind in the scratches on the insulating film surface and causes malfunction of the semiconductor device due to heavy metal ion contamination. It also affects the shape of the upper layer interconnection, and causes short circuits. The scratches on the metal film surface cause poor continuity and deterioration of electromigration resistance.
In order to prevent scratches, down force and platen rotation speed are reduced when CMP is employed. However, it is difficult for even this method to prevent scratches in a soft metal such as copper.
The scratches can be reduced by using a soft polishing pad, but dishing and erosion become more serious, and flatness after CMP deteriorates. It was therefore suggested to perform CMP with a hard polishing pad in a first stage, and then to finish with a soft polishing pad. i.e. to perform a two-stage CMP. A new problem however arises in this case that-the throughput falls.
(3) Due to the high frictional force between polishing abrasive and the metal film surface when CMP is performed, peeling occurs between the metal film and the lower insulation layer, or between the spin-on-glass (referred to hereafter as SOG) in the lower insulating layer and the chemical vapor deposition (referred to hereafter as CVD) oxide film. To prevent peeling, the down force and platen rotation speed may be reduced, but if it is attempted to completely prevent it, the CMP rate falls and polishing time becomes longer which is not practical. This can be resolved by using a soft polishing pad, but dishing and erosion become serious, and flatness after CMP deteriorates.
(4) As a large amount of polishing abrasive remains behind on the wafer surface after CMP, cleaning must be performed before applying the next step, and foreign matter must be removed until it is below a specified level (e.g., there must be no more than 100 particles of foreign matter greater than 0.2 μm in one wafer). A cleaning machine which employs mechanical cleaning together with chemical cleaning is needed for this purpose.
The cleaning technique is very complicated as shown in FIG. 11. Brush-cleaning and megasonic cleaning that use a reagent fluid together are mainly performed The brush materials must be special materials which do not damage the metal film surface, and for example, ammonium hydroxide or an aqueous solution of hydrofluoric acid are used as reagent fluid.
Megasonic cleaning is a cleaning method using a high frequency of 800 kHz applied to the cleaning fluid so as to remove abrasive from the substrate. This cleaning is more powerful than conventional cleaning by ultrasonic waves (40 kHz). In this technique, sufficient energy or force must be supplied to remove the abrasive from the substrate. On the other hand the output must be set in a range that does not damage the metal film and insulating film. An example of post-CMP cleaning is disclosed on p. 172 of the May 1995 edition of Semiconductor World (in Japanese).
(5) Consumable items used for CMP are costly. This is because the production cost of abrasives used in the slurry is high, and great care must be taken to adjust particle size. In particular, alumina abrasive is several times higher in price compared with silica abrasive.
In general, foaming polyurethane is used as a polishing pad. When CMP is performed, polishing abrasive adheres to this polishing pad, clogging occurs, and the CMP rate drops.
To prevent this, the polishing pad surface needed to be sharpened with a whetstone (referred to hereafter as a conditioner) to which diamond particles were made to adhere. Therefore the life of the polishing pad was short and it was a high cost consumable item second to the polishing abrasive. The cost of the CMP process is discussed in "Recent Trends and Problems in CMP Apparatus and Related Materials, Realize Inc., New Tech Lecture. May 1996.
(6) Regarding CMP-related machines and equipment, in addition to the above-mentioned CMP machine and post-cleaning machine, a slurry feeder and processor of waste fluid containing slurry are required. Therefore, the cost of the whole CMP facility became very high. A stirrer is also needed to prevent sedimentation of abrasive in the slurry feeder, and an equipment was required to keep slurry circulating through the piping and stop it depositing. The cost of waste fluid processing is also high, and a recycling technique is needed.
(7) It is also a problem that the throughput of the whole CMP process is low. In a CMP facility, it is usual to condition the polishing pad, perform a first CMP to polish the metal film, and perform a second CMP (buff polishing) to remove the damaged layer of insulating film exposed by the first CMP. As the post-cleaning machine involves brush cleaning, wafers are usually cleaned wafer by wafer. Therefore, the throughput of the whole CMP process is the lowest in the semiconductor device manufacturing process. An example of the overall CMP process is given in detail, for example, in the May 1995 edition of Semiconductor World, p. 172.
(8) Although the CMP machine uses large amounts of polishing abrasive which generate dust, it must be operated in a clean room. A system must be provided to suppress dust in the exhaust duct of the CMP machine, and a special room must be set up in the clean room to maintain the degree of cleanliness which is costly.
All the above problems are caused by performing CMP using a slurry containing a highly concentrated polishing abrasive. However, in one prior art CMP method, to increase the polishing rate, the surface of the metal is oxidized by an oxidizer, and the surface of metal that was exposed by mechanically removing this oxide layer with a polishing abrasive is re-oxidized. This process of oxide layer formation and mechanical removal is repeated. In other words, the polishing abrasive was necessary to provide a mechanical removal effect whereby the oxide film could be rapidly removed, and when polishing abrasive was not added, a practical CMP rate was not reached.
In Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 7-233485, a comparison example is given where CMP was performed with a polishing solution to which polishing abrasive was not added (0.1 wt % aminoacetic acid and 13 wt % hydrogen peroxide). It is reported that in this case, the polishing rate was 10 nm/min, about 1/10 of that of a polishing solution to which an alumina polishing abrasive was added and about 2/7 of that to which a silica polishing abrasive was added.
FIG. 2 is the result of an additional test based on said Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 7-233485. This measured the hydrogen peroxide aqueous concentration dependency of CMP rate and etching rate in a polishing solution containing 0.1 wt % aminoacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide (not containing abrasive) so as to reproduce the results of the aforesaid Koho. It should be noted that FIG. 2 shows a concentration of 30% aqueous hydrogen peroxide, and to make a comparison with the above Koho, the results should be multiplied by a factor of 0.3. The hard pad IC1000 of the Rodel company was used as a polishing pad. The rotation speeds of the platen (diameter: 340 mm) and holder were both 60 rpm. and the down force was 220 g/cm2 (same as CMP condition of this invention). From the result of FIG. 2, it is seen that when an abrasive is not included, the CMP rate is barely 20 nm/min, i.e. a practical CMP rate is not obtained When the hydrogen peroxide concentration is low, the etching rate is fast and stability of polishing becomes poor. The stability rises if the hydrogen peroxide concentration is increased but the CMP rate becomes very low which is disadvantageous from the viewpoint of throughput.
On further examination, it was also found that the still solution etching rate (the etching rate in the case when a stationary sample was immersed in a polishing solution which was not stirred) does not fall exactly to zero even at high hydrogen peroxide concentration. When the polishing solution is stirred, and the etching rate is measured (the etching rate in a stirred solution is near to the etching rate during CMP), it is seen that the etching rate increases, and exceeds ½ of the polishing rate.
Therefore, it was found that unless the CMP rate was increased by including an abrasive and the ratio of the CMP rate and stirred etching rate (referred to hereafter as rate ratio) was increased, the solution could not be used as a polishing solution. When the rate ratio is low, etching proceeds in depressions not in contact with the polishing surface, and flatness is lost. In fact, using a polishing solution wherein the hydrogen peroxide solution concentration was varied, it was found that a polishing time of from 40 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes was needed
A cross-section of the copper interconnection formed is shown in FIGS. 22A, 22B. Most of the copper which would have been left in the groove of the silicon dioxide film was etched out. As a result of a continuity test using a meandering pattern (line width 0.3–3 μm, length 40 mm), the yield was 0% Therefore, this could not be used as an LSI interconnection. This is due to the fact that as the CMP rate is slow, etching occurred during the long polishing time.
If the concentration of aminoacetic acid is raised, the CMP rate increases, but the stirred etching rate also increases and the same result is obtained It was found that to suppress etching, potassium hydroxide may be added to the polishing solution to adjust the alkalinity to pH10.5. However, a problem occurs in that the selective ratio falls and erosion occurs due to the etching of the silicon dioxide film by potassium hydroxide. Potassium ion which remains behind spreads through the insulating film, and causes deterioration of the characteristics of the semiconductor device.
This problem is due to the fact that aminoacetic acid itself has rot much ability to make copper oxide water-soluble. As seen from the pH-oxidation/reduction potential diagram on p. 387 in M. Pourbaix, "Atlas of Electrochemical Equilibria in Aqueous Solutions". 1975, published by NACE, and shown in FIG. 9, the range in which copper is made water-soluble as copper ion (domain of corrosion) is pH7 and below, and as aminoacetic acid is neutral, its effect is weak.
FIG. 26 shows the difference of corrosion rate (etching rate) in the domain of corrosion and domain of passivation of copper. The solid line shows the corrosion rate when the oxidation-reduction potential is the same for the citric acid-based polishing solution and the aminoacetic acid-based polishing solution in FIG. 9. As typical examples, corrosion rate was plotted for a polishing solution comprising a mixture of citric acid and aqueous hydrogen peroxide in the domain of corrosion, and a polishing solution comprising a mixture of aminoacetic acid and aqueous hydrogen peroxide in the domain of passivation. Both polishing solutions were prepared with equal mole ratios. Hence, in the domain of corrosion, copper is rendered water-soluble and ionized at a much faster rate than in the domain of passivation.
This is mentioned in Proceedings of the CMP-MIC Conference, 1996, p. 123. Actually, it is reported that aminoacetic acid has no ability to etch copper oxide, but if copper oxide cannot be made water-soluble, it remains on the insulating film which is exposed after performing CMP, and causes electrical short circuits between interconnections. If the slurry contains an abrasive, the copper oxide is easily removed by mechanical action.
Conventional metal etching solutions lie within the above-mentioned domain of corrosion, but it is not certain that they can all be used as CMP polishing solutions for LSI multi-layer interconnections. This is because a slow etching rate is suitable for CMP polishing solutions. This is described, for example, in relation to abrasion experiments on copper surfaces using an aqueous solution of nitric acid, Journal of Abrasive Polishing, p. 231–233, Vol. 41, No. 1, 1997 (in Japanese). It is reported that when there is no abrasive, the CMP rate is low, but due to the absence of scratches, the solution is suitable as a polishing solution. However, the etching rate of this polishing solution was not studied and there was no attempt to form an interconnection structure. As a result of performing additional tests on this polishing solution it was found that the still solution etching rate of copper using 1 vol % aqueous nitric acid is 50 nm/min, but a sufficiently large ratio could not be obtained for the CMP rate of 80 nm/min mentioned in the aforesaid Journal. Further, when CMP was applied to form an inlaid interconnection, the copper in the part which should have formed the interconnection was etched and almost completely lost. Hence, polishing can be performed with a polishing solution wherein the etching rate is not suppressed, but an inlaid interconnection cannot be formed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A parking lock releasing apparatus includes a manipulator element operable to select a parking range of an automatic transmission, a sensor operable to detect a selection by the manipulator element, an actuator operable to operate a parking lock mechanism of the automatic transmission based on a detection by the sensor, and a manual lever operable to manually release an operation of the parking lock mechanism. The manual lever is operable on condition that a parking brake device is in operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parking lock releasing apparatus which includes a manipulator element operable to select a parking range of an automatic transmission, a sensor operable to detect a selection by the manipulator element, an actuator operable to operate a parking lock mechanism of the automatic transmission based on a detection by the sensor, and a manual lever operable to manually release a locking operation of the parking lock mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a parking lock mechanism of an automatic transmission operates automatically when a shift lever is shifted to a "P" position, and automatically released from the operating state when the shift lever is shifted to any other positions than the "P" position. However, when the automatic release of the parking lock mechanism becomes disabled due to a failure of the power supply or the like, a vehicle cannot be towed to be moved. In order to cope with such a case, JP-A-5-288266 discloses a technique in which an operation of a parking lock mechanism can be manually released by operating a manual lever that is provided separately from the shift lever.
However, when the operation of the parking lock mechanism of the automatic transmission is manually released by operating the manual lever so as to tow a vehicle, in a case where the vehicle parked on a slope, there is a possibility that the vehicle may move by a gravity at the moment of manually releasing the operation of the parking lock mechanism, thereby bringing discomfort to a driver.


X-ray inspection of moving cargo based on acquiring multiple image lines at one time or substantially at one time. An X-ray source with multiple-beam electron beam targets creates multiple parallel X-ray fan beams. X-ray inspection systems and methods employ such multiple-beam sources for purposes of inspecting fast moving cargo.

X-ray cargo inspection systems typically use an X-ray fan beam generated by a pulsed high-energy X-ray source, such as a linear accelerator (linac) or a betatron. The highest available pulse rates from these sources limit the line frequency of the imaging system and thus the maximum scan speed for a given line resolution. Linear accelerators are available with pulse rates up to 1000 pulses per second (pps). At that rate an object with a speed of 60 km/h moves 16.7 mm per pulse. In order to achieve a typical 4 mm vertical line pair resolution, four image lines must to be acquired simultaneously. Employing multiple sources with multiple detector arrays, however, is a costly proposition.
FIG. 1 depicts a cargo inspection system employing an x-ray transmission technique. A fan-shaped beam 12 of penetrating radiation, emitted by a source 14, is detected by elements of a detector array 16 distal to a target object, here truck 10, in order to produce images of the target object. Particular contents of the object may be discriminated and characterized on the basis of the transmission of penetrating radiation through the object and its detection by detector array 16 and its individual detector modules 18. (As used herein, the term "detector module" refers to a detector element in conjunction with its associated preprocessing electronics.) Signals from each of the detector modules, suitably pre-processed, provide inputs to processor 19, where material characteristics are computed.
Information (such as mass absorption coefficient, effective atomic number Zeff, electron density, etc.) regarding the material composition of the contents of objects may be obtained on the basis of the interaction of X-rays with the material, and, more particularly, by illuminating the material with X-ray beams having energy spectra with more than one distinct energy endpoint (peak energy), or by employing energy discriminating detectors. Dual energy methods of material discrimination are widely used in X-ray inspection systems for security control of hand luggage in customs and other security checkpoints. Dual energy inspection is discussed in the following references, for example, which are incorporated herein by reference:    U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,133, Neale et al., "Material Identification using X-Rays" (1996) (hereinafter, "Neale '133")    U.S. Pat. No. 7,257,188, Bjorkholm, "Dual Energy Scanning of Contents of an Object" (2005)    U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,936, Bjorkholm, "Material Discrimination using Single-Energy X-Ray Imaging System" (2000)
A multi-view x-ray inspection system is disclosed in US Published Patent Application US 2011/0206179 ("Bendahan"), incorporated herein by reference, which suggests rapidly steering a single electron beam to a sequence of x-ray radiation-producing targets, and shows an embodiment in which a beam appears to be detected by multiple parallel detector arrays, although this embodiment is not described in detail.

System and methods for multi-beam inspection of cargo in relative motion


Information, which has a frame structure and is to be transmitted from a line control apparatus (101) through a control channel to a mobile transmitting/receiving apparatus (102), includes function channel identifying information indicative of the type of information transmitted in an area of control information. When no message is existent which must be notified to the mobile transmitting/receiving apparatus (102), the line control apparatus (101) establishes an idle message in the area of control information and also establishes the function channel identifying information, which is in the same frame, as idle identifying information. If the function channel identifying information is the idle identifying information, the mobile transmitting/receiving apparatus (102) switches a receiving operation in the area of control information into a reception stop operation. Otherwise, the mobile transmitting/receiving apparatus (102) continues the receiving operation in the area of control information. The present invention can start a call in a short time and elongate the operational time with a wireless communication apparatus serving as a mobile wireless station.

A mobile wireless communication scheme is known that assigns one of wireless transmitting/receiving device(s) located on a wireless base station to a call-in or call-out request by a mobile wireless device (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-180231, for example).
A trunked radio communication system, in which usability of frequency has been improved by sharing a pre-determined number of wireless channels among a plurality of mobile wireless stations using line control apparatuses, is used as a land mobile radio (LMR) system typically for industrial use. In the trunked radio communication system, the wireless base stations located in various places have the line control apparatuses and make the pre-determined number of wireless channels to be sharable among the plurality of mobile wireless stations by transmitting control information to the mobile wireless stations. In this way, by sharing the pre-determined number of wireless channels among the plurality of mobile wireless stations, usability of frequency can be improved compared to a wireless communication system in which each mobile wireless station exclusively uses a dedicated wireless channel.
Generally, in the trunked radio communication system, a single wireless base station manages a plurality of wireless channels, and uses one of the wireless channels as a channel for control (control channel) while it uses the other wireless channels as channels for call (call channels). A mobile wireless station supervises objects received on the control channel, thereby identifies, for example, calling messages sent from the wireless base station on the control channel. If there is calling to the mobile wireless station itself, the station switches to the designated call channel to perform an operation to start a call to, for example, an origin mobile wireless station which made the calling.
More specifically, in North America, while various types of trunked radio communication systems are used, many radio devices on the LTR (Logic Trunked Radio) system are used for simple and low-cost systems. On the other hand, in Japan, the ARIB-T61 system (hereinafter, also referred to as "ARIB" system) is defined as a standard specification.
In a radio communication system on the LTR system, a wireless channel comprises functions applicable for both of control and call, so that a dedicated control channel is not provided. While a wireless channel is not used, the wireless channel is in an idle state due to no transmission on the channel. As soon as a calling mobile wireless station knows that radio wave is not outputted on some of wireless channel bands, it performs processing to transmit a call request message. On the other hand, another mobile wireless station in a wait state cannot predict when a calling message will be sent, so it always stays in a receive state even while no transmission is performed on a wireless channel managed by a wireless base station. When the mobile wireless station receives a calling message from the wireless base station, it extracts identifying information (ID information) in the calling message. If and only if the information matches the identifying information of the mobile wireless station itself, the station switches to the call channel to start a call with the origin mobile wireless station. As above, while the LTR system has an advantage that a link is established between mobile wireless stations as soon as calling is made, it has also a problem that a mobile wireless station in a wait state must always perform a receiving operation.
Further, in a wireless communication system on the ARIB system, for example, one of a plurality of wireless channels managed by a wireless base station is used as a dedicated control channel and is in a transmission state continuously to continue sending control information. The control information sent from the wireless base station on the control channel includes various types of messages including broadcast (notifying) information or calling information. In a wireless communication system on the ARIB system, control information sent on such a control channel has a super frame structure consisting of a plurality of frames so that it is possible to designate which frame in the super frames includes what control information. In this situation, information about the super frame structure is included in broadcast (notifying) information in the control information, so that the mobile wireless station can identify, by receiving the broadcast (notifying) information, in which frame it is called. In frames other than the identified one, for example calling to other mobile wireless stations is made, the mobile wireless stations receive the identified frames only, while it can stop the receiving operation in the other frames.
As described above, in a wireless communication system on the ARIB system, the control information has the super frame structure so that a mobile wireless station can perform intermittent reception. This has an advantage that the operational time can be elongated compared to the case that the receiving operation must be performed continuously. However, since a frame for calling is fixed, the longer the super frame becomes, the longer it takes to establish a link between the mobile wireless stations. Since such a land mobile wireless system provide for, in addition to separate calling to call each mobile wireless station separately, group calling to call a plurality of mobile wireless stations as a group at one time, the mobile wireless station has a function to wait for a plurality of groups simultaneously. This leads to a problem in which it is necessary to check a plurality of frames even in the case of the super frame structure, reducing the advantage of elongating the operational time using the super frame structure.
In a general land mobile wireless system, a user starts a call by switching on (for example, pushing) a PTT (Push-To-Talk) switch. In this system, it is preferred that a time period is as short as possible between the pushing of the PTT switch and start of the call after the completion of the calling process. On the contrary, in a portable mobile wireless station using a battery as power supply, it is preferred to elongate the operational time by reducing consumption current as much as possible, since the consumption current in a wait state shorten the battery life.
The present invention is made in view of the above situation and its object is to provide a wireless communication system, a wireless communication control apparatus, a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method which can start a call in a short time and elongate the operational time.

Wireless communication system, wireless communication control apparatus, wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication method


A textile yarn spinning apparatus is disclosed for continuously producing a plurality of synthetic filament yarns, and wherein a plurality of winding machines are arranged in rows along a service aisle. A doffer travels along the service aisle from winding machine to winding machine, and the doffer receives at each serviced winding machine the full packages from the winding spindle and delivers the packages to a transport carriage. The transport carriage delivers the full packages to a temporary package storage area composed of high-rise creels arranged in rows, and they are later delivered from the storage area to a further processing station where they are manually inspected and packaged for shipment. The temporary package storage area permits continuous operation of the apparatus over a twenty four hour period, with the manual inspection and packaging being conducted during a normal eight hour work shift.

The present invention relates to a textile yarn processing apparatus, such as a spinning plant, for the continuous production of a plurality of synthetic filament yarns.
DE OS 29 39 675 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. Re 31,839 disclose a package doffing device for such a spinning installation, in which a yarn servicing carriage moves in the service aisle from one takeup machine to another. The yarn servicing carriage is operatively linked with a package doffing carriage. To do so, at each contacted and serviced takeup machine, the full packages are removed from the winding spindle and transferred to the package doffing carriage, which then delivers the packages to a package transport device. The package transport device receives a plurality of packages, which it then transports to a control station for the individual packages. Thereafter, the full packages having been found to be satisfactory, advance to a packing station.
The operative linkage of yarn service carriage and package doffing carriage leads to a refill of the package transport device in defined time intervals, which determines the operating cycle of the package control station. The operating cycle of the control station is thus dependent on the refill speed of the package transport devices.
In this known installation, it is necessary to have at least one package transport device available for receiving new full packages. It is also necessary to have a large floor space. Furthermore, this installation is subject to a rigid time sequence in the production of full packages, since ultimately the time intervals necessary for refilling the package transport devices determine the production speed. A lengthening of the time intervals can be realized only by enlarging the package transport devices or by increasing their number. However, in view of the number of full packages to be received, limits are set to the first of the two measures due the high package weights which are presently being produced, since otherwise it would no longer be possible to handle the package transport devices. The second of the two measures necessitates an increased floor space requirement.
As used in the present application, a doffer is understood to be an apparatus traveling along a machine front from takeup machine to takeup machine, which doffs the produced full packages at the end of a winding cycle. This doffing operation includes the removal of full packages from each serviced winding spindle and the transfer of these full packages to a transport carriage for further transportation.
The time of removing the produced full packages is monitored by the doffer, it being useful that the doffer also requests the respectively needed number of empty tubes.
In one embodiment, the doffer is additionally designed to furnish the just-serviced winding spindle with new empty tubes after removing and transferring the full packages, so that the takeup machine is able to continue its winding operation. Such a doffer is known, for example, from DE AS 24 49 415. In the case of this doffer, the necessary number of needed empty tubes is continuously furnished by means of a conveyor chain passing by the doffer.
Also known from DE OS 21 28 974, is a package doffing carriage which replaces full packages with empty tubes. In this embodiment, the empty tubes are carried along on the package doffing carriage and transferred to the winding spindle of the takeup machine by means of two gripping arms.
DE OS 21 23 689 also discloses a traveling package doffer, which delivers the full packages to a traveling package transport device. Subsequently, the package transport device is moved to a control station, where the individual full packages are subjected either individually or randomly to a quality check, and then continue to a packing station.
In light of this prior art, it is the object of this invention to create a yarn processing apparatus, such as a spinning plant for the uninterrupted production of a plurality of synthetic filament yarns, and which overcomes with little floor space requirement the incompatible different time cycles of the production and winding facilities on the one hand, and of the further processing stations, such as, for example, individual package control and packing, on the other hand. Thus the time cycles involved with the production of full packages are independent of the time cycles involved with individual


A relatively low cost double salt road deicer composition is provided which includes a preponderant quantity of calcium magnesium propionate (CMP), together with smaller quantities of calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) and related salts. The product is preferably made by inoculating a sugar substrate (e.g., glucose, xylose or the hydrolysis products of biomass or starch) with facultative bacteria, followed by fermentation under anoxic conditions at moderate temperatures (30.degree.-37.degree. C.) and pH (5-7) in order to yield an organic acid mixture; the mixture is then reacted with a source of magnesium and calcium cations such as dolomite to produce mixed salts, which are then recovered as a solid road deicer. The preferred inoculum is P. acidi-propionici, and the fermentation step can be carried out batch-wise or continuously.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with a novel road deicer composition which is significantly more effective than salt while being substantially less expensive than other non-salt substitute deicers such as calcium magnesium acetate. More particularly, the invention pertains to a novel road deicer in the form of a solid particulate and including in preponderant amount calcium magnesium propionate; the deicer composition is preferably obtained by the fermentation of sugars with P. acidi-propionici to yield a mixture of organic acids (predominantly propionic acid) which is thereafter reacted with a source of calcium and magnesium cations such as dolomite.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The importance of the effectiveness removal of snow and ice from roadways during winter can not be overemphasized in terms of reducing traffic accidents and fatalities. Approximately eight million metric tons of salts, principally sodium chloride and some calcium chloride, are used annually on roadways in the United States for this purpose. While these salts are inexpensive and effective deicers, there are numerous harmful effects attendant to their use. These include the accelerated corrosion of automobiles, degradation of structural and reinforcing steel, damage to roadside vegetation, and harm to drinking water supplies. Among the various alternative compounds heretofore proposed as substitute deicers, calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) has emerged as the leading candidate, based on its effectiveness in deicing and reducing corrosion rates and environmental effects. However, the cost of this product is approximately twenty times or more than that of rock salt. Therefore, the use of CMA by various local and state governmental agencies has been quite minimal owing to cost considerations.
CMA is produced by reacting dolomite with acetic acid. Dolomite is relatively inexpensive, and the major cost factor in the production of CMA is the cost of raw material, acetic acid. The large scale production of a deicer such as CMA from synthetic acetic acid is not economically feasible at present. The annual requirement of acetic acid would be above twice the annual production levels of this chemical, just to substitute 10% of the rock salt consumption with CMA.
The most economical route currently developed envisaged for the production of acetic acid is via the conversion of biomass-derived sugars by anaerobic fermentation using the obligate anaerobe C. thermoaceticum. However, anaerobic fermentation requires optimal operating temperatures of 55.degree.-60.degree. C., a pH of 7-8, and the maintenance of a completely oxygen-free reaction environment. These conditions necessitate the use of rather expensive equipment and procedures, and hence production costs are still relatively high. Furthermore, acid production using C. thermoaceticum is limited at sugar concentrations higher than about 2%. Thus, if a 10% sugar solution is used, only 2% is utilized for acid production. This not only limits the production of acid, but moreover means that a higher proportion of water must be removed to obtain a dry product, thus further increasing production costs.

Fermentation process for the production of calcium magnesium road deicer

Kansas State University Research Foundation


A computer system having an expansion base for docking a portable portion of the computer system includes a bridge circuit for adaptively decoding addresses on a bus based on the docking status. Both the expansion base and the portable portion include the bridge circuit for passing cycles from a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus to an industry standard architecture (ISA) bus. The bridge includes internal devices and configuration registers for controlling the decoding. Bus cycles intended for internal devices and external devices connected to each respective ISA bus of the bridge circuits are positively decoded. Cycles not positively decoded and claimed are subtractively decoded by one of the bridge circuits depending on the docking status.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to adaptively decoding addresses on a computer bus and more particularly to an apparatus and method for positively and subtractively decoding addresses on a computer bus, especially the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, when the decoding is determined based upon computer configuration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computers are constantly evolving to provide the user with the highest performance available at the lowest cost. Performance improvements in the microprocessor and memory systems have resulted in computers so powerful that they are now capable of performing tasks that before could only be performed by large mainframe computers. Technological change is especially exemplified in the area of portable computers where power consumption efficiency is balanced against features, cost, size, weight and performance. This is especially challenging since many computer users desire the portable computer to provide nothing less than what a desktop unit can provide. In this specification, the term "portable computer" is used. broadly here to denote the class of computers powered by battery or solar power. Those familiar with portable computers will recognize labels such as: portable, luggable, laptop, notebook and handheld which are used to designate certain marketing segments of the larger portable computer market.
Many options are available to the computer system designer. While simply designing around the highest performance processor available will go a long way towards providing a high performance product, in todays competitive market it is not enough. The processor must be supported by high performing components including a high performance or mezzanine input/output (I/O) bus. Several standardized I/O buses are available to the system designer including: ISA (Industry Standard Architecture); EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture); and PCI (Peripheral Component Interface). Today's computers are typically designed with some combination of the three to provide the user with the performance of PCI and backward compatibility to ISA These three buses are familiar to those skilled in the art.
Design choices also involve certain special features of the computer that distinguish one manufacturer's computer from a competitors. In the portable computer market this is especially challenging since added features can cause increased size and weight. For example, since software can require large amounts of storage, a high capacity hard disk drive is often desirable. However, high capacity disk drives are usually much larger and heavier than desirable for a portable computer. It is also desirable to have the ability to add functionality to the portable computer. However, providing expansion bays compromises the small size.
One known method of providing certain features without sacrificing size and weight is through the use of an expansion base unit. An expansion unit is a non-portable unit that typically operates from AC power and resides on the user's desktop. When the user is working at the desk, the portable computer plugs into the expansion unit to provide the added functionality. For example, the expansion unit may have a network interface unit for connecting to a local area network, a high capacity disk drive, a floppy drive and other peripherals. An additional hard drive may also be resident in the expansion base unit.
The connection between the portable computer and the expansion base unit is typically proprietary since no standard has yet evolved. One known way to couple the portable computer to the expansion base unit is through the existing I/O bus. In a portable computer having a PCI bus and an ISA bus, either bus might be used to connect to the expansion base unit. For it high performance alone, the PCI bus is preferable. Additionally, the PCI bus offers a 32-bit multiplexed address and data bus which also makes the PCI bus desirable because of its small connector size requirements.
The PCI bus defines three physical address spaces: memory, I/O space and configuration space. Address decoding on the PCI bus is distributed; i.e. each device coupled to the PCI bus performs address decoding. The PCI specification defines two styles of address decoding: positive and subtractive. Positive decoding is faster since each PCI device is looking for accesses in the address range(s) the device has been assigned. Subtractive decoding can be implemented by only one device on the PCI bus since the subtractive decoding device accepts all accesses not positively decoded by some other agent. This decode mechanism is slower since it must give all other bus agents a "first right of refusal" on the access before it is claimed by the subtractive decoding device. However, it is very useful for an agent such as a standard expansion bus that must respond to a highly fragmented address space. More details on the PCI bus and particularly PCI addressing are found in the PCI Local Bus Specification, Production Version, Revision 2.1, dated Jun. 1, 1995, which is published by the PCI Special Interest Group of Hillsboro, Oreg.
The addressing mechanism of the PCI bus does not lend itself to the portable computer with expansion base unit design. As a standalone unit, the portable computer must handle the positive and subtractive decoding on the PCI bus. However, when coupled to the base unit, if subtractive decoding is maintained as was done when it was configured as a standalone unit, the PCI devices on the expansion base unit may conflict as both the PCI devices on the expanion base unit and the subtractive decoding device attempt to claim the PCI transaction. Furthermore, if the PCI address is delayed before it reaches the expansion base unit, the subtractive decoder device may claim the transaction before the expansion base unit is allowed to decode the address and thereby effectively lock out the devices on the expansion base unit. Therefore, a solution to this problem is desirable since coupling the expansion base unit to the portable computer with the PCI bus will provide a very high performance interface between the portable computer and the expansion base unit.

Apparatus and method for positively and subtractively decoding addresses on a bus


A storage rack has a plurality of supporting brackets arranged one above the other for supporting storage product carriers conveyable by means of an automatic filling and withdrawal apparatus, and at least one filling and withdrawal opening for inserting and removing the storage product carriers. At a top side of the filling and withdrawal opening, an indicating means is arranged for indicating storage locations of a storage product in the storage product carrier, wherein the indicating means has a plurality of discrete lighting elements. The lighting elements are arranged in a two-dimensional grid in such a way that a light beam of the lighting elements is essentially vertically directed onto a storage surface of the storage product carrier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage rack comprising a plurality of supporting brackets stacked one above the other for supporting storage product carriers conveyable by means of an automatic filling and withdrawal apparatus comprising at least one filling and withdrawal opening for inserting and removing the storage product carriers, and having an indicating means arranged at a top of the filling and withdrawal opening for indicating storage locations of a storage product in the storage product carrier, wherein the indicating means comprises a plurality of discrete lighting elements.
In such storage racks, wherein diverse storage products are stocked, for filling or withdrawal of storage products, one storage product carrier is displaced into the filling and withdrawal opening. This filling and withdrawal opening is accessible to the operator. As soon as the storage product carrier is ready in the filling and withdrawal opening, the operator can place new storage products on the storage product carrier or remove them from the storage product carrier.
Modern storage racks of the initially mentioned type have a control which serves for inventory management and has a memory for memorizing which storage product is stocked in which storage product carrier. This is how the desired storage product carrier can be found by the operator. For quick and efficient finding of the desired storage product in a storage product carrier, it is known according to the prior art to mark the storage location of a storage product by means of a light marking.
2. Description of Related Art
DE 43 02 711 A1 discloses for this purpose a moveable light beam guide with which the storage product can be indicated. The light beam guide can be configured as a laser, the beam of which can be redirected by a pivotable mirror and guided to the desired location. Further it is disclosed to realize the light beam guide by means of a conventional light source having its light focused.
EP 1 038 804 A1 describes an indicating apparatus on a storage rack, the storage product carriers of which are subdivided into storage product rows. As soon as the storage product carrier is displaced into the filling and withdrawal opening, one of the storage product rows is optically marked by means of a light strip arranged at the side of the storage product carrier. The light source used in the light strip can be an LED, in particular.
Moreover, DE 38 09 520 C1 teaches an indicating means for a computer-controlled paternoster storage wherein a plurality of lighting elements are arranged above the filling and withdrawal opening, which can mark possible storage locations in a storage product carrier displaced into the filling and withdrawal opening.


A method and apparatus for distributing electrical power is provided. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes: a semiconductor switch adapted to receive input power from a DC power source, adapted to distribute power to a DC/DC module, and adapted to receive a control signal, a charge storage device in operative communication with the semiconductor switch and a return path associated with the DC power source, and a reverse current monitoring logic in operative communication with the semiconductor switch. In this embodiment, the reverse current monitoring logic is adapted to detect reverse current flowing in the semiconductor switch and, in response to detecting the reverse current, is adapted to open the semiconductor switch. Several embodiments of a method of distributing electrical power to a DC load are also provided.

Electronic assemblies require reliable power distribution circuits to distribute electrical power from a DC power source to one or more DC loads. To distribute such power, power distribution circuits having a plurality of parallel DC/DC modules and corresponding controller modules have been employed. One desired feature of these power distribution circuits is that they ensure the corresponding DC load is provided with electrical power that meets its operating requirements, even when one or more of the DC/DC modules and/or controller circuits fail in certain modes, such as a short circuit in relation to an input of the DC/DC module.

Method and apparatus for distributing electrical power

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Novel diacetylenic phospholipids having the diacetylenic moieties chemically decoupled from the rest of the acyl chains by the inclusion of one or more heteroatom, preferably oxygen, spacers on the acyl chains have the chemical formula: ##STR1## where m is 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13, where n is 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13, where W is --O(CO)-- or --OCH.sub.2 --, where X is --CH.sub.2 --, --OCH.sub.2 --, --SCH.sub.2 --, --NHCH.sub.2 --, or --SiMe.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, where Y is --CH.sub.2 --, --CH.sub.2 O--, --CH.sub.2 S--, --CH.sub.2 NH--, or --CH.sub.2 SiMe.sub.2 --, where Z is --N(CH.sub.3).sub.3, saccharide, or --ROH where R is --(CH.sub.2).sub.p -- and p is 0, 1, 2 or 3, and where X and Y are not both --CH.sub.2 --. Novel tubules made from these diacetylenic phospholipids have high flexibility and variable morphology.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in diacetylenic phospholipids and to lipid microstructures made from these lipids. More particularly, this invention relates to diacetylenic phospholipids with at least one heteroatom spacer on the diacetylenic chains, and to lipid microstructures made from these lipids.
2. Description of the Related Art
Diacetylenic phospholipids are used in making hollow microstructures, which may be spherical (vesicles) or cylindrical (tubules). These structures are useful for microencapsulation and for controlled release of drugs, antifouling agents in marine paints, and other substances. They offer an alternative to the polymers commonly used in these applications.
Problems with the available lipid microstructures include expensive reagents, microstructure morphology with fixed dimensions, and excessive rigidity.
Microstructure morphology with fixed dimensions puts restrictions on the size of a molecule to be encapsulated with an appropriate tubule. The known diacetylenic phospholipids self-assemble into tubules that have a diameter that is specific for a given phospholipid. This creates problems in encapsulating large-diameter molecules in tubules, since the known tubules cannot adapt their growth to the diameter of the molecule they are to encapsulate.
Excessively rigid tubules are prone to breakage during their formation and processing, and thus do not provide optimal controlled release of their contents.

Diacetylenic phospholipids containing heteroatom near diacetylenic functionality for modulation of microstructure morphology

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Intraocular lenses with pressure sensors embedded therein, and methods of manufacture.

Intraocular lenses (IOLs) are typically permanent, plastic lenses that are surgically implanted inside of the eyeball to replace or supplement the eye's natural crystalline lens. They have been used in the United States since the late 1960s to restore vision to cataract patients, and more recently are being used in several types of refractive eye surgery.
The natural crystalline lens is critical component of the complex optical system of the eye. The crystalline lens provides about 17 diopters of the total 60 diopters of the refractive power of a healthy human eye. Most intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery may be folded and inserted through the same tiny opening that was used to remove the natural crystalline lens. Once in the eye, the lens may unfold to its full size. The opening in the eye may be as small as 2.5 mm in length, so that it heals itself quickly without stitches. The intraocular lenses may be made of inert materials or they may have a biocompatible coating that does not trigger rejection responses by the body.
In most cases, IOLs are permanent. They rarely need replacement, except in the instances where the measurements of the eye prior to surgery have not accurately determined the required focusing power of the IOL In most cases, the intraocular lenses implanted during cataract surgery are monofocal lenses, and the optical power of the IOL is selected such that the power of the eye is set for distance vision. The patient still requires reading glasses after surgery. Intraocular lens implants may be multifocal lenses, which attempt to function more like the eye's natural lens by providing clear vision at a distance and reasonable focus for a range of near distances, for patients with presbyopia.
Recently, intraocular lenses have been implanted in canines, mainly household pet dogs, after cataract extraction. Commonly affected breeds include the American cocker spaniel, poodle, Boston terrier, miniature Schnauzer, Bichon Frise, and Labrador retriever. Typically, genetic lenticular opacities are bilateral and slowly progressive. Rapidly progressive cataracts commonly occur in dogs with diabetes mellitus. Secondary lens-induced uveitis is a frequent finding that may complicate pre- and postoperative management (Cook, C, "Canine Cataract Surgery", in Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today, 2008; pp 32).
An intraocular lens developed for implantation in canines is shown in FIG. 1, which may be a hydrophilic posterior chamber intraocular implant developed for canines.
A considerable number of patients needing to undergo cataract surgery have preexisting glaucoma. Glaucoma has been diagnosed in nearly 15% of the population in USA above age 80. The incidence of glaucoma rises with age, and is more prevalent in the African American and Hispanic population segment in USA, as shown in FIG. 2. Many of these patients develop cataract at an earlier age (typically between 50 and 75 years of age), and undergo cataract extraction and in virtually all cases implantation of an intraocular lens. Many of these pseudophakes or aphakes, especially those with diabetes may develop glaucoma, including angle closure glaucoma caused by post-operative inflammation.
Postoperative increase in intraocular pressure may be caused by residual viscoelastic gels left over after surgery, incursion of the vitreous caused by breach of the posterior capsule during cataract surgery, or iatrogenic damage to the iris, leading to pigment dispersion or the Ugh (uveitis-glaucoma-hyphema) syndrome. Moreover a certain percentage of persons who develop glaucoma at a relatively early age subsequently develop cataract and undergo cataract extraction and implantation of an intraocular lens.
Models based on UN world population projections predict that in the year 2020, 79.6 million persons will be afflicted with either open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) with 5.9 million and 5.3 million projected to be bilaterally blind from these two conditions, respectively. (Kung, J S, et al, "Cataract surgery in glaucoma patient" in Middle east Afr J Ophthalmol, 2015; 22(1), pp 10-17.).
Occurrence of glaucoma after cataract surgery is especially prevalent in canines, partly because canines tend to experience a substantially higher level of postoperative inflammation subsequent to cataract surgery.
The prevalence of the primary breed-related glaucoma has gradually increased from 0.29% (1964-1973); 0.46% (1974-1983); 0.76% (1984-1993); to 0.89% (1994-2002). Breeds that consistently featured among the highest 10 for glaucoma prevalence from four different periods (1964 to 2002) included American Cocker Spaniel, Basset Hound, Wire Fox Terrier, and Boston Terrier. During the last observation period (1994-2002), 22 different breeds had 1% or higher prevalence of the glaucoma. The highest prevalence of glaucoma in 1994-2002 by breed included: American Cocker Spaniel (5.52%); Basset Hound (5.44%); Chow Chow (4.70%); Shar-Pei (4.40%); Boston Terrier (2.88%); Wire Fox Terrier (2.28%); Norwegian ElkHound (1.98%); Siberian Husky (1.88%); Cairn Terrier (1.82%); and Miniature Poodle (1.68%). A predominance of females with glaucoma occurred in the American Cocker Spaniel, Basset Hound, Cairn Terrier, Chow Chow, English Cocker Spaniel, Samoyed, and perhaps the Siberian Husky, and a predominance of males in the Australian Cattle dog and St Bernard. Age affected the time for first presentation of the glaucoma in the pure-bred dog. In the majority of breeds the glaucoma was presented for initial diagnosis in dogs between 4 and 10 years of age (Gellat K N, and McKay, E O, "Prevalence of the breed related glaucoma in pure bred dogs in North America", in Vet Ophthalmol, 2004; 7(21, pp 97).
Biros, et al, reported a study of 346 canine eyes, in which they monitored incidence of glaucoma as a function of eight variable, including breed, sex, post-operative hypertension, and intraocular lens placement. Of the 346 eyes, 58 (16.8%) developed glaucoma after surgery. At 6 months, 32 of 206 (15.5%) eyes examined had glaucoma; at 12 months, 44 of 153 (28.8%) eyes examined had glaucoma. Median follow-up time was 5.8 months (range, 0.1 to 48 months). Mixed-breed dogs were at a significantly lower risk for glaucoma, compared with other breeds. Eyes with IOL placement were at a significantly lower risk for glaucoma, compared with eyes without IOL placement. Eyes with hypermature cataracts were at a significantly higher risk for glaucoma, compared with eyes with mature or immature cataracts (Biros, et al, "Development of glaucoma after cataract surgery in dogs", in J Am Vet Med Assoc., 2000; 216(11), pp 1780).

Intraocular lenses with intraocular pressure sensors and methods of manufacture


A system for coupling circuit card assemblies or modules that comprise a given device, that accommodates manufacturing and design differences in connector configurations. A common back-plane having one or more signal buses is joined to the circuit card assemblies or modules by means of unique interface backplanes configured to engage the common backplane connectors and the connectors on the circuit card assemblies. The system is specifically described in conjunction with electrical and optical bus interfaces.

The rapid rate of evolution of information systems is often constrained at the point of fielded units, by the investment in previous generations of equipment. An additional complicating factor is the lack of uniformity among various vendors with respect to such items as specific functionality, size and appearance of their various products, including sub-assemblies. In spite of the efforts of industry and trade associations, a wide variety of configurations typically exist for any given functionality desired to be incorporated into a new or existing information system.
One attempt at minimizing the effect of such variation among products, manufacturers, and technology evolution was the modularization architecture implemented in numerous information systems. By limiting or placing certain functionality of any given system in a subassembly with a preferred interface scheme, evolution as well as technological advantage can be gained over proprietary systems of unique design.
In a perfect world, strict adherence to such design criteria would eliminate all compatibility problems for a given type signal to be transmitted between a back-plane containing a communication bus and a given sub-assembly. However, in addition to the challenges of maintaining configuration control over the interface functionality between various sub-assemblies with respect to a given communication bus in the real world, more than one bus is often coupled to each sub-assembly thereby further complicating interface issues. Additionally, manufacturers not knowing of specific interfaces, or unwilling to abide by such design limitations, can sometimes gain a commanding market position with respect to their product.
Accordingly, a system for reconfiguring the interface between the back-plane having one or more bus structures and each sub-assembly or module is needed to provide greater flexibility in fielding newly designed components.


A multi-port fiber optic device (100) includes a pair of opposite collimators (50, 51), of which each includes a V-groove dual fiber ferrule (20, 21) with a GRIN rod lens (2, 1). At least one band-pass DWDM thin film filter (4) is securely sandwiched between the two opposite GRIN rod lens (2, 1) of the pair of collimators (20, 21). The V-groove dual fiber ferrule (20, 21) is used to couple light in and out thereof and tune the thin film filter center wavelength to the ITU grid. The light coupled in from the input fiber (13) of the V-groove dual fiber ferrule (20) will be collimated and transmitted to the DWDM thin film filter (4). The part of the in-pass-band light will pass through the filter (4) as performing a demultiplexed channel and is successively coupled into the other collimator (21) aside.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the technology of making optical DWDM (Dense-Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing) multiplexor or demultiplexor, and particularly to the DWDM multiplexor or demultiplexor provided with a pair of so-called built-in V-groove dual fiber collimators.
2. The Related Arts
The future communication networks demands ever increasing bandwidth. By transmitting several channels in a single optical fiber at different wavelengths. DWDM can dramatically enhance the transmission capacity of the optical fiber communication systems. A devices that combines different wavelength channels into one fiber is a multiplexor, and a device that divides the multiplexed channels into individual ones is a demultiplexor. A variety of technologies have been exploited to develop high performance DWDM multiplexor/demultiplexor, including fiber Bragg grating, optical integrated circuit, fused fiber Mach-Zander interferometer, interference thin film coating technology etc. An international standard wavelength grid has been suggested by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) for the center wavelengths of the DWDM channels. Generally, the center wavelength of a band-pass optical filter is tuned to the ITU grid by the incident angle of the beam onto DWDM bandpass filter. The prior art uses an Y-branch structure of three conventional fiber optic collimators. The incident angle is tuned by changing the angles between the associated collimators, and thus the center wavelength of such a multiplexor/demultiplexor is made to coincide with a desired ITU wavelength. The disadvantage in the prior art is mainly in difficulties to reduce the size of the assembly for achieving a robust and compact structure. The relates references include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,464,022, 5,204,771, 5,574,596, 5,629,955, 5,712,717, 5,748,350, 5,764,825, 5,786,915, 5,799,121 and 5,808,763.
Therefore, it is desired to provide a DWDM multiplexor/demultiplexor with characteristics of the compact and robust structure, lower cost and flexibility in manufacturing, and high stability in hazardous environment.
According to an aspect of the invention, a multi-port fiber optic device includes a pair of opposite collimators, of which at least one includes a V-groove dual fiber ferrule, and each has a GRIN rod lens. At least one band-pass DWDM thin film filter is securely sandwiched between the two opposite GRIN rod lens of the pair of collimators. The V-groove dual fiber ferrule is used to couple light in and out thereof and tune the thin film filter center wavelength to the ITU grid. The light coupled in from the input fiber of the V-groove dual fiber ferrule will be collimated and transmitted to the DWDM thin film filter. The part of the in-pass-band light will pass through the filter as performing a demultiplexed channel and is successively coupled into the other collimator aside. On the other hand, the out-pass-band is coupled back into the output fiber of the V-groove dual fiber ferrule for being transmitted to the next stage for demultiplexing other channels. The epoxy joints are applied among the filter, the GRIN rod lens and the V-groove ferrule. The two opposite collimator are aligned with each other for the minimum loss therebewteen and the minimum size of the total assembly.

Multi-port fiber optic device with v-groove ferrule


A self-healing polymer composition 10 contains a polymer media 12 and a plurality of microcapsules of flowable polymerizable material 16 dispersed in the polymer media 12, where the microcapsules of flowable polymerizable material 16 contain a flowable polymerizable material 15 and have an outer surface 142 upon which at least one polymerization agent 13 is chemically attached. The microcapsules 16 are effective for rupturing with a failure of the polymeric media 12, and the flowable polymerizable material 15 reacts with the polymerization agent 13 when the polymerizable material 15 makes contact with the polymerization agent 13 upon rupture of the microcapsules 14. There is also provided a method of using the self-healing polymeric composition 10 to repair fractures in polymers, as well as articles of manufacture including the self-healing system, and the microencapsulated polymerizable particles 16 themselves.

A recurring issue in product applications using materials such as polymeric materials is that they tend to fail or degrade due to mechanical fatigue, mechanical impact, oxidative aging due to radiation or impurities, thermal fatigue, chemical degradation, or a combination of these processes. The degradation can lead to embrittlement of the polymer, among other adverse effects. The embrittlement and associated cracking can advance to the point that it causes product failure, which creates replacement costs. Mechanical fatigue and mechanical stress, such as that caused by dropping the object, can also lead to cracks that eventually cause failure. Thermoplastic and thermoset polymer systems used in products can be particularly susceptible to these failure modalities.
This problem is a great concern because of the widespread and intensive use in modem society of polymers in product components. For instance, polymers have a significant importance and presence in the electronics industry. Examples of applications include printed circuit board (PCB) laminates, housings, enclosures, adhesives, die attach, component packaging, and organic semi-conductors. In addition to the above-mentioned failure modes, other degradation processes, such as redox reactions or chemical diffusion, can be expected in organic semi-conductors and in electrically conductive polymers (which degrade their characteristics).
Traditional approaches to increasing the reliability of polymeric-based components and products have included a focus on suitable design enhancements and the use of incrementally improved plastics. Recently, a significant increase in the availability of so-called 'smart" materials has occurred, which relates to materials that can sense impending failure and facilitate appropriate corrective measures to prevent extensive damage. Alternatively, if the damage has already occurred, some new material systems can purportedly self-heal the damaged structure. See, e.g., Chen, et al., "A Thermally Re-Mendable Cross-Linked Polymeric Material," Science, Vol. 295, March 2002, pp. 1698–1702.
One recently developed process intended to impart self-healing capability to a polymer involves the incorporation of microcapsules containing a healing agent in a polymer matrix. White, S. R., et al., Nature, "Autonomic Healing of Polymer Composites," 409, 794–797 (2001). The healing agent enclosed in the microcapsules is dicyclopentadiene (DCPD). A ruthenium polymerization agent, corresponding to CAS No. 172222-30-9, is dispersed in the polymer matrix. When a fracture occurring in the polymer matrix propagates in close proximity of the microcapsules, the associated stresses caused by the fracture rupture the microcapsules. As a consequence, the healing agent is released from the ruptured microcapsules and contacts the fracture surfaces. It also comes into contact with a polymerization agent dispersed in the polymer matrix to the extent the dispersed polymerization agent is located in the direct vicinity of the fracture and released healing agent. The polymerization agent is functionally active in the presence of moisture and air (oxygen source). When the polymerization agent contacts the self-healing agent, it promotes polymerization of the healing agent, resulting in filling of the crack planes of the fracture. This filling arrests fracture propagation and reduces the compliance of the post-fractured matrix material.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted from the figures to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.


A computer-implemented method for estimating ages of network devices may include (1) identifying at least one networked device that may be attached to a network, (2) identifying a media access control address of the networked device, the media access control address comprising an organizational unique identifier, (3) querying an organizational-unique-identifier database with the organizational unique identifier and receiving, in response, device-age information relating to an estimated age of the networked device and (4) determining the estimated age of the networked device based at least in part on the device-age information. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Consumers and organizations may spend a considerable amount of resources configuring and troubleshooting local area networks ("LANs"). In many cases, consumers and organizations may wish to discover details about the topology of their LANs in order to more efficiently configure, troubleshoot, and/or maintain their LANs. For example, organizations may wish to ensure that any devices connected to a LAN are authorized, compliant with specified policies, properly configured, etc.
Traditional systems for risk management, compliance, and vulnerability detection may require certain types of authorization and/or access to devices on a LAN to gather information about the devices. Unfortunately, in some cases obtaining and/or coordinating such access may prove difficult and/or impractical. Furthermore, the device information that these traditional systems do gather may provide an incomplete picture, where more details about devices attached to the network may facilitate the administration of the network and the attached devices. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for estimating ages of network devices.

Systems and methods for estimating ages of network devices