A method of creating a document comprises obtaining a plurality of content-elements that it is desired to print on the document; considering one or more perimeters into which the obtained content-elements are to be placed; attempting to arrange the or each considered perimeter on the document; adjusting the dimensions of one or more perimeters such that the perimeters can be placed on the document; re-arranging the content-elements within a perimeter according to pre-determined rules as the dimensions are adjusted; and generating the document created by the method.

It will be appreciated that a personalised item of sales literature, for example a brochure or an advertising flyer, is likely to result in more sales per literature item than an item of sales literature that is sent en masse to many customers. An item of sales literature that is produced for the general public will undoubtedly include information that is not of interest to all customers that receive the literature and each customer will have to look through the literature to find the parts that are of interest to them. Personalising an item of sales literature can include selecting specific content-elements for a specific customer, and placing these in certain areas of a brochure or flyer in an aesthetically pleasing way. Thus, ideally each customer would receive a unique edition of the sales literature.
With the advent of databases holding information about customers', clients', etc. (hereinafter referred to as customer) preferences, purchases, past actions, and the like, it has become possible to generate targeted communications that are targeted specifically to a particular customer based upon the data held in the database. Such databases may be exemplified by so-called supermarket loyalty schemes. However, the skilled person will appreciate that such schemes are only one such example.
It will be appreciated that such databases may comprise many thousands (and even tens, hundreds of thousands or more) of customers. It would be impossible to check, manually, that targeted communications sent to such a number of people conform to accepted presentation rules within reasonable time scales. As such the process should be advantageously performed automatically.
Elements for the communication may be graphical or textual in nature and different elements may have logical connections with each other or even be part of one another. For example, a furniture suite and a settee from the same suite may be sold separately. Thus, the suite and the settee may be considered separate but may need to be placed logically together. The elements for inclusion in any one catalogue are therefore highly variable which increases the difficulty in laying out the communication.
Further, elements for inclusion in the communication may vary from one item to the next. For example, a picture may be provided for each of the settee and the suite. It is likely that the size of the picture, its aspect ratio and the like will vary. Thus elements may not necessarily be switched with one another without the need to re-work the layout for the communication. Thus, prior art solutions such as hard templates are problematic in that they cannot generally handle elements which vary from one to another.
For example, in each edition of the communication, images for consideration at any one point may have significantly different aspect ratios, scalability ranges, and/or may be missing. Similarly, descriptions may significantly vary in length and also be missing. Hard template technology cannot tolerate such variability: missing data or data that is too small will result in unsightly empty holes in a layout, whilst oversized data will unavoidably create unauthorized overlaps between different fields and items. Neither of these is acceptable for professionally laid out communications. Moreover, items layout by hard templates will always result in a layout of the same dimensions—this will not provide required flexibility for creating highly customized communications on fly; i.e. editions of the same communication targeted to each intended customer.
Known systems for automatically packing content-elements into an allocated area aim to minimize the total area taken up by the content-elements. This approach is not relevant for publishing where aesthetic appeal is a priority, and a number of design rules should be considered. Variable, or smart templates, are also know and provide an extension of hard templates; see for example U.S. application U.S. Ser. No. 10/738,178 filed Dec. 16, 2003.
Other known systems for packing content-elements into an allocated area select content-elements that are to be placed next to each other using random searches based on analogies to other processes, for example simulated annealing. Such searches tend to be in infinite domains and thus may not result in acceptable solutions within a reasonable time scale.

Document creation system and related methods


A device for measuring a flow of a fluid is provided. The device includes a base, a channel, and at least two electronic circuits. The channel is mounted on the base, flowing the fluid therein and having at least two sections, and the at least two electronic circuits are electrically connected to the respective at least two sections, detecting a respective variation signal corresponding to the respective at least two sections so as to obtain the flow according to the respective variation signal.

Because of the progressiveness of micro-electromechanical techniques, the demands for miniature flow meter are increased day by day over the market, for example, to control a reagent at the aspect of biotechnology-medical or to be a blood-injecting pump meter etc. However, with the current techniques, the commercial miniature flow meter seldom provides a sufficient calibration method in accordance with the international standard for the flow measuring capability thereof. Hence the users cannot insure the reliability of measured data by the miniature flow meter.
Currently, only a few feasible miniature flow meters are available on the market. The metering principles thereof are categorized into two classifications as follows: thermal sensing type and pressure gradient type. The Sensirion SLG1430-025 developed by the Swiss trade, and the Thermal Flow Sensor developed by Dr. Tai, CIT are the well-known representatives of thermal sensing type miniature flow meter. The metering capabilities of both types are declared in the range from 50 nL/min to 1500 nL/min, but the maximum error of thermal sensing type miniature flow meter is up to 10%. The Miniature Flow Sensor developed by U.S. trade Seyonic is the well-known representative of pressure gradient type miniature flow meter. The minimum metering capability of pressure gradient type miniature flow meter approximates to around 300 μL/min. Nevertheless, up to the present, the aforementioned pressure gradient type miniature flow meter is still in the stage of experimental product.
With respect to the aspect of calibration method, it is not provided by the majority of the miniature flow meter products. The minority suchlike Dr. Tai, CIT provides some reference material explaining that the calibration method they adopted is by the following: a graduated syringe is connected to the end of the miniature flow meter, whereby a reading is readout for judging the accuracy of the instant flow rate. Because the aforementioned metering method bears errors due to the subjective presumption thereof, this calibrating method is generally considered insufficient.
In the case of Taiwan, Center for Measurement Standards, Industrial Technology Research Institute is one of the research institutes devoted to the field of micro flow measuring technique thereof, which center has devoted to develop the micro flow measuring standards since three years ago. Up to the present, the prototype technique using gravimetric method has been developed. However, since the gravimetric method is restricted by many external surroundings (such as the evaporation, the variation of the temperature/humidity etc.), the minimum measurable flow thereof barely comes to the level about 1 μL/min. Moreover, the micro flow measuring system configured with the gravimetric method is bulky and requires a highly stable condition for the external surroundings. Hence the system thereof is not feasible for the ordinary commercial usage, and is obviously not convenient enough.
To overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, a novel device for measuring flow and the method manufacturing the novel device thereof is provided.

Flow measuring device and manufacture method thereof


A downhole conveyance line cutter operable to be conveyed downhole within a wellbore along a conveyance line that conveys a tool string within the wellbore and then cut the conveyance line. The downhole conveyance line cutter may have a body, a fluid chamber within the body, a piston slidably disposed within the fluid chamber, a knife that is movable with respect to the body, an arm operatively connecting the piston and the knife, and a fluid source operable to pump a fluid into the fluid chamber to cause the piston to move the arm which moves the knife to cut the conveyance line.

Wells are generally drilled into land surface or ocean bed to recover natural deposits of oil, gas, and other natural resources that are trapped in subterranean geological formations in the Earth's crust. Testing and evaluation of completed and partially finished wells has become commonplace, such as to increase well production and return on investment. Downhole measurements (e.g., formation pressure, formation permeability, etc.) and recovery of formation fluid samples may be useful for predicting economic value, production capacity, and production lifetime of geological formations. Completion and stimulation operations of wells, such as perforating and fracturing operations, may also be performed to optimize well productivity. Plugging and perforating tools may be utilized to set plugs within a wellbore to isolate portions of the wellbore and formations surrounding the wellbore from each other and to perforate the well in preparation for fracturing. Each fracturing stage interval along the wellbore can be perforated with one or more perforating tools forming one or more clusters of perforation tunnels. Intervention operations in completed wells, such as installation, removal, or replacement of various production equipment, may also be performed as part of well repair, maintenance operations, or permanent abandonment. Such testing, completion, intervention, and other downhole operations have become complicated, as wellbores are drilled deeper and through more difficult materials.
A downhole tool string comprising one or more downhole tools may be deployed within a wellbore via a conveyance line to perform downhole operations. The tool string may be conveyed along the wellbore by applying controlled tension to the tool string from a wellsite surface via the conveyance line. However, in working with deeper and more complex wellbores, it has become more likely that a tool string or other downhole equipment may become stuck or jammed within a wellbore.
When a downhole tool string becomes stuck within a wellbore, the conveyance line may be disconnected from the tool string, such as by applying tension to the conveyance line from the wellsite surface sufficient to break the conveyance line at a cable head of the tool string or cause the conveyance line to be released by the cable head. Fishing equipment may then be conveyed downhole to couple with the stuck tool string to retrieve the tool string to the wellsite surface. However, if the conveyance line does not disconnect from the tool string, a downhole cutting tool may be conveyed downhole to the tool string to cut the conveyance line at the tool string.


A method for estimating if an image (14) is either blurred or sharp includes the steps of (i) determining an image gradient histogram distribution (410) of at least a portion of the image (14), and (ii) comparing at least a portion of the image gradient histogram distribution (410) to a Gaussian model gradient histogram distribution (414) of at least a portion of the image (14) to estimate if the image (14) is either blurred or sharp. In most cases, a sharp image (14) has a relatively large tailed distribution when compared to the Gaussian model, while a blurred image has a relatively small tailed distribution when compared to the Gaussian model.

Cameras are commonly used to capture an image of a scene that includes one or more objects. Unfortunately, some of the images are blurred. For example, movement of the camera and/or movement of the objects in the scene during the exposure time of the camera can cause the image to be blurred. Further, an out of focus image is also blurred.
Currently, there are some methods that are used to determine if the image is blurred. Unfortunately, many of these methods associate blur degree with edge spreading in the image. As a result thereof, their performance is very sensitive to the accuracy of edge detection techniques. For a sharp and low noise image, the current edge detection techniques can achieve good results. However, this performance degrades drastically for noisy images.

Device and method for estimating if an image is blurred


The present invention relates to a method of making a fibrous electret material which includes the steps of (1) forming a fibrous web of nonconductive thermoplastic fibers from a blend of nonconductive thermoplastic resin and an additive which is (a) a thermally stable organic compound or oligomer containing at least one perfluorinated moiety or (b) a thermally stable organic triazine compound or oligomer containing at least one nitrogen atom in addition to those in the triazine group or (c) a combination thereof; (2) impinging jets of water or a stream of water droplets onto the web at a pressure sufficient to provide the web with filtration enhancing electret charge; and (3) drying the web.

For many years nonwoven fibrous webs have been used for filtration and other purposes. Some of such webs have been made from polypropylene using melt-blowing techniques of the type described in Report No. 4364 of the Naval Research Laboratories, published May 25, 1954, entitled "Manufacture of Super Fine Organic Fibers" by Van A. Wente et al. Such melt-blown microfiber webs continue to be in widespread use for filtering particulate contaminants, for example, as face masks and as water filters, and for other purposes, such as sorbent webs for removal of oil from water, as acoustic insulation and as thermal insulation.
The aerosol filtration efficiency of nonwoven fibrous webs can be improved by imparting an electrical charge to the fibers, forming an electret material. A number of methods are known for forming such electret materials. Such methods include, for example, bombarding melt-blown fibers as they issue from the die orifices, as the fibers are formed, with electrically charged particles such as electrons or ions, charging fibers by means of a corona discharge after fiber formation or imparting a charge to a fiber mat by means of carding and/or needle tacking (tribocharging). Recently, a method in which jets of water or a stream of water droplets impinge on a nonwoven web at a pressure sufficient to provide filtration enhancing electret charge has been described.
Other types of nonwoven fibrous webs useful for filtration purposes have been prepared by fibrillating films of polyolefin to form a fibrous material. Such fibrillated materials may be charged as the film, for example, by corona discharge and then fibrillated, collected and processed into a filter.
Resins used in preparing the filtration material are generally required to be substantially free of materials which could increase the electrical conductivity or otherwise interfere with the ability of the fibers to accept and hold electrostatic charge. For example, certain polystyrene-type polymers have better properties if they have not more than 1% by weight of electron-donor impurities and not more than 0.5% by weight of electron-acceptor impurities.
Additives, however, are known which provide improved electret properties when blended with the resin. Electret materials prepared by compounding 4-methyl-1-pentene polymer with at least one compound selected from compounds which have a phenol group, compounds of higher aliphatic carboxylic acids and metal salts thereof, compounds of ester thiocarboxylates, phosphorus acid group containing compounds, and ester group containing compounds and providing a charge by exposure to high voltage have been disclosed. Also disclosed is an electret material for a dust filter which is a blend of an insulating polymer with a fatty acid metal salt in an amount of not less than 100 ppm in terms of the metal with charging carried out by a conventional procedure such as rubbing or corona charge treatment.
Also known are polypropylene, including blends and copolymers, electret materials containing at least one stabilizer selected from hindered amines, nitrogen-containing hindered phenols, and metal-containing hindered phenols. The electret may further contain an additional stabilizer selected from phenol-, sulfur-, and phosphorous-containing stabilizers and/or an ultraviolet light absorber with charging being carried out in a high voltage field at room temperature. Electret filters prepared from a resin whose angle of contact upon wetting with pure water is no less than 95.degree. or has been adjusted to no less than 95.degree. by addition of silicone oil have been disclosed. The electret resin may optionally contain other additives, including heat stabilizers, weathering agents, anti-blocking agents, and inorganic or organic fillers. Charging may be carried out in various ways. Further disclosed are electret filter media with a melt processable fluorochemical additive having a melting point of at least 25.degree. C. and a molecular weight of about 500 to 2500. Charging involves subjecting the material to corona discharge or pulsed high voltage.

Fibrous webs having enhanced electret properties

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A method for creating a three-dimensional image of an object from a two-dimensional ultrasound video is provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasound images of the object and recording a plurality of videos based on the acquired two-dimensional ultrasound images. Each of the videos includes a plurality of frames. The method further includes separating each of the plurality of frames, cropping each of the plurality of frames to isolate structures intended to be reconstructed, selecting a frame near a center of the object and rotating the image to create a main horizontal landmark, and aligning each frame to the main horizontal landmark. The method also includes removing inter-frame jitter by aligning each of the plurality of frames relative to a previous frame of the plurality of frames, reducing the noise of each of the frames, and stacking each of the frames into a three-dimensional volume.

Ultrasonic imaging is a popular technique in medicine used to create visual representations of the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention. However, the scan provides either two-dimensional images or a video and no easy way to filter out noise, which confines the accuracy of the analysis.
Ultrasonography is used routinely in ophthalmic examination to evaluate structures in the eye, to rule out pathology and follow certain pathologic and physiologic changes in the eye. The scan, however, provides a two-dimensional image which somewhat limits the detailed evaluation of the tissues. By converting the two-dimensional media into a three-dimensional model, it is easier to see the contours and fine details of the tissue without having to mentally approximate frame by frame. This allows the user to understand, and helps recognizing, subtle problems which would be otherwise missed.
Currently, few methods and apparatuses achieve such three-dimensional models and are rarely used in the ophthalmology field.

Apparatus and method for constructing a virtual 3D model from a 2D ultrasound video

UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS CLEVELAND MEDICAL CENTER


Under the present invention, polling code is generated on a server and sent to a client in response to a transaction request received on the server from the client. The polling code includes a set of parameters such as a delay time and a polling count. After expiration of the delay time, the client will poll the server to request the status of the requested transaction. If the transaction is complete, the client will be redirected to a completion page. If the transaction is incomplete, and a polling count limit has not been reached, new polling code will be generated that includes the delay time and a new polling count. The new polling count is generated by incrementing the old polling count by one. The polling cycle is repeated until the transaction is complete, or the polling count limit is reached.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention provides a method, system and program product for providing a status of a transaction with an application on a server. Specifically, the present invention allows a server to be polled from a client to detect the status of a transaction independent of a persistent network connection.
2. Related Art
As computer technology becomes more advanced, computer users are increasingly being provided with the capability to conduct business and/or personal transactions from their home or office computers. For example, today a computer user can purchase goods/services, pay bills and manage a business over a computer network such as the Internet. In general, a network-based transaction occurs in a client-server environment with the computer system operated by the user being the client, and the computer system with which the client communicates being the server. To conduct a transaction, the client will typically establish a connection with the server and then transmit a request (e.g., a HTTP request) thereto. Upon receipt, the server will invoke one or more applications to process the request.
Unfortunately, as is well known, network connections between a client and a server often suffer various interruptions. Such interruptions can be due to, for example, a high volume of network traffic being received by the server, service provider errors, etc. In any event, the interruption of the connection often leads to loss of data, which can undermine the transaction being requested by the client. This is especially the case where the transaction takes an appreciable amount of time to process. For example, if a computer user is attempting to purchase goods on-line, the transaction could involve verifying credit card information. Verifying credit card information can require an application on the server to interact with one or more "external resources" (e.g., a bank). As such, verification of credit card information can often take several minutes.
While the transaction is being processed, status information is often desired by the computer user (especially for more time consuming transactions such as credit card verification). Specifically, the computer user often wishes to know whether the transaction is still pending, has been completed or has timed out. Previous systems for communicating transaction information to the computer users, however, all relied upon a persistent connection between the client and the server. Under such systems, as the connections were interrupted, the status information was lost or delayed. Since the persistence of a connection between a server and client is extremely difficult if not impossible to ensure, the previous systems failed to provide a reliable way of obtaining transaction status information.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a method, system and program product for providing a status of a transaction with an application on a server. Specifically, a need exists for a system that allows a server to be polled from a client to detect the status of a transaction on a server. To this extent, a need exists for a system that allows a "stateful" relationship between a client and server to be maintained independent of a persistent network connection. A further need exists for a system that provides a flexible/defineable polling cycle and algorithm that is based on standard Internet technology components, and that is concealed from an end user.

Method, system and program product for providing a status of a transaction with an application on a server

International Business Machines Corporation


A computer controlled toy car racing game that can be played by a plurality of players. If less than a maximum number of players is present at the beginning of a race, a computer controller operates the remaining race cars such that each race includes all of the race cars. The racing game includes numerous sensors positioned above the racing course that relay control commands to each of the race cars. If a race car is computer controlled or computer assisted, the control commands are created by the computer controller. If the race car is controlled by a player, the control commands include information from a throttle and steering wheel used by the player. Upon completion of a race, the computer controller controls each of the race cars to bring the race cars back to a point on the race course near the start/finish line.

The present invention is related to an amusement game in which several players operate remote-controlled vehicles. The game may be coin-operated, or otherwise unattended. One of the goals of the racing game of the present invention is for the game to operate without the need for an attendant, thus avoiding the cost of the attendant's labor.
The problems with previously existing remote-controlled car racing games are as follows:
(1) The vehicles that are not being driven by a player are stationary, in various places on the playing surface. These vehicles are often in the way of the other vehicles that are being driven by the current players, causing difficulty for the players and frustration.
(2) At the end of a game, the vehicles stop in the positions where a player last drove them. In currently available games, there is no way for the cars to automatically line up in a logical starting position for a new race. This can result in some vehicles having a much better starting position than others, and some vehicles have a very poor starting position.
(3) Some beginning players and young children do not have the skill needed to effectively control a remote-controlled vehicle. For these players, the playing experience can be frustrating and unpleasant, rather than amusing and entertaining.
(4) Previous remote-control driving games do not provide a means for the receipt of any data from the vehicles.
(5) Previous remote-control driving games do not have a means for sensing the position of the vehicles on the playing surface as the vehicle travels around the race track, as well as the orientation of the vehicle on the race track.
(6) Previous remote-control driving games do not provide information about the location of each vehicle at all points on the playing surface in real-time. This limits the capability of automated race announcing systems to comparing the number of laps completed. (Changes in relative positions that occur part of the way around the track are not reported until the end of the current lap.)
(7) Previous remote-control driving games use radio frequency communication as the medium for the control signals, which is very susceptible to interference from electrical noise.
(8) Previous remote-control driving games require periodic adjustment of the vehicles' speed, to keep the speeds comparable to one another.
(9) Previous remote-control driving games require periodic manual adjustment of the vehicles' steering center adjustment, to keep the vehicles from veering to one side.


In some implementations, a method includes receiving a connection request from a user application. A service request is sent to a radio resource control (RRC) module. An indication of failure of or a rejection to the service request due to access class barring is received from the RRC module. A retry of the user application connection request is prevented until expiration of an access-class-barring timer of the RRC module that resulted in the access class barring.

To manage network load, long term evolution (LTE) networks may access bar cells for UEs of specific access classes (ACs) or types of mobile originated (MO) traffic at the radio resource control (RRC) layer. For example, a network can prevent or restrict wireless devices from attempting to access the network by broadcasting access restriction parameters via 'System information', such as Master Information Block (MIB) and System Information Block type k (k=1, 2, . . . ). Specifically, the LTE network can restrict access for certain classes of UEs using control information for Access Class Barring (ACB), Service Specific Access Class Barring (SSAC) and Extended Access Barring (EAB). For ACB, a SIB2 may include ACB parameters for at least one of Emergency, MO data, Circuit-switched Fallback (CSFB), and MO signaling. The parameters for CSFB, MO-Data and MO-Signaling include a probability factor and a barring time for AC 0-9 and barring bits for access classes 11-15. For AC 0-9, if the UE initiates an MO call and the relevant parameters are included for the type of call, the UE generates a random number if the relevant access class barring timer is not already running. If the drawn number is lower than the value indicated by the probability, the UE may attempt to access the network. Otherwise, the UE is barred from attempting to access the network for a duration which is randomly selected based on the broadcasted barring time value.
If access barring is configured by the network, the SIB2 includes relevant parameters such as type of connection request for which barring is in effect and associating barring time. Examples of types of connections which may be barred along with barring time are ac-BarringForEmergency, ac-BarringForMO-Data (T303), ac-BarringForCSFB (T306/T303), and ac-BarringForMO-Signalling (T305). In summary, the access classing configuration specifies a probability of barring (ac-BarringFactor) the call origination on the user equipment (UE) and a formula to generate the timeout value before calls can be attempted, i.e., a new random number is generated and compared to the probability.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Managing connection retries due to access class barring


A storage control device includes a first rewriting section, a second rewriting section, and a first retry control section. The first rewriting section performs first rewrite to rewrite other of two binary values into a memory cell in which one of the two binary values is written. The second rewriting section performs second rewrite to rewrite the one of the two binary values into the memory cell in which the other of the two binary values is written. The first retry control section causes the memory cell that has undergone the first rewrite to be subjected to the second rewrite followed by the first rewrite again if an error occurs during the first rewrite.

The present technology relates to a storage control device, memory system, information processing system and storage control method, and more particularly, to a storage control device, memory system, information processing system and storage control method for controlling a non-volatile memory.
Non-volatile memory (NVM) is occasionally used as an auxiliary storage device or storage in recent information processing systems. This non-volatile memory is broadly classified into a flash memory that can be accessed for large units of data and a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) that can be quickly and randomly accessed for small units of data. Here, a typical example of a flash memory is a NAND-type flash memory. On the other hand, ReRAM (Resistance RAM), PCRAM (Phase-Change RAM) and MRAM (Magnetoresistive RAM) are examples of non-volatile random access memories.
Errors may occur due to failure to write data properly during a write to these non-volatile memories. For example, errors often occur in a memory cell whose characteristics have deteriorated due, for example, to deterioration over time or initial defect. In general, a memory cell that has developed an error during a write is regarded as a defective cell and excluded from target cells to be written from the next write and beyond. Therefore, if the number of defective cells increases, the substantial capacity of the non-volatile memory declines. Therefore, a storage device has been proposed which performs a retry process adapted to attempt to write the same data again if a data write is not performed properly (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-220068).

Storage control device, memory system, information processing system and storage control method


A method, system, apparatus and computer program product for personalizing the functionality of a personal communication device. A personal communication device receives a wireless communication signal from one or more electronic tags. The signal is decoded by the personal communication device and the tag information is forwarded to a central processor of the device for executing the communication of data previously stored in a memory location, or triggering an application or service. The data, application or service is of interest to the user and relevant to the location the tags whose signal was received and processed by the device.

Personal communication devices are now used in many aspects of every day life. Thus, the amount and type of data that can be utilized with these devices is essential to their efficient use. In fact, the more relevant the information is to a user's everyday life, the more useful the personal communication device becomes. However, it is difficult to determine what is the most relevant data for the user and in what situation that data would be of the most use. To this end, it would be helpful to determine the movements or habits of a user to give more insight to a user's specific interests and needs. One solution for determining the movement of a person or item is the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) wireless systems.
A RF-ID wireless system is a relatively new approach to automatically identifying, categorizing and locating people and assets over a relatively short distance (substantially zero to hundreds of feet). The RF-ID labels are known as tags or transponders and they contain varying amount of information ranging from an ID number programmed into the tag at the factory to a 128 K bytes variable memory that can be programmed by a controller unit using RF radiation. The controller unit is usually referred to as a reader or interrogator.
RF-ID interrogators communicate with the tags through the use of radio frequency (RF) energy. The interrogator sends out an RF signal which "wakes up" the tag, and the tag then transmits a signal back to the interrogator via an RF frequency signal. RF-ID wireless network principles are described in a publication entitled "Radio Frequency Identification: A Basic Primer," published by the Automatic Identification Manufacturers (AIM) web site (http://www.aimglobal.org), Oct. 23, 2001 and fully incorporated herein by reference. Attempts have been made to utilize RF-ID wireless networks for various applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,142 is directed to a network system of fixed position and movable tag nodes. Each node includes a microprocessor element, pre-programmed to recognize external environmental conditions and to logically act on the basis of the recognized condition parameters and communicate with other nodes in the network. The nodes provide an independently operable overall network that has a defined area of operation capable of location identification, logical control of preprogrammed environmental conditions and logical interaction with external inquiries for transactional operations.
PCT publication WO0145038 is directed to a short range communication system. An interrogator is held near a person whose clothing contains multiple transponders. The interrogator and/or the transponders may be held in an article of clothing or in the personal effects of a person. The transponder transmits identifying information associated with the state of the article of clothing or personal effect. The system enables the clothes to communicate with a plurality of items and obtain useful information. Additionally, the system may be configured so that any particular transponder may communicate with another transponder or group of transponders of other locales to activate functions, cause actions or otherwise share data and/or information.
PCT Publication WO01/39108 discloses a system that includes a mobile communication unit wherein a RF-ID identification module is added between the radio port and an antenna in a mobile telephone that includes a Bluetooth function. The module comprises a mixer for transposing identification messages from identification devices in a 2.45 GHz RF-ID system of the backscatter type to a baseband for further processing in a computer part of the unit. The unit may communicate with a super ordinate system, via a standard call channel or Bluetooth channel. The unit is also cabled to send information to the identification devices for alerting or transmitting data, wherein modulation and encoding can be effected in accordance with the Bluetooth standard enabling the mixer to be included as an integral part of a standard Bluetooth radio.
However, none of the RF-ID systems described above suggest personalizing the functionality of a personal communication device based on the information obtained from the RF-ID wireless devices to increase the efficiency of the device.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a method, system, apparatus and computer program product that provides improved personalized functionality of a personal communication device for more efficient use of the device. The method, system, apparatus and computer program product of the present invention disclosed herein address this need.

Method, system and computer program product for personalizing the functionality of a personal communication device


A molecular probe for imaging of pancreatic islets is provided. The molecular probe includes a polypeptide represented by the following formula (1), or a polypeptide that has a homology with the foregoing polypeptide.

Today, type-II diabetics are continuously increasing in Japan, and the estimated number of the same exceeds 8,200,000. As a measure against this increase, interventions for preventing diabetes from developing have been made based on the glucose tolerance test, resulting, however, in unsatisfactory effects. The cause is as follows: at such a borderline stage that functional abnormalities are found by the glucose tolerance test, disorders of pancreatic islets have already advanced to a high degree, and this stage possibly is too late as a time for starting interventions.
More specifically, in the diabetes developing process, the amount of pancreatic islets (particularly, the amount of pancreatic β-cells) decreases prior to the occurrence of glucose tolerance abnormalities. Therefore, when functional abnormalities are detected or there are subjective symptoms, diabetes has already reached the stage where it is too difficult to be treated. On the other hand, if a decrease in the amount of pancreatic islets and/or the amount of pancreatic β-cells can be detected at an early stage, there is a possibility for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Therefore, a technique for noninvasive imaging of pancreatic islets, particularly a technique for noninvasive imaging of pancreatic islets for determining the amount of pancreatic islets and/or the amount of pancreatic β-cells, has been desired for prevention and diagnosis of diabetes. Among these, a molecular probe that enables noninvasive imaging of pancreatic islets, preferably pancreatic β-cells, and noninvasive determination of an amount of pancreatic β-cells has been desired in particular.
In designing a molecular probe for imaging of pancreatic islets, various target molecules in pancreatic cells, particularly functional proteins specific in the β-cells, are being researched. Among these, GLP-1R (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor) is being researched as a target molecule; GLP-1R is distributed in pancreatic β-cells, and is seven-transmembrane G protein coupled receptor.
As molecular probes for imaging that use GLP-1R as a target molecule, the following are researched: a peptide derivative of GLP-1; a peptide derivative of exendin-3; and a peptide derivative of exendin-4 (e.g., Patent Document 1).
Further, the following, for example, also are researched: a molecular probe obtained by labeling a derivative of exendin-4(9-39) as a GLP-1R antagonist with [18F] fluorine (e.g., Non-Patent Document 1); a molecular probe obtained by labeling a derivative of exendin-4 as an GLP-1R agonist with [111In] indium via diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) (e.g., Non-Patent Documents 2 and 3); and a molecular probe obtained by labeling a derivative of exendin-4(9-39) as a GLP-1R antagonist with [111In] indium via DTPA (e.g., Non-Patent Document 3).
However, a novel molecular probe for imaging is desired that enables noninvasive three-dimensional imaging of pancreatic islets.

Molecular probe for imaging of pancreatic islets and use of the same

Abstract: (SEQ ID NO. 1)Z-HGEGTFTSDLSKQMEEEAVRLFIEWLKNGGPSSGAPPPSX-NH2 (1)Wherein “X” represents a lysine residue, an amino group of a side chain of the lysine residue being labeled with a group represented by the following chemical formula (I),

Abstract: wherein A represents an aromatic hydrocarbon group or an aromatic heterocyclic group; R1 represents a substituent that contains 11C, 13N, 15O, 18F, 64Cu, 67Ga, 68Ga, 75Br, 76Br, 77Br, 99mTc, 111In, 123I, 124I, 125I, or 131I; R2 represents either a hydrogen atom, or a substituent different from that represented by R1; and R3 represents any one of a bond, an alkylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and an oxyalkylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms.


A spinning ring for winding a yarn fed from a raw yarn bobbin on a bobbin includes a stationary ring that is mounted on a ring rail. A rotary ring is disposed inside and concentrically with the stationary ring for rotation about the central axis thereof. The bobbin is disposed inside and concentrically with the rotary ring for rotation about the central axis thereof. A traveler is disposed on the rotary ring for revolution in the circumferential direction of the rotary ring to guide the yarn fed from the supply bobbin with respect to the bobbin. When the bobbin is rotated substantially at normal operating speed, the speed of the traveler and the rotary ring are rotated substantially in unison with each other relative to the stationary ring.

Among prior art spinning rings of the pertaining type is one which comprises a stationary ring, a rotary ring and a traveler.
The stationary ring is secured to a base member.
The rotary ring Is disposed inside and concentrically with the stationary ring for rotation about the central axis thereof. The bobbin is disposed inside and concentrically with the rotary ring for rotation about the central axis thereof.
The traveler is provided on the rotary ring for revolution in the circumferential direction of the rotary ring to guide the yarn fed from the yarn feeder to the bobbin.
With the rotation of the bobbin, the traveler undergoes revolution along the edge of outer periphery of the rotary ring in the circumferential direction thereof, so that the yarn fed from the yarn feeder is taken up on the bobbin while being twisted. When the traveler is caused to undergo revolution, the rotary ring is caused to be rotated.
The yarn (raw yarn) fed from the yarn feeder is thus spun and taken up on the bobbin.
The higher the rotation speed of the bobbin, the better the spinning efficiency.
The rotation of the bobbin and the revolution of the traveler correspond to each other, and also the revolution of the traveler and the rotation of the rotary ring are related to each other.
It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to improve the spinning efficiency by improving the revolution of the traveler and the revolution of the rotary ring.


A semiconductor device capable of performing a failure analysis includes a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of circuit elements, and an identification region provided above the semiconductor substrate so as to record identification information such as position information within wafers, information for wafer numbers, etc. The identification information is given by binary coded patterns, fused patterns of fuse elements, etc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device capable of easily performing a failure analysis even after a silicon wafer is subjected to dicing to provide semiconductor chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 11 shows an example of a conventional process from manufacture to shipping of silicon large scale integration (LSI) devices.
According to the process shown in FIG. 11, a wafer process is performed after masks and wafers are separately produced. The wafer process is carried out, as shown in FIG. 12, using a silicon (100) wafer having a diameter of 125 mm and a thickness of 625 .mu.m which has been formed in the wafer manufacturing process shown in FIG. 11. More specifically, circuit elements are formed on the silicon wafer by means of well-known techniques such as oxidation, diffusion, epitaxy, formation of insulating films, formation of electrodes, ion implantation, lithography, cleaning, etc. In most cases, the processes of the oxidation, formation of insulating films, and cleaning are usually performed for each set of 20 to 30 silicon wafers, while the processes of the formation of electrodes, ion implantation, and lithography are carried out for each silicon wafer.
The silicon wafer, which has been subjected to the wafer process, includes a plurality of chips A.sub.1 to A.sub.46, as shown in FIG. 13. Each of the chips is about 1.5.times.1.5 cm.sup.2 in size. As shown in FIG. 11, an electrical test called "probing", that is, a probe test (primary test) is carried out for the silicon wafer. The chips A.sub.1 to A.sub.46 formed on the silicon wafer are separated from one another and then an assembly process is performed to provide connection terminals on these chips. After a packaging process for sealing each of the chips in a package is performed, an electrical test, that is, a secondary test is carried out. Subsequently, a final test, testing the reliability and quality are carried out and semiconductor devices and the devices are shipped after the final test.
In the wafer process described above, when a plurality of silicon wafers are treated at the same time, an unintended variation in the silicon wafers may occur. The variation causes chips, formed from different silicon wafers, to have different characteristics. The different characteristics may result in deterioration of the chips and decrease in the yield. An undesired variation in the same silicon wafer may also occur. Therefore, chips formed from the same silicon wafer have different characteristics, resulting in decrease in yield of devices.
A case where the undesired variation in silicon wafers processed at the same time occur, will be described with reference to FIG. 14. FIG. 14 is a graph whose abscissa shows a position of silicon wafers in a treating apparatus and whose ordinate shows the thickness of gate oxide films of MOSFETs used in the silicon LSI device. As is apparent from FIG. 14, the thickness of the gate oxide films is caused to differ from one another in accordance with the position of the silicon wafers, and at the most 10 percent of variation occurs. Since the thickness of the gate oxide films of the MOSFETs is in proportion to their drive currents, if about 10 percent of variation occurs, the operation speed may be decreased by 10 percent and the power consumption may be increased by 10 percent. The variation is very unfavorable for the devices.
A case where the undesired variation in the same silicon wafer occurs, will be described with reference to FIG. 15. FIG. 15 shows a variation in gate length occurring when the gate electrodes of MOSFETs are etched by means of a well-known reactive anisotropic etching apparatus and, in other words, it shows a deviation from a desired gate length like a contour line. As is apparent from FIG. 15, the size of the gate electrode directly changes the characteristics of the MOSFET. If, for example, the size is large, a logic gate is greatly delayed to deteriorate the performance of devices. Consequently, a large gate electrode is very unfavorable for the device.
It is therefore necessary to analyze the cause of a chip failure due to the undesirable variation, thereby improving the chip failure.
However, the cause of the chip failure due to the variation can be analyzed only by the foregoing probe test, because the probe test is a measurement under the silicon wafer. The chip failure cannot be analyzed after the silicon wafer is diced to provide chips and the chips are packaged. Since the chips simultaneously provided from the silicon wafer have the same structure, it is impossible to specify the position of a chip with a failure in the silicon wafer before the chip is separated from the wafer.
The probe test is directed to sorting defective chips which are not operated at all. Since the final test is carried out after the probe test, electrical characteristics cannot be measured by the probe test in detail. This makes it more difficult to analyze a failure of semiconductor devices.
As described above, conventionally, the unintended variation is caused. That is, the thickness of a thin film, the uniformity of etching, the crystallinity of silicon wafer, the amount of impurity and the like depend the position of the same silicon wafer or different silicon wafers. The chip failure is also caused by the thickness of the thin film, the uniformity of etching, the crystallinity of silicon wafer, the amount of impurity, and the like. In other words, the failure analysis can be made from position information of chips within silicon wafers, and the cause of the failure can be eliminated. However, the failure cannot be analyzed after the wafer is separated into chips.

Semiconductor device having identification region for carrying out failure analysis


A process is disclosed of precipitating high chloride {100 } tabular grain emulsions having an average tabular grain thickness of less than 0.3 micrometer. Higher average grain equivalent circular diameters and aspect ratios are realized by employing a gelatino-peptizer during at least a portion of the precipitation that satisfies the formula: EQU (Pro+Hypro).div.(Ser+Thr)=<4.0. wherein Pro, Hypro, Ser and Thr represent the proline, hydroxyproline, serine, and threonine amino acid components, respectively, of the gelatino-peptizer. When the formula satisfying gelatino-peptizer is present during grain nucleation and contains at least 40 micromoles of methionine per gram of gelatino-peptizer, the high chloride {100} tabular grains account for a high proportion of total grain projected area. When the formula satisfying gelatino-peptizer is present during grain growth and contains <4 micromoles of methionine per gram of gelatino-peptizer, the time required to prepare the emulsion is reduced.

There are many reasons for believing high chloride {100} tabular grain emulsions, the invention of Maskasky U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,264,337 and 5,292,632, to be ideal for a variety of photographic applications. Tabular grain emulsions are well known to offer improved sharpness and an improved speed-granularity relationship. Silver chloride emulsions are recognized to be ecologically attractive and to possess the capability of rapid processing. Silver chloride grains with predominantly {100} crystal faces are recognized to have a high degree of shape stability, allowing morphologically stable {100} tabular grains to be formed.
Recently interest in precipitating high chloride {100} tabular grain emulsions has been directed to processes that can be analyzed as containing a step that creates grain nuclei containing crystal lattice dislocations that promote the growth of high chloride {100} tabular grains and a subsequent step in which the grain nuclei are grown into {100} tabular grains. The following patents are representative: House et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,938; Chang et al U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,413,904 and 5,663,041; Yamashita et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,620; and Oyamada et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,530.
All of the above patents employ a gelatino-peptizer. It is generally understood that gelatin used to form the gelatino-peptizer is derived from the collagen of warm blooded animals. The majority of gelatin employed in preparing silver halide grain containing photographic elements is derived from the bones and, to a lesser extent, the hides of cattle. Acid-treated gelatin, such as pig-skin gelatin, is also employed. These common origins of photographic gelatin are acknowledged in Research Disclosure, Vol 389, September 1996, Item 38957, II. Vehicles, vehicle extenders, vehicle-like addenda and vehicle related addenda, A. Gelatin and hydrophilic colloid peptizers, paragraph (1) and explained in detail in Mees, The Theory of the Photographic Process, Revised Ed., Macmillan, N.Y., Chapter 3, The Preparation and Properties of Gelatin, pp. 48-98.
It has been recognized that gelatin derived from fish skin can be employed as a peptizer in the preparation of the silver halide emulsions, as illustrated by Mori et al Kokai 95/287334, published Oct. 31, 1995, filed Apr. 15, 1994. Band, Photographic Gelatin, Royal Photographic Society, London (1987), pp. 17-22, contains a section by R. E. Norland, titled, "Fish Gelatin, Technical Aspects and Applications".

Modified peptizer for preparing high chloride (100) tabular grain emulsions


The present invention relates to the production of proteins in a cell or host cell. The invention uses a TRAnscription Pause (TRAP) sequence to enhance a protein expression characteristic of a protein expression unit. The TRAP sequence is thought to prevent, at least in part, formation of antisense RNA or to, at least in part, prevent transcription to enter the protein expression unit. In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for expression of at least one protein of interest in a cell comprising providing the cell with at least one protein expression unit that comprises a promoter functionally linked to an open reading frame encoding at least one protein of interest, characterized in that the protein expression unit further comprises at least one TRAP sequence and wherein the TRAP sequence is functionally located downstream of the open reading frame and at least in part prevents formation of antisense RNA. In another embodiment, the TRAP sequence is functionally located upstream of the promoter and at least in part prevents transcription to enter the expression unit. Preferably, the expression protein unit further comprises at least one STabilizing Anti-Repressor sequence.

Proteins are produced in systems for a wide range of applications in biology and biotechnology. These include research into cellular and molecular function, production of proteins as biopharmaceuticals or diagnostic reagents, and modification of the traits or phenotypes of livestock and crops. Biopharmaceuticals are usually proteins that have an extracellular function, such as antibodies for immunotherapy or hormones or cytokines for eliciting a cellular response. Proteins with extracellular functions exit the cell via the secretory pathway and undergo post-translational modifications during secretion (Chevet et al. 2001). The modifications (primarily glycosylation and disulfide bond formation) do not occur in bacteria. Moreover, the specific oligosaccharides attached to proteins by glycosylating enzymes are species and cell-type specific. These considerations often limit the choice of host cells for heterologous protein production to eukaryotic cells (Kaufman 2000). For expression of human therapeutic proteins, host cells such as bacteria, yeast, or plants may be inappropriate. Even the subtle differences in protein glycosylation between rodents and human, for example, can be sufficient to render proteins produced in rodent cells unacceptable for therapeutic use (Sheeley et al. 1997). The consequences of improper (i.e., non-human) glycosylation include immunogenicity, reduced functional half-life, and loss of activity. This further limits the choice of host cells to human cell lines or to cell lines such as Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, which may produce glycoproteins with human-like carbohydrate structures (Liu 1992).
Some proteins of biotechnological interest are functional as multimers, i.e., they consist of two or more possibly different polypeptide chains in their biologically and/or biotechnologically active form, for example, antibodies (Wright and Morrison 1997). Production of such multimeric proteins in heterologous systems is technically difficult due to a number of limitations of current expression systems. These limitations include (1) difficulties in isolating recombinant cells/cell lines that produce the monomer polypeptides at high levels (predictability and yield), and (2) declines in the levels of expression during the industrial production cycle of the proteins (stability). These problems are described in more detail below.
(1) Recombinant proteins such as antibodies that are used as therapeutic compounds need to be produced in large quantities. The host cells used for recombinant protein production must be compatible with the scale of the industrial processes that are employed. Specifically, the transgene (or the gene encoding a protein of interest; the two terms are used interchangeably herein) expression system used for the heterologous protein needs to be retained by the host cells in a stable and active form during the growth phases of scale-up and production. This is achieved by integration of the transgene into the genome of the host cell. However, creation of recombinant cell lines by conventional means is a costly and inefficient process due to the unpredictability of transgene expression among the recombinant host cells. The unpredictability stems from the high likelihood that the transgene will become inactive due to gene silencing (McBurney et al. 2002). Using conventional technologies, the proportion of recombinant host cells that produce one polypeptide at high levels ranges from 1 to 2%. In order to construct a cell line that produces two polypeptides at high levels, the two transgenes are generally integrated independently. If the two transgenes are transfected simultaneously on two separate nucleic acids, the proportion of cells that will produce both polypeptides at high levels will be the arithmetic product of the proportions for single transgenes. Therefore, the proportion of such recombinant cell lines ranges from one in 2,500 to one in 10,000. For multimeric proteins with three or more subunits, the proportions decline further. These high-producing cell lines must subsequently be identified and isolated from the rest of the population. The methods required to screen for these rare high-expressing cell lines are time-consuming and expensive.
An alternative to simultaneous transfection of two transgene-bearing nucleic acids is sequential transfection. In this case the proportion of high-yielding clones will be the sum of the proportions for single transgenes, i.e., 2 to 4%. Sequential transfection however has (major) drawbacks, including high costs and poor stability. The high costs results from various factors: in particular, the time and resources required for screening for high-expressing cell lines is doubled, since high expression of each subunit must be screened for separately. The poor overall stability of host cells expressing two polypeptides is a consequence of the inherent instability of each of the two transgenes.
(2) Silencing of transgene expression during prolonged host cell cultivation is a commonly observed phenomenon. In vertebrate cells, it can be caused by formation of heterochromatin at the transgene locus, which prevents transcription of the transgene. Transgene silencing is stochastic; it can occur shortly after integration of the transgene into the genome or only after a number of cell divisions. This results in heterogeneous cell populations after prolonged cultivation, in which some cells continue to express high levels of recombinant protein while others express low or undetectable levels of the protein (Martin and Whitelaw 1996, McBurney et al. 2002). A cell line that is used for heterologous protein production is derived from a single cell, yet is often scaled up to, and maintained for long periods at, cell densities in excess of ten million cells per milliliter in cultivators of 1,000 liters or more. These large cell populations (1014 to 1016 cells) are prone to serious declines in productivity due to transgene silencing (Migliaccio et al. 2000, Strutzenberger et al. 1999).
The instability of expression of recombinant host cells is particularly severe when transgene copy numbers are amplified in an attempt to increase yields. Transgene amplification is, for example, achieved by including a selectable marker gene such as dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) with the transgene during integration (Kaufman 2000). Increased concentrations of the selection agent (in the case of DHFR, the drug methotrexate) select for cells that have amplified the number of DHFR genes in the chromosome (Kaufman and Sharp 1982). Since the transgene and DHFR are co-localized in the chromosome, the transgene copy number increases too. This is correlated with an increase in the yield of the heterologous protein (Kaufman 1990). However, the tandem repeats of transgenes that result from amplification are highly susceptible to silencing (Garrick et al. 1998, Kaufman 1990, McBurney et al. 2002).
A need exists for an alternative (heterologous) protein expression technology and specifically a protein expression method that overcomes the above outlined problems. Even more needed is an expression system that i) provides high predictability of expression, allowing balanced expression of multiple chains, ii) provides high yields and, iii) provides stability during an extended period during which the protein needs to be produced in large quantities. This stability is particularly needed when high copy numbers are present in a cell and silencing is likely to occur.


A production line method of resistance welding comprising the steps of contacting a metal sheet with an electrode having an initial contact surface area at a force to provide a pressure to the metal sheet; applying a current though the electrode to the metal sheet; measuring dimensional changes of the electrode; correlating dimensional changes in the electrode to changes in the initial contact surface area; and adjusting the force to compensate for the changes in the initial contact surface area of the electrode to maintain pressure to the metal sheet. The force may be adjusted by stepping the force to maintain pressure to the faying surface of the metal sheet to be welded. By maintaining the pressure at the faying surface the life cycle of the electrodes may be increased without forming discrepant welds.

Resistance spot welding of aluminum processes traditionally has a lower electrode life than gauged steel and coated steel resistance welding methods. Increased electrode life is desired because it reduces maintenance cost; increases weld quality, and most importantly yields higher production. One disadvantage of resistance welding of aluminum is erosion of the electrodes, which results in changes of the tip geometry of the electrode contact surfaces. Changes in electrode tip geometry cause irregulars in pressure and current distribution, at the faying surface of the welded metal sheets throughout the life cycle of the welding process and eventually results in insufficient or discrepant welds. One example of a discrepant weld obtained during peel testing is depicted in FIG. 1.
Prior methods to increase the life cycle of resistance spot welding of aluminum modify the contact resistance of the aluminum welding surfaces either through mechanical and/or chemical means. A few examples include: twisting electrodes, arc cleaning the aluminum sheet's surface, and differential surface treatments. While these techniques can enhance performance they are not easily incorporated into existing resistance spot welding processes and disadvantageously increase process cost.
Another method of increasing the life cycle of the electrodes in resistance spot welding is current stepping. Current stepping is the increase of current to compensate for the increase in surface area of the electrode contact surface due to erosion. Typically, current stepping is programmed by the user in increments of welds performed. For example, welds 1-100 being conducted at 24.0 kA and welds 10-200 being conducted at 25.0 kA.
Additionally, the lifecycle of resistance spot welding of aluminum metal may be increased by mechanically polishing electrodes at a frequency of about 14-20 welds between polishing. In this method, the tool and abrading medium, such as sandpaper, scotchbrite or cutting tools, are placed between the electrodes under low pressure and rotated until the intermetallic that is produced on the electrode tip during electrode erosion is removed. Similar to the above-described prior solutions to increasing the life cycle of resistance welding, mechanical polishing of electrodes is not easily incorporated into existing processes and disadvantageously increases production cost.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0045597 A1, entitled "Resistance Welding Condition Method", to Wang et at. ("Wang et al.") describes one prior method of monitoring weld quality in resistance welding. Wang et al. discloses that weld quality may be monitored by measuring dimensional changes in the weld indentation at the welding surface. Wang et al. further discloses that weld quality may be improved by varying the welding current in response to dimensional changes in the weld indentation of the welding process. Similar to other conventional welding processes, Wang et al. does not measure dimensional changes in the electrode due to electrode erosion. Further, Wang et al. does not correlate dimensional changes in eroding electrodes to irregulars in pressure at the faying surface of metal sheets throughout the welding process.
What is needed is a method of resistance welding that increases electrode lifetime without substantial increasing production cost.

Production or assembly line method of spot welding


An image alignment method includes steps of receiving a first image and a second image; scaling the first image and the second image by a ratio to generate a first downsized image and a second downsized image respectively; determining a first offset between the first downsized image and the second downsized image; selecting a first saliency region and a second saliency region from the first downsized image and the second downsized image; determining a second offset between a first sub-region within the first image and a second sub-region within the second image, the first sub-region and the second sub-region corresponding to the first saliency region and the second saliency region respectively; determining a final offset according to the ratio, the first offset and the second offset; and aligning the first image and the second image by the final offset.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image alignment method and an image alignment system and, more particularly, to an image alignment method and an image alignment system capable of improving image alignment efficiency and reducing computation complexity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Image alignment is an algorithm focused on geometrically matching two images with their contents for certain purposes such as erasing hand shaking when taking multiple pictures. Image alignment can be applied in lots of image processing domains such as high dynamic range preprocessing, video stabilization, multi-frame noise removal, multi-frame object removal, panorama stitching, etc. For certain real-time applications like on-device video stabilization for video recording, computing performance is a lot more critical when aligning two neighboring images. There are diverse theories and implements about two images alignment algorithm based on different purposes and applications. However, those prior arts always need much time to align two images due to complex computation.

Image alignment method and image alignment system


In a sheet conveyance device, a plurality of driving rollers opposes a plurality of driven rollers to form nip portions between the plurality of driving rollers and the plurality of driven rollers. A center portion of a driving shaft for supporting the plurality of driving rollers in an axial direction of the driving shaft is bent downstream in a sheet conveyance direction so that the plurality of driving rollers is shifted downstream in the sheet conveyance direction and tilted with respect to the sheet conveyance direction in a V-like shape about a center line in a width direction of a sheet. The plurality of driven rollers is shifted downstream in the sheet conveyance direction by an amount determined by an amount by which the plurality of driving rollers is shifted downstream in the sheet conveyance direction.

1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments generally relate to a sheet conveyance device, an image reader, and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a sheet conveyance device, an image reader, and an image forming apparatus for feeding sheets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Related-art image forming apparatuses, such as copiers, printers, facsimile machines, or multifunction printers having at least one of copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile functions, typically form a toner image on a recording medium (e.g., a sheet) based on image data using electrophotography. Thus, for example, a charger charges a surface of an image carrier; an optical writer emits a light beam onto the charged surface of the image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier according to the image data; a development device develops the electrostatic latent image with a developer (e.g., toner) to form a toner image on the image carrier; the toner image is then transferred from the image carrier onto a sheet; and finally, a fixing device applies heat and pressure to the sheet bearing the toner image to fix the toner image on the sheet, thus forming the toner image on the sheet.
Such image forming apparatuses may include an image reader for reading an image on an original document sheet inserted by a user so as to generate image data. For example, the user inserts the original document sheet into the image reader in such a manner that a leading edge of the original document sheet is fed between driving rollers and driven rollers of feed roller pairs, respectively. In other words, a direction in which the feed roller pairs feed the original document sheet is determined based on a direction in and an angle at which the original document sheet contacts nip portions of the feed roller pairs.
The driven rollers of the feed roller pairs include side driven rollers, provided on both side portions of a driven shaft supporting the driven rollers in an axial direction of the driven shaft, and center driven rollers, provided on a center portion of the driven shaft in the axial direction of the driven shaft. The side driven rollers are formed of hard plastic and the center driven rollers are formed of foam rubber, so that the user can sense contact of the original document sheet with the feed roller pairs precisely.
However, when the center driven rollers formed of the foam rubber press against the opposing center driving rollers, the pressure of that contact may deform the center driven rollers. Accordingly, the nip portions formed between the center driven rollers and the center driving rollers may be misaligned with the nip portions formed between the side driven rollers and the side driving rollers in a sub-scanning direction, that is, an original document sheet conveyance direction, as well as in a direction perpendicular to the original document sheet conveyance direction. Consequently, such misalignment of the nip portions may crease the original document sheet conveyed through the nip portions.
Further, in order to reduce creasing of the original document sheet, a bearing for supporting a center portion of a driving shaft supporting the driving rollers in an axial direction of the driving shaft may be shifted downstream in the original document sheet conveyance direction, so as to bend the driving shaft. Accordingly, the nip portions formed between the center driven rollers and the center driving rollers may be misaligned with the nip portions formed between the side driven rollers and the side driving rollers in the sub-scanning direction, that is, the original document sheet conveyance direction. Consequently, when the user inserts the original document sheet into the nip portions and thereby the leading edge of the original document sheet contacts the nip portions, such misalignment of the nip portions may skew the original document sheet. As a result, the image reader may not read an image on the original document sheet properly.

Sheet conveyance device, image reader, and image forming apparatus capable of feeding sheets effectively


A resolver stator portion is attached to a resolver stator portion side attaching portion formed at a position facing to a resolver rotor portion via an elastic ring. Thus, it is possible to absorb a dimensional error of the resolver stator portion side attaching portion on the basis of an elastic deformation of the elastic ring even in the case that the dimensional error is generated in the resolver stator portion side attaching portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an attaching structure of a variable reluctance (VR) type resolver detecting a rotational position of a rotor, and a dynamo-electric machine provided with the attaching structure of the resolver, and an attaching method of the resolver.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 7, a conventional DC brushless motor 100 is provided with a resolver rotor portion 104 attached to a shaft 102, a resolver stator portion 106 arranged in an outer side in a diametrical direction of the resolver rotor portion 104, and a coil portion 108 positioned in both sides in an axial direction of the resolver stator portion 106. A rotational position of the shaft 102 is detected by the resolver rotor portion 104 and the resolver stator portion 106.
In this case, the resolver stator portion 106 and the coil portion 108 are received in a case member 110. The case member 110 is arranged in a concave portion 116 of a resolver stator portion side attaching portion 114 formed in a housing 112. A positioning groove 118 having a bottom surface portion 118A and a vertical surface portion 118B is formed in an inner peripheral surface of the concave portion 116. In a state in which the case member 110 is arranged in the concave portion 116, an outer side surface 106C in a diametrical direction of the resolver stator portion 106 is brought into contact with the bottom surface portion 118A, and a side surface 106B in one side in an axial direction of the resolver stator portion 106 is brought into contact with the vertical surface portion 118B. Further, a cover member 120 is attached to the resolver stator portion side attaching portion 114 by a bolt 122. In a state in which the cover member 120 is attached to the resolver stator portion side attaching portion 114, the cover member 120 is brought into contact with the side surface 106C in the other side in the axial direction of the resolver stator portion 106.
As the attaching structure of the resolver, there are structures disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-136055 (patent document 1) and Japanese Utility Model No. 2543173 (patent document 2).
In the structure in which the outer side surface in the diametrical direction of the resolver stator portion is brought into contact with the bottom surface portion, and the side surface in one side of the resolver stator portion is brought into contact with the vertical surface portion, an accuracy of assembling position is lowered with respect to the resolver rotor portion of the resolver stator portion in the case that a dimensional error of the concave portion is generated. Accordingly, there is a problem that a rotational position of the shaft cannot be accurately detected. In particular, in the case that both side end surfaces of the resolver stator portion are pinched by the vertical surface portion of the concave portion of the resolver stator portion side attaching portion and the cover member so as to be positioned and firmly fixed, a magnetic strain caused by a great fastening force is generated in the resolver stator core by a fastening member of the cover member, so that there is a problem that an accuracy of detection is diminished.

Attaching structure of resolver, dynamo-electric machine and attaching method of resolver


A method for controlling operation of a transistor includes the following steps: providing a bipolar transistor having emitter, base and collector regions; applying electrical signals to the transistor to produce light emission from the transistor; effecting photon-assisted tunneling of carriers in the transistor with self-generated photons of the light emission, and controlling operation of the transistor by controlling the photon-assisted tunneling.

A part of the background hereof lies in the development of light emitters based on direct bandgap semiconductors such as III-V semiconductors. Such devices, including light emitting diodes and laser diodes, are in widespread commercial use.
Another part of the background hereof lies in the development of wide bandgap semiconductors to achieve high minority carrier injection efficiency in a device known as a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT). These transistor devices are capable of operation at extremely high speeds. For example, InP HBTs have, in recent years, been demonstrated to exhibit operation at speeds above 500 GHz.
Another part of the background hereof lies in the development of heterojunction bipolar transistors which operate as light-emitting transistors and laser transistors. Reference can be made for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 7,091,082 and to the following: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/646,457, filed Aug. 22, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/861,320, filed Jun. 4, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/068,561, filed Feb. 28, 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/175,995, filed Jul. 6, 2005; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/364,893, filed Feb. 27, 2006; PCT International Patent Publication Number WO/2005/020287, published Mar. 3, 2005, and PCT International Patent Publication Number WO/2006/006879 published Aug. 9, 2006; all the foregoing being assigned to the same assignee as the present Application. Reference can also be made, for example, to the following publications: Light-Emitting Transistor: Light Emission From InGaP/GaAs Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors, M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., and W. Hafez, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 151 (2004); Quantum-Well-Base Heterojunction Bipolar Light-Emitting Transistor, M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 1952 (2004); Type-II GaAsSb/InP Heterojunction Bipolar Light-Emitting Transistor, M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., B. Chu-Kung, G. Walter, and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 4792 (2004); Laser Operation Of A Heterojunction Bipolar Light-Emitting Transistor, G. Walter, N. Holonyak, Jr., M. Feng, and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 4768 (2004); Microwave Operation And Modulation Of A Transistor Laser, R. Chan, M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., and G. Walter, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 131114 (2005); Room Temperature Continuous Wave Operation Of A Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor Laser, M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., G. Walter, and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 131103 (2005); Visible Spectrum Light-Emitting Transistors, F. Dixon, R. Chan, G. Walter, N. Holonyak, Jr., M. Feng, X. B. Zhang, J. H. Ryou, and R. D. Dupuis, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 012108 (2006); The Transistor Laser, N. Holonyak, M Feng, Spectrum, IEEE Volume 43, Issue 2, February 2006; Signal Mixing In A Multiple Input Transistor Laser Near Threshold, M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., R. Chan, A. James, and G. Walter, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 063509 (2006); and Collector Current Map Of Gain And Stimulated Recombination On The Base Quantum Well Transitions Of A Transistor Laser, R. Chan, N. Holonyak, Jr., A. James, G. Walter, Appl. Phys. Lett.
Some history will next be summarized as part of the background hereof. Employing both electrons and holes, intrinsically bipolar, the transistor operates by injecting minority carriers into the base (B) at the emitter (E, current IE), recombining some of the carriers in the base (IB=[1−α]IE), and transporting the remainder (IC=αIE, 0<α≦1, IE+IB+IC=0) to the higher impedance collector (C), thus forming a "transfer resistor" (obviously the 1947 bipolar active device dubbed the "transistor", (see J. Bardeen and W. H. Brattain, Phys. Rev. 74, 230, 1948), the historic prototype and still relevant). In contrast to the emitter-to-collector carrier (current) transfer fraction α, the transistor common-emitter gain β can be quite large, and is β≡IC/IB=α/[1−α]. Just from its geometry, a simple n-type "slab" of Ge (only a semiconductor base "slab" and a point contact input and output—see J. Bardeen et al., supra), it can be see at once why Bardeen designated the emitter current as IE, the base current IB, and the collector current IC (IE, IB, IC). It can be recognized immediately, from the all-base Ge "slab" (see, again, Bardeen et al., supra), that the "magic" of the transistor is intrinsically in the base. And, it is the base that potentially offers more, as demonstrated, for example, by the direct-gap, high-speed, high-current-density (IC˜106 A/cm2) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) (see, e.g., M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., and W. Hafez, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 151 (2004); M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 1952 (2004)), a direct descendant of the Bardeen and Brattain transistor, and realize the base although thin (10-100 nm), has room for more layering (bandgap and doping) and can be modified. At the high current density of the high-speed direct-gap HBT, and thus a high enough base current to be interesting (even with β˜100), it has been demonstrated that significant recombination radiation can be expected (see, again, e.g., M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., and W. Hafez, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 151 (2004); M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 1952 (2004)). In fact, employing quantum wells (QWs) and cavity reflection, it has been demonstrated that it is possible to re-invent the base region and its mechanics (its carrier recombination and transport fraction), reduce the β gain (from ˜100 to ˜10), and achieve stimulated recombination, i.e., realize a transistor laser (see, e.g. G. Walter, N. Holonyak, Jr., M. Feng, and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 4768 (2004); M. Feng, N. Holonyak, Jr., G. Walter, and R. Chan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 131103 (2005)). This resulted in a unique transistor in form and operation, as well as a unique three-terminal laser.
It is among the objects of the present invention to provide improved techniques for operation of light emitting transistors and laser transistors or transistor lasers. (The terms laser transistors and transistor lasers are used interchangeably throughout.)

Method for controlling operation of light emitting transistors and laser transistors

The Board of Trustees of The University of Illinois


The reliability of a light-emitting device constituted by a combination of a TFT and a light-emitting element is to be improved. A light-emitting element is formed between a first substrate and a second substrate. The light-emitting device is formed over a first insulating layer made of an organic compound and a second insulating layer made of an inorganic insulating material containing nitrogen formed on the surface of the first insulating layer. In an outer circumferential part of a display area formed by the light-emitting element, a shield pattern surrounding the display area is formed by metal wiring on the second insulating layer, and the first substrate and the second substrate are fixed to each other with an adhesive resin formed in contact with the shield pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a light-emitting device having a light-emitting element for emitting light by fluorescence or phosphorescence. Particularly, this invention relates to a light-emitting device having an active element such as an insulated gate transistor or a thin film transistor, and a light-emitting element connected to the active element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A display device using liquid crystal, except for a reflection-type display device using external light, usually has a structure in which panels holding liquid crystal between them and a light source are combined to display an image. The liquid crystal display device is employed as image display means in various electronic devices but it has a disadvantage of a narrow view angle. On the other hand, a display device using a light-emitting material which provides electroluminescence has a wide view angle and excellent visibility. Therefore, this display device is noted as a next-generation display device.
In a light-emitting element utilizing electroluminescence, electrons injected from the cathode and positive holes injected from the anode are recombined to form excitons in a layer made of a light-emitting material (light-emitting layer) and energy emitted at the time when the ground state of the excitons is restored is taken out as light. Electroluminescence includes fluorescence and phosphorescence, which are understood as emission from a singlet state (fluorescence) and emission from a triplet state (phosphorescence) in the excited state, respectively. Since the luminance due to the emission reaches a range of several thousands to tens of thousands cd/m2, it is considered possible in principle to apply this electroluminescence to a display device or the like.
As an example in which a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as TFT and a light-emitting element are combined, a structure in which an organic electroluminescence layer is formed via an insulating film made of silicon dioxide over a TFT using polycrystal silicon is disclosed. A passivation layer having a tapered edge part on the anode is situated below the organic electroluminescence layer. For the cathode, a material having a work function less than 4 eV is selected, and a magnesium alloy with a metal such as silver or aluminum is used (see Patent Literature 1).
It is known that organic compounds constituting the light-emitting element and alkaline metals or alkaline-earth metals used as electrodes react with water and oxygen and thus degrade. As a measure to prevent degradation due to moisture, a structure is known in which a plate-shaped protection casing for covering a display area is fixed with an adhesive or the like to a substrate over which the light-emitting element is formed while a desiccant is arranged on the inner side covered with the protection casing (see Patent Literature 2, for example).
Moreover, another structure is disclosed in which a display area is formed between a first substrate and a second substrate of different materials, with a planarization film formed as a buffer layer between a seal for adhering the first and second substrates and one of the substrates. Since the planarization film as a buffer layer is formed, the influence of thermal stress is reduced and separation of the seal and the substrate is thus prevented (see Patent Literature 3, for example).
The above-mentioned Patent Literatures are listed below.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Publication of Laid-Open Patent Application No.H8-241047
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Publication of Laid-Open Patent Application No.H9-148066
Patent Literature 3: Japanese Publication of Laid-Open Patent Application No.2001-102166
However, even though the substrate on which the light-emitting device is formed and the protection casing or the sealing substrate are hermetically sealed by the seal, degradation due to moisture such as a dark spot cannot be prevented. As the light-emitting element is electrified and driven, the current within the device is converted to Joule heat and the device is heated. In this case, a defect occurs such as a crack or breakage in the seal part or the coating at a bent part of the multilayer body due to a strain generated by the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the constituent members, and it may be considered that a progressive defect such as a dark spot occurs from that part.
When forming a seal pattern for sealing around the display area formed from the light-emitting elements, in order to increase the adhesiveness and hermetic property of the seal are increased, the area required for the seal around the pixel region is increased, thus enlarging a so-called frame region. If such a panel is incorporated in a machine which requires a display panel, the size and design of the equipment are limited and its commercial value is lowered.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratories Co., Ltd.


A chip carrier made of a non-metallic material has conductor tracks applied thereon for producing an external, two-dimensional connection configuration for electronic circuit chips. The chip carrier has a multiplicity of chip mounting locations and first cutouts disposed in such a way that at least one first cutout is adjacent each of the chip mounting locations. A second, channel-like cutout in the chip carrier leads from each chip mounting location to a first cutout adjacent the chip mounting location.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip carrier made of a non-metallic material, including conductor tracks applied thereon for producing an external, two-dimensional connection configuration for electronic circuit chips, a multiplicity of chip mounting locations, and cutouts each disposed in such a way that at least one of the cutouts is adjacent each of the chip mounting locations.
Semiconductor components which are provided with a chip carrier of the type mentioned above are applied to a carrier, e.g. a printed circuit board, for example through the use of a ball grid array (BGA) and are electrically connected to that carrier. The finished semiconductor component is thus a so-called xe2x80x9cChip Size Packagexe2x80x9d. The chip carrier is typical of semiconductor components of that type and the chip carrier serves the function of rewiring. To that end, the chip carrier has conductor tracks on a non-metallic layer on a side remote from the circuit chip. The conductor tracks end in the vicinity of a so-called xe2x80x9cbond windowxe2x80x9d of the chip carrier. The xe2x80x9cbond windowxe2x80x9d is also referred to as a bonding channel.
The bonding channel in the chip carrier enables an electrical connection of conductor track ends through a bonding wire or through direct contact-connection of the conductor track ends to contact pads of the circuit chip which are situated in the bonding channel. A further, non-metallic layer, e.g. a soldering resist mask, is usually applied on the conductor tracks, which omits the other ends of the conductor tracks. A soldering contact is electrically conductively connected to those exposed ends of the conductor tracks. The soldering contact may be constructed as a ball, for example. That results in a two-dimensional connection configuration which utilizes the area of the semiconductor chip.
In order to avoid damage to the electrical connection due to mechanical influences or the ingress of moisture, provision is made for encapsulating the circuit chip and chip carrier after the electrical connection has been established between the circuit chip and the conductor tracks.
For that purpose, a plurality of electronic circuit chips are mounted on the chip carriers mentioned above, or on the chip mounting locations provided for them, and are subsequently encapsulated by an encapsulation compound in order to form a chip housing. The encapsulation is effected by the application of an initially liquid encapsulation compound which solidifies and forms the housing.
On one hand, the introduction of the encapsulation compound necessitates providing the chip carrier with a plurality of spacers in each case at positions of the mounting locations, with the circuit chips being placed onto those spacers. On the other hand, an adhesive whole-area film, for example, is applied on that side of the chip carrier which is remote from the circuit chip. The spacers result in a small clearance being produced between the circuit chip and the chip carrier, through which the encapsulation compound can penetrate in the direction of the bonding channel. The aim, in particular, is for the bonding channel, which includes the electrical contacts, to be completely filled with the encapsulation compound. The adhesive, whole-area film prevents the encapsulation compound from escaping on that side of the chip carrier which is remote from the circuit chip.
The problem which arises in that case is that gases may be included in the housing, in particular in the bonding channel, and bubbles or cavities may thus form in the housing, which can adversely affect the reliability and the stability of the housing. The influence of bubbles and thus moisture can result in delamination of the semiconductor component.
Ventilation channels in chip carriers are known in the prior art, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,294 and from U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,071. The ventilation channels serve to provide better ventilation during the encapsulation of the circuit chip. However, what is problematic about the teaching according to the prior art, is that either the chip carrier loses some of its stability due to a multiplicity of ventilation channels or relatively complicated methods are necessary for producing a chip carrier having ventilation channels.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a carrier for electronic circuit chips having ventilation channels, which overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and which allows ventilation during an encapsulation of circuit chips in a simplified manner.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a non-metallic chip carrier, comprising conductor tracks for producing an external two-dimensional connection configuration for electronic circuit chips; a multiplicity of chip mounting locations; first cutouts, at least one of the first cutouts disposed adjacent each respective one of the chip mounting locations; and second, channel-like cutouts each leading from a respective one of the chip mounting locations to a respective one of the first cutouts adjacent the chip mounting location.
In this case, by way of example, the first cutouts may be constructed as holes or load-relieving slots in the chip carrier. By virtue of the second cutouts extending from the chip mounting location toward the first cutouts, the shortest possible path is provided for conducting gases away from the region of the chip mounting location. The bonding channel (xe2x80x9cbond windowxe2x80x9d) is advantageously used as the second cutout. In this way, the stability of the chip carrier is only weakened to an insignificant extent in comparison with the prior art structure. This considerably increases the efficacy of the ventilation channel.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the chip mounting locations are disposed in at least two rows extending in a longitudinal direction on the chip carrier. In this case, first cutouts are at least provided between two chip mounting locations in each case in the longitudinal direction. As an alternative, however, first cutouts may also be formed between all of the chip mounting locations.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the second, channel-like cutouts preferably extend in the longitudinal direction proceeding from the chip mounting locations toward the first cutouts, which are each disposed between two chip mounting locations in the longitudinal direction. In this case, within a row in the longitudinal direction, the orientation of the second cutouts, as viewed in a manner proceeding from the respective chip mounting location, may be chosen to be identical, that is to say each of the first cutouts may be disposed either xe2x80x9cupstreamxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d proceeding from a chip mounting location within a row. However, the orientation of the second cutouts of the directly adjacent rows is chosen to be opposed to the orientation of the second cutouts within the row under consideration. Consequently, if all of the second cutouts within one row are disposed downstream, then the second cutouts in the directly adjacent row or rows are disposed upstream proceeding from the chip mounting location. The effect achieved by such an alternating configuration of the second cutouts is that the stability of the chip carrier is impaired as little as possible.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a chip carrier having ventilation channels, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Chip carrier having ventilation channels