Disclosed are methods for planarizing a pattern of trenches and pillars on a substrate. The trenches are filled by depositing a filler material to a thickness greater than or equal to their depth. Photoresist is then patterned to open at least some areas overlying at least some of the pillars. Exposed resist and filler are then etched isotropically simultaneously to substantially planarize the pattern. In one embodiment, the ratio of resist etch rate to filler etch rate is greater than 1.0. In another embodiment, planarization may be achieved by etching filler material in nonactive areas without exposing caps of capped pillars, e.g., etching with endpoint detection. Then, caps of the capped pillars may then be exposed. These methods may be used in conjunction with chemical mechanical polishing steps with reduced pattern sensitivity, avoiding dishing and isolated pillar erosion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel technique for the planarization of filled trenches. This technique involves isotropically etching SiO.sub.2 -filled trenches and resist and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) without polishing to the "active" regions on the wafer surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Etching trenches into silicon wafers in order to electrically isolate the various active regions of an electronic circuit is a well known technique. Because it is desirable to facilitate future processing, to maintain a planar upper surface on the wafer, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques are used to fill trenches with an electrically insulating material such as SiO.sub.2. However, CVD deposits oxide in both trenches and on top of pillars in the active regions (e.g., as shown in the exemplary pattern in FIG. 1a) Therefore some kind of planarization procedure must be used to achieve nominally flat top surfaces. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of the as-deposited material is perhaps the simplest approach, but this technique suffers from local polish rate variations as well as dishing and problems associated with oxide residues. These variations generally may be said to be caused by the finite stiffness of the pads conventionally used for CMP, variations of the local pattern density and because different materials etch at different rates during CMP.
For example, the local etch rate strongly depends on the pattern of nearby trenches 10 and, specifically, the density of these patterns. One problem caused by nonuniformities in local etch rates is "dishing" in wide open trench areas 12, where trench areas and nontrench areas etch at different rates. Because of pad flexibility, some filler residue may be left on top of active areas between trenches, detracting from flatness.
Another problem is the rapid erosion of small isolated non-trench features ("pillars" 14) in wide open trench areas. The pad flexibility over such isolated pillars leads to fairly localized polishing action so that there is accelerated erosion, especially at the upper corners of the pillars.
Although many of the disadvantages of CMP are related to pad flexibility, increasing the stiffness of the pads is not generally a useful solution. Some pad flexibility is needed in order for the pad to conform to gross wafer bowing.
For these reasons, CMP of CVD oxide deposited on pillars and in trenches of varying widths and lengths is not generally practiced or recommended.
More advanced planarization processes involve an additional lithography step that essentially protects material in the trench regions while exposing material in the non-trench (active) regions. An etch is then performed that removes the bulk of the filler oxide on top of the pillars (the "pillar oxide"). Typically, this etch is an anisotropic plasma etch that leaves "ears" 16 and 18 of filler material, exemplified in FIG. 1b. While a significant amount of filler material has been removed from the active regions in such an etch step, a significant fraction in the form of ears remains. When this step is followed by CMP, there is still potential for pattern-dependent polishing as described above.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,565, issued to Gocho and assigned to Sony Corp., offers some improvement by using an isotropic (as opposed to an anisotropic) oxide etch to remove an even greater fraction of pillar oxide. Gocho describes a method of filling trenches by simultaneously depositing and etching (i.e., a ECR-CVD process) a CVD oxide. The deposited layer is then masked with resist, isotropically etched and then polished using a CMP technique. Gocho teaches a technique that is superior to the prior art with respect to reduced pattern sensitivity of the final polishing step through the use of an isotropic oxide etch and more efficient removal of pillar oxide.
However, Gocho fails to teach how to overcome problems of isolated resist line lift-off. An isotropic etch, as Gocho proposes, will undercut the resist mask. If this occurs on both sides of a narrow resist line, then it is possible to completely undercut, and thereby liberate, the resist line. The line is then free from the surface and can lift off, fall over or land on another part of the substrate, interfering with isotropic etching where it lands.
It would therefore be desirable to have a simple and effective trench planarization technique with lower pattern sensitivity capable of use with small geometries.


The present invention relates to a commercial motor vehicle and heavy equipment battery locking device, methods of producing the same, and methods of utilizing the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a lockable device that covers the hold-down nut(s), hold-down bolt(s), and/or hold-down bracket(s) that secure a battery to a commercial motor vehicle or heavy equipment so that the battery cannot be stolen as well as a system for production and use.

Commercial motor vehicles and heavy equipment require electric energy from one or more batteries to start the engine and operate. Unlike batteries used in private passenger automobiles, the batteries used to start and operate heavy equipment and commercial motor vehicles are located and housed outside of the engine compartment where they are usually covered by a fixed part of the motor vehicle or protected by a removable cover or enclosure that is securely latched or fastened to prevent shifting during use.1 To prevent the batteries from shifting, (and/or to meet regulations, rules, guidelines and/or laws), the batteries are often secured in place by a hold-down bolt or bolts, a hold-down nut or nuts, and a hold-down bracket or brackets. The batteries for commercial motor vehicles and heavy equipment are relatively expensive, often costing between $150.00 and $600.00 each, and often requiring multiple batteries to operate a single vehicle or equipment. Since the batteries are located outside of the engine compartment, are relatively easy to access, and are relatively valuable, they are often a target for thieves. Theft of batteries from commercial motor vehicles and heavy equipment has become an increasing problem with both direct costs (i.e., replacement cost) and indirect costs (i.e., decreased efficiency and productivity of employees, vehicles, and/or equipment, potential losses of bonuses and/or imposition of penalties, potential loss of goodwill and/or future work/jobs). In sum, theft of commercial motor vehicle and heavy equipment batteries is a problem that negatively affects productivity and profitability.2 This problem affects both private industry and government and the financial burden is often passed along to customers and taxpayers in the form of higher prices. It is a cost directly or indirectly felt by most everyone, albeit at different levels of severity. 1 §393.30 Battery installation. US Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Regulations.2 Robert Berg. Jobsite Security on Commercial Construction Projects, Robert Berg (unpublished Master of Science theses, p. 11-12, University of Florida, 2003).

Commercial motor vehicle and heavy equipment battery locking device and system for use


A reduced pressure treatment system is provided for delivering a reduced pressure to a tissue site comprising a distribution manifold including a backing substrate with a first side and a second side and a plurality of protrusions positioned on the first side of the backing substrate, each of the protrusions having a substantially circular cross-sectional shape and having a diameter of between about 0.1 and 2.0 millimeters, the backing substrate having a plurality of apertures formed therein to allow fluid communication between the first side and the second side opposite the first side. A reduced pressure source fluidly connects to the apertures of the backing substrate to deliver the reduced pressure through the apertures, between the protrusions, and to the tissue.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tissue treatment systems and in particular to distribution manifolds for wound treatment.
2. Description of Related Art
Clinical studies and practice have shown that providing a reduced pressure in proximity to a tissue site augments and accelerates the growth of new tissue at the tissue site. The applications of this phenomenon are numerous, but application of reduced pressure has been particularly successful in treating wounds. This treatment (frequently referred to in the medical community as "negative pressure wound therapy," "reduced pressure therapy," or "vacuum therapy") provides a number of benefits, including faster healing and increased formulation of granulation tissue. Typically, reduced pressure is applied to tissue through a porous pad or other manifolding device. The porous pad contains cells or pores that are capable of distributing reduced pressure to the tissue and channeling fluids that are drawn from the tissue. The porous pad often is incorporated into a dressing having other components that facilitate treatment.
Distribution manifolds for delivering reduced pressure treatment are also commonly referred to as reduced pressure dressings, or in the case of treatment of a wound, wound dressings. Such dressings are characterized by structural features that allow fluid flow through the material. For example, one material that is often used as a wound dressing is reticulated, open-cell polyurethane foam. The foam includes a plurality of interconnected pores that allow fluid flow throughout the foam. When a reduced pressure is applied to one area of the foam, this reduced pressure is quickly distributed to other areas of the foam and is easily transmitted to tissues adjacent the foam. One problem with open-cell foams and similar materials is tissue in-growth, which prevents easy removal of the foam following treatment. For open cells foams with pore sizes on the order of 100-1000 microns, in-growth of tissue may occur relatively quickly. As the new tissue enters the pores or cells of the foam, the foam acts as a lattice, and tissue grows within the pores and around the walls and/or starts that form the perimeter of the pores. This effectively attaches the foam to the tissue site, and the foam must be forcibly removed by tearing the new tissue and breaking any bonds that have formed between the tissue and the foam. Not only is this detrimental to the healing process, but the tearing of this tissue may cause discomfort to the patient.
One way to circumvent the problem of tissue in-growth is to increase the frequency of dressing changes. If new dressings are applied with increased frequency, there is less tissue in-growth, and thus less disruption of new tissue upon removing the old dressing. One downside to increased dressing changes is the increased costs associated with materials (i.e. new dressings) and labor. Changing a dressing is labor intensive and diverts the attention of medical personnel from other important tasks. Increased dressing changes also result in more aggravation to patients and their wounds.

Reduced pressure wound dressing having a wound contact surface with columnar protrusions


Truck fairings are connected together with a vibration-isolating bracket device. The device includes three parts: two brackets and a strap. The brackets are a lightweight material such as aluminum. The brackets are formed and configured to be coupled together by the strap without the need for further fasteners such as bolts or rivets. The strap is flexible and elastic and provides vibration isolation as well as coupling.

Reduction of aerodynamic drag contributes to increased fuel efficiency of a vehicle, for example, a truck. To reduce aerodynamic drag, fairings are installed to smooth the vehicle's outer surface which thereby smoothes air flow over the vehicle in motion and reduces drag. Fairings and the associated mounting devices, however, contribute to vehicle weight. Fairing vibration can interfere with vehicle operability and can create noise problems. Weight reduction of these added components is desirable to increase fuel efficiency. Vibration isolation is desirable to improve vehicle operability and noise.
First conventional devices for attaching fairings to the vehicle and to each other were brackets attached with simple metal straps. The metal straps often broke in service during normal vehicle operation. One attempt to address the problems described above and the problem of strap breakage is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a second conventional fairing bracket device. FIG. 2 is a top view of the second conventional fairing bracket device shown in FIG. 1. The design shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 allows for motion accommodation in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle with, for example, ten times the stiffness in the cross vehicle direction. The design shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, however, has an involved and therefore expensive manufacturing process. For example, one of the brackets includes a steel cylinder into which an opening is cut to accommodate the square tubing which is welded into place. The manufacturing process further includes four rivets to attach the fairing strap to a second bracket. A total of six components are part of the complete device in this conventional design. The components are also somewhat heavy.
It remains desirable to have a fairing mounting device that is lighter, addresses vibration and noise problems and is easier and less expensive to manufacture.

Vibration isolator device for vehicle fairings


An image processing apparatus includes a calculator configured to calculate coordinate conversion information for associating a position of a first image with a position of a second image, a region setting portion configured to set a first region in the first image and set a second region associated with the first region in the second image based on the coordinate conversion information, and an evaluation value obtaining portion configured to compare the first region with the second region to obtain an evaluation value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus which obtains an evaluation value for each region from two images.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, an evaluation value is obtained from two images involving position shift in such a manner as to calculate the position shift of one image using the other image as a reference image and to generate pixel values by interpolating pixel values of a corresponding position from surroundings to compare with each other for each region. Japanese Patent No. 4760973 discloses, in order to extract an object during a handheld capturing, an image processing method of capturing two images of an image with an object of an extraction target and a background image without the object to perform a positioning and then extracting the object based on differential information (an evaluation between pixels.
However, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4760973, in a case of comparing the image obtained by applying a pixel interpolation and the image to be a positioning reference on which the pixel interpolation is not performed with each other for each region, accuracy of the evaluation value is deteriorated by the change in frequency characteristics of the pixel due to the pixel interpolation.

Image processing apparatus, image pickup apparatus, image pickup system, image processing method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium


The present invention provides improved movable footbaths for the treatment of hooved animals. The footbaths include a watertight basin with sidewalls and end walls. The footbaths are movable for use in temporary or permanent locations. The footbaths include a cleat in the lower surface of the basin adjacent to a removable and replaceable ramp, and the ramp has a rough upper surface that provides friction for hooved animals allowing them to easily exit the footbath. After wear and tear, the ramp may be pried out or otherwise removed and replaced with a new ramp. Embodiments of the present footbath may be used to repair existing permanent footbaths, instead of destroying and rebuilding them, by inserting the movable footbath into the permanent footbath.

Dairy farms and cattle ranches use footbaths for treating and disinfecting the hooves or claws of livestock and cattle. A footbath may be positioned before or after a milking parlor and between walls or fencing to prevent livestock from walking around the footbath. A footbath typically includes a fluid basin having elongated side walls and shorter end walls. An entry end wall is typically provided for entering the bath and an exit end wall is provided for exiting the bath. A good footbath should be long enough such that livestock cannot jump over the bath, and wide enough that an animal cannot straddle the bath or walk through the bath with one foot out of the bath; it should be easy to fill, drain and clean. Some footbaths are wide enough to allow for two animals to enter the bath simultaneously and are more suited for large herds. In many applications, a series of foot bathing stations may be provided with a first footbath acting as a pre-washing station, an island after a pre-wash, and then a plurality of treatment baths. A footbath chemical treatment solution may include chemicals and materials to protect the hooves of animals from decay and disease, such as without limitation antimicrobial salts, copper sulfate, copper acetate, copper formate, copper, bromate, copper trichloroacetate, zinc sulfate, zinc acetate, zinc formate, zinc bromate, iron sulfate, iron acetate, iron formate, iron bromate, formalin, and various antibiotics. A footbath may be recessed into the ground, so that livestock may step down into the foot bath and may step out of the footbath. A footbath may be raised above the ground requiring cattle to step over the entry end wall into the footbath. Ramps may be used in the footbaths to prevent excess splashing and sloshing of the chemical solution when the livestock enters and exits the footbath, and provide an efficient structure that forces the claws to spread and scrape, thereby distributing a treatment solution uniformly to the hooves, and may route residual bathing solutions back into the footbath when exiting the footbath.
A dairyman will typically choose between two different footbath styles, a pre-formed or pre-constructed footbath made from plastic and/or metal, or a permanent concrete footbath. Each style has benefits and drawbacks for maintaining the footbath and for treating the hooves of cattle. A concrete footbath may be sunken below an animal walking path, may provide a rough surface for the hooves of animals, and may not be easily damaged by chemicals. However, concrete footbaths are costly, require extensive planning, cannot be removed, and cannot be easily repaired once installed. A pre-formed footbath may be made of plastic or metal which may be less expensive than a concrete footbath, and may be removable thereby making it easier to maintain or replace. However, the smooth surfaces of a plastic or metal footbath do not provide good traction for the hooves of livestock, especially on ramps leading into or out of the footbath because the hoof is subject to slipping; and the weight of the livestock may subject the temporary footbath to tipping. To address this, some metal footbaths include a metal ramp with a corrugated or diamond patterned surface to provide some friction for the hooves, but livestock is still subject to slipping on these ramps, and chemicals such as copper sulfate may corrode and rust the metal over time. Thus, there is a need for a removable and replaceable bovine footbath that is not subject to corrosion, and that includes one or more ramps with a sufficiently rough surface to allow hooved animals to enter and/or exit without slipping.


A method for simulating a circuit includes representing the circuit as a hierarchically arranged set of branches, including a root branch and a plurality of other branches logically organized in a graph. The method further includes arranging the subcircuits from the hierarchically arranged set of branches into one or more groups, determining a data structure for each subcircuit in a group that supports a combination of selectively flattened and selectively expanded group of subcircuits, selecting a subcircuit as a simulation leader and identifying remaining subcircuits as followers in the group, where the simulation leader have states substantially equivalent to the followers, simulating the respective simulation leader of each group using a selectable simulation driver, and replicating simulation results of the respective simulation leader of each group to its followers.

1. Cross Reference to Background Materials
The following publications (A)-(G) are not all from same fields of endeavor and terms used in some of them are not necessarily of same exact meanings as terms used herein because of differences in context. Nevertheless, the contents of these prior publications may be useful in assisting in understanding of the novel concepts presented herein, and thus these background publications may considered as being incorporated herein by reference for the purpose of providing additional background information:                (A) Resve Saleh, Shyh-Jye Jou, and A. Richard Newton, "Mixed-mode Simulation and Analog Multilevel Simulation", Kluwer Academic Publishers, Massachusetts, 1994, ISBN 0-7923-9473-9;        (B) Lawrence Pillage, Ronald Rohrer, and Chandramouli Visweswariah, "Electronic Circuit and System Simulation Methods", McGraw-Hill Inc., New York, 1995, ISBN 0-07-0501169-6;        (C) D. L. Beatty, R. E. Bryant, "Fast Incremental Circuit Analysis Using Extracted Hierarchy", IEEE 1988, 25th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference, pp 495-500;        (D) Xiaoyi Jiang and Horst Bunke, "Optimal Quadratic-time Isomorphism of Ordered Graphs", Elsevier Science Ltd, 1999, Journal of the Pattern Recognition Society;        (E) Peter Saviz and Omar Wing, "PYRAMID- a Hierarchical Waveform Relaxation-based Circuit Simulation Program", IEEE, 1988, pp 442-445;        (F) Peter Saviz and Omar Wing, "Circuit Simulation by Hierarchical Waveform Relaxation", IEEE, 1993, IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, Vol. 12, pp 845-860; and        (G) T. Kevenaar and D. Leenaerts, "A Flexible Hierarchical Piecewise Linear Simulator", Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., 1991, VLSI Journal 12, pp 211-235.
After this disclosure is lawfully published, the owner of the present patent application has no objection to the reproduction by others of textual and graphic materials contained herein provided such reproduction is for the limited purpose understanding the present disclosure of invention and of thereby promoting the useful arts and sciences. The owner does not however disclaim any other rights that may be lawfully associated with the disclosed materials, including but not limited to, copyrights in any computer program listings or art works or other works provided herein, and to trademark or trade dress rights that may be associated with coined terms or art works provided herein and other otherwise-protectable subject matter included herein or otherwise derivable herefrom.
If any disclosures are incorporated herein by reference and such incorporated disclosures conflict in part or whole with the present disclosure, then to the extent of conflict, and/or broader disclosure, and/or broader definition of terms, the present disclosure controls. If such incorporated disclosures conflict in part or whole with one another, then to the extent of conflict, the later-dated disclosure controls.
It is often desirable in the microelectronics industry to be able to implement physical solutions in as little time as possible for coping with new market opportunities and/or emerging problems. Computer-provided simulations are often used to predict the behaviors of to-be-manufactured electrical circuits or other like systems. This is preferably done before the electrical circuits are finalized so that design errors may be corrected and design parameters may be optimized prior to mass production. It is well known, for example, to use computers and software simulators such as SPICE for obtaining fairly accurate predictions of the analog behaviors of complex circuitry.
Other examples of analog-behavior simulators include HSPICE™ (available from Avant! Corp. of California), SPICE-3™ (available from Berkeley University of California), SPECTRE™ (available from Cadence Corp. of California), ACES™ Adaptively Controlled Engine Simulator), and ITA™ (Interactive Timing Analysis engine). These simulators and/or simulation engines are not to be confused with digital-behavior simulators such as VHDL which predict behavior of gate-level and lower-resolution hardware descriptions (e.g., register transfer level) in the digital realm rather than at the finer resolution of transistor-level signals and in the analog realm.
SPICE-like simulations can provide fairly accurate predictions of how corresponding circuits will be behave when actually built. The predictions are preferably made not only for individual subcircuits but also for whole systems (e.g., whole integrated circuits) so that system-wide problems relating to noise and the like can be uncovered and dealt with.
However, SPICE-like simulation of whole systems becomes more difficult and problematic as the industry continues its relentless trek of scaling down to smaller and smaller device geometries as is predicted by Moore Law and of cramming more interconnected components into system. An example of such down scaling is the recent shift from micron-sized channels toward deep submicron sized transistor lengths. Because of this, circuit designers are able to cram exponentially larger numbers of basic components or 'elements' (e.g., transistors, diodes, capacitors) into a given integrated circuit (IC) or other such, mass-producible device.
Due to the shortened time-to-market pressures in the industry, the designers of these mass-producible systems (e.g., IC's) want the makers of pre-fabrication SPICE-like simulators to come up with new ways for quickly and accurately predicting the system-wide behaviors of these exponentially more dense and more complex, interconnected system designs. This is not as easily done as it may sound.
In designs that employ hierarchical structuring, however, opportunities do exist for taking advantage of the redundant behaviors that are sometimes exhibited by structurally redundant subcomponents (isomorphic subsets) of the hierarchical structure. Rather than instantiating and simulating individually, all the redundant subcomponents of a system, it is possible to pick one of many, alike subcomponents and to consider the picked subcomponent as having a behavior that is representative of the behaviors of the others. The predicted behavior results obtained for the representative one subcomponent may be duplicated for the others without repeating computationally-intense simulation processing for each of the mirror-wise alike subcomponents. As such, significant amounts of computing time and computational resources may be saved if redundant subcomponents can be identified and their behaviors can be predicted in this way.
Examples of integrated circuits which tend to exhibit hierarchical structuring include high-density memory chips such as SRAMs, DRAMS, EEPROMs, etc. Parallel data processing systems and telecommunication systems also tend to have hierarchical structures with redundant subcomponents.
Given the above, there is still the problem of how to efficiently identify redundant subcomponents and how to efficiently take advantage of their redundant behaviors during simulation of hierarchical systems. Also there are times when end users do not want to take advantage of hierarchical structuring and instead want to simulate a, so-called fully flattened model. There is the problem of how to provide end users with the capability under one system of performing both hierarchically-mapped and fully flattened model simulations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for efficiently simulating analog behavior of designs having hierarchical structure


A telescopic structure for a tool, wherein the tool includes a rod assembly and a handle, a first end of the rod assembly formed with a drive end, a second end of which is formed with a connecting end serving to be connected with the handle, the telescopic structure comprises an annular positioning groove formed on outer periphery of the rod assembly; an elastic ring elastically engaged in the annular positioning groove of the rod assembly in such a manner that the elastic ring expansively abuts against inner wall of the handle; a locking groove formed on the inner wall of the handle mutually engaged with the elastic ring.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a telescopic structure for a tool, and more particularly to a telescopic structure capable of changing the entire length of the tool and saving the turning force applied on the handle for locking/unlocking a work piece during turning operation.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Tools are widely applicable and generally used for assembling/disassembling/repairing/checking or adjusting operations, and more and more people like DIY, so the demand for the tools is very great. However, how to develop a tool capable of saving turning force during turning operation has become the motivation of the present invention.
Here takes torsion wrench as an example, as shown in FIG. 1, a conventional torsion wrench includes at least a rod 11, a central push rod 12, a work head 13 and a handle 14. The central push rod 12 is received in the rod 11. The work head 13 is mounted at an end of the rod 11 and connected with the central push rod 12. The handle 14 is adjustably mounted at another end of the rod 11 in such a manner that a drive portion 141 of the handle 14 is meshed with a threaded portion 121 of the central push rod 12. By such arrangements, the handle 14 can be adjusted to move the central push rod 12, and to set a torsion value as desired for turning a work piece with accurate torsion force. However, in real operation, this conventional torsion wrench still has some disadvantages as follows:
The handle 14 is adjustably mounted at the end of the rod 11 for adjusting purpose. However, it is unable to substantially increase the length of the torsion wrench. The handle 14 is to be held and adjusted by the user, and the work head 13 of the torsion wrench is connected to a work piece that requires precise torsion force. During the turning operation of the torsion wrench for locking/unlocking a work piece, the turning force is impossible saved due to the distance between the handle and the work piece to be operated is unchangeable. Thus, the turning operation it pretty hard when turning a work piece that requires great torsion force.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.


A tube spacer S formed by bending a wire, includes a plurality of projections 20 and a base-bending portion 21. Each of the projections 20 is inserted between tubes, and has a pair of extending portions 201 extend in X direction and a front-bending portion 202 for connecting both front ends of the pair of extending portions 201. The base-bending portion 21 connects both rear ends of the projections 20 so that the projections 20 are arranged at interval in Z direction. With this structure, manufacturing cost for the tube spacer S can be low, and the tubes can be stably supported.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tube spacer for arranging heat transfer tubes of a heat exchanger or other tubes at predetermined intervals, a method of manufacturing the tube spacer, and a heat exchanger with the tube spacer.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of tube spacer is shown in FIG. 14 (Japanese examined utility model No. 25400343). The tube spacer 9A shown in FIG. 14 is formed a meandering shape by bending a wire rod, and has a plurality of straight portions 91 at intervals via clearances 90. A plurality of heat transfer tubes 94 are inserted individually in clearances 90. With this structure, the tube spacer 9A arranges the heat transfer tubes 94 at predetermined intervals. Since the tube spacer 9A is formed from a wire rod, the manufacturing cost is low.
However, the above-described conventional structure has the following problems.
The spacer 9A is bent the wire rod like a mere meander. Therefore, when the heat transfer tubes 94 is secured, the heat transfer tubes 94 should be inserted into clearance 90 in axial direction (the heat transfer tube 94 should be inserted in perpendicular direction to paper surface in FIG. 14). As a result, such insertion is not easy. Although it is convenient that the tube spacer 9A can be inserted from one side of the heat transfer tubes 94, such operation is difficult. Also, the tube spacer 9A is held in contact with the heat transfer tube 94 at merely a point. Therefore, this structure is not stable to support the heat transfer tube 94.
FIG. 15 shows another example of conventional tube spacer (PCT/WO2005/108875). As shown in FIG. 15, the tube spacer 9B has a structure that a plurality of projections 93 is provided on a side of a base plate 92.
According to this spacer 9B, the projections 93 are inserted between desired tubes (not shown) from one side of the tubes, and the clearances of the same to thickness of the projections 93 can be formed between the tubes. The tubes are stably supported because the contact area of the projections 93 and the tubes is large.
However, the cost of the tube spacer 9B is comparatively high because the tube spacer 9B is made of plate material. An example of heat exchanger has a structure that includes a plurality of heat transfer tubes for recovering heat from combustion gas passes through between the heat transfer tubes. When the tube spacer 9B is used for this heat exchanger, the flow of combustion gas is disturbed because the base plate 92 and the projections 93 are wide and combustion gas is interrupted to flow by the base plate 92 and projections 93. Such a phenomenon is not preferable in view of heat exchange efficiency.

Tube spacer, method of manufacturing the same, and heat exchanger


A semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a substrate including a first region and a second region, a first transistor and a second transistor formed on the first region and the second region, respectively, a first contact formed on the first transistor, and a second contact formed on the second transistor. The first contact includes a first work function control layer having a first thickness and a first conductive layer formed on the first work function control layer, the second contact includes a second work function control layer having a second thickness different from the first thickness and a second conductive layer formed on the second work function control layer, and the first contact and the second contact have different work functions.

1. Technical Field
The present inventive concepts relates to a semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a feature size of transistors is reduced, a gate and a channel formed under the gate are becoming smaller. Therefore, methods to increase the capacitance between the gate and the channel and improve operating characteristics of the transistors are being developed.
One of these methods includes adjusting a threshold voltage by controlling a work function of a transistor. The work function of the transistor may be controlled by, for example, implanting ions into a channel region of the transistor. However, as the feature size of transistors is reduced and a shape of transistors becomes three-dimensional, it is becoming difficult to control the distribution of implanted ions.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same


A radio base station transmits data symbols to a mobile terminal on multiple frequency carriers, e.g., in accordance with the MC-WCDMA or cdma2000 3x air interface protocols. The radio base station instructs the mobile terminal to report channel quality measurements obtained by the terminal for the multiple carriers over the same uplink channel during successive reporting intervals. According to one embodiment, the mobile terminal reports channel quality by receiving data symbols transmitted on a plurality of frequency carriers in a multi-carrier CDMA environment and measuring channel quality for the different frequency carriers. The mobile terminal reports individual ones of the channel quality measurements over the same uplink channel during successive reporting intervals.

The present invention generally relates to channel quality reporting, and particularly relates to channel quality reporting in a multi-carrier wireless communication environment.
Currently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is initiating work on evolving the Wideband CDMA standard (WCDMA). This evolution aims at improving packet data transmission performance, e.g., through higher throughput, increased data rates, reduced delays, and support for flexible spectrum allocation. Of particular interest is higher bandwidth support for packet data services.
One candidate for this evolution is a multi-carrier WCDMA (MC-WCDMA) based air-interface. A MC-WCDMA air interface protocol provides multiple WCDMA frequency carriers operating in parallel. As an example, MC-WCDMA could offer up to four parallel frequency carriers in the downlink direction, each carrier having a chip rate of 3.84 Mcps, corresponding to approximately 5 MHz bandwidth. A similar approach is taken for cdma2000, where a multi-carrier mode is specified. Normally, cdma2000 uses a single carrier, known as cdma2000 1x. However, cdma2000 provides a multi-carrier mode denoted as cdma2000 3x. Three frequency carriers are used in parallel according to cmda2000 3x.
An MC-WCDMA compatible terminal is capable of receiving multiple frequency carriers, while a conventional WCDMA terminal is only capable of receiving a single carrier and is not aware of other carriers. This ensures that MC-WCDMA is backward compatible with conventional WCDMA.
WCDMA also has been enhanced with High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) for efficient downlink packet-data support (Rel-5 of the WCDMA specification). Based on HSDPA, the WCDMA specifications identify a new downlink transport channel, the high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH). HS-DSCH is based on a shared channel transmission scheme. A certain amount of channelization codes and transmission power in a cell can be considered a common resource that is dynamically shared among users primarily in the time domain when a shared channel transmission scheme such as HS-DSCH is deployed. Shared-channel transmission makes more efficient use of available code resources in WCDMA. For example, the shared code resource onto which the HS-DSCH is mapped consists of up to 15 codes with fixed spreading factor 16. The HS-DSCH also supports new features such as fast link adaptation, fast hybrid ARQ with soft combining, and fast channel-dependent scheduling that rely on, and are tightly coupled to, the rapid adaptation of transmission parameters to instantaneous radio conditions.
Fast link adaptation enables the HS-DSCH to rely on rate adjustment while transmission power is kept constant instead of compensating for significantly and rapidly varying downlink radio conditions by power control. This is commonly known as rate adaptation, rate control, or link adaptation and is more efficient than power control for services tolerating short-term variations in the data rate. Furthermore, the HS-DSCH may use spectral-efficient 16 or 64 QAM modulation when channel conditions permit in order to further increase the capacity and data rates.
Fast hybrid ARQ with soft combining enables a mobile terminal to rapidly request retransmission of erroneous data, which leads to substantial delay reduction and also higher capacity compared to release 99 of WCDMA. By using soft combining, the mobile terminal combines information from both the original transmission and any subsequent retransmissions prior to a decoding attempt. This further increases the capacity and adds robustness against link adaptation errors.
Fast channel-dependent scheduling allows a scheduler to control to which users the shared channel transmission should be directed at a given time instant. Channel-dependent scheduling implies that the instantaneous radio-channel conditions are taken into account during the scheduling process, which significantly increases capacity and resource utilization. Short-term variations in the radio conditions are exploited by transmitting to a user which experiences favorable instantaneous channel conditions, e.g., a fading peak, while a certain degree of fairness is still maintained over the long term. To fulfill the requirements on short delays and rapid adaptation set by the techniques discussed above, the corresponding functionality is typically located in the Node B of a radio access network.
HSDPA also provides a new downlink control channel for WCDMA, the High-Speed Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH), which is code multiplexed with the HS-DSCH. HS-SCCH carries control information necessary for the demodulation of the HS-DSCH by a mobile terminal. The control information, which is required for each 2 ms WCDMA Transmission Time Interval (TTI), includes the identity of the currently scheduled terminal, hybrid ARQ related information, and HS-DSCH transport format parameters selected by the link adaptation mechanism. The HS-DSCH is shared mainly in the time domain but can also be shared in the code domain. Time domain scheduling makes the most use of the rapid adaptations possible with the HSDPA feature, but when data transmitted to one mobile terminal does not completely fill the HS-DSCH channel, several mobile terminals may be scheduled at the same time using different subsets of the available codes (code domain sharing). Since only the currently scheduled terminal needs to receive the HS-SCCH, there is typically only one, or a few HS-SCCHs configured in each cell. However, HS-DSCH capable terminals are required to monitor up to four HS-SCCHs.
The HS-DSCH and HS-SCCH use staggered timing. The staggered timing structure reduces mobile terminal complexity since it allows the terminal to receive parts of the control information and to use the information to configure its HS-DSCH receiver before beginning to receive the HS-DSCH transmission. However, a more complicated power allocation algorithm is needed in the base station when the HS-DSCH and HS-SCCH are transmitted using staggered timing. With staggering, subsequent HS-DSCH transmission activity must be taken into account when the HS-SCCH power is set. This may require a static HS-SCCH power reservation, leading to reduced system capacity. Staggering also introduces an additional and seemingly unnecessary delay for user data.
HSDPA further provides a new uplink control channel for WCDMA, the High Speed Dedicated Control Physical Channel (HS-DPCCH), which is provided to each terminal using HS-DSCH services. The HS-DPCCH is used by the hybrid ARQ mechanism in the mobile terminal to request retransmissions of erroneously received transport blocks. The HS-DPCCH is also used to transmit reports of the instantaneous downlink channel quality observed by the mobile terminal to the corresponding Radio Base Station (RBS). Instantaneous channel quality conditions are conventionally measured by devices such as cellular phones and are broadly referred to as Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs). CQI values may correspond to Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), Signal-to-Interference+Noise Ratio (SINR), received signal power or strength level, supportable data rates, supportable modulation and/or coding rates, supportable throughput, etc.
CQI information is conventionally transmitted from a wireless receiver such as a cellular phone to a corresponding transmitter such as an RBS via physical layer signaling. In one example, CQI information is transmitted over the HS-DPCCH in compliance with the HSDPA protocol for WCDMA-based systems. Wireless transmission systems use CQI information to assist in radio resource allocation. For example, CQI information may be used to determine transmission scheduling among multiple receivers, select suitable transmission schemes (e.g., the number of transmit antennas to activate), determine bandwidth allocation, select spreading codes, determine modulation and coding rates, etc.
CQI information is conventionally transmitted in the form of a CQI message. Receivers form CQI messages by first measuring channel quality, e.g., SNR or SINR. The receiver then accesses a standardized CQI table where the table contains ranges of uniquely indexed CQI values. The range in which the measured channel quality falls is identified by selecting the corresponding index value. The selected index value is mapped to a sequence of channel quality information bits, e.g., using a (20,5) block coding technique where 5 bits are encoded into a 20 bit-codeword for error protection. The encoded channel quality information bits are then mapped onto the HS-DPCCH and transmitted as a message.
The HSDPA features described above provide channel quality feedback for a single downlink carrier in a MC-WCDMA environment. That is, the current HS-DPCCH physical channel structure only supports feedback of one CQI value per 2 ms interval, corresponding to one downlink carrier. However, channel quality feedback is desired for all carriers in a MC-WCDMA system to take full advantage of the advanced radio communication features offered by HSDPA.

Multi-carrier CQI feedback method and apparatus


A lighting and/or signaling device and a light ray guide (N) formed by a guide plate comprising a light entry face, a light exit face and a reflection face having an elliptical profile toward the rear adapted to assure reflection of light rays entering the guide plate through the light entry face toward a focus point (F) located at the level of the light exit face of the guide plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of lighting and/or signaling devices for vehicles. In particular, the present invention relates to a lighting and/or signaling device for a motor vehicle including a light ray guide. The invention also concerns a light ray guide as such.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such lighting devices generally comprise a light source that emits light rays and a light guide in which light rays from the light source propagate by reflection.
In the prior art, and notably in the automotive field, it is known to combine a plurality of lighting functions in this type of lighting device, so as to simplify the electrical wiring generally resulting from these various functions. The patent document EP2306073 describes an example in which these functions are combined using a plurality of light guides with one or more light sources.
However, one of the major drawbacks of such lighting devices is linked to the fact that such configurations systematically generate a loss of efficacy and efficiency, notably, at the level of the light beam generated at the output of these devices.
Moreover, the latter devices are generally bulky and costly to design.
The present invention aims to solve these problems resulting from the drawbacks of the prior art.

Lighting device including a light ray guide


A wall of a casing has first and second threaded holes. A retaining member is rotatable between a normal position and a disabled position. The retaining member has a hole and a groove. A mechanism operates for enabling the retaining member to fasten the battery to the casing wall when the retaining member is in the normal position. The mechanism includes first and second screws. The first screw extends through the hole of the retaining member, and extends into the first threaded hole in the casing wall and is connected to the casing wall. The first screw has a head engageable with the retaining member. The second screw extends through the groove in the retaining member when the retaining member is in the normal position. The second screw extends into the second threaded hole in the casing wall, and is connected to the casing wall. The second screw has a head engageable with the retaining member. When the first and second screws are loosened, the retaining member is rotatable about the first screw between the normal position and the disabled position. The retaining member is engageable with the battery when being in the normal position. The retaining member is separated from the battery and is prevented from interfering with removal of the battery when being in the disabled position. The second screw relatively moves out of the groove in the retaining member as the retaining member rotates from the normal position to the disabled position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a battery holding structure which can be used in electronic devices and electronic apparatuses.
2. Description of the Relate Art
Some electronic devices have casings in which batteries are disposed. It is known that an elastic belt binds such a battery to the walls of a casing. The elastic belt enables easy replacement of the battery by a new one.
A known battery holding structure includes a retainer screwed to the walls of a casing. The retainer fastens a battery to the casing walls. When the battery is replaced by a new one, it is necessary to completely detach screws and the retainer from the casing walls. After the battery is removed and a new one is set in position therefor, it is necessary to connect the screws and the retainer to the casing walls again. Accordingly, in the known battery holding structure, the replacement of the battery by a new one tends to be troublesome. In addition, there is a chance of losing the screws or the retainer.

Matsushita Electric Inudstrial Co., Ltd.


A method and apparatus for combining video frame sequences with a video display of an interactive program guide (IPG). The apparatus comprises a plurality of compositors that combine background information, video frame sequences and program guide graphics into a single video frame sequence. The sequence is then digitally encoded to form an MPEG-like bitstream. The same background information and informational video is composited with a different program guide graphic to form another video sequence that is also encoded. A plurality of such sequences are produced with each sequence having a different program guide graphic. Each sequence is encoded and then multiplexed into a transport stream such that all the encoded sequences are transmitted to a subscriber's terminal using a single transport stream. As such, the subscriber can transition from one program guide to the next without interruption of the background or video display as the program guide graphic is changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electronic program guides and, more particularly, the invention relates to a technique for encoding a user interface of an information distribution system.
2. Description of the Background Art
In several communications systems, the data to be transmitted is compressed so that the available transmission bandwidth is used more efficiently. For example, the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) has promulgated several standards relating to digital data delivery systems. The first, known as MPEG-1 refers to ISO/IEC standards 11172 and is incorporated herein by reference. The second, known as MPEG-2, refers to ISO/IEC standards 13818 and is also incorporated herein by reference. A compressed digital video system is described in the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) digital television standard document A/53, and is incorporated herein by reference.
The above-referenced standards describe data processing and manipulation techniques that are well suited to the compression and delivery of video, audio and other information using fixed or variable rate digital communications systems. In particular, the above-referenced standards, and other "MPEG-like" standards and techniques, compress, illustratively, video information using intra-frame coding techniques (such as run-length coding, Huffman coding and the like) and inter-frame coding techniques (such as forward and backward predictive coding, motion compensation and the like). Specifically, in the case of video processing systems, MPEG and MPEG-like video processing systems are characterized by prediction-based compression encoding of video frames with or without intra- and/or inter-frame motion compensation encoding.
Over the past few years, television has seen a transformation in a variety of means by which its programming is distributed to consumers. Cable television systems are doubling or even tripling system bandwidth with the migration to hybrid fiber coax (HFC) cable plant thereby offering a larger number of channels to the viewer. Customers unsatisfied with their local cable systems have switched in high numbers to direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems. And, a variety of other approaches have been attempted focusing primarily on high bandwidth digital technologies, intelligent two way set top boxes, or other methods of trying to offer service differentiated from standard cable and over the air broadcast systems.
With this increase in bandwidth, the number of programming choices has also increased. Leveraging off the availability of more intelligent set top boxes, several companies such as Starsight and Prevue Guide have developed elaborate systems for providing an interactive listing of a vast array of channel offerings, expanded textual information about individual programs, the ability to look forward to plan television viewing as much as several weeks in advance, and the option of automatically programming a VCR to record a future broadcast of a television program.
Unfortunately, the existing program guides have several drawbacks. They tend to require a lot of memory, some of them needing upwards of one megabyte of set top terminal (STT) memory. They are very slow to acquire their current database when they are activated for the first time or are subsequently restarted (e.g., a large database may be downloaded to a STT using only a vertical blanking interval (VBI) data insertion technique). Disadvantageously, such slow database acquisition may result in out of date database information or, in the case of a pay per view (PPV) or video-on-demand (VOD) system, limited scheduling flexibility for the information provider. The user interface to existing program guides does not usually look like a typical television control interface; rather looks like a 1980's style computer display (i.e., blocky, ill-formed text and/or graphics).
Additionally, the present program guides may provide an advertising or preview region along with the program guide graphics. However, the insertion of these additional video signals is performed using an analog compositor that merely inserts (overlays) the additional imagery into the broadcast stream. The analog compositing process is accomplished and then the new analog video containing an advertisement or preview and the program guide are recorded on tape for subsequent broadcast. This compositing process is not accomplished in real time at the head end of the cable system and, consequently, the program guide can not contain targeted advertising for a particular household or a particular neighborhood or region. The program guide with its associated preview or advertising is broadcast to all subscribers connected to the head end of the cable system. Additionally, these program guides are generally passive, in that, the viewer sees the program guide information change on the screen to indicate different programs and their associated channels. However, there is no provision enabling a viewer to interact with the program guide display to scroll through the channel or channels that are available. Because such scrolling in an analog system requires a splice to a new program guide video sequence, the program guides that are interactive do not include advertising video or other video information with the program guide.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for encoding an interactive program guide.

Method and apparatus for encoding a user interface


A wireless network may have a digital base station and a radio link converter unit. The digital base station may receive bearer data for each of a plurality of channels, establish control information for each of the plurality of channels, and output a digital signal that defines the bearer data and the control information. The radio link converter may receive the digital signal and extract from the control information, for instance, a power level for each of the plurality of channels and a modulation frequency. Based on the power level and the modulation frequency, the radio link converter may responsively generate an analog signal having a plurality of analog channels that defines the bearer data in the digital signal. The radio link converter may then output the analog signal to an antenna for transmission to a wireless terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunications services and more particularly to a method and system for facilitating transmission of analog signals to a wireless terminal.
2. Description of Related Art
A wireless terminal is a form of telecommunication technology that enables people to communicate with others. The wireless terminal can take a variety of forms. The wireless terminal may be, for example, a cellular phone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer with wireless modem, or a fixed wireless terminal.
The wireless terminal exchanges signals with a radio access network. The radio access network communicatively couples the wireless terminal to a remote terminal. The remote terminal may be, for example, another cellular telephone, a pager, a PDA, a portable computer with wireless modem, or a fixed wireless terminal.
The radio access network typically has a base transceiver station (BTS) and a base station controller (BSC) (collectively referred to as a "base station"). The wireless terminal exchanges signals with the BTS and the BSC. The radio access network may also have a mobile switching center (MSC), an interworking function (IWF), and an IP network. The BSC may be coupled to the MSC, which is in turn coupled to the IWF and IP network. Additionally, the radio access network may have a BSC coupled to a packet data serving node (PDSN) and the IP network. Therefore, the radio access network facilitates wireless communication with the IP network.
The base station has a basic architecture that consists of radio-frequency (RF) power amplifier, a radio frequency section, a sampling and reconstruction system, and a signal processing system. The RF power amplifier, radio frequency section, sampling and reconstruction system, and signal processing system collectively facilitate exchange of signals with the wireless terminal.
In a transmit mode, the base station receives a digital signal from the MSC or the PDSN and transmits an analog signal to the wireless terminal. The digital signal may be defined by a plurality of channels. The signal processing system amplifies each channel of the digital signal to a power level. Then, the digital signal is passed to the sampling and reconstruction system. The sampling and reconstruction system has a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts the digital signal from the MSC or the PDSN into the analog signal. A plurality of channels, typically 128 channels in a carrier division multiple access (CDMA) protocol, may define the analog signal. The radio frequency section modulates the analog signal at a modulation frequency. Finally, the RF power amplifier adds a fixed gain to the analog signal and outputs the analog signal to an antenna for transmission to the wireless terminal.
In a receive mode, the base station receives an analog signal from the wireless terminal and outputs a digital signal to the MSC or to the PDSN. The RF power amplifier receives the analog signal at the antenna. The RF power amplifier adds a fixed gain to the analog signal and the radio frequency section demodulates the analog signal to a base band signal. The sampling and reconstruction system has an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The ADC converts the base band signal into a digital signal and outputs the digital signal to the MSC or to the PDSN.
This basic architecture allows for the base station to transmit and receive signals with the wireless terminal.

Method and system for facilitating transmission of analog signals to a wireless terminal


A computer docking system comprises a support base and a docking bracket having a plurality of holding members. Each holding member is adapted to receive and support a computer display device. Each holding member is also adapted to interchangeably engage the support base to enable positioning of the computer display device in at least two different viewing orientations.

A variety of different types of computer devices are configured to connect to a docking station. However, changing a viewing orientation of the computer device after docking is generally difficult, time-consuming and inconvenient. For example, some docking stations require electrical disconnection and re-connection to change viewing orientations of the computer device. Other docking stations require a complex reconfiguring of the mechanical attachment structure to accommodate a different viewing orientation of the computer device.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A process for producing a semiconductor device module comprises the steps of forming a first substrate having a separation layer having thereon a plurality of independent semiconductor layers and semiconductor devices individually formed on the plurality of semiconductor layers, electrically connecting the semiconductor devices one another on the first substrate, and separating the plurality of semiconductor layers from the first substrate at the separation layer to transfer the semiconductor layers to a second substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing a semiconductor device module, and more particularly to a process for producing a semiconductor device module such as a solar cell module which is of high-quality and low-cost.
2. Related Background Art
In application to solar cells and epitaxial substrates, there are various advantages on application where a plurality of semiconductor layers having independent regions can be grown on a substrate. In the case of solar cells, a unit cell alone has a low output voltage, and hence commonly a plurality of unit cells are often connected in series when used. In thin-film solar cells such as amorphous silicon solar cells, semiconductors deposited on one sheet of substrate can be formed dividedly and connected in series on the substrate, thus production efficiency can be improved.
In the case of crystal solar cells, however, such a manner of connection has ever been impossible. Accordingly, after junctions and electrodes are formed in unit cells, the unit cells are connected in series to form a module. This manner of connection makes it necessary to repeat like steps many times, and is complicated in production especially in the case of small-sized modules. Also, in the case of epitaxial substrates, a large number of unit devices such as transistors are fabricated on the substrate. In order to electrically separate these unit devices from one another, it is desirable as an ideal means to provide insulating layers between the devices, where, in a conventional method, high-density doped regions are provided between devices or between the substrate and the epitaxial layer to form junctions. Such a conventional method, however, requires fairly complicated steps to provide such high-density doped regions.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-68133 discloses a process for producing a solar cell module, in which the surface of a single-crystal silicon substrate is made porous to form a porous layer (a separation layer), a plurality of solar cell devices are formed thereon, thereafter the single-crystal silicon substrate (with the porous layer and solar cell devices) is bonded to a film substrate through an adhesive, the substrates thus bonded are separated at the porous layer to transfer the plurality of solar cell devices to the film substrate, then this film substrate is separated to provide a plurality of solar cell devices, thereafter these solar cell devices are mounted on a supporting film substrate, and the solar cell devices are electrically connected to one another to produce the solar cell module. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-31827 also discloses a process in which a plurality of solar cell devices insulatingly separated from one another are separated from a substrate and thereafter connected in series.
However, the production process disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-68133 has many steps since the solar cell devices are separated after they are transferred to the film substrate, and are further mounted on the supporting film substrate and then connected electrically. Also, the process disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-31827 has a narrow freedom of design in the step of forming wirings at the time of series connection.
An object of the present invention is to provide a production process preferable for producing a semiconductor device module, in particular, an integrated series-connected solar cell module, which can be produced by a simple process.
The semiconductor device module production process of the present invention comprises the steps of:
forming a first substrate having a separation layer having thereon a plurality of independent semiconductor layers and semiconductor devices individually formed on the plurality of semiconductor layers;
electrically connecting the semiconductor devices one another on the first substrate; and
separating the plurality of semiconductor layers from the first substrate at the separation layer to transfer the semiconductor layers to a second substrate.
The semiconductor device module production process of the present invention is also characterized in that, in the above semiconductor device module production process of the present invention, the first substrate is subjected to a process having at least the step of forming a cover layer for blocking the growth of the semiconductor layers, on the surface of a semiconductor substrate at its region except the regions where the semiconductor layers are to be formed, and the step of bringing the semiconductor substrate having the cover layer formed thereon, into contact with a melt saturated with a semiconductor material to cause the semiconductor layers to grow in the regions where the semiconductor layers are to be formed.
In the present invention, the semiconductor devices are electrically connected one another before the plurality of semiconductor layers are transferred to the second substrate. This enables use of a process requiring a heat treatment step, and enables connection by thin-film processing. As a result, it is able to produce a semiconductor device module whose device-separated semiconductor layers can electrically be connected with ease, in particular, a solar cell module which enables integrated series connection with ease in spite of crystal type solar cells.

Process for producing semiconductor device module


A micro mobile phone battery charger for nickel hydrogen and lithium ion batteries, having advantages of high charging efficiency, quick charging, being adaptable for use with different voltages, and compactness. includes a casing, a rotary concealable charger plug, an internal circuit device, and battery terminals arranged to retain the battery in the housing and eliminate the need for lead wires. The internal circuit device, includes an overload, over-voltage protection circuit, an electromagnetic interference filter circuit, a voltage stabilizing circuit, an oscillation circuit, a direct current rectifying circuit, a car charge direct current input protection circuit, an alternating current filter circuit, a detection circuit, and an automatic power interruption system. The current is automatically adapted so that the input voltage range is from 90 to 250V to adapt to municipal currents of 110 to 240V and car charging.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved device of a micro mobile phone battery charger, and more particularly to a charger that is very compact to facilitate carrying, and that has a circuitry to enable the charger to automatically adapt to different voltages, and that is especially adapted for using car electricity and municipal electricity. In addition, the present invention is adapted for use with nickel hydrogen and lithium ion batteries, so that there is no need to discharge electricity prior to charging and there are no adverse memory effects.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Mobile phones are very popular today. The mobile phone is used in conjunction with a charger so that it has sufficient power supply to enable it to be used at any time. However, conventional chargers are usually bulky and, due to various restrictions, has the following disadvantages:
1. As the conventional charger cannot adapt to different voltages, it cannot be used in countries where the voltage is different. PA0 2. As the conventional charger is equipped with a lead wire for recharging purposes, the wire may get entangled. It is also troublesome to assemble and connect the lead wire. PA0 3. The conventional charger can only charge nickel cadmium batteries and cannot effectively identify the types of batteries, which is impractical. PA0 4. As the conventional charger does not have a protection circuit, when the batteries are fully charged, it will not automatically turn off. PA0 5. Referring to Item 4 above, since the conventional charger does not include a protection circuit, when the batteries are fully charged, the temperature may rise, which will consume more power and may damage the internal components to shorten their useful life. PA0 6. The conventional charger is not provided with an electromagnetic interference filter circuit. Therefore, it cannot effectively avoid interference of electric currents and voltages. PA0 1. The greatest output current of the present charger is 250 mA. Charging is quick, and efficiency is high. The voltage can be adapted within the range of 90 to 250 V, and will not be restricted to any voltage environment. The present invention can be used in any country. PA0 2. The present invention can be used to charge nickel hydrogen or lithium ion batteries, which is an improvement over the prior art which can charge only a single type of battery. The present invention additionally has a delay identifying circuit and can identify nickel hydrogen or lithium ion batteries before proceeding with the charging process. PA0 3. The present invention is equipped with an over-charging protection circuit. When the battery is fully charged, the present invention will automatically turn off and charging will stop to protect the batteries. PA0 4. The present invention has an output protection circuit, so that there is no electricity leakage at the output end. PA0 5. The present invention is provided with an E.M.I. filter circuit, so that it can prevent interference due with electric currents and voltages used by household electrical appliances. PA0 6. As the power consumed by the present invention is only 40 mW, the temperature of the components will not rise, thus prolonging the service life of the present invention. PA0 7. The present invention can utilize municipal electricity and car electricity for recharging purposes, which is very practical compared to the prior art.

Device of a micro mobile phone battery charger


A valve mechanism which is resiliently biassed towards a first position but is normally retained in a second position by means of a linkage including a chemically sensitive device which is arranged to release in the presence of a contaminant.

In large multiple fuel tank installations, for example on petrol station forecourts, there may be a number of storage tanks intended for different grades or types of fuel. Unintentional contamination of one fuel by another, can easily take place if care is not taken when the fuels are delivered and, can cause considerable damage, for example if diesel fuel finds its way into a petrol tank, or vice versa. Since all of these fuels are commonly delivered by tankers with multiple fuel compartments, and all of the storage tanks have similar filler inlets, such an error can easily occur if the tanker operative is in a hurry.
International patent application no. WO 00/55598 (Masstech International Limited) describes a device for detecting the presence of a chemical contaminant, the device comprising an indicator element which is held in a first position by means of a failure element which is held in tension, the failure element being made of a material which fails in the presence of the chemical to be detected, thereby releasing the indicator element from its first position and allowing it to move into a second position in order to provide an indication of the presence of the contaminant.
The failure of the failure element may occur by shearing or stretching of the element, or, more typically, may occur when the surface of the element is degraded by the contaminant, in such a way as to release it from engagement with another part of the mechanism.


The invention relates to food and beverage containers and the lids that are used to close such containers. During the manufacturing process, it is desirable to stack the lids one on top of the other before presenting them to the machine that will join the lids to the bodies of the containers. Some lids according to my previous invention have ancillary components attached to their main bodies, such as pull tabs that have raised lifter tips or punch tips. Sometimes, the lids have also certain recesses and/or protrusions below or above the main body of the lids. Such ancillaries and/or recesses or protrusions could disturb the integrity of the stacks. Some experts in the industry indicated that they consider that such a stack could be unacceptably SQUISHY. This invention proposes ways and methods and construction designs, which would eliminate such stacking problems, even in the presence of such ancillaries and/or recesses or protrusions or other similar irregular shapes. The stacks will not be squishy.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to means for opening cans and container, which have a pull tab that the user lifts and/or pulls to open the can.
Specifically, the invention relates to cans used to contain soft drinks, or beer or soups or sardines or drinks and foods in general or the like. The pull tab is usually lifted by the user to break a seal of some sort or shape. The pull tabs presently used on the market are difficult to grab and lift and some users revert to special tools to start the lifting process.
The mother patent application has proposed solutions to address the problem of opening the tab, but it was discovered that such solutions may create some difficulties with the present manufacturing methods.
The present invention relates to these manufacturing methods and suggests solutions.
Background Information
My mother patent application was granted a U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,945 on Nov. 17, 2009. I will refer to that application and patent as PT1.
But there are some areas where I can improve on PT1 and these are the areas or things that I want to cover in this present application.
So I will call this application the "PT2", and since this PT2 addresses mostly the stacking of lids and its effect on the spacing between lids and/or lids with pull tabs, and ways to provide more "space" between the lids, when they are stacked up one on top of the other, then I will also call this application the PT2 PULL TAB LIDS STACKING. Hence, the title shown above.


A durable male slotting blade for creating cleanly sheared slots in corrugated cardboard. The male slotting blade is adapted to be mounted to a slotter head of a cardboard box fabricating machine, and is provided with a cutting surface having first and second sets of serrations. A first set of serrations is provided on one side of the cutting surface while a second set of serrations is provided on an opposing side of the cutting surface with a valley formed therebetween. The first set of serrations are provided offset from, or out-of-phase with, the second set of serrations to provide for a cleaner cut with less frayed edges. Each of the serrations includes a peak and a valley machined not only into the sides of the cutting surface but also down into the valley formed in the cutting surface such that as the blade encounters abrasive recycled fibers, and is worn away, a new cutting surface is repetitively provided to thereby result in a longer lasting and more durable blade.

Medium and heavy duty packaging boxes are typically manufactured from corrugated cardboard. Corrugated cardboard sheet stock is cut into appropriate dimensions, slots and folds are created in the cardboard at appropriate positions, and two ends of the cardboard are glued together to form a continuous loop. These operations are typically performed in a commercially available machine capable of performing all of the folding, slotting, and gluing operations. The resulting product is then shipped to the customer who then folds the cardboard at the appropriate positions to form a normally rectangular tube, and uses the flaps created by the slots to form the two ends of the box.
With corrugated cardboard which is manufactured from 100% virgin paper fibers, the slots are typically formed using slotting blades having sharpened edges separated by a gap corresponding to the width of the desired slot. One or more slotting blades are mounted in a rotating slotter head above the level of the cardboard sheet stock and between two female blades located below the cardboard sheet stock. The outer sides of the male blade interact with the interior sides of the female blades to shear the slot from the cardboard in a scissor-like fashion. Since the natural fibers are relatively weak, the slots formed are relatively clean with few fibers pulled from the cardboard, and little fraying of the edges.
However, with today's marketplace, it is uncommon to manufacture corrugated cardboard from 100% virgin paper fibers. Corrugated cardboard is now commonly manufactured from a combination of virgin paper fibers, recycled paper fibers, and synthetic fibers. Conventional slotting blades used to create slots in 100% natural fiber cardboard cannot create a cleanly shaped slot in that the recycled paper fibers are often not cleanly severed by the slotting blade. Rather, the recycled paper fibers are grasped by the male slotting blade and pulled from the cardboard sheet stock resulting in frayed edges and a non-uniformly shaped slot.
Since the ultimate end users of the cardboard boxes are often from the food industry, or other industries where cleanliness, and the appearance of cleanliness, are of utmost importance, such frayed edges are not acceptable. They create not only the impression that the box is sloppy, but also that the product inside is also sloppy and less than aesthetically desirable.
More recent prior art blades have incorporated the use of teeth or serrations along the cutting edges which are better equipped to cut through cardboard than are conventional blades having curvilinear cutting surfaces. The machining procedures used to form the blades typically result in serrations on both sides of the cutting blade which are aligned in matching sequence such that corresponding serrations penetrate the cardboard along the same axis line across the slot. Therefore, the profile of each side mirrors the other side and results in fewer locations around the blade at which the serrations perforate and penetrate the cardboard. This results in less complete shearing of the slot, more pulling of fibers from the sides of the cardboard adjacent the slot, and thus more frayed edges.
In addition, with the increased use of recycled fibers in the production of corrugated cardboard, the blades used to create the slots in the cardboard are confronted with increasingly abrasive fibers which eventually fragment the cutting edges and dull the blade. Conventional blades are provided with sharpened edges only at the joints between the cutting surface and the opposing sides, and once these are fragmented or worn down, their cutting efficacy is lost. While the more recent blades alluded to above do include serrations along the cutting edges, the serrations are also only along the edges, and once they are fragmented or worn down, their cutting efficacy is lost as well.

Slotting blade with out-of-phase serrations


A fragrance evaporator allows doses of fragrance to be released into the atmosphere in a controllable manner and only when required. The fragrance evaporator has a solid surface that may be wetted as required with liquid fragrance from a fragrance reservoir. An evaporation space that surrounds the solid surface and that is in communication with the atmosphere is thus created above the surface.

The invention relates to a fragrance vaporizer, in particular for toilets having a liquid aromatic compound to be distributed within the air in a room.
In order to avoid or suppress unpleasant odors, for example in toilet facilities of restaurants, other public buildings, or even in buildings for private use, spraying agents have previously often been used. These nebulize a liquid aromatic compound in fine droplets in the air in the room. Some of these droplets vaporize almost completely and are thus located in the air in the room, which thus has the fragrance of this aromatic compound.
Usually, however, the sprayed aromatic compound does not vaporize completely. Some of the nebulized droplets settle on the floor, the walls, on fittings and on the clothing of people present in the room. This leads to unpleasant side effects. For instance, the floor may possibly become slippery, or clothing and shoes are attacked by the sometimes aggressive aromatic compounds, for example of ethereal oils. Because of this, the floor in public toilet facilities has to be wiped regularly at intervals of about 2 hours.
Furthermore, so-called odor blocks to avoid unpleasant odors have been disclosed. Odor blocks of this type have the disadvantage that they constantly give off their scent to the surrounding air in the room. This leads to waste of the aromatic compound since this is given off into the air in the room even when it is not necessary to combat a foreign odor, for example when the toilet is not being used. In the case of odor blocks, this deficiency also cannot be readily eliminated since it is not possible to regulate the dispensing of the aromatic compound in odor blocks.

Fragrance vaporizer, in particular for toilets


A shopping cart liner is disclosed. An illustrative embodiment of the shopping cart liner includes a flexible, plastic liner body having a bottom panel and a rear portion, a pair of side portions and a front portion extending from the bottom panel. In some embodiments, at least one liner partition extends from the bottom panel. A method of preventing contaminants on a shopping cart from contacting items placed in the shopping cart is also disclosed.

Shopping carts are commonly used in supermarkets to transport groceries and other items to a checkout counter. A typical conventional shopping cart includes a wheeled frame on which is provided a typically metal basket. A handle extends from the basket to enable a user to push the shopping cart throughout the supermarket. An infant seat may be provided on the basket to support an infant during shopping.
During grocery shopping, groceries are placed in the basket. In some cases, solid or liquid food matter can leak onto the basket from packages in which they are contained. If it remains on the basket for a prolonged period of time, the food matter may promote the breeding of bacteria on the basket. The bacteria may potentially contaminate food items which are subsequently placed in the basket. Accordingly, a shopping cart liner is needed which can be placed in a basket of a shopping cart to prevent bacteria on the basket from contaminating food items placed


An eye imaging system can include a head-wearable fundus camera positioning helmet with an outer shell and a conformable liner that can include head location fiducials defining a specified plane. An attached articulating fundus camera fixture can include a fundus camera positioning indication system to indicate a position of the fundus camera with respect to an eye of the patient for acquiring one or more fundus camera images at the indicated position such that fundus camera images recorded over a chronic period of time are assessable using the position information from the fundus camera positioning indication system. The articulating fundus camera fixture can include an articulating arm and a fundus camera mount. The system can assist the patient with helmet positioning, and can automatically position the fundus camera for accurate image capture and analysis, such as using a trained machine learning model for patient evaluation, monitoring, or diagnosis.

Certain diseases can have specific effects on the vasculature in the eyes, which may be possible to detect, such as by an ophthalmologist who is appropriately trained to identify one or more indications of one or more specific diseases, such as using one or more features or patterns observable via specific vasculatures of a human patient or other subject.

Eye imaging system and fundus camera positioning device