A cryosurgery device for dispensing a liquid refrigerant from a container having a valve stem extending outwardly therefrom. The device includes an actuator adapted to seat on the valve stem of the container in order to depress the valve stem to release the refrigerant from the container. The actuator includes an inner passageway having opposed ends disposed therein, one of the ends of the passageway being in fluid communication with the valve stem. An applicator tube is mounted to the actuator at the other end of the inner passageway. A cap is disposed on the top of the container. The actuator is movably positioned on the cap and a shield is attached to the cap to completely receiving the applicator tube. Liquid refrigerant can only be dispensed when the actuator is positioned properly and the applicator tube is disposed within the shield means.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cryosurgical device and method for cooling surfaces by dispensing a liquid refrigerant through a shaped applicator of porous material, and more particularly, to a device having a dispensing system with a protective sheath such that refrigerant can only be discharged when the device is correctly assembled.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide localized freezing of a part of a human or animal body in order to remove a skin lesion such as a wart. Physicians have used liquid nitrogen applications to remove lesions from the skin. This method of treatment has been effective but suffers from the disadvantage of requiring specialized equipment to condense nitrogen, the need for specialized storage devices, and the inherent hazards of handling and dispensing a material having a boiling point of approximately −196° C. A certain amount of skill is required during treatment, so that excessive tissue injury does not occur.
More recently, methods were developed to treat skin lesions cryogenically by employing a liquid refrigerant contained in a pressurized container. In such methods, an effective amount of the cryogenic agent from the pressurized container is supplied into a hollow supply tube, having a cotton, fiber or plastic foam applicator located at the distal end of the tube, so that the cryogenic material accumulates in the applicator. The skin surface of the lesion is then contacted with the applicator having the accumulated cryogenic agent for a period of time sufficient to permit the cryogenic agent to reduce the temperature of the skin lesion tissue to temperatures that freeze the skin, such that permanent, irreversible rupture of cellular membranes of cells of the skin lesion occurs while the cryogenic agent is evaporating. Subsequently, the applicator is removed from the skin surface after a period of time that is generally about 20 to about 60 seconds, depending on the boiling point of the refrigerant and the depth of tissue that will be frozen, and the frozen skin tissue of the skin lesion is then permitted to slowly thaw. During the next several weeks, the tissue that was frozen dislodges from the surrounding skin.
Examples of devices for applying a cryogenic agent to a skin lesion are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,028 (Swart); U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,505 (McDow); U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,170 (McDow); U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,745 (McDow); U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,682 (Jensma); U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,410 (Ruizendaal); U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,527 (Jensma); U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,410 (Ruizendaal); U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,090 (Jensma); and U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0043723 (Howlett et al.). The disclosures of these patents and application are herein incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,028 discloses a method and apparatus for delivering a therapeutic effect by delivering refrigerant through an applicator comprising a cotton wool bud surrounding the discharge end of the outlet of a tube and which is placed directly on or near the site to be treated. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,092,527, 6,387,090 and 5,738,682 disclose a method and apparatus for providing a localized freezing of a wart or other growth. The Jensma patents disclose a shaped applicator tip composed of open celled foam and particularly an applicator comprised of open celled foam over cotton which is preferred for use in the present invention.
An operational feature of cryosurgical devices is the manner in which the cryogenic agent is moved from the container to the applicator. There should be little loss in the cryogenic material during transfer and, therefore, the cryogenic material should travel the most effective and shortest path in order to provide the greatest effectiveness in treating the skin lesion.

Cryosurgical device and method for cooling surfaces


A NOx sensor 100 is produced by forming a stack with a ceramics paste including ceramic particles, a resin, a solvent, and one or more additives selected from additives of a first group having a first structure containing one or more selected from ether structures, urethane structures, hydroxy group-containing structures, ester structures, and acrylic structures and additives of a second group having any one or more structures of the additives of the first group and a second structure containing one or more selected from imidazoline structures, ethylenediamine structures, and amine structures. The ceramics paste contains any one of the additives of the first group and the second group and thus has an appropriate affinity for a cutting edge at the time of cutting a laminated body before the firing of the NOx sensor 100.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramics paste and a laminated body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a NOx sensor including a detection electrode containing a noble metal and a raw-material powder for a solid electrolyte layer has been reported, in which the impedance of a pump cell and the measurement sensitivity can be stabilized during the use of the NOx sensor (for example, see PTL 1).


A system provided for protecting a disk drive from impact damages. More specifically, a disk drive is provided that includes an accelerometer interconnected to a printed circuit board that detects free fall of the disk drive. In addition, the velocity of spinning disks of the disk drive is also monitored to assess changes in velocity thereof that may indicate the presence of a tumbling condition. Furthermore, the change in acceleration measured by the accelerometer is monitored to prevent false indications of free fall due to common vibrations. Thus an enhanced system is provided that protects disk drives from the effect of free falls under a wide variety of conditions and allowing for drops from shorter distances to be identified.

Conventional disk drives employ a servo system that controls the radial position of an actuator arm relative to the surface of a rotating recording disk. The actuator arm supports a read/write head or transducer above a disk surface and ideally over the center of a selected track on the disk surface. For positioning purposes, the read/write head senses servo information embedded in the disk, which is then used to develop a position error signal. The error signal is then used to adjust the position of the read/write head in a direction to reduce the magnitude of the error for purpose of track following. The servo system is also utilized to move the read/write head from one track to another track.
At one time, disk drives were employed primarily within desktop computers, where the disk drives operated in a static environment within the computer on a desktop or table. The computer was in a stable position and there was little likelihood that disk drive would experience shock loading from impacts as a result of being dropped. Today, an increasing percentage of disk drives are being used in portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, notebook computers, palm-held devices, personal digital assistants, music players and other portable electronic devices. A primary problem associated with contemporary designs of such disk drives concerns shock-induced damage from the impact of a falling portable electronic device colliding with a surface. For example, when a device containing a small disk drive falls from a desk or a user's hand onto a hard surface, the shock pulse magnitude generated can be hundreds or thousands times the acceleration of gravity. Shock induced damage to the disk drive or its components is typically less a problem when the portable electronic device is turned off. When turned off, the actuator arm and head element are securely parked at a position off the surface of the disk or on a crash zone on the disk surface. In many cases, the actuator arm may also be latched to further inhibit movement away from the parked position. Therefore, if the portable electronic device is dropped, there is a substantially reduced likelihood that the disk surface and/or head will be damaged. Conversely, if the disk drive is in operation at the time of the fall, the actuator arm is unlatched and the head is likely positioned over the data portion of the disk surface. As a result, damage can easily occur to the disk surface and/or head element.
External shocks such as these yield at least two undesirable outcomes: physical damage of the disk and/or the head and track misregistration. During operation, a shock of sufficient magnitude will cause the head to impact the rotating disk, thereby damaging the magnetic media film, the disk substrate, and/or the head. Further, the shock event generates linear and radial accelerations that apply a moment to the actuator arm. This moment may exceed the ability of the servo system to maintain the read/write head within the allocated tracking error range required for acceptable data integrity, and the servo system may lose track of the actual position of the head element. This problem is exacerbated by increased track density which reduces the acceptable tracking error range. If a shock occurs during the data writing process, the disk drive is in jeopardy of miswriting the data off track, or worse, writing over previously written data on adjacent or nearby tracks.
Thus, it is often advantageous to ensure that the disk drive heads are in a parked position away from the rotating disks prior to impact or positioned over a designated crash zone. In the case of portable computers, this has been accomplished in the past by adding a micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) accelerometer to the computer so that the free fall condition is sensed and the heads are parked prior to impact. For example, some MEMS accelerometers include an outer ring of material that is fixed to a stationary object, such as the motherboard of a computer. A suspended, movable mass is interconnected via a plurality of arms to an inside surface of the outer ring of material. As the MEMS accelerometer is accelerated, inertia causes the resting suspended mass to move relative to the outer ring thereby loading the plurality of arms that connect the mass to the ring. The arms are doped with a piezo-electric material that creates a voltage difference within the arms when loaded. The amount of voltage difference across each of the arms is measured to ultimately yield the magnitude of acceleration. When a disk drive is at rest, for example, sitting on a table, the acceleration measured by the accelerometer is 1 g (where g=force of gravity: 9.8 m/s2). The suspended mass of the MEMS accelerometer will be acted on by gravity and displaced downwardly from the outer ring causing a reading of 1 g acceleration. When the disk drive is dropped, the mass will move relative to the fixed ring, either in line therewith, causing a 0 g acceleration reading, or moving upwardly therefrom, causing a less than 1 g acceleration reading. Thus, when an acceleration indicates less than, or equal to, a predetermined threshold values for a predetermined amount of time, the disk drive is in a free fall condition. Once it is ascertained that the disk drive is indeed experiencing free fall, the voice coil motor that controls the position of the actuator arm is directed to place the actuator arm into a safe location, i.e., to park the actuator arm. When parked, the read/write head or transducer is located away from the rotating disks or over a crash zone so that should the disk drive impact a surface, the head does not strike the disk surface or is already in contact with the surface at a safe zone.
As an alternative, other MEMS accelerometers include a movable mass with a plurality of fingers emanating therefrom that interact with stationary fingers interconnected to a substrate. When at rest, a uniform gap exists between each pair of moveable and stationary fingers. When the mass of the accelerometer moves with respect to the stationary fingers, the gap between each set of fingers is either increased or decreased. The pairs of fingers function as capacitors, altering the space therebetween which changes the capacitance, which, in turn, is measured to identify the magnitude of the acceleration.
The prior art includes the use of accelerometers to detect free fall. U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,573 to Henze ("Henze"), which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, discloses a method of sensing acceleration using a MEMS accelerometer and moving the heads away from the disks before an impact occurs. The accelerometer employed is mounted in and secured to the housing of the disk drive. Thus, after a free fall event is detected, a signal is sent from the accelerometer to a processor to cause a signal to be sent to the voice coil motor to park the actuator arm. In other prior art devices, the accelerometer is positioned outside of the disk drive, such as on the motherboard of a computer. In these instances, the command to park the actuator arm must pass through the ATA interface, or similar interface, of the disk drive, and the disk drive must hold the current operation to respond to the command. In each instance, the interface, command, and response time and overhead involved slow or delay any action taken in response to the generated signal. This time lag can be directly correlated to lost reaction time and translates to a minimum drop distance for which corrective action cannot be taken. Conversely, only drops greater than this minimum distance may be detected in time to take corrective action. Unfortunately, even drops less than this minimum distance may produce considerable damage to a disk drive. Moreover, by placing the accelerometer outside of the disk drive, such as on the mother board of a computer, any malfunction of the computer can prevent the signal from the accelerometer from being processed and/or the appropriate corrective signal from reaching the voice coil motor.
In some instances, free falling of an object is accompanied by a rotation movement or tumble. The rotation generates a centrifugal acceleration, which results in the reading of the accelerator to be larger than zero during free fall. As a result, a detection system may not be able to reliably detect free fall with tumble using only the accelerometer as a free fall detection and protection mechanism.
Another known way to detect free fall/tumble event of a disk drive is to measure changes in velocity of the spinning disks. More specifically, it is known that an angular change of the axis of rotation of a spinning object will directly or indirectly alter the speed of that spinning object. In many instances, a portable electronic device experiences a tumbling action as a precursor to or as part of a free fall event. Thus, when a disk drive is experiencing a tumbling action, the rotational velocity of the spinning disks will necessarily change due to a load placed on the spindle from the change in the axis of rotation. One method of detecting free fall accelerations by measuring disk velocity is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,062 to Jenn et al. ("Jenn"), which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. Jenn discloses a method of monitoring spindle motor current in order to determine any change in the revolutions per minute (RPMs) of the spinning disks. As a change occurs in the plane in which a spinning disk operates, a load will be placed on the spindle bearings which, in turn, will slow the RPM of the spinning disk. Additional current will be needed to bring the RPMs back to the appropriate level. As a result, by utilizing an additional sensor, a tumble condition may be determined by monitoring the spindle motor current. However, there is a time lag between spindle speed change and motor current change. By monitoring motor current change to detect tumble, some reaction time will be lost for which corrective action cannot be taken.
In some instances, the disk drive may not change orientation as it falls, namely, where the change in angular momentum of the spinning disk is 0, i.e. a non-tumbling free fall. Therefore, no change of angular velocity of the disk drive would be readily apparent using this detection method and the existence of the tumble would not necessarily be detected or would not be detected in a timely manner to take corrective action. In addition, as noted, monitoring spindle motor current may require additional hardware and add to the cost of the disk drive.
Another drawback of the prior art devices and methods for detecting a fall is that they may be fooled to believe that the electronic device is free falling when it is not falling. More specifically, often vibrational loading of the system may be incorrectly identified as a free fall causing an unwanted parking of the head. For example, during travel on a train, airplane, bus or car, or during jogging or dancing, electronic devices are exposed to periodic vibrational accelerations. These vibrations may have an extended duration that may cause a detector to falsely conclude a free fall event is occurring and cause the heads to be parked. Similarly, jitter experienced by a spindle may create a false belief that a tumble event is occurring. Sources of spindle jitter include bearing load variations, electronic noise, windage, and magnetic coupling.
Thus, it is a long felt need in the field of disk drive protection to provide a method of more accurately detecting free fall so that the head can be parked prior to impact under all falling condition. There is also a need to more quickly determine if a disk drive is in free fall in order to reduce the height from which corrective action may be taken. In addition, a system is needed that allows for innocuous vibrations to be disregarded thereby preventing false indicators of a free fall event. The following disclosure describes an improved method of detecting disk drive free fall and tumbling that helps prevent misdiagnosis of these harmful events.

Mobile hard disk drive free fall detection and protection


A clamp control circuit outputs a clamp control signal after a delay of a predetermined time if a digital video signal is detected. A sampling circuit that extracts sampling data of a pedestal level from a luminance corrected signal based on a clamp pulse at a timing of the back porch. A data averaging circuit calculates an average of the sampling data of the pedestal level. A data holding circuit holds a difference between the average and a digital signal processing reference level when the clamp control signal is output and also when the clamp control signal is not output. A level correction circuit corrects a level of the luminance signal based on the difference held by the data holding circuit and outputs the corrected luminance signal.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamp circuit that converts a video signal to a digital signal and conducts digital signal processing.
2) Description of the Related Art
The picture, quality of the television receiver sets is becoming better and better and the screen size is becoming large and larger day by day. To cope with this progress, there is a tendency to convert an analog video signal to a digital signal and perform some kind of digital signal processing to the digital signal. An analog-digital (A-D) converter is used to perform the conversion. During such conversion, the video signal is clamped in such a manner that the video signal does not exceed a dynamic range of the A-D converter.
While the video signal travels through different components of the circuitry, until it reaches to a digital signal processing circuit, which performs the digital signal processing, a DC level of the video signal undergoes variations. Therefore, even if the video signal is clamped, there is no guarantee that the video signal is securely suppressed at or below a reference level necessary for the digital signal processing.
In other words, by merely clamping the video signal, it is difficult to match the pedestal level. In video signal processing, the pedestal level inserted in the back porch of the horizontal blanking interval becomes the reference of luminance signal processing. When the pedestal level varies, combing or flicker occurs and the image is disturbed. The image with the combing or flicker occurring therein not only is hard to see, but also exerts a bad influence on eyes. Therefore, a method and means that will securely clamp the pedestal level of the video signal is in demand.
For example, in the conventional technology (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-88723), the pedestal level is detected from the quantized video signal every field, and detected data are averaged. When a variation of the averaged pedestal level exceeds a predetermined error range, the detected pedestal level is chosen as a new pedestal level. When a variation of the detected pedestal level is within the predetermined error range, the pedestal level detected previously is chosen intactly as the pedestal level. In other words, when the variation of the pedestal level detected every field is within the predetermined error range, the pedestal level is fixed. The video signal is corrected by using a difference between the pedestal level thus determined and a pedestal level of a desired value. Flicker caused by the quantization error in the video signal obtained by converting the analog video signal to the digital signal, i.e., in the quantized video signal is thus suppressed.
When the error range of the pedestal level is made small in the conventional art, however, the pedestal level frequently varies. This results in a problem that occurrence of the combing or flicker cannot be completely prevented.
When the number of times of pedestal level quantization in a field is small, or when the number of bits in quantization is small, the computation error becomes large and the pedestal level frequently varies. This results in a problem that the number of times of sampling must be increased and the number of bits in quantization must be increased. In other words, the average must be calculated with the number of quantization times and the number of bits in quantization increased by using a high-performance A-D converter. This results in a problem that the circuit scale becomes large.

Clamp circuit for clamping a digital video signal


A coating and developing apparatus includes a process block which includes a unit block for coating-film formation which applies a resist, and a unit block for development which performs a developing process, and is separately provided with a coating-film-formation-unit-block transfer mechanism and a developing-process-unit-block transfer mechanism. After a substrate after exposure is transferred to a transfer stage from the interface-block transfer mechanism, the timing for the developing-process-unit-block transfer mechanism to receive the substrate is adjusted in such a way that the time from exposure of the substrate to transfer of the substrate to a heating unit becomes a preset time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coating and developing apparatus, and a coating and developing method, which perform a coating process of applying a resist liquid or the like to a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD substrate (glass substrate for liquid crystal display), and a developing process and the like on the substrate after exposure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique employed in a coating and developing apparatus to transfer a substrate after exposure from an interface block, intervening between the coating and developing apparatus and an exposure apparatus, to an area where a developing process is to be executed.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of fabrication processes for a semiconductor device or an LCD substrate is a sequence of processes of acquiring a desired pattern by forming a resist film on a substrate, exposing the resist film using a photomask, then performing a developing process. Such a sequence of processes is generally carried out by using a resist pattern forming apparatus that has a coating and developing apparatus which applies and dries a resist liquid and an exposure apparatus connected to the coating and developing apparatus. One example of such an apparatus is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2004-193597. The apparatus will be discussed below referring to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the apparatus, carriers C each retaining multiple wafers W are carried onto a carrier stage 11 of a carrier block 1A, and the wafers in the carrier C are transferred to a process block 1B by a transfer arm 12 (see FIG. 2). A sequence of processes for forming a resist film is executed by a coating unit 13A, etc. in the process block 1B, and then the wafers are transferred to an exposure apparatus 1D via an interface block 1C.
The wafers after exposure are returned to the process block 1B again to undergo a developing process in the developing unit 13B, after which the wafers are returned to the original carrier C. Referring to FIG. 1, reference numerals 14A to 14C denote shelf units each comprising a heating unit, a cooling unit, a transfer stage and so forth for performing a predetermined heating process and cooling process on wafers before and after the processing of the coating unit 13A and the processing of the developing unit 13B. The wafers W are transferred between modules in the process block 1B where the wafers W are to be placed, such as individual sections like the coating unit 13A, the developing unit 13B and the shelf units 14A to 14c, by two main transfer mechanisms 15A and 15B provided in the process block 1B. At the time wafers W are subjected to the processes, all the wafers W to be processed are transferred according to a transfer schedule that specifies at which timing each wafer is to be transferred to which module.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a transfer path of wafers W in this system. The transfer arm 12 serves to transfer an unprocessed wafer W in a carrier C, placed on the carrier stage 11, to a transfer unit (TRS1), and transfer a processed wafer W, undergone development and placed on a cooling unit (COL4), to the carrier C. The main transfer mechanisms 15A and 15B serve to transfer wafers W on the transfer unit (TRS1) to a hydrophobic process unit (ADH), a cooling unit (COL1), a coating unit (COT), a heating unit (PAB), and a transfer unit (TRS2) in that order, and further transfer wafers W, carried out of the interface block 1C and placed into the heating unit (PEB), to a cooling unit (COL3), a developing unit (DEV), a heating unit (POST), and a cooling unit (COL4) in that order.
The transfer means in the interface block 1C will be discussed below. A main transfer section 18A serves to transfer unexposed wafers W placed on the transfer unit (TRS2), to a periphery exposure apparatus (WEE), a buffer cassette (SBU), and a high-precision temperature regulating unit (COL2) in order, and transfer exposed wafers W, placed on a transfer unit (TRS3), to the heating unit (PEB) by means of an auxiliary transfer section 18B. The auxiliary transfer section 18B serves to transfer wafers W in the high-precision temperature regulating unit (COL2) to a carry-in stage 16 of the exposure apparatus 1D, and transfer wafers W on a carry-out stage 17 of the exposure apparatus 1D to the transfer unit (TRS3).
While parameters, such as the exposure time, the amount of exposure, and the heating temperature and heating time in the heating unit (PEB) which perform baking process on the wafer W after exposure (hereinafter referred to as post-exposure baking unit), are set beforehand in order to acquire the line widths of a target pattern, a preset time elapsed after exposure to the initiation of heating (post-exposure elapsing time) is considered in advance. When a pattern is miniaturized and chemically amplified resist is used, the length of the post-exposure elapsing time after exposure appears to influence the developing result. If the post-exposure elapsing time after exposure fluctuates between wafers, the uniformity of the line widths become low when the line widths of a pattern become smaller in the future, which may result in a lower yield.
To make the post-exposure elapsing time constant, therefore, the heating start point for wafers is adjusted in the post-exposure baking unit (PEB). This post-exposure baking unit (PEB) is provided with a cooling plate which also serves as an exclusive transfer arm movable between an area located horizontally off a heating plate and the heating plate, and adjusts the standby time on the cooling plate of the post-exposure baking unit (PEB) according to the statuses of the main transfer section 18A and the auxiliary transfer section 18B in the interface block 1C in consideration of the maximum time for transferring exposed wafers into the post-exposure baking unit (PEB) after being carried out of the carry-out stage 17 of the exposure apparatus 1D. That is, when the time from the point when exposed wafers are carried out to the carry-out stage 17 to the point when the wafers are transferred into the post-exposure baking unit (PEB) is long, the wafers are transferred directly to the heating plate from the cooling plate, whereas when the time is short, the wafers would stand by on the cooling plate for the time short to the set time.
When wafers stand by in the post-exposure baking unit (PEB), the wafer stay time from the carry-in of the wafers in the post-exposure baking unit (PEB) to the carry-out thereof becomes longer for the standby time is added to the time required for the heating process. While the throughput of the exposure apparatus is increasing, some scheme to improve the throughput is made on the developing apparatus side. When the throughput becomes higher, i.e., when the number of wafers to be processed per unit time in a pattern forming apparatus having a coating and developing apparatus connected to an exposure apparatus is increased, the number of heating units (PEB) provided becomes larger. Given that the number of wafers to be processed per hour in the pattern forming apparatus is 150, wafers are transferred at the interval of 24 seconds (3600 seconds/150).
If the time required for the heating process in the post-exposure baking unit (PEB) is 120 seconds (90 seconds for heating+12 seconds for cooling+18 seconds for transfer), for example, adding 4 seconds to that time as the standby time yields the wafer stay time of 124 seconds in the post-exposure baking unit (PEB). When the transfer cycle time of wafers is 24 seconds, the number of required heating units (PEB) would be 6 for 124 seconds÷24=5.17. However, the post-exposure baking unit (PEB) before the developing process incorporates the cooling plate which serves as an exclusive transfer arm, and is very expensive. An increase in the number of the heating units (PEB) therefore stands in the way of reducing the cost for the apparatus.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2001-77014 describes that the post-exposure elapsing time is adjusted on the transfer arm in the interface block. This scheme is not practically adaptable to an apparatus having a high throughput for the transfer performance of the transfer arm becomes lower.

Coating and developing apparatus and coating and developing method


A scroll compressor is provided that includes an oil recollecting pump to recollect oil discharged from a shell, thus to effectively recollect oil discharged out of the compressor, and a differential pressure hole formed at a position where it communicates with compression chambers after a suction completion timing, such that oil stored in an inner space of the shell can be supplied into the compression chambers using a pressure difference between a high-pressure inner space of the shell and a low-pressure compression chambers, resulting in allowing oil to be smoothly supplied to a compression unit even during low-speed driving of the compressor and preventing an occurrence of a suction loss due to oil.

A refrigerant compression type refrigeration cycle includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion apparatus and an evaporator which are connected by a refrigerant pipe of a closed curve, and a refrigerant compressed in the compressor then circulates sequentially via the condenser, the expansion apparatus and the evaporator.
The compressor requires a predetermined amount of oil for lubrication of a driving unit, sealing and cooling of a compression unit, and the like. Therefore, a predetermined amount of oil has to be stored in a shell of the compressor. However, such oil is partially discharged from the compressor in a mixed state with a refrigerant, and then circulates together with the refrigerant via the condenser, the expansion apparatus and the evaporator. Here, if an excessive amount of oil circulates in the refrigeration cycle or a large amount of oil remains in the refrigeration cycle without being recollected into the compressor, oil deficiency inside the compressor is caused. This may lower reliability of the compressor and the refrigeration cycle may have a lowered heat exchange performance.
In order to solve these problems, the applicant of this application has introduced a technology, in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0070335, filed on Jul. 18, 2008, titled "Hermetic compressor and refrigeration cycle apparatus having the same" that an oil separator is installed at a discharge side of the compressor, an oil pump is installed to recollect oil separated in the oil separator, and the oil separator and the oil pump are connected via an oil recollecting pipe. Accordingly, even if an inner space of the shell is filled with discharge pressure, the oil separated in the oil separator can be smoothly recollected. However, in the previously filed "compressor", the oil pump is installed at a lower end of a crankshaft, which causes a pumping force to be deficient during low-speed driving of the compressor, which might have a problem of lowering reliability of the compressor.
There has been introduced a technology using differential pressure as a solution for constantly maintaining an amount of pumped oil even during low-speed driving of the compressor. Patent Application Laid Open No. U.S. 2005/0220652, filed on Oct. 6, 2005, titled Compressor has introduced a technology in which a differential pressure generating hole is formed through an orbiting scroll to communicate an inner space of a shell as a high pressure part with a suction groove (more concretely, a thrust bearing surface between scrolls) as a low pressure part, such that oil can be pumped by an attractive force generated due to a pumping force of an oil pump and pressure difference, thereby allowing the oil to be smoothly pumped up even during low-speed driving of the compressor, which results in improved reliability of the compressor.
The oil pumping technology using the attractive force generated due to the pumping force of the oil pump and the pressure difference in the related art allows oil to be smoothly supplied into the compression unit even during the low-speed operation by virtue of high pressure difference between the inner space of the shell and the suction groove, thereby preventing compression loss or damage of the compressor due to oil deficiency.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Scroll compressor with differential pressure hole and communication hole


Media monitoring and measurement systems and methods are disclosed. Some embodiments of the present invention provide a media measurement system and method that utilizes audience data to enhance content identifications. Some embodiments analyze media player log data to enhance content identification. Other embodiments of the present invention analyze sample sequence data to enhance content identifications. Other embodiments analyze sequence data to enhance content identification and/or to establish channel identification. Yet other embodiments provide a system and method in which sample construction and selection parameters are adjusted based upon identification results. Yet other embodiments provide a method in which play-altering activity of an audience member is deduced from content offset values of identifications corresponding to captured samples. Yet other embodiments provide a monitoring and measurement system in which a media monitoring device is adapted to receive a wireless or non-wireless audio signal from a media player, the audio signal also being received wirelessly by headphones of a user of the monitoring device.

Traditional media measurement systems have focused on directly monitoring channels being utilized by audience members. However, as media consumption patterns have become more complex, channel-centric media measurement is inadequate for many purposes. It may be desirable to track usage of particular media content independent of channel. Furthermore, although "channel" identification in a traditional media measurement system may sometimes be limited to radio or television broadcast station, it is increasingly desirable to track usage of media across several types of media delivery vehicles including radio, television, CD, DVD, computer download, portable media players (e.g. MP3 players, iPod), and other vehicles. Furthermore, with respect to tracking consumption of advertisements, it may be inadequate to simply track channel tuning, because, for example, an audience member may mute a broadcast during commercial periods. Thus simply identifying a broadcast channel does not adequately track whether the audience member listened to a particular advertisement.
Some media measurement systems have used codes to "tag" and track particular content. However, such systems are limited in that they can only track content that has been properly encoded.
With the development of more robust content recognition technologies, some content recognition systems have recently been deployed which do not rely on codes. For example, Philips, Shazam Entertainment, and others have marketed systems for identifying songs played into a mobile phone. Although such systems can be efficiently deployed in the context of song recognition, deploying such systems in the context of media measurement systems poses particular challenges. Continuous searching against a large database of media content can be computationally intensive. Furthermore, such systems, while increasingly robust, still return some erroneous results, particularly in high-noise environments.
At the same time, the media measurement context provides opportunities to utilize data exogenous to a particular audio or video data sample. Such opportunities have thus far been insufficiently exploited for the purpose of efficiently applying existing content recognition technologies in the media measurement context. Thus, an improved media measurement system and method is needed.

Media usage monitoring and measurement system and method


A docking device for a hard disk has a protective box housing an electronic unit including a printed circuit card and a fan arranged in or in the vicinity of an opening formed in a first wall of the protective box. The box also has a location for a hard disk. The fan is arranged in the vicinity of an edge of the printed circuit card so that the air stream driven by said fan sweeps over both main faces of the printed circuit card. The guide is designed to guide at least a portion of the air stream driven by the fan directly to the location for a hard disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for docking a hard disk and to the electronic equipment fitted with such a device. Such equipment may for example be audiovisual equipment, such as a decoder or an optical reader for reading a DVD type disk, for connection to a TV set and including a data recording function, in particular for making TV or audiovisual recordings on a hard disk. The hard disk may be designed to be removable without dismantling the equipment.
2. Brief Summary of the Related Art
Generally, this type of device comprises a box that defines a housing in which a printed circuit card is arranged that has various electronic components mounted thereon. It is generally also on the card that the component(s) enabling the hard disk to be inserted are also mounted, in order to provide the appropriate electrical and electronic connections and in order to make extraction easy when the hard disk is designed to be removable. The box provides mechanical protection for all of these components and also gives the device a compact nature of attractive appearance.
At least some of the components contained in the box are liable to become hot in normal operation, and it is therefore appropriate to provide means for exchanging heat between the inside of the box and its external environment in order to cool them. Such heat exchange means may in particular be: ventilation openings formed in the walls of the box, possibly in association with forced ventilation means (fans); using a box having its walls made at least in part out of a metal-type material that conducts heat; or indeed using finned radiators.
The fact that devices of this type are liable to contain a hard disk adds an additional constraint in thermal terms, insofar as a hard disk also tends to become hot and it is necessary to keep it at an operating temperature that is generally lower than the operating temperature of the other electronic components, in particular the microprocessor. It is therefore necessary to have a cooling system that presents particularly good performance.
Unfortunately, the various above-mentioned technical solutions are not optimal.
It is not always desirable to make ventilation openings where they would be the most advantageous from a thermal point of view, e.g. in the top of the box, both for reasons of appearance and also to avoid dust collecting inside the box.
Similarly, the use of finned radiators is effective from a thermal point of view but not acceptable for the same reasons of appearance and of running the risk of collecting dust.
Finally, although fans can be used to force air convection inside the box, the way they are configured does not always lead to effective cooling of all of the components that might become hot, particularly those components that are farthest away from the fan. And in particular for reasons of bulk, it is not always possible to use the most powerful fans since they are generally much too large in size.


A wireless microwave interferer for destructing, disabling, or jamming a trigger of an improvised explosive device. The interferer includes a power source interface, a control and monitoring panel, a waveform generator, a modulated HV power supply, at least one microwave generator, a waveguide to co-ax transformer and combiner, one of an ellipsoidal antenna and a spiral antenna, and an antenna adjustment mechanism. The power source interface interfaces with a power source. The waveform generator is connected to the modulated HV power supply and to the control and monitoring panel. The control and monitoring panel is connected to the power source interface, the modulated HV power supply, and the antenna adjustment mechanism. The modulated HV power supply is connected to the at least one microwave generator. The at least one microwave generator is connected to the waveguide to co-ax transformer and combiner. The waveguide to co-ax transformer and combiner is connected to the one of the ellipsoidal antenna and the spiral antenna. The one of the ellipsoidal antenna and the spiral antenna is connected to the antenna adjustment mechanism.

A. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the present invention relate to an interferer for jamming a trigger of an explosive device, and more particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relate to a wireless microwave interferer for destructing, disabling, or jamming a trigger of an improvised explosive device.
B. Description of the Prior Art
All modern electronic products utilize printed circuit board ("PCB") technology of many different types to physically mount, and electrically connect, electronic components to form a functioning electronic system. The PCB is a flat insulator upon which are many printed lands, i.e., conductors that serve as wires, to interconnect all of the electronic components. Most lands have at least two ends, with the majority of them being electrically connected to pins of integrated circuits ("ICs") and other electronic components.
When the lands are exposed to microwave radiation, they act as antennas and convert the microwave radiation into microwave frequency AC currents that are introduced directly into the electronic components. As a result of diode rectification, DC voltages and pulses appear on the terminals and on the interiors of the semiconductor components of the ICs. In this circuitry, stray capacitances from filters result in an appearance of unwanted steady DC levels that alter their delicate and critical bias conditions, which is equivalent to connecting batteries of random voltages to the terminals of the electronic devices. The affected circuitry amplifies these DC levels resulting in their saturation and inability to function. The same applies to digital circuitry as well, because digital circuits are essentially high gain, high bandwidth analog circuits spending most of their lives in saturated on or off states. During the short times, i.e., transitions, when they change from one state to another, they operate as normal analog circuits and are just as sensitive to unwanted DC levels. An additional effect of introduction of extra DC pulses and levels, due to modulation of the jamming signals, to the inputs of the circuits is their failure to function as per their designed logic flow. For example, logic gates, such as AND, OR, XOR, and their inverses, control the operation of all digital functions of a digital system. If any of their inputs is compromised with additional unexpected logic levels or pulses, the circuits will execute their function in accordance with their logic design, resulting in illogical or chaotic operation. Also, today's digital processors operate at gigahertz speeds and can actually process individual cycles of microwave signals as pulses if they appear at their inputs or within them, thus causing the same chaotic operation.
Today's terrorists employ modern electronics to construct bombs of various types to attack troops, non-combatants, government officials, and the like for personal or political purposes. These weapons are extremely difficult to deal with because they are usually well hidden and are remotely or automatically activated. The terrorists have at their disposal a myriad of electronic devices designed for peaceful purposes, such as cell phones, wireless phones, remote-controlled toys, pagers, handy-talkies, remote-controlled garage door openers, digital clocks, wireless door bells, infra red/microwave motion detectors, and the like, which are easily modifiable into improvised bomb triggers.
Conventional radio jammers have shown considerable success against wireless-based devices, but are ineffective against non-wireless devices. Another serious disadvantage of these conventional jammers is that the operating frequencies of the improvised bomb triggers are unknown, thus requiring the jammers to transmit on the entire radio spectrum to guarantee coverage. Because the jammers necessarily spread their power across the radio spectrum, jamming power per channel is inherently low. High power transmitters are required to insure ample jamming power on every channel. Furthermore, conventional jammer signals travel over great distances and can jam friendly radio communications as well.
Thus, their exists a need for a new type of jammer:                That targets the semiconductor-based circuitry common in all modern electronic devices, regardless of their nature, such as wireless, infrared, analog and digital circuitry, and the like.        That utilizes microwave techniques.        That operates over a relatively short range of a few hundred feet.        That disables the functioning of all types or electronic circuits.        That does not interfere with untargeted friendly electronic devices.        Whose microwave signals are modulated to further enhance the jamming function.        That permanently damages/destroys targeted electronic devices by adjusting its beam pattern.        That explodes even the simplest, and most difficult to defeat, electrically wired fire bombs from a safe distance.
Numerous innovations for jammers have been provided in the prior art, which will be described below in chronological order to show advancement in the art, and which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention in that they do not teach a wireless microwave interferer for destructing, disabling, or jamming a trigger of an improvised explosive device.
(1) U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,753 to Janusas.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,753 issued to Janusas on Apr. 6, 1993 in class 342 and subclass 14 teaches a first-extended, interactive amplifier operating at a fixed frequency, while a second similar amplifier sweeps across a frequency range. The respective extended, interactive amplifiers produce individual signals that are fed through separate waveguides to corresponding horns of an antenna. The frequency separation of the produced frequencies is made to match a threat radar's IF channels. By setting the jamming signal frequencies well above the threat radar band, the mixers of the threat radar receiver generate grossly unbalanced angle error signals. This disturbs the capability of the threat from homing in on the jamming site. Thus, the resulting jamming signal provides excellent electronic countermeasures.(2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,572 to Janusas.U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,572 issued to Janusas on Jul. 7, 1998 in class 342 and subclass 13 teaches a device for damaging electronic equipment, which has a millimeter wave generator, such as a gyrotron oscillator, for producing very high power millimeter waves. A beam-former antenna forms the millimeter waves into narrow beams for distance transmission. An antenna coupled to the gyrotron directs narrow beams of the millimeter waves to selected targets, whereby the beams damage electronic equipment at the targets. The millimeter wave generator produces frequencies ranging from about 100 to 140 GHz at 20 millisecond megawatt pulses at 400 kilowatts CW.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for jammers have been provided in the prior art, which are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention as heretofore described, namely, a wireless microwave interferer for destructing, disabling, or jamming a trigger of an improvised explosive device.

Wireless microwave interferer for destructing, disabling, or jamming a trigger of an improvised explosive device


A method for controlling the operation of a pressure fluid operated percussion device and to a pressure fluid operated percussion device. The method includes influencing the shape of a stress wave by setting a suitable clearance between a transmission piston and a tool. The percussion device is provided with a device for setting the clearance between the transmission piston and the tool.

In prior art percussion devices strokes are generated by means of a reciprocating percussion piston, which is typically driven hydraulically or pneumatically and in some cases electrically or by means of a combustion engine. A stress wave is created in a tool, such as a drill rod, when the percussion piston strikes an impact end of either a shank or the tool.
A problem with prior art percussion devices is that the reciprocating motion of the percussion piston generates dynamic acceleration forces that make the equipment difficult to control. At the same time as the percussion piston accelerates in the striking direction, the body of the percussion device tends to move in the opposite direction, thereby decreasing the pressing force of the drill bit or the tool tip on the material to be treated. To maintain the pressing force of the drill bit or the tool against the material to be treated sufficiently high, the percussion device must be pushed towards the material with a sufficient force. This additional force must then be taken into account in the support structures of the percussion device, as well as elsewhere, which increases not only the size and mass of the equipment but also the manufacturing costs thereof. The mass of the percussion piston causes inertia that restricts the frequency of the reciprocating motion of the percussion piston and thereby its impact frequency, although the latter should be significantly raised from its current level in order to achieve a more efficient performance. However, with current solutions this leads to a considerable deterioration in operating efficiency, which is why it is not possible in practice. Further, in prior art percussion devices it is quite difficult to control the percussion power according to drilling conditions. Further still, prior art knows percussion devices in which the stress wave is generated by rapidly compressing the tool against the material to be broken, without delivering a stroke.


A coil component according to one or more embodiments includes a base body having first to sixth surfaces, and a coil conductor including a winding portion that extends around a coil axis intersecting the first and second surfaces. The winding portion includes first, second, third, and fourth portions facing the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth surfaces, respectively when viewed from a direction of the coil axis. The radii of curvature of the first and second portions are both smaller than the radii of curvature of the third and fourth portions. When viewed from the direction of the coil axis, the distance between the first portion and the third surface and the distance between the second portion and the fourth surface are both larger than the distance between the third portion and the fifth surface and the distance between the fourth portion and the sixth surface.

Various coil components are used in electronic devices. A conventional coil component typically includes a magnetic base body formed of a magnetic material, an external electrode provided on a surface of the magnetic base body, and a coil conductor extending around a coil axis in the magnetic base body.
One example of coil components is an inductor. An inductor is a passive element used in an electronic circuit. For example, an inductor eliminates noise in a power source line or a signal line. A conventional inductor is disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-101732.
Magnetic fluxes that are generated when current running through the coil conductor changes penetrating through a region between a winding portion and end and side surfaces of the base body. If the external dimensions of the base body are made small in order to reduce the whole size of such a conventional coil component, it is not possible to secure a sufficient area for the magnetic fluxes penetrating between the coil conductor in the base body and the surface of the base body, which may degrade the inductance. Whereas if the distance between the coil conductor and the surface of the base body is increased in a uniform manner in order to improve the inductance, the external dimensions of the base body is increased, which is not desirable.

Coil component, circuit board, and electronic device


Methods for monitoring and controlling process variables of interest during the substrate manufacturing process is provided. Numerical estimates for selected attributes of a feature of interest may be analyzed and applied in a numerical estimator to estimate the process variable of interest for a given product process run. The resulting estimations may be used to provide feedback control data for error correction on subsequent product substrate.

Lithography has a variety of useful applications, including the manufacture of semiconductor devices, flat-panel displays, disk heads and the like. Designers and semiconductor device manufacturers constantly strive to develop smaller devices from, for example, semiconductor wafers, recognizing that circuits with smaller features generally produce greater speeds and increased yield. However, with smaller devices, it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet required critical dimension (CD) tolerances. Minor variations in various process parameters of the lithography exposure equipment (e.g. scanners/steppers), may cause the feature CDs to fall outside acceptable tolerance (e.g. +/−8%−10%).
The quality of the image pattern and feature CD may be affected by process variables, such as exposure dose and focus. Variations of dose can occur and may be caused by variations in the resist sensitivity, resist thickness, bake temperature and delay, anti-reflection coating and substrate films' thickness and optical constants. Variations of focus can occur and may be caused by, for example, variations in the substrate topography, substrate and mask/reticle chucking or flatness, errors of lithography system's auto-focus system, imperfections of focus servo control loop and interactions with product/layer stepping and focusing sequence, as well as focus drift. Variations in these process parameters can also result in errors of pattern placement manifested as feature-/layout-dependent layer-to-layer overlay (O/L) variations. As the feature CD gets smaller for smaller devices, the need for reduction of such errors increases. Imaged patterns require effective process monitoring to determine if the lithography process is within an acceptable tolerance range. Adjustments to dose and focus, for example, may need to be made to keep feature size and placement within acceptable tolerances.
CD and O/L are periodically checked to assure product quality, sometimes as infrequent as weekly, which leaves many semiconductor devices being processed to be at risk before errors are detected and corrections/adjustments are made. CD-related process monitoring may be done in a variety of ways, including, for example, using test substrates or test features, as well as patterns produced on production substrates. CD is typically measured using a critical dimension scanning electron microscope (CD-SEM). However, CD is a complex function of both dose and focus. It is difficult to establish based on CD alone, if CD variation is due to dose or focus having moved from its respective set point. Furthermore, since the lithography process is routinely optimized to result in the least possible CD variation through the process (dose and focus) window, such observable CD variations are very small, rendering conventional lithography process monitoring with CD-SEM both ineffective and inefficient.
Other CD-related process monitoring approaches include, but are not limited to scatterometry techniques (ellipsometry, variable angle, reflection) using complex look-up libraries, and optical CD techniques utilizing optical metrology tools and dual tone arrays to indirectly measure the critical dimensions using line-end shortening techniques.

Process variable of interest monitoring and control


A method of manufacturing an absorbent article includes forming a pair of side flap-folded sections by folding a continuous sheet such that end sections in a width direction of the continuous sheet are folded inwardly in the width direction, while the continuous sheet is being transported in a continuous direction of the continuous sheet, producing a flap segment by segmenting the continuous sheet at a predetermined pitch in the continuous direction, joining the flap segment to a continuous body of absorbent main bodies in an overlapped manner, while the continuous body of absorbent main bodies is being transported in a transport direction corresponding to a continuous direction of the continuous body, and dividing the flap segment into a section having the pair of first side flaps and a section having the pair of second side flaps by segmenting the continuous body of absorbent main bodies.

A disposable diaper is known as an absorbent article that absorbs excretory fluid. One type of such an absorbent article is a so-called open type diaper. The opentype diaper includes an absorbent main body that is placed against a wearer's crotch where each end section of the absorbent main body in a longitudinal direction is provided with a pair of left and right side flaps that are formed to protrude in a width direction. In the use of such a diaper, the diaper is put on a wearer by pulling the diaper to the left and right in the width direction with the left and right side flaps.
Patent literatures 1 and 2 disclose a method of manufacturing such an open type diaper. In other words, there is a description that respective side flaps at the left and right in the width direction are cutout as mutually separate members and each side flap is individually joined to each of the left and right side section (each end section in the width direction) of a continuous body of absorbent main bodies that continues in a transport direction.

Apparatus and method of manufacturing an absorbent article


An exemplary embodiment is a method and system for performing an automated independent technical review. The method includes receiving an assay result of a radioactive waste container, determining whether the assay result is within a predetermined parameter, determining whether a review is required if the assay result is not within the predetermined parameter and rejecting the assay result if the review is not required and the assay result is not within the predetermined parameter.

The management of hazardous waste materials, including radioactive waste, is important to maintaining the environment. Radioactive waste can be defined as any material that contains or is contaminated by radionuclides at concentrations or radioactivity levels greater than a particular level set by the government. This level set by the government is based on a determination of what constitutes an unacceptable level of risk to the environment. In addition, radioactive waste is material that has no foreseen future usefulness. Waste disposal refers to placing the radioactive waste in approved radioactive waste containers, at approved sites, without the intention of retrieval. Making sure that the radioactive waste containers are secure raises special concerns because some nuclear waste materials retain high levels of radioactivity for thousands of years.
There are numerous tools that can be used to monitor the radioactive content of waste being disposed of in the radioactive waste containers. For example, counters are used to measure the radiation of the contents of a radioactive waste container and various other parameters. Typically, the contents are checked to ensure that they meet various regulatory limits as set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Another type of check that is done on the counter data is a verification that the testing performed by the counter reflects the actual contents of the radioactive waste container. Both of these types of checks are currently performed manually and are prone to human error. In addition, because of the manual nature of the checking, the process takes a relatively long time and this makes it difficult to process and interpret large volumes of data in a timely fashion.

Method, system and storage medium for automated independent technical review


The coffee machine (1) comprises a modular frame comprising a primary module (2) and structurally independent secondary modules (3, 4) rigidly connected with the primary module (2), primary components assembled in the primary module (2), and an aesthetic casing (5) for covering the modular frame, the secondary modules (3, 4) comprising at least one base secondary module (3) and at least one lateral secondary module (4), respectively, cooperating with the primary module (2) to define the height and the overall width, respectively, of the coffee machine (1).

At present, coffee machines are assembled on an assembly line starting from an internal frame in which all the components needed for its operation are installed.
Every type of coffee machine and model has its own dedicated frame.
It is thus necessary to have a large number of dedicated components in stock for every machine type and model.
This inevitably complicates logistics as concerns supplying and storing the components to be assembled, as well as the assembly line and process, and thus production costs.
Upon completion of the assembly process, a sample of each machine type and model must be tested and this too can contribute to prolonging the time to market, thus leading to a loss in productivity and competiveness.

Coffee machine with a modular frame and relative assembly method


A reference voltage generator circuit is provided which is capable of stable generation of a reference voltage. A differential amplifier circuit has a non-inverting input terminal input with the voltage Vbe1 generated by a PNP transistor Q1 and an inverting input terminal input with an output signal thereof. A differential amplifier circuit has a non-inverting input terminal input with the voltage Vbe2 generated by a PNP transistor Q2 and an inverting input terminal input with the output signal of the differential amplifier circuit through a resistor R1 and also input with an output signal thereof through a resistor R2, to generate a reference voltage Vref.

1. Field
The embodiment relates to reference voltage generator circuits, and more particularly, to a reference voltage generator circuit using a pair of PN junction devices with different current densities to generate a temperature-independent reference voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a result of the recent tendency toward further reduction in size and increased portability of various systems, there has been a demand for reference voltage generator circuits capable of supplying a low, stable reference voltage to semiconductor integrated circuits. Such reference voltage generator circuits are needed especially for semiconductor integrated circuits used in IC (Integrated Circuit) cards or ID (Identification) chips which are generally not equipped with a power supply. Semiconductor integrated circuits used in these applications derive electric power from the energy of radio waves irradiated for the purpose of access and operate with a reference voltage generated from the derived power. Accordingly, if a low, stable reference voltage can be generated, then it is possible to attain a wider communicable range.
Typical reference voltage generator circuits popular in recent years utilize the energy band-gap of silicon PN junction and are referred to also as band-gap reference circuits.
The following describe exemplary reference voltage generator circuits disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-35827 (paragraph nos. [0041] to and [0099] to [0118], FIGS. 1 and 2), by way of example.
FIGS. 7 and 8 are circuit diagrams each exemplifying a conventional reference voltage generator circuit.
The conventional reference voltage generator circuit shown in FIG. 7 includes two PNP bipolar transistors (hereinafter referred to merely as PNP transistors) Q10 and Q11 of which the collectors are connected to their respective bases (diode connection) and which have respective different current densities, resistors R10, R11 and R12, a differential amplifier circuit 11, and a start-up circuit 12. Each of the PNP transistors Q10 and Q11 has its collector and base connected to a ground terminal GND. The emitter of the PNP transistor Q10 is connected to the series-connected resistors R10 and R11, and the emitter of the PNP transistor Q11 is connected to the resistor R12. The other end of the resistor R11 is connected to the other end of the resistor R12. The resistors R11 and R12 have the same resistance value. The differential amplifier circuit 11 has an inverting input terminal (−) connected to the node between the resistors R10 and R11 and has a non-inverting input terminal (+) connected to the node between the resistor R12 and the emitter of the PNP transistor Q11. The output terminal of the differential amplifier circuit 11 is connected to the respective other ends of the resistors R11 and R12. The start-up circuit 12 is connected between the output terminal and non-inverting input terminal of the differential amplifier circuit 11.
In the reference voltage generator circuit configured as described above, feedback control is performed so as to make the potentials of the inverting and non-inverting input terminals of the differential amplifier circuit 11 equal to each other, thereby canceling out the temperature dependences (about −2.0 mV per ° C.) of the base-emitter voltages Vbe3 and Vbe4 of the PNP transistors Q10 and Q11 to allow a temperature-independent, stable reference voltage of about 1.25 V to be output from a terminal 13. Also, the reference voltage generator circuit is started by the start-up circuit 12 so as to prevent the input and output voltages of the differential amplifier circuit 11 from being fixed at 0 V due to the feedback control.
On the other hand, the conventional reference voltage generator circuit shown in FIG. 8 includes p-channel MOS (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) field-effect transistors (hereinafter referred to as PMOS transistors) MP50, MP51 and MP52, n-channel MOS field-effect transistors (hereinafter referred to as NMOS transistors) MN50 and MN51, three PNP transistors Q12, Q13 and Q14 of which the collectors are connected to their respective bases, resistors R13 and R14, and a start-up circuit 14.
The PMOS transistors MP50, MP51 and MP52 have a common gate connected to the drain of the PMOS transistor MP51 and a common source connected to a power supply line Vdd. The drain of the PMOS transistor MP50 is connected to the drain of the NMOS transistor MN50, and the drain of the PMOS transistor MP51 is connected to the drain of the NMOS transistor MN51. The NMOS transistors MN50 and MN51 have a common gate connected to the drain of the NMOS transistor MN50. The source of the NMOS transistor MN50 is connected to the emitter of the PNP transistor Q12, and the source of the NMOS transistor MN51 is connected through the resistor R13 to the emitter of the PNP transistor Q13. The drain of the PMOS transistor MP52 is connected through the resistor R14 to the emitter of the PNP transistor Q14. Each of the PNP transistors Q12, Q13 and Q14 has its collector and base connected to a ground terminal GND. The start-up circuit 14 is connected between the common source of the PMOS transistors MP50, MP51 and MP52 and the drain of the PMOS transistor MP52. A reference voltage output terminal 15 is connected to the drain of the PMOS transistor MP52.
The PMOS transistors MP50, MP51 and MP52 are of the same size and constitute a current mirror circuit, and by virtue of a constant current flowing to the resistor R14 and the PNP transistor Q14, a stable reference voltage of about 1.25 V can be output from the terminal 15. In this reference voltage generator circuit, the PMOS transistors MP50 and MP51 are respectively connected in series with the NMOS transistors MN50 and MN51, thereby suppressing dependence on the supply voltage and enabling the supply of a highly accurate constant current. Also, the reference voltage generator circuit is started by the start-up circuit 14 so as to prevent the output voltage from being fixed at a stable point other than the reference voltage.
Meanwhile, a bias circuit for use in a reference voltage generator circuit and capable of lessening the supply voltage dependence is disclosed, for example, in Examined Japanese Patent Publication No. H07-27424 (FIGS. 1 and 3).


A CO gas sensor is equipped with a detecting unit in which a solid electrolyte membrane is held between a detection electrode and a counter electrode, and a voltage applying unit which applies voltage between the detection electrode and the counter electrode and changes the voltage. The detection electrode includes an electrochemically active first catalyst in an electrically conductive porous body, a reaction layer having a density of 1 ng/cm2-100 xcexcg/cm2 and having a thickness of 0.3 nm-15 xcexcm, and the counter electrode includes an electrochemically active second catalyst carried on an electrically conductive porous body.

The present invention relates to a CO gas sensor. The CO gas sensor of the present invention is suitable for detecting the concentration of a tiny amount of CO gas in an atmosphere rich in hydrogen gas and is suitably used in a fuel cell which employs a methanol-reforming gas as a fuel gas.
A novel gas sensor disclosed in the International Publication No. WO97/40371. The principle of the pulse method used in this gas sensor will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1-3. As shown in FIG. 1, this CO gas sensor has an electrolyte membrane 3 between a detection electrode 1 and a counter electrode 2. Positive voltage is applied to the detection electrode 1 by a sensor controlling unit 5. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 2, when voltage applied to the detection electrode is varied from relatively high CO oxidation potential to relatively low CO adsorption potential, a transient current (response current) flows as shown in the lower part of the same figure. This response current decreases with an increase in concentration of CO in a test gas. Then, the concentration of CO can be determined by reference to a calibration curve for the relationship between the rate of decrease of current and the CO concentration and comparing the measured rate of decrease in current with the calibration curve as shown in FIG. 3.
The present inventors have noted the following problems in the above gas sensor:
When the response current flowing between a detection electrode and a counter electrode is large, the performance of the sensor is reduced.
The sensitivity to CO gas is in need of improvement.
Insensitivity to environmental factors such as temperature and humidity is desirable; that is, a CO sensor which can measure over a wide temperature range and humidity range is needed.
A reference electrode has been used in the prior art CO sensor. However, from the viewpoint of miniaturization and weight reduction by decrease in the number of parts and, therefore, reduction in the manufacturing cost, it is desirable to omit this reference electrode.
In order to solve one or more of the aforementioned problems, the present invention provides a CO gas sensor including a detecting unit in which a solid electrolyte membrane is held between a detection electrode and a counter electrode and a voltage source which applies voltage between the detection electrode and the counter electrode and which varies the voltage. The detection electrode includes a first electrochemically active catalyst carried on an electrically conductive porous body and a reaction layer formed thereon having a density of 1 ng/cm2-100 xcexcg/cm2 and a thickness of 0.3 nm-15 xcexcm. The counter electrode includes a second electrochemically active catalyst carried on an electrically conducive porous body. In the CO gas sensor thus constructed, the current flowing between the detection electrode and the counter electrode can be minimized. Accordingly, elevated temperature in the sensor and drying of the electrolyte membrane can be prevented, leading to a long life for the sensor. Since the current can be small, the sensitivity to CO gas is improved.
In addition, the temperature range and humidity range over which the CO gas sensor can be effectively operated are widened.
Further, stable measurement of CO gas becomes possible even without a reference electrode.


A loading device for a disk driver includes a transporting unit and a guide unit. The transporting unit includes one roller or two rollers, and the guide unit includes two symmetric or asymmetric cones. When loading a disc, two sides of the disc are individually supported on two cones of the guide unit. Two cones have different cone angles, equal cone angles but unequal lengths, or the same shape but different rotation velocities. The guide unit utilizes different arc speeds on two ends to obliquely convey the disc with any guide rails. The loading device reduces the cost of production and prevents the disc from generating collision and noisy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive, and more particularly to a loading device which obliquely loads or unloads the optical disk drive with a disc to reduce noise caused by the collision between the disc and guide rails.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the coming of digital multimedia life, notebook computers have widely been used. Some outfits, such as USB bus, IEEE1394 bus, PCI bus, IDE ATA/ATAPI interface, wireless network card, flash memory, and an optical disk drive, are necessary for the notebook computer. Currently, there are various kinds of optical storage media, such as CD (compact disc), VCD (video compact disc), and DVD (digital video disc). Those optical storage media all are the mainstream of the consumer market. The optical disk drive in the computer or player is used to read/write data on those optical storage media.
In general, an optical disk drive can be divided into two types of the disc loading device: one is a tray type and the other is a slot-in type. The tray type utilizes a tray to carry a disc into or out of the optical disk drive. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 concerning U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,602, the slot-in type utilizes a roller 91 to convey a disc 70 into or out of the entrance 90 of the optical disk drive. The roller 91 of the prior optical disk drive respectively forms cones 92 a and 92 b with equal angles θa and θb at each end. When the disc 70 is conveyed by the roller 91 into or out of the optical disk drive, the roller 91 supports the disc 70 at two sides which tend to keep equal distance from the center of the roller 91. Therefore, the disc 70 is basically conveyed into or out of the optical disk drive along the center of the roller 91. However, the roller 91 isn't located at the central line of the optical disk drive due to the limitation of room. So guide rails 80, 81are used to obliquely lead the disc 70, which is inserted into the center of the entrance 90, to the center of the roller 91, and then the disc 70 is transported by the roller 91 to the predetermined position 100. Consequently, the disc 70 certainly collides with guide rails 80, 81 during loading process not only to generate collision noisy, but also to damage the disc 70.


The type of a blood specimen is determined by adding a portion thereof, either a diluted solution of its red cells or a portion of its plasma, to each of a multiplicity of wells in a transparent tray, by adding a blood type specific reagent to each of the wells in the tray, different reagents being added to different ones of the wells of the tray, periodically tilting the tray at a substantial angle of at least approximately 50.degree. to opposite sides of a horizontal position to enhance any agglutination reaction which may be developing within any of the wells of the tray as a result of a match between the reagent and a blood type characteristic antigen or antibody in the portion of the blood specimen, and sensing each of the wells of the tray for the presence of an agglutinate therein by directing a light source through the wells, preferably from below the tray, a well with an agglutinate therein allowing more light from the light source to pass through the center thereof than a well without such an agglutinate therein. The agglutination enhancement technique of such blood specimen typing method is also applicable to other blood testing methods which rely on an agglutination reaction.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to a method of forming agglutinates in blood samples to permit diagnostic test procedures to be performed on such blood samples. This invention also relates to a non-centrifugal method of typing samples of blood based on the formation of agglutinates in certain of the samples and the determination if agglutinates are present or absent in the samples.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Blood typing is a form of testing which must be performed by blood banks on all donated blood to ensure that each recipient of blood will be provided with blood that is compatible with the recipient's own blood type. The blood typing reactions which must be performed on donated blood include reactions for the various blood types within the ABO System, and reactions for the various blood types within the Rh System, Systems which are described, respectively, in Chapters 8 and 9 of the Technical Manual of the American Association of Blood Banks, Ninth Edition (1985).
While manual techniques for blood typing are known, including a technique in which reactants are combined on a glass slide or a porcelain tile and are rocked back and forth by hand, or are combined on a heated apparatus frequently referred to as an Rh view box, it is also known hat it is desirable to mechanize blood typing whenever and to the maximum feasible extent, including ABO and Rh typing, as is explained in a publication entitled "Automation of Red Cell Testing" by Sandra S. Ellisor, which appears as Chapter 4 in a publication entitled "Selection of Methods and Instruments For Blood Banks," American Association of Blood Banks (1987). However, as is pointed out in this publication, the mechanical systems for red cell testing which were studied by the author were quite expensive, many involving the need for centrifugation of samples during typing. More information regarding the state of the art in the mechanization of blood typing by blood banks is contained in an article entitled "Automation in Immunohematology" by Steven D. Sosler, which appeared in the December 1985 edition of "Laboratory Medicine." Moreover, and while not set forth in any of the foregoing references, it is known that mechanized blood typing techniques lack sensitivity in typing Rh negative samples, a factor which usually requires manual re-testing of Rh negative samples, which represents approximately 15% of the United States population, and usually with the washing of the tray and the use of secondary reagents, to differentiate Du positive samples from Du negative samples.

Method of forming agglutinates in blood samples