A method of dispensing a single ligament of fluid includes ejecting a first quantity of fluid from an inkjet dispenser toward a substrate, and ejecting a second quantity of fluid from the inkjet dispenser toward the substrate, wherein the second quantity of fluid is ejected from the inkjet dispenser at a frequency sufficient that the second quantity of fluid catches the first quantity of fluid thereby forming a single ligament of fluid prior to contacting the substrate.

Inkjet technologies are used for material deposition in a number of applications including text and graphic printing, solid freeform fabrication, and creating electronic devices. When used to form a desired image, traditional inkjet dispensers eject discrete droplets of fluid onto a print media at designated locations. The locations for the discrete droplets are chosen such that the droplets will approximate a continuous line. However, high precision print images and line approximations are often difficult to achieve because as a series of discrete droplets arrive at a print media location, contact with the print media may cause jagged edges and gaps. Moreover, misguided satellite droplets may wander out of a desired target area further decreasing the precision of the resulting image.
Similarly, solid freeform fabrication methods may incorporate inkjet technology to eject discrete droplets of build and/or support material in a desired pattern or orientation to form a desired three-dimensional object. These solid freeform fabrication methods and any other application of inkjet dispensing that relies on the dispensing of discrete droplets to approximate a continuous line have also suffered from a lack of continuity or smoothness due to the characteristics of dispensing discrete droplets of fluid in designated locations.
One traditional method used to smooth edges when selectively depositing a fluid with an inkjet dispenser is to increase the resolution of the dispenser. By increasing the number of discrete droplets that may be dispensed per square inch (dpi), more precision and subsequently smoother edges of a dispensed object may be achieved. However, in order to increase the droplets per square inch produced by a dispenser, a higher frequency of droplet emission and/or a longer dispensing duration is required.
Alternatively, the rough edges of two-dimensional lines or images have traditionally been smoothed through the insertion of additional smaller droplets into the voids that are created along the edges of deposited fluid. While this method is somewhat effective in smoothing the edges of lines or images, in order to form both the images being created as well as deposit smaller droplets, either a method of operating an inkjet fluid deposition apparatus to deliver multiple sized droplets of fluid must be developed or separate jets dedicated to various fluid droplet sizes must be added thereby increasing the cost, sometimes prohibitively so, of the fluid dispensing device.

Method and a system for single ligament fluid dispensing

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


There is disclosed a microchip reactor capable of being used in research on reaction kinetics. With this microchip reactor, the time (reaction time) elapsed until a measurement is made since mixing of two liquids is variable. The microchip reactor comprises a base portion and a movable portion which have sliding contact surfaces that are in contact with each other. The base portion and movable portion have their respective downstream flow channel portions which meet at an intersection. Different reagents are introduced at the intersection, mixed, and reacted. An opening is formed in the movable portion. A slot is formed in the base portion. The major axis of the slot is in the direction of sliding motion of the movable portion. The position of the intersection where the reagents are mixed is determined by the intersection of the opening and the slot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microchip reactor for use in an analytical instrument and, more particularly, to a microchip reactor capable of performing reaction kinetics analysis.
2. Description of Related Art
Technology for mixing and reacting plural substances in a very narrow space is known as microchip technology or microreactor technology. It is expected that this technology will be put into practical use in order to increase the speed of chemical reactions or to enhance the efficiencies of the reactions.
Microchip reactors having microchannels therein used for chemical reactions are often made of glass to have sufficient chemical resistance. However, it is difficult to connect a tube for directly introducing a synthesis reagent into a microchannel of a microchip made of glass. Thus, it is customary that the microchip is held by a holder and then the tube is connected with the holder by a connector.
O-rings are often used to prevent liquid leakage. Substances dissolving out of rubber products and dead volumes often present problems. In one method, an O-ring is bonded to the glass surface with adhesive. However, depending on the used solvent, the adhesive may dissolve out and other problems may take place. Furthermore, a threaded structure used in connecting a tube employed in a liquid chromatograph can be made of glass. Unfortunately, sophisticated skill is necessary to machine the threaded structure of glass, increasing the cost.
In addition, depending on the kind of synthesis reaction, a reagent solution having a high viscosity may be used. After the solution is introduced, the flow passage may be clogged up by the solution. Especially, the passage portions close to the connector tend to be clogged up.
With respect to microchip reactors used for chemical synthesis, some commercial products have been already sold by some manufacturers. The products are chiefly made of glass. A commercially available microchip for the mixing of two reagents is shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C. The microchip made of glass is composed of two plates. A microchannel is formed in one of the plates (see FIG. 1A). A liquid inlet port and a liquid exit port are formed in the other. The two plates are bonded together by thermocompression.
The microchip is held to a holder (see FIG. 1B). Tubes for introduction of reagents are connected using connectors (see FIG. 1C). The tubes are connected with syringe pumps. Reagent solutions are introduced into the microchip by the syringe pumps. The introduced solutions are made to meet in the Y-shaped portion of the flow channel and are mixed together. The solutions are reacted in the downstream tube portion. Thus, reaction products are synthesized.
A well-known method of detecting reaction products on-line is to use a thermal lens microscope. Where a measurement is made using a mass spectrometer (MS) or a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR) to perform structural analysis of reaction products, the reaction products must be captured at the exit of the microchip. Then, the sample must be introduced into the MS or NMR off-line.
Today, research is being carried out vigorously in an attempt to realize an on-line connection between a microchip or microreactor to which various functions are added and an MS or NMR having excellent qualitative analysis capabilities. The one-line connection is used for analysis. There are the following examples of reports about research.
(1) Microchip-NMR
As shown in FIG. 2, a circular liquid reservoir is formed on a flow channel in a microchip. A microcoil is placed close to the reservoir. A trace amount of sample is measured. This research is found in a report at monographic level. Microcoils and microprobes dedicated for microchips are at the research level. There is almost no application to synthesis.
(2) Flow NMR
Reaction reagents are mixed and reacted using a static mixer or the like. The reaction liquid is introduced to a flow NMR probe via a line, and NMR measurements are performed. This research is at a practical level. The flow NMR probe is necessary for the measurements. The long distance from the reaction portion to the portion inside the NMR magnet irradiated with an RF magnetic field is a disadvantage.
(3) Microchip-MS
As shown in FIG. 3, when a microchip is fabricated, a nanoelectrospray nozzle is integrated with the microchip. Mass analysis is enabled by applying a high voltage to the nozzle. This technique finds wider applications in biochemical applications than in synthesis chemistry.


Parking and automatic handling equipment of drilling rods (10) includes a carousel (20) of containers (30) of drilling rods (40); and a rod handling system (100), positioned on a drilling machine. A handling arm (101) transfers the drilling rods (40) out of the carousel (20). The carousel (20) defines a closed path around which are arranged the containers (30) of drilling rods (40); the carousel (20) includes an internal structure (22) for supporting the containers (30) movable on a closed path.

The present invention relates to the field of handling equipment of rods and additional devices for the ground drilling; in details, the present invention relates to a parking and automatic handling equipment of drilling rods. The present invention relates also to a drilling machine associated to the above mentioned equipment.
It is known that parking and drilling rods handling equipments are known from the patent EP1158136, which shows a solution wherein a storage of drilling rods comprises containers radially positioned along a circumference arch or semicircle.
However, from the EP1158136 arises some drawbacks.
First of all, the number of rod containers and their storage capacity is limited by the semicircular arrangement; as a matter of fact in this case each sector of containers is arranged in radial direction and all the transversal axis of the containers themselves pass by the rotation centre of the automatic handling arm; for this reason, if the number of the drilling rods stored in the storage is to be increased, the semicircle has to be enlarged.
However, the enlargement of the semicircle is not at all manageable at will; as a matter of fact, with the enlargement of the semicircle, it is also necessary to increase the horizontal excursion of the arm of the handling arm which draws and positions the drilling rods in the containers; the limit is given by the fact that it is reached a determined length of the arm wherein, for reaching the rods in the rod container of the storage, once completely retracted, the arm would hit the container positioned in the diametrically opposed direction.
Is also known, from the patent application U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,898, a multiple lift hoist system for a drilling vessel and use on land. Said system comprises a mast with a top side and a base connected to a drilling vessel, a first and second hoisting device at the top side of the mast; a lift system with a first hoisting device located in a first firing line that manipulates a first drill string and a second hoisting device located in a second firing line that manipulates; a second drill string both hoisting devices move the strings in the longitudinal direction of the mast, and a plurality of cables and winches disposed in the hollow construction to manipulate the position of the first and second hoisting devices relative to the mast so the first and second firing lines are accessible from the outside of the mast.
Secondly, the arrangement for the containers in front of the drilling machine requires that there is free space in front of the well within which the drilling rods are inserted; this arrangement is not possible if the equipment is susceptible of operating on aligned wells (the so-called cluster wells), that is close the one with respect to the other.

Parking and automatic handling equipment of drilling rods and associated drilling machine


There is disclosed a solder paste screen printing apparatus and a solder paste screen printing method, in which a force of pressing of a squeegee can be adjusted delicately and accurately so as to effect the printing of solder paste with the optimum pressing force. A squeegee is connected to a lower end of a rod of a cylinder, and a load cell is provided above the rod. A first pressure and a second pressure are applied respectively to an upper chamber and a lower chamber of the cylinder. A load, applied to the load cell, is measured while varying the level of the first pressure, and the pressure measurement for the pressing force is effected in accordance with the measured load. In accordance with this result, the instruction pressure for the cylinder, which is necessary for obtaining the optimum pressing force, is determined, and then the printing of solder paste onto a substrate is started with this instruction pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solder paste screen printing apparatus and a solder paste screen printing method for coating solder paste, used to solder electronic parts, onto a workpiece such as a substrate, a chip and a wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a screen printing apparatus for coating solder paste, used to solder electronic parts, on a workpiece such as a substrate, a screen mask is superposed on the substrate, and in this condition a squeegee is slid over the screen mask, so that the solder paste is coated onto electrodes on the substrate through pattern holes formed through the screen mask.
If the force of pressing of a lower end of the squeegee against the upper surface of the substrate is small, the solder paste is not completely filled in the pattern holes, so that the printing becomes defective. In contrast, if the pressing force is too large, the solder paste flows to the lower surface of the screen mask, thereby causing the bleeding, so that the defective printing is encountered. The finer the pitch of the electrodes becomes, the more serious this bleeding problem becomes. In view of these, the squeegee-pressing force must be adjusted to the optimum value.
Under the circumstances, there has been proposed a method of enabling the delicate adjustment of the pressing force (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 7-164615). In this method, a compression torsion coil spring imparts a spring force acting in a direction to float a squeegee, thereby reducing the force of pressing of the squeegee against a screen mask, so that the required pressing force can be imparted by a cylinder. Therefore, in this method, particularly with respect to electrodes of a fine pitch on the substrate, the pressing force is reduced to a level less than the weight of the squeegee, so that solder paste can advantageously be printed onto the electrodes with a very small pressing force without bleeding.
In the above conventional method, however, the solder paste must be repeatedly coated for trial purposes in order to adjust the spring force of the compression torsion coil spring, and therefore there has been encountered problems that much time and labor are required for the preparations, and that the differences (or variations) between the individual operators are liable to occur.
And besides, the substrate has a warp and undulations, and therefore the squeegee, when slid, moves up and down in accordance with these warp and undulations, and as a result the spring force or the spring constant of the compression torsion coil spring varies in accordance with this upward and downward movement, and the pressing force also varies, so that the printing is liable to become defective.
Furthermore, since it is difficult to measure the pressing force during the time when the squeegee is slid over the screen to effect the printing operation, it is not possible to know the degree of the pressing force with which the printing is actually effected, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the delicate adjustment of the pressing force is difficult.

Solder paste screen printing apparatus and solder paste screen printing method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention provides a colour standard, assembled from a graphic digital input file, in which one or a combination of CMYK, RGB, Lab or spot colour builds are contained. The colour standard comprises a colour target calibration strip which is indicative of the calibration status of a printing press; an output image which is indicative of the digital input file; and a grid chart of spot colour builds, built-in process inks, with their respective process build values available for each spot colour in the digital input file. The colour standard is configured to capture the calibrated state of the press for a particular digital input file in order to achieve a particular colour-managed output image, so that product print runs of the output image can be repeated accurately and consistently over time.

At the outset it is critical to understand that colour and visual verification of colour accuracy are essential features of the present invention. It is therefore of paramount importance that the specification and accompanying colour figures are interpreted against this background.
In the printing industry, colour printing is the reproduction of an image or text in colour. The human eye is particularly responsive to Red, Green and Blue light in additive colour models (RGB as an example) and Cyan, Magenta and Yellow (the opposite colours to RGB) in subtractive colour models (CMYK as an example). While there are many techniques for reproducing images in colour, specific graphic processes and industrial equipment are used for mass reproduction of colour images on a substrate. In this sense, colour printing involves reproduction techniques suited for printing presses capable of thousands or millions of impressions for publishing newspapers and magazines, brochures, cards, posters and mass-market items where printing is done directly onto a packaging substrate. In this type of industrial or commercial printing, four inks are commonly used, namely Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black), abbreviated as "CMYK". These inks are transparent and where two or more such inks overlap on a substrate due to sequential printing impressions, additional colours are perceived. Tonal variation, where different percentages of each ink can be defined, further adds to the perceived colour gamut. Printing in CMYK is commonly referred to as printing with process inks (i.e. four colour process). This is thus a fixed number of inks interacting with each other and utilising tone variation to produce a colour gamut of perceived colours. This colour gamut can be enlarged by adding additional inks (extended colour gamut), such as orange and/or green and/or violet and/or red and/or blue. Both four colour process and extended colour gamut printing are referred to in this document as "process printing". The inks used in process printing are referred to as "process inks". A process ink may also be referred to as an ink "channel".
Colour printing can also involve as few as one colour ink, or multiple colour inks which are not process inks. Using a limited number of colour inks, or specific colour inks in addition to the process inks, is referred to as "spot-colour" printing. Generally, spot-colour inks are specific formulations that are designed to print on their own, often alongside process inks, rather than to blend with other inks on the substrate to produce various additional hues and shades. The range of available spot colour inks, much like paint, is nearly unlimited, and much more varied than the colours that can be produced by CMYK four-colour-process printing. Extended colour gamut process printing may produce a simulation of a spot colour more accurately than four colour process, and extended colour gamut process printing is thus better suited on printing presses that are not able to print with spot colours. Spot-colour inks range from subtle pastels to intense fluorescents to reflective metallics.
In conventional printing techniques, brand colours and chromatic colours in packaging applications are typically printed in a spot colour, since printing in process inks alone is inadequate—process printing has a smaller colour gamut, which cannot reproduce all spot colours accurately. Furthermore, individual objects or elements in logo's or graphic elements cannot individually be adjusted easily if composed in process inks only, without affecting other graphic elements, although it can be so adjusted in spot colour inks.
Digital printing refers to methods of printing from a digital-based image (typically a PDF file) directly onto a variety of media. The most popular methods include inkjet or laser printers that deposit ink or toner onto a wide variety of substrates including paper, photo paper, canvas, glass, metal, marble and other substances. In conventional printing, where a printing plate is used, spot colour inks are commonly used in the press, whereas in digital printing spot colour inks are very rarely used and need to be simulated using the process inks available on the press.
A digital printing press or proofer has a colour gamut (a volume of colour, plotted in 3D space) that it can achieve. By calibrating and colour profiling such a press or proofer, its achievable colour gamut is specified and allows that device to match other devices, colour standards or colour builds. Thus, digital printing presses or proofers are most frequently "colour managed", in that they are calibrated (generally via ink limits, linearization and aims) in conjunction with a software Colour Management Module (CMM), which enables devices to simulate each other by adjusting numerical values of colour builds so that the perceived colour they produce remains consistent. Calibration is most frequently done at a specific point in time (for example once a day/week/month/year), measured manually or automatically. However, a calibration state or target strip is generally not present on volume production prints where a CMM has been enabled, since the calibration strip must not be colour managed (apart from ink limits, linearization and such aims) in order to reflect the calibration status of the press correctly.
Furthermore, in the printing industry, graphic artwork depicting a packaging product or commercial print product most often contains both full colour process images (CMYK) and/or spot colours. When such artwork is printed on a digital press, the operator generally prints one or a limited number of copies on the digital press and evaluates the colour in relation to aims that have been provided by an instructor/client. Such aims may be spot colour swatches or books, physical samples, Lab or spectral colour aims and/or industry standards, or contract proofs describing or depicting spot and/or CMYK process aims or colours. In the event that the evaluation is deemed acceptable (i.e. the printed colour correlates to the aim provided), the production run may continue. In the event that the evaluation is not deemed acceptable, press operators may resort to manual adjustment of the build values of spot and process colours and running of additional adjusted prints until an acceptable print is produced.
Another option sometimes available to digital press operators is the ability of software interacting with digital presses to produce a so-called "grid chart" of a spot colour, which is effectively a collection of colour options, using a model that increases or decreases the percentage (tone) of each colour channel in relation to each other in order to attempt to provide additional options that may result in a closer visual or instrument match to a target aim. Current grid chart solutions do not derive their intended colour build values from colour models such as CIELAB (Lab) or CIELCH (LCh), but instead resort purely to a method of addition or subtraction, relating to tone percentages in determining colour build options that illustrate options available for selection, other than the original colour build. For this reason current grid charts are large and cumbersome in that a very large quantity of colour options need to be presented in order to encompass the range of variation required to refine (selected visually or via measuring the most closely matching build) all spot colours, whether they appear chromatic (colourful, saturated colours) or appear with less chroma (light pastel, grey and dark unsaturated colours). FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a prior art grid chart—in this case for a specific colour green.
Furthermore, this invention is necessitated because in many instances, printed work is often re-printed at a later stage in subsequent print or production runs. In many cases an acceptable match of the print deemed as the original or colour standard when re-printing, is not easily achieved, due to variations in many factors related to colour matching such as calibration deviation, substrate inconsistency, ambient and environmental factors, and mechanical variables between different printing presses. In the prior art, the first original print or colour standard, an example of which is usually filed in a work ticket, does not contain, on the same print, colour targets indicative of the calibration status of the press (which is not colour managed via CMM), an example of the printed product itself (which is colour managed via CMM), as well as the grid chart colour builds and their respective build values available for each spot colour in the job. This leads to incomplete data available to the operator or press (via integrated colourimetry) in order to achieve the best match for a print or re-print (whether on the same or a different machine) and requires multiple starts/stops of the printing press to run calibration, grid charts and colour managed prints.

Colour standard from a digital input file


A machine tool includes a tool and a protective device. The tool includes a saw blade and a motor for driving the saw blade. An insulating member is arranged between the saw blade and the motor. The protective device includes a signal receiving unit, a control unit and a breaker. The signal receiving unit has an antenna receiving end that is in electrical contact with a middle region of the saw blade. The breaker is electrically connected between the motor and a utility power supply. The control unit is connected to the signal receiving unit and the breaker. The saw blade is used as an antenna by the signal receiving unit to receive an electromagnetic wave having the same frequency as that of a utility power from an environment, and the control unit controls the breaker according to a change of intensity in the electromagnetic wave.

Of cutting and processing machines, a machine tool is one which causes users to get cut and hurt most easily during operation, especially when the machine tool is for cutting wood. The users get hurt easily from operating the machine tool, whether they are professional technicians or people who are used to a do-it-yourself scenario. Usually, in order to increase the safety of using the machine tool, a conventional machine tool is mostly provided with a safety device.
With regard to the safety device of the machine tool, the most common method is to have a transparent safety cover additionally installed at an outer periphery of the machine tool, so as to keep the user from being too close to a saw blade of the machine tool. Alternatively, a security sensor is placed at the periphery of the machine tool so that the machine tool stops working when the user gets too close to the saw blade of the machine tool. However, given that the security sensor has many blind spots in detection, a safety problem for the user may easily occur due to detection failure. Therefore, the method of placing the security sensor at the periphery of the machine tool can still easily cause safety issues.


An archery quiver includes upper and lower quiver assemblies. Each quiver assembly includes corresponding arrow retainer and mounting assembly connecting the arrow retainer to the riser. The arrow retainers retain the arrows stored in the quiver. Each quiver assembly holds its corresponding arrow retainer substantially rigidly attached to the riser in a position adjustable over different longitudinal positions, different transverse positions, or both. One or both arrow retainers can be adjustable over different vertical positions. The upper and lower arrow retainer positions can be adjustable independently of one another. The upper and lower quiver assemblies can comprise separate assemblies that are attached independently to the riser at distinct corresponding locations on the riser.

Some examples of archery quivers are disclosed in:                U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,299 entitled "Archery quiver" issued Jan. 6, 2004 to Proctor;        U.S. Pat. No. 8,714,147 entitled "Modular quiver apparatus and method" issued May 6, 2014 to Walk et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 8,839,773 entitled "Quiver" issued Sep. 23, 2014 to Ellig; Each of those patents is incorporated by reference in its entirety.


A device for producing negative ion fragrance includes a basic body and a negative ion producer. The basic body is formed with a volatilizing cavity in the center for receiving therein the neck of a fragrant essential oil bottle or a fragrant essential oil bottle. The negative ion producer is provided with a negative ion shooting unit extending in the volatilizing cavity of the basic body. Negative ion produced by the negative ion shooting unit is mixed with the fragrant essential oil in the volatizing cavity and then their mixed vapor is sent out for use, elevating effect in use of fragrant essential oil.

A first kind of conventional fragrant oil volatilizing device is a multi-functional wall electric vaporizer, as disclosed in a Taiwan patent No. 568747 (European Patent Alliance 81, No. 01830528.4, Applicants: S.C.JOHNSON & SON, INC.). Such a wall electric vaporizer is provided with a container for receiving therein a bottle with liquid and a wick, and an electric heater for heating the wick of the bottle to volatilize the liquid in the bottle.
A second kind of conventional fragrant oil volatilizing device is a bactericide and fragrant oil volatilizing device installed inside an automobile, as disclosed in a Taiwan patent No. 240223. Such a device is provided with a power socket to be fixed inside an automobile and a negative ion producer on an electronic base board for carrying out sterilization. The electronic base board is provided with a heater received in a secondary chamber for heating and evaporating the fragrant oil in the secondary chamber.
A third kind of conventional fragrant oil volatilizing device is a whirlwind-typed vapor negative ion fragrance producing device, as disclosed in a Taiwan patent No. 564751. This device is provided with a rotary disk driven to rotate by a motor and having a plurality of arc-shaped blades spaced apart to make up an air current producer that can be driven to produce high-speed air current for stirring up the liquid in a container to produce negative ion.
A fourth kind of conventional fragrant oil volatilizing device is a drug or fragrant oil or essential oil vaporizer, as disclosed in a Taiwan patent No. 547087. This vaporizer is provided with a supersonic oscillator at the bottom of a container for evaporating the drug or the fragrant oil or the essential oil in the container.
The above-mentioned four kinds of conventional fragrant oil volatilizing devices carry out volatilization of fragrant oil either by electric heating or by high-speed rotation of the blades of the air current producer or by vibration of the supersonic oscillator, but none of these devices makes use of negative ion to directly volatilize essential oil; nor is the marked effect of the negative ion mentioned in these devices.

Device for producing negative ion fragrance


The present invention is an art hanging system that uses a drywall anchor combined with monofilament to create a nearly invisible ceiling hangar. The monofilament is fed through the low profile drywall anchor, and tied to an anchor such that when force is applied to the monofilament, the anchor flattens and grabs the ceiling or wall panel. The plastic interior face of the anchor is low profile and transparent such that it presents limited visual distraction to the ceiling plane.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to an anchoring or fastening device. More specifically, it relates to anchor utilizing a monofilament to create a nearly invisible hanging system.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Current models of picture hanging systems use rails or channels to anchor wires for hanging art. These rails have a strong visual profile and create a distracting line against the wall or ceiling above the art.
Accordingly, what is needed is a discreet wire anchoring system. However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention how the shortcomings of the prior art could be overcome.
All referenced publications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.


The present invention comprises a clocked bus keeper circuit that does not drive the bus during the first half of a clock cycle and then holds the value driven onto the bus during the first half of the clock cycle for the second half of the clock cycle. Accordingly, true data drivers on the bus drive the bus during the first half of the clock cycle without the need to overcome the value driven by the bus keeper, but during the second half of the clock cycle, the bus keeper holds the data driven during the first half of the clock cycle. In this manner, there is no bus contention between the true bus data drivers and the bus keeper.

The invention pertains to bus keepers. The invention pertains more particularly to bus keepers for buses of system-on-a-chip integrated circuits.
The use of busses (e.g., address busses and data busses) to provide a single, data path that is shared by a plurality of data processing devices, such as memories, micro controllers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and peripheral devices is, of course, well known. Busses are most commonly formed on printed circuit boards and interconnect a plurality of devices mounted on the printed circuit board. The busses may also run out to connectors (for instance in a personal computer) in order to allow external devices to be coupled to the bus.
Recently, integrated circuit manufacturers have begun producing single chips containing multiple device cores of the type, e.g., memories, micro controllers, DSPs, and microprocessors, that traditionally were embodied on different chips mounted on a PCB and interconnected by one or more busses that ran on the PCB. Such a chip is commonly termed a system-on-a-chip or SoC.
SoCs also incorporate busses to provide data paths to interconnect the multiple core devices on the chip. The busses on SoCs, however, comprise conductor traces on the chip and thus tend to be much shorter in length and less sensitive to noise than printed circuit board busses. A typical SoC that would include one or more busses might be a SoC including a processor or multiprocessor that connects to several peripheral devices and/or several memory blocks (SRAM, DRAM, PROM and ROM).
Floating nodes occur when no drivers are actively connected to a node, which is a condition that is commonly associated with a node, such as a bus node, that can alternately be driven by a plurality of different devices. When a node is not actively driven, it is connected to power and ground only through the high impedance of non-conducting n and p transistors of the drivers that can drive the bus and the gate inputs of the receiving devices coupled to the bus. The voltage on the receiver input gates can drift to a critical level, Vcrit, that will cause the n and p transistors of the receivers to conduct simultaneously. This establishes a low impedance path between power and ground through the receiving device which can be a source of wasted power and possibly even destruction of the device.
In CMOS technology, the floating node problem exists usually because of one or more of three reasons, namely, (1) design oversight, (2) decoding simplification, and (3) bus turn around time (e.g., null cycles). Design oversight can occur when driver select signals are not decoded to select a default driver for one or more combinations of signal values. Such oversights can be simply a mistake or may occur when a to pre-existing design is modified for a new application and a bus driver that is no longer needed in the new design is removed from the circuit.
Floating node conditions also can be caused when the signals that select a bus driver are intentionally not decoded. This can occur when there is a large number of signals that select the bus driver and the decode logic is simplified by way of not decoding one or more default selections.
Another cause of a floating node condition is bus turnaround time specifications which often are incorporated into designs in order to prevent bus contention. Specifically, when multiple drivers can drive a single node (e.g., a bus bit line), care must be taken in the bus access protocol to prevent two devices from driving the bus simultaneously. One driver must be completely turned off before the next driver is turned on. If one driver is trying to drive the bus to a logic low level while another driver is trying to drive it to a logic high level, a very low impedance path between power and ground can be established which will destroy the device. Bus contention can occur at the point where one bus driver is turning off and another is turning on simultaneously. Specifically, it requires some finite period of time to turn a driver off or on. Differences in the delays of different drivers turning on and off and differences in the skew of the control signals selecting the drivers makes it extremely difficult to ensure that bus contention will not occur if one driver is switched off on the same clock phase that the next driver is switched on. Thus, turning drivers on and off in the same phase of a clock can cause transient bus contention.
Bus turn around time, or null cycle, is a scheme by which driver-to-driver bus contention is prevented. It refers to an allotted period of time in the bus access protocol when all drivers are turned off, i.e., the time between one driver switching off and the next driver switching on. Accordingly, bus protocols commonly include null cycles between switching of drivers on a bus. Null cycles (or bus turn around time) is the most likely source of floating nodes.
While the insertion of null cycles eliminates the problem of bus contention, it creates the potential for floating nodes. For CMOS devices, null cycles are not a significant problem if the null period is relatively short because the load impedance on the bus is high enough that bus capacitance will hold the bus voltage at a valid logic level for several milliseconds. However, for circuits with stopped or slowed clocks or with low impedance loads, the node voltage may have time to drift to a critical voltage, Vcrit.
Accordingly, in both traditional busses and SoC busses, bus keepers (or bus holders) are often incorporated into the design. A bus keeper is a feedback circuit that prevents a node (e.g., a bit of a bus) from floating. The purpose of the bus keeper is to ensure that the bus bits are always driven to a valid logic level and, more particularly, to hold the immediately preceding driven logic level on the line.
The bus driver in the feedback circuit of a conventional bus keeper drives the bus, but with a weaker signal strength than the drivers of the data processing devices. Thus, the previously driven logic level is maintained during null cycles, but when the next data precessing device starts to drive the bus at the end of the null cycle, its strong driver easily overcomes the weak driver of the bus keeper.
These conventional bus keepers have several significant drawbacks. First, because they are essentially bus drivers, they still cause some bus contention, albeit not as bad as the contention between two strong drivers. Nevertheless, the contention causes excess power dissipation, and slower data transitions on the bus. Further, conventional bus keeper designs typically cannot easily be migrated between circuit designs because a conventional bus keeper must be designed with transistors specifically designed and scaled to provide the correct balance relative to the transistors of the strong drivers of the data precessing devices of the particular circuit.
Another well known tactic for preventing floating nodes is to incorporate pull up or pull down resistors on the bus bit lines. However, pull up and pull down resistors also present problems because the resistor values are difficult to guarantee, they waste power, they slow down bus operation, and they do not eliminate null cycles. Further, like bus keeper designs, they may be difficult to migrate the design to different processes and/or operating conditions.
The present invention comprises a clocked bus keeper circuit that does not drive the bus during the first half of a bus clock cycle, but rather observes and stores the value driven onto the bus during the first half of the clock cycle by one of the data processing drivers. Then, during the second half of the clock cycle, it drives the bus with the value stored during the first half of the bus cycle. Accordingly, a data processing device""s driver drives the bus during the first half of the clock cycle without the need to overcome the bus keeper, but during the second half of the clock cycle, the bus keeper holds the data driven during the first half of the clock cycle. In this manner, there is no bus contention between the bus drivers of the data processing devices of the circuit and the bus keeper.
The bus keeper circuit is clocked to turn to a first condition during the first half of the clock cycle in which the data driven onto the bus is developed at a node in the bus keeper. During the second half of the clock cycle, the bus keeper is turned on to drive the stored data onto the bus. As soon as the leading edge of the next clock cycle arrives, the bus keeper is turned off again so as to drive no data onto the bus, but rather store the value driven onto the bus by another device during that half clock cycle.


A novel ceramic ferroelectric material having a low dielectric constant, loss and high tunability. The material is a composite comprising Barium Strontium Titanate (BSTO) and a ceramic material having a low dielectric constant. The preferred composite is represented by Ba.sub.1-x Sr.sub.x TiO.sub.3 -Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, wherein x is greater than 0.00, but less than or equal to 0.70, and wherein the percent weight ratio between Ba.sub.1-x Sr.sub.x TiO.sub.3 and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ranges from approximately 99%-40% and 1%-60%, respectively. The novel materials possess superior electronic properties; and they may be employed in various antenna systems.

The need exists for the fabrication of ceramic materials having improved electronic properties which may be adjusted for a particular, intended use. The present invention deals with novel ceramic ferroelectric materials having ideal properties for use, for example, in phased array antenna systems.
Ferroelectric materials which are commonly used in the antenna arts are porous ceramics, whose properties are less than ideal for their intended application. Porous ceramics of the Ba.sub.1-x Sr.sub.x TiO.sub.3 type are commonly employed in ceramic phase shifter antennas. However, these materials display certain deficiencies due to both the processing difficulties and expense, as well as their overall electronic and microwave properties. These deficiencies include electronic inhomogeneity, structural weakness, reproducibility and processing control, and large loss tangents.
Barium Strontium Titanate (BaTiO.sub.3 -SrTiO.sub.3), also referred to herein as BSTO, has been known to be used for its high dielectric constant (approximately ranging from 200 to 6,000) in various antenna applications. This is set forth by Richard W. Babbitt et al. in their publication, "Planar Microwave Electro-Optic Phase Shifters," Microwave Journal, Volume 35(6), (June 1992). This publication concludes that there exists a need for additional research to be conducted in the materials art to yield materials having more desirable electronic properties.
Although the employ of BSTO in phase shifters is known, nowhere in the technical arena of ceramic art has there been any suggestion of modifying BSTO, or combining BSTO with additives, in the manner described herein. Moreover, the specific BSTO combinations, which have enhanced electronic properties, are deemed novel.
The present invention provides for improved materials which exhibit electronic properties which can be adjusted for use, for example, in any discrete element phase shifter design--i.e. planar microstrip, wave guide geometries or parallel plate structure. The invention herein is superior to other currently used ferroelectric materials in the art.

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


A headlight apparatus has a lighting element with a connector base disposed in an aperture formed in the lighting element. The connector base has a set of terminals arranged to make contact with a set of electrical contact zones of a complementary module. Each electrical contact zone is so disposed, on a surface portion of an electronic printed circuit of the complementary module, as to be directly accessible for the corresponding terminal.

In general terms, the field of the invention is that of motor vehicle headlights. Within this field various types of headlights are known, among which can essentially be found the following:                parking lights, of low intensity and short range;        passing or dipped beam lights, having a stronger intensity and with a range in the region of 70 metres along the road, which are used essentially at night, the distribution of their light beam being such that it avoids dazzling the driver of a passing vehicle;        long range cruising lights, and complementary lights of long range type, which have a zone of vision along the road in the region of 200 metres, and which have to be extinguished when passing another vehicle so as not to dazzle its driver;        improved lights of the dual function kind, which combine the functions of a passing light and a cruising light by incorporating a removable mask or shield;        foglights.
The association in accordance with the invention between a lighting element and a complementary module may be performed with any one of these types of light. The complementary module may for example, in this connection, contain an electronic printed circuit of the Light Control System (LCS) type, which serves for management of so-called complex functions (FBL, DBL, DRL, Cordy etc.) for the light with which the electronic printed circuit is associated. The complementary module may also include a printed control circuit for governing a mechanical element of the actuator type. Nevertheless, the invention will be particularly described in the context of a headlight apparatus of the passing beam type, with a complementary module of the ballast type.
In the context of the invention, a ballast is a particular complementary module which is preferably contained in a headlight apparatus of the dipped beam or passing type which uses a discharge lamp as its light source. More particularly, in the invention reference is made to ballasts with a Xenon system, also referred to as high intensity discharge (HID) systems, which are necessary to create and maintain in force an electrical arc which is used in xenon lamps. An electronic module sets up a high voltage in the ballast to produce the electric arc in the light source used. In this type of light, a complementary module of the ballast type is therefore indispensable in order to provide the energy needed for proper functioning of the headlight.
However, integration of such a module within the headlight apparatus has to be done while having regard to the following restrictive conditions:                it must be done using as simple an assembly (fitting) operation as possible;        it must be as small as possible in size;        in order to avoid any damage to the elements contained in the ballast, it must withstand high temperatures which may occur during operation of the headlight apparatus;        it must take into account the need for transmission of electrical signals between the various elements of the headlight apparatus;        the association between the lighting element and the complementary module must not involve sealing problems in connection with any of its components.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Headlight apparatus equipped with an insertible complementary module, for a motor vehicle


Disclosed is a method for preparing 2-mercaptothiazole, which comprises adding a dithiocarbamate salt represented by the formula (1): ##STR1## wherein M is a cation, to a chloroacetaldehyde solution in the presence of an acid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to 2-mercaptothiazole which is useful as an intermediate of medicines and agricultural chemicals.
2. Prior Art
As a conventional method for preparing 2-mercaptothiazole by reacting a dithiocarbamate salt with chloroacetaldehyde, there are described methods in literatures (1) Bull. Soc. Chim. Fr., 1948 (1967) and (2) Bull. Soc. Chim. Fr., 2863 (1968). In literature (1), 2-mercaptothiazole can be prepared with the yield of 55% by adding a chloroacetaldehyde solution to a dithiocarbamate salt solution. In literature (2), 2-mercaptothiazole can be prepared with the yield of 70% by adding chloroacetaldehyde and ammonium dithiocarbamate to an acidic dithiocarbamate salt solution at the same time.
However, either of these methods is an industrially unsatisfied method for preparing 2-mercaptothiazole, since they result in the low yield of 2-mercaptothiazole and in addition thereto a polymeric product separation of which is difficult is by-produced in the reaction system.


Methods are provided to increase resistance to cell damage in a subject. The increase in resistance to cell damage in a subject in the subject is accomplished by decreasing activity of eEF2 kinase in the subject. The eEF2 kinase activity can be decreased by decreasing the amount of functional eEF2 kinase produced by the subject, including contacting the eEF2 kinase with a compound that inhibits phosphorylation of eEF2 kinase substrate or decreasing the amount of functional eEF2 kinase is decreased by reducing expression of a gene encoding the eEF2 kinase.

Accumulation of damaged cellular proteins is postulated to be a major contributor to aging and sensitivity to cell damage. Decreases in both protein synthesis and degradation rates may result in the persistence of defective or modified proteins and thus the overall rate of protein turnover can affect the cells' response to cell damage.
Elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF2 kinase) is a ubiquitous protein kinase that belongs to the alpha-kinase family of protein kinases. these protein kinases do not display sequence homology to conventional eukaryotic protein kinases (Ryazanov, A. G. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 4884-4889 (1997); Ryazanov, A. G., Pavur, K. S., Dorovkov, M. V. Curr. Biol. 28, 943-945 (1999); and Ryazanov, A. G. FEBS Lett. 514, 26-29 (2002)). The only known substrate of eEF2 kinase is eEF2, the protein that promotes ribosomal translocation during the elongation phase of protein synthesis. eEF2 is inactivated upon phosphorylation by eEF2 kinase, implying that the phosphorylation process catalyzed by eEF2 kinase can be a mechanism of protein synthesis regulation at the elongation stage (Ryazanov, A. G., et al. Nature 334, 170-173 (1988)). eEF2 kinase is a highly specific protein kinase, which phosphorylates and inactivates elongation factor-2 (Ryazanov, A. G., et al. Nature 324, 170-173 (1988); and Ryazanov, A. G. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94, 4884-4889 (1997)). This kinase is regulated by the IGF-1/mTOR pathway and is implicated in the control of the global rate of protein synthesis at the elongation stage (Browne, G. J., Proud C. G. Eur. J. Biochem. 269, 5360-5368 (2002); and Proud C. G. Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 279, 215-244 (2004)). eEF2 kinase activity in cells is normally low, but is stimulated by various stress-inducing agents such as Ca2+ ionophores, acidic pH and hydrogen peroxide (Nairn, A. C. and Palfrey, H. C. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 295-318 (1996); Patel, J. et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 269, 3076-3085 (2002); and Dorovkov, M. V., et al. Biochemistry 41, 13444-13450 (2002)).
To uncover the physiological role of eEF2K eEF2K knockout mice are prepared. Despite a complete lack of eEF2K activity, eEF2K knockout mice have normal development, behavior and reproduction. Moreover, these mice have increased lifespan. However, fibroblasts from eEF2K knockout mice are found to be resistant to various cytotoxic agents. The effect of eEF2K knockout on cell resistance to cytotoxic agents may depend on functional p53 since it is abolished in cells in which p53 is inactivated. Intriguingly, knockout mice have significantly extended maximal lifespan. These findings suggest that eEF2K is a modulator of stress resistance and aging, and that its inactivation could protect cells from stress-induced injury and increase life span in mammals.
One of the hallmarks of aging is the progressive decline in the rate of protein synthesis and degradation. This decline in protein turnover can be a major factor contributing to an increase in the concentration of damaged proteins with age. Therefore, by regulating the overall rate of protein synthesis and/or degradation it might be possible to modulate the rate of aging. Since knockout of eEF2 kinase increases maximal life span in mice, manipulation of expression or activity if eEF2 kinase may offer a therapeutic basis for regulating protein turnover and reducing cell damage due to stress, exposure to chemotherapeutic agents, and other factors.

Methods and means for increasing resistance to cell damage

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey


Disclosed are methods and apparatus for combining data segments. At a combiner node, data segments are received from a first node that are destined for a second node. At the combiner node, the received data segments are combined and buffered with previously buffered data segments from the first node if present until a first condition is met. At the combiner node, at least a portion of the combined data segments are sent to the second node when the first condition is met. The received data segments are combined in the combiner node prior to being sent to the second node so as to reduce processing and/or storage resources consumed by the second node.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for handling data at an intermediary computer. More specifically, this invention pertains to off-loading packet handling from a receiving or transmitting computer to the intermediary computer.
In TCP one of the parameters that limits packet transmission is the maximum segment size (MSS) of the packet through a computer network. The MSS is usually advertised between a client and a server, but may also be dictated by the network itself. That is, the packet size may be limited by the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the network between the client and the server. As a result of these limits to the packet size, the client will typically send small data segments to meet these size requirements to the server.
When small segments are sent by a client within a computer network, the client TCP software allocates buffer space, forms a segment header, and computes a checksum for each segment. Additionally, client IP software encapsulates the segment in a datagram, computes a header checksum, and routes the datagram to the receiver software. The server IP software verifies the IP header checksum, and passes the segment to TCP software which then verifies the segment checksum, examines the sequence number, extracts the data, and places it within a buffer. Accordingly, smaller sized data packets or segments require significantly more processing resources by the receiving node (e.g., the server), as well as the client than larger sized packets.
Accordingly, there is a need for mechanisms for decreasing the processing load at a receiving or server processing node while meeting the network requirements for packets size between the sending processing node and the receiving processing node. Additionally, there is a need for reducing the load on such node when it is sending packets, as well as receiving them.

Apparatus and methods for combining data


An apparatus and method for use in a semiconductor memory device to reduce internal circuit damage resulting from the effects of electro-static discharge (ESD) on a bitline pull-up or other type of circuit. Each of a plurality of bitlines in the memory device are coupled to a source terminal of a corresponding N-type MOSFET. Each source terminal is formed in a separate corner portion of at least one active region of the memory device, and is coupled to a given bitline via a bitline contact arranged in the corner portion. Each drain terminal of the N-type MOSFETS is formed from another portion of the active region and is coupled to a VDD supply of the memory device via a VDD contact. A gate terminal of a given MOSFET is formed from a polysilicon gate region overlying a channel in the active region. The gate region has an approximately 90.degree. bend therein such that a bitline contact in the corresponding corner portion of the active region is located between the bend and an outer peripheral edge of the corner portion. This layout allows the contact-to-diffusion-edge and contact-to-gate-edge spacings of the VDD contacts to be increased such that internal circuit ESD immunity of the memory device is improved without impacting device dimension and layout area constraints.

Semiconductor memory devices are generally designed to be resistant to damage from electro-static discharge (ESD) events. The devices may be subjected to ESD testing to verify an appropriate level of ESD immunity. ESD testing of a memory device involves applying transient high voltage stresses to input, output and VDD supply pins of the device relative to a ground potential VSS supply. The device may include an ESD protection circuit having a number of pull-up or pull-down diodes used to limit the amount of applied transient voltage and current which are passed to internal device circuitry. A problem arises when an ESD transient applied to stress an input or output pin passes onto the device VDD supply via the pull-up or pull-down diodes of the ESD protection circuit. This can cause a number of internal circuit parasitics to turn on during an ESD event instead of or in addition to the designated ESD protection circuit. The internal circuit parasitics thus represent "weak spots" which are particularly susceptible to damage during an ESD event.
Exemplary internal circuit parasitics which may turn on before an ESD protection circuit can be formed by: (i) n+ diffusion regions connected to VDD (forming an n+/p-well diode between VDD and VSS); (ii) p+ diffusion regions connected to VSS (forming a p+/n-well diode between VDD and VSS); (iii) an n+ diffusion region connected to VDD adjacent to another n+ diffusion region connected to VSS (forming a parasitic npn bipolar transistor between VDD and VSS); and (iv) a p+ diffusion region connected to VDD adjacent to another p+ diffusion region connected to VSS (forming a parasitic pnp bipolar transistor between VDD and VSS). These and other elements of internal circuit parasitics are susceptible to damage when turned on during an ESD event because layout rules designed to minimize circuit dimensions often result in small contact-to-diffusion-edge and contact-to-gate-edge spacings for VDD contacts. The small spacings are often unable to withstand a large transient current generated during the ESD event. The parasitic turn-on problem is particularly acute in bitline pull-up circuits typically used in static random access memory (SRAM) devices.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary prior art bitline pull-up circuit suitable for use in an SRAM device. The pull-up circuit serves to set all bitlines to a common positive voltage to thereby provide faster bitline sensing through a sense amplifier. A number of conventional SRAM bitline pull-up circuits are described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,639,898 and 5,250,854, which are incorporated by reference herein. The bitline pull-up circuit of FIG. 1 includes a number of N-type MOSFET devices N1 through N4. The source of each of the N-type MOSFETs N1 through N4 is coupled to a corresponding bitline BL1 through BL4. The drains of each of the N-type MOSFETs N1 through N4 are coupled to the VDD supply. The gates of N1 and N2 are coupled to a gate voltage VG1, while the gates of N3 and N4 are coupled to a gate voltage VG2. The two gate voltages may be the same voltage. During a read or write operation involving memory cells coupled to bitlines BL1 through BL4, the gate voltages VG1 and VG2 are raised from a logic "0" level to a logic "1" level to turn on N1 through N4. The bitlines BL1 through BL4 are thereby pulled up via N1 through N4 to a positive voltage which depends on the circuit design. For example, BL1 through BL4 may be pulled up to about 3.5 V in a circuit in which VDD is 5 volts. The N-type devices N1 through N4 in the bitline pull-up circuit of FIG. 1 are generally formed from n+ diffusion regions which, as noted above, can be particularly susceptible to ESD-induced damage.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional layout of the bitline pull-up circuit of FIG. 1. The bitlines BL1 through BL4 are formed from regions 10-1 through 10-4 which may be metallized regions of a first metallization (M1) layer in the memory device. First and second n+ diffusion regions 12, 14 are used to form source and drain regions of the N-type MOSFETs N1 through N4. The diffusion regions 12, 14 represent "active" regions containing separate source regions, drain regions and channels of the MOSFETs N1 through N4. Although these active regions will be generally referred to herein as n+ diffusion regions, it should be understood that a given active region contains not only distinct source and drain diffusion regions for the MOSFETs formed in that region, but also various non-diffusion regions.
The VDD supply is coupled to a VDD region 16 which may also be part of an M1 layer in the memory device. The gate voltage VG1 is coupled to a polysilicon gate region 18 and the gate voltage VG2 is coupled to a polysilicon gate region 20. The gate voltages VG1 and VG2 are coupled to a common voltage source. Contacts 22-1, 22-2, 22-3 and 22-4 connect respective source regions of N-type MOSFETs N1, N2, N3 and N4 formed from the n+ diffusion regions 12 and 14 to the corresponding respective bitline regions 10-1, 10-2, 10-3 and 10-4. VDD contacts 24 connect drain regions of N1 and N4 formed from n+ diffusion region 12 to the VDD region 16, and VDD contacts 26 connect drain regions of N2 and N3 formed from n+ diffusion region 14 to the VDD region 16.
The memory device which includes the pull-up circuit shown in FIG. 2 generally includes a p-well connected to the VSS supply of the device. The n+ diffusion regions 12, 14 form n+/p-well diodes with this p-well connected to VSS. As noted above, the n+/p-well diodes represent a weak link between VDD and VSS, and are susceptible to damage during an ESD event when the n+ diffusion regions 12, 14 and contacts 22-1, 22-2, 22-3, 22-4, 24 and 26 are arranged in a conventional layout such as that shown in FIG. 2. The conventional layout generally places the VDD contacts 24 and 26 in VDD region 16 relatively close to the edge of the respective n+ diffusion regions 12, 14 in order to optimize the chip layout. During an ESD event, if the n+/p-well diode breaks down due to the transient high voltage between VDD and VSS, then the ESD current flowing through the n+/p-well diode will raise the local temperature of the diode junction around the edge of the n+ diffusion region 12, 14. When the VDD contacts 24 and 26 are too close to the n+ diffusion edge, the metal at these contacts can easily reach a melting temperature (e.g., 550.degree. C. for the eutectic temp of Al-Si interdiffusion), thus causing metal spiking and contact leakage. Similar problems result from restrictions on maximum contact-to-gate-edge spacing for the VDD contacts in the conventional bitline pull-up circuit layout of FIG. 2. The use of the FIG. 2 layout in a memory device therefore renders the device particularly susceptible to ESD-induced internal circuit damage.
As is apparent from the above, a need exists for an improved bitline pull-up circuit layout in which the contact-to-diffusion-edge and contact-to-gate-edge spacings can be increased for VDD contacts such that the device exhibits enhanced immunity to ESD damage, without violating device dimension and chip area restrictions.

SRAM bitline pull-up MOSFET structure for internal circuit electro-static discharge immunity


In a position detecting device including a movable member provided in a displaceable manner on a base member, and a proximity sensor which detects the position of the movable member, the proximity sensor includes a magnetic field generating portion, a detecting portion which detects a change in magnetic field according to the displacement of the movable member, and a protruding portion made of a nonmagnetic material, which protrudes toward an object to be detected. A seat position detecting device of a vehicle including the configuration of the position detecting device mentioned above is provided. The base member is comprised of a lower rail which is fixedly installed on a floor of a vehicle body, and the movable member is comprised of an upper rail which is attached to a seat for a vehicle and slidably engaged with the lower rail and which is allowed to be fixed in arbitrary sliding positions on the lower rail.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a position detecting device and a seat position detecting device of a vehicle which detect the position of a movable member provided in displaceable manner on a base member, by a proximity sensor, and relates to a position detecting device and a seat position detecting device of a vehicle, including a magnetic field generating portion, such as a permanent magnet, in the proximity sensor.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-241968, filed Sep. 6, 2006, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
As a position detecting device which detects the sliding position of a seat for a vehicle by a magnetic field detection type proximity sensor is known (for example, refer to PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 9-511357 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2003-337004).
In this position detecting device, for example, an object to be detected, which is made of a magnetic member, is provided at a side portion of a front end of a lower rail which is fixedly installed on the floor of a vehicle body, and a proximity sensor including a magnetic field generating portion (permanent magnet) and a detecting portion (Hall IC) is provided at an upper rail, which is integral with the seat for a vehicle.
In this position detecting device, when the proximity sensor moves according to sliding movement of the seat for a vehicle, the magnetic field of the magnetic field generating portion detected in the detecting portion changes according to the positional relationship between the proximity sensor and the object to be detected, and the sliding position of the seat is detected on the basis of the change of the magnetic field.

Position detecting device, and seat position detecting device of vehicle


A presentation apparatus for artwork comprising a one-piece, die-cut folder construction of cardboard or other suitable material. The apparatus comprises a back section containing artwork and one or more side panels which suitable fold over the back section. The one or more side panels contain die-cut windows covered with acetate sheets or cels for viewing the artwork on the back section and may also contain artwork or images providing a three-dimensional effect for the images or artwork.

Artwork can be displayed in many different ways and many different styles. One type of known artwork display is for three-dimensional artwork. This type of artwork is typically presented by providing multiple layers of transparencies, each containing a distinct image. When the images are combined, they produce a multi-layered, three-dimensional display. However, three-dimensional artwork has the disadvantage of being expensive to present in that such artwork-typically requires a special frame that can be extremely time consuming to assemble due to intricate telescoping members, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,801 issued to Ahn discloses a multi-layered, three-dimensional display comprising three image layers which are spaced apart inside a rigid frame construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,579 issued to Engel discloses a three-dimensional picture with interchangeable scenes comprising three overlapping and telescoping images which are frictionally held with a rigid frame. The frame is provided with a dust cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,992 issued to Leonhardt discloses a dimensional picture frame comprising a box-like frame structure telescopingly surrounding a picture-mounting means to produce a multi-dimensional picture having a depth dimension thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,302 issued to Hughes discloses an abstract art device comprising a plurality of transparent members each containing an image and being nested in a frame having a stepped inner wall, each step receiving the subsequent transparent sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,565,553 issued to Foley discloses a three-dimensional picture frame comprising a plurality of concave picture sheets displayed in a box-like housing, one behind another.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,180 issued to Porter discloses a three-dimensional picture assembly comprising a rigid frame in which a plurality of opaque sheets are sequentially arranged and having spacers therebetween. Each opaque sheet contains partial images which combine to form a three-dimensional image.
Such examples of prior art three-dimensional display apparatus have the disadvantage that they are not only costly due to rigid and intricate frames, but also time consuming to assemble due to various telescoping members and intricate designs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,060 issued to Lawrence discloses a picture frame construction comprising a picture being sandwiched between a front frame and a back frame which includes elements for spacing the frame from a wall. A backing element is used in cooperation with the back frame. The picture frame construction, once assembled, can then be hung on a wall or inserted into a box-like housing structure. The Lawrence patent is time-consuming to assemble and only discloses use for a single picture image.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,991,578 issued to Messina discloses a combination collapsible box and display device. The display device comprises a compact, foldable box comprising two basic sections. The first section is the picture-holding and display area section and the second section is the support and locking section. The first section includes a picture-holding area wherein the picture's corners are inserted into cut-out tab sections and the top edge of the picture is inserted under a tab to hold the picture in place. The picture-holding section is then folded on top of a frame section to comprise the first section. The second section includes a plurality of panels which form a box-like structure having an inside slot and an outside cut-out tab. The first section includes a locking tab which can be folded around and inserted into the outside cut-out tab of the second section to secure the display device in a compact, box-like display device. The locking tab can also be inserted into the inside slot of the second section to form an easel-like display. The Messina product is time-consuming to assemble and position and further does not make arrangements to display a three-dimensional artwork.
Accordingly, there is a need for a relatively simple and low-cost, three-dimensional presentation apparatus. The present invention fulfills such a need.


An agricultural combine has a variable displacement pump connected to four drive motors that drive four wheels. An electronic controller monitors the speed of each wheel and reduces the torque of the motor that drives the wheel when the wheel slips. The controller reduces the torque by reducing the specific displacement of the slipping motor. Once the wheel has ceased slipping, the controller increases the specific displacement of the motor back to its original displacement.

Agricultural combines typically have two driven wheels to propel them through the field. The use of two driven wheels limits their performance. With only two driven wheels, combines are prone to slip. To avoid this problem, prior art combines were designed that use a four wheel drive arrangement in which hydraulic fluid from a hydraulic pump is directed to a single motor coupled to two front wheels to drive the front wheels and fluid is also directed to two motors, each motor driving a single rear wheel. This arrangement required the use of a flow splitter circuit that divides the output of the flow between the front wheels' drive motor and the rear wheels' drive motors. The flow splitting circuit was designed to insure that some flow was forced through the front drive motor as well as through the two rear drive motors. In this fashion, if a front wheel slipped, all the hydraulic fluid would not be directed through the front drive motor and bypass the rear drive motors. Instead, and due to the arrangement of the splitter, at least a portion of the flow would be forced through the rear drive motors. By dividing the flow and insuring that at least a portion of the flow would go through both the front motor and the rear motors even when there was slippage of a wheel, slippage of a single wheel would not cause the combine to immediately stop moving, since at least some fluid would continue to drive other motors coupled to wheels that have good ground contact.
This system, however, has drawbacks. It requires the use of a hydro-mechanical flow splitter. Furthermore, it still permitted both front wheels to be disabled as soon as one of them started slipping and for both rear wheels to be disabled as soon as one of them started slipping.
It is an object of this invention to provide a combine with an improved anti-slip drive system.
It is an object of this invention to provide a drive system that can isolate any individual drive wheel that begins slipping.
It is an object of this invention to prevent the slippage of a wheel by controlling the specific displacement of the motor that drives the slipping wheel.
It is an object of this invention to prevent the slippage of a wheel by reducing the torque provided by the motor driving that wheel.
These and other objects of the invention will become clear upon reading the following summary and detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Four-wheel drive combine with slip control


In a digital multi-channel simulcast system, a redundant centralized timestamping device acts as a simulcast controller for multiple channels simultaneously. All packets within a regional multi-channel system which require simulcast transmission are sent to a central timestamping device which determines the appropriate launch timestamp for each packet and attaches it thereto. The timestamping device is able to support concurrent timestamping sessions for each channel of a multiple channel system and can be dynamically assigned (trunked) to service any given radio channel on a packet by packet, call by call, or less frequent basis.

Multiple site communication systems which comprise a plurality of repeaters and transceivers that are distributed throughout a large geographic region are well known. Many multi-site systems use same-frequency simulcast, i.e., the same communication channel (or carrier frequency) is used by multiple sites throughout the region to simultaneously relay communications to subscriber communication units that are located throughout the multi-site system. This is an efficient frequency reuse technique when the subscribers are routinely located throughout the multi-site system.
The use of comparators, and their associated voting algorithms, within simulcast communication systems is known. In general, a comparator, operably coupled to a plurality of base stations or satellite receivers located in geographically diverse areas, attempts to select or construct a favorable representation of an audio signal given multiple sources of the signal (e.g., the base stations). This is accomplished by comparing the signals received from the signal sources and selecting, from amongst all of the signal sources, portions of the signal having the best signal quality. The selected portions are then reassembled to produce a favorable voted signal frame. The voted signal frame can then be retransmitted by a base station, thereby increasing the probability of good reception (i.e., intelligibly decoded audio) at the signal destination (e.g., a mobile communication device). The signal selected as the best by the comparator is typically distributed therefrom to the transceiver sites for simultaneous re-transmission.
More recently, digital simulcast radio communication systems have been developed. In such systems, digital information is formatted into information frames. Each information frame is made up of a plurality of information packets that are transported through the system infrastructure.
All simulcasted information packets are processed through a comparator which receives inputs from multiple signal sources and selects an input signal source based on predetermined criteria of signal quality. The comparator, by way of a simulcast launch timestamp server coupled thereto (or incorporated therein), then assigns a launch time (launch timestamp) to each information packet received from the selected input signal source, and transmits the information packet over an infrastructure link to at least one of a plurality of base stations, where the information packet is temporarily stored in a buffer. At the assigned launch time, error correcting information is typically added to the information packet and the resulting data packet is transmitted by the base stations.
Simulcast systems which employ absolute launch timestamps require the distribution of a precise time reference--realized by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver or the like--to multiple timestamping resources in a multi-channel simulcast system. Typically, a dedicated comparator is assigned to provide voting to a single radio channel in a multi-channel simulcast system. In such a system, simulcast launch timestamping is performed independently by each comparator.
Timestamping is performed by the launch time stamper. The time stamp normally correlates the received signal with the time it was received (time of arrival). In the present exemplary embodiment, the time stamp represents a pre-calculated launch time for the eventual transmitted signal where the launch time is derived by adding a predetermined offset to the time of arrival. The predetermined offset is a constant that is chosen based on the expected worst case digital network transmission delay between any two sites.
For effective simulcast transmission, each transmitter associated with a given channel must have a replicated copy of the information packet to be transmitted (to the appropriately addressed receivers) in a buffer before the launch time.
The inclusion or assignment of a dedicated precise time reference generating means within each comparator has the effect of eliminating the need to distribute the time reference signal. However, although this scheme eliminates the time reference distribution requirement, it does so at considerable cost and complexity.
Furthermore, because a comparator dedicated to a single radio channel has only a single resource capable of timestamping, each channel has a single (non-redundant) point of failure.
Therefore, a need exists for a redundant centralized timestamping device which can function as a simulcast controller for multiple channels simultaneously.

Digital multi-channel simulcast system with centralized timestamping device