The present invention relates to detergent compositions comprising an enzyme preparation with substantial cellulytic activity, especially endoglucanase activity, at alkaline conditions which is enzyme composition is derived from or producible by a fungus selected from the Basidiomycetous families Coprinaceae and Bolbitiaceae, preferably from the group of strains belonging to the genera Psathyrella, Podaxis, Panaeolus, Coprinus and Bolbitius, more preferably from the group of strains belonging to the species Coprinus micaceus, Coprinus domesticus, Coprinus ephemerus, Coprinus disseminatus, Coprinus radians, Coprinus picaceus, Coprinus frisei, Coprinus subimpatiens, Psathyrella candolleana, Psathyrella prona, Panaeolus semiovatus, Podaxis pistillaris and Bolbitius aleuriatus; and a method for providing a stone-washed look to textiles, especially to cellulosic fabric such as denim, using the mentioned enzyme preparation; and a method for improving the drainage of paper pulp or the de-inking of recycled paper using the mentioned enzyme preparation; and an enzyme preparation with substantial cellulytic activity at alkaline conditions which is enzyme composition is derived from or producible by a fungus selected from the Basidiomycetous families Coprinaceae and Bolbitiaceae, provided that the fungus does not belong to the species Coprinus cinereus.

Cellulases or cellulytic enzymes are enzymes involved in hydrolysis of cellulose. In the hydrolysis of native cellulose, it is known that there are three major types of cellulase enzymes involved, namely cellobiohydrolase (1,4-.beta.-D-glucan cellobiohydrolase, EC 188.8.131.52), endo-.beta.-1,4-glucanase (endo-1,4-.beta.-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase, EC 220.127.116.11) and .beta.-glucosidase (EC 126.96.36.199).
Cellulases are synthesized by a large number of microorganisms which include fungi, actinomycetes, myxobacteria and true bacteria but also by plants. Especially endoglucanases of a wide variety of specificities have been identified.
A very important industrial use of cellulytic enzymes is the use for treatment of cellulosic textile or fabric, e.g. as ingredients in detergent compositions or fabric softener compositions, for bio-polishing of new fabric (garment finishing), and for obtaining a "stone-washed" look of cellulose-containing fabric, especially denim, and several methods for such treatment have been suggested, e.g. in GB-A-1 368 599, EP-A-0 307 564 and EP-A-0 435 876, WO 91/17243, WO 91/10732, WO 91/17244, PCT/DK95/000108 and PCT/DK95/00132.
Another important industrial use of cellulytic enzymes is the use for treatment of paper pulp, e.g. for improving the drainage or for deinking of recycled paper.
Especially the endoglucanases (EC No. 184.108.40.206) constitute a interesting group of hydrolases for the mentioned industrial uses. Endoglucanases catalyzes endo hydrolysis of 1,4-.beta.-D-glycosidic linkages in cellulose, cellulose derivatives (such as carboxy methyl cellulose and hydroxy ethyl cellulose), lichenin, .beta.-1,4 bonds in mixed .beta.-1,3 glucans such as cereal (.beta.-D-glucans or xyloglucans and other plant material containing cellulosic parts. The authorized name is endo-1,4-.beta.-D-glucan 4-glucano hydrolase, but the abbreviated term endoglucanase is used in the present specification. Reference can be made to T. -M. Enveri, "Microbial Cellulases" in W. M. Fogarty, Microbial Enzymes and Biotechnology, Applied Science Publishers, pp. 183-224 (1983); Methods in Enzymology, (1988) Vol.160, p.200-391 (edited by Wood, W. A. and Kellogg, S. T.); Beguin, P., "Molecular Biology of Cellulose Degradation", Annu. Rev. Microbiol. (1990), Vol. 44, pp. 219-248; Beguin, P. and Aubert, J -P., "The biological degradation of cellulose", FEMS Microbiology Reviews 13 (1994) p.25-58; Henrissat, B., "Cellulases and their interaction with cellulose", Cellulose (1994), Vol. 1, pp. 169-196.
Fungal endoglucanases have been described in numerous publications, especially those derived from species as e.g. Fusarium oxysporum, Trichoderma reesei, Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Aspergillus aculeatus, Neocallimastix patriciarum, and e.g. from species of the genera Piromyces, Humicola, Myceliophthora, Geotricum, Penicillium, Irpex.
Cellulases derived from Coprinus cinereus have been disclosed e.g. in Mardi Research Journal, 21 (2), 1993, p-179-186; Mycological Research (1991), 95, Pt.9. p.1077-81; European Journal of Biochemistry (1988), 174 (4), p. 724-732. Further, according to the latest developments in taxonomy, both Coprinus macrorhizus and Coprinus fimetarius are to be considered synonyms to Coprinus cinereus.
There is an ever existing need for providing novel cellulase enzyme preparations which may be used for applications where cellulase, preferably an endoglucanase, activity is desirable.
The object of the present invention is to provide novel enzyme preparations having substantial cellulytic activity, preferably at alkaline conditions, and improved performance in paper pulp processing, textile treatment, laundry processes and/or in animal feed; preferably novel cellulases, more preferably endoglucanases, which are contemplated to be be producible or produced by recombinant techniques.

Enzyme preparation with cellulytic activity


Provided is an image data transmitter in which, in the event of transmission of the same image data to multiple recipients, the image data with added supplementary information different for each of the multiple recipients can be transmitted through easy operation. Further provided is an image data communication system using the image data transmitter. An image of a document is read out, and a destination of the image is set. Multiple destinations can be set. Then, selection is performed whether or not to input supplementary information. When performing input processing, a destination to which the supplementary information is to be transmitted is selected from the multiple destinations. Subsequently, the supplementary information for the destination is input, and the supplementary information is correlated with the destination. Additionally, the image data and the supplementary information are combined. Then, composite data for the destination is transmitted to the destination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image data transmitter that acquires image data and transmits the image data to another device. More specifically, the invention relates to an image data transmitter capable of adding supplementary information to image data and transmitting the total data. Further, the invention relates to an image data communication system configured of the image data transmitter and image data receivers at receiving ends.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a scanner is used to read a document and to acquire image data. A scanner can be used by being connected to a network with other devices, such as a personal computer and a printer. In this case, image data acquired by the scanner can be transmitted to other devices connected to the network. In regard to such usage, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application. Publication No. 08-23396 discloses techniques that correlate voice data with image data and transmit the both data. The publication describes that the techniques enable such processing as adding supplementary descriptive text to a transmission document data and transmitting an accompanying drawing relevant to telephone communications to easily be performed.
However, in such a network connection environment as described above, there are cases where scanner-read image data is desired to be transmitted to a plurality of recipients. Further, there are cases where supplementary information to be accompanied with the image data is different for individual recipients. When such case is handled with a device according to the techniques disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, data input processing has to be done for each recipient or for each group of recipients to which different supplementary information is transmitted. As such, since the same document has to be repeatedly read, the operation is intricate. Otherwise, such supplementary descriptive text and the like are only provided with respect to the entirety of image data, so that when, for example, image data is large in volume, supplementary descriptive text and the like do not effectively function.

Image data transmitter and image data communication system

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A system and method for negotiating using intelligent agents is described. Using a scalable platform, a user can configure an agent to act on the user's behalf in bi-lateral or multilateral negotiations.

Intelligent agent computer programs, also referred to as intelligent agents, software agents or simply agents, have become very popular in recent years. Simply put, agents may be considered to be software-implemented personal assistants with authority delegated from their users. Each agent is a computer program that, in appropriate circumstances, simulates a human relationship by performing something for a person that another person might otherwise do.
These human-delegated software entities can perform a variety of tasks for their human masters. They have been successfully used in helping people with time-consuming activities such as automating repetitive tasks or filtering information. Other conventional uses of intelligent agents include network management, mobile access management, messaging, adaptive user interfaces, etc.
An increasingly important application for intelligent agents is electronic commerce, promising a revolution in the field. Simply put, this means having agents that buy and sell goods and services on behalf of users. By exploiting the potential of the Internet and developing new capabilities for intelligent agents, the way we conduct transactions, whether business-to-business, business-to-customer, or customer-to-customer can be dramatically transformed. An agent may be configured to seek out other parties such as human users, computer systems, or other agents, and may conduct negotiations on behalf of their owners, even entering into commercial transactions.
Intelligent agents operate with varying degrees of constraints depending upon the amount of autonomy that is delegated to them by the user. Agents display their intelligence differently; some by being creative, some by being crafty and elusive (worms and viruses), some by being helpful (personal assistants and surrogate bots), and still others by being resourceful in their own ways (for example, teaching agents). The "intelligence" is generally the amount of reasoning and decision making ability that an agent possesses. Agents can use different means to achieve intelligence; some adopt heuristics, some use constraints, some depend on knowledge databases, and yet others learn from experience. This intelligence can be simple (following a predefined set of rules), or complex (learning and adapting based upon a user's objectives and both the user and agent's resources).
Generally speaking, the level of intelligence or sophistication that an intelligent agent could ultimately demonstrate is limited more by user-agent trust than by any limitations of artificial intelligence technology. In order for these agents to be widely accepted, it is crucial that the agent's behavior be easily understood and controlled by the user.
One of the promising areas of application for intelligent agents is negotiation. Adding negotiation capability to an intelligent agent is a challenging task. Negotiation is a form of decision-making where two or more parties jointly search a space of possible solutions with the goal of reaching a consensus. There are two types of negotiation: competitive and cooperative.
Competitive negotiation can be described as the decision-making process of resolving a conflict involving two or more parties over a single mutually exclusive goal. This situation is described differently in the economics and game theory literature. Economics describes competitive negotiation as the effects of the market price of a limited resource given its supply and demand among self-interested parties. In game theory, the same situation is described as a zero-sum game where a shift in the value along a single dimension in either direction means that one side is better off and the other is worse off. Thus, the self-interest of a party in negotiation may be captured by a utility function. In the negotiation process, one party tries to maximize his or her utility, and the behavior of a party in any moment of negotiation is decided by an established strategy.
Cooperative negotiation can be described as the decision-making process of resolving a conflict involving two or more parties over multiple interdependent, but non-mutually exclusive goals. The game theory literature describes cooperative negotiations as a non-zero sum game where as values along multiple dimensions shift in different directions, it is possible for all parties to be better off.
Of the multitude of potential uses of intelligent agents with negotiation capabilities, electronic commerce is one of the most important. The traditional activity for buying and selling in its known forms, business-to-business, business-to-customer, or customer-to-customer, is time-consuming and often includes steps such as negotiating on price and other features. The effective use of software agents negotiating in electronic market places can dramatically reduce the transaction costs for all involved in electronic commerce. For example, dynamically negotiating a price instead of fixing it relieves the seller from needing to determine the value of the good a priori; negotiation pushes this burden into the marketplace itself. Another benefit of negotiation is that limited resources are allocated fairly—to those buyers who value them most.
When building an autonomous or semi-autonomous agent which is capable of flexible and sophisticated negotiation, in general the following need to be considered:
 1.What is the object of the negotiation, and over which features of theobject will negotiation takes place?2.What negotiation protocol will be used?3.What reasoning model will the agents employ?
In the case of agent-to-agent negotiation, the agents should use the same ontology and should agree on the issues over which negotiation takes place. They should use the same established language and should follow the same rules or legitimate actions when interacting each other, namely the same protocol.
Every agent must take into account the goals, the constraints on what it is authorized and not authorized to do, and the parameters influencing its behavior that have been established by the client for whom it negotiates. Depending on its degree of delegated autonomy and its strategy, the agent may adapt its behavior in negotiation to the changing conditions of the environment.
When established a partner for negotiation an agent should be able to determine what initial offers should be sent out, what is the range of acceptable agreements, what counter offers should be generated, when an agreement is reached and when negotiation should be abandoned. All these may be part of a reasoning model of an agent.
There are also some important aspects that should be taken into account when designing intelligent agents with negotiation capabilities, to enable them to operate reliably, efficiently and profitably on behalf of their clients. This is especially important in competitive negotiations.
Privacy of the information is one important requirement that should consider carefully. To operate reliably and profitably on behalf of their clients, agents should keep information related to their constraints or strategy used in negotiation hidden from the other parties. Otherwise the agent (and implicitly its client) is placed at a competitive disadvantage.
One desirable characteristic (especially in electronic commerce applications) for intelligent agents is that of efficiency. Agents should try to maximize the number of deals at the best conditions (price, utility value, etc.) for their clients. One related aspect is the time spent in negotiation. The time spent negotiating should be reasonable with respect to the value of the agreement—the agents should not become involved in unnecessarily complex and time-consuming negotiations.
The reasoning model followed by the agent should be powerful. However, at the same time it is very important that the agent's behavior can easily be understood and controlled by the user. Otherwise, a sophisticated agent can never be widely accepted. A general challenge facing agent design is that of making sure that the agent lives up to the user's expectation.


A memory cell for a semiconductor device includes two pairs of a transfer transistor and a drive transistor at a first level and a pair of load transistors above the two pairs of transfer and drive transistors at a second level. Each of the load transistors includes a gate, a source/drain, and a channel. The cell further includes a pair of contacts extending between the first and second levels and that connect one of the gates to a respective one of the two pairs of transfer and drive transistors. Each load transistor gate includes a portion that overlies its respective channel and a lateral extension therefrom that contacts a respective one of the contacts. The extension of one load transistor gate overlaps the source/drain of the other load transistor adjacent the respective one of the contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor memory device and a method for manufacturing such a semiconductor memory device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a static random access memory (SRAM) having P-channel thin-film transistors (TFTs) as load MOS transistors and a method of manufacturing such a static random access memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the presently available SRAM memory cells, the major method thereof is to use high resistance elements as load elements since the SRAM memory cells can be integrated in higher integration. However, another method using P-channel TFTs as load elements becomes more important in order to secure stabilities for soft errors caused by leakage currents, noise, or .alpha.-rays, as SRAM memory cells are made smaller and smaller, and also are made operable under further low voltages.
Referring now to FIG. 1, which illustrates an equivalent circuit diagram of a first conventional example of an SRAM memory cell, such an SRAM memory cell having P-channel MOS transistors as load elements is constructed as follows. That is, this memory cell is composed of six MOS transistors. For instance, this memory cell is composed of one pair of information transfer MOS transistors, i.e., two N-channel transfer MOS transistors TT1 and TT2, one pair of driver MOS transistors, i.e., two N-channel driver MOS transistors TD1 and TD2, and two P-channel load MOS transistors TL1 and TL2.
These six MOS transistors are connected to each other in the below-mentioned manner. The first inverter composed of MOS transistors TD1 and TL1 is cross-coupled to the second inverter composed of MOS transistors TD2 and TL2 at two connection points or nodes N1 and N2. The N-type source regions of the MOS transistors TD1 and TD2 are connected to a ground line which is applied with the voltage Vss, whereas the P-type source regions of the MOS transistors TL1 and TL2 are connected to a power supply line which is applied with the voltage Vcc. The gate electrodes of the transfer MOS transistors TT1 and TT2 are connected to a word line WL. The source regions of the transfer MOS transistors TT1 and TT2 are connected to a pair of bit lines BL1 and BL2, respectively, and the N-type drain regions of the transfer MOS transistors TT1 and TT2 are connected to the nodes N1 and N2, respectively.
When the first conventional example of the SRAM memory cell is manufactured, if the six MOS transistors TT1, TT2, TD1, TD2, TL1, and TL2 are formed on the same surface of the silicon substrate, such an SRAM memory cell having the P-channel MOS transistors as the load elements would require the cell area 1.5 to 2 times larger than that of a memory cell using high resistance elements as the load elements. Thus, the first conventional example of SRAM memory cell could not be suitably manufactured in high integration.
However, if a stacking layer structure is employed as the second conventional example of SRAM memory cell described below, then the resultant SRAM memory cell can be formed with the same cell area as that of the memory cell using the high resistance elements as the load element, resulting in high integration. That is, the four N-channel MOS transistors TT1, TT2, TD1, and TD2 are formed on the silicon substrate, and the two P-channel MOS transistors TL1 and TL2 are formed as one pair of load thin-film transistors (TFTs), and are stacked on a layer composed of the N-channel MOS transistors TT1, TT2, TD1 and TD2.
Then, nowadays, such an SRAM memory cell becomes important, in which an upper gate type TFT in which the gate electrode of a thin-film transistor (TFT) is provided in an upper portion of a channel portion is employed as a load element. This is because the source/drain regions of the thin film transistor can be formed in self-alignment with the gate electrode. On the contrary, in the lower gate type thin film transistor in which the TFT gate electrode is located in the lower portion of the channel portion, the above-described source/drain cannot be formed in the self-alignment with the gate electrode. As a consequence, this SRAM memory cell cannot be suitably made very fine.
The above-described technique which employs the upper gate type thin film transistor has been reported in, for instance, 1991 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers (pages 23 to 24). Referring now to FIG. 1 corresponding to the equivalent circuit diagram of the SRAM memory cell having the P-channel MOS transistors as the load elements, and FIG. 2 schematically illustrating a cross sectional view of the SRAM memory cell, a description will be made of the second conventional example of SRAM memory cell reported in the above-described publication.
Although a plan view of the memory cell is not shown in this publication, it is conceivable that FIG. 2 is such a cross sectional view of this memory cell along a direction parallel to bit lines BL1 and BL2 involving one of nodes N1 and N2 indicated in FIG. 1. Also, it could be considered that one cross sectional view involving the node N1 has a symmetrical structure with respect to that of the other cross sectional view involving the node N2. Under such considerations, the following description is made based on such an idea that FIG. 2 is the cross sectional view, taken along the direction parallel to the bit line BL1 involving the node N1. As to the other cross sectional structure involving the node N2, the N-channel transfer MOS transistors TT1 and TT2, the N-channel driver MOS transistors TD1 and TD2, the nodes N1 and N2, and the bit lines BL1 and BL2 may be replaced with each other.
As shown in FIG. 2, field oxide films 102 and a gate oxide film 103 are formed on the surface of a silicon substrate 101. Then, a gate electrode 104 of the N-channel driver MOS transistor and a gate electrode 105 of the N-channel transfer MOS transistor are formed on the gate oxide film 103. Furthermore, N-type diffusion layers 106a and 106b are provided in self-alignment with the field oxide film 102 and the transfer transistor gate electrode 105 in an active region of the surface of the silicon substrate 101.
In this manner, the driver MOS transistor TD2 is composed of the driver transistor gate electrode 104, the gate oxide film 103, and the N-type diffusion layers (not shown) arranged along the direction perpendicular to the drawing plane of FIG. 2 to sandwich the driver transistor gate electrode 104. Also, the transfer MOS transistor TT1 is composed of the transfer transistor gate electrode 105, the N-type diffusion layer (N-type drain region) 106a, and the N-type diffusion layer (N-type source region) 106b. It should be noted that the transfer transistor gate electrode 105 functions as a word line WL, and the N-type diffusion layer 106a may be used as the drain region of the N-channel driver MOS transistor (not shown in FIG. 2).
A ground line 108 having a polycide structure is provided on the first interlayer insulating film 107 for these N-channel MOS transistors. Although not shown in this figure, this ground line 108 is connected via a ground contact hole to the N-type diffusion layers which will constitute the sources of the N-channel driver MOS transistors TD1 and TD2. Then, the surface of the first interlayer insulating film 107 involving the ground line 108 is covered with the second interlayer insulating film 109.
A node contact hole 110 and a bit line contact hole 111 are formed through the first interlayer insulating film 107 and the second interlayer insulating film 109 in such a manner that the node contact hole 110 reach the driver transistor gate electrode 104 and the N-type diffusion layer 106a, and the bit contact hole 111 reaches the N-type diffusion layer 106b. The contact plugs 112 and 113 made of the N-type doped polysilicon are formed inside these node contact hole 110 and bit contact hole 111. In this manner, the driver transistor gate electrode 104 is connected via the contact plug 112 to the N-type diffusion layer 106a inside the node contact hole 110.
A titanium silicide layer 114 is formed on the uppermost portion of the contact plug 112 in order to avoid the PN diode formed in a parasitic manner between the P-type TFT drain region and the N-type contact plug 112. At the same time, a titanium silicide layer 115 is also formed on the upper portion of the contact plug 113.
Then, the P-channel thin film transistors having an upper gate structure are formed as the load elements on the surface of the second interlayer insulating film 109. That is, the polysilicon film pattern is formed on the second interlayer insulating film 109. From this polysilicon film pattern, a high-concentration P-type polysilicon region 116 for constituting the TFT source region, the N-type polysilicon region 117 for constituting the channel region thereof, the high-concentration P-type polysilicon region 118 for constituting the drain region thereof, and the low-concentration P-type polysilicon regions 119a and 119b for constituting lightly doped drain (LDD) regions thereof are fabricated. Then, a power source wiring 121 made of a P-type polysilicon film, and TFT gate electrodes 122a and 122b are formed on the TFT gate insulating film 120. The power source wiring 121 and the TFT gate electrode 122b are connected via the contact holes to the high concentration P-type polysilicon regions 116 and 118, respectively.
As described above, the P-channel thin film transistor TL1 is composed of the gate electrode 122a, the high concentration P-type polysilicon region 116, the low concentration P-type silicon region 119a, the N-type polysilicon region 117, the low concentration polysilicon region 119b, and the high concentration P-type polysilicon region 118. The gate electrode 122b is the gate electrode of the P-channel load thin film transistor TL2.
Furthermore, the protection insulating film 123 is deposited, the third interlayer insulating film 124 is formed, and the bit line 125 is provided. In this case, the bit line 125 is connected via the contact hold to the titanium silicide 115.
Next, the conventional manufacturing method of the SRAM having the P-channel TFTs as the load elements will now be briefly explained with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C. FIGS. 3A to 3C are a cross sectional view for schematically representing the manufacturing sequential steps of the SRAM memory cell.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the field oxide film 102 is formed in the isolation region on the surface of the P-type silicon substrate 101, and the gate oxide film 103 is formed in the active region. The N-type polysilicon film and the tungsten silicide film are sequentially formed on the entire surface. Then, these stacked films are patterned, so that the driver transistor gate electrode 104 and the transfer transistor gate electrode 105 are formed. N-type impurity ions are implanted to form the N-type diffusion layers 106a and 106b on the surface of the P-type silicon substrate 101 using the field oxide film 102, the driver transistor gate electrode 104, and the transfer transistor gate electrode 105 as a mask.
Next, the first interlayer insulating film 107 is formed on the entire surface. After the ground contact (not shown) has been formed, the N-type polysilicon film, and the tungsten silicide film are successively formed on the overall surface. These stacked films are patterned to form the ground line 108.
Next, the second interlayer insulating film 109 having a flat surface is formed over the entire surface, and the connection contact hole 110 is formed to pass through the first and second interlayer insulating films 109 and 107, and then to reach both of the driver transistor gate electrode 104 and the N-type diffusion layer 106a. Similarly, the bit contact hole 111 is formed to reach the N-type diffusion layer 106b. The insides of this node contact hole 110 and this bit contact hole 111 are filled with the N-type polysilicon film, so that the contact plugs 112 and 113 are formed. Now, titanium is formed on the entire surface and then is subjected to heat treat, so that the titanium silicide layers 114 and 115 are formed in the self-alignment manner only on the upper portions of the contact plugs 112 and 113.
Next, the polysilicon film containing the N-type impurity ions is formed on the entire surface, and then is patterned to thereby form the N-type polysilicon region 117. The TFT gate insulating film 120 is formed on the entire surface of this N-type polysilicon region 117, and the contact hole is formed. Thereafter, the P-type polysilicon film is formed on the entire surface. Then, this silicon film is patterned to form the power source wiring 121, and the TFT gate electrodes 122a and 122b (FIG. 3A).
In this case, BF.sub.2 ions corresponding to the P-type impurity are implanted at a dose of order of 3.times.10.sup.13 cm.sup.-2. The low concentration polysilicon regions 119'a and 119'b are formed in the self-alignment manner using the TFT gate electrode 122a as a mask (FIG. 3B).
Subsequently, a protection insulating film 123 used to form the LDD structure is formed on the entire surface, and BF.sub.2 ions corresponding to the P-type impurity ions are implanted at a dose of order of 1.times.10.sup.15 cm.sup.-2, so that the high concentration P-type polysilicon regions 116 and 118 are formed. At this time, the following assumption is made as follows: the regions 116' and 118' which are masked and into which the impurity ions are not implanted are left in the portions covered by the power source wiring 121 and the TFT gate electrode 122b. However, since the power source wiring 121 and the TFT gate electrode 122b are made of the P-type polysilicon film, if the heat treatment is sufficiently carried out later, then the P-type impurity ions are diffused through the contact hole. As a result, these regions 116' and 118' into which the impurity ions are not implanted will disappear (FIG. 3C).
Next, the third interlayer insulating film 124 is formed on the entire surface, and then the contact hole is formed in such a manner that this contact hole passes through the third interlayer insulating film 124, the protection insulating film 123, and the TFT gate insulator 120, and thereafter reaches the titanium silicide layer 115. Finally, the bit line 125 is formed, so that the SRAM structure shown in FIG. 2 is accomplished.
In the above-described conventional SRAM memory, as shown in FIG. 3C, the regions 116' and 118' into which no impurity ion has been implanted are formed in the lower portions of the power source wiring 121 and the TFT gate electrode 122b. Also, in order to form the LDD structure in the self-alignment manner, the low concentration P-type polysilicon regions 119'a and 119'b are also formed in the edge portions of the power supply wiring 121 and the TFT gate electrode 122b. When these regions are left, these regions may function as a series resistor with respect to the P-channel load thin film transistor, so that the current drivability of the thin film transistor would be considerably lowered. For instance, a polysilicon film into which no impurity ion is implanted may represent such a very high layer resistance of on the order of 10.sup.2 .OMEGA./.quadrature. per unit area, and a low concentration polysilicon film used in an LDD region may represent such a very high layer resistance of on the order of 10.sup.6 .OMEGA./.quadrature.. As previously described, in order to remove these regions, the P-type impurity ions must be necessarily diffused by sufficiently performing the heat treatment. However, such a sufficient heat treatment can be hardly applied to productions of very fine SRAMs in the future, because of the below-mentioned three reasons.
As a first reason, both N-channel MOS transistor and P-channel MOS transistor are formed under the load type P-channel thin film transistor, i.e., on silicon substrate surface. These N-channel and P-channel MOS transistors have been thermally treated during the steps such as the step for planerizing the interlayer insulating film before the load type P-channel thin film transistor is manufactured. As a consequence, since such heat treatment is carried out at high temperatures and for a long time duration after the thin film transistor has been formed, there are high risks that the characteristics of these very fine MOS transistors would be considerably deteriorated by the short channel effect.
As a second reason, in a case where the LDD structure is formed, in order that the electric field in the drain region is effectively relaxed so as to reduce leakage current of the thin film transistor, it is desired that the high concentration P-type polysilicon region 118 which will constitute the drain region is offset from the TFT gate electrode 122a. This is because if the high concentration P-type polysilicon region 118 is overlapped with the TFT gate electrode 122a, the electric field in the drain region is emphasized by receiving the influences of the electric field in the gate. To avoid such a problem, the above-described heat treatment at high temperatures and for a long time duration should be avoided, because the diffusion of the P-type impurity ions contained in the high concentration P-type polysilicon region 118 should be reduced as much as possible.
As a third reason, the titanium silicide layers 114 and 115 are formed in the upper portions of the contact plugs 112 and 113. When these titanium silicide layers 114 and 115 are thermally treated at high temperatures and for a long time duration, the film aggregation will occur, resulting in a rapid increase of the resistance.
Accordingly, the above-described conventional SRAM memory cell has the various problems. That is, the regions 116' and 118' into which no impurity ion has been implanted, and the low concentration P-type polysilicon regions 119'a and 119'b are easily left in the conventional SRAM memory cell. Thus, the parasitic resistance is increased, and the current drivability of the load type P-channel thin film transistor is considerably lowered.
Also, in the conventional SRAM memory cell, if the contact hole is formed out of either the power supply wiring 121 or the TFT gate electrode 122b, when the power supply wiring 121 and the TFT gate electrodes 122a and 122b are patterned, the polysilicon film which will constitute the main body of the thin film transistor is also etched away during the etching treatment. As a consequence, when this contact hole is formed, the anisotropic dry etching is required. Thereafter, a photoresist film is removed by way of oxygen plasma, and cleaning treatment is carried out by using ammonia and sulfuric acid, so that a native oxide film is formed in the contact hole. If the polysilicon film is directly deposited on this native oxide film, then no electric conductivity could be established between the power supply wiring 121, the TFT gate electrode 122b, and the high concentration P-type polysilicon regions 116 and 118. To avoid this difficulty, an oxide film etching must be lightly carried out by using diluted hydrofluoric acid as the pretreatment of forming the polysilicon. As a result, the TFT gate insulator 120 is locally made thinner. Thus, there is another problem that a break down voltage failure of the gate insulator may readily occur.
These problems are caused by the manufacturing method itself, but also the structure of the semiconductor memory device.

SRAM having P-channel TFT as load element with less series-connected high resistance


A multi-axis force sensing apparatus that is installed at an operational end of a surgery robot and is capable of measuring force acting upon the operational end and a robot arm including the force sensing apparatus includes a body that is elastically deformable and has a pipe form extending along an axial direction of the body, an optical fiber strain gauge attached to a surface of the body to measure a tension and compression of the body in at least three directions. The optical fiber strain gauge may include at least three fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) that are attached to the surface of the body and extended in an axial direction of the body, a light source providing light to each of the FBGs, and a light detector detecting light reflected by the FBGs or light that has passed through the FBGs.

1. Field
The following description relates to a force sensing apparatus and a robot arm including the same, and more particularly, to a force sensing apparatus, such as a force sensing apparatus installed at an operational end of a robot arm in order to measure forces acting on the operational end of the robot arm (particularly, a three-axis force sensing apparatus capable of sensing forces of three or more degrees of freedom), and a robot arm, such as a surgery robot arm, for example, including the force sensing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Robots for diverse uses have been developed and commercialized in line with the advances in robot technology. For example, a remote-controlled surgery robot connected to a surgical part of a patient assists a surgeon in conveniently conducting minute surgical operations by viewing the surgical part remotely via an endoscope screen. When using the surgery robot, hand shake caused as the surgeon moves his or her hand may be compensated for, and a remote surgical arm may reproduce a scaled-down motion of the surgeon's hand, and thus, precise operations may be conducted.
However, currently commercialized surgery robots provide only image information about a surgical part via an endoscope, and touch information, which can be obtained in general surgical operations, is not provided. That is, compared to a surgical operation actually performed using the hands, it is difficult for a surgeon to accurately figure out the amount of force applied to a surgical part by a surgical instrument attached to a surgery robot arm. Thus, if information about the intensity of a contact between the surgical instrument attached to the surgery robot arm and the surgical part is provided to the surgeon, the information about the contact, together with the image information, may be helpful for minute operations needed for cutting, cauterization, or suture, for example, of the surgical part. To this end, it is important to accurately measure forces acting between the surgical instrument attached to the surgery robot arm and the surgical part.
Accordingly, installment of a delicate force sensing apparatus at an operational end of a surgery robot has been researched. However, currently suggested force sensing apparatuses are not capable of accurately measuring forces in each direction, it is difficult to mount force sensing apparatuses on an arm portion of a surgery robot in a limited space, or such force sensing apparatuses may malfunction in an environment where a strong electromagnetic field exists. In addition, the range of forces measurable by the currently suggested force sensing apparatuses is relatively small.

Force sensing apparatus and robot arm including the same


Techniques and tools for supporting multiple operating systems in consumer electronic devices. For example, techniques and tools are described that allow quickly switching between operating systems in video disc players that support different media types while reducing wait time and mitigating possible negative impacts to user experience.

Media formats for consumer electronics devices are becoming increasingly complicated, while also moving much of their advanced functionality from hardware to software. As a result, the software environments of consumer electronics devices have become increasingly complicated.
In addition, older and simpler formats such as DVD still leave some of their processing to software even though they offload much of their processing to cheaper and simpler hardware. For example, while audio and video streams are likely to be decoded by dedicated hardware, menu processing (or "navigation") functionality may be implemented in software. While basic navigation software can be relatively simple, the DVD market has evolved over time. DVD players have responded with complicated menu processing logic to correctly handle DVDs with more features. As a result, the relatively simple DVD format has evolved so that its playback software is now quite complicated. Many player manufacturers have a significant investment in this software, and the software has evolved over time to have dependencies on their operating environments.
With different media formats available, there exists a need for consumer electronics devices that support multiple formats. For example, when one considers that users generally expect their DVD player to also play CD Audio discs, which is a very different media format, it becomes clear that supporting multiple formats is desirable. A problem to be addressed, then, is how to run multiple software applications that may require their own operating systems in a cost-effective manner.

Supporting multiple operating systems in media devices


In a measuring probe, the distal ends of an irradiation optical fiber and a detection optical fiber on the subject side are held by a holder portion which is to be mounted on a subject. The optical fibers are led out from the side surface of the holder portion. Further, the optical fibers are bent in the holder portion so that the distal ends of the optical fibers are directed towards the subject when the holder portion is mounted on the subject.

As disclosed, for example, in JP 9-98972 A, a conventional living body optical measuring device has a measuring probe attached to a subject and a device main body connected to the measuring probe. The measuring probe has an irradiation optical fiber for irradiating the subject with measurement light generated in the device main body, a detection optical fiber for receiving the measurement light transmitted through the subject, that is, a living body passing light, and guiding it to the device main body; a fixing member for securing the distal end portions of the irradiation and detection optical fibers at predetermined positions of the subject; and a fixation belt for securing the fixing member to the subject.
However, in the case, for example, of the measurement of a newborn baby or a measurement of long duration, it is necessary to perform, apart from a measurement in a seated position or a standing position, measurement in which the subject lies down, and there is demand for a measuring probe allowing such measurement. That is, there is demand for a measuring probe which can be attached to the subject without damaging the optical fibers even when the subject lies down.

Measuring probe and living body optical measuring device


A water jet peening method in which a pressurized water jet flow containing cavities is jetted through a nozzle having a velocity increasing orifice portion and a horn-like jetting hole formed continuously with the velocity increasing orifice portion to impinge against a surface of a metallic material immersed in water and to cause the cavities to collapse at the surface of the metallic member, and a tensile plastic deformation is caused in a surface layer of the metallic material by a local high pressure generated by the impingement and the collapse so that a residual tensile stress in the surface of the metallic member is reduced. In this method, the nozzle is vibrated so that vibration-induced cavities are formed in the vicinity of a nozzle wall surface, and the vibration-induced cavities are caused to impinge against the surface of the metallic member by the pressurized water jet flow containing cavities. It is thereby possible to promote the generation of cavities even in a case where pure water existing in a nuclear reactor and scant of nuclei from which cavities will be generated is used in peening of an internal structual member of the reactor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a water-jet peening method for reducing a residual tensile stress existing in a surface of ordinary metallic materials or a surface layer of parts of internal nuclear reactor equipment and an apparatus for practicing the method and, more particularly, to a water-jet peening method and an apparatus suitable for forming a residual compressive stress in a surface layer by impinging a high-velocity jet flow of the water containing cavities aginst the surface of materials in the water, thereby improving the stressed state thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is generally known that if a member formed of a metal such as an austenite stainless steel is placed in high-temperature water such as that in a nuclear reactor, intergranular stress corrosion cracking (hereinafter referred to as an abbreviation "IGSCC") occurs in the member in the vicinity of a welded portion thereof. IGSCC is considered to be caused under a condition that three factors, i.e., sensitization of the material, a tensile stress and a corrosive environment, are superposed. Sensitization of a material occurs in such a manner that a Cr carbide precipitates at grain boundaries to form a Cr-depletion layer in the extreme vicinity of the grain boundaries by welding heat or the like so that Cr-depletion zone in the vicinity of the grain boundaries become sensitive to corrosion. A tensile stress is caused by superposition of a residual tensile stress caused by welding or working on a stress caused by an external force. Corrosion is caused by high temperature water containing dissolved oxygen. IGSCC can be prevented by removing one of these three factors.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 62-63614 discloses a conventional method as a means for improving a residual stress characteristic. In this method, a high pressure water jetting device having a rotating nozzle capable of jetting a high-pressure liquid jet is inserted into a pipe of a heat exchanger or the like, which is to be improved in a residual stress characteristic, and the high pressure liquid is thereby jetted and impinged upon an inner surface layer of the pipe to cause a plastic deformation in the inner surface layer by dynamic-pressure energy of the impingement of the jet (axial dynamic pressure energy of a jet flow), whereby a residual tensile stress existing originally in the pipe is reduced.
As another residual stress improving means, a surface strengthening method disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 59-193215 is known. In this method, an impingement force caused by pressure-collapse of cavities generated in a liquid is applied to a surface portion of a metallic member immersed in the liquid. Cavities are generated by causing ultrasonic vibration of a horn immersed in the liquid as one means thereof, or by jetting a high-pressure high-velocity liquid flow into the liquid as another means thereof.
The conventional process disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 62-63614 is effective as a method of improving a residual stress of a pipe inner surface of a heat exchanger or the like. However, this method, in which a liquid flow jetted from a nozzle in atmospheric air is impringed on a surface of a metallic member to peen this surface by impinging energy of the flow, is a method which utilizes impringing dynamic pressure energy of a water jet in atmospheric air and depends upon the water jet output alone. In a case where this method is applied to peening in water, the velocity of a jet flow is considerably reduced before the jet flow reaches a metal surface and it is difficult to achieve the desired peening effect, because the water jet meets a resistance of surrounding water and because the water jet is diffused in the surrounding water. To obtain the same dynamic pressure as that of a jet flow in atmospheric air, water jetting at a super high pressure is required. Thus, the use of this method in such a condition is disadvantageous in terms of performance of a pump and other related components and working cost.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 59-193215, which generates cavities by ultrasonic vibration jetting or high-pressure high-velocity jetting, entails the same problem in the case of high-pressure high-velocity jetting. Ultrasonic vibration jetting is effective in generating cavities, but it is necessary to generate cavities in certain proximity to a predetermined surface portion to be processed, and the effect is therefore restricted by the setting of a horn for generating ultrasonic vibration.

Method of and apparatus for water-jet peening


Disclosed is an improvement in a method for cogeneration of isobutylene and MTBE by etherification of tBA/MeOH over an ion-exchange resin which allows for more complete conversion of the remaining tBA fraction and comprises a second step consisting essentially of recovering the MTBE from the primary fractionator as an overhead fraction and etherifying the bottoms from the primary fractionator over an inorganic acid catalyst comprising a crystalline aluminosilicate faujasite-type Y-zeolite modified with a compound selected from a fluoride-containing compound including hydrofluoric acid, ammonium fluoride, fluorosulfonic acids and their cogeners and triflic anhydride at a temperature of greater than 120.degree. C.

It is known to those skilled in the art that ethers, including unsymmetrical ethers, may be prepared by reacting an alcohol with another alcohol to form the desired product. The reaction mixture, containing catalyst and/or condensing agent may be separated and further treated to permit attainment of the desired product. Such further treatment commonly includes one or more distillation operations.
Methyl tert-butyl ether is finding increasing use as a blending component in high octane gasoline as the current gasoline additives based on lead and manganese are phased out. Currently most commercial processes for the manufacture of methyl tert-butyl ether are based upon the liquid-phase reaction of isobutylene and methanol (Eq. 1), catalyzed by a cationic ion-exchange resin (see, for example: Hydrocarbon Processing, October 1984, p. 63; Oil and Gas J., Jan. 1, 1979, p. 76; Chem. Economics Handbook-SRI, September 1986, p. 543-7051P). The cationic ion-exchange resins used in MTBE synthesis normally have the sulphonic acid functionality (see: J. Tejero, J. Mol. Catal., 42 (1987) 257; C. Subramamam et al., Can. J. Chem. Eng., 65 (1987) 613). ##STR1##
With the expanding use of MTBE as an acceptable gasoline additive, a growing problem is the availability of raw materials. Historically, the critical raw material has been isobutylene (Oil and Gas J., Jun. 8, 1987, p. 55), however, recently, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,099,072, 5,169,592 and 5,081,318, inter alia, assigned to Texaco Chemical, disclose a one-step method for producing methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) from t-butanol (tBA) over various catalysts. It would be advantageous to obtain additional conversion of the t-butanol in the crude feedstock without having to recycle unconverted tertiary butanol.
The preparation of methyl tert-butyl ether from methyl and tert-butyl alcohols is discussed in S. V. Rozhkov et al., Prevrashch Uglevodorodov, Kislotno-Osnovn. Geterogennykh Katal. Tezisy Dokl. Vses Konf., 1977, 150 (C. A. 92:58165y). Here the tBA and methanol undergo etherification over KU-2 strongly acidic sulfopolystyrene cation-exchangers under mild conditions. This reference contains data on basic parameters of such a process. It is also noted that, although a plant for etherification over cation exchangers does not present any major problems, considerations include the fact that recycling large amounts of tert-butyl alcohol and methanol, as well as isobutylene, causes the scheme to be somewhat more expensive. Also, the progress of the reaction over cation exchangers is usually complicated by various adsorption and diffusion factors, by swelling phenomena, and by the variable distribution of the components between the solution and ion-exchanger phase. Furthermore, said acidic cation-exchangers with an organic (polystyrene or polymethacrylate) backbone generally have a very limited stability range with regard to operating temperatures, with temperatures above 120.degree. C. normally leading to irreversible destruction of the resin and loss of catalytic activity.
"Preparation of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) Over Zeolite Catalysts" is an article by Pochen Chu and Gunther H. Kuhl, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 26, 365, 1987. Chu et al. disclose work which identifies ZSM-5 and ZSM-11 to be selective for the preparation of MTBE. Compared to the conventional Amberlyst 15 resin, the zeolites are thermally stable, and give no acid effluent; they provide high selectivity to MTBE with little or no diisobutene yield, are less sensitive to the CH.sub.3 OH/i-C.sub.4 H.sub.8 ratio and exhibit good selectivity even at ratios approaching unity. They provide high MTBE output, despite the unfavorable thermodynamic equilibrium, since the process utilizing these zeolites can be operated at high temperature and high space velocity. In addition, deactivation is not observed in the present short catalytic tests and reactivation is not required. The excellent selectivity of these two zeolites is believed to be effected by the size of their pore structure, which provides easy access to methanol and restricted access to isobutene. Zeolite beta was also tested, giving the poorest results and small pore zeolites were inactive. As expected, large pore zeolites do not exhibit shape selectivity.
An extensive body of knowledge of zeolite properties and catalytic potential has developed in recent years. A variety of different types of zeolites is known in the art, including natural and synthetic zeolites. Research has opened up a spectrum of new opportunities in the field of molecular shape selective catalysis, where the intracrystalline space accessible to molecules has dimensions near those of the molecules themselves. This field is discussed in an article titled "Molecular Shape Selective Catalysis", P. B. Weisz, New Horizons in Catalysis, Part A, 1980. For example, it is possible to catalyze the dehydration of n-butanol over a Linde 5.ANG. zeolite without reacting isobutanol which may be present. Such research has led to the concept of molecular engineering.
Early work in molecular engineering was very limited by the choice of zeolites. This limitation lead to the discovery of methods for zeolite synthesis, using large organic cations as templates in place of the traditional all-inorganic ionic species. This research opened the way to the synthesis of many new zeolites. Now a number of industrial processes, including selectoforming, M-forming, dewaxing, xylene isomerization, ethyl benzene production, toluene disproportionation and methanol-to-gasoline are based on shape selective zeolites. Since the early demonstrations of product selectivity, many more cases have been observed and many reviewed and reported by Csicsery and Derouane. See S. M. Csicsery,"Zeolite Chemistry and Catalysis", ACS Monograph 171, J. A. Rabo, Ed., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. (1976), and E. G. Derouane, "Diffusional Limitations and Shape Selective Catalysis in Zeolites", from Intercalation Chemistry, M. S. Whittinham, A. J. Jacobson, Eds., Academic Press, New York.
The natural crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites can be represented by the empirical formula: EQU M.sub.2 /.sub.n O.Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.xSiO.sub.2.yH.sub.2 O
The synthetic X and Y type zeolites have framework structures similar to that of the natural mineral faujasite although they are distinct species. The unit cells are cubic with a cell dimension of nearly 25.ANG.. Each unit cell contains 192 SiO.sub.4 and AlO.sub.4 tetrahedra that are linked through shared oxygen atoms. See "Molecular Sieve Catalysis", J. W. Ward, Applied Ind. Catal., Vol. 3, 1984.
In the Y zeolites the three-dimensional framework comprising a tetrahedral arrangement of connected truncated octahedral provides giant supercages approximately 13.ANG. in diameter with eight supercages per unit cell. The supercages are interconnected by twelve-membered rings of about 8.ANG. in diameter. Many different chemical species can be absorbed by this large-pore system. Ibid., p. 275.
Various zeolites have characteristic structures which favor certain types of reactions. For instance, mordenite is one of the most silica-rich zeolite minerals, having a SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio of about 10. The structure consists of chains of tetrahedra cross-linked by the sharing of oxygen atoms. Mordenite has high thermal stability, probably due to the presence of the large number of five-membered rings that are energetically favored. The dehydrated structure has a two-dimensional channel system accessible to small molecules, but not to typical hydrocarbon molecules. Ibid., pp. 275-6.
Erionite is probably the smallest pore zeolite used commercially.
A number of zeolites have been synthesized that have SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratios greater than 10 or are essentially pure silicas. Examples of those which have found commercial utility because of their shape selective properties are ZSM-5 and ZSM-11. Some of these zeolites are aluminum-free silicalites which have no ion-exchange properties and should properly be regarded as molecular sieves.
The Ward reference, ibid, offers a review of molecular sieve zeolites used in catalysis. Though zeolites have been known for a long time, the major stimulus in molecular sieve science came with the first synthesis of A zeolite by Milton, described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,243 (1959).
Zeolite molecular sieves can be modified by treatment by cation exchange, thermal or hydrothermal treatment and chemical modification. Most catalytic preparations involve an ammonium ion exchange, typically by refluxing the zeolite with at least a five-fold excess of aqueous ammonium salt.
Divalent cation exchange with elements such as calcium and magnesium is considered rather difficult according to Ward.
Rare earth ion exchange zeolites have played an important role in zeolite catalysis, particularly in fluid cracking catalysts and require multiple batch exchanges at elevated temperatures with excess solutions. Ibid., pp. 288-289.
Zeolites having higher silica/alumina ratios are more stable and, therefore, more suitable for treatment. Careful acid treatment can result in up to 75% of the alkali metal ions being replaced before structural collapse occurs. Ibid., p. 290.
The thermal or hydrothermal treatment of zeolites is also known. Thermal treatment of synthesized X and Y zeolites has no structural effects on the zeolite until the decomposition temperature of about 800.degree. C. is reached. It is possible to exchange and reexchange ions. For instance, it is possible to exchange with ammonium ions, calcine and exchange with rare earth. Ibid., p. 292.
Zeolites lose physically bound water on heating to about 150.degree. C. and exotherms around 800.degree. C. represent structural collapse of the zeolite. The hydroxyl groups are believed to be in different parts of the structure, some in supercages and some inaccessible to most absorbing molecules.
Zeolites can be modified to remove alumina by treatment with chelates such as acetylacetone and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid. Aluminum atoms can be replaced with silicon tetrachloride or treatment with ammonium fluorosilicate. Ibid., p. 298.
A number of commercial applications of these synthetic zeolites are discussed in "Synthetic Zeolites in Commercial Applications", R. G. Muller, et al., SRI PEP Review v. 81-3-3 (1982). Due to the unique structure of zeolites and to the knowledge available today regarding properties and manufacturing processes, many uses have been discovered for zeolites in adsorbent and catalytic applications. Some of the reactions for which synthetic zeolites have been shown to be active catalysts include xylene isomerization, naphtha isomerization, light olefin oligomerization, toluene dealkylation, benzene hydrogenation, olefin and fat hydrogenation, methanation, dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene, dehydrohalogenation, desulfurization and propylene carbonylation.
Another good reference for familiarization with the relationship between molecular shapes, structures of zeolites and selectivity for certain catalysis is an article titled "Industrial Application of Shape Selective Catalysis", N.Y. Chen et al., Catal. Rev.-Sci. Eng., 28 185 (1986).
The zeolites of interest to shape-selective catalysis may be divided into three major groups according to their pore/channel systems. The first group includes 8-membered oxygen ring systems such as, for example, Linde A, erionite, chabazite, zeolite alpha, ZK-4, ZK-21, ZK-22 and several other less common natural zeolites.
The second group includes 10-membered oxygen ring systems such as, for example, ZSM-5, ZSM-11, ZSM-22, ZSM-23, ZSM-48 and laumontite, which has a puckered 10-membered oxygen ring. The rest of the medium pore zeolites are usually synthetic in origin; they are sometimes known as pentasils. They have a predominance of silicon.
The third group of zeolites is those having dual pore systems which have interconnecting channels of 12- and 8-membered oxygen ring openings. Examples include mordenite, offretite, clinoptilolite, ferrierite, etc.
There is a survey of aluminosilicate catalyst reactivity and of reactions catalyzed by aluminosilicates in an article titled "Clays, Zeolites and other Microporous Solids for Organic Synthesis," by John M. Thomas et al., in Modern Synthetic Methods, 1989, Vol. 5, p. 249.
It is stated at page 263 that the valency or the size of the exchangeable cation can be adjusted, thus fine-tuning the molecular sieving and shape-selective properties. For example, in the Na.sup.+ form of zeolite-alpha, the effective void space within the zeolite can be enlarged by replacement of Na.sup.+ by Ca.sup.2+ ions.
Dealumination of a zeolite can enhance the microporosity of a zeolite by increasing the Si/Al ratio of the anionic framework and can be represented by the following: ##STR2##
Hydrothermal treatment Will result in ultra-stabilization of the zeolite and recent work indicates Si:Al ratios can be increased to greater than 1000.
More than 40 distinct species of zeolite materials have been identified and there are at least 130 synthetic species. The pore sizes and compositions of typical commercially available zeolites are shown in Table A.
TABLE A ______________________________________ COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE ZEOLITES Sorportion Pore Composition Capacity (wt %) Zeolite Size/nm Si/Al Cation H.sub.2 O nC.sub.6 H.sub.14 C.sub.6 H.sub.12 ______________________________________ Faujasite X 0.74 1-1.5 Na 28 14.5 16.6 Y 0.74 1.5-3 Na 26 18.1 19.5 US-Y 0.74 >3 H 11 15.8 18.3 A 0.3 1.0 K, Na 22 0 0 A 0.4 1.0 Na 23 0 0 A 0.45 1.0 Ca, Na 23 12.5 0 Chabazite 0.4 4 * 15 6.7 1 Clinoptilite 0.4 .times. 0.5 5.5 * 10 1.8 0 Erionite 0.38 4 * 9 2.4 0 Ferrierite 0.55 .times. 0.48 5-10 H 10 2.1 1.3 L-type 0.6 3-3.5 K 12 8 7.4 Mazzite 0.58 3.4 Na, H 11 4.3 4.1 Mordenite 0.6 .times. 0.7 5.5 * 6 2.1 2.1 Mordenite 0.6 .times. 0.7 5-6 Na 14 4.0 4.5 Mordenite 0.6 .times. 0.7 5-10 H 12 4.2 7.5 Offretite 0.58 4 K, H 13 5.7 2.0 Phillipsite 0.3 2 * 15 1.3 0 Silicalite 0.55 ** H 1 10.1 0 ZSM-5 0.55 10-500 H 4 12.4 5.9 ______________________________________ *Denotes a mineral zeolite: cations variable, but usually Na, K, Ca, Mg **Very large Si:Al
Another important aspect regarding zeolites involves methods of generating acidity. Several ways of introducing acidity into a zeolite are known in the art and they result in the formation of Bronsted acid sites. The total acidity of a zeolite catalyst depends on both the concentration of acidic sites and the strength of the individual sites. The number and nature of active sites in a zeolite catalyst can be determined in several ways, including .sup.27 Al solid state NMR, uptake of base and poisoning experiments. Maximum overall acidity is often found for Si/Al ratios in the range of 5 to 20. Bronsted acid sites formed by various methods can form Lewis acid sites by dehydroxylation: ##STR3##
Where shape selectivity by size exclusion is the key to zeolite function, it can be accomplished either through reactant selectivity or product selectivity. It is believed Columbic field effects may also play a part. Another phenomenon which has been observed to contribute is configurational diffusion which occurs in situations where structural dimensions of the catalyst approach those of molecules; even subtle changes in dimensions of molecules can result in large changes in diffusivity, see Chen et al., Catal. Rev.-Sci. Eng., supra, p. 198.
Another type of selectivity which has been observed is spatiospecificity or restricted transition state, where both the reactant molecule and the product molecule are small enough to diffuse through channels, but the reaction intermediates are larger than either the reactants or the products and are spatially constrained. This is one of the most important properties of ZSM-5. Some zeolites, such as ZSM-5, ferrierite, cliniptilolite, offretite and mordenite have intersecting channels of differing channel size and may exhibit the phenomena of traffic control, see Ibid., p. 198.
Reactants which are of particular interest in shape selective catalysis include straight-chain and slightly branched paraffins and olefins, naphthenes and aromatics.
A concise and informative review of zeolite applications in organic synthesis is titled "Zeolite Catalysts Face Strong Industrial Future" in European Chemical News, Jul. 10, 1989, p. 23. Points worth noting are that the major success of zeolite catalysis is in catalytic cracking with about 300,000 tons per year being used worldwide. Typically these are zeolite-Y, (12-ring window) but oftentimes a medium-pore, such as H-ZSM-5, is added to increase aromatic content. The ZSM-5 consists of two pore systems (5-6.ANG. in diameter) which intersect to give spatial regions of around 9.ANG. diameter at the intersections.
Early work emphasized the role of medium-pore zeolites for aromatics substitution, but more recently, there has been extensive work describing the role of zeolites in the synthesis of organic intermediates containing oxygen and nitrogen, Ibid, p. 24.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,307 to C. D. Chang et al. (Jul. 22, 1980), it is shown that hydration of C.sub.2 to C.sub.4 olefins to alcohols can be carried out over ZSM-5 below about 240.degree. C. and 10 to 20 atmospheres of pressure without forming ethers or other hydrocarbons, however, above 240.degree. C. propene and butenes undergo other olefinic reactions, forming higher molecular weight hydrocarbon products.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,576 to Chang et al. teaches the use of (pentasil-type) aluminosilicate zeolites, such as ZSM-5, having a pore size greater than 5 angstrom units and a silica-to-alumina ratio of at least 12, to convert lower alcohols to a mixture of ethers and olefins.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,545, to Chang et al., there is suggested modification of Y-zeolites having Si:Al ratio of at least 4 with a very dilute (0.001.fwdarw.0.1N) solution of HF in a cracking catalyst as a means of reactivation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,787 discloses a process for the preparation of methyl tert-butyl ether which comprises reacting methanol and isobutylene in vapor phase in the presence of ZSM-5 or ZSM-11 acidic zeolite catalyst.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,099,072; 5,169,592 and 5,081,318, assigned to Texaco Chemical Co., relate to various zeolite catalysts used in the one-step synthesis of methyl t-butyl ether from t-butanol.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/745,777 there is disclosed a catalyst for synthesis of MTBE from t-BuOH comprising hydrogen fluoride modified zeolites.
In U.S. patent application No. 07/917,885, there is disclosed a catalyst for MTBE synthesis comprising fluorophosphoric acid-modified zeolites.
In the art, where the feedstock for producing MTBE is t-butanol, the conversions are not as high as would be desirable. There does not seem to be any disclosure of a second-stage etherification, wherein bottoms from the primary reactor are reacted in a secondary etherification unit to obtain higher overall conversions. This would allow more complete conversion of t-butanol without the necessity of recycling. The second stage of such a two-step process would require a catalyst which can withstand very high temperatures.
It would be a substantial advance in the art if crude t-butanol/methanol feedstocks could be used and still obtain higher tBA conversions (>90%) and total MTBE+isobutylene selectivity as high as 99%.

Cogeneration of isobutylene plus MTBE from crude t-butanol/methanol feedstocks


A laundry treatment apparatus may facilitate input and removal of laundry items. The laundry treatment apparatus may include a door which may selectively open and close an opening into a receiving space formed in a cabinet in which laundry items may be received for treatment. The door may serve as a laundry guide when positioned at an angle relative to the cabinet so as to guide laundry items into the receiving space, and may serve as a shelf to support laundry items thereon when positioned at another angle relative to the cabinet.

1. Field
This relates to a laundry treatment apparatus that provides for washing and/or drying of one or more laundry items.
2. Background
A laundry treatment apparatus may be, for example, a washer to wash laundry, a dryer to dry laundry, or a combined washer/dryer to both wash and dry laundry. A cabinet may define an exterior of the laundry treatment apparatus, and a storage space may be formed in the cabinet to receive laundry to be treated. An input opening may be formed in the cabinet to provide access to an interior of the storage space, and a door may open or close the input opening.
In a top loading type laundry treatment apparatus, the storage space may be oriented in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the cabinet and the door may be located at the top of the cabinet. In a front loading type laundry treatment apparatus, the storage space may be oriented in a direction parallel to the bottom of the cabinet and the door may be located at the front of the cabinet. In such a front loading type laundry treatment apparatus it may be difficult to adjust a rotating angle of the door and/or an opening degree of the input opening. Further, the position of the door may require that the user bend at the waist when loading laundry into or removing laundry from the storage space.


A thin film transistor (TFT) array comprises: a drive TFT for driving an organic light emitting diode (OLED), which is an electroluminescence (EL) device; first common wiring disposed for performing a current source or a current sink for the OLED; second common wiring disposed for performing a current source or a current sink for the OLED, the second common wiring being connected alternately with the first common wiring for each horizontal line and each vertical column of a pixel; and a switching TFT, which is a connection switch for connecting either one of the first common wiring and the second common wiring to a pixel electrode.

The present invention relates to a display panel or the like using organic electroluminescence (EL), inorganic EL or the like, and more specifically, to an EL display panel using an active matrix system, and the like.
Among display panels, an EL panel using organic EL or inorganic EL has received very much attention in recent years. An EL device is a chemical substance in which a material thereof emits light by being energized. The EL device can obtain a different emitted color by changing a chemical structure, and a research on utilizing the EL device for a display panel has been progressed. In the EL device, the organic EL, hereinafter, referred to as an OLED (organic light emitting diode), is one emitting light in a manner that a direct current is flown through a fluorescent organic compound excited by application of an electric field. The organic EL has received attention as a next-generation display device in terms of its thin thickness, wide viewing angle, wide gamut and the like. In a drive method of this OLED, a passive type and an active type are present, and in order to realize a large screen and high definition display, the active type is suitable in terms of material, lifetime and crosstalk. In this active type, generally, a TFT (thin film transistor) drive method is adopted.
For a pixel circuit of an active matrix OLED (AMOLED), a variety of configurations have been proposed in papers and the like. FIGS. 23(a) to 23(d) are diagrams showing examples of a variety of pixel circuits for the OLED. FIG. 23(a) shows a voltage programming circuit composed of two TFTs, which is proposed by Brody [Brody et al, "A 6×6 inch 20 lpi Electroluminescent Display Panel", IEEE Trans. Elec. Dev., Vol. ED-22, pp. 739–748 (1975)]. This is a mainstream configuration at present. FIG. 23(b) shows a voltage programming circuit composed of four TFTs, which is added with a Vth compensation function and proposed by Dawson [Dawson et al., "A Poly-Si Active-Matrix OLED Display with Integrated Drivers," Digest of Technical Papers Volume XXX, 1999 SID International Symposium, pp. 438–441; "Pursuit of Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode Displays," Digest of Technical Papers Volume XXXII, 2001 SID International Symposium, pp. 372–375]. FIG. 23(c) shows another current programming circuit composed of four TFTs, which is added with the Vth compensation function and proposed by Dawson. Moreover, FIG. 23(d) shows current programming circuit composed of four TFTs of a current mirror system. In each of the variety of pixel circuits shown in FIGS. 23(a) to 23(d), a drive TFT denoted by a reference symbol T2 (p) is used, and an OLED is connected thereto. Moreover, a power source is supplied to each pixel circuit through common wiring denoted by a reference symbol Vdd.
As a background art described in a gazette, for example, there is a technology in which switch means is inserted between a light-emitting device and current supply means in order to reduce power consumption of a display panel using current control-type light-emitting device represented by the organic EL device and the like, e.g., refer to Gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-278497 (p. 4, FIG. 3). Moreover, in order to prevent an occurrence of a residual image in the organic EL device, for example, there is a technology in which a TFT for connecting a potential of a pixel electrode to a negative power source and a TFT for resetting a pixel capacity are added, thus making it possible to turn off the organic EL device before programming, e.g., refer to Gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-244617 (pp. 3 to 4, FIG. 1). Furthermore, for example, in a liquid crystal display panel and the like, there is disclosed a technology of inspecting lighting of pixels in a manner that common wiring is separated into two lines, short-circuit wiring short-circuiting each of the common wiring and short-circuit wiring short-circuiting all of segment wiring are formed in advance, and a drive voltage is applied to each pixel through each of these pieces of wiring, e.g., refer to Gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-328627 (p. 3, FIG. 1).
Here, a manufacturing process of the active matrix OLED (AMOLED) is broadly divided into an array step of creating a TFT array and a cell step of forming the OLED on the array. If the TFT array can be inspected after the array step, a defective TFT array can be prevented from flowing out to the cell step, and a reduction of manufacturing cost can be expected. In the pixel circuit of the AMOLED, as shown in FIGS. 23(a) to 23(d), there is a drive TFT (T2(p) shown in FIGS. 23(a) to (d)) for driving the OLED, and characteristic variations of this drive TFT give serious and negative effects on image quality of an AMOLED panel. Accordingly, it is desired to perform a characteristic inspection of this drive TFT before forming the OLED. However, since the OLED is not connected to the drive TFT in the pixel circuit before forming of the OLED and the drive TFT becomes an open drain or an open source, a current path is not present in the drive TFT. Accordingly, a current cannot be flown to the drive TFT, and the characteristic inspection is also very difficult.
In each of JP2002-278497 and JP2002-244617 described above, the TFT is added to the pixel circuit, and thus an additional function other than an original image display function is realized. However, in the technology described in JP2002-278497 described above, only a mechanism of controlling emission duty in display is realized, and this cannot be utilized for the inspection of the drive TFT. Moreover, in the technology described in JP2002-244617 described above, the drive TFT is forcibly fixed to an OFF state when the proposed function is used, and this cannot be applied to the purpose of the inspection. Furthermore, although the technology described in JP2002-328627 described above has a point similar to a configuration of the present invention to be described later in that the common wiring is separated into two lines, the technology does not have any related technical portion other than the above, and cannot be utilized for the inspection of the drive TFT for driving the EL device.

Thin film transistor array, display panel, method for inspecting the thin film transistor array, and method for manufacturing active matrix organic light emitting diode panel

International Business Machines Corporation


To nullify any malicious code potentially contained within a data file, a transformation engine randomly selects a transformation from a number of available file transformations each arranged to alter the bit pattern of a file to which it is applied while still enabling manifestation of at least some of the file's semantic content to a user. The selected transformation is then applied to the data file to produce a transformed file. Preferably, the transformation engine runs in a dedicated virtual machine of a computing platform.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the transformation of data files for the purpose of nullifying malicious code that may be contained within any such file.
Malicious code is a generic term, and includes within its scope code which is assimilable within an entity capable of executing instructions (a 'host') which, upon such assimilation is capable of causing one of a number of effects, usually both unwanted and unintended by the user of such a host. For example, such code may affect the operation of: a host within which the code is assimilated (e.g. by deleting data or exposing it to external attack); a network of which the host forms a part (e.g. by generating traffic and thus slowing down the network); other hosts in such a network (e.g. by a denial of service attack on such hosts); or a user of the host (e.g. by causing disclosure of secret information in possession of the user).
Malicious code typically has two elements to it. The first element is known in the art as 'exploit code', that is to say code which is specifically adapted to exploit a certain characteristic (and usually unintended) response of a host to enable a attacker to gain privileged access to it (privileged access being access of a kind which would typically be reserved for a user or administrator of the host). The second malicious code element is known as a 'payload' and this is code which can be loaded onto a host once privileged access has been secured by the exploit code. Typically, execution of the payload code will cause the host to perform certain operations which are intended by the attacker; almost always that will mean the host operating in a way unintended by the user.
Hosts are exposed to malicious code in a number of ways. One way is simply by connecting their host to the Internet. Attackers automatically scan hosts which are connected to the Internet to check for vulnerabilities to attack by exploit code; in the event that such vulnerabilities are detected, a attacker may then decide to use an appropriate exploit code to gain privileged access to such a vulnerable host and load and execute payload code. Exploit code may also exploit user actions in certain cases. For example, a user may receive an email with an attached data file purporting to be legitimate but containing exploit code which executes on opening the attachment and causes the deployment of payload code on the host. In the instance of certain vulnerabilities and hosts the need for exploit code can be circumvented by user actions such as: opening an email attachment; choosing to download a data file from a website or during an instant messaging session with another user; or inadvertently loading malicious code onto a host by connecting a storage medium such as a CD or USB flash memory to their host and copying data from that medium onto their host.
2. Description of Related Art
The current practice for dealing with malicious code is to monitor the production of such code and produce remedial patches which remove the host's vulnerability to it. Monitoring can include relatively covert surveillance of the activity of certain known attackers, as well as tracking the incidence of publicly reported vulnerabilities. This practice is enhanced by the use of known exploit codes carrying benign payloads to scan hosts for vulnerabilities in order to establish which hosts of a network require patching, for example. Another remediating measure is to equip each host in a network with a client that throttles the output of packets from any host whose behaviour starts to indicate infection by malicious code, thereby limiting the rate of propagation of malicious code in the event of infection.
In addition, firewalls of networks scan incoming data files to identify malicious code and quarantine any data file which may be thought to be malicious.
Each of these measures, however, suffers from the same flaw, which is that they're remediating measures. A remedial patch is usually only developed in response to a detected vulnerability and, since vulnerabilities are most often found by attackers, at least some hosts will have been subjected to malicious code attack before anything can be done to protect against that form of attack. In short, current practices are based on a game of 'catch up' with the attackers and, by definition, the best that can ever be achieved is a very close second place.

Nullification of malicious code by data file transformation

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A portable case for belongings comprises a case body of leather and a cover lid of metal to protect the belongings within the case body. The case body and protective cover lid are hinged together and are disengageable from each other at the hinge so that both case body itself and the cover lid can be replaced with new ones. The case can be used as a carrier for a cigarette lighter or a portable telephone, as a waist bag for miscellaneous articles, as a hand or shoulder bag, as a rucksack, as one of a pair of panniers, and as a tool carrier for a two-wheeled vehicle. A protective cloth bag may be provided on the cover lid, and the cover lid may also be provided with an external key carrier.

The present invention relates to a portable case for belongings, which is able to accommodate cigarette lighters, cigarettes, books, tools, etc., and to panniers to be used on a two-wheeled vehicle.
Generally, a portable case for belongings has a case body, which is able to accommodate small belongings such as cigarette lighters, books, tools, etc., and a cover lid which protects those belongings.
Conventionally, in this type of portable case for belongings, the case body and cover lid are integral with each other, and their material is leather. Japanese Design Registration No. 888,509 discloses a portable case of kind, which is attached to a belt for use.
However, since the case body and cover lid are integral with each other, if only the cover lid is worn out through use, the entirety of the case will not be able to be used. Consequently, the entire case is discarded even though the case body is still usable. That is, there is a problem by which the service life of the portable case is shortened.
Furthermore, since the cover lid is made of leather, there is another problem in that the belongings accommodated in the case may be damaged due to external impacts.


3D seismic classification is a breakthrough technology to determine the three-dimensional distribution of pore fluid, lithology, and faults/fractures from multiple seismic attribute volumes. This method provides an innovative, timesaving solution for identification and definition of drilling targets, especially in areas with multiple pay zones and complex geology.

Identification of prospective targets for hydrocarbon exploration and production opportunities in asset evaluation generally requires months of seismic interpretation to tie well production zones, interpret the horizons of interest, extract and analyze seismic attributes corresponding to petrophysical properties, and assess the potential and risks.
Generally in traditional seismic interpretation, one or more seismic events are identified and tracked to yield a set of seismic horizons. These horizons are used to form a structural framework of the subsurface in two-way time, or depth. Subsequent geological modeling and most of today's seismic inversion schemes rely on this framework. For example, seismic attributes can be extracted around an interpreted horizon and used to characterize a reservoir unit.
Very often, utilizing prior art seismic interpretation methods, it may take a year for a new player to define the top recompletion, infill and exploration opportunities in a field with a large number of productive horizons. Successfully unlocking these opportunities depends on whether or not explorationists can significantly reduce cycle time, increase efficiency and lower risk in defining drilling targets. In meeting this challenge, an innovative approach has been developed to effectively identify prospective targets during asset evaluation.
Therefore, it is a desire to provide a 3D seismic classification method for identifying prospective targets. It is a further desire to provide a 3D seismic classification method that reduces cycle time, increases efficiency and lowers the risk in defining drilling targets. It is a still further desire to provide a 3D seismic classification method that reduces the time for identifying and defining drilling targets, especially in areas with multiple pay zones and complex geology, from months to a matter of weeks.

Method for prospect identification in asset evaluation


A method for performing trace equivalent identification by structural isomorphism detection, the method comprising: synthesizing a first netlist into a second netlist, the second netlist including two-input AND gates, inversions, inputs, constants, and registers; constructing a third netlist, the third netlist being a pseudo-canonical netlist that uses calls to algorithms for constructing a netlist for gate g1 and for constructing a netlist for gate g2, where g1 and g2 are gates; and performing an isomorphism check of gates g1 and g2.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to structural isomorphism detection, and particularly to structural isomorphism detection involving static rewriting to provide enhanced trace equivalence identification.
2. Description of Background
Structural isomorphism refers to the existence of a 1:1 topological mapping between equal-functioned gates of a netlist. Structural isomorphism detection has numerous applications. For example, if two or more properties under verification are determined to have isomorphic logic cones driving them, one may merely verify one of the properties, and map the corresponding verification results to the other property. As another example, one may exploit the existence of structural isomorphism between gates of a netlist to infer optimal Binary Decision Diagram (BDD) orders.
The primary goal of structural isomorphism detection is to quickly identify trace-equivalent gates, i.e., gates g1 and g2, such that for any legal trace (sequence of valuations over time) over g1, there exists a legal trace with an identical sequence of valuations for g2 and vice-versa. Exact methods for identifying trace equivalence via semantic analysis require exponential resources. Structural isomorphism often requires substantially lesser resources. Unfortunately, structural isomorphism is a weak approach for identifying trace equivalence. In other words, two gates g1 and g2 may be trace equivalent, but may not have isomorphic logic cones. Thus, structural isomorphism detection fails to identify that trace equivalence.
It is well known that logic rewriting algorithms may put a netlist into a more canonical form, i.e., such that it is more likely that two gates with equivalent functions attain equivalent structures. However, existing rewriting algorithms are lossy, and thus fail to render all trace equivalent gates as having isomorphic structures. It is desired to provide a set of improved algorithms for allowing structural isomorphism detection to identify trace equivalent gates.

Trace equivalence identification through structural isomorphism detection with on the fly logic writing


The invention provides a melt-blown non-woven fabric obtained by melt-blowing an ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer having a density of smaller than 0.900 g/cm.sup.3 and a crystallinity of from 5 to 40% or by melt-blowing a resin composition which chiefly comprises said copolymer, a laminated non-woven fabric obtained by laminating as a unitary structure a dry-type non-woven fabric on the melt-blown fabric that is obtained by melt-blowing said copolymer or the resin composition which chiefly comprises said copolymer, and a cataplasm which comprises the non-woven fabric obtained by melt-blowing said copolymer or said resin composition which chiefly comprises said copolymer, a dry-type non-woven fabric laminated on said melt-blown non-woven fabric, and a medicine layer applied onto said dry-type non-woven fabric. The non-woven fabric or the laminated non-woven fabric has excellent elastic property, i.e., excellent elasticity under the two-dimensional condition, and exhibit excellent fitness to the curved portions and to the stretched or contracted portions. The invention further provides a non-woven fabric obtained by melt-blowing a resin composition which contains 98 to 40% by weight of a polypropylene and 2 to 60% by weight of an ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer having a density of smaller than 0.900 g/cm.sup.3 and a crystallinity of from 5 to 40%, and a laminated non-woven fabric material using the above non-woven fabric, featuring excellent softness and heat-adhesiveness at low temperatures as well as easy heat-working such as heat-embossing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a melt-blown non-woven fabric. More specifically, the invention relates to a melt-blown non-woven fabric obtained by using an ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer having a particular low crystallinity or a resin composition of a combination of this ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer and other resins.
The melt-blown non-woven fabric of the present invention has a feature in that it has excellent softness. In particular, the former melt-blown non-woven fabric obtained by using substantially an ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer having a particular low crystallinity is rich in elasticity and has excellent fitness, and the latter melt-blown non-woven fabric obtained by using a resin composition of a combination of the above ethylene-.alpha.-olefin copolymer and another resin such as a polypropylene exhibits particularly excellent heat-workability.
The present invention is further concerned with a laminated non-woven fabric material using the above melt-blown non-woven fabric.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A melt-blown non-woven fabric is obtained by extruding a molten resin to form fine resin streams which are then brought into contact with a heated gas of a high speed thereby to obtain non-continuous fibers of fine diameters, and integrating the fibers on a porous support material. The melt-blown non-woven fabric has a relatively soft property and is used for such purposes as clothing and medical supplies.
In such applications, however, the melt-blown non-woven fabric by itself lacks the strength, and means has been employed to reinforce the non-woven fabric by sticking such as of a spun-bonding method or any other method.
For instance, Japanese Patent Publication No. 11148/1985 (corresponds to GB1453447) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,203 disclose a non-woven fabric material comprising a web of substantially continuous filaments which have an average filament diameter of greater than about 12 microns and are deposited in a random fashion and are molecularly oriented, and an integrated mat of a largely non-continuous thermoplastic polymeric micro fiber having an average fiber diameter of smaller than about 10 microns and a softening point which is lower by about 10.degree. C. to 40.degree. C. than the softening point of the continuous filaments, wherein the web and the mat are arranged maintaining a laminar relationship and form discretely coupled regions upon the application of heat and pressure.
In producing the non-woven fabric from the polypropylene fiber, furthermore, it has long been known to use a fiber having a low melting point as a so-called binder fiber. For instance, according to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 179246/1986, there has been described that a fiber comprising a blend of 65 to 95% by weight of a low-density polyethylene and 5 to 35% by weight of a polypropylene exhibits superior melt-spinnability to that of a polyethylene, and is suited for being used as a binder for the non-woven fabrics. Moreover, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 175113/1988 discloses the use of a blend which comprises 99 to 50% by weight of a linear low-density polyethylene that is a copolymer of an ethylene and an octene-1 (1 to 15% by weight), and 1 to 50% by weight of a crystalline polypropylene.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 303109/1988 discloses a non-woven fabric of a blended structure obtained by melt-spinning a composition comprising 99 to 50% by weight of a linear low-density polyethylene which is a linear low-density copolymer of an ethylene and at least one kind of an .alpha.-olefin with 4 to 8 carbon atoms and substantially containing this .alpha.-olefin with 4 to 8 carbon atoms and substantially containing this .alpha.-olefin in an amount of 1 to 15% by weight, having a density of from 0.900 to 0.940 g/cm.sup.3, a melt index of 25 to 100 g/10 min. (as measured in compliance with the method of ASTM D-1238(E)), and a heat of fusion of 25 cal/g or greater, and 1 to 50% by weight of a crystalline polypropylene having a melt flow rate of smaller than 20 g/10 min. (as measured in compliance with the method of ASTM D-1238(L)).
However, although the melt-blown non-woven fabric obtained from a single thermoplastic resin material such as a polypropylene or the like may exhibit superior softness to the non-woven fabrics of the other types, it still must have particularly excellent elasticity and fitness in addition to the softness when it is used in such applications as clothing, medical supplies, hospital supplies and the like.
Even in the field of cleaning materials, furthermore, it is desired to further improve the softness from the standpoint of fitness to the surfaces to be wiped and adsorption of dust and dirt.
For example, the cataplasm is stuck to an elbow or a knee under a condition where it is slightly bent. However, the cataplasm which uses the currently available non-woven fabric as a base material has its base material deviated without expanded when the hand or the leg is deeply bent or, on the other hand, has its base material greatly wrinkled when the hand or the leg is stretched, causing the medicine to be leaked.
Examples of the currently available elastic fiber materials include spandex yarns and other rubber yarns which, however, are generally expensive and cannot be processed into such a non-woven fabric as a melt-blown non-woven fabric. Thus, there has not yet been provided a non-woven fabric that is rich in elasticity and that exhibits fitness in various applications.
Moreover, heat resistance and mechanical strength are, in many cases, required in combination in addition to softness in such applications as clothing, medical supplies, etc. In order to obtain a non-woven fabric that meets such objects, therefore, means have heretofore been employed to use a fiber having a low melting point as a so-called binder fiber in producing the non-woven fabric from, for example, the polypropylene fiber.
In the non-woven fabric of this kind, however, the binder fiber that bonds to the fiber which carries stress of the non-woven fabric must have a low melting point giving disadvantage from the standpoint of heat resistance of the non-woven fabric thus weakening he cohesive force of the resin which constitutes fibers, i.e., weaking the strength of the non-woven fabric. Moreover, in a process for integrating the non-woven fabric such as by heat-embossing, the processing conditions such as temperature, pressure, processing rate, etc. have small allowance which is not yet satisfactory from the standpoint of workability.

Melt-blown non-woven fabric and laminated non-woven fabric material using the same