The present invention provides four essentially equal and (generally) evenly spaced constraints on the ball. It is the equivalent of a ball and socket joint in which the “socket” is composed of four small constraining pads of equal size and equally spaced around the surface of the ball or sphere. If a sphere is constrained by four equidistant points, each point will exert the same amount of force on the sphere. If additional pressure is applied to one point, the pressure exerted by the other points will rise to match this increased pressure. The effect of constraining a smooth ball by four equidistant points is to create the equivalent of a ball and socket joint in which the force required to rotate the ball at a particular rate is about the same in any direction. The ball is constrained by four equidistant points such that the relative movement between the ball and housing is smooth and predictable in any direction.

Various ball and swivel mounts are known in the camera and optical arts. Such mounts may be used for still cameras, digital cameras, motion picture cameras, telescopes, binoculars, surveying equipment, and other instrumentation and the like.
The following U.S. Patents and Published Applications and Foreign Patents were discovered in a Prior Art search conducted prior to the filing of the present application. Hart, U.S. Pat. No. 596,207, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a flagstaff holder using ball and socket. See FIGS. 1 and 3 of Hart. Brumley, Published U.S Patent Application No. 2005/0045783, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an adjustable stand for immobilizing and positioning work stock for e.g. welding purposes. Brumley discloses a work stock support that is adjustable since collar responds to engagement and disengagement of collar T-bolts with ball. See FIGS. 3 to 7 of Brumley.
Meinunger, German Patent No. DE2840059, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a stabilizing accessory for a camera tripod, which has spherical side surface at joint with cylindrical projection from swiveling circular disc screwed to housing. Bothe, U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,186, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a frame with retainer, particularly for a camera. Bothe discloses a retainer connected to frame by ball and socket joint, socket being formed as bridge with width less than diameter of ball.
Law, U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,222, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a garden hose positioning device. See FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Law. Fungo-Giera, U.S. Pat. No. 1,290,830, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a gun mount that uses a ball and socket. See FIGS. 2 and 3. Schenck, U.S. Pat. No. 1,539,277, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an adjustable ball and socket bracket. See FIG. 3 of Schenck.
Loebs, U.S. Pat. No. 578,998, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a camera tripod that allows angle of camera to be adjusted from the horizontal to vertical. Gelbenegger, U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,965, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an angle adjustment unit for the angular positioning of a prosthesis or orthosis member with respect to a conventional prosthesis joint, comprising a commercial ball-and-socket joint coupled to the conventional prosthesis joint by means of a rod extending through the ball-and-socket joint and projecting at a free end portion into the prosthesis member. See FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 of Loebs.
Rusbach, U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,904, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a ball-and-socket joint for tripod support, which holds a surveying theodolite and maintains it in required position. See FIGS. 11 and 12 of Rushbach. Buerklin, U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,228, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a tripod head having a universal joint, which has a ball joint which is swivelably and rotatably mounted in a bearing housing. The universal joint is arranged between connection points situated on oppositely facing ends of tripod head, one of which is connected or connectable with a camera and the other with a tripod or similar mounting.
Goellner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,968, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a lockable ball joint device, which has a ball wither receiving cavity having clamp ring in a casing and spherical concave inner clamping surface engaging outer surfaces of ball and annular extending cam. Kolander, U.S. Pat. No. 687,183, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a tripod joint. See FIGS. 2 and 3. Wright, U.S. Pat. No. 357,299, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a tripod joint. See FIG. 2 of Wright.
Pierce, U.S. Pat. No. 973,558, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an adjustable light fixture using ball and socket. See FIGS. 1 to 6 of Pierce. Hailson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,774, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an adjustable mount for e.g. sensors or cameras comprising mounting post with ball and ball clamping members. Brotz, U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,518, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus for a camera mount on a tripod platform that comprises a cradle cup mounted on tripod platform and O-ring mounted in groove on inside of cup.
Laiho, Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0016433, incorporated herein by reference, discloses using the centralizing control hydraulics comprised in the coupling unit, the pusher is kept centrally positioned in the notch in the stem of the barge as far as possible to maintain equal lateral clearances on both sides. The slide and the hollow shaft are connected by a ball joint, which allows the slide to turn and rotate relative to the shaft.
In addition to the above Patent documents, the following Prior Art photographic ball heads, illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, are known in the art. FIG. 1 illustrates the Arca-Swiss Monoball head with a camera. FIG. 2 illustrates an enlarged view of the Arca-Swiss ball head without a camera. A complete description of the Arca-Swiss Monoball system may be found at http://precisioncameraworks.com/Media/monoball.pdf, incorporated herein by reference. The Arca-Swiss Monoball product is manufactured by ARCA-SWISS PHOTOTECHNIG AG, of Horgan, Switzerland. The Arca-Swiss ball mount uses an asphereical ball. The ball appears to be gripped by the circumferential edge of the housing and a friction mechanism internally. Note how the Arca-Swiss document notes the long felt need in the Prior Art to provide a ball head which allows for smooth panning and even friction application.
FIG. 3 illustrates the Novoflex Magic Ball camera mount manufactured by the Novoflex Corporation, Brahmsstraβe 7 D-87700 Memminge, Germany. The Magic Ball and other ball mounts, such as the ClassicBall (similar to the Arca-Swiss Monoball) are described in more detail at http://www.novoflex.de/english/html/products.htm, incorporated herein by reference. The Magic Ball mount uses a C-clamp like device to clamp to either side of a ball. Only two points or areas are contacted on either side of the ball. On the two larger models, designed for heavier equipment, adjustment is made even easier by an integrated friction setting which is concentric with the lockdown clamp. This variable tension control lets the user match the camera weight to the adjusting force.

Pivoting ball mount having four equally spaced contact points


Provided herein is a flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition and a molded product thereof, the composition including polycarbonate resin, rubber modified aromatic vinyl copolymer, aromatic phosphate ester compound, glass fiber, and carbon fiber, wherein the composition includes a weight ratio of the glass fiber to the carbon fiber of about 1:0.3 to about 1:2.

Polycarbonate resin is a type of engineering plastic having excellent mechanical strength, thermal-resistance, and transparency, which is used in various fields including office automation devices, electric/electronic components, and construction materials. In the electric/electronic component field, the resin to be used as the exterior material of laptop computers is required to have high flame-retardancy. In addition, as televisions, monitors, and laptop computers become slimmer by using thin film transistors, the resin is required to have higher stiffness.
In general, together with thermoplastic polycarbonate resin, rubber modified styrene copolymer resin is used in electric/electronic products since it has good processability, impact strength, and appearance. Especially, for devices that radiate heat, rubber modified styrene copolymer resin is used together with flame-retardants. However, in such a case, the phenomenon of shrinking that is peculiar to plastic when being cooled may cause a product to twist or break.
Therefore, there is a need for a thermoplastic resin composition having excellent flame-retardancy but low shrinkage and undeteriorated mechanical properties.

Flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition and a molded product thereof


A method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, which is provided with discharge ports for discharging liquid; liquid flow paths communicated with the discharge ports for supplying the liquid to the discharge ports; heat generating elements arranged in the liquid flow paths for creating bubbles in the liquid; an elemental substrate having the heat generating elements therefor; and movable members arranged for the elemental substrate having each free end thereof on the discharge port side with a gap with the elemental substrate in the position facing the heat generating element on the elemental substrate, each free end of the movable members being displaced on the discharge port side centering on the fulcrum structured near the supporting and fixing portion with the elemental substrate by the pressure exerted by the creation of the bubbles for discharging the liquid form the discharge ports, comprises the steps of forming gap formation members; forming the material film; pattering the material film; and forming the gap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head used for a printer, a video printer, or the like serving as the output terminal for a copying machine, a facsimile equipment, a word processor, or a host computer, among some others. The invention also relates to a liquid discharge head manufactured by such method of manufacture, and a head cartridge, as well as to a liquid discharge recording apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head provided with an elemental substrate having the electrothermal transducing elements formed thereon to generate thermal energy which is utilized for discharging liquid, a liquid discharge head manufactured by such method of manufacture, a head cartridge, and a liquid discharge recording head as well. In other words, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head which is used for recording by discharging ink or other recording liquid from the discharge ports (orifices) as flying droplets which adhere to a recording medium. The invention also relates to a liquid discharge head manufactured by such method of manufacture, and a head cartridge, as well as to a liquid discharge recording apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
There has been known the ink jet recording method, that is, the so-called bubble jet recording method, in which heat or some other energy is applied to ink to change the states thereof with abrupt voluminal changes to follow, and ink is discharged from each of the discharge ports by the acting force based upon this change of states of ink, and then, ink is caused to adhere to a recording medium for the image formation. Here, as disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,129, the recording apparatus that uses this bubble jet recording method is generally provided with the discharge ports through which ink is discharged; the ink flow paths communicated with the discharge ports; and the electrothermal transducing elements serving as energy generating means for discharging ink.
In accordance with such method, it is possible to record images in high quality at high speed, and in a lesser amount of noises, and at the same time, it is possible to arrange the discharge ports for discharging ink in high density. Therefore, among many advantages, images can be formed in high resolution with a smaller apparatus, and also, color images can be also obtained as the excellent advantage of the method. In recent years, the bubble jet recording method has been widely utilized for a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile equipment, and many other office equipment. This method begins to be utilized even for a textile printing system and others for industrial use because of such advantages described above.
Meanwhile, along with the wider utilization of the bubble jet technologies and techniques for products in many fields, the various demands have been made more increasingly more in recent years as given below.
For example, the optimization of heat generating elements may be cited as the one that requires further studies on the enhancement of the energy efficiency, such as the adjustment of the thickness of the protection film provided for each of the heat generating elements. This technique is considered effective with respect to the improvement of the transfer efficiency of the generated heat to liquid.
Also, to obtain images in high quality, there has been proposed the driving condition that may implement the liquid discharge method which makes ink discharges at higher speeds with excellent ink discharges by the stable creation of bubbles. Also, from the viewpoint of the higher recording, there has been proposed an improved configuration of liquid flow paths for the provision of a liquid discharge head having the higher refilling speed of liquid to compensate for the amount of liquid that has been discharged.
Further, returning to the principle of liquid discharges, ardent studies have been made to provide a new liquid discharge method as disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-201966 and some others for the provision of heads and others by the utilization of bubbling, which has never been obtainable by the application of the conventional art.
Here, with reference to FIGS. 18A to 18D to FIG. 20, the description will be made of the conventional liquid discharge method disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-201966 and others, and also, of the head that uses such method. FIGS. 18A to 18D are views which illustrate the discharge principle of the conventional liquid discharge head. FIGS. 18A to 18D are cross-sectional view thereof, taken in the liquid flow path direction, respectively. Also, FIG. 19 is a partially broken perspective view which shows the liquid discharge head represented in FIGS. 18A to 18D. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view which shows the variational example of the liquid jet head represented in FIGS. 18A to 18D. The liquid discharge heads shown in FIGS. 18A to 18D and FIG. 20 represent the most fundamental structure for the provision of the enhanced discharge power and discharge efficiency by the control of the propagating direction of the pressure exerted by bubbling, as well as the direction of bubble development for the liquid discharges.
The terms xe2x80x9cupstreamxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d used for the following description are related to the flow direction of liquid toward the discharge ports from the supply source of the liquid through the bubble generating areas, and these terms are also meant to indicate the structural direction thereof.
Also, the term xe2x80x9cdownstream sidexe2x80x9d related to the bubble itself means the discharge port side of the bubble that mainly acts directly upon the liquid droplet discharge. More specifically, with respect to the center of the bubble, this means the downstream side related to the aforesaid flow direction or the aforesaid structural direction or it means the bubble which is created on the area on the downstream side of the area center of the heat generating element. (Likewise, the term xe2x80x9cupstream sidexe2x80x9d related to the bubble itself means the upstream side in the aforesaid flow direction or the aforesaid structural direction with respect to the center of the bubble or this means the bubble created on the area on the upstream side of the area center of the heat generating element.)
Also, the term xe2x80x9ccomb teethxe2x80x9d is meant to indicate the configuration of a movable member where the front of its free end is released with the supporting point of the movable member being a common member.
For the liquid discharge head shown in FIGS. 18A to 18D, the heat generating element 102 that activates thermal energy on liquid as discharge energy generating element for discharge liquid is provided for the elemental substrate 101. On the elemental substrate 101, the liquid flow path 103 is arranged corresponding to the heat generating element 102. The liquid flow path 103 is communicated with the discharge port 104, and at the same time, communicated with the common liquid chamber 105 that supplies liquid to a plurality of liquid flow paths 103, which receives liquid in an amount equivalent to that of liquid having been discharged from the discharge port 104, respectively.
On the portion of the elemental substrate 101 that corresponds to the liquid flow path 103, the plate type movable member 106 is arranged in a cantilever fashion with its plane portion that faces the heat generating element 102. The movable member 106 is formed by an elastic metal material or the like. One end of the movable member 106 is fixed to the pedestal 107 formed by patterning the photosensitive resin on the walls of the liquid flow path 103 or on the elemental substrate 101. In this manner, the movable member 106 is supported by the pedestal 107 to constitute the fulcrum 108 of the movable member 106.
Also, with the movable member 106 formed to be the comb teeth shape, it becomes easier to produce the movable member 106 easily at lower costs. Also, the alignment of the movable member 106 can be easily made to the pedestal 107. The movable member 106 has its fulcrum 108 on the upstream side in a large flow from the common liquid chamber 105 to the discharge port 104 side through above the movable member 106 at the time of operating the liquid discharge. The movable member is arranged in a position to face the heat generating element 102 to cover the heat generating element 102 with a gap of approximately 15 xcexcm with the heat generating element 102 so that it has the free end 109 on the downstream side of the fulcrum 108. There is each of the bubble generating areas 110 between the heat generating element 102 and the movable member 106.
Now, with reference to FIGS. 18A to 18D, the description will be made of the operation of the liquid discharge head structured as described above.
At first, in FIG. 18A, ink is filled on the bubble generating area 110 and in the interior of the liquid flow path 103.
Then, in FIG. 18B, when the heat generating element 102 is energized, heat is applied to liquid on the bubble generating area 110 between the movable member 106 and the heat generating element 102. Then, bubble 111 is created in liquid on the basis of the film boiling phenomenon disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,129 or the like. The pressure exerted by the creation of the bubble 111, and the bubble 111 act upon the bubble 111 priorly. Then, the movable member 106 is displaced so that it opens largely on the discharge port 104 side centering on the fulcrum 108 as shown in FIG. 18B, FIG. 18C or FIG. 19. By with the propagation of the pressure exerted by the bubble 111 by the displacement of the movable member 106 or by the displaced condition thereof or with the width provided for the leading end of the bubble 109, it becomes easier to lead the bubbling power of the bubble 111 to the discharge port 104 side. Thus, the fundamental enhancement can be attempted as to the discharge efficiency of the liquid droplets 132, the discharge power, the discharge speed, or the like. Here, in FIG. 19, a reference numeral 130 designates the area center of the heat generating element.
As described above, the technologies and techniques disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-201966 and others are those which control bubbles positively by changing the relationship between the fulcrum and free end of the movable member in the liquid path so that the free end of the movable member is positioned on the discharge port side, that is, on the downstream side, and also, by arranging the movable member to face the heat generating element or the bubble generating area.
Now, the liquid discharge head shown in FIG. 20 is also provided with the elemental substrate 201, the heat generating element 202, the liquid flow path 203, the discharge port 204, the common liquid chamber 205, and the bubble generating area 209, each structure of which is the same as each of those constituting the liquid discharge head described in conjunction with FIGS. 18A to 18D, respectively. Therefore, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.
For the movable member 206 formed in a cantilever fashion for the liquid discharge head shown in FIG. 20, a stepping portion is provided on one end at 206a. The movable member 206 is thus fixed onto the elemental substrate 201 directly. The movable member 206 is held on the elemental substrate 201. Then, the fulcrum 207 of the movable member 206 is formed with the free end 208 which is structured on the downstream side of the fulcrum 207.
As described above, with the provision of the pedestal for the fixing portion of the movable member or the stepping portion for the fixing portion of the movable member, the gap of approximately 1 to 20 xcexcm is formed between the movable member and the heat generating member so as to sufficiently produce effect by the movable member on the enhancement of the liquid discharge efficiency. Therefore, in accordance with the liquid discharge head or the like which is based on the discharge principle described above, it becomes possible to obtain the synergetic effect by the application of the bubbles thus created and the movable members which can displace by the creation of bubbles. Then, as compared with the discharge method and the liquid discharge head of the conventional bubble jet type which does not use any movable members, the liquid discharge efficiency is enhanced.
The main subject of the present invention is to provide the fundamental discharge characteristics of the liquid discharge method of the basic type, in which the conventional bubbles, particularly the bubbles which are created following the film boiling, are formed in the liquid flow paths, at a higher level which has never been expected in accordance with the conventional art.
The inventors hereof have ardently studied a new liquid discharge method that utilizes the bubbles which have never been obtainable by the conventional art in order to provide a head that uses such method. During the studies that the inventors have made, it has been attempted to carry out a first technical analysis on the principle of the mechanism for the movable member in the liquid flow path, beginning with the operation of the movable member in the liquid flow path; a second technical analysis beginning with the principle of the liquid discharge by the application of bubbles; and a third technical analysis beginning with the bubble generating area of the heat generating member for use of the bubble creation. Based on these analyses, the inventors hereof have established a completely new technology with which to control bubbles positively by making the positional relationship between the fulcrum and free end of the movable member so as to position the free end thereof on the discharge port side, that is, on the downstream side, and also, by arranging the movable member to face the heat generating element or the bubble generating area.
Then, in consideration of the energy generated by the bubble itself which exerts influences on the discharge amount, the inventors hereof have acquired the knowledge that the development component of the bubble on the downstream side is the largest factor that should be taken into account for the significant enhancement of the discharge characteristics. In other words, it has been found that the effective transformation of the development component of the bubble on the downstream side in the discharge direction is the one that may bring about the enhancement of the discharge efficiency, and discharge speed as well.
Further, it has been found that the structural elements should preferably be taken into account as to the heat generating area for the bubble formation, that is, the downstream side of the center line running through the area center of the electrothermal transducing element in the flow direction, for example, or the movable member and the liquid flow path which are related to the development of the bubble on the downstream side of the area center of the plane that may deal with bubbling, among some others.
Also, on the other hand, it has been found that the refilling speed can be enhanced significantly with the consideration given to the arrangement of the movable member, as well as to the structure of the liquid supply path.
Now, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head capable of manufacturing the highly reliable liquid discharge head whose discharge characteristics are stabilized when liquid is discharged by the utilization of the displacement of the free ends of the movable members by the pressure exerted by the creation of bubbles, and also, to provide the liquid discharge head which is manufactured by such method of manufacture, as well as the head cartridge and the liquid discharge recording apparatus. Also, it is another object of the invention to provide a method for manufacturing the liquid discharge head for which the movable members and others of the liquid discharge head can be formed in high precision and in high density. It is still another object of the invention to provide a method for manufacturing the liquid discharge head capable of performing high quality recording, and also, maintaining stabilized discharges without almost no changes in the flow resistance of the liquid flow paths, the close contactness between the elemental substrate and the flow path walls, and also, in the positions of the movable members and the liquid flow paths with respect to the heat generating elements even when the head temperature changes along the high speed printing or the like.
In order to achieve the objects discussed above, the method of the present invention for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, which is provided with a discharge port for discharging liquid; a liquid flow path communicated with the discharge port for supplying the liquid to the discharge port; a heat generating element arranged in the liquid flow path for creating a bubble in the liquid; an elemental substrate having the heat generating element therefor; and a movable member arranged for the elemental substrate having the free end thereof on the discharge port side with a gap with the elemental substrate in the position facing the heat generating element on the elemental substrate, the free end of the movable member being displaced on the discharge port side centering on the fulcrum structured near the supporting and fixing portion with the elemental substrate by the pressure exerted by the creation of the bubble for discharging the liquid from the discharge port, comprises the steps of: forming a gap formation member with Al to form the gap between the elemental substrate and the movable member on the surface of the elemental substrate on the heat generating element side; forming the material film for the formation of the movable member so as to cover the gap formation member; patterning the material film by dry etching; and forming the gap by eluting the gap formation member. Here, the gap formation member formed with Al is extended to be the etching area of the material film in this method of manufacture.
In order to achiever the objects discussed above, the method of the present invention for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, which is provided with discharge port for discharging liquid; a liquid flow path communicated with the discharge port for supplying the liquid to the discharge port; a heat generating element arranged in the liquid flow path for creating bubble in the liquid; an elemental substrate having the heat generating element therefor; and a movable member arranged for the elemental substrate having the free end thereof on the discharge port side with a gap with the elemental substrate in the position facing the heat generating element on the elemental substrate, the free end of the movable member being displaced on the discharge port side centering on the fulcrum structured near the supporting and fixing portion with the elemental substrate by the pressure exerted by the creation of the bubble for discharging the liquid from the discharge port, comprises the steps of forming a gap formation member with Al to form the gap between the elemental substrate and the movable member on the surface of the elemental substrate on the heat generating element side; forming the material film for the formation of the movable member so as to cover the gap formation member; pattering the material film by dry etching; and forming the gap by eluting the gap formation member. Here, the gap formation member formed with Al is extended to the etching area of the material film in this method of manufacture.
Also, a method of the present invention method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, which is provided with a discharge port for discharging liquid; a liquid flow path communicated with the discharge port for supplying the liquid to the discharge port; an elemental substrate having a heat generating element provided for one face side thereof for creating bubble in the liquid in the liquid flow path; a liquid flow path side wall formed on the elemental substrate to form the liquid flow path; and a movable member arranged for the elemental substrate, having the free end on the discharge port side with a gap with the elemental substrate in the position facing the heat generating element on the elemental substrate, and then, the free end of the movable member being displaced on the discharge port side centering on the fulcrum structured near the supporting and fixing portion with the elemental substrate by the pressure exerted by the creation of the bubble for discharging the liquid from the discharge port, comprises the steps of forming a gap formation member locally for the formation of the gap between the elemental substrate and the movable member on the surface of the elemental substrate on the heat generating element side; forming the silicon material film for the formation of the movable member on the surface of the elemental substrate on the heat generating element side; forming a first mask layer on the surface portion of the material film for the formation of the movable member corresponding to the movable member; forming the silicon material film for the formation of the flow path side wall on the surface of the material film for the formation of the movable member and the surface of the first mask layer; forming a second mask layer on the surface portion of the film for the formation of the flow path side wall; forming at least a part of the liquid flow path and the flow path side wall by patterning the material film for the formation of movable member and the film for the formation of the flow path side wall by etching using the first and second masks, and removing the gap formation member and the second mask layer to form the movable member.
Also, a method of the present invention for manufacturing a liquid discharge head, which is provided with a discharge port for discharging liquid; a liquid flow path communicated with the discharge port for supplying the liquid to the discharge port; an elemental substrate having a heat generating element provided for one face side thereof for creating bubble in the liquid in the liquid flow path; a liquid flow path side wall formed on the elemental substrate to form the liquid flow path; and a movable member arranged for the elemental substrate, having a free end thereof on the discharge port side with a gap with the elemental substrate in the position facing the heat generating element on the elemental substrate, and a stopper portion to regulate the displacement of the movable member, the free end of the movable member being displaced on the discharge port side centering on the fulcrum structured near the supporting and fixing portion with the elemental substrate by the pressure exerted by the creation of the bubble for discharging the liquid form the discharge port, comprises the steps of arranging the film for the formation of flow path side wall on the movable member on the elemental substrate; and embedding part of liquid flow path and the stopper portion simultaneously on the movable member by etching the film using the pattern different from the liquid flow path pattern in the movable area of the movable member.
In accordance with the methods of manufacture of the present invention described above, it becomes possible to manufacture the liquid discharge head which is capable of directing the exerted pressure toward the discharge ports with the provision of the movable members for the liquid discharge head, which are displaced by the pressure exerted by the creation of bubbles, and also, capable of discharging liquid by the application of high discharge pressure with high discharge energy efficiency, while enhancing the capability of refilling discharge liquid.
Also, silicon is used for the elemental substrate. Then, using silicon material, such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or silicon carbide, as the material for the formation of the movable members and the flow path side walls, the thermal expansion coefficients of these members become almost equal. Thus, it becomes possible to prevent strength from becoming weaker for the fixing portion of the movable members with the elemental substrate, as well as for the close contactness between the flow path side walls and the elemental substrate. As a result, it is possible to manufacture the liquid discharge head for which almost no changes are made in the close contactness between the elemental substrate and flow path walls, the positions of the movable members and flow path walls, and also, in the flow resistance of liquid flow paths even when the temperature of the liquid discharge head is caused to change.
Further, the cavitation proof film provided for the elemental substrate is grounded when forming the material film for the formation of movable members and the film for the formation of flow path side walls by use of the plasma CVD method. As a result, it becomes possible to prevent the heat generating elements and other functional elements on the elemental substrate due to the ion seed and radical decomposed by the plasma discharges.
Further, the gap formation members are grounded when forming at least a part of the liquid flow paths and flow path side walls by patterning the material film for the formation of the movable members and the film for the formation of the flow path side walls by use of the dry etching. It becomes possible to prevent damages that may be caused to the heat generating elements 2 and other functional elements on the elemental substrate 1 due to the ion seed and radical loads generated by the decomposition of CF4 gas or other gas, for example.
Also, the liquid discharge head of the present invention is the one that discharges liquid by the utilization of bubbles created when thermal energy is activated on liquid, which is manufactured by the method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head described above.
Further, the head cartridge of the present invention is provided with the liquid discharge head manufactured by the method of manufacture described above, and also, provided with the liquid container that contains liquid to be supplied to this liquid discharge head.
Further, the liquid discharge recording apparatus of the present invention is provided with the liquid discharge head manufactured by the method of manufacture described above, and also, provided with means for supplying driving signals to supply them for discharging liquid from the liquid discharge head.
Further, the liquid discharge recording apparatus of the present invention is provided with the liquid discharge head manufactured by the method of manufacture described above, and also, provided with means for carrying a recording medium to carry the recording medium that receives liquid discharged from the liquid discharge head.
The liquid discharge recording apparatus described above performs recording by discharging liquid from the aforesaid liquid discharge head for the adhesion of the liquid to the recording medium.
The terms xe2x80x9cupstreamxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d used for the description of the present invention are related to the flow direction of liquid toward the discharge ports from the supply source of the liquid through the bubble generating areas (or movable members), and these terms are also meant to indicate the structural direction thereof.
Also, the term xe2x80x9cdownstream sidexe2x80x9d related to the bubble itself means the downstream side of the center of a bubble in the aforesaid flow direction and the aforesaid structural direction or this term means the bubble created on the downstream side area of the area center of a heat generating element. Likewise, the term xe2x80x9cupstream sidexe2x80x9d related to the bubble itself means the upstream side of the center of a bubble in the aforesaid flow direction and the aforesaid structural direction or it means a bubble created on the upstream side area of the area center of a heat generating element.
Other objectives and advantages besides those discussed above will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which illustrate an example of the invention. Such example, however, is not exhaustive of the various embodiments of the invention, and therefore reference is made to the claims which follow the description for determining the scope of the invention.

Method for manufacturing liquid discharge head, liquid discharge head, head cartridge, and liquid discharge recording apparatus


Etch uniformity is improved in that a specified material layer to be etched is exposed to an ion beam so as to implant an ion species, wherein at least one implantation parameter is varied in conformity with local etch rates of the specified material layer. In this way, etch non-uniformities, induced by tool non-uniformities and recipe specific characteristics, may be significantly reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the present invention relates to the field of fabricating microstructures such as integrated circuits, micromechanical structures and the like, and, more particularly, to the formation of structural elements by removing material in an etch tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, microstructures are integrated into a wide variety of products. One example in this respect is the employment of integrated circuits that, due to their relatively low cost and high performance, are increasingly used in many types of devices, thereby allowing superior control and operation of those devices. Due to economic reasons, manufacturers of microstructures, such as integrated circuits, are confronted with the task of steadily improving performance of these microstructures and/or reducing production costs with every new device generation appearing on the market. Manufacturing of microstructures is typically accomplished by producing a large number of substantially identical devices on a single substrate, wherein many manufacturing steps, such as depositing material layers and patterning material layers by etching, are performed simultaneously for all devices on the substrate. Thus, there is an ongoing drive in this field of industry to steadily increase the substrate size so as to place as many devices as possible on a single substrate, thereby increasing production yield.
On the other hand, an increasing substrate size may entail a plurality of issues in terms of substrate handling and process uniformity across the entire substrate area. The problem of process non-uniformities is even exacerbated as the critical dimensions of structural elements are reduced, since corresponding process tolerances, i.e., maximal allowable deviations from a design value, are also usually reduced, requiring an advanced process control.
One important process sequence in forming microstructures, such as sophisticated integrated circuits, is the transfer of a pattern provided in a mask layer into a material layer located underneath the mask layer by etching exposed portions of the lower material layer while substantially maintaining portions covered by the mask layer. Thus, a high degree of anisotropy in the material removal is necessary to obtain the required pattern with a minimum of under-etching. Etch processes of this type are configured as so-called dry etch processes performed in a gaseous atmosphere creating an anisotropic particle bombardment. In contrast, wet etch processes typically exhibit a substantially identical etch rate in all directions, i.e., an isotropic process, and therefore do not allow the formation of structural elements with lateral dimensions in a material layer having a thickness on the order of the lateral dimensions of the elements. The etch rate is herein defined as the thickness decrease of a specified material layer per time unit. For example, the etch rate may be expressed by nanometer per minute, or the like. Ideally, an etch process exhibits high selectivity to the material of the mask layer, frequently provided as a photoresist layer, and also to the material lying under the material to be removed. Moreover, a moderately high etch rate in the vertical direction and a negligible etch rate in the horizontal direction is preferred, unless a certain under-etching or an isotropic etching behavior is desired.
A large number of etch tools have been developed that more or less comply with the above-identified requirements. As the dimensions of the substrates are increasing, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain process uniformity, i.e., a substantially constant etch rate, within the entire process chamber. In particular, it turns out that it is extremely difficult to establish substantially constant conditions over a distance of approximately some several hundred millimeters so that for substrate sizes of modern integrated circuits, i.e., 200 mm or even 300 mm, the etch tools are designed so as to process single substrates sequentially. Presently, a plurality of tool configurations are used to anisotropically or isotropically etch wafers. For instance, single wafer parallel plate reactors have a relatively simple configuration, in which the substrate is placed on one of two parallel electrodes so as to establish a plasma atmosphere over the substrate surface. Obtaining an appropriate etch rate uniformity across the entire substrate surface, however, requires an optimum gas distribution provided by a so-called shower head, which is difficult to achieve for substrates having a large diameter.
A further type of dry etching tool is a so-called magnetic-enhanced reactive ion etcher, in which the magnetron principle from sputter deposition tools is used to enhance the excitation process for primary electrons at lower gas pressures. Another type of etch tool is represented by downstream etchers, in which the reactive species are created in a plasma remote from the actual process chamber and are then transported to the process chamber. Since these etch tools lack the directionality of charged particles being directed to the substrate surface, the corresponding etch behavior is isotropical. Yet another tool configuration allowing good line width control, selectivity and low particle bombardment-induced damage is based on electrode-less, low pressure, high density plasma sources.
Despite the many successes achieved in the development of modern etch tools, it appears, nevertheless, that etch rate non-uniformities may occur in the range of several percent, depending on the specific etch tool and etch recipe used. In some applications, the etch rate non-uniformity may have a significant influence on the performance of the completed devices. For instance, modern integrated circuits formed in conformity with sophisticated CMOS technologies require extremely thin gate insulation layers to allow the fabrication of field effect transistors having a gate length in the deep sub-micron range. As a consequence, the patterning of an overlying gate electrode, typically provided as a doped polysilicon layer, necessitates a highly anisotropic accurate etch process that can be reliably stopped at the gate insulation layer without unduly damaging this layer. A non-uniformity of the etch rate may lead to a corresponding non-uniformity of the gate insulation layers, and, thus, of transistor performance of devices located at different areas of the substrate. A further example, in view of a minimal etch non-uniformity, is the formation of vias and trenches in a low-k dielectric, which is increasingly used in forming copper-based metallization layers.
In some approaches for forming these metallization layers, the vias are formed first and, subsequently, the trenches are etched without employing an etch stop layer so as to not unduly compromise the total permittivity of the low-k dielectric. Since the finally obtained depth of the trenches is merely controlled by the etch time, a corresponding non-uniformity of the etch rate may lead to a corresponding variation of the trench depth and may thus result in a significant conductivity variation after the trenches are filled with copper.
In view of the problems identified above, there exists a need for an improved technique that may provide increased etch rate uniformity in modern etch tools. The present invention is directed to various methods and systems that may solve, or at least reduce, some or all of the aforementioned problems.

Method of compensating for etch rate non-uniformities by ion implantation


A projection assembly is provided herein. According to one exemplary embodiment, the projection assembly includes a modulator assembly, the modulator including at least one modulator panel, a projection lens assembly including a first projection lens sub-assembly in optical communication with the modulator assembly, the first projection lens sub-assembly being configured to form a virtual modulator, the virtual modulator corresponding to the output of the modulator assembly focused at a single plane.

A conventional system or device for displaying an image, such as a television monitor, projector, or other imaging system, is frequently used to display a still or video image. Viewers evaluate display systems based on many criteria such as image size, contrast ratio, color purity, brightness, pixel color accuracy, and resolution. Image brightness, pixel color accuracy, and resolution are particularly important metrics in many display markets because the available brightness, pixel color accuracy, and resolution can limit the size of a displayed image and control how well the image can be seen in venues having high levels of ambient light.
Many digital display systems create an image with one or more modulator panels. In particular, modulator panels modulate light that is incident thereon to form an image or sub-image. Multiple modulator panels may be used to create a higher quality image. In such systems, multiple components, such as beam splitters, total internal reflection prisms, and color combiners, to name a few, are used to direct light to and from each of the modulator panels. The number of such components present frequently increases as the number of modulator panels increases. As light is directed to each of these components, a small portion of the light diverges from the intended path. If this light, referred to as stray light, reaches the screen it mixes with the modulated light. The mixing of the stray light with the modulated light reduces the contrast of the displayed image.
In addition to transmitting some amount of stray light, the presence of multiple components frequently constrains the back focal distance of the display optics. In particular, the location of the display optics is frequently selected to accommodate other components while remaining in communication with the modulator panel or panels.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The invention belongs to the field of cloud technology and cloud processing, it discloses an XBRL-based intelligent financial cloud platform system, provides rich accounting services for users in an efficient and convenient manner. The platform system comprises a tenant document, a document tool, an accounting tool and an administration center deployed on a server; the tenant document implements the functions such as order creation, order status query and historical order viewing; the document tool provides such cloud services as image preprocessing, element correction and total element correction; the accounting tool provides such cloud services as rule checking, simulated accounting and accounting reviewing; the administration center is used to provide private cloud management and operation services for financial cloud in an automated, intelligent and standardized manner, consisting of a grain center, a definition center, a construction center, a business center, a user center and an operation center. Furthermore, the invention also provides a construction method and a business implementation method corresponding to the cloud platform system, it is suitable for providing efficient and convenient accounting cloud services.

XBRL is an XML-based (eXtensible Markup Language) open business reporting technology standard and a computer language specially used for the preparation, disclosure and application of financial report based on Internet and cross-platform operations. By adding specific tags to data in business reports such as financial and accounting reports and defining their interrelationships, a computer can "read" these reports and process them in accordance with business logic. XBRL GL is an XBRL taxonomy standard for recording transaction-level financial and non-financial details.
In terms of function expanding, Internet can better serve internal management through simultaneous integration of financial accounting and business activities, organic integration of accounting control, internal control and business processes, real-time reflection and effective monitoring of economic activities. In terms of accounting technology, the accounting work will be conducted paperless step by step, thus, based on powerful identification, analysis, comparison and summarization functions of XBRL technology, accounting information will be transformed from manual identification to computer identification, integrated from single information to system information, processed from multiple entries to one-time compilation, so as to improve the accuracy, timeliness and integration of accounting information. In terms of organizational form, the accounting work can be changed from a decentralized independent accounting mode to a centralized financial sharing mode, with the help of Internet which may promote the proper separation of accounting and business activities in physical space, and of efficient and highly integrated software systems and communication technologies. In terms of service mode, Internet platform can help change the offline business of accounting service organizations into the online business mainly, which realizes real-time accounting and real-time financial consultation, break the geographical limits of accounting services, provides more efficient and more convenient accounting services for customers, and promotes the further transformation of the management service mode of accounting management departments.

XBRL-based intelligent financial cloud platform system, construction method and business implementation method thereof


The present invention features a reusable, pipe-laying device with an automatically adjustable, self-locking member that will accommodate pipes having different diameter sizes. The pipe-support unit of the present pipe-laying device slidably supports an angled, locking bar that will tangentially engage with different diameter sizes resting on the pipe-support unit, thus locking them in place. The pipe-support unit is disposed on a contiguous shaft to that of a staking shaft. The locking bar is slidable upon the contiguous, supporting shaft, and thus comes into tangential contact with a pipe, as it is lowered into place. The tangential contact provides the means by which pipes of different diameter sizes engage with, and are locked by, the locking bar.

In the field of pipe laying, spacing tools have been useful in ensuring that a pipe which is laid below ground is both level and horizontally uniform over its longitudinal length, or, where needed, inclines incrementally to achieve a precise rate of fall (grade) with respect to the prepared, bottom surface of the subterranean trench. Several different staking devices have been developed for this purpose. All of the heretofore developed staking devices feature a horizontal support for a given diameter of pipe. These devices are driven into the ground at spaced-apart intervals, until the pipe support reaches a given distance above the surface of the subterranean trench. The pipe is then laid upon the horizontal support of each stake, thus ensuring that the pipe is level or at a constant-sloped grade along the longitude of the trench. After the earth is filled into the trench to support and cover the pipe, the staking units are removed.
One such spacing tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,247 (issued to MURPHY on Sep. 7, 1993), and entitled "Apparatus for Laying Pipe". This apparatus features a plurality of spaced-apart stakes that are driven into the ground. Each stake has a horizontally disposed pipe support that extends perpendicularly from the vertically disposed stake. The pipe support is disposed upon a slidable sleeve that moves vertically upon the stake to adjust the height of the support. The pipe support can be fabricated in different sizes to accommodate different diameter-sizes of pipes. The support is spring-loaded, so as to fit snugly about the pipe.
Another such spacing tool is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,424 (issued to NETZ, Sr. on Aug. 1, 1995), and entitled "Septic Pipe Field Drain Holders". The pipe-holding device allows for a pipe support to accommodate a given size of pipe diameter. The pipe is disposed upon this support; after the pipe is laid into the trench and the earth is filled in, the support is rotated out of engagement with the pipe. The pipe support is then removed from the ground in order to be used again.
Devices of the prior art feature staking devices that are designed for a given-sized pipe. In other words, each of these devices requires that a predetermined size of pipe exclusively be used with the staking apparatus. It is true that building codes specify a minimum, or, a standard size of pipe for drainage. However, should an odd size pipe be laid for other purposes (such as underground sprinklers, underground watering devices, etc.), then such fixed-diameter tools would not be useful. In such a case, a staking apparatus would require modification or refabrication with a differently-sized supporting component.
The present invention provides an improved staking device over these aforementioned, patented, staking apparatuses.
The current invention features an improved staking device that can accommodate differently-sized pipes and is easily removeable. The pipe-support unit of the present staking device slidably supports an angled locking bar, that will tangentially, automatically engage with different diameter sizes of pipe resting on the pipe-support unit, thus automatically locking them in place. The pipe-support unit is disposed on a shaft that is contiguous to the staking shaft. The locking bar is slidable upon the contiguous, supporting shaft, and thus comes into tangential contact with a pipe, as aforementioned. This tangential contact provides the means by which pipe having different diameter-sizes engage with, and are automatically locked by, the locking bar.
In addition to the self-adjustable, self-locking unit, the staking device of this invention also features a depth ring. This depth ring allows the driving stake to be driven to a given depth, thus eliminating the need for measuring the height at which the pipe is laid above the surface of the subterranean trench.
A further advantage of the present staking device features textured metal surfaces for both the staking and support components. When using the pipe-laying tool, these textured surfaces provide added strength and frictional engagement. Moreover, it features a driving shaft with a blunt, lower end for added friction and resistance to movement.
It has been found that, by using the pipe-laying device of the present invention, a time savings of up to 50% can be achieved over other, conventional pipe-laying processes.


A composite armor 10 is provided with a cellular structure 12 having a plurality of composite inserts 14 arranged in openings 20 provided in the cellular structure 12. A pair of laminate sheets are arranged on oppositely facing sides of the cellular structure 12 and covering the inserts 14. The laminate sheets 26 and 28 are bonded to the structure 12 and the inserts 14 by an adhesive. The cellular structure 12 includes a plurality of fibers extending continuously throughout the cellular structure 12.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to armor used for preventing the penetration of structures by projectiles. More specifically, the invention relates to an improved armor including a fiber grid having composite tiles retained in the grid that together provide overall support to the structure being protected while also improving the armor performance of each individual composite tile.
2. Background of the Invention
Armor systems have been known to include thick metal as a skin of a structure being protected. For example, military vehicles have, for several years, included a thick metal plate on their exterior in order to reduce the likelihood of projectile penetration. Such thick metal armor systems while effective can also be extremely heavy and, as such, cause problems relating to vehicle speed, fuel consumption and vehicle assembly.
In some cases, these metal armor systems have been replaced with lighter weight armor systems made from composite materials having reinforced fibers made of, for example, Kevlar, S-2 glass, graphite, or high molecular weight polyethylene. Such armor systems have utilized these multiple layers of composite materials in order to achieve reduced overall weight, and provide sufficient structural properties, while preserving the ability of the armor to provide protection against penetration. For example, some known systems include the use of Kevlar in combination with two outer plates surrounding such Kevlar. Illustrative of such a composite armor system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,648.
Also, armor systems using ceramic plates in connection with a grid are well known in the art as capable of providing protection against penetrating high speed projectiles while providing a reduction in the overall weight of the armor system. The ceramic plates have been known to have convex surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 6,826,996 discloses convex plates inserted into a honeycomb grid. Upon impact by a projectile into such ceramic plates, it has been known that managing the propagation of cracks from the impacted plate to an adjacent plate is critical.
The prior art grids are made of steel, fiber, or composite materials and are used in connection with holding ceramic plates inserted into openings formed by such grid structures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,156 discloses a grid structure made of metal strips. The openings have been known to be either blind openings, opening only to one side of the grid, or, through holes, open to both sides of the grid. The openings of such grids have been shaped in many different forms including, for example, squares, triangles, and hexagons. The grid structure is usually designed with a material having an effective acoustic impedance lower than the ceramic plates in order to reduce the propagation of damaging stresses to adjacent ceramic plates.
In order to manage the propagation of such stresses, prior art armor systems have used auxiliary layers of laminate sheet material bonded to the front and the back of the grid structures. In some cases, only one laminate sheet has been bonded to either one of the front or the back of such grid structures. It has been known to make such laminate sheet material out of Kevlar. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,893 discloses a composite laminate sheet made of woven fiber in a resinous matrix. Such laminate sheet materials can be bonded to the grid structure with resins.
Illustrative of the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,826,996 assigned to General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. and Mofet Etzion Agricultural Cooperative Association Ltd. The '996 patent discloses a honeycomb grid structure having openings for receiving convex composite plates and a pair of preform sheets secured to both sides of the grid structure. The '996 patent discloses the honeycomb grid as made of material selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, aluminum, aramid sheet, fiber, or fabric.
Testing of such known armor systems having grid structures with composite inserts surrounded by preform sheets has revealed that the propagation of cracks and debris, created during impact, weakens the adjacent composite plates. The propagation of such cracks results from poorly designed grid structures failing to eliminate both crack propagation, debris, and stress wave propagation.

Composite armor with a cellular structure


An electrical fuse circuit design for reducing the testing time for a semiconductor device manufactured with redundant eFuse circuitry. A two-to-one multiplexer (MUX) is provided at each eFuse circuit in addition to the fuse latch and pattern latch. Information on which fuse is to be blown is stored in the fuse's pattern latch. The output of the pattern latch is ANDed with a program input to provide a select signal for the MUX. Based on the select signal, the MUX allows the shifted “1” to either go to the next latch in the shift chain or bypass the next latch or latches in the shift chain when the next fuse(s) is not to be blown. Accordingly, the invention enables only those fuse latches associated with fuses that are to be blown to hold up the propagation of the shifted “1” to the next eFuse circuits.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices and in particular to electrical programming of on-chip fuses of semi-conductor devices. Still more particularly the present invention relates to reducing fusing time during electrical programming of on-chip fuses of semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current semiconductors and other similar devices are often manufactured with a large number of fuse elements which are used to invoke the replacement of failing cells or components, and provide DAC trimming, etc. During testing of the device, selected fuses are usually blown by either a laser beam or an electrical current, depending on the design of the fuse/device. In an electrical fuse design, electronically programmable fuses are blown by passing a current through the fuse link. The electrical current then causes a permanent change to the resistance of the fuse. The fuses that are blown are selected via one or more programming methods, which are generally known to those skilled in the art.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art schematic of a portion of a device with fuse elements (eFuse circuits) and input signals/logic. Only two fuses are illustrated, although a complete device may comprise a much larger number of fuses. As shown, the electrical fuse circuits are fabricated with two latches per fuse. The first latch, which is called the fuse sense latch (or fuse latch) 103 is utilized to read the state of the fuse and is also utilized during the fusing process to enable/disable the blowing of the associated fuse. The second latch, called the pattern latch 113, is utilized to store the redundancy solution that was calculated for the device. According to FIG. 1, the fuse latch 103 is in the "upper" register and the pattern latch 113 is in the "lower" register.
As illustrated, the two chains of latches (fuse latches 103 and pattern latches 113) are connected in serial fashion, with each latch receiving it's shift input from the previous latch and sending it's shift output to the next latch in the chain. With this topology, enabling an electrical fuse to be programmed requires that both the output of the fuse latch 103 and pattern latch 113 corresponding to a specific fuse be set high (utilizing and AND logic function 105). Prior to fuse programming, the FSOURCE input 109 is set to a voltage high enough to program the fuses. Other inputs, including clock inputs ACLK 110 and BCLK 111, for example, along with input logic 116–119 are utilized to set the values within the latches. During the time that both latches are set high and global input GATEN is high, the programming transistor 107 for the eFuse turns on, blowing the connected fuse 106.
A major cost adder to the production of semiconductor devices (such as ASIC—application-specific integrated circuit—logic chips) is the time and financial costs incurred when testing the device. A major portion of the testing and associated costs involves the fusing process (i.e., the process by which the fuses are selected and electrically blown). Current electrical fusing times are on the order of 200 μs per fuse. Due to the fusing current and on chip routing of relatively high voltage and high current busses, fusing multiple fuses at a time is not a practical solution for typical semiconductor devices. With fusing current as high as 15 mA per fuse, multiple simultaneous fuse blow becomes difficult and requires more device I/O's to be dedicated to the fuse blow input (called FSOURCE) supply. Using many input pads on a chip/package to support electrical fusing is not a cost effective solution. Thus, fuses are currently blown in a serial manner (i.e., one at a time) during testing because of the high fusing current and other factors describe. With electrical fuses it is desirable to reduce fusing time as much as possible.
The fusing process can require a significant amount of time compared to the overall testing time. This is mainly due to the microsecond time scale used in fusing versus the nanosecond timings used for test. The fusing time is controlled by the rate at which a single '1' is clocked or shifted through the fuse latches 103. Only one fuse latch 103 is set high at a time, guaranteeing only one fuse 106 is "blown" at a time. With this design, fusing time required for one fuse is spent on every latch in the fuse latch shift chain.
For example, assume the fusing process takes 1 clock cycle to blow each fuse. Then, the number of total clock cycles required for completing the test when the fuses are serially blown equals at least the number of fuses in the device. With the large number of fuses in current devices, typically hundreds or thousands, this serial implementation requires significant time commitment and is extremely inefficient for devices that only require a small percentage of the available fuses to be blown.
Another primary concern with current designs is the area overhead incurred due to the need to individually address electrical fuses on-chip. U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,911 provides one solution that addresses this area overhead problem by creating a shift register by a serial in/serial out wiring of the fuse latches and the connection of the gates of the blow transistors to the serial out port of each fuse latch. However, the problem of fuse time remains as the technique provided by the patent fails to reduce the one-by-one propagation of the signal through each latch of the fuse scan chain. That is, the programming information is propagated from latch to latch as a single "1" acting as a pointer that activates only one fuse latch per clock cycle. Also, only one fuse is blown per clock cycle to prevent the problems associated with high electrical current and other overhead issues described above.
From the perspective of a scan path, particular types of latches are provided to enable a scan chain evaluation for the device. In FIG. 1, the fuse scan chain connections are illustrated with LSSD (level sensitive scan design) latches. The fuse latches 103 and pattern latches 113 are serially connected and wired into the fuse logic. The fuse pattern is loaded into the lower or pattern register prior to programming. The upper or fuse register has a single bit ("1") loaded and "walked" down the shift register. The clock frequency utilized to clock the fuse register gives simple control over the fuse programming time.
As illustrated by FIG. 1, each serial register of latches (LSSD scan latches) comprises a dual latch. The first latch in an LSSD scan latch is called the L1 and is loaded with clock signal ACLK 110. The second latch in the LSSD scan latch is called the L2 and is loaded with signal BCLK 111. When the fuse 107 is sensed, the value is sensed into the latch L1. Sensing of the fuse is done with a single ended resistor divider technique that is generally known to those skilled in the art. If the fuse 107 is intact, the latch will be pulled low by the connection from the fuse to FSOURCE 109, which must be at 0 Volts (GND) during sensing of the fuse. If the fuse 107 is programmed (blown), the latch L1 will remain high. Once the signal that enables fuse sense goes low, the fuse latch sensing is complete.
The present invention recognizes the inefficiencies that exist in the design and testing of current devices and recognizes that it would be desirable to reduce the time and costs associated with the fusing process, particularly when only a small fraction of the total number of fuses are actually being blown. A method and device that enables efficient completion of the fuse blowing stage of device testing would be a welcomed improvement. It would be further desirable if the method and device also enabled reduced area overhead along with the reduced fusing time. These and other benefits are provided by the invention described below.

Method for reduced electrical fusing time

International Business Machines Corporation


Described herein are mechanisms for continuous automatic tuning of code regions for optimal hardware configurations for the code regions. One mechanism automatically tunes the tunable parameters for a demarcated code region by calculating metrics while executing the code region with different sets of tunable parameters and selecting one of the different sets based on the calculated metrics.

Processors have many tunable parameters that can be set either at manufacturing, at system boot time, such as by the Basic Input-Output System (BIOS), or at runtime such as by the operating system (OS). Some of these tunable parameters include: (1) Hardware (HW) prefetcher settings, including turning on or off some HW prefetchers; (2) Software (SW) prefetch instruction settings, including ignoring or honoring SW prefetch instructions; (3) Cache evict/replacement hints, including ignoring or honoring cache evict/replacement hints; (4) Cache sizes, including dynamically configuring the cache sizes; (5) Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM) channels, including configuring DRAM page opening policies and buffer sizes; and (6) HW buffer size, including configuring various HW buffer sizes or HW structure sizes.
Such parameters are generally set permanently (e.g., in BIOS) to be compatible with a wide variety of applications. As such, these settings may not be optimal for a given application. For instance, a given prefetcher setting may be beneficial to application A, whereas the same setting may reduce the performance of application B. In addition, because the prefetcher setting is fixed for a wide variety of applications, this setting is not tuned for optimizing the execution of application B.
Tunable parameters can be even coarser grain—for instance, in a heterogeneous-core processor, cores with different capabilities are present (e.g., Atom and Xeon cores). Here, instead of picking a prefetcher setting, an entire core is picked to run a piece of code. An Atom core could be adequate for running one piece of code, whereas another piece of code can truly benefit from a Xeon core.

Continuous automatic tuning of code regions


A low-thermal-expansion, rigid and wear-resistant ceramic is provided. The low-thermal-expansion ceramic of the invention includes 60 vol % to 99.9 vol % of at least one selected from the group consisting of cordierite, spodumene and eucryptite and 0.1 vol % to 40 vol % of at least one selected from the group consisting of carbides, nitrides, borides and silicides of group IVa elements, group Va elements and group VIa elements, and boron carbide. The ceramic has a porosity of 0.5% or less and a thermal expansion coefficient, at 10° C. to 40° C., of 1.5×10−6/° C. or less.

With the increased packing density of LSI for example, the circuit scale has remarkably been reduced. With regard to a semiconductor device, the line width thereof has been reduced to less than 0.1 μm. Accordingly, there is a growing demand through the years for the accuracy of an exposure apparatus employed for fabricating such a circuit or device. Thus, low-thermal-expansion-coefficient members have been developed for use in the exposure apparatus.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 11-209171 discloses a dense and low-thermal-expansion ceramic and a member of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that is formed of the dense and low-thermal-expansion ceramic. The dense and low-thermal-expansion ceramic contains at least 80% by weight of cordierite and a rare-earth element equivalent to 1–20% by weight of oxide, the ceramic having a porosity of 0.1% or less and a thermal expansion coefficient of 1×10−6/° C. or less at 10–40° C.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 11-343168 discloses a low-thermal-expansion black ceramic further having a light-shielding property that contains at least 80% by weight of cordierite and preferably contains a rare-earth element equivalent to 1–20% by weight of oxide, the ceramic having a porosity of 0.5% or less, a carbon content of 0.1–2.0% by weight, and a thermal expansion coefficient of 1×10−6/° C. or less at 10–40° C. There is also disclosed a member of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that is formed of such a dense and low-thermal-expansion ceramic.
The remarkably reduced scale of the circuit requires the exposure accuracy to be maintained for its semiconductor or liquid-crystal glass substrate. Then, for example, a material for a vacuum chuck or stage-position metering mirror of an exposure apparatus must have a low coefficient of thermal expansion as well as high rigidity (Young's modulus). Quartz, aluminum titanate and crystallized glass are examples of conventional low-thermal-expansion materials that have a problem in terms of rigidity.
On the other hand, conventional dense cordierite materials or low-thermal-expansion ceramics disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open Nos. 11-209171 and 11-343168 have a low coefficient of thermal expansion as well as high rigidity.
However, most of such low-thermal-expansion ceramics including the dense cordierite materials have a relatively low wear resistance. When such a conventional low-thermal-expansion ceramic is used in a wafer-holding vacuum chuck of an exposure apparatus, for example, the wafer-holding surface of the chuck that contacts the wafer wears and loses its flatness, and consequently an exposure failure is likely to occur. If the conventional low-thermal-expansion ceramic is used in a stage-position metering mirror, movement of the stage causes wear which highly possibly results in an exposure failure.
In addition, most of the conventional low-thermal-expansion ceramics have electrical insulation property. Accordingly, if such a ceramic is used in the wafer-holding vacuum chuck of an exposure apparatus, static electricity generated, when a wafer is placed on the chuck, cannot be removed and consequently particles are attached to the wafer, resulting in an exposure failure. This problem regarding particles becomes serious as the circuit scale is increasingly reduced. Therefore, a low-resistance ceramic material is desirably used in the vacuum chuck in order to remove the static electricity.
Moreover, in terms of visibility and soil resistance, a ceramic member used for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is desirably colored with black for example.

Low thermal expansion ceramic and member for exposure system


The present invention is a compound semiconductor device characterized in that it is Cu-metalized to improved the reliability of the device and to greatly reduce the cost of production.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device; more particularly, relates to replacing Au with Cu in an ohmic contact layer and a metal interconnect of a related compound semiconductor made of GaAs or InP.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A traditional compound semiconductor device (of an HBT (Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor) structure or a HEMT (High-Electron-Mobility transistor) structure) uses Au for an ohmic metal layer and a metal interconnect. Concerning RC delay, Cu can be used to replace Au with a lower resistance and a better heat dissipation for a better compound semiconductor device. As stated in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,444,567 and 6,319,819, a Cu production is obtained by a Cu CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) and an obstruction between Cu and a dielectric layer. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,425, a Cu production is obtained by a selective deposition of a Cu CMP planarization and an obstruction between Cu and a dielectric layer. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,452,276, an alpha-wolfram is used as a diffusion barrier to Cu; and, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,437,440 and 6,291,885, a TaN. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,523, Cu/Au interconnects are made in an eletronless way while its adhering layer is made of Ni, Al, polysilicon or PdSix and its diffusion barrier is made of Ni—B compound, Ni, Pd or Co, having a plug of Au or Cu.
In Taiwan, a prior art for Cu production uses a TaN plated by electroplating as a diffusion barrier and a metal damascene on silicon by CMP. Another prior art obtains a dual damascene of metal on a silicon layer by electroplating. Still another prior art uses a metal plasma sputtering process to plate Ti and uses CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) and MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) to deposit TiN as a diffusion barrier to Cu.
Yet, the above prior arts are for silicon productions only and use a complex Cu dual damascene or a CMP process, which are not for the production of compound semiconductor. So, the prior arts do not fulfill users requests on actual use.

Cu-metalized compound semiconductor device


An image pickup device includes a pixel unit which has first pixels and second pixels. A first photoelectric conversion unit is configured to generate charges corresponding to light incident upon each of the first pixels. A first control unit is connected to the first photoelectric conversion unit and configured to control the first photoelectric conversion unit. A second photoelectric conversion unit is configured to generate charges corresponding to light incident upon each of the second pixels. The second photoelectric conversion unit is smaller than the first photoelectric conversion unit. A second control unit is connected to the second photoelectric conversion unit and configured to control the second photoelectric conversion unit. The second control unit is arranged in a space which is generated due to a size difference between the first photoelectric conversion unit and the second photoelectric conversion unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup device, a focus detection device, an image pickup apparatus, a method for manufacturing an image pickup device, a method for manufacturing a focus detection device, and a method of manufacturing an image pickup apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 01-216306 discloses a focus detection device designed to realize the image pickup function and the focus detection function with one image pickup device by using an image pickup device of the type that pixels for detecting a focus based on the pupil-split phase difference detection method are arranged at a screen center. The contents of this publication are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
However, in an image pickup device, such as a CMOS, in which charge accumulation timing differs depending on a position where a pixel is arranged, the charge accumulation timings are often not the same for all the focus detection pixels. Accordingly, focus detection accuracy determined based on output signals from the focus detection pixels deteriorates for an object (subject) which moves during a charge accumulation period.

Image pickup device, focus detection device, image pickup apparatus, method for manufacturing image pickup device, method for manufacturing focus detection device, and method for manufacturing image pickup apparatus


A composition of matter for use in stablizing shale formations in earth boreholes comprising polymeric products, e.g., polymers of a dialkyl aminoalkyl methacrylate, which can optionally be quaternized with an alkyl halide to produce drilling fluid additives which stablize borehole formations containing reactive clays in the presence of an aqueous medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polymeric compositions that can be used to stabilize reactive clays in subterranean formations and to a method of stabilizing such reactive clays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the drilling of oil and gas wells and other such boreholes, it is generally necessary to use a drilling fluid that performs a variety of functions but is primarily used to lubricate the drill bit and carry the cuttings to the surface. It is not uncommon to encounter formations during the drilling process that are argillaceous. These argillaceous formations contain clay (shale) particles, the proportion of which can vary over a wide range. When these argillaceous formations are encountered, and if a water based drilling fluid is employed, complex chemical reactions take place within the argillaceous formation, including ion exchange, hydration, etc. These reactions result in swelling, crumbling or dispersion of the clay or shale particles in the formation through which the drill bit passes. Indeed, the problems can become so severe that washout and even complete collapse of the borehole can occur.
In an attempt to solve these problems, additives are included in the aqueous drilling fluid that are designed to arrest or slow down fluid invasion into the formation by forming an impermeable or semi-impermeable membrane on the surface of the borehole. For example, sodium silicate-based drilling fluids are believed to form such semi-impermeable membranes and are commonly used for maintaining shale stability. Other drilling fluid systems have also been used to deal with the problem of shale stabilization. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,710 discloses a drilling fluid comprising an aqueous solution of a combination of thickeners such as a copolymer and a polysaccharide. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,848 discloses a method for stabilizing shale formations by employing an aqueous solution containing a polymer with a hydrophilic group and a hydrophobic group.

Compositions for and methods of stabilizing subterranean formations containing clays


A urethane wheel that is manufactured by molding, casting, or vacuum forming methods in a mold having a wheel shaped cavity that a wheel core formed from a rigid material such as steel or aluminum has been supported in to receive a flow of a urethane material directed therearound, encapsulating the entire wheel core and forming a wheel capable of supporting a car or light truck traveling at highway speeds.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to methods and apparatus for vacuum forming a vehicle wheel from a mixture of urethane constituents.
2. Prior Art
The present invention is in a wheel that is formed from a urethane material in a vacuum forming apparatus in a single casting operation to have at least the strength, or greater, of a like size and load bearing standard steel or aluminum wheel for mounting a tire thereon. The vacuum forming apparatus includes a mold having a cavity wherein is formed a wheel. Or the cavity is formed to accommodate a wheel core fitted therein, that is preferably formed from a light gauge steel or appropriate aluminum compound, and is supported in the mold by spacers to receive a urethane coating. In practice, a urethane material, that is a compound formulated to produce a steel like strength, is pulled under vacuum into a mold cavity. Whereby, after curing, the mold is opened and a homogenous wheel, or a wheel containing a core, is removed.
Relating to vacuum forming apparatus, heretofore it was recognized that venting air from a tire tread mold cavity early in a casting process could eliminate the necessity for venting the cavity through spaced holes in the mold that materials from the tread will flow into during casting and form projections or "tits". Such extensions or "tits" project from the tread surface and were either pulled off when the tire was removed from the mold, had to be cut off or wore off during tire use. To prevent this undesirable cosmetic anomaly it was recognized that air could be vented from the mold cavity just before tread casting, eliminating a necessity for providing flow passages or vents from the tire tread mold while still obtaining a smooth, un-pocketed or un-blemished, finished tread surface. Examples of such an introduction of a vacuum into a tire mold just prior to forming a tire tread are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,573,894 and 5,152,951. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,894 sets out a tire mold having a cavity that is for receiving and finally shaping the tire. The patent is defined by a surface that is for contacting the exterior of the tire during tire curing. The cavity is fluid connected to a single vacuum source for evacuating air from within the cavity during an early portion of a tire curing cycle to prevent air and any other fluid from becoming trapped between the tire and the surface that defines the cavity that will become the tire tread. Visual effects in the form of voids in the tire exterior are, thus eliminated. Like the '894 patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,951 also provides for the elimination of fluid from the mold cavity during an early portion of a tire curing cycle. The patent provides for fluid evacuation through a space between the surfaces of the mold parts that defines the mold parting line. Both patents provide a single vacuum source and its connection to the mold cavity for forming the tire side wall and tread surfaces.
Recently, the inventors of the present invention developed an improved vacuum forming apparatus for forming transport tires that is the subject of a currently pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/936,635, filed Sep. 4, 2004. This patent application sets out an apparatus and method for forming an elastomer tire containing plies, belts and beads, that involves both an evacuation of air from the elastomeric mixture prior to its introduction into the mold cavity, and for pulling the air free mixture through the mold. Which air free flow of elastomeric material fills an area between inner and outer mold walls and travels through the core of plies, belts and beads, to form a finished transport tire that is free of voids or pockets. Unlike this earlier patent application the present invention provides for vacuum forming a homogenous wheel or a wheel core having an outer coating of a urethane material bonded thereto.


The present application discloses a method for presenting a virtual resource, a client, and a plug-in. The method includes: receiving a virtual resource associated with a piece of push information, and first text information associated with the push information from a server; presenting the first text information and prompt information, the prompt information prompting a user to input an audio data input to obtain the virtual resource; receiving audio data input by the user, obtaining an audio file data packet; uploading the audio data packet to the server for audio recognition; receiving second text information returned by the server, and determining an interaction result according to the first text information and the second text information; and presenting the virtual resource and sending a virtual resource activation acknowledgment message to the server based on the interaction result.

With the rapid development of Internet services, a user may carry out various social activities on social platforms. In addition to a user carrying out social activities with a friend, a merchant or an advertiser may also interact with the user on a social platform. For example, the advertiser may push an advertisement to the user. When pushing out advertisements, the advertiser may push out different forms of virtual resources. The virtual resources, for example, can be red packets (cash gifts), shopping vouchers, and various coupons, to attract users.

Method for presenting virtual resource, client, and plug-in

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


The present invention relates to a backlight module suitable for transportation, which comprises a backlight unit, the backlight unit comprises a backplate, and a light source, as well as an optical film, a light guide plate and a reflection plate arranged in sequence on the backplate from up to down; the backlight module further comprises a fixing belt used for fixing the optical film, the fixing belt being tightly tied outside the backlight unit along at least one of the length and width directions of the backlight unit. This backlight module uses the fixing belt to fix the optical film instead of using the rubber frame to press against the optical film, thus the cost of the rubber frame assembly is saved, the optical film can be prevented from translocating due to vibration, and the winding strength can be ensured to be moderate.

The liquid crystal display device has high contrast, and superiority in the mobile image display, and has therefore been widely used in electronic devices such as TVs, monitors, cell phones and panel computers.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, this liquid crystal display device includes a front shell 1, a liquid crystal panel 2, and a backlight unit. Wherein the liquid crystal panel 2 is installed between the front shell 1 and the backlight unit. The backlight unit includes a light guide plate 3, a reflection plate 4 arranged under the light guide plate 3, an optical film 5 arranged above the light guide plate 3, and a backplate 6 arranged under the reflection plate 4.
Wherein the backplate 6 is used for carrying all the components of the backlight unit and ensuring the flatness of the backlight unit. A rubber frame (not shown), arranged above the optical film 5, is used for pressing against the optical film 5 during transportation, so as to prevent the backlight unit from escaping on the way of transportation. However, the addition of the rubber frame will increase the cost of the subassembly.

Backlight module suitable for transportation

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An instrument panel having a light source and a transparent cover in front of the light source. The transparent cover has a first surface at the front side of the cover and a second surface at the back side of the cover, and is formed of a polymeric wall and a polymeric film. The polymeric film has a reflection-reduction layer thereon and is bonded by intermolecular forces to the wall so that the polymeric film is on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the cover and the reflection-reduction layer is sandwiched between the film and the wall. The reflection-reduction layer is formed of a material selected from the group consisting of (a) oxides of magnesium, zinc, or aluminum, or alloys thereof, (b) hydroxides of magnesium, zinc, or aluminum, or alloys thereof, and (c) semi-metals and metals which are non-alkali metals and non-alkaline earth metals, alloys thereof, and combinations thereof. The method for making a transparent cover includes (a) applying a reflection-reduction layer onto a polymeric film, (b) placing the polymeric film with the reflection-reduction layer thereon on at least one inside surface of a mold so that the reflection-reduction layer is exposed; (c) filling the mold with a moldable polymer; and (d) allowing the moldable polymer to harden so that a transparent cover having an inmolded reflection-reduction layer is formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to instrument panels and methods of making their covers and, more particularly, to instrument panels having reduced amounts of reflections therefrom and methods of making their covers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Illuminating instrument panels for automobiles, usually placed in the dash of the automobile, show the status of various operations of the automobile. A typical illuminating instrument panel has a front side for positioning toward the viewer, a back side for positioning away from the viewer, a light source at the back side of the panel for illuminating the panel, an overlay in front of the light source which allows some light to pass through and illuminate the panel, and a transparent cover in front of and spaced away from the overlay. Most often an illuminating instrument panel includes a movable dial or indicator in front of the overlay and corresponding graphics printed on the overlay. Such instrument panels include speedometers, gas gauges, engine temperature gauges, and tachometers.
In addition to the above, the typical illuminating instrument panel includes a light-impervious brow extending over the front of the transparent cover for reducing the amount of reflections from the instrument panel directed toward the viewer. For example, ambient light (e.g., from the sun), hits the brow and is absorbed rather than hitting the transparent cover and reflecting back into the viewer's eyes, impairing the viewer's vision.
The light-impervious brow is also present to reduce the amount of reflectance caused by light-colored objects inside the passenger compartment of the automobile. For example, when the viewer wears light-colored clothing, light from the clothing is reflected by the transparent cover. This occurrence is often referred to as the "white shirt syndrome". The cover of the instrument panel is typically designed so that much of the reflection from the clothing is projected toward the brow and not seen by the viewer.
Brows, however, are cumbersome in design, require a substantial amount of material to construct and add weight to the automobile. It would be desirable to control the instrument panel reflections without a brow to provide more automobile design flexibility (both functionally and aesthetically) and to save on material cost and weight of the automobile.
Another problem with current instrument panels is the reduction in clarity of the graphics due to any reflections on the transparent cover's surfaces. When illuminated, the light source in the instrument panel gauge improves the clarity of the graphics, however a loss in graphics clarity is experienced when the panel is not illuminated, which is often the case during the day. For example, when the cover is clear (or 100% transmitting), around 8% of normal daylight reflects back to the viewer (about 4% from the front surface of the instrument panel cover and about 4% from the back surface of the instrument panel cover). This leaves only about 92% of the normal daylight passing through to the overlay.
If the overlay is reflective, then some of the light striking the overlay is reflected back to the viewer with another approximate 8% loss of light through the cover again. In summary, a reduced level of original light finally reaches the viewer to provide an image of the graphics. The loss of light results in diminished clarity of the graphics to the viewer. If the reflections from the transparent cover's surfaces could be reduced, greater clarity of the graphics is achieved.
Another source of reflections is caused by finger prints or other soiling marks on the cover of the instrument panel. It is, therefore, desirable, to have an instrument panel on which soiling marks are easily removed.
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide an illuminating instrument panel which has a reduced level of reflections on the cover and methods for making a cover for such instrument panels.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an illuminating instrument panel which presents more design flexibility than previous illuminating instrument panels.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an illuminating instrument panel which does not require a brow.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an illuminating instrument panel which has improved graphics clarity for the viewer relative to previous illuminating instrument panels and methods for making the covers which have improved graphics clarity.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an illuminating instrument panel which has a cover on which soiling marks are easily removed and a method for making such a cover.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a fast and cost-effective method for making an instrument panel cover with reflection-reduction properties.

Instrument panel having cover with reflection-reduction layer and method of making cover