A system for orthopedic repair of bones, the system may include a compression screw. The screw may include a blunt tip on one end with tapped threads to allow for greater bone fixation uniform across a threaded portion of the screw. The screw may also include springs, which may be Belleville washers, which provide appropriate compression and tension and prevent excessive loosening of the screw after surgery. The springs allow the screw to retract without losing pressure on the fracture site. The system may be minimally invasive for multiple fractures on a single bone such as calcaneal fractures, and stabilizing long bone fractures without bone plates.

The current disclosure is intended to document further improvements discovered subsequent to submission of provisional patent requests 61/436,160, 61/479,111, 61/485,319 and U.S. 61/509,004 which are all herein incorporated by references. Specifically, modifications disclosed herein include a screw head, of approximately the same size as screw heads in the current art, and transferring load from Belleville style spring washers used as spring elements in bone screws. Bone screws as disclosed herein may be fabricated without self-tapping sharp tips. Installation tapping bits can be used to create gaps on the engaged side of threads, such that in the fully tensioned or compressed state, the screw threads engage the bone more uniformly.
The process of bone fixation includes reapproximating two osseous structures and then holding them together while bone healing takes place. However, within 2 to 24 hours after bone surgery, screws installed to hold fractured bone together loosen significantly.
Often, loose screws will back out of the bone, causing soft tissue irritation. With significant loosening, bone fragments become subject to movement at the fracture site. This movement creates many problems during the healing process including further injury, prolonged healing, nonunion and/or an inappropriate union. These disadvantages often cause recommendation for prolonged non-weight bearing, with pain and with potential for abuse of pain medication. The risks of prolonged non-weight bearing are Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT's), osteopenia changes, muscle atrophy, joint ankylosis and generalized soft tissue contractures including ligaments, tendons and neurovascular bundles. Depending on the patient and the time frame that non-weight bearing is necessary, some of the aforementioned risks may be non-reversible resulting in chronic morbidity.
Studies have shown that by increasing weight bearing earlier, there is not only a significant reduction in the chronic morbidities listed above, but there is also an increase in functionality and an earlier return to activities. The complications with early weight bearing are the possibility of current hardware failure and fatigue, fracture fragments shifting due to inadequate compression or non-anatomic fixation, and non-unions stemming from either an avascular compromise or micromotion in a seemingly anatomic correction.
The goal of a dynamic compression screw is to allow continued compression that can withstand the forces of early protected weight bearing. This would reduce a substantial amount of physician bills and insurance payouts that can occur due to complications and lost employment.
Screws are routinely installed with the self-tapping, sharp and pointed tip extending beyond the far outside bone surface, into the soft tissues. The disclosed bone hole that is tapped for screw installation, by the conventional screw thread tip, has negative value. The screw tips used to be very dull and not as pointed until the older art and industry standard was altered in an attempt to be self-tapping and thereby speed up the surgical process. Screws now have a bone cutting tip that is usually tricar in nature and very sharp in an attempt to reduce the tapping step. The problem is that the pointed and sharp screws need to be installed with their threads typically extending 2-3 threads beyond the cortex, i.e., into soft tissues. But doing so leaves a sharp knife like object that is exposed outside the bone in soft tissues. This exposed object can create trauma to surrounding tendons, ligaments, bone periosteum and can increase long term post-operative pain.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and experimental observations have shown that the highest screw pullout stresses occurred at the upper thread location. Research suggests screws stretch significantly when loaded in tension or shorten when loaded under compression. Either condition accumulates strain toward an end where the maximum strain concentrates stress at the last single screw thread in the bone. The traditional result is the potential for a progressive failure mode wherein a failed thread transfers the highest strain and stress to end threads, which in-turn may overstress bone. Overstressed bone results in microscopic fatigue. The body reacts by resorption causing screw loosening at typical installation loads. The resorption continues down the thread, effectively shearing the screw loose from the bone. Full screw thread to bone engagement is not achieved in the current art. The disclosed device suggests pre-tapping and overdrilling the hole, as mentioned above, and eliminating the sharp cutting tip.
Further, the present device, may also integrate a Belleville washer single spring, stacked spring or reversing stacked spring section into the head of the screws to enable load bearing on the relatively thin but strong cortical bone. This enables the screws to retract and continue to provide the necessary pressure on the bone to hold fracture sites together, secured against movement from internal and external forces, and under compression specific to promoting bone growth. This increases rates at which the bone will heal, decreases soft tissue damage from traditional screw lifting, and prevents additional injury, delayed union, nonunion, and/or inappropriate union. Using these improvements to the current art, fixation can more frequently be done internally, eliminating a source for pin-tract infection risk from external fixation and substantially reducing the complications mentioned above.
Previously engineered dynamic screws are inadequate. Other configurations are simply not structurally capable of producing the tension necessary to hold the bones together at the fracture site, are too rigid to provide sufficient retraction during the loosening phase of healing, or both.
Without these spring screws, animals are often euthanized as the only humane option, and people spend a lot of time in various types of recovery that will no longer be necessary. These new dynamic bone screws enable internal fixation of fractures or osteotomy sites. Internal fixation can improve by closing the fracture zone gap that naturally occurs during healing, and maintain consistent rigid fixation. The proposed screws do not loosen, but relax, stabilizing the joint while allowing earlier movement and weight bearing to stimulate bone growth—reducing net healing time. Traditional head lifting is eliminated, with its attendant soft tissue irritation, screw breakage and the need for surgical removal or retightening. An osteotomy or fracture under the resulting dynamic stabilizing forces, allows early, often immediate motion and weight bearing, as tolerated, resulting in significantly earlier rehabilitation and return to normal activity.
The devices herein disclosed would allow for minimally invasive procedures while allowing patients a quicker return to activity with potential weight bearing immediately after surgery as tolerated, without increasing the risk of nonunion. An earlier return to normal activity and less frustration for patients and their doctors is expected with the device. For a veterinarian, repairing a complex leg fracture on a horse, the ability to achieve weight bearing immediately or very soon after internal fixation surgery can be the difference between life and death for the animal.
The spring screws and cable connections disclosed herein, are mentioned in provisional patents incorporated herein by reference 61/436,160; 61/479,111; 61/485,319; and U.S. 61/509,004; and contain very small, but strong, nested, stiff springs, designed to perform dynamically during internally and externally applied forces and following bone retraction, from healing and from screw bearing-induced bone retraction. The screws and cables are thereby capable of sustained delivery of the level of bone compression sufficient to trigger bone growth and resist internal and external forces while contracting to accommodate the live bone reaction to internal fixation. The devices disclosed herein can retain pressure in a very specific range of bone stresses necessary to trigger bone growth, avoid progressive fissuring from stress concentrations above yield, and avoid stress shielding of the bone.
Creating a blunt screw tip, as suggested in the incorporated provisional applications, can fully engage bone with the full shank of threads. This enables the screw to grab the far cortex after drilling through the near cortex, adhering to the cortical rim while compression takes place. This constitutes a new advancement in the art.
When an osteotomy or fracture is reduced for fixation, whether natural or cut, at the micro scale, the bone-bone interface only actually touches initially at a few small contact points. Screw landings and threads also initially bear on the bone only at small contact points. These small initial contact points, in the fracture zone, below landings and on top of screw threads are locally highly stressed by hardware that is producing compression in the osteotomy. The contact points fissure and are soon resorbed by the body. Early resorption also results in progressive diminution of the fracture gap. Diminution is the gradual (2 to 24 hours) reduction in the physical dimension between cut or fracture surfaces during the natural healing process. Tension in rigid hardware (used to create compression in an osteotomy or natural fracture) is reduced by diminution of the cut or natural fracture gap. An orthopedic screw, installed through a fractured joint, stretches a few microns when it is tightened to a specified torque. When diminution occurs in the joint, the stretching relaxes and the installed force of tension in the screw is correspondingly relaxed. Further relaxation of hardware may result from continued fissuring and resorption of small contact points under landings and on top of threads bearing on bone. This fissuring diminution may continue until a more uniformly distributed stress at bone to bone contact points and on head & thread to bone contact areas achieve a net bone yield stress levels of 60 N/mm2 or below, seating the joint and hardware. With conventional hardware, tension in the screw drops quickly, because the screws are stiff.
By integrating a spring-like section into screws and cables, proposed herein, the hardware will retract and continue to provide the necessary pressure on the bone for diminution and seating to complete while continuing to hold fracture sites together under compression. Internal fixation, using such spring loaded hardware, is secured against movement from internal and external forces, and can be optimized to sustain compression specific to promoting bone growth. It is disclosed that this may enable bone bridging, increasing rates at which the bone will heal, decrease soft tissue damage from traditional screw lifting, and prevent additional injury, delayed union, nonunion, and/or malunion. Using such dynamic hardware, fixation can more frequently be done internally, eliminating external fixation sources for pin-tract infection.
It is herein postulated that achieving a more uniformly distributed stress distribution between threads and bone could achieve a net higher pullout value and quickly seat the hardware at bone yield stress levels below 60 N/mm2, above which natural fissuring and resorption would otherwise continue to occur. By limiting bone fissuring and resorption on active bearing thread surfaces, less spring action will be required to maintain a tight, functional screw.
The device more efficiently utilizes the cross section of the purchased bone, and delivers a significantly higher level of compression, reliably sustained within the desired range to promote bone growth throughout the natural bone retraction that occurs during the healing process following fixation which the current art fails to accomplish. Existing competitive screws have sharp, pointed tips whereas the disclosed device may not include sharp, pointed tips.
Installation tapping bits can create gradually tapered gaps in the active engagement zone, e.g., on tension screws, above threads, such that in the fully tensioned state, the screw threads engage the bone more uniformly. By matching fully stressed screw dimensions with the pre-threaded gap used to install it, the threads more uniformly engage the bone, yielding a substantially increased pullout value.


A device having an allowance for creeping is provided. The device includes: a base member having a receiving element; and an overlaying member, subject to creeping, overlaying on top of the base member, the overlaying member having a region at one end thereof, wherein a tip member is free from restriction or force exerted thereon due to creeping deformation thereof.

Published WIPO patent application, WO03062668A1, entitled SNAP-FIT CHAIN GUIDE teaches a chain guide including a bracket adapted for being secured to an engine. The bracket includes a support surface including a leading end and a trailing end, and further includes a first saw-tooth fixing element. A guide shoe includes: (i) a shoe leading end; (ii) a shoe trailing end spaced from the shoe leading end in a chain movement direction; (iii) a chain guide surface extending between the shoe leading end and the shoe trailing end and adapted for slidably supporting an associated chain moving in the chain movement direction; and, (iv) an inner surface positioned adjacent the support surface of said bracket. The guide shoe further includes a second saw-tooth fixing element that mates with the first saw-tooth fixing element of the bracket to inhibit disconnection of the guide shoe and the bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,816 entitled CHAIN GUIDE OR TENSIONER ARM WITH SHEET METAL BRACKET AND ALTERNATING TABS by Wigsten, Mark and assigned to BorgWarner Inc teaches a guide or tensioner arm including a bracket made from a formed sheet metal stamping. The bracket is formed of a body portion with a series of tabs formed along a bottom edge. The tabs are bent perpendicular to the body portion of the bracket in an alternating fashion. This forms a bracket having a T-shape providing a flat base for mounting a plastic shoe. Since the body portion is centered with respect to the alternating tabs a strong bracket for holding the plastic shoe is provided to guide or tension an associated strand of chain in a power transmission system.
Assembly of many plastic parts to other parts entail the use of a dart-type clip whereby a one-way tapered clip on the plastic part cantilevers into a locking position over a protrusion of the base part. The process of the cantilever spring portion of the clip bending to allow a taper to snap over the protrusion, places a tensile beam stress on the cantilevered spring. At times, the stress induced to the cantilevered spring necessary to clear the height of the protrusion can put high stresses on the cantilevered spring. Exposure to high stress can lead to reduced fatigue life of a part.

Creep locking retention mechanism (Clip)


A phase shifter and a manufacturing method thereof and an antenna and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The phase shifter includes: first and second substrates opposite to each other; a first electrode provided on the first substrate and configured to receive a ground signal; a second electrode provided on a side of the second substrate facing towards the first substrate; liquid crystals encapsulated between the first substrate and the second substrate and driven by the first electrode and the second electrode to rotate; and a support structure provided between the first substrate and the second substrate and including a first spacer. The first spacer is located on a side of the second electrode facing away from the second substrate, and an orthographic projection of the first spacer on the second substrate is within an orthographic projection of the second electrode on the second substrate.

With the evolution of communication systems, phase shifters are more and more widely used. Taking a liquid crystal phase shifter as an example, the liquid crystal phase shifter controls the rotation of the liquid crystal to change the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal, in such a manner that phase of the radio frequency signal transmitted in the liquid crystal phase shifter is shifted.

Phase shifter and manufacturing method thereof, antenna and manufacturing method thereof

Shanghai Tianma Micro-Electronics Co., Ltd.


A ratchet buckle system including an elongate adjustment strap having a plurality of inclined teeth transverse to a length of the strap. A ratchet mechanism is provided for engaging the teeth of the adjustment strap. The ratchet mechanism has a lever having a first end for actuating the ratchet mechanism and a distal end having an adjustment pawl for selectively engaging the teeth of the adjustment strap. The lever is pivotally mounted on a first axis transverse to the adjustment strap. A release mechanism having a release button lever is recessed in an opening in the first end of the lever and a locking pawl distal from the release button adjacent the adjustment pawl of the lever. The release button lever is pivotally mounted on a second axis transverse to the adjustment strap for locking engagement of the locking pawl and teeth of the adjustment strap.

Ratchet type buckles are used for a variety of applications including snow sports, hunting, fishing, hiking and the like. The buckle must be suitable for a variety of weather conditions yet provide a quick and easy way for a user to make adjustments to strapped or buckled items. One problem with existing ratchet buckles is that the release mechanism is either so complicated that it is difficult to access or is so readily accessed that it allows inadvertent release of tension on the strap or buckled item.
Another problem associated with ratchet type buckles is that an end of a ladder strap exiting the buckle may become damaged by being exposed. Thus the useful life of the ratchet buckle may be significantly shortened.
Still another problem associated with ratchet type buckles is that it is difficult to securely attach the ratchet buckle and ladder strap to a wide variety of straps or devices that require adjustment.
In view of the foregoing, embodiments of the disclosure provide a locking ratchet buckle system that improves the functionality of the buckle and ratchet mechanism. The ratchet buckle system includes an elongate adjustment strap having a plurality of inclined teeth transverse to a length of the strap. A ratchet mechanism is provided for engaging the teeth of the adjustment strap. The ratchet mechanism has a lever having a first end for actuating the ratchet mechanism and a distal end having an adjustment pawl for engaging the teeth of the adjustment strap. The lever is pivotal on a first axis transverse to the adjustment strap. A release mechanism having a release button lever is recessed in an opening in the first end of the lever and a locking, pawl distal from the release button adjacent the adjustment pawl of the lever. The release button lever is pivotally mounted on a second axis transverse to the adjustment strap for locking engagement of the locking pawl and teeth of the adjustment strap.
Advantages of the disclosed embodiments include provision of a release button for the mechanism that prevents inadvertent release of tension and a locking mechanism that further insures that tension is not released until desired. According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the release button is recessed in the adjustment lever so that it is protected from inadvertent release but is readily accessible when release is desired. The mechanism also has a protective housing that reduces potential damage to exposed ends of the adjustment strap. Conventional ratchet mechanisms typically limit the available adjustable area while exposing the male end of the strap to potential damage. Thus the mechanism has specific advantages and may be beneficial to the snow sports industry as a method of adjusting snowboard bindings and ski boots while avoiding damage to the mechanism by inadvertent impact during use. Other features and advantage of the disclosed embodiments may be evident from the attached drawing and following detailed description of exemplary embodiments.


An OLT includes an OLT control unit that generates a control signal for controlling a power saving operation of an ONU by specifying a different idle period with respect to a first power saving operation in which an optical receiver is operated while an optical transmitter of the ONU is controlled to a power saving state and a second power saving operation for controlling the optical transmitter and the optical receiver to the power saving state, and a station-side transmitter that transmits the control signal generated by the OLT control unit to the ONU. The ONU includes an ONU control unit that receives the control signal via the optical receiver to selectively perform the first power saving operation and the second power saving operation based on the idle period specified by the control signal.

In a PON system, communication is performed while achieving synchronization between the OLT and the ONU so that pieces of uplink data transmitted from the ONUs do not collide with each other. The OLT plans to grant a transmission permission to each ONU so that the pieces of uplink data do not collide with each other. At this time, the OLT considers delay due to a distance between respective ONUs. Therefore, the OLT performs measurement of a roundtrip time between respective ONUs and keep-alive communication. However, there are fluctuations in a transmission line such as jitter and wander in transfer by an optical fiber, and thus measurement needs to be performed cyclically.
Meanwhile, data communication is not performed constantly. For example, data communication is not performed at all during the night. However, measurement of the roundtrip time and transmission and reception of a keep-alive signal are performed cyclically regardless of the presence of data communication. It is a waste of power to maintain the ONU in a transmissible state at all times for measurement of the roundtrip time, even if data communication is not performed. Accordingly, a technique for causing the ONU to shift to a power saving state intermittently by requesting a shift to the power saving state from the ONU has been studied.
Furthermore, conventionally, there is a PON system in which an OLT generates a power-supply control signal of an ONU that does not require communication to control a power supply of a transmission circuit and a reception circuit of the ONU (Patent Literature 1). In this PON system, because the OLT remotely controls on/off of the power supply of the ONU, power consumption of the entire system can be reduced.

Communication system, station-side communication device, user-side communication device, communication method, and control device


A Method of Processing a Container and Base Cup Structure For Removal of Vacuum Pressure A plastic container (10) has a wall extending to a lower portion including a pressure panel (20). The panel (20) is transversely oriented and can move from a downwardly inclined position providing a geometrically unstable configuration to an upwardly inclined position providing a geometrically stable configuration to control pressure change in the container. This movement may be provided by suitable actuating means such as rod (22). In the unstable configuration a base cup 50 or any other suitable holder can support the container and enable it to be conveyed in a container handling or processing system.

The discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
The present invention is a development of our earlier invention described in WO 2004/028910 (our PCT specification), the equivalent New Zealand patent specification No. 521694, both of which are herein incorporated in their entirety where appropriate by way of reference. However, for the sake of completeness substantial portions of our PCT specification will be included in this present specification.
So called 'hot fill' containers are well known in prior art, whereby manufacturers supply PET containers for various liquids which are filled into the containers and the liquid product is at an elevated temperature, typically at or around 85 degrees C. (185 degrees F.).
The container is manufactured to withstand the thermal shock of holding a heated liquid, resulting in a 'heat-set' plastic container. This thermal shock is a result of either introducing the liquid hot at filling, or heating the liquid after it is introduced into the container.
Once the liquid cools down in a capped container, however, the volume of the liquid in the container reduces, creating a vacuum within the container. This liquid shrinkage results in vacuum pressures that pull inwardly on the side and end walls of the container. This in turn leads to deformation in the walls of plastic bottles if they are not constructed rigidly enough to resist such force.
Typically, vacuum pressures have been accommodated by the use of vacuum panels, which distort inwardly under vacuum pressure. Prior art reveals many vertically oriented vacuum panels that allow containers to withstand the rigors of a hot fill procedure. Such vertically oriented vacuum panels generally lie parallel to the longitudinal axis of a container and flex inwardly under vacuum pressure toward this longitudinal axis.
In addition to the vertically oriented vacuum panels, many prior art containers also have flexible base regions to provide additional vacuum compensation. Many prior art containers designed for hot-filling have various modifications to their end-walls, or base regions to allow for as much inward flexure as possible to accommodate at least some of the vacuum pressure generated within the container.
All such prior art, however, provides for flat or inwardly inclined, or recessed base surfaces. These have been modified to be susceptible to as much further inward deflection as possible. As the base region yields to the force, it is drawn into a more inclined position than prior to having vacuum force applied.
Unfortunately, however, the force generated under vacuum to pull longitudinally on the base region is only half that force generated in the transverse direction at the same time. Therefore, vertically oriented vacuum panels are able to react to force more easily than a panel placed in the base. Further, there is a lot more surface area available around the circumference of a container than in the end-wall. Therefore, adequate vacuum compensation can only be achieved by placing vertically-oriented vacuum panels over a substantial portion of the circumferential wall area of a container, typically 60% of the available area.
Even with such substantial displacement of vertically-oriented panels, however, the container requires further strengthening to prevent distortion under the vacuum force.
The liquid shrinkage derived from liquid cooling, causes a build up of vacuum pressure. Vacuum panels deflect toward this negative pressure, to a degree lessening the vacuum force, by effectively creating a smaller container to better accommodate the smaller volume of contents. However, this smaller shape is held in place by the generating vacuum force. The more difficult the structure is to deflect inwardly, the more vacuum force will be generated. In prior art, a substantial amount of vacuum is still present in the container and this tends to distort the overall shape unless a large, annular strengthening ring is provided in horizontal, or transverse, orientation at least a ⅓ of the distance from an end to the container.
Considering this, it has become accepted knowledge to believe that it is impossible to provide for full vacuum compensation through modification to the end-wall or base region alone. The base region offers very little surface area, compared to the side walls, and reacts to force at half the rate of the side walls.
Therefore it has become accepted practice to only expect partial assistance to the overall vacuum compensation to be generated through the base area. Further, even if the base region could provide for enough flexure to accommodate all liquid shrinkage within the container, there would be a significant vacuum force present, and significant stress on the base standing ring. This would place force on the sidewalls also, and to prevent distortion the smooth sidewalls would have to be much thicker in material distribution, be strengthened by ribbing or the like, or be placed into shapes more compatible to mechanical distortion (for example be square instead of circular).
For this reason it has not been possible to provide container designs in plastic that do not have typical prior art vacuum panels that are vertically oriented on the sidewall. Many manufacturers have therefore been unable to commercialize plastic designs that are the same as their glass bottle designs with smooth sidewalls.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,380 (Silvers), claims to provide for full vacuum compensation through the base region without requiring positioning of vertically oriented vacuum panels on the smooth sidewalls. This is suggested by combining techniques well-known and practiced in the prior art. Silvers provides for a slightly inwardly domed, and recessed base region to provide further inward movement under vacuum pressure. However, the technique disclosed, and the stated percentage areas required for efficiency are not considered by the present applicant to provide a viable solution to the problem.
In fact, flexure in the base region is recognised to be greatest in a horizontally flat base region, and maximizing such flat portions on the base has been well practiced and found to be unable to provide enough vacuum compensation to avoid also employing vertically oriented vacuum panels.
Silvers does provide for the base region to be strengthened by coupling it to the standing ring of the container, in order to assist preventing unwanted outward movement of the inwardly inclined or flat portion when a heated liquid builds up initial internal pressure in a newly filled and capped container. This coupling is achieved by rib structures, which also serve to strengthen the flat region. Whilst this may strengthen the region in order to allow more vacuum force to be applied to it, the ribs conversely further reduce flexibility within the base region, and therefore reduce flexibility.
It is believed by the present applicant that the specific 'ribbed' method proposed by Silvers could only provide for approximately 35% of the vacuum compensation that is required, as the modified end-wall is not considered capable of sufficient inward flexure to fully account for the liquid shrinkage that would occur. Therefore a strong maintenance of vacuum pressure is expected to occur. Containers employing such base structure therefore still require significant thickening of the sidewalls, and as this is done the base region also becomes thicker during manufacturing. The result is a less flexible base region, which in turn also reduces the efficiency of the vacuum compensation achieved.
The present invention relates to a hot-fill container which is also a development of the hot-fill container described in our international application WO 02/18213 (the earlier PCT specification), which specification is also incorporated herein in its entirety where appropriate.
The earlier PCT specification backgrounds the design of hot-fill containers and the problems with such designs which were overcome or at least ameliorated by the design disclosed in the earlier PCT specification.
In the earlier PCT specification a semi-rigid container was provided that had a substantially vertically folding vacuum panel portion. Such a transversely oriented vacuum panel portion included an initiator portion and a control portion which generally resisted being expanded from the collapsed state.
Further described in the earlier PCT specification is the inclusion of the vacuum panels at various positions along the container wall.
A problem exists when locating such a panel in the end-wall or base region, whereby stability may be compromised if the panel does not move far enough into the container longitudinally to no longer form part of the container touching the surface the container stands on.
A further problem exists when utilizing a transverse panel in the base end-wall due to the potential for shock deflection of the inverted panel when a full and capped container is dropped. This may occur on a container with soft and unstructured walls that is dropped directly on its side. The shock deflection of the sidewalls causes a shock-wave of internal pressure that acts on the panel. In such cases improved panel configurations are desired that further prevent panel roll-out, or initiator region configurations utilized that optimize for resistance to such reversion displacement.
With the current proposal to incorporate vacuum panels into the bottom end wall of the container so that the sidewalls may remain substantially smooth, the vacuum panels in the bottom wall create a handling problem. When these vacuum panels are extended longitudinally to the outwardly inclined position, the container no longer has a flat bottom surface and the container is, therefore, geometrically unstable.
To overcome any instability of the container during the process of filling with liquid, cooling and labelling, it is well practised in prior art to attach a 'base cup' of sorts to the lower end of an unstable container. Attached base cups allow a geometrically unstable container to be supported correctly while the container is transferred through the bottle filling system.
The term "base cup" used hereinafter in respect of the present invention means any holder or holding or transporting means whether in the form of a "cup" or in any other suitable form.
Alberghini, U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,839; Jakobsen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,359; Chang U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,856; Nickel U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,638 and many others provide stabilising base cups for containers that are vertically unstable when placed in an upright position. However, in order to process the container of the present invention, whereby force needs to be applied to the bottom end wall, it is necessary to provide an opening through the bottom wall of such a base cup.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of handling containers according to the present invention when the vacuum panel is placed into the geometrically unstable position of being downwardly inclined, whereby stability is imparted to the container, but the vacuum panel is able to be manipulated from one inclination to another.

Method of processing a container and base cup structure for removal of vacuum pressure


Disclosed is an apparatus and method for obtaining images using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering. The apparatus for obtaining images using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering according to the present invention comprises: a pump light source and a stokes light source that irradiate pump light and stokes light on a sample to generate anti-stokes light having anti-stokes frequency; a reference light source that generates reference light; and an image obtaining unit that obtains the images of the sample using a change in phase of the reference light due to a change in the refractive index of the sample in the vicinity of the anti-stokes frequency. Thereby, the present invention can provide the apparatus for obtaining images using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering that is not affected by a non-resonant background signal phenomenon, strong resistance against noise even in a weak signal, and has excellent sensitivity and resolution.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for obtaining images to reveal structures and properties of materials and more particularity, to an apparatus and method for obtaining images using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering.
2. Related Art
Raman spectroscopy is a phenomenon that scatters light having a wavelength different from that of monochromatic light input from a sample on which the monochromatic light is irradiated. Recently, the Raman spectroscopy tracks a change of a vibration mode together with infrared spectroscopy, such that it has established an independent area of learning that reveals structures and properties of molecules.
Even though the Raman spectroscopy was studied earlier than the infrared spectroscopy due to characteristic using Raman scattering light having weak strength, it has been slower in development. As a result, the frequency in the use of the Raman spectroscopy has been low until now. However, with the advent of a laser having improved output strength, the Raman spectroscopy is being developed rapidly. As a result, the use of the Raman spectroscopy is currently of interest for various applications.
Meanwhile, a fluorescent microscope is considered as the epochal technology in the field of cell biology due to the help of the development of various fluorescence probes, confocal detection, and three-dimensional imaging through multi-photon excitation. The fluorescent microscope irradiates a light source at a wavelength that can excite fluorescent molecules, which is known as the fluorescence probes naturally existing in the sample or artificially injected into the sample, on the sample. At this time, the sample emits fluorescence by absorbing the excitation light source and is observed using a filter that selectively transmits fluorescence. The fluorescent microscope is advantageous in that it has higher resolution than a general optical microscope. However, since the fluorescent microscope uses the fluorescence probes, it has problems in that it changes the sample to be measured and causes a photobleaching phenomenon.
A microscope using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering (CARS) that inputs fixed/variable laser lights to Raman active media and measures spectrums of anti-stokes light obtained by a combination thereof has been widely used on the grounds that it has high sensitivity and is not affected by the media generating fluorescence.
FIG. 1 is an energy band diagram for explaining a generation principle of a general CARS signal. The CARS is a four wave mixing process that generates anti-stokes light by interacting pump light, stokes light, and probe light with a sample and uses two laser beams having different frequencies. A first laser beam serves as the stokes light (ωs) and a second laser beam serves as the pump light (ωp) and the probe light (ωpro). In other words, the frequency of ωpro is identical with ωp. The electric field of the light is EP (ωp), ES (ωs), Epro (ωpro) (=EP (ωp)). If the laser beam is irradiated, electrons, which are in a ground state ν0=0 are first excited in a virtual state by the pump light (ωp) and most of the electrons are then transitioned into a level ν1=1 by the stokes light ωs. At this time, the inherent vibration frequency of the electrons becomes Ω by the resonant Raman scattering. After the electrons transitioned from ν0=0 to ν0=1 are back excited into a virtual state such as ωp+Ω by the probe light (ωpro), they emit the anti-stokes light having frequency ωas=2ωp−ωs that satisfies energy conservation, that is, CARS signals, and are transitioned to the level ν0=0. The CARS microscope analyzes materials by measuring the strength of the CARS signal.
Since the CARS microscope as described above has the same resolution as the confocal microscope but does not use emission of a pigment, it does not change the sample. Further, since the CARS microscope uses Raman that corresponds to a vibration level of chemical species, it has an advantage in that it can select the chemical species. Moreover, the CARS microscope can obtain a very large signal as compared to spontaneous Raman scattering and because it has anti-stokes frequency different from the frequencies used by the two laser beams, the signal can be easily separated by using a filter, etc.
However, a representative disadvantage of the coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering is a non-resonant background signal phenomenon caused due to two-photon electronic resonance, which has been studied by [M. D. Duncan, J. Reintjes, and T. J. Manuccia, "Scanning coherent anti-Stokes Raman microscope," Opt. Lett. 7, 350-352, 1982]. It was found that any two-photon-enhanced background phenomenon exceeding the resonant vibration signal is generated due to the use of visible light. In a study by [A. Zumbusch, G. R. Holtom, and X. S. Xie, "Three-dimensional vibrational imaging by coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering," Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 4142-4145, 1999.], it was found that two-photon electronic resonance is prevented and sensitivity increase, by using near-infrared light. Thereafter, with the development of the coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering spectrometer, several methods were used for reducing the non-resonant background signal.
However, even though there are many problems in the conventional technologies associated with the CARS, these technologies all detected the strength of the CARS signal and directly analyzed them. As a result, these technologies focused on the difference between the CARS signal and the non-resonant background signal, such that many problems occurred. In particular, a method focusing on the reduction of the non-resonant background signal weakens the strength of light to be detected, such that there is a need for a high-specification photo detector in order to detect the signal having weak strength without noise. Further, since the method directly analyzes the signal to be detected by the strength of signal, it has limitations in sensitivity, resolution, accuracy, etc.

Apparatus and method for obtaining images using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology


A pixel circuit includes a compensation module, a resetting module, a writing module, a driver module, a light emission enabling module, and a light emitting device. The resetting module is configured to reset the driver module and the light emitting device; the compensation module performs threshold voltage compensation on the driver module; the writing module is configured to write, to the driver module, a data voltage that is output by a data line; the light emission enabling module is configured to provide a voltage of a first supply voltage end to the driver module; the driver module is configured to provide, under action of the voltage output by the first supply voltage end, a drive current to the light emitting device; and the light emitting device is configured to emit light based on the drive current. The pixel circuit is configured to drive to display a subpixel.

As a current-type light emitting device, an organic light emitting diode (Organic Light Emitting Diode, OLED) has characteristics such as self-light emission, a quick response, a wide viewing angle, and manufacturability on a flexible substrate. Therefore, organic light emitting diodes are increasingly applied to the high-performance display field.
Each subpixel of an existing OLED display panel is provided with a pixel circuit including a plurality of transistors and a capacitor. The pixel circuit is configured to drive an organic light emitting diode to emit light. As shown in FIG. 1, the pixel circuit includes two transistors M1 and M2 and one storage capacitor Cst. To increase carrier mobility of the transistor to reduce power consumption, an active layer (Active Layer) of the transistor is usually made of polycrystalline silicon.
However, during manufacturing on a large-area glass substrate, active layers at different locations are affected by a process parameter, process precision, and the like of a manufacturing process such as a laser annealing (Excimer laser annealing, ELA) process, a hydrogenation process (Hydrogenation Process), or a channel doping process (Channel Doping Process). Consequently, there is a difference between threshold voltages Vth of driving transistors, that is, transistors M2, located in different subpixels.
In addition, a drive current that flows through an organic light emitting diode in each subpixel is:Isd=½×μ×Cgi×W/L×(Vsg−Vth)2  Formula (1),
where μ is carrier mobility of the driving transistor, Cgi is capacitance between a gate and a channel of the driving transistor, W/L is a width-length ratio of the driving transistor, and Vth is a threshold voltage of the driving transistor.
It can be learned from the foregoing that, the drive current Isd is related to the threshold voltage Vth of the driving transistor. Therefore, when threshold voltages Vth of driving transistors in pixel circuits are inconsistent, values of drive currents Isd that flow through organic light emitting diodes located in the different subpixels are different. Consequently, the organic light emitting diodes in the subpixels emit light having inconsistent brightness, causing a problem such as uneven brightness (mura) in a displayed image. As shown in FIG. 2, an example in which an image 01 with a same gray scale is displayed is used, and the image has areas with relatively low brightness. Based on this, when an OLED display panel in which the pixel circuit is disposed displays an image with a low and medium gray scale value, a drive current Isd that flows through an organic light emitting diode is in a low and medium current range. In this case, the threshold voltage Vth has greater impact on the drive current Isd, and the drive current Isd has relatively high variability. In this case, inconsistent threshold voltages Vth of driving transistors cause source-drain currents Isd of the plurality of driving transistors shown in FIG. 3, and subthreshold swings (Subthreshold Swing) of the driving transistors in the low and medium current range C are different. Consequently, switch sensitivities of the driving transistors are inconsistent, that is, electrical heterogeneity exists. Therefore, when the OLED display panel displays an image with a low and medium gray scale value, a mura phenomenon caused by inconsistent threshold voltages Vth is more obvious.
To resolve the foregoing problem, the prior art provides a pixel circuit that can compensate for the threshold voltage Vth. As shown in FIG. 4a, the pixel circuit includes seven transistors (M1, M2, . . . , and M7) and one storage capacitor Cst. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, in a first phase {circle around (1)}, a signal end N−1 outputs a low voltage, the transistor M1 and the transistor M7 are turned on, and other transistors are turned off. In this case, a gate voltage of the driving transistor M4 may be reset to a voltage of a voltage end Vint. In a second phase {circle around (2)}, a low voltage is input into a signal end N, the transistor M2 and the transistor M3 are turned on, and other transistors are turned off. In this case, a data voltage that is input into a voltage end Vdata is written to a source of the driving transistor M4. In this case, for the transistor M4, a source voltage Vs4=Vdata, and a gate voltage Vg4=Vdata−|Vth|. In a third phase {circle around (3)}, a low voltage is input into a signal end EM, transistors M6, M5, and M4 are turned on, and other transistors are turned off. In this case, for the transistor M4, a source-gate voltage Vsg4=ELVDD−(Vdata−Vth). It can be learned based on the formula (1) that the drive current I that flows through the organic light emitting diode is equal to ½×μ×Cgi×W/L×(ELVDD−Vdata)2. The current Isd is unrelated to the threshold voltage Vth of the driving transistor M4. Therefore, a phenomenon of uneven brightness caused by a difference between threshold voltages of driving transistors in subpixels can be eliminated.
Based on this, as requirements of users on definition of displayed images become increasingly high, resolution (Resolution) of OLED display panels also needs to be correspondingly increased. However, because a scanning time (Line Time) for each row of subpixels of the display panel is 1/60 of vertical resolution (Vertical Resolution), the line time is decreased when the resolution is increased. In this case, duration of the second phase {circle around (2)} in FIG. 5, that is, a compensation time (Tcom) of the threshold voltage Vth, is also correspondingly decreased. A correspondence between OLED display panels with different resolution, the line time, and Tcom is shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1ResolutionLine Time (μs)Tcom (μs)1280 × 720 ~11.8~11.81920 × 1080~7.9~7.92560 × 1440~5.9~5.9
Based on this, when Tcom is decreased as the resolution is continuously increased, a charging time of the storage capacitor Cst in the pixel circuit is also shortened. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, in the second phase {circle around (2)}), a voltage difference ΔV between an actual gate voltage Vg4 of the driving transistor M4 and the ideal gate voltage Vg4=Vdata−|Vth| is larger. Therefore, a compensation effect of the threshold voltage Vth becomes worse, and an effect of reducing uneven display brightness is reduced.

Pixel circuit, method for driving pixel circuit, and display apparatus


A stabilized frequency oscillating circuit outputs a pixel clock signal to an image scanner for controlling pixel rate at various writing positions along a scan line. The circuit includes a synchronization circuit having a first control signal component output to adjust a nominal output frequency of the oscillator; and a frequency profiling circuit having a second control signal component output which varies as a function of writing position along the scan line to determine a corrected output frequency of the oscillator which varies as a function of writing position along the scan line.

Three-color scan lasers are used in high speed digital photofinishing machines that scan images into memory, allow image manipulation, and finally produce hard copy printouts on photosensitive receiver material. FIG. 1 shows a system 10 having three laser sources 12, 13, and 14 that produce red, green, and blue light, respectively. The laser beams pass through respective acousto-optic modulators 16, 17, and 18 that are controlled by a pixel data stream received from printer electronics 20 synchronized by pixel clock signals 22. Laser light beams from the three acousto-optic modulators are optically combined at 24, focused on rotating polygon mirror 26, and swept across a web of receiver material 28 through an f-.theta. lens 30 to create a print line.
In the field of scan imaging systems, it is often necessary to synchronize the pixel clock to a spatial point relative to the scan line. Typically, this is accomplished by a "start-of-line" signal which is generated by the scanning beam itself passing by a fixed detector. Thus, an accurate relationship between the data path function of time and the physical scan function of space is provided once each scan line. There are several known ways to construct an oscillator which can be synchronized to a start-of-scan signal. Historically, a multiphase crystal oscillator is used because of the inherent frequency stability of crystal oscillators.
Because f-.theta. lens 30 effects different wavelengths of light differently, the apparent spatial velocity across the receiver material 28 of each of the three laser beams from acousto-optic modulators 16-18 is different from the apparent spatial velocity of the other beams. Further, the velocity of each beam is not constant over the entire sweep, but rather, follows a contouring effect profile. If the pixel clock were constant, the velocity change with position across the sweep will produce different size pixels across the sweep as illustrated in FIG. 2. Differences in apparent spatial velocity across the sweep may be as great as 4% or 5%.
Attempts have been made to compensate for differences in the apparent spatial velocity between beams by adjusting the output rate of crystal oscillators. However, crystal oscillators are very frequency stable relative to time and temperature, they are unsuited for applications wherein the frequency must be varied more than about 1/2%. This is of course insufficient to compensate for the differences in sweep velocity of 4% to 5% described above.
Oscillators having stabilized frequencies have been produced using phase-lock-loops which comprise a reference oscillator, a voltage-controlled variable frequency oscillator, a frequency divider for adjusting the frequency of the output of the variable frequency oscillator to substantially the same frequency as the output of the reference oscillator, and a phase comparator for comparing the phase of the output of the reference oscillator to the phase of the variable frequency oscillator. The variable frequency oscillator is controlled in response to the compared output. When the frequency divider or multiplier is fixed, the frequency of the variable frequency oscillator is locked, and a signal having that desired frequency can be reliably obtained.
In such prior art locked oscillators, it is possible to change the frequency to which the variable frequency oscillator is to be locked by changing the dividing rate of the frequency divider. However, if the desired frequency to which the variable frequency oscillator is to be locked is relatively great as compared with the output frequency of the reference oscillator, so that the output frequency of the variable frequency oscillator must be divided by a great number, the response time of the frequency divider becomes un-desirably long. The long response time of the frequency divider causes instability in the frequency locking of the variable frequency oscillator, and the large frequency dividing rate requires a complicated and expensive frequency divider.

Oscillator system with corrective frequency modulation


A configurable golfing apparatus including a rectangular handle portion. The rectangular handle portion includes a golf club shaft that is securely mounted within the configurable golf club handle. The rectangular shape provides new and additional hand placement and new and additional configuration capabilities for both right handed and left handed golfers. The configurable golfing apparatus allows different golf club heads (e.g., drivers, irons, putters, etc.) to be inserted and removed from the configurable golfing apparatus. The golf club shaft inside the rectangular handle portions complies with straightness, bending and flexibility, and twisting and torque, properties and attachment to a golf club head requirements for a golf club shaft required by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Royal and Ancient (R&A) Golf Club of St Andrews rules and functions in a manner similar to a golf club shaft not enclosed in a rectangular handle portion.

There are many types of golf club handles. Most are circular or oval in shape and are attached directly to a golf club shaft. There are many different types of hand placements used to grip a golf club with a circular or oval shaped golf club handle. The hand placements are different for golfers who are left handed and right handed. The hand placements are also different for different clubs (e.g., driver, iron, putter, etc.) and for different shots on the golf course.
Golf club handles with a circular or oval shape have limitations for the number of different hand placements that can be used to grip the golf club handle.
In addition, golf club handles used for non-professional golfers typically do not include additional components that can be added to the golf club handle to use the golf club handle as a training tool and/or to use the golf club handle as an instrument to increase an amount of fun obtained from playing a round of golf.
Thus, it is desirable to solve some of the problems associated with gripping and using golf handles with circular, oval or other shapes.


An exhaust system for an APU in a gas turbine engine aircraft having a tail cone in which exhaust noise is reduced. An APU exhaust liner is attached to the APU and extending to an oval cutout at the tail cone The liner has a first constant cross section from the APU to a point proximate the tail cone, and a second, increasing cross section from the point proximate the tail cone to the liner cutout. The liner is turned toward the side of the tail. The liner cutout is further enlarged with at least one larger cutout.

The current goal of the aircraft industry is to make products as quiet as possible. One component of noise generation is exhaust noise from an aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU), a gas turbine engine. While the aircraft is on the ground, the exhaust from the APU exits the aircraft and mixes with static air outside. This mixing of high velocity air and static air results in air shear, which causes noise.
This exhaust noise from an APU is generated downstream of any exhaust muffler and thus cannot be attenuated. The only way to reduce the shear effect is to reduce the exhaust velocity.
For a fixed exhaust mass flow, a larger duct results in slower exhaust velocity. A traditional approach to reducing shear has been to reduce the velocity by making the exhaust duct larger. In this case, the larger exhaust duct requires more metal in the liner and muffler. This adds undesirable weight to the system.


A towing tie assembly including a link having longitudinal and oppositely longitudinal ends and incorporating four pleated straps, each pleated strap forming longitudinally extending series of “C” bends, each “C” bend having a stem section and a pair of arm sections, each “C” bend's stem and arm sections defining a capture space, and each longitudinally extending “C” bend series forming a series of adjacent arm pairs with each “C” bend formed arm capture space receiving one of the adjacent arm pairs; the towing tie assembly further having fastening loops connected operatively to the link's longitudinal and oppositely longitudinal ends.

Common heavy vehicle towing implements or ties, such as heavy chains, straps, cable, straps, and ropes typically acquires, upon application of a large tensioning force, a large amount of induced elastic or spring potential energy. In the event of unexpected breakage of such common towing ties, such induced elastic potential energy commonly instantaneously and explosively releases, undesirably producing an injurious backlash or whipping motions of the broken and disjointed ends of the tie. Such common towing ties also readily transmit forceful shock waves along their lengths without damping, allowing or causing such waves to prematurely break such ties.
The instant inventive towing tie assembly solves or ameliorates the towing tie drawbacks, defects and deficiencies noted above by specially configuring a link component of the assembly to include a pleated and interwoven configuration of a plurality of durable and flexible straps.


A pivoting detent joint for an exterior vehicle mirror assembly comprising a support arm for carrying a mirror head; a mounting bracket for being affixed to a vehicle exterior and carrying said support arm; a base keyway included in said mounting bracket; a key received in sliding engagement with said base keyway along a first axis; a lower detent member having a detent keyway receiving said key in sliding engagement along a second axis perpendicular to said first axis; and, an upper detent member carried by said support arm engaging said lower detent member to hold said support arm in a selected position; whereby said support arm pivots along said first axis and said second axis to accommodate misalignment between said mounting bracket and said support arm to maintain proper detent resistance of said upper and lower detent members.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exterior vehicle mirror assemblies, and more particularly, to a sliding detent joint for large commercial vehicle mirror assemblies that allows for multi-axis movement at the detent joint to accommodate misalignment between a mounting bracket and mirror head support arm when mounted to the vehicle while maintaining the proper detent function between the mounting bracket and mirror head support arm to hold the mirror assembly in a desired position.
2) Description of Related Art
Exterior mirror assemblies are known to include a detent connection joint between a mounting bracket attached to the vehicle and a support arm carrying the mirror head so that the mirror can be selectively positioned and held in place. However, manufacturing variances for large exterior vehicle mirror assemblies typically result in some degree of misalignment between the two detent surfaces when mounted to the vehicle. In some cases the parts are flexible enough to accommodate slight misalignment. This, however, leads to line and point contact location in the detent joint that create premature wear and tear on the joint. This wear will eventually cause the detent joint to loosen over time from vibration and fail to hold the mirror assembly in the selected position. In other cases, the mirror assembly system will not accommodate any misalignment and results in poor or limited detent performance when mounted to the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,377 (Brouwer) shows a movement mechanism comprising a spherical holder and a spherical bowl which cooperate through various ridges and grooves to selectively move about an X-axis or a Y-axis. There is no disclosure of a detent mechanism or that this arrangement would be adaptable to connecting a mirror support arm to a mounting bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,640 (Gilbert et al.) shows a mirror assembly pivotal about one axis. The mirror assembly cannot pivot in multiple directions and does not disclose accommodating misalignment between components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,436 (McDevitt) shows a mounting hub 18 rotated about an X-axis and Y-axis. There is no disclosure of a detent mechanism as part of the joint assembly to hold the position of the unit that would be adaptable to vehicle mirror assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,905 (Brudy) shows a truck mirror that includes a detent member with grooves and complementary engaging member that includes spaced projections. Axial compression of a spring moves the grooves into engagement with the projections. There is no disclosure in the specification of any tolerance for misalignment in this arrangement. Movement of this detent mechanism is limited strictly to a single vertical axis which would not address the problem of multi-axis misalignment between the support arm and mounting bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,546 (Bottrill) shows a vehicle exterior mirror that includes detent formations that includes a compression spring. Misalignment is prevented by allowing a wobble in the washer connector. There is no disclosure of cooperating surfaces on the detent mechanism that adjust to allow for multi-axis movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,715 (Schuurmans et al.) shows an external vehicle mirror that includes cooperating engaging members to form a detent arrangement, and a spring adapted to hold the detent arrangement engaged. There is no disclosure of cooperating surfaces on the detent mechanism that adjust to accommodate misalignment.
None of the cited patents or known prior art teach a detent joint for a mirror assembly that allows for multi-axis rotation while maintaining proper detent resistance. Thus, there is a need for improvement in the art to provide a detent joint for exterior mirror assemblies that maintains a proper detent connection while preventing uneven wear by accommodating misalignment.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a detent joint connection that will forgive misalignment between a mounting bracket and support arm when mounted to a vehicle.


A method and system for measuring performance and ordering supplies in a collision center includes an identification reader for reading product identification tags corresponding products removed from a supply of products. The identification reader also reads a repair order identification tag corresponding to a repair order of a vehicle under repair and a technician identification tag corresponding to a technician using the product(s) to repair the vehicle. The system further includes a computer having a plurality of database for storing repair order data, technician data, benchmark data, and inventory data. The computer receives data from the identification reader and computes a performance level of the technician by comparing the product(s) used by the technician to a standard benchmark. The computer also analyzes the inventory data and automatically generates a supply order for products that fall below an inventory level. The supply order is electronically sent to a supplier.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system for managing supplies and performance in a collision center.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various systems and methods for managing supplies and/or performance are known to those in the related art. Examples of such systems and methods are disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0130820 (the '820 publication) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,365 (the '365 patent).
The '820 publication discloses a system and method for managing work orders for performing maintenance tasks. The system and method logs the start and stop time that a technician works on one of the work orders. The total elapsed time taken by the technician to complete the work order is calculated and compared with benchmarks or other work orders or other technicians. From this comparison, a productivity and efficiency of the technician is measured based solely on the time taken by the technician to perform the work order. The '820 publication does not disclose a system or method to measure productivity and efficiency of the technician based on factors other than the time taken to perform the work order.
The '365 patent discloses a system and method for providing supplies to a collision center. The system and method involves scanning bar codes which are disposed on bins in the collision center. Each bar code corresponds to the products stored in the bins. An order is generated for the products whose bar codes is scanned. The order is transmitted from the collision center to an Internet web site. The order is then transmitted from the web site to a supplier. Unfortunately, the system and method disclosed by the '365 patent requires a person to perform an inventory check of the supplies from time-to-time, thus costing the collision center or the supplier additional labor time. Furthermore, the '365 patent does not disclose the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for identifying the products stored in the bins.

Method and system for managing supplies and performance in a collision center


A device is provided to heat the whole heated surface of a carried member carried intermittently with a temperature change over time maintained constant. The device controls the driving of a belt-conveyer so that a heater moves in a carrying direction at a carry time movement velocity that is slower than the carry velocity of a TAB tape if the TAB tape is in a carried state. On the other hand, the heater moves in an opposite carrying direction at a carry standby time movement velocity derived from the difference between the carry velocity and the carry time movement velocity if the TAB tape is in a carry standby state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reflow device to reflow a carried member that is carried intermittently.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been a mounting method and a mounting device to mount electronic components on a tape-shape substrate, in which the tape-shape substrate with a plurality of circuit patterns being formed thereon in series is intermittently carried, and printing of cream solder, mounting of electronic components, and reflow soldering performed by putting the tape-shape substrate through the reflow device, are successively implemented, in order to improve the mounting efficiency of electronic components on the substrate. (Refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2003-8289, for example)
In order to realize a preferable reflow soldering using a reflow device, it is necessary to heat a tape-shape substrate in accordance with a given heating pattern, in other words, a temperature profile showing temperature change over time. According to the conventional example described above, however, there is an unsolved problem that the heated surface of the tape-shape substrate passing through the reflow device is not heated so that the temperature change over time is constant since the tape-shape substrate for which carrying and carry standby are periodically repeated, is reflowed only by passing through the reflow device.
In view of the unsolved problem of the above-described conventional example, the present invention is intended to provide a reflow device to heat the whole heated surface of a carried member carried intermittently, while keeping the temperature change over time of the heated surface constant.


An apparatus for growing single-polytype, single crystals of silicon carbide utilizing physical vapor transport as the crystal growth technique. The apparatus has a furnace which has a carbon crucible with walls that border and define a crucible cavity. A silicon carbide source material provided at a first location of the crucible cavity, and a monocrystalline silicon carbide seed is provided at a second location of the crucible cavity. A heat path is also provided in the furnace above the crucible cavity. The crucible has a stepped surface that extends into the crucible cavity. The stepped surface has a mounting portion upon which the seed crystal is mounted. The mounting portion of the stepped surface is bordered at one side by the crucible cavity and is bordered at an opposite side by the furnace heat path. The stepped surface also has a sidewall that is bordered at one side by and surrounds the furnace heat path. The apparatus may also have a thermal insulating member, in which a side of the stepped surface sidewall opposite to the furnace heat path is bordered by the thermal insulating member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to structures and methods for producing large, single-crystals of silicon carbide with crystalline quality suitable for use in semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silicon carbide is a wide bandgap semiconductor material with physical and chemical properties unmatched for high power microwave, temperature tolerant, and radiation resistant applications. For example, silicon carbide exhibits a critical electric-field breakdown strength of approximately ten times that of silicon, the most commonly used semiconductor material. Also, silicon carbide has a high-field electron velocity equal to gallium arsenide, a semiconductor material commonly utilized for its high electron velocity property. Further, silicon carbide exhibits a higher thermal conductivity (an advantageous property in the operation of certain semiconductor-based devices) than silicon and gallium arsenide, having a value near that of copper. Silicon carbide based microwave transistors and integrated circuits could provide approximately five times the power density of gallium arsenide based MMICs at X-band frequencies, and approximately ten times the power density of silicon at UHF-band to S-band frequencies.
A basic requirement for the use of silicon carbide as a semiconductor material is that the silicon carbide be prepared as large single crystals. The large single crystals should be prepared with a size sufficient for economic applications and have a structure consisting of a repeated atomic arrangement with a minimum of defects in the periodic array.
Single crystals of silicon carbide have been obtained as platelets found within cavities in the large Acheson furnaces used to produce silicon carbide grain. These platelets were found in general to be defective, with no control of the platelet growth process.
The first single crystals were grown in the laboratory by a sublimation vapor-condensation growth technique by J. A. Lely that was reported in Ber. Deut. Keram. Ges., 32, (1955) pp. 229-251 and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,364. In this technique, Lely constructed an artificial cavity with pieces of silicon carbide from the Acheson process, placed the cavity within a graphite crucible and heated this charge to above 2500.degree. C. in an inert argon atmosphere where vapors from the subliming charge condensed at random sites within the cooler cavity wall to form platelets of silicon carbide.
Between 1958 and 1978, a number of investigators expended a large amount of activity in an attempt to control the sublimation-vapor transport process and improve the size and quality of the grown platelets. However, the essential drawbacks to the Lely process--uncontrolled nucleation of multiple intergrown platelets, the small size of platelets, and non-uniform growth rate of individual platelets--were not overcome. In addition, the silicon carbide platelets generally contained layers of different polytype layers with crystallographic structure having different stacking orders of the silicon and carbon atoms comprising the crystal. While the different polytypes exhibit nearly identical physical properties, a significant difference may be observed in the electrical and optical properties of each polytype. Single-crystal, single-polytype silicon carbide material is required for efficient device fabrication, since the occurrence of random polytypes within the crystal will adversely affect the electronic properties of devices fabricated on them.
The growth of cylindrical single-crystal boules was first described in a publication by Yu. M. Tairov and V. F. Tsvetkov, in J. Crystal Growth 43, (1978) pp. 209-212, in which small ingots 8-mm in diameter and 8-mm in length were grown. This development incorporates a seed crystal in order to control nucleation, and in this manner is similar to the growth techniques used to grow single crystals of silicon. In this technique, as described in Yu. M. Tairov and V. F. Tsvetkov, J. Crystal Growth 52 (1981) pp. 146-150, a graphite crucible is used wherein a single crystal seed placed in one portion of the crucible is separated from silicon carbide grain placed in another portion of the crucible. The seed temperature is raised to a temperature of 1800-2000.degree. C. and the source temperature raised to a higher temperature than the seed, and sufficient to provide a temperature gradient of about 30.degree. C./cm between source and seed. Nucleation of growth on the seed surface was effected under approximately a 100 Torr pressure of argon to stabilize the polytypic structure of the deposition. The growth rate was then slowly increased by evacuating the system to a pressure of 10.sup.-1 -10.sup.-4 Torr according to an exponential law with a time constant of approximately 7 minutes. Mass transfer is effected by the fluxes of the gas phase components Si, Si.sub.2 C and SiC.sub.2 formed as a result of decomposition of the SiC source material.
Tairov and Tsvetkov further noted that the vapor pressure of Si exceeds the vapor pressure of Si.sub.2 C and SiC.sub.2, and reacts with the lower temperature graphite walls of the growth cell. Growth at source-to-seed separations of greater than 10 mm was obtained as silicon vapor acts as a carbon transporting agent with the graphite cell being the carbon source. Tairov and Tsvetkov suggested that it is possible to control the polytypic structure of the growth by selecting seeds of the required polytype, or by growing the crystal on faces forming an angle to the (0001) surface. To grow polytypic homogeneous crystals, it is also necessary to eliminate supersaturation fluctuations during crystal growth.
The production of 6H-polytype single crystal boules up to 20-mm in diameter and 24-mm in length suitable for use as blue light emitting diode substrate material was reported by Ziegler et al., in IEEE Trans. Electron Dev., ED-30, 4 (1983) pp. 277-281, and described in German patent DE 3,230,727. Ziegler et al. referred to this process as the "modified Lely technique". The process described by Ziegler et al. is based on the knowledge that the Tairov method produced crystals with mixed polytypes due to the following: the temperature gradient was too high, the pressure of the protective gas was too low, and the temperature of the seed should be selected in accord with the vapor pressure diagram given by Knippenberg in Growth Phenomena in Silicon Carbide, Philips Research Reports 18, (1963) pp. 164-166.
The process described by Ziegler et al. limits the temperature gradient in the direction of epitaxial growth to no more than 25.degree. C./cm, holds the temperature of the seed crystal to a range of 2100-2300.degree. C., and adjusts the pressure of the protective gas to be at least as high as the total of the gas partial pressures of the deposition components. Ziegler et al. described a proportedly advantageous arrangement of the sublimation growth crucible by placing porous graphite outside the reaction zone and placing the sublimation source behind the porous partition above the deposition zone. The temperature gradient is provided by additional heating of the source end of the crucible, or by additional cooling of the seed. The cooling of the seed is typically achieved by conductive cooling means such as a "cooling finger" or "cold finger" extending out of the crucible into the vacuum chamber. The use of a cold finger is familiar to those with ordinary expertise in the area of condensation of vapors. And, while the use of a "cold finger" is normally restricted to the condensation of vapor to form a liquid, the cooling of a vapor to form a solid will be familiar to those practiced in the art of crystal growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,005 to Davis et al. provides a method of reproducibly controlling the growth of large single crystals of silicon carbide using a technique called physical vapor transport "PVT"), a technique also referred to as the "modified Lely technique". Physical vapor transport is the current preferred general method in the industry for the growth of silicon carbide crystals, and consists of a furnace having a graphite (carbon) crucible with a cavity therein. The furnace further has a means for heating the crucible and cavity. A source material of silicon carbide is provided at a first region within the crucible cavity, while a silicon carbide monocrystalline seed is positioned at a second region within the crucible cavity. In silicon carbide crystal growth, where the sublimation space must be kept above 1900.degree. C. and due to the high reactivity of the silicon-containing vapor, carbon or graphite are currently the only crucible materials capable of practical use. The presence of a free carbon is an important part of the chemical reaction to produce silicon carbide crystalline material, where the principal vapor components are Si, Si.sub.2 C and SiC.sub.2 (Drowart et al., J. Chem. Phys., 29 pp. 1015-1021, 1958).
According to Davis et al., controlled, repeatable growth of silicon carbide of desired polytype is achieved by generating and maintaining a substantially constant flow of vaporized Si, Si.sub.2 C, and SiC.sub.2 per unit area per unit time from the source to the growth surface of the seed crystal. To maintain this constant flow of vaporized Si, Si.sub.2 C and SiC.sub.2, a source powder is used having a selected graph size distribution and that has substantially the same desired polytype as the seed crystal. Further, the source is fed by various means to maintain essentially constant source characteristics. Davis et al. also describe the use of a monocrystalline seed of desired polytype with off-axis growth face as previously described by Tairov, and manipulation of the source temperature to maintain a constant temperature gradient between the subliming source powder and the growth surface as would be obvious to those with ordinary experience in crystal growth.
The use of thermal gradients in the modified Lely technique for growth of silicon carbide has been described by Tairov et al. in J. Crystal Growth 52, 1981, p. 147 and by Davis et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,005. However, if portions of the crucible surrounding the seed crystal are sufficiently cooled while achieving the thermal gradient, nucleation will result. For example, if axial movement of a heating element (such as an induction coil) is used to provide a temperature difference between the source and seed end of the crucible, portions of the crucible may simultaneously be cooled sufficiently to allow nucleation on portions of the graphite crucible surrounding the seed crystal. Such nucleation and incursion of extraneous polycrystalline material into the grown crystal has been demonstrated by Ziegler et al., (IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. ED-30, 4, 1983, p. 279).
Furthermore, if during seed growth, the source is removed from the crystal growth front a distance of more than approximately 10 mm, the higher partial vapor pressure of silicon reacts with carbon in the vicinity of the growth front to provide the deposition species. However, portions of the carbon crucible in proximity to the seed and growth front will become overcooled and will become a surface for nucleation and for the growth of unwanted polycrystalline material.
Thus, a method is needed that allows for the growth of a single crystal of silicon carbide, while preventing the nucleation of extraneous crystallites.

Method for growing large silicon carbide single crystals

by Joan Seidensticker, legal representative


An information processing apparatus includes a body having a display panel pivotally attached to the body, the panel having a plural, selectable data display orientations. A detector detects a size of an angle between the display panel and the body and a selector selects a corresponding one of the data display orientations in accordance with the size of the detected angle, affording automatic change of the data display orientations in accordance with respective, different desired configurations of the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small-sized portable information processing apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to a small-sized portable information processing apparatus, such as a portable calculation machine, a portable computer, a portable word processor, an electronics note book or the like, having an information indication display, such as a liquid crystal display, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is required that a small-sized portable information processing apparatus be easily operated with a pen or the like operating element as well as being small-sized, light-weight, and easily portable. Therefore, an apparatus body, i.e., a housing, or case, is provided with a keyboard integral therewith. A liquid crystal display, which functions as a touch input panel, is pivotably attached to the apparatus body by means of a hinge, so that the liquid crystal display can be pivotably moved by approximately 360xc2x0 with respect to the apparatus body. In such an apparatus, it is possible to input through the keyboard while watching the display and also possible to directly input to the liquid crystal display through a pen or the like after the liquid crystal display is pivotally moved (i.e., rotated) by 360xc2x0 with respect to a closed position relatively to the apparatus body.
FIGS. 16(a) and 16(b) are perspective views of such a portable apparatus known in the prior art, in which FIG. 16(a) shows the liquid crystal display opened to an obtuse angle position, relatively to the closed position with respect to the apparatus body so that the keyboard can be operated and FIG. 16(b) shows that the liquid crystal display is pivotably moved by 360xc2x0 with respect to the closed position thereof so that the liquid crystal display can face upwards to allow direct input thereto by a pan or the like. As shown in these drawings, the apparatus comprises an apparatus body 1, a keyboard 2 integrally provided on the top of the apparatus body, a liquid crystal display 3 having its display surface as a touch panel and a hinge member 5 having two pivot shafts 5a and 5b.
As shown in these drawings, the liquid crystal display 3 is connected to the apparatus body 1 by means of the hinge member 5 having two pivot shafts 5a and 5b. More particularly, the rear edge of the liquid crystal display 3 is connected to one pivot shaft 5a of the hinge member 5 and the other pivot shaft 5b is connected to the rear edge of the apparatus body 1.
As shown in FIG. 16(a), when the liquid crystal display 3 is rotated to a predetermined angle (an obtuse angle) with respect to the keyboard 2, it is possible to input through the keyboard while watching the display. Also, as shown in FIG. 16(b), it is also possible to pivotably move the liquid crystal display by 360xc2x0 with respect to the apparatus body 1 from its closed position so that information can be directly input through the pen 4 to the liquid crystal display 3 which functions as a touch panel.
The liquid crystal display 4 is substantially rectangular in shape. Therefore, in a state of FIG. 16(a), it is preferable to set the apparatus so that the operator can input through the keyboard 2 while watching the liquid crystal display 3. On the contrary, in a state of FIG. 16(b), it is preferable to set the apparatus so that the operator can input through the liquid crystal display 3 using a pen 4 or the like.
Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 17(a) and 17(b), a display changing actuation position 17 is conventionally provided in the liquid crystal display 3 so that, when the operator touches this position with a tip of the pen 4, the orientation of the liquid crystal display 3 is turned by 90xc2x0. If the position is touched again, the orientation of the liquid crystal display 3 is turned back to the initial state.
Another actuation position for keyboard lock or operation invalidation is also provided in the liquid crystal display 3 so that, when the operator touches this actuation position with the pen 4, the function of the keyboard is locked or all or part of the operations are invalidated. If this actuation position is touched again, the keyboard lock or operation invalidation is released.
In this known portable information processing apparatus, the operator must use a pen 4 to touch the display changing position 17 every time the operator intends to change the liquid crystal display 3. Also, the operator must use the pen 4 to touch the display changing position 17 to change the display back to the initial state. Such an operation necessarily is somewhat troublesome.
Unexamined Patent Publications (Kokai) Nos. 62-6295 and 62-17786 suggest a small-sized image display apparatus in which a matrix panel (liquid crystal display) is rotatable by 360xc2x0 with respect to the apparatus body and the panel is changed to either light transmitting type or light reflecting type in accordance with the luminous intensity exerted on the matrix panel.
In these prior art, although the matrix panel is automatically changed to either light transmitting type or light reflecting type in accordance with the luminous intensity exerted on the panel, this image display changing apparatus is not of a type in which the display is automatically changed in accordance with the state of use.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized portable information processing apparatus, in which the liquid crystal display can automatically be changed without using a pen or the like, but by only rotating the liquid crystal display with respect to the apparatus body so as to change its state of use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized portable information processing apparatus, in which the function of the keyboard is locked or all or a part of the operations are automatically invalidated, by rotating the liquid crystal display with respect to the apparatus body so as to change its state of use.
According to the present invention, there is provided a small-sized portable information processing apparatus comprising: an apparatus body; a display panel pivotably attached to the apparatus body, the display panel having a plurality of data display orientations therein; detecting means for detecting an angle between the apparatus body and the display; and changing means for selecting one of the orientations of the display panel in accordance with a result from the detecting means. Thus, the orientation of the display can be easily and automatically changed by only pivotably moving the liquid crystal display panel.
The display panel is pivotably movable by up to approximately 360xc2x0 with respect to the apparatus body by means of a pivot shaft provided therebetween and a to switch performs an ON-OFF operation thereof in accordance with relative rotation between the display panel and the apparatus body about the pivot shaft. Thus, the orientation of the display can be easily and automatically changed by a switch ON-OFF operation.
The switching means is arranged to perform the ON-OFF operation thereof at a position near to the position achieved when the display has moved approximately 360xc2x0 from a closed position thereof with respect to the apparatus body. Thus, the orientation of the display can be automatically changed when the apparatus is set so that only the display is to be operated.
The switching means comprises a cam provided on one of two members which move relatively about the pivot shaft and a cam follower which is provided on the other member so as to always be in contact with the cam and is axially moved in accordance with the rotation of the cam, so that the switching means performs ON-OFF operation thereof in accordance with the axial movement of the cam follower.
In an alternative embodiment, the switching means comprises a cam provided on one of two members which move relatively about the pivot shaft and a cam follower is provided on the other member so as to always be in contact with the cam and to be axially moved in accordance with the rotation of the cam, one of the cam and the cam follower having a concave shape and the other having a convex shape so that, after the cam follower moves in the axial direction and once comes into contact with a switching element, the concave and the convex shapes are mutually engaged with each other and therefore the cam follower moves away from the switching element.
The switching means comprises a projection provided on one of two members which move relatively about the pivot shaft and a sensor switch is provided on the other member so as to perform ON-OFF operation thereof in accordance with the rotational movement of the projection.
The sensor switch may be a type of switch which magnetically detects a position in the rotational movement of the display with respect to the apparatus body.
The sensor switch may be a type of switch which optically detects a position in the rotational movement of the display with respect to the apparatus body.
Since there is no mechanical switch means, a switch having few structural or movable parts can be obtained.
The display comprises a liquid crystal touch panel which has a function of displaying letters, images and the others, and a function of inputting information by touching thereon. Thus, an input operation can be effected from either the touch panel or the keyboard.
The apparatus body comprises a keyboard integrally incorporated therein and a means for locking or invalidating operation of the keyboard in accordance with a relative rotational movement of the display with respect to the apparatus body. Since the keyboard lock or the invalidation of keyboard operation is effected, when the state of use is changed, any accidental input errors through the keyboard can be prevented in advance.

Small-sized portable information processing apparatus


Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an apparatus for and method of protecting a reticle in a lithography system from particle deposition using thermophoresis, but still allowing a high vacuum area for the photo-optics.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an apparatus for and method of protecting a reticle in a lithography system from particle deposition using thermophoresis, but still allowing a high vacuum area for the photo-optics.
2. Related art
Reticles in a conventional lithographic system are typically protected by a clear faceplate, called a pellicle, to cover and protect the pattern side of a reticle. Increases in circuit densities on wafers result in the need for shorter wavelengths, e.g., λ≈11-14 nm (nominally 13 nm). With the shorter wavelength radiation, the pellicle cannot be utilized, as present materials absorb too much of the radiation for process efficiency and/or deteriorate quickly. Therefore, protecting the pattern side of a "pellicle-less" reticle from contamination while mounted on a reticle stage in a lithography system becomes important.
One alternative to a pellicle may be using a thermophoretic force, which relies on gas pressure and temperature gradients within the gas, to move particles from higher to lower temperature gas. The prior art describes at least one application of thermophoresis to protect lithography components such as wafers and reticles. A smaller enclosure around the reticle, which is maintained at a higher pressure than the vacuum environment in the larger enclosure surrounding the smaller enclosure can provide thermophoretic protection. In the prior art, the wall of the smaller enclosure opposite the downward facing, horizontal surface of the reticle has an aperture through which the gas flows out.
In the prior art, when elevated pressure is maintained over the surface to be protected, the portion of the reticle to be exposed to a beam of radiation for use in wafer processing may not be presented in the high-vacuum environment desired for optimum use of short wavelength radiation. Accordingly, an alternative apparatus and approach for providing thermophoretic particle protection to a reticle while in use in a high vacuum environment is needed.

Apparatus for and method of thermophoretic protection of an object in a high-vacuum environment