There is disclosed method and apparatus which promotes effective peeling of a linerless-type label web from a roll by use of a peel roller in contact with the outer periphery of the roll. The apparatus can include a print head and a driven platen roll. The apparatus can also apply labels which are printed by the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the fields of label web handling, labeling and printing.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,259 granted Jan. 23, 1996 and assigned to Monarch Marking Systems, Inc. is prior art, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,155, granted Jul. 2, 1991 and assigned to Monarch Marking Systems, Inc. is also prior art.
Linerless label webs are typically wound into rolls for subsequent use in a printer. Such linerless label webs are typically wound face-side-in. When a linerless web is drawn from the roll, the web is sometimes drawn off in a jerky manner because the point of release of the web from the roll changes. This can have a detrimental affect on printing.


The present invention relates to the use of self-assembled monolayers with mixtures of conductive oligomers and insulators to detect target analytes.

There are a number of assays and sensors for the detection of the presence and/or concentration of specific substances in fluids and gases. Many of these rely on specific ligand/antiligand reactions as the mechanism of detection. That is, pairs of substances (i.e. the binding pairs or ligand/antiligands) are known to bind to each other, while binding little or not at all to other substances. This has been the focus of a number of techniques that utilize these binding pairs for the detection of the complexes. These generally are done by labeling one component of the complex in some way, so as to make the entire complex detectable, using, for example, radioisotopes, fluorescent and other optically active molecules, enzymes, etc.
Other assays rely on electronic signals for detection. Of particular interest are biosensors. At least two types of biosensors are known; enzyme-based or metabolic biosensors and binding or bioaffinity sensors. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,713,347; 5,192,507; 4,920,047; 3,873,267; and references disclosed therein. While some of these known sensors use alternating current (AC) techniques, these techniques are generally limited to the detection of differences in bulk (or dielectric) impedance.
The use of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on surfaces for binding and detection of biological molecules has recently been explored. See for example WO98120162; PCT US98/12430; PCT US98/12082; PCT US99/01705; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,850; and references cited therein.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide novel methods and compositions for the electronic detection of target analytes using self-assembled monolayers.

Compositions for the electronic detection of analytes utilizing monolayers


A universal mount for acoustically coupling a musical instrument tuner to an instrument has a link connected to the tuner at one end, the link adapted and arranged to have selectable loose and fixed states, with the link including complementary first and second clamping halves joined by a compression element, and a clamp connected to the other end of the link for acoustically coupling the tuner to the musical instrument.

Electro-mechanical musical instrument tuners have been provided for acoustically coupling to musical instruments for sensing mechanical vibrations of the musical instruments to determine the pitch of tones being emitted by the musical instruments. The detected pitch is then used to provide an output indicating the pitch of the tone being played. These musical instrument tuners can be used both for tuning the musical instruments and for developing a player's ear for detecting the pitch being played, such as for teaching a person to recognize various intonations.
In the past, musical instrument tuners have been clamped directly to the instruments using C-type clamps to acoustically couple the tuners to the instruments, such that mechanical vibrations will pass to a vibratory motion detector mounted within the housing of the tuner. One type of C-type clamp is found in the Intellitouch™ PT1™ tuner offered by Onboard Research Corp. of Carrollton, Tex., which was the subject of U.S. Design Pat. No. D402,684. This tuner has two opposed, parallel, planar pads that are urged into contact with the instrument and then locked with clamping pressure sufficient to hold the tuner on the instrument. While this tuner has been an outstanding success, a limitation of this device is that the simple, planar clamping pads are not well-adapted for attachment to round surfaces, such as brass horn pipes, violin necks, etc. In addition, this tuner is difficult to attach to brass or woodwind bells, due to the curved shapes and reinforced bell rims. Other C-type clamps typically have a threaded clamping member which is subject to over tightening of the threaded coupling, which may cause damage to the musical instruments from excessive forces being applied to the instrument. In addition, alligator clips have also been used to clip musical instrument tuners to instruments, which may result in teeth of the alligator clips placing scratch marks on the exterior of the instruments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,403 issued to Membreno, et al., is directed to a tuner that has a special adapter for fixing the tuner to an instrument lyre commonly used with wind instruments. This attachment technique, while exceptionally effective for those type of instruments, is not useful with other instruments lacking such a lyre.
Past tuners have also been limited in the directions from they may be viewed when attached to the few attachment locations available. The PT1™ tuner mentioned above has a simple one-axis pivoting connection between the tuner and the clamp, which is usable in most applications, but greater freedom of relative positioning between the clamp and the tuner would yield a greater number of satisfactory uses.
Thus a need presently exists for a tuner mount that permits an increased number of attachment locations and enhanced positionability with respect to the user once attached.


A process for producing high speed transmitting dielectric materials comprises essentially mixing and reacting a proportion of polyphenylene ether (PPE) with a proportion of an epoxy resin of the type of low bromine content in a non-polar solvent in the presence of a catalyst in a reactor at a temperature of 90° C. to 220° C., characterized in that, in the course of the reaction, PPE needs not to be cleaved into small molecules and in stead, can mix and react directly with the epoxy resin to thereby produce a high speed transmitting dielectric material. The process of the invention can reduce greatly the synthetic reaction time, and is applicable in the production of the material useful in printed circuit board for wireless communication, base station and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for producing high speed transmitting dielectric material, and in particular, to a process for producing high speed transmitting dielectric material by reacting directly polyphenylene ether (PPE) with an epoxy, characterized in that said PPE needs not to be cleaved into small molecules, and can therefore shorten greatly the reaction time. The process of the invention is applicable in the manufacture of printed circuit board material used in wireless communication, base station and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional processes for producing high speed transmitting dielectric material comprised of, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, cleaving firstly a polyphenylene ether (PPE) (A) of high molecular weight into PPE (B) of small molecular weight through chain cleavage with a peroxides, and then, after mixing with an epoxy resin (C) (a solvent-type epoxy of low bromine content), carrying out a reaction in the presence of a catalyst and a hardener to produce dielectric materials such as a prepreg, copper-clad laminate (CCL) and the like.
However, the above-described conventional processes had the following disadvantages:    1. Since current high frequency substrates or wireless communication substrates must have a certain specification, for example, when the specification of a product regulates the substrate at a thickness of below 1.6 mm, a dielectric constant of less than 4.0 and a loss factor of below 0.01, the original characteristics of high frequency substrates or wireless communication substrates can be retained subsequently. Under this circumstance, the high speed transmitting dielectric material produced by conventional processes based on the cleavage of PPE of high molecular weight may not meet requirements of current application.    2. PPE of this specification is used only in some particular manufacturers, and has high cost. In case to be mixed with other materials, PPE of high molecular weight has to be mixed with an epoxy resin only after being cleaved into PPE of small molecular weight. Moreover, since a number of factors such as, for example, the amount of the catalyst used, the reaction temperature, the desired small molecular weight and the like must be considered in the cleavage process, these processes were considerably time-consuming.    3. In conventional process, PPE of high molecular weight must be subjected to chain cleavage, reaction and formulating in the presence of a peroxide as the catalyst under high temperature, these all increase risks of those process.
In view of the forgoing, for improving the above-mentioned disadvantages such that PPE of high molecular weight can be mixed directly with an epoxy without necessity to subjected to chain cleavage and as a result, time required for chain cleavage can be eliminated as well as risks and problems occurred during the chain cleavage, the inventor had studied and carried out experiments extensively for many years based on his experience, and finally, developed the present invention.

Process for producing high speed transmitting dielectric material


A multipath transport protocol such as multipath TCP can utilize metrics such as a wireless link condition corresponding to one or more paths as a parameter for controlling a dynamic allocation of data and control signaling over respective paths. Fault-tolerant control can enable retransmissions of packets already sent on a poor path, onto a good path. Further, the feedback, the retransmissions, and other control signaling can be provided on a separate subflow or on a UDP overlay. In this way, a multipath TCP connection can be more reliable and efficient as flow control and data flow are enhanced.

1. Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to multipath transport control in a wireless communication network.
2. Background
The transmission control protocol (TCP) is a transport protocol frequently used for non-real-time services such as HTTP for web browsing, FTP, IMAP, etc. A TCP connection can be set up between a client, e.g., user equipment (UE), and a server. TCP is above the IP layer, and uses retransmissions, flow control, and congestion control to improve the reliability of the IP layer.
For flow control, the receiver side in a TCP connection controls the transmitter so that only as much data is sent as the receiver has a buffer capacity for. Thus, the transmitter side dynamically adjusts the transmission rate in accordance with acknowledgements from the receiver. Further, congestion control at the transmitter side may use a congestion window (CW) controlled by slow start and congestion avoidance algorithms and an offered window with the size the receiver has a buffer for, to determine the amount of data the transmitter side can transmit.
In a modern network such as the Internet, hosts are often connected by multiple paths, where each path is defined by a source and destination address pair. For example, a mobile station may include multiple wireless links such as WWAN links for two or more protocols such as W-CDMA, LTE, CDMA2000, and WiMAX, and possibly a WLAN or WPAN link. Similarly, a network server may have any number of links to the network.
However, TCP restricts communications to a single path per transport connection. To improve the efficiency of resource usage within the network, a multipath TCP protocol has been described in order to enable these multiple paths able to be concurrently used by splitting the information over multiple transport paths. By using more than one path, multipath TCP can enhance user experience through improved resilience to network failure and increased throughput.
The information being routed over the TCP connection includes data and control signaling. Control messages may include any information exchange to setup up or maintain multiple paths, such as inquiring about additional IP addresses to set up a multipath connection. Data information includes application layer data being communicated over multipath transport.
While multipath TCP provides various improvements, there remains a desire to further improve data and control signaling delivery, particularly for connections over multiple paths including wireless links which may have independently varying signal qualities. That is, with such a multipath connection, the exchange of control messages may be hindered when the path carrying those control messages fails due to a deep fade on the corresponding wireless link. Here, multipath session setup and maintenance can be delayed. Further, when data on one path fails, starvation may occur on another, good path, hindering application performance and user experience.

Dynamic subflow control for a multipath transport connection in a wireless communication network


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having a damascene structure contains a process of forming a first interlayer insulating film (6) and a second interlayer insulating film (4) formed of a low dielectric-constant film on a substrate, forming via holes (9) by using a first resist pattern (1a) formed on the second interlayer insulating film, conducting an organic peeling treatment using organic peeling liquid containing amine components and then forming a second resist pattern (1b) on the second interlayer insulating film. After the wet treatment, before a second antireflection coating (2b) is coated so as to be located below the second resist pattern is coated, at least one of an annealing treatment, a plasma treatment, a UV treatment and an organic solvent treatment is carried out to remove amine components which inhibit the catalysis reaction of acid occurring in the resist at the light exposure, thereby preventing degradation of the resolution of the second resist pattern (1b).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and particularly to a semiconductor device having a damascene structure and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In connection with enhancement in the integration of semiconductor devices and reduction in chip size, miniaturization of wires and multi-layered wiring have been recently promoted. As a method of forming a multi-layered wiring structure is generally carried out a so-called damascene process in which Cu is embedded into via holes and wiring trench patterns at the same time and then surface flattening is carried out by using CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) method to form wires. With the damascene process described above, the density of the wiring pattern can be increased, however, a wiring delay problem would occur due to the parasitic capacity between wiring patterns if the wiring patterns are close to each other. Therefore, it is an important object to reduce the wiring capacity for an improvement in wiring delay.
As a method to reduce the wiring capacity is considered a method of using material having a lower dielectric constant as an interlayer insulating film in place of a SiO2-based insulating film which has been hitherto used (See JP(A)-2000-77409, etc.). Here, a conventional damascene process using low dielectric constant film as an interlayer insulating film will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 23A to 25C are cross-sectional views showing a via-first process corresponding to one type of conventional damascene process.
First, as shown in FIG. 23A, a first etching stop film 7 preventing diffusion of Cu and serving as an etching stopper for via holes, a first interlayer insulating film 6 of SiO2, a second etching stop film 5 serving as an etching stopper for wire trench patterns, a second interlayer insulating film 4 serving as a low dielectric constant film and a cap insulating film 3 of SiO2 are successively deposited on a wire substrate 8 on which a lower layer wire of Cu or the like is formed by a well-known method. Further, a first antireflection coating (ARC: Anti Reflection Coating) 2a and a photoresist are successively coated, and then subjected to light-exposure and development treatments to form a first resist pattern 1a for formation of the via holes 9.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 23B, the first antireflection coating 2a, the cap insulating film 3, the second interlayer insulating film 4, the second etching stop film 5 and the first interlayer insulating film 6 are successively etched with the first resist pattern 1a being used as a mask by using a well-known dry etching technique to form a via hole 9 penetrating through these films. Thereafter, by carrying out an oxygen plasma ashing treatment and a wet treatment using organic peeling liquid, the first resist pattern 1a and the first antireflection coating 2a are peeled off stripped off or removed and the residual materials of the dry etching are removed.
After the wet treatment using the organic peeling liquid, as shown in FIGS. 23C and 24A, a second antireflection coating 2b and a photoresist are successively coated, and then subjected to light-exposure and development treatments to form a second resist pattern 1b through which the wire trench patterns are etched (see FIG. 24B). Thereafter, by using a well-known dry etching technique, the second antireflection coating 2b, the cap insulating film 3 and the second interlayer insulating film 4 are successively etched to form wire trench patterns 10. Thereafter, by using the oxygen plasma ashing and the wet treatment using the organic peeling liquid, the second resist pattern 1b and the second antireflection film 2b are peeled off, and the residual materials of the dry etching are removed (see FIGS. 24C, 25A, 25B). A wiring material 11 of Cu or the like is embedded in the wire trench patterns 10 and the via holes 9 and the surface thereof is flattened by the CMP method to form a dual damascene structure.
Reference is made to the description at pages 5 to 7 and FIG. 1 of the above JP(A)-2000-77409.
As described above, according to the via-first dual damascene process, the via holes 9 are formed by using the first resist pattern 1a, and after the first resist pattern 1a is peeled off, the second resist pattern 1b for etching the wire trench patterns 10 is subsequently formed. However, in the conventional method, after the wet peeling process using the basic organic peeling liquid for peeling the first resist pattern 1a and the first antireflection coating 2a and before the coating of the second antireflection coating 2b or the resist, no pre-treatment is carried out, or dehydrating bake (for about 2 minutes at a temperature of about 150° C. to 250° C.) or thinner pre-wetting is merely carried out as a pre-treatment by a coating machine.
The dehydrating bake and the thinner pre-wetting treatments aim to remove water adsorbed on the substrate, particularly the inner wall of the via holes 9, and they do not aim to remove materials disturbing the chemical reactions in the resist such as basic materials, etc. (hereinafter referred to as reaction inhibiting materials). Therefore, there is a problem that the resolution of the second resist pattern 1b is lowered by the reaction inhibiting materials. That is, the chemical reactions are promoted by using acid catalyst occurring in the resist through the light exposure so that the resist is partially made to be easily dissoluble by developing liquid, thereby forming a resist pattern. However, the reaction inhibiting materials infiltrating into the interlayer insulating film exudes into the resist to deactivate the acid catalyst and thus suppress the chemical reactions in the resist, so that the resist at a part of the wire trench patterns 10, particularly the resist in the neighborhood of the via holes 9 is not sufficiently removed and thus remains there.
If the wiring trench patterns are subsequently etched under the state that the resist remains at the portion to be originally removed, the wire trench patterns 10 get out of shape, or particularly when a large part of the resist remains as shown in FIG. 24B, etching residue called as crown 15 as shown in FIG. 25A remains around the via holes 9. The crown 15 is not dissolved in the organic peeling liquid, and thus it remains until the wiring material 11 is embedded. Therefore, there occurs a problem that reliability of the completed wires is reduced.
This problem also occurs when SiO2 is used for the interlayer insulating film, and it occurs more remarkably when a low dielectric constant film is used for the interlayer insulating film. Since the low dielectric constant film is generally formed of coarse film, it is designed so that chemical solution such as organic peeling liquid, cleaning liquid, etc. is liable to infiltrate into the inside of the film and floating substances in air are liable to adhere to the film. Therefore, when antireflection coating or resist coated on the film concerned is baked, reaction inhibiting materials contained in the chemical solution exude gradually from the film concerned into the resist.
It is also known that, in addition to the chemical solution such as organic peeling liquid, cleaning liquid, etc., specific elements in the interlayer insulating film function as the reaction inhibiting materials. Therefore, if formation of the resist pattern is performed under such a condition that the interlayer insulating film or the etching stop film is exposed to the inner wall of the via-hole or the wiring trench pattern formed therein, the same problem as mentioned in the above occurs.
This problem occurs not only in the via-first dual damascene process, but also in other damascene processes such as a dual hard mask process, trench-first dual damascene process, etc. or in another semiconductor process having a step of forming a next resist pattern after a wet treatment using organic peeling liquid, cleaning liquid or the like or forming a resist pattern under such a condition that the insulating film is exposed to the inner wall of the via-hole or the trench pattern.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


Phosphate glass compositions which exhibit both athermal behavior under high thermal loading and high thermal shock resistance without special conditioning. High gain, laser rods, discs and other optical elements formed of these phosphate glass compositions are also described.

It is well-known that laser glasses must be able co withstand high internal temperatures created by flashlamps and the like without experiencing significant distortion, cracking or changes in optical properties that would significantly degrade the optical properties of the resonator during operation. Commonly referred to as thermal shock resistance, optical elements such as laser rods, slabs, discs, and fibers must also be capable of enduring high frequency and/or high average power optical pumping without catastrophic failure.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, operation a laser glass element acquires heat from the pumping light source. In order to dissipate this heat, laser devices are typically liquid-cooled to maintain the laser glass element within its operating temperature range. This cooling of the laser element creates a thermal gradient resulting in thermally-induced stress within the element that in turn induces optical distortions. If the thermally-induced stress exceeds the rupture strength of the glass, catastrophic failure of the laser glass element occurs. It is also known that under repetitively pulsed or continuously pumped conditions, conventional phosphate laser glass fractures and/or exhibits optical distortion at relatively low power levels which severely restricts the range of applications for these materials. Typically, athermal phosphate laser glass compositions have low rupture strength. This limits their use to average power levels of about 50% of that which may be employed with silicate glass compositions. Although their high rupture strength is desirable, silicate laser glass compositions do not compare favorably with athermal phosphate laser glass compositions in two respects: (1) silicate glass compositions have lower gain than the phosphate laser glass compositions; and (2) silicate glass compositions are not athermal. Moreover, these limitations of silicate glasses combine to effectively restrict their use to power levels comparable to those utilized with in phosphate laser glass compositions, notwithstanding that the silicates demonstrate twice the rupture strength.
Efforts to improve the rupture strength of both silicate and phosphate laser glasses by ion-exchange methods are discussed U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,687,799 and 5,053,360 which have been assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The methods of improving rupture strength described therein have found important uses, but the resultant glasses are limited in some applications by optical constraints due to the presence of a compressive surface layer. It is known that the compressive surface layer has a highly reflective internal surface that adversely affects performance and manufacturing costs.
The present invention provides phosphate glass compositions which satisfy the need for athermal performance at high average power levels with the concurrent high rupture strength, high gain, and good chemical durability necessary for superior performance without the need for ion exchange or other surface treatment methods which may degrade performance and increase cost.
Other patents which disclose phosphate glass compositions are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,053,165 (Oct. 1, 1991); 5,032,315 (Jul. 16, 1992); 4,929,387 (May 29, 1990); 4,871,230 (Oct. 3, 1989); 4,820,662 (Apr. 11, 1989); 4,333,848 (Jun. 8, 1992); and 4,022,707 (May 10, 1977). None of these patents, however, disclose the laser glass compositions of the present invention having the unexpected properties described herein.

Athermal laser glass compositions with high thermal loading capacity


A switching regulator and method of fabricating a switching regulator is disclosed. In one embodiment a switching regulator comprises a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, an inductor (L) connected to an input of the primary winding, and a capacitor (C) connected across the primary winding of the transformer. The inductor and capacitor form a L-C tank circuit. The switching regulator also includes a frequency source connected to the inductor, wherein the frequency source provides a switching frequency to the inductor that is substantially equal to a resonant frequency of the L-C tank circuit.

Power converters typically serve to accept energy from an unregulated energy source, such as a voltage source, and derive therefrom a regulated voltage which is applied to a load circuit. The regulation function is performed by interposing a voltage regulator device between the source of energy and the load circuit. One such type of voltage regulator is known as a switching regulator or switching power supply. These devices employ switching devices that operate in either a fully on state or a fully off state. The switching device is periodically turned on for a time interval to permit energy transfer around the various elements of the power train for purposes of maintaining the voltage output at a predetermined level. The device is then periodically turned off to allow the energy to decay into the load. A feedback signal from the output of the regulator is fed back to a control circuit. The control circuit utilizes the feedback signal to continuously adjust the duty cycle and/or frequency of the control signal driving the power switches in responses to variations in the output load and input voltage, and as a result, regulating the output voltage.
Typically, the power switches are turned on and off at a frequency which varies with the application and given size, cooling, power output, temperature and efficiency constraints. In certain applications, it may be required that the output signal is electrically isolated from the input signal, for example, via a transformer. In these applications, it will be required that the feedback signal be electrically isolated from the control circuit. Therefore, the switching regulator will require DC feedback components that work across said isolation boundary such as opto-isolators or additional signal transformers that add cost and complexity to the switching regulator.

High frequency voltage regulating transformer based converter


Provided herein are nucleotide prodrug compounds, their preparation and their uses, such as treating diseases or conditions of a viral infection.

The following description of the background is provided to aid in understanding the invention, but is not admitted to be, or to describe, prior art.
Synthetic nucleotide analogs are widely used as antiviral or anticancer agents. Prodrug technologies have been used to improve the nucleotide molecular properties to enable the nucleotides to be more bioavailable to target organs and/or target cells, including improving oral bioavailability. Thus, new compounds with improved prodrug activation profile in addition to oral bioavailability enhancement may significantly improve the therapeutic benefits of nucleotide analog based therapies.


An upper decorative stitching spreader 11 is switched active or inactive by an upper decoration switching mechanism 25. By placing the spreader 11 in active state, upper decorative stitches which are formed from above the fabric are added to the conventional over-edge chain stitches and lower decorative stitches which are formed from below the fabric. On the other hand, by placing the spreader 11 in an inactive state; that is, by stopping the spreader 11, over-edge chain stitching without upper decorative stitching, and lower decorative stitching which is performed from below the fabric are performed without interference with the spreader 11.

This invention relates to a multi-thread chain stitch sewing machine in which a spreader mechanism used to form upper decorative stitches is switched active and inactive, and to an over-edge chain stitch sewing machine in which a selecting operation is carried out so that upper decorative stitching is performed or not.
In general, an over lock sewing machine has upper and lower loopers, to perform over-edge chain stitching. Recently, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-262 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,622), an over look sewing mechanism has been known which has a mechanism for switching over operating and no-operating the upper looper so that either the over-edge chain stitch or the multi-thread chain stitch can be formed.
Alternately, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei. 7-68072 filed by the present Applicant an over lock sewing machine has been known which has a mechanism for holding the upper looper, and a loop spreading mechanism with respect to the lower looper, so that over-edge chain stitching and lower decorative stitching (covering chain stitching) can be selectively performed.
In addition, as for an industrial sewing machine, an upper decorative stitch sewing machine is also known in the art which has a spreader to form upper decorative stitches only.
In the above-described lower decorative stitching operation, decorative stitches are formed on the lower surface of a fabric which confronts with the throat plate, and the feeding teeth of the sewing machine are protruded from the upper surface of the throat plate to feed the fabric. Hence, the lower surface of the fabric is rubbed by the feeding teeth, thus being damaged. Therefore, generally the fabric is placed over the throat plate in such a manner that the wrong side (back) of the fabric confronts with the throat plate accordingly with the feeding teeth. Hence, the lower decorative stitches are formed on the wrong side (back) of the fabric. And the wrong side of the fabric on which the decorative stitches have been formed must be set outside when for instance clothes are formed with the fabric. Hence, the resultant clothes are low in quality.
In the case of sewing a cloth material for which, as in the case of attaching rubber tape or lace to underwear, it is necessary to perform decorative stitching on both surfaces thereof (i.e., it is necessary to perform decorative stitching on each of the two surfaces), which makes it rather troublesome to perform the sewing operation.

Multi-thread chain switch sewing machine


The present invention relates to a device and method for displaying various menus of a microwave oven onto one screen. In the present invention, the various menus can be displayed onto one screen by using a tree structure or window structure. To this end, display control data are stored such that the various menus can be displayed in the form of the tree structure or display window. These display control data are stored in a separately provided storage device. According to the present invention constructed as such, since the user can confirm the various functions of the microwave oven on the same screen at one time, there is an advantage in that trials and errors made when using the microwave oven can be minimized. In addition, since all the functions can be confirmed simultaneously, there are further advantages in that the time required for learning how to use the microwave oven is reduced and function selection can be conveniently made.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and method for controlling menu display of a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a device and method for controlling menu display of a microwave oven, wherein the display of the menus selected by a user is controlled so that sequential display processes of the selected menus can be easily confirmed in one screen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A microwave oven is a cooking machine for cooking foodstuffs by using a heater and/or a magnetron as a heating source. Since the microwave oven performs cooking of the foodstuffs in a short time, it is effective in view of time required for cooking the foodstuffs, nutritive value of the cooked foodstuffs, energy efficiency, and the like. Thus, the microwave oven has been widely utilized more and more.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the microwave oven, a control panel 7 used for selecting various kinds of cooking menus and controlling the cooking is provided on a front portion thereof Further, the microwave oven is provided with a cooking chamber 1 in a cavity 5 where the foodstuffs are cooked. An electric equipment installation chamber is formed beside the cooking chamber 1.
Various kinds of electric equipment for constituting the microwave oven, particularly such as the magnetron for generating microwave, a cooling fan, and the like, are installed within the electric equipment installation chamber. On the front portion of the electric equipment installation chamber is installed the control panel 7 which comprises buttons 9 used for selecting various functions of the microwave oven and a display unit 11 used for displaying various information signals.
The display unit 11 is used for performing sequential display of the selected menus, display of current cooking status, and the like. Further, a control circuit board (not shown), which is used for inputting signals selected through the buttons 9 and outputting signals to be displayed onto the display unit 11, is installed at a rear side of the control panel 7.
Hereinafter, an operation of controlling the menu display in the conventional microwave oven will be explained.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control section of the conventional microwave oven used for controlling the menu display of the microwave oven. The control section is installed in the control circuit board. As shown in the figure, the control section of the conventional microwave oven comprises a microcomputer 13 for performing various kinds of controls for and operations of the microwave oven, a power circuit 15 for supplying power to the microcomputer 13, and an oscillation circuit 17 for supplying reference clock pulses used when the microcomputer 13 executes various programs installed in the microcomputer.
In the microcomputer 13 are stored cooking algorithms for performing the cooking corresponding to various menus of the microwave oven, display algorithms for displaying sequences of the menus of the microwave oven, and various data required for controlling the microwave oven. In particular, display control data used for displaying various menus onto the display unit 11 according to a sequence shown in FIG. 3 are stored in the microcomputer 13 of the conventional microwave oven.
In addition, the control section of the microwave oven further comprises a key input circuit 23 which includes the buttons 9 on the control panel 7 and allows signals to be inputted when a user has selected the buttons 9 provided on the control panel 7 of the microwave oven, and the display unit 11 for notifying the user to confirm contents inputted through the key input circuit 23 and an operating state of the microwave oven. The display unit 11 is the same one as is provided in the control panel 7.
Furthermore, a relay control unit 19 controls various driven devices (for example, the magnetron, the cooling fan, the heater, an oven lamp, and the like) provided in the microwave oven.
The menu display in the conventional microwave oven constructed as such is carried out through the following operations.
FIG. 3 shows an operating procedure according to the menu display of the conventional microwave oven.
First, when the electric power is supplied to the microwave oven, a predetermined initial screen is displayed onto the display unit 11 under the control of the microcomputer 13. At this time, the user selects a predetermined button through the key input circuit 23 so that a main screen, which is used for selecting the menus of the microwave oven and corresponds to a first stage of FIG. 3, is displayed onto the display unit 11.
When the user has selected a button through the key input circuit 23, a predetermined signal is inputted into the microcomputer 13 according to the selected button. The microcomputer 13 decodes the inputted signal, and accordingly, causes the predetermined main screen to be displayed onto the display unit 11. By performing the above processes, the state shown in the first stage of FIG. 3 is displayed onto the display unit 11.
Next, the user selects a desired cooking menu on the main screen. A "manual cooking" menu selected by the user is highlighted darkly as compared with the other cooking menus so as to inform the user that the "manual cooking" menu has been selected in the first stage of FIG. 3. When the "manual cooking" menu is selected, the microcomputer 13 retrieves submenus of the selected "manual cooking" menu from data stored therein and causes the submenus to be displayed onto the display unit 11 after recognizing that the "manual cooking" menu has been selected. A display state at this stage is shown at a second stage of FIG. 3.
Then, the user selects another desired cooking menu again on a screen displayed at the second stage of FIG. 3. A "strong operation" menu selected by the user is highlighted darkly as compared with the other cooking menus so as to inform the user that the "strong operation" menu has been selected in the second stage of FIG. 3. When the "strong operation" menu is selected, the microcomputer 13 retrieves submenus of the selected "strong operation" menu from data stored therein and causes the submenus to be displayed onto the display unit 11 after recognizing that the "strong operation" menu has been selected. A display state at this stage is shown at a third stage of FIG. 3.
Thereafter, if a timer setting screen is displayed as the next stage, the user sets a cooking period of time. If the period setting process has been completed, all the processes related to the menu selection are finished and an information corresponding to the current cooking state is displayed onto the display unit 11 as shown in a fourth stage of FIG. 3.
According to the method of controlling the menu display in the conventional microwave oven, when selecting and setting the submenus of the cooking menus of the microwave oven, a previous display screen disappears from the display unit 11 and only a screen corresponding to a currently selected menu is displayed thereon. That is, whenever the user sequentially selects submenus of any arbitrary cooking menus in the microwave oven, a screen for previous selection disappears and only a screen corresponding to a currently selected stage of the menu is displayed.
Thus, according to the method of controlling the menu display in the conventional microwave oven, since only a newly and currently selected function or menu is displayed onto the display unit whenever the new function or menu has been selected, the user cannot confirm a previously selected function or menu. Therefore, if the user forgets the previously selected function or menu, there is a problem in that he/she should select the menu again from the beginning, which is cumbersome.
Further, if all the buttons for performing the various menus shown in FIG. 3 should be provided in the control panel 7, there is another problem in that the size and production costs of the control panel are increased and are burdens on the manufactures and consumers since the numerous buttons should be provided therein.

Device and method for controlling menu display of microwave oven


An arrangement for the raising and lowering of a mast, which includes an upper mast portion and base, which upper mast portion is rotatable about a horizontal pivot axis, located in the base of the mast is described. The arrangement includes (i) docking device for restraining the upper mast portion against rotation; (ii) attachment device for attaching a drive device for driving the docking device between a first engaged configuration wherein the upper mast portion is restrained against rotation and a second disengaged configuration wherein the upper mast portion is free to rotate and (iii) locking device selectable via an intermediate unlocked configuration between a first locked configuration wherein the docking device is engaged and a second unlocked configuration wherein the docking device is disengaged and is characterized in that the locking means is controllable remotely to allow automatic operation of the raising and lowering sequence.

The present invention relates to an improved arrangement for the raising and lowering of masts, in particular lighting masts, which require to be raised and lowered for repair and routine maintenance
The present invention further relates to an improved method for the raising and lowering of a mast, in particular a lighting mast.
In the development of lighting systems, (for example those used in the lighting of locations such as road systems, car parks and sports stadia), there has been a continuous requirement for increased height and size of lighting installations, leading to lighting masts having a greater cross-section and increased weight.
Currently available systems for raising and lowering masts of this type, for example the systems described in GB Patent No 2 349 653 are manually operated and controlled, rather than automatic, and are suitable for use with the previously used smaller systems, but are not ideally suited for the raising and lowering of the larger systems, because of the need for manual intervention by an operator working in close proximity to the base of the mast.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for the raising and lowering of a mast, in particular a lighting mast, in which the above disadvantages are reduced or substantially obviated.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for the raising and lowering of a mast, in particular a lighting mast, in which the above disadvantages are reduced or substantially obviated.

Device for raising and lowering a lighting mast


Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatus for recharging hearing aid batteries using a USB adapter. A system includes a hearing assistance device and a battery recharger. The hearing assistance device includes a rechargeable battery, a recharge coil configured to receive power across a wireless inductive link, and charging circuitry configured to control power received by the recharge coil to recharge the battery. The battery recharger includes a device compartment configured to receive the hearing assistance device, a transmit coil configured to transmit power across the wireless inductive link, and a USB adapter port configured to connect to a USB adapter. The USB adapter is configured to provide power to the recharger.

Hearing assistance devices, such as hearing aids, are used to assist patients suffering hearing loss by transmitting amplified sounds to ear canals. In one example, a hearing aid is worn in and/or around a patient's ear. Patients generally prefer that their hearing aids are minimally visible or invisible, which requires that the devices are of relatively small size. Hearing aids typically include a housing or shell with internal components such as a microphone, battery and a telecoil. Some hearing aids use rechargeable batteries that require periodic charging to maintain proper device performance. These rechargeable batteries are of such small size that they can be difficult for patients to access for the purpose of recharging.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved apparatus and methods for recharging hearing aid batteries.

Device for recharging hearing aid batteries using USB dongle


Disclosed are methods for treating aging and photodamaged skin employing topical application of compositions which comprise at least one peptide manganese complex. Also disclosed are methods wherein the composition further comprises retinol, at least one retinol derivative, or a mixture thereof and methods wherein the composition further comprises active agents selected from active drug substances, emollients, sunscreen agents, skin lightening agents, skin protectants, skin conditioning agents, humectants, and mixtures thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the treatment of dermatological conditions and, more specifically, to the treatment of conditions related to aging or photodamaged skin, by topical application of a composition comprising a peptide manganese complex.
2. Description of the Related Art
Aging and photodamage result in a number of changes in the structure and function of skin. Primary among these changes is a thinning of the skin due to lower levels of collagen, elastin and other components of the skin's connective tissue. Lower levels of synthesis and activity (i.e., proliferation and viability) of fibroblasts responsible for the synthesis of collagen and elastin are also characteristic of aging skin.
There are many treatments available to alter the appearance of aging skin, including various creams and oils that primarily serve to rehydrate the skin. Such re-hydration temporarily lessens the appearance of fine line and wrinkles. There are also numerous compounds that enhance the synthesis of certain components of the skin, such as collagen and glycosaminoglycans, and the underlying connective tissue. For example, all-trans retinoic acid has been shown to stimulate collagen synthesis in UVB irradiated skin (see Chen S. et al., Invest. Dermatol. 98(2):248–254 (1992)) and topical growth factors have been shown to increase collagen synthesis and produce a thickening of the epidermis (see Fitzpatrick R. E. at al., Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy 5(1):25–34 (2003)). Ascorbic acid and its derivatives have also been shown to stimulate increases in collagen synthesis (see Geesin J. C. et al., Skin Pharmacology 6(1):65–71 (1993) and Murad S. et al., J. Invest. Dermatol. 81(2):158–162 (1983) Furthermore, it has been shown that the biosynthesis of another component of the extracellular matrix, elastin, is increased by topical application of L-fucose or certain fucose-rich polysaccharides (see Robert L. et al., Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 58(2):123–128 (2004)). Nonetheless, aging skin, and the corresponding fine lines, wrinkles and other external appearances, remain a concern.
Manganese is an essential nutrient involved in the formation of bone and in amino acid, cholesterol, and carbohydrate metabolism. Enzymes, which utilize manganese for activity, include arginase, glutamine synthetase, manganese superoxide dismutase, prolidase, and some carbohydrate transferases. The Adequate Intake levels for men and women have been set at 2.3 and 1.8 mg/day respectively. The enzyme Superoxide Dismutase is one of the most important defenses against oxidative damage in the body. There are two types in humans, namely, the Cu-Zn Superoxide Dismutase (SOD1), which is found mainly in the cytosol of the cell, and the Mn-Superoxide Dismutase (SOD2), which is found in the mitochondria (see Kobayashi et al., Acta Dermato-Venereologica 73(1):41–45 (1993)).
Small molecular weight complexes of manganese have been shown to possess superoxide dismutase activity. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,223,538 and 5,227,405 to Fridovich et al. describe water-soluble manganese complexes useful to reduce and prevent superoxide radical induced toxicity. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,665 to Pickart discloses peptide manganese complexes with superoxide dismutase activity useful for enhancing or restoring the resistance of an animal to oxidative or inflammatory damage.
Manganese is also an important component of the enzyme Prolidase. This is a manganese dependent exopeptidase (i.e., a protease which cuts off amino acids from the end of the peptide chain). Prolidase cleaves proline from peptides inside the cell and provides a vital source of proline for new collagen synthesis. The addition of manganese to increase intracellular manganese increases the activity of Prolidase in deficient cells (see Hechtman et al., Pediatric Research 24(6):709–712 (1998)). Another manganese requiring enzyme is Arginase. Arginase is an enzyme responsible for the conversion of the amino acid arginine to urea in keratinocytes. The addition of L-arginine and manganese to keratinocyte cultures results in the increase of urea synthesis (see Wohlrab et al., Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology 15(1):44–54 (2002)).
Although there have been advances in the art, there remains a need for more effective and otherwise improved methods for treating dermatological conditions related to aging or photodamaged skin, such as fine lines and wrinkles. In particular, there remains a need for treatment methods that provide for increased proliferation and viability of dermal fibroblasts and other components of the dermal connective tissue, such as collagen. The present invention addresses these needs and provides further related advantages.

Methods and compositions for preventing and treating aging or photodamaged skin


A semiconductor device can be manufactured with a high non-defect ratio, making it possible to easily guarantee the KGD (Known-Good-Die) of semiconductor chips, when configuring one packaged semiconductor device on which a plurality of semiconductor chips is mounted. Utilizing each semiconductor chip is made possible without limits on terminal position, pitch, signal arrangement, and so on. Protrusions provided to a semiconductor chip mounted sealing sub-board are attached to a package substrate. A plurality of semiconductor bare chips is disposed in a space formed between the semiconductor chip mounted sealing sub-board and the package substrate, making wiring possible.

The present invention relates to package design of semiconductor devices.
How to increase a high degree of integration in semiconductor devices is always important in aiming for lighter weight and more compact designs for electronic devices using semiconductor devices such as terminal devices in mobile communication systems (mobile telephone devices). Until now, as many circuits as possible have been combined into a single chip as miniaturization of semiconductor circuits has proceeded apace, and the advantages of miniaturization of mounting surfaces, greater speeds, and lower energy consumption have been put to use. However, the problems of rapidly rising manufacturing costs brought about by miniaturization of semiconductor circuits and longer design and development times have come to the surface.
Accordingly, SIP (System In Package) technology, with which a plurality of semiconductor chips is mounted in three dimensions, has received attention. For example, "Part One: If Chips Don't Work, There's the Package" in "Nikkei Electronics" 2002, 2-11, no. 815, p. 108, describes mounting a semiconductor bare chip 30 on a package substrate 10, further mounting another semiconductor bare chip 31 on the semiconductor bare chip 30, and wire bonding these semiconductor bare chips 30 and 31 to the package substrate 10 with a wire 60, as shown in FIG. 13.
A semiconductor device can be made smaller by placing a plurality of semiconductor chips in a single package, but at the same time this invites a drop in the non-defect ratio (yield). In other words, the non-defect ratio of an SIP is the value of the non-defect ratios of each semiconductor chip multiplied. For example, the non-defect ratio of an SIP with three semiconductor chips, each having a non-defect ratio of 80%, drops to approximately 50% (=0.8×0.8×0.8).
In particular, the non-defect ratio of low-price chips such as DRAMs is lower than the non-defect ratio of logic semiconductor chips such as high-price CPUs, which has led to a problem in that high-price semiconductor chips have been wasted because of defects in low-price semiconductor chips. Accordingly, it is highly desirable that semiconductor chips mounted on SIPs be semiconductor chips which have undergone inspection ahead of time and been verified to be non-defective ("KGD: Known-Good-Die"—inspected, non-defective chips).
Next, a method for achieving KGDs is described. First, a prescribed probe test is performed on each semiconductor chip while still in a wafer. The semiconductor wafer is diced (cut) and the individual semiconductor chips are separated. The semiconductor chips are sorted based on the results of the probe test, and a screening test, such as a burn-in test is further performed on the semiconductor chips which passed the probe test. At this time, the following procedure is performed: the semiconductor chips to be tested are placed in a chip tray or carrier socket for the burn-in test, the burn-in test is performed on the chips using special KGD fixtures and apparatuses, the semiconductor chips are removed from the chip tray or carrier socket for the burn-in test, and only non-defective semiconductor chips are moved to a tray for shipping.
The individual semiconductor chips (bare chips) are formed extremely thinly, meaning they break easily, and extremely sensitive operation is demanded when operating sockets, probes, and testers used in the sorting test.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-40095, for example, discloses a method to resolve these problems.
The semiconductor device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-40095 is characterized in that an electrode formed on a surface of a first resin-sealed package formed by sealing a semiconductor chip in resin is connected to an electrode of the semiconductor chip and in that a mounting area connected to a mounting object and a testing area for connecting testing equipment are provided. FIG. 14 shows an example of a case in which the semiconductor device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-40095 is applied to an SIP, and a description follows below with reference to this.
As shown in FIG. 14, a semiconductor package 20 is such that, when mounted on a package substrate 10, a semiconductor package 21 and a semiconductor package 22 are mounted on a lead frame connected to an electrode on the package substrate 10 and sealed in resin by sealing resin 80. At this time, the semiconductor package 21 and the semiconductor package 22 contain a semiconductor bare chip 30 and a semiconductor bare chip 31, respectively, and are each resin-sealed by sealing resin 81. However, when applying the semiconductor devices disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-40095 to an SIP, an electrode 40 of the semiconductor package 21 is connected by a wire 60 to an electrode 41 on the semiconductor 22 on which the semiconductor package 21 is mounted. Further, the electrode 41 on the semiconductor package 22 and the lead frame are connected by a wire 61. The resin-sealed package disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-40095 (the semiconductor package 21 and the semiconductor package 22) is simpler to use than conventional bare chips because it is resin-sealed, and has the effect of reducing the degree of sensitivity demanded in operation of sockets, probes, and testers used in sorting tests.
Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-40095 is configured such as to eliminate using electrodes damaged by sorting tests during mounting, as the electrodes are separated into electrodes for testing and electrodes for mounting. The following demands are placed on the electrodes for testing and the electrodes for mounting.
First, with regard to the electrodes for testing, the electrode pitch is set to approximately 0.8 mm in, for example, a BGA-type package. If an electrode pitch of this level can be realized, the degree of sensitivity demanded in operation of sockets, probes, and testers used in sorting tests is sufficient at the level of measuring CSPs. On the other hand, with respect to the electrodes for mounting, making the electrode pitch the same as the electrode pitch of ordinary bare chips allows maximum effectiveness. This pitch is, for example, approximately 130 μm. If an electrode pitch of this level can be realized, assembly apparatuses and so on can be used without any particular changes.
A method is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-249606 which uses an interposer using a glass substrate in order to allow wiring even with the narrow pitch for mounting, described above. However, endowing the arrangement of electrodes for testing and the arrangement of electrodes for mounting with greater freedom faced the problem of an inability to realize user-defined arrangements of electrodes for testing and arrangements of electrodes for mounting, because simply being able to wire even with narrow pitches had a limit.
On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-196529 provides a wiring method which allows connecting pad electrodes on a semiconductor chip to arbitrary electric connecting portions. FIG. 15 shows the wiring method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-196529. In FIG. 15, a pad electrode disposed in the vicinity of an edge in the direction of the Y-Y′ arrow of a semiconductor bare chip 30 and a pad electrode disposed in the vicinity of an edge in the direction of the X-X′ arrow of a package substrate 10 are connected via internal wiring of a semiconductor bare chip 31.
A SIP is realized as described above, but in order to realize a chip-on-chip design in which a plurality of chips is stacked in three dimensions, gaps must be provided in the stacked chips. These gaps act to dissipate heat from semiconductor elements and to protect semiconductor elements during mounting. Further, in a case in which the sizes of the stacked chips are the same or approximately the same, these gaps act to prevent bonding pad portions of lower chips from becoming hidden and unable to be wire bonded when the chips are directly stacked. Means for providing these gaps between stacked chips are known as spacers.
In light of the foregoing issues, the object of the present invention is in providing a structure for easily realizing a semiconductor package constituted by mounting in three dimensions semiconductor bare chips which have been certified as KGD.

Interposer, semiconductor chip mounted sub-board, and semiconductor package


Systems, devices, and methods for generating attribute scores obtain a plurality of object images; generate a respective first attribute score of a first attribute for each object image in the plurality of object images based on the object images; calculate a respective pairwise object-similarity measure for pairs of object images in the plurality of object images; and refine the first attribute score of an object image in the plurality of object images based at least in part on the attribute scores of other object images in the plurality of object images and on the object-similarity measures of the pairs of object images in the plurality of object images.

1. Technical Field
This description generally relates to visual analysis of images.
2. Background
In the field of image analysis, people have attempted to design systems that can recognize people and objects in image data. The image data can take many forms, for example video sequences, views from multiple cameras, data in spectrums of light that are not visible to the human eye, and multi-dimensional data from a computational camera.

Devices, systems, and methods for visual-attribute refinement


Substrates 1, 2 include chip select electrode pads B1, B2, C1, C2, and first chip select electrode pads B1, C1 are connected to chip select terminals of semiconductor chips 3, 4. The other chip select electrodes B2, C2 are connected to opposite surface side electrodes B1', C1' positioned on the opposite surface side of the chip select electrodes B1, C1 adjacent in the direction of the first chip select electrodes. The opposite surface side electrode B1 and the chip select electrode C1 of the substrate confronted therewith are connected to each other by a conductive bump 6. Thus, the substrates 1, 2 have the same structure.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a packaging structure in which a semiconductor device such as a memory or the like is used, and particularly to a stacked module formed by stacking semiconductor devices and connecting them and substrates used for the stacked module, in which a semiconductor device is mounted on the surface thereof, to be stacked.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known packaging method for a semiconductor device is that a semiconductor device is mounted on a substrate, the substrates are stacked in plural layers to construct a stacked module, and the module is mounted on a motherboard. This packaging for a semiconductor device by the stacked module is effective for reducing the packaging area.
The stacked module using a substrate is effectively utilized for packaging a semiconductor chip such as a semiconductor memory or the like. For example, the case of packaging dynamic RAMs (DRAM) 80, 81 of a memory circuit shown in FIG. 10 will be described. In FIG. 10, the external terminals of the DRAM 80, 81 are all shared except RAS (Row Address Strobe). The terminals 82, 83 connected to RAS are separately used for chip select. Chip select may be performed not by RAS, but by CAS (Column Address Strobe).
In FIG. 10, terminals other than a chip select terminal for determining which DRAMs 80, 81 is operated are shared, thus in the case of wiring packaging, substrates on which DRAMs are mounted can be stacked.
The stacked module is, for example, as described in Japan Patent Laid-Open No. 8-236694, such that a plurality of substrates (carrier) where a semiconductor chip (LSI chip) is mounted facedown are stacked and connection between the substrates is performed by metallic pins or conductive bumps.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing this type of a stacked module using conductive bumps. The stacked module of FIG. 11 is equivalent to a memory circuit of FIG. 10. In FIG. 11, semiconductor chips 3, 4 are respectively chips of DRAMs 80, 81 of FIG. 10.
The semiconductor chips 3, 4 are mounted facedown on substrates 100, 101. The matrix of the substrates 100, 101 is formed by an insulator such as ceramics, glass or the like. A conductive bump 5 is mounted on each electrode pad of the substrate 100, a conductive bump 6 is mounted on each electrode pad of the substrate 101, and the respective electrode pads are wired to terminals (not shown) of the semiconductor chips 3, 4. Connection between the substrates 100, 101 is performed through the conductive bumps 6. The conductive bumps 5 are served as external terminals at the time of connecting the stacked module of FIG. 11 facedown to a motherboard not shown.
FIG. 12A shows the upper substrate 100 where the semiconductor chip 3 is mounted, FIG. 12B shows the lower substrate 101 where the semiconductor chip 4 is mounted, and they are plan views respectively showing the condition before the conductive bumps 5, 6 are mounted.
Electrode pads 111 to 134 connected to the terminal (not shown) of the semiconductor device 3, on which the conductive bumps 5 are mounted, through hole electrode pads B111 to B134 connected to the electrode pads 111 to 134, and wirings for connecting the respective through hole electrode pads and the terminals of the semiconductor device 3 to each other are formed on the surface of the substrate 100.
On the other hand, electrode pads 141 to 164 connected to the terminals (not shown) of the semiconductor device 4, on which the conductive bumps 6 of FIG. 11 are mounted, through-hole electrode pads C111 to C134 connected to the electrode pads 141 to 164, and wiring for connecting the respective through-hole electrode pads and the terminals of the semiconductor device 4 to each other are formed on the surface of the substrate 101. The reason why the electrode pads on which the conductive bumps 5, 6 are placed are separate from the through-hole electrodes is that the conductive bumps such as solder bumps or the like are prevented from being absorbed in the through-holes.
The through-hole electrode pads B111 to B134 and C111 to C134 of FIGS. 12A and 12B are electrically connected to the through-hole electrode pads B111' to B134' and C111' to C134' (only reference numerals, not shown) formed on the back of the substrates 100 and 101 through through-holes. The same electrode pads 111' to 134' and 141' to 164' (only reference numerals, not shown) are formed on the back side of the substrates 100 and 101 of the electrode pads 111 to 134 and 141 to 164.
The electrode pads 111' to 134' on the back side of the substrate 100 are respectively connected to the through-hole electrode pads B111' to B134' on the same back side, and the electrode pads 141' to 164' of the back side of the substrate 101 are respectively connected to the through-hole electrode pads C111' to C134' on the back side.
Thus, the electrode pads and the through-hole electrodes are formed in pair on the surface side and back side of the substrates 100, 101, whereby the electrode patterns are made uniform so as to improve productivity in pattern printing.
The conductive bumps 6 directly connect the electrode pads 141 to 164 on the surface side of the lower substrate 101 and the electrode pads 111' to 134' on the back side of the upper substrate 100 to each other. The condition of the connection is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.
FIGS. 13 is a perspective view of a J-part of FIG. 11 to an enlarged scale, and FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along line G--G of FIG. 11. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the through electrode pads B111 and B111', B112 and B112', C111 and C111', C112 and C112' are respectively connected to each other by through-hole internal electrodes S31, S32, S33, S34. The conductive bumps 6, as shown in FIG. 13, directly connect the electrode pads 111', 112' on the back side of the upper substrate 100 to the electrode pads 141, 142 on the surface side of the lower substrate 101 to each other. The connection form of the other electrode pad part is also similar to FIGS. 13 and 14. As the result, the respective electrode pads of the substrates 100, 101 are directly connected to each other vertically through the conductive bumps 6.
As described above, the semiconductor devices 3 and 4 are vertically direct-coupled to each other through the conductive bumps 6 to be connected, and mounted facedown on a motherboard not shown through the conductive bumps 5.
Again in FIGS. 12A and 12B, connection for chip select is a wiring part between the RAS terminal of the semiconductor chip 3 and the electrode pads 111, 112, and between the RAS terminal of the semiconductor chip 4 and the electrode pads 141, 142 (through hole electrode pads B111, B112, C111, C112). However, the connection pattern for chip select differs with the substrates of the respective layers.
In the case of selecting the semiconductor chip 3 at the time of reading and writing data, as shown in FIG. 12A, a chip select signal is supplied to the electrode pad connected to the RAS of the semiconductor chip 3. At this time, the chip select signal is transmitted to the electrode pad 142, but this is not connected to the RAS, so that the semiconductor device 4 is not selected. On the other hand, in the case of selecting the semiconductor chip 4 at the time of reading and writing, a chip select signal is supplied to the electrode pad 111 connected to the RAS of the semiconductor chip 4. Thus, selection from the semiconductor devices 3 and 4 is enabled by supplying a chip select signal one of the electrode pads 111, 112 of the substrate 100.
In the described conventional stacked module, chip select is enabled by changing wiring for chip select at every stage of the substrates. Hence it is necessary to use different substrates in the respective layers in the stacked module.
That is, it is necessary to manufacture substrates with plural wiring patterns, so that productivity is low and the yield is bad. Further, when the arrangement of substrates in the stacked module is wrong, it is necessary to replace the whole of the stacked module.


A passive reservoir for medicament in the form of a plastics bag 1, has a hanging eyelet 2 at its upper end and a lower outlet nozzle 3. The plastics bag 1 has bottom corners 4,5, the left-hand right-angled corner 5 of which encapsulates a data carrier means 6 which carries data relating to a medicament contained or to be contained within the bag 1. The data carrier means is in the form of an electrically and/or magnetically operable device which can emit the data it is carrying in response to activation by a suitable field applied by an external reading device, which can cooperate with a delivery device to control the delivery to a patient of medicament when contained in the bag 1.

Large volume infusions of medicaments are regularly given by microprocessor-controlled delivery devices such as infusion pumps, delivering the medicament from a passive reservoir such as a vial, bottle, collapsible bag or pre-filled cassette.
A passive reservoir is not subjected to positive pressure in use, and is associated in use with a delivery device applied to a patient supply line leading from the passive reservoir. Such delivery devices are many and varied and include peristaltic pumps and reciprocating pumps, both of which apply positive pressure on the patient supply line and not on the passive reservoir itself.
Also a delivery device in the form of a drip feed controller may control delivery of the medicament in the patient supply line, based on an electronic count of drips of medicament produced from the passive reservoir simply under the force of gravity.
The present invention is not limited to any particular form of passive reservoir or delivery device, although it is preferably, but not necessarily, applicable to pre-filled passive reservoirs for medicament, i.e. those filled and marketed by the pharmaceutical medicament manufacturer.
A non-limiting example of such a reservoir would be a pre-filled collapsible plastics bag, of the type often suspended from a stand in use in a hospital ward, to take advantage of gravitational force in delivering medicament from the bag.
Further non-limiting examples of such reservoirs are bottles and large vials, each of which are often suspended from a stand for use in a hospital ward or operating theatre. In each case the medicament may be sucked from the reservoir or may flow out under gravity. These systems comprising bottles or vials will require air to be entrained, usually through a bacterial filter, in use.
Yet further non-limiting examples of such reservoirs are cassettes or cartridges (optionally pre-filled with medicament). Such reservoirs may be suspended from a stand for use in a hospital ward or operating theatre. In an alternative they may be used in ambulatory devices for infusion of, for example, chemotherapeutic agents, insulin or agents for control of pain.
Conventionally, a passive reservoir of whatever type is filled by the pharmaceutical company and supplied to a hospital where the reservoir is connected to the delivery device by a doctor or nurse. The delivery device comprises a computer control means for controlling the medicament flow and comprising a keyboard and display means. The doctor or nurse can program the computer control means through the keyboard, setting for example the flow rate, duration of the infusion, or the maximum volume to be delivered.


A method using a divided exposure technology is provided for restraining deterioration in the performance of a solid-state image sensor. A photoresist is formed over a semiconductor substrate and subjected to divided exposure. A dividing line for divided exposure is located at least over a region of a semiconductor substrate in which an active region in which a pixel is to be formed is defined. The photoresist is then developed and patterned. By utilizing the patterned photoresist, an element isolation structure for defining the active region in the semiconductor substrate is formed in the semiconductor substrate.

The present invention relates to a solid-state image sensor and a manufacturing method thereof.
As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. Hei 6 (1994)-124869, Hei 11 (1999)-220116, Hei 9 (1997)-298155, Hei 9 (1997)-190962, Hei 5 (1993)-62874, 2003-5346 and Hei 5 (1993)-6849, when a semiconductor device having a greater surface area than an area exposable by single exposure using an exposure apparatus is formed over a semiconductor substrate, it is the common practice to subject a photoresist formed over the semiconductor substrate to divided exposure. In other words, the photoresist is divided into a plurality of exposure regions and exposure treatment is given to each of the plural regions thus divided.

Method for manufacturing solid-state image sensor


A photosensitive element is disclosed, and a process of forming an image with it, comprising, in order, a support with an optional subbing layer (1), a metal image forming layer, a photosensitive layer, and a transparent cover sheet with an optional subbing layer (2).. After exposure a delamination step is performed thereby giving rise to a positive and a negative metal image. In a most preferred embodiment the metal layer is a bismuth layer.

Conventional photographic materials based on silver halide are used for a large variety of applications. For instance, in the pre-press sector of graphic arts rather sensitive camera materials are used for obtaining screened images. Scan films are used for producing colour separations from multicolour originals. Phototype setting materials record the information fed to phototype- and image setters. Relative insensitive photographic materials serve as duplicating materials usually in a contact exposure process. Other fields include materials for medical recording, duplicating and hard copy, X-ray materials for non-destructive testing, black-and-white and colour materials for amateur- and professional still photography and materials for cinematographic recording and printing.
Silver halide materials have the advantage of high potential intrinsic sensitivity and excellent image quality. On the other hand they show the drawback of requiring several wet processing steps employing chemical ingredients which are suspect from an ecological point of view. As a consequence it is undesirable that depleted processing solutions would be discharged into the public sewerage; they have to be collected and destroyed by combustion, a cumbersome and expensive process.
In the past several proposals have been made for obtaining an image that can be formed using only dry development steps without the need of processing liquids as it is the case with silver halide photographic materials.
A dry imaging system known since quite a while is 3M's dry silver technology. It is a catalytic process which couples the light-capturing capability of silver halide to the image-forming capability of organic silver salts.
As a further alternative for conventional silver halide chemistry dry imaging elements are known that can be image-wise exposed using an image-wise distribution of heat. When this heat pattern is indirectly generated by the conversion of radiation, e.g. laser radiation, into heat these types of dry imaging elements are called heat mode materials. When the heat pattern is provided directly, e.g. by means of a thermal head, these elements are called thermal recording materials or thermographic materials. Both types of elements offer the advantage in addition to an ecological advantage that they do not need to be handled in a dark room nor any other protection from ambient light is needed. Heat mode recording materials, based on change of adhesion, are disclosed in e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,309, U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,578, U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,412, U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,456 and PCT applications WO 88/04237 and WO 93/03928.
In still another type of heat mode recording materials information is recorded by creating differences in reflection and/or transmission in the recording layer. The recording layer has high optical density. The conversion of radiation into heat brings about a local temperature rise, causing a change such as evaporation or ablation to take place in the recording layer. As a result, the irradiated parts of the recording layer are totally or partially removed, and a difference in optical density is formed between the irradiated parts and the unirradiated parts (cf. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,501, 4,233,626, 4,188,214 and 4,291,119 and British Pat. No. 2,026,346). In a preferred embodiment the recording layer of such heat mode recording materials is constituted by a thin metal, e.g. a bismuth layer.
Still another type of non-conventional materials as alternative for silver halide is based on photopolymerisation. The use of photopolymerizable compositions for the production of images by information-wise exposure thereof to actinic radiation is known since quite a while. All these methods are based on the principle of introducing a differentiation in properties between the exposed and non-exposed parts of the photopolymerizable composition e.g. a difference in solubility, adhesion, conductivity, refractive index, tackiness, permeability, diffusibility of incorporated substances e.g. dyes etc. Some of the thus produced differences may be subsequently employed in a dry treatment step to produce a visible image and/or master for printing e.g. a lithographic or electrostatic printing master. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,167 an image forming material, working according to photo mode, is described comprising a substrate, an image producing layer constituted by a metal or metal compound layer, and a photopolymerisable layer containing a specific type of monomer. When not yet exposed the adhesion between the image producing layer and the photosensitive layer is lower than the adhesion between the substrate and the photosensitive layer, while upon exposure this adhesion balance is reversed. As a result, after peeling apart by means of a cover film a positive metal image is removed with the photosensitive layer and the cover sheet in the exposed areas while a negative metal image is retained on the substrate in the unexposed areas. A disadvantage of this method is the fact that both formed metal images are unprotected to physical damages, e.g. to scratches.
The present invention further extends the teachings on the combination of photopolymerisation and metal image forming layer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an unconventional image forming material, based on photo mode, which constitutes an alternative to conventional image-setting films and contact duplicating films based on silver halide.
It is a further object to provide a process for the formation of a positive metal image which is protected against physical damages.

Type of photosensitive element and a process of forming a metal image with it


Methods and masks for manufacturing component of gas turbine engines are described. The methods include applying a mask to a protected surface of the component, the component having a designated surface to be treated by a shot peen operation. The mask includes a full masking portion configured to prevent a shot peen media from impacting the protected surface. A masking control region is arranged around the designated surface. The masking control region is configured to control an amount of force imparted to the component by shot peen media during the shot peen operation, wherein the masking control region extends from the full masking portion to the designated surface. The designated surface is shot peened with shot peen media to form a compressive stress region within the component proximate the designated surface and a tapering transition of compressive forces within the component proximate the masking control region.

Illustrative embodiments pertain to the art of turbomachinery, and specifically to turbine rotor components.
Gas turbine engines are rotary-type combustion turbine engines built around a power core made up of a compressor, combustor and turbine, arranged in flow series with an upstream inlet and downstream exhaust. The compressor compresses air from the inlet, which is mixed with fuel in the combustor and ignited to generate hot combustion gas. The turbine extracts energy from the expanding combustion gas, and drives the compressor via a common shaft. Energy is delivered in the form of rotational energy in the shaft, reactive thrust from the exhaust, or both.
The components of gas turbine engines may be manufactured using a number of different techniques, as appreciated by those of skill in the art. For example, shot peening is a manufacturing process used to induce compressive stress in specified surface layers of metallic parts. The shot peen process may be employed, for example, for increasing fatigue strength of a given part or portion of a part. However, certain areas of metallic parts are not allowed to be shot peened, due to negative impacts thereto. Such limitation has resulted in the use of protective masks. However, improvements to such protective masks and the use of shot peening may be desirable.

Systems and methods for manufacturing components for gas turbine engines


A device for dispersing wave energy is provided with a series of surfaces for redirection of approaching waves. The device has curved major surfaces that extend from the top to the bottom, each of the surfaces has stacked scallops that are angled downward to direct approaching waves downward. The curved major surfaces direct wave energy to become more parallel to a shore.

This present disclosure relates to devices to disperse the energy from waves, particularly ones that cause erosion and damage to structures located near coastlines. Bodies of water are influenced by many factors: wind, currents, weather patterns, and storms. These factors can create waves that can contain a significant amount of energy. It is not uncommon for a large storm to cause large and powerful waves that cause erosion. In extreme cases, excavation equipment must be brought in to restore a shore or geographic markers need to be changed to reflect the altered shore. Because the sources of waves are beyond control, a practical alternative is needed to dissipate the energy contained in waves before it can damage a shore. Other wave break devices exist, but they are frequently completely submerged or take up the entire shore, rendering access to the beach difficult or impossible. An improved wave break device is needed.


A vibration type driving apparatus includes a vibrating member configured to simultaneously generate a plurality of standing wave vibrations to cause an elliptic motion on surfaces located at nodes of the standing wave vibration, a driving unit formed on the surface located at the node to perform the elliptic motion, and a moving member configured to contact the driving unit and to be driven by the elliptic motion. The driving unit protrudes from a surface of the vibrating member, and includes a first driving unit and a second driving unit that are formed to sandwich the moving member in a perpendicular direction to the surface. The first driving unit and the second driving unit are located at the nodes that are separated by odd-number times a half-wave length of the standing wave vibration, and located where the directions of the elliptic motions are opposite to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration type driving apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are ultrasonic motors of a vibration type driving apparatus that linearly drive a driven member. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-311765 discusses an ultrasonic motor that excites a plate-like vibrating member with a standing wave having two bending modes to generate elliptic vibration at a predetermined portion of the vibrating member. The ultrasonic motor drives a moving member by bringing the moving member in contact with the predetermined portion.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-304887 discusses an ultrasonic motor that generates a standing wave having two bending modes that are at right angles to each other to excite a vibrating member having a projection with a raised portion. In such a configuration, an elliptic motion that is generated by the combination of the two bending modes drives a moving member.
In the above-described vibration type driving apparatuses, vibration generated by a vibrating member is realized only in a bending mode. Therefore, the vibrating member can be thinned.
However, there are the following problems in the above-described conventional vibration type driving apparatuses. As described above, the vibration generated by a vibrating member is realized only in the bending mode, so that the vibrating member can be thinned. On the other hand, a pressurization unit that presses the moving member onto the vibrating member or a guide mechanism for regulating the moving direction of the moving member is required. As a result, it is difficult to reduce the size of a vibration type driving apparatus (or an ultrasonic actuator).
Furthermore, to reduce the size of the pressurization unit, a moving member can be formed by a magnet, and the moving member can be pressed onto the vibrating member by magnetic force. However, a vibration type driving apparatus of such a configuration cannot take advantage of non-magnetism, which is one of the features of an ultrasonic actuator.
Additionally, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-311765 discusses a plurality of ultrasonic actuators that do not require a guide mechanism. However, the shape of the vibrating member or the moving member is complex, so that the size of such ultrasonic actuators cannot be sufficiently reduced. Furthermore, such ultrasonic actuators are not easy to manufacture.
Therefore, further improvements may be made by providing a vibration type driving apparatus that can press the moving member onto the vibrating member in a simple configuration, and that can enlarge thrust at the time of driving as well as holding force when power is not fed. Moreover, further improvements may be made by providing a vibration type driving apparatus that can regulate the moving direction of a moving member without providing a special guide mechanism, so that the size can be greatly reduced.


A backlight module includes a light guide plate having an incident surface, an emitting surface adjacent to the incident surface, and a reflective surface opposite to the emitting surface. At least one light source is disposed adjacent the incident surface. The light source has a luminescent surface; and at least one reflecting device is disposed adjacent the light source. The reflecting device has a reflective surface facing the incident surface. At least one semi-transmissive and semi-reflective film disposed on the incident surface of the light guide plate. The semi-transmissive and semi-reflective film and the reflecting device together are disposed for cooperatively reflecting some (i.e., a fraction) of the light beams emitted from the light source and redirecting the fraction of the light beams into the light guide plate through the incident surface, distant from the light source.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to backlight modules and, more particularly, to an edge-lighting backlight module for providing a planar illuminating light to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
With the extensive application of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in electronic display devices, the requirement for effective and efficient liquid crystal display devices increases rapidly. In a liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal is a substance that does not itself radiate light. Instead, the liquid crystal relies on receiving light from a light source to thereby display images and/or data. In the case of a typical liquid crystal display device, a backlight module powered by electricity supplies the needed light. A conventional backlight module can be divided into two types, i.e., a direct type and an edge type, according to the location of the light sources. In an edge-type backlight module, the light sources are located facing the incident surface of light guide plate. Such edge-type backlight modules are widely used in LCD devices. Light beams emitted from the light sources are optically coupled into the incident surface, enter the light guide plate, advantageously reflected, as needed, by the microstructure of the back reflective surface, and then transmitted out from the emitting surface uniformly to illuminate an LCD panel.
FIG. 8 (Prior art) represents a conventional edge-lighting type backlight module 80. The backlight module 80 includes a light source 810, a reflective plate 820, a light guide plate 830, a diffusion sheet 840, and a prism sheet 850. The light source 810 is positioned adjacent an incident surface of the light guide plate 830. The reflective plate 820 is located below the light guide plate 830 and is configured for reflecting light beams that is emitted from a bottom surface of the light guide plate 830 into the light guide plate 830. The diffusion sheet 840 is located above the light guide plate 830 and is configured for uniformly diffusing the emitted light beams. The prism sheet 850 is positioned above the diffusion sheet 84 and is configured for collimating the emitted light beams, thereby improving the brightness of illumination. The backlight module 830 can use, e.g., cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) or light emitting diodes (LED) as the light source 810.
A small-sized backlight module usually uses at least one LED as a light source and a large-sized backlight module usually uses a CCFL as a light source. Advantages of LED usage over CCFL usage include the following. Firstly, the LED has a long life, a bright color, and a high reliability. Secondly, the LED is not harmful to the environment, while the CCFL potentially is because of the presence of mercury in the fluorescence tube thereof. So, it may be a development trend that LEDs are used as the preferred light source of edge-type backlight modules. However, referring to FIG. 9, when LEDs are used in the backlight module as the light source 810, a number of bright areas 832 may be occur in areas adjacent to the light source 810, and a number of dark areas 834 may appear between neighboring bright areas 832. Therefore, a light column phenomenon formed by the bright areas 832 and the dark areas 834 can occur due to the restriction of a light emitting angle of LEDs. This phenomenon reduces light distribution uniformity.
Referring to FIG. 10, another conventional backlight module 90 is shown. The backlight module 90 includes a plurality of LEDs 910 and a light guide plate 930. The light guide plate 930 includes an incident surface 932 facing the LEDs 910, an emitting surface 934 adjoining the incident surface 932, and a plurality of light diffusing portions 936 defined in the incident surface 932, spatially corresponding to the LEDs 910. The light diffusing portions 936 has a plurality of V-shaped grooves arranged regularly and periodically in a direction perpendicular to the emitting surface 934. Light beams incident on the light diffusing portions 936 are scattered. The diffusing portions 936 can thereby reduce the area of dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface 932.
FIG. 11 shows that a light beam is refracted into the above-described light guide plate 930 through the incident surface 932 having a plurality of diffusing portion 936. According to the Fresnel formula of reflection and deflection, a deflection angle β can be defined by the following equation:
      β    =          90      -              α        2            -              arcsin                          (                                    sin                                            (                                  90                  -                                      α                    2                                                  )                                      n                    )                      ,wherein α is the vertex angle of V-shaped grooves of the diffusing portion 936, and n is a refractive index of the light guide plate 90. The deflection angle β cannot be greater than or even equal to 90 degrees, according to the equation. For example, if the light guide plate 90 is formed of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), the largest deflection angle β is generally smaller than 50 degrees. Therefore, the diffusing portions 936 cannot completely eliminate dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface 932. In addition, some of the light beams can be reflected at the incident surface 932 of the light guide plate 930, thus a utilization efficiency of light energy of the backlight module 90 is decreased.
Referring to FIG. 12, a still another conventional backlight module 100 is shown. The backlight module 100 is similar to the backlight module 90, except that light diffusing portions 136 thereof are different from the diffusing portion 936 of the backlight module 90. The backlight module 100 includes a light guide plate 130 having an incident surface 132, an emitting surface 134, and a plurality of light diffusing portions 136. The light diffusing portions 136 are, particularly, a plurality of grooves defined in the incident surface 132. The diffusing portions 136 can also reduce the size of the dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface 132. However, similarly to the above described light guide plate 93, the diffusing portions 136 still cannot completely eliminate dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface 132. Some of the light beams can be reflected at the incident surface 132 of the light guide plate 130, thus a utilization efficiency of light energy of the backlight module 100 is decreased.
Referring to FIG. 13, a further another conventional backlight module 120 is shown. The backlight module 120 includes a plurality of LEDs 142, a light guide plate 140, and a reflector 144. The light guide plate 140 includes an incident surface 148, which faces the LEDs 142, and an emitting surface 146 adjoining the incident surface 148. The reflector 144 has a plurality of curved sections, each partly surrounding the respective LED 142. Each of the LEDs 142 has a luminescent surface 150 that faces the adjacent curved section of the reflector 144. Light beams, emitted from the LEDs 142, are redirected by the reflector 144 and enter into the light guide plate 140 through the incident surface 148 thereof However, some of the light beams are blocked by the respective LEDs 142, thereby preventing the light beams from reaching the incident surface 148 adjacent to the respective LEDs 142. As a result, a plurality of dark areas is formed in the light guide plate 140, adjacent the incident surface 148.
What is needed, therefore, is a backlight module which can completely eliminate the dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface of the light guide plate and is capable of improving a uniformity of illumination and a utilization efficiency of light energy.