The present invention is directed to an electronically conductive article comprising at least one conductive carbon nanotube layer in contact with at least one conductive layer comprising electronically conductive polymer.

Single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are essentially graphene sheets rolled into hollow cylinders thereby resulting in tubules composed of sp2 hybridized carbon arranged in hexagons and pentagons, which have outer diameters between 0.4 nm and 10 nm. These SWCNTs are typically capped on each end with a hemispherical fullerene (buckyball) appropriately sized for the diameter of the SWCNT. However, these end caps may be removed via appropriate processing techniques leaving uncapped tubules. SWCNTs can exist as single tubules or in aggregated form typically referred to as ropes or bundles. These ropes or bundles may contain several or a few hundred SWCNTs aggregated through Van der Waals interactions forming triangular lattices where the tube-tube separation is approximately 3-4 Å. Ropes of SWCNTs may be composed of associated bundles of SWCNTs.
The inherent properties of SWCNTs make them attractive for use in many applications. SWCNTs can possess high (e.g. metallic conductivities) electronic conductivities, high thermal conductivities, high modulus and tensile strength, high aspect ratio and other unique properties. Further, SWCNTs may be metallic, semi-metallic, or semiconducting dependant on the geometrical arrangement of the carbon atoms and the physical dimensions of the SWCNT. To specify the size and conformation of single-wall carbon nanotubes, a system has been developed, described below, and is currently utilized. SWCNTs are described by an index (n, m), where n and m are integers that describe how to cut a single strip of hexagonal graphite such that its edges join seamlessly when the strip is wrapped into the form of a cylinder. When n=m e.g. (n, n), the resultant tube is said to be of the "arm-chair" or (n, n) type, since when the tube is cut perpendicularly to the tube axis, only the sides of the hexagons are exposed and their pattern around the periphery of the tube edge resembles the arm and seat of an arm chair repeated n times. When m=0, the resultant tube is said to be of the "zig zag" or (n, 0) type, since when the tube is cut perpendicular to the tube axis, the edge is a zig zag pattern. Where n≠m and m≠0, the resulting tube has chirality. The electronic properties are dependent on the conformation, for example, arm-chair tubes are metallic and have extremely high electrical conductivity. Other tube types are semimetals or semi-conductors, depending on their conformation. SWCNTs have extremely high thermal conductivity and tensile strength irrespective of the chirality. The work functions of the metallic (approximately 4.7 eV) and semiconducting (approximately 5.1 eV) types of SWCNTs are different.
Similar to other forms of carbon allotropes (e.g. graphite, diamond) these SWCNTs are intractable and essentially insoluble in most solvents (organic and aqueous alike). Thus, SWCNTs have been extremely difficult to process for various uses. Several methods to make SWCNTs soluble in various solvents have been employed. One approach is to covalently functionalize the ends of the SWCNTs with either hydrophilic or hydrophobic moieties. A second approach is to add high levels of surfactant and/or dispersants (small molecule or polymeric) to help solubilize the SWCNTs.
Lavin et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,134 disclose a method to form polymer composites using SWCNTs. This method provides a means to melt extrude a SWCNT/polymer composite wherein at least one end of the SWCNT is chemically bonded to the polymer, where the polymer is selected from a linear or branched polyamide, polyester, polyimide, or polyurethane. This method does not provide opportunities for solvent based processing and is limited to melt extrusion which can limit opportunities for patterning or device making. The chemically bonded polymers identified typically have high molecular weights and could interfere with some material properties of the SWCNTs (e.g. electronic or thermal transport) via wrapping around the SWCNTs and preventing tube-tube contacts.
Connell et al in US Patent Application Publication 2003/0158323 A1 describes a method to produce polymer/SWCNT composites that are electronically conductive and transparent. The polymers (polyimides, copolyimides, polyamide acid, polyaryleneether, polymethylmethacrylate) and the SWCNTs or MWCNTs are mixed in organic solvents (DMF, N,N-dimethlacetamide, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, toluene,) to cast films that have conductivities in the range of 10−5-10−12 S/cm with varying transmissions in the visible spectrum. Additionally, monomers of the resultant polymers may be mixed with SWCNTs in appropriate solvents and polymerized in the presence of these SWCNTs to result in composites with varying weight ratios. The conductivities achieved in these polymer composites are several orders of magnitude too low and not optimal for use in most electronic devices as electronic conductors or EMI shields. Additionally, the organic solvents used are toxic, costly and pose problems in processing. Moreover, the polymers used or polymerized are not conductive and can impede tube-tube contact further increasing the resistivity of the composite.
Kuper et al in Publication WO 03/060941A2 disclose compositions to make suspended carbon nanotubes. The compositions are composed of liquids and SWCNTs or MWCNTs with suitable surfactants (cetyl trimethylammonium bromide/chloride/iodide). The ratio by weight of surfactant to SWCNTs given in the examples range from 1.4-5.2. This method is problematic as it needs extremely large levels of surfactant to solubilize the SWCNTs. The surfactant is insulating and impedes conductivity of a film deposited from this composition. The surfactant may be washed from the film but this step adds complexity and may decrease efficiency in processing. Further, due to the structure formed in films deposited from such a composition, it would be very difficult to remove all the surfactant.
Papadaopoulos et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,162 describe an imaging element which comprises carbon nanofibers to be used primarily as an anti-static material within the imaging element. These materials may not provide the highly transparent and highly conductive (low sheet resistance, RS) layer that is necessary in many current electronic devices, especially displays.
Smalley et al in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,455 disclose methods to chemically derivatize SWCNTs to facilitate solvation in various solvents. Primarily the various derivative groups (alkyl chains, acyl, thiols, aminos, aryls etc.) are added to the ends of the SWCNTs. The side-walls of the SWCNTs are functionalized primarily with fluorine groups resulting in fluorinated SWCNTs. The solubility limit of such "fluorotubes" in 2-propanol is approximately 0.1 mg/mL and in water or water/acetone mixtures the solubility is essentially zero. The fluorinated SWCNTs were subjected to further chemical reactions to yield methylated SWCNTs and these tubes have a low solubility in Chloroform but not other solvents. Such low concentrations are impractical and unusable for most deposition techniques useful in high quantity manufacturing. Further, such high liquid loads need extra drying considerations and can destroy patterned images due to intermixing from the excess solvent. In addition, the method discloses functionalization of the tubule ends with various functionalization groups (acyl, aryl, aralkyl, halogen, alkyl, amino, halogen, thiol) but the end functionalization alone may not be enough to produce viable dispersions via solubilization. Further, the side-wall functionalization is done with fluorine only, which gives limited solubility in alcohols, which can make manufacturing and product fabrication more difficult. Additionally, the fluorinated SWCNTs are insulators due to the fluorination and thereby are not useful for electronic devices especially as electronic conductors. Moreover, the chemical transformations needed to add these functional groups to the end points of the SWCNTs require additional processing steps and chemicals which can be hazardous and costly.
Smalley et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,683,783 disclose methods to purify SWCNT materials resulting in SWCNTs with lengths from 5-500 nm. Within this patent, formulations are disclosed that use 0.5 wt % of a surfactant, Triton X-100 to disperse 0.1 mg/mL of SWCNT in water. Such low concentrations are impractical and unusable for most deposition techniques useful in high quantity manufacturing. Further, such high liquid loads need extra drying considerations and can destroy patterned images due to intermixing from the excess solvent. In addition, the method discloses functionalization of the tubule ends with various functionalization groups (acyl, aryl, aralkyl, halogen, alkyl, amino, halogen, thiol) but the end functionalization alone may not be enough to produce viable dispersions via solubilization. Moreover, the chemical transformations needed to add these functional groups to the end points of the SWCNTs require additional processing steps and chemicals which can be hazardous and costly. Also, the patent discloses a composition of matter which is at least 99% by weight of single wall carbon molecules which obviously limits the amount of functionalization that can be put onto the SWCNTs thereby limiting its solubilization levels and processability.
Rinzler et al. in PCT Publication WO2004/009884 A1 disclose a method of forming SWCNT films on a porous membrane such that it achieves 200 ohms/square and at least 30% transmission at a wavelength of 3 um. This method is disadvantaged since it needs a porous membrane (e.g. polycarbonate or mixed cellulose ester) with a high volume of porosity with a plurality of sub-micron pores as a substrate which may lose a significant amount of the SWCNT dispersion through said pores thereby wasting a significant amount of material. Also, such membranes may not have the optical transparency required for many electronic devices such as displays. Further, the membrane is set within a vacuum filtration system which severely limits the processability of such a system and makes the roll-to-roll coating application of the SWCNT solution impossible. Moreover, the weight percent of the dispersion used to make the SWCNT film was 0.005 mg/mL in an aqueous solution. Such weight percents are impractical and unusable in most coating and deposition systems with such a high liquid load. Such high liquid loads make it virtually impossible to make patterned images due to solvent spreading and therefore image bleeding/destruction.
Blanchet-Fincher et al in Publication WO 02/080195A1 and in US 20040065970 A1 illustrate high conductivity compositions composed of polyaniline (PANI) and SWCNTs or MWCNTs and methods to deposit such compositions from a donor element onto a receiver substrate. The nitrogen base salt derivative of emeraldine polyaniline is mixed with SWCNTs in organic solvents (toluene, xylene, turpinol, aromatics) and cast into films with conductivity values of 62 S/cm (1 wt % SWCNT in PANI) and 44 S/cm (2 wt % SWCNT in PANI). These films alternatively may be produced as part of a multi-layer donor structure suitable for a material transfer system. The PANI/SWCNT composite are transferred from the donor sheet to a suitable receiver substrate in imagewise form. PANI is a highly colored conductive polymer thus resulting in a conductive composite with unsatisfactory transparency and color, thus it is not suitable for high transparency/high conductivity applications such as displays. Further, the conductivity values are not suitable for many electronic device applications. In addition, the compositions are made in organic solvents, which may require special handling for health and safety, making manufacturing difficult and expensive.
Hsu in WO 2004/029176 A1 disclose compositions for electronically conducting organic polymer/nanoparticle composites. Polyaniline (Ormecon) or PEDT (Baytron P) are mixed with Molybdenum nanowires or carbon nanotubes (8 nm diameter, 20 um length, 60 S/cm). The compositions disclosed in this invention are disadvantaged by marginal conductivity.
Arthur et al in PCT Publication WO 03/099709 A2 disclose methods for patterning carbon nanotubes coatings. Dilute dispersions (10 to 100 ppm) of SWCNTs in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and water (which may include viscosity modifying agents) are spray coated onto substrates. After application of the SWCNT coating, a binder is printed in imagewise fashion and cured. Alternatively, a photo-definable binder may be used to create the image using standard photolithographic processes. Materials not held to the substrate with binder are removed by washing. Dilute dispersions (10 to 100 ppm) of SWCNTs in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and water with viscosity modifying agents are gravure coated onto substrates. Dilute dispersions (10 to 100 ppm) of SWCNTs in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and water are spray coated onto substrates. The coated films are then exposed through a mask to a high intensity light source in order to significantly alter the electronic properties of the SWCNTs. This step is followed by a binder coating. The dispersion concentrations used in these methods make it very difficult to produce images via direct deposition (inkjet etc.) techniques. Further, such high solvent loads due to the low solids dispersions create long process times and difficulties handling the excess solvent. In addition, these patterning methods are subtractive processes, which unnecessarily waste the SWCNT material via additional removal steps thereby incurring cost and process time. This application also discloses method to make conductive compositions and coatings from such compositions but it does not teach satisfactory methods nor compositions to execute such methods.
Transparent electronically-conductive layers (TCL) of metal oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO), antimony doped tin oxide, and cadmium stannate (cadmium tin oxide) are commonly used in the manufacture of electrooptical display devices such as liquid crystal display devices (LCDs), electroluminescent display devices, photocells, solid-state image sensors and electrochromic windows or as components of these devices such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. They are also employed in resistive touch screens.
Devices such as flat-panel displays, typically contain a substrate provided with an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer as a transparent electrode. The coating of ITO is carried out by vacuum sputtering methods which involve high substrate temperature conditions up to 250° C., and therefore, glass substrates are generally used. The high cost of the fabrication methods and the low flexibility of such electrodes, due to the brittleness of the inorganic ITO layer as well as the glass substrate, limit the range of potential applications. As a result, there is a growing interest in making all-organic devices, comprising plastic resins as a flexible substrate and organic electroconductive polymer layers as an electrode. Such plastic electronics allow low cost devices with new properties. Flexible plastic substrates can be provided with an electroconductive polymer layer by continuous hopper or roller coating methods (compared to batch process such as sputtering) and the resulting organic electrodes enable the "roll to roll" fabrication of electronic devices which are more flexible, lower cost, and lower weight.
Intrinsically conductive polymers have recently received attention from various industries because of their electronic conductivity. Although many of these polymers are highly colored and are less suited for TCL applications, some of these intrinsically conductive polymers, such as substituted or unsubstituted pyrrole-containing polymers (as mentioned in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,665,498 and 5,674,654), substituted or unsubstituted thiophene-containing polymers (as mentioned in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,300,575, 5,312,681, 5,354,613, 5,370,981, 5,372,924, 5,391,472, 5,403,467, 5,443,944, 5,575,898, 4,987,042, and 4,731,408) and substituted or unsubstituted aniline-containing polymers (as mentioned in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,716,550, 5,093,439, and 4,070,189) are transparent and not prohibitively colored, at least when coated in thin layers at moderate coverage. Because of their electronic conductivity instead of ionic conductivity, these polymers are conducting even at low humidity.
EP-A-440 957 describes a method for preparing polythiophene in an aqueous mixture by oxidative polymerization in the presence of a polyanion as a doping agent. In EP-A-686 662 it has been disclosed that highly conductive layers of polythiophene, coated from an aqueous coating solution, could be made by the addition of a di- or polyhydroxy and/or a carbonic acid, amide or lactam group containing compound in the coating solution of the polythiophene. Coated layers of organic electroconductive polymers can be patterned into electrode arrays using different methods. The known wet-etching microlithography technique is described in WO97/18944 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,274 wherein a positive or negative photoresist is applied on top of a coated layer of an organic electroconductive polymer, and after the steps of selectively exposing the photoresist to UV light, developing the photoresist, etching the electroconductive polymer layer and finally stripping the non-developed photoresist, a patterned layer is obtained. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,030 a similar method is used to form the pattern except that the pattern is formed in a continuous layer of prepolymer which is not yet conductive and that after washing the mask away the remaining prepolymer is rendered conductive by oxidation. Such methods that involve conventional lithographic techniques are cumbersome as they involve many steps and require the use of hazardous chemicals.
EP-A-615 256 describes a method to produce a pattern of a conductive polymer on a substrate that involves coating and drying a composition containing 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene monomer, an oxidation agent, and a base; exposing the dried layer to UV radiation through a mask; and then heating. The UV exposed areas of the coating comprise non-conductive polymer and the unexposed areas comprise conductive polymer. The formation of a conductive polymer pattern in accordance with this method does not require the coating and patterning of a separate photoresist layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,977 describes a process for patterning conductive polyaniline layers containing a photobase generator. UV exposure of such layers produces a base that reduces the conductivity in the exposed areas.
EP-A-1 054 414 describes a method to pattern a conductive polymer layer by printing an electrode pattern onto said conductive polymer layer using a printing solution containing an oxidant selected from the group ClO−, BrO−, MnO4−, Cr2O7−2, S2O8−2, and H2O2. The areas of the conductive layer exposed to the oxidant solution are rendered nonconductive.
Research Disclosure, November 1998, page 1473 (disclosure no. 41548) describes various means to form patterns in conducting polymer, including photoablation wherein the selected areas are removed from the substrate by laser irradiation. Such photoablation processes are convenient, dry, one-step methods but the generation of debris may require a wet cleaning step and may contaminate the optics and mechanics of the laser device. Prior art methods involving removal of the electroconductive polymer to form the electrode pattern also induce a difference of the optical density between electroconductive and non-conductive areas of the patterned surface, which should be avoided.
Methods of patterning organic electroconductive polymer layers by image-wise heating by means of a laser have been disclosed in EP 1 079 397 A1. That method induces about a 10 to 1000 fold decrease in resistivity without substantially ablating or destroying the layer.
The application of electronically conductive polymers in display related device has been envisioned in the past. European Patent Application 1,172,831 describes a light transmissive substrate having a light transmissive conductive polymer coating for use in resistive touch screens. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,934 describes touchscreen cover sheets having a conductive polymer coating.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,828,432 and 5,976,284 describe conductive polymer layers employed in liquid crystal display devices. The example conductive layers are highly conductive but typically have transparency of 60% or less.
Use of polythiophene as transparent field spreading layers in displays comprising polymer dispersed liquid crystals has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,639,637 and 6,707,517. However, the polythiophene layers in these patents are non-conductive in nature.
Use of commercial polythiophene coated sheet such as Orgacon from Agfa has been suggested for manufacturing of thin film inorganic light emitting diode in U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,293. However, the transparency vs. surface electrical resistivity of such products may not be sufficient for some applications.
Use of conductive high molecular film for preventing the fringe field in the in-plane switching mode in liquid crystal display has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,708. However, the conductivity requirement for these films appears to be not very stringent. For example, in one embodiment (col. .5, lines 6-10) the high molecular film can be totally non-conductive. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,708 does not refer to any specification involving transmission characteristics of these films.
Use of transparent coating on glass substrates for cathode ray tubes using polythiophene and silicon oxide composites has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,120. However, the method suggests in-situ polymerization of an ethylenedioxythiohene monomer on glass, baking it at an elevated temperature and subsequent washing with tetra ethyl orthosilicate. Such an involved process may be difficult to practice for roll-to-roll production of a wide flexible plastic substrate.
Use of in-situ polymerized polythiophene and polypyrrole has been proposed in U.S. Pat Appl. Pub. 2003/0008135 A1 as conductive films, for ITO replacement. As mentioned earlier, such processes are difficult to implement for roll-to-roll production of conductive coatings. In the same patent application, a comparative example was created using a dispersion of poly(3,4 ethylene dioxythiophene)/polystyrene sulfonic acid which resulted in inferior coating properties.
Addition of conductivity enhancing agents such as organic compounds with dihydroxy or polyhydroxy and/or carboxyl groups or amide groups or lactam groups are suggested for incorporation in polythiophene in U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,515. Recently, U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. 2003/0193042 A1 claims further improvement in conductivity of polythiophene through the addition of a substantial quantity of organic compounds such as phenols. But, health and safety concerns will dictate special precautionary measures, which may need to be taken, for the introduction of such hazardous compounds to a typical web manufacturing and coating site, thus possibly adding cost to the final product.
In another recent publication titled "Hydroxylated secondary dopants for surface resistance enhancement in transparent poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) thin films" by B. D. Martin, N. Nikolov, S. K. Pollack, A. Saprigin, R. Shashidhar, F. Zhang and P. A. Heiney, published in Synthetic Metals, vol. 142 (2004), p. 187-193, it was stated that the addition of small hydroxylated secondary dopants could greatly decrease the surface resistance of polythiophene films without reducing film transparency.
Devices such as resistive touch screens also employ a substrate provided with transparent conductors. Typically substrates are formed from rigid glass and a coating of ITO forms the transparent conductor. However, in this application, a flexible transparent cover sheet coated with a transparent conductor overlies the substrate and is separated from the substrate by spacer dots. The flexible cover sheet is deformed in operation by a stylus or finger to bring the two transparent conductive layers into contact. ITO is also commonly employed as the transparent conductor on the flexible transparent cover sheet. However, ITO tends to crack under stress and its conductivity altered. More flexible conductive polymers have also been considered for this application, but these conductive polymers are softer than ITO and tend to degrade from repeated contacts.
As indicated herein above, the art discloses a wide variety of electronically conductive TCL compositions that can be incorporated in displays and touch screens. Although application of electronically conductive polymers in display and touch screen related devices has been contemplated in the past, the stringent requirements of high transparency, low surface electrical resistivity, flexibility, and robustness under repeated contact demanded by modern display devices or touch screens is extremely difficult to attain with electronically conductive polymers. Thus, there is still a critical need in the art for transparent conductors that can be coated roll-to-roll on a wide variety of substrates under typical manufacturing conditions using environmentally desirable components. In addition to providing superior electrode performance, the TCL layers also must be highly transparent, must be patternable, must resist the effects of humidity change, and be manufacturable at a reasonable cost.

Multi-layer conductor with carbon nanotubes


An electric control apparatus for a rear wheel steering mechanism in a four-wheel steering system of a wheeled vehicle is designed to detect a yaw rate of the vehicle body for determining a target steering amount for steering a set of dirigible rear road wheels in accordance with a magnitude of the detected yaw rate in a direction restraining the yaw rate of the vehicle body and to produce a control signal indicative of the target steering amount for applying it to an electrically operated actuator of the rear wheel steering mechanism. The electric control apparatus is further designed to detect a roll angle and/or a roll angle speed of the vehicle body and to determine a correction amount for steering the rear road wheels in accordance with a magnitude of the detected roll angle and/or roll angle speed in an opposite direction relative to the direction restraining the yaw rate of the vehicle body and adding the correction amount to the target steering amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a four-wheel steering system of a wheeled vehicle, more particularly to an electric control apparatus for a rear-wheel steering mechanism for controlling steerage of a set of dirigible rear road wheels in accordance with a yaw rate of the vehicle body.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 63-207772, there has been proposed an electric control apparatus of this kind which is designed to detect a yaw rate of the wheeled vehicle for determining a target steering amount for steering the rear road wheels in accordance with a magnitude of the detected yaw rate in a direction restraining the yaw rate of the vehicle and to produce a control signal indicative of the target steering amount for applying the control signal to an electrically operated actuator of the rear wheel steering mechanism. With such a conventional control apparatus, the yaw rate during turning of the vehicle converges as shown by two-dot chain lines in FIG. 5 of the present application to enhance the running stability of the vehicle. Under control of the conventional control apparatus, however, the rear road wheels are steered in response to the detected yaw rate of the vehicle body. As a result, the cornering force of the rear road wheels rapidly rises to shorten a transition period for turning of the vehicle, and as shown by the two-dot chain lines in FIG. 5, a rise rate of lateral acceleration of the vehicle body becomes steep, resulting in an increase of the roll angle speed of the vehicle body.

Electric control apparatus for rear wheel steering mechanism of wheeled vehicle


A method of detecting misalignment of ion implantation areas comprises forming at least one standard pattern consisting of a first area and a second area for use in measuring resistance, implanting first and second conduction type impurity ions into the first and second areas, respectively, and measuring a resistance of the standard pattern. The method also includes forming a misalignment inspection pattern consisting of a first area and a second area on a predetermined area within a semiconductor substrate, implanting first and second conduction type impurity ions into the misalignment inspection pattern and active regions on the semiconductor substrate, respectively, and measuring a resistance of the misalignment inspection pattern. The method concludes by comparing the resistance of the standard pattern with the resistance of the misalignment inspection pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a method of detecting the misalignment of ion implantation areas of a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a method of determining the misalignment of ion implantation areas immediately after an ion implantation process is completed.
2. Background of the Related Art
A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (hereinafter referred to as "CMOS") device comprises an N-MOS transistor and a P-MOS transistor which are formed within the same semiconductor substrate. Either N-MOS transistor or P-MOS transistor must be formed on an impurity region which has a different conduction type from that of substrate in order to separate electrically the N-MOS transistor from the P-MOS transistor on the semiconductor substrate. Particularly, the impurity region is called a well.
The well is generally created through a dopant ion implantation process, a lengthy thermal treatment process at a high temperature, and a diffusion process to diffuse the implanted dopant to an appropriate depth. This well is particularly known as a diffusion well. In addition to the diffusion well, various well structures have been developed to simplify a well formation process and to improve well functions. For example, a retrograde well is made by performing a high-energy ion implantation process to locate dopants at an appropriate depth after a device isolation structure is formed on a silicon substrate.
In making those well structures, it is very important to implant exactly n-type and p-type dopants into predetermined places within a silicon substrate and to align precisely n-type and p-type wells. If in fabricating a CMOS device the n-type and p-type wells are misaligned on the silicon substrate, devices such as transistors and capacitors, which are formed on the silicon substrate based on the p-type and n-type wells, may not properly function due to several problems such as leakage current.
A conventional well formation process is described to illustrate examples of misalignment of ion implantation areas. FIGS. 1a through 1c show, in cross-sectional views, a known process of forming n-type and p-type wells.
Referring to FIG. 1a, first, device isolation structures 102 are formed on a p-type semiconductor substrate 101 by a local oxidation of silicon (hereinafter referred to as "LOCOS") or a shallow trench isolation (hereinafter referred to as "STI") process so as to define active regions and field regions of a semiconductor device. A first ion implant mask 103 is then formed over the semiconductor substrate 101 by using photoresist. The first ion implant mask 103 exposes the some active regions of the semiconductor substrate on which a p-type well will be formed.
Referring to FIG. 1b, a p-type ion implantation process is performed for the semiconductor substrate 101, thereby forming a p-type ion implant layer 104 with a predetermined depth on the silicon substrate.
Referring to FIG. 1c, the first ion implant mask 103 is removed. Next, a photoresist layer is deposited over the semiconductor substrate 101 and a second ion implant mask 105 is patterned through exposure and development processes. The second ion implant mask 105 exposes other active regions on which an n-type well will be formed. An n-type ion implantation process is then performed for the semiconductor substrate 101, thereby forming an n-type ion implant layer 106 with a predetermined depth on the semiconductor substrate.
A thermal treatment process is then performed for the resulting substrate having n-type and p-type ion implant layers so that the ions in the n-type and p-type ion implant layers are diffused into the semiconductor substrate to complete n-type and p-type wells.
In the conventional well formation process, to form n-type and p-type wells ion implant masks are required. Each ion implant mask must be exactly positioned over the predetermined region of either an n-type or a p-type well. If the ion implant mask is misaligned, n-type or p-type impurity ions may not be implanted into the predetermined region.
Such misalignment may occur during an ion implantation process to define source/drain regions. For example, a device isolation structure is formed on a semiconductor substrate to define an active region. A gate electrode pattern is then formed on a predetermined position within the active region. And an n-type or p-type ion implantation process is carried out over the semiconductor substrate having the gate electrode pattern. Here, the ions implanted into a source/drain region within a first active region may have a different conduction type from the ions implanted into a source/drain region within a second active region adjacent to the first active region. For example, the ions implanted into a source/drain region within the first active region may be first conduction type impurity ions and, on the other hand, the ions implanted into a source/drain region within the second active region adjacent to the first active region may be second conduction type impurity ions. To form source/drain regions by implanting selectively the first and second conduction type ions into a plurality of active regions divided by device isolation structures, predetermined ion implant masks are required. Accordingly, misalignment may occur during ion implantation processes as stated in the above well formation process.
The misalignment in making source/drain regions is described in more detail referring to FIGS. 2a through 2i.
Referring to FIG. 2a, device isolation structures 202 are formed on a semiconductor substrate 201 to define a plurality of active regions. Next, n-type and p-type impurity ions are selectively implanted to form at least one source/drain region within each active region. Here, in order to implant specific conduction type ions only into a predetermined region, an ion implant mask with an appropriate pattern must be used so that regions in which opposite conduction type ions will be implanted can be protected. FIG. 2a illustrates, in a cross-sectional view, an ion implant configuration without misalignment due to correct disposition of the ion implant mask.
FIG. 2b illustrates, in a cross-sectional view, an example of a misaligned ion implant configuration. In FIG. 2b, each ion implant mask to implant n-type and p-type ions leaned to the right from a normal location before ion implantation processes were performed. In this case, if the semiconductor substrate is a p-type, there is no problem. However, if the semiconductor substrate is an n-type, leakage current may occur.
FIG. 2c shows, in a cross-sectional view, another example of a misaligned ion implant configuration. In FIG. 2c, an n-type ion implant mask leaned to the right and a p-type implant mask leaned to the left before ion implantation processes were performed. Both n-type impurities and p-type impurities were implanted into some areas on both sides of the device isolation area. In this case, if the silicon substrate is an n-type, leakage current occurs. If the silicon substrate is a p-type, a little leakage current may occur.
FIG. 2d illustrates, in a cross-sectional view, a third example of a misaligned ion implant configuration. In FIG. 2d, an n-type ion implant mask leaned to the left and a p-type ion implant mask leaned to the right before ion implantation processes were performed. In this case, leakage current will necessarily occur regardless of the conduction type of the silicon substrate.
FIGS. 2e through 2i also show, in cross-sectional views, other examples of misaligned ion implant configurations that may be occurred during the source/drain region formation. The misalignments illustrated in FIGS. 2a through 2i, may also appear during the well formation process.
In fabricating a CMOS device, the processes for forming wells and source/drain regions are carried out relatively at early stages during semiconductor fabrication. Therefore, if defects occur during the well or source/drain region formation and the later processes are performed without detection of the defects, the resulting devices will be defective whether the later processes are done with or without defects.
Semiconductor manufacturing generally comprises a fabrication process, an assembly process, and a test process. So, the defects of a semiconductor device with misaligned wells or source/drain regions are detected during the final test for the semiconductor device. As a result, to perform later processes and tests for the semiconductor device with defects due to misalignment of ion implantation areas may be a waste of time and increase production costs.

Method of detecting misalignment of ion implantation area


A technique is provided for translating database queries used to perform database functions on a first database management system so that a user can perform the database functions on one or more second database management systems using the translated database queries. The database management systems can be based on a relational model database, a hierarchical model database, a network model database, or a file system (proprietary) model database.

The computer systems used by large organizations contain numerous database management systems that must be accessed and controlled. The database management systems are generally distributed across networks and are implemented with a variety of computing platforms. Commonly used database management systems are based on relational model databases, hierarchical model databases, network model databases, and file system (proprietary) model databases. As defined herein, file system model databases are any database management systems which are not compliant with relational, hierarchical, and network models. For example, a homegrown database management system that utilizes the computer file system for data storage is a file system model database. Each database management system typically uses a different query language to access and control its database. For example, relational model databases may use Structured Query Language (SQL) commands. Hierarchical database systems may use database interface function calls (e.g., "ctdli" calls for the International Business Machines IMS.RTM. database) or other application specific query language commands. Network database systems also use various application specific query languages. File system (proprietary) model databases may use an application specific query language based on database application program interface (API) function calls or other suitable application specific query language.
The query languages used by the database management systems are typically incompatible with each other. For example, a query language suitable for use with a relational model database will not, in general, operate with another database model, such as a hierarchical database. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for a user at one database management system to perform certain database functions on another database management system.
In addition, the incompatibility between the database query languages prevents a user at a central or primary database management system from performing database functions on multiple secondary database management systems in parallel.
It would therefore be desirable if a system could be provided to overcome the incompatibility between the database query languages used by database management systems in a computer system or across computer systems.
It would also be desirable if a system could be provided to translate database queries so that a user at one database management system could perform database functions on another database management system.
It would also be desirable if a system could be provided to allow users to perform database functions on multiple database management systems in parallel.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system that overcomes the incompatibility between the database query languages used by the database management systems in a computer system or across computer systems.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system that translates database queries so that a user at one database management system can perform database functions on another database management system.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system that allows users to perform database functions on multiple database management systems in parallel.


To remove a carrier liquid from a toner image before transfer on a photosensitive drum, a wet electrophotographic device of the present invention includes a first slit nozzle which blows airflow of a first velocity onto a surface of the photosensitive drum after image formation, a second slit nozzle which is positioned on a downstream side more than the first slit nozzle and which blows airflow of a second velocity higher than that of the airflow supplied from the first slit nozzle onto the surface of the photosensitive drum, and an aperture portion which introduces a reverse airflow generated by the airflow from the second slit nozzle to the first slit nozzle side between both nozzles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic device which uses liquid toner, and more particularly to a carrier liquid removal mechanism which removes a carrier liquid from an image before transfer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wet electrophotographic device that uses liquid toner has advantages not achieved by a dry electrophotographic device that uses powder toner, and greater importance has recently been attached to its value.
For example, since extremely small toner of a submicron size can be used, image quality is high, and a texture similar to that of printing (e.g., offset printing) can be realized. Since a sufficient image density can be obtained by a small amount of toner, the toner can be fixed on a sheet economically at a relatively low temperature. As a result, energy is saved.
In the case of the wet electrophotographic device, a toner image formed on a photosensitive body, and the residual carrier liquid left near the toner image must be removed. As one of the methods of removing carrier liquid, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-278302 discloses a method of removing the residual carrier liquid by blowing airflow along the surface of a photosensitive body, wherein there are two or more nozzles for blowing air.
However, a velocity of airflow that passes through a narrow gap area along the surroundings of the photosensitive body causes airflow reflection or interference. The airflow reflection or interference moves a toner image (image) on the photosensitive body (generates image run) at an initial stage in which a large amount of the residual carrier liquid remains after image formation. Consequently, deterioration of image quality is inevitable.

Electrophotographic device and carrier liquid removal mechanism


In a tilting gravity casting apparatus, a die includes a ladle that stores a molten metal and the molten metal is poured through a runner into a cavity of the die when the die is tilted. The apparatus includes a block member for blocking the runner, a pressing pin for pressing the molten metal in the cavity, a controller that controls operation of driving the block member and the pressing pin, and a first molten metal sensing sensor disposed in the runner. The controller is configured to start driving the block member and the pressing pin based on a detection signal outputted from the first molten metal sensing sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tilting gravity casting apparatus and a tilting gravity casting method using the apparatus.
2. Background Art
A tilting gravity casting apparatus in which a die includes a molten metal basin (ladle) that stores a molten metal and the molten metal is poured into a cavity in the die through a runner when the die is tilted is well known as described, for example, in Patent Literature 1 mentioned below.
Such a tilting gravity casting apparatus of related art has the following problems when producing a cast product having a complicated shape, such as a knuckle for an automobile, which is a part that connects a bearing supporting a wheel to a suspension: The cavity in the die cannot be filled with molten metal all the way down to the end of the cavity; and a cast product cannot be sufficiently free of shrinkage cavities and other casting defects.

Tilting gravity casting apparatus and tilting gravity casting method


A storage apparatus includes an interface and storage circuitry. The interface communicates with a plurality of memory cells, and an individual one of the plurality of memory cells stores data in multiple programming levels. The storage circuitry configured to program data to a first group of multiple memory cells in a number of programming levels larger than two, using a One-Pass Programming (OPP) scheme that results in a first readout reliability level. After programming the data, the storage circuitry is further configured to read the data from the first group, and program the data read from the first group to a second group of the memory cells, in a number of programming levels larger than two, using a Multi-Pass Programming (MPP) scheme that results in a second readout reliability higher than the first reliability level, and reading the data from the second group of the memory cells.

Various types of nonvolatile memories include multiple memory cells, each of which is programmed to assume a nominal programming level, selected from multiple predefined programming levels. Methods for programming nonvolatile memories are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 10,109,361 describes a memory programmer apparatus that may include a first-level programmer to program a first-level cell portion of a multi-level memory in a first pass, a coarse programmer to coarse program a second-level cell portion of the multi-level memory in the first pass, wherein the second-level cell portion includes more levels than the first-level cell portion, and a fine programmer to fine program the second-level cell portion of the multi-level memory in a second pass from data programmed in the first-level cell portion in the first pass.

Efficient programming schemes in a nonvolatile memory


Fixed and variable content is merged to produce personalized documents using a raster image processor that, for each page to be printed, initializes a frame buffer according to fixed content specified for the page. The fixed content may be specified in initialization information that is placed at the beginning of the stream of variable content to be processed or could be specified in some other manner. Such information may be specified through user input to a printer driver that processes documents to be printed from arbitrary applications into page descriptions used by the raster image processor. The specified fixed content may be preprocessed and stored in memory accessible to the raster image processor. The variable content then may be added to the frame buffer without the need to specify a region in which it should be placed.

A common use of computers is preparation of personalized documents. Personalized documents are, generally, a set of documents, such as form letters, which include information which is shared by all of the documents, such as the body of a form letter, and information which is unique to each document, such as a name and address for a recipient of a form letter. The shared data generally is called "fixed" data or information, whereas the unique data generally is called "variable" data or information. Personalized documents may be simple, such as form letters, or complex, such as a catalog with item descriptions or prices individually targeted to each customer.
The general problem addressed in any computer system which generates personalized documents is how to merge variable information with fixed information while printing in volume at a reasonable speed.
In some systems, variable information is merged with fixed information prior to formatting of the merged data for printing. For example, a word processing program may have a feature which creates multiple documents, such as form letters, by filling in a template (fixed information) with variable information, e.g., addresses, taken from another data file to create a set of personalized documents. Such a feature often is called a "mail merge" operation. Using such a feature, however, results in duplicative processing of the fixed information when each personalized document is actually printed.
Many other commercially available computer systems which control electronic printing systems to prepare personalized documents are designed based on analogies to mechanical printing systems. In mechanical printing systems, fixed information generally is printed first, and variable information is then printed in specified regions within the fixed information. In electronic printing systems, fixed content is processed as a raster image in a frame buffer used by a printing engine. Variable data for each personalized document is placed in the raster image by specifying a region of the frame buffer to be modified, and modifying the contents of the frame buffer with the variable data for the specified region for the currently processed document. As a result, a raster image processor or other application providing the variable data must be specialized so that it may specify particular regions of the frame buffer which will be modified. As a result, such systems tend to be cumbersome, expensive and require content to be generated by only specialized applications which are capable of specifying regions of a frame buffer. Because of such limitations, these systems often require special operator training.

Image process system and process using personalization techniques


Apparatus and methods of effecting a medical procedure, e.g., laparoscopic, endoscopic, etc. procedures, through a small percutaneous incision or puncture in the body of a patient. One embodiment of the apparatus comprises an elongated outer tube, an elongated inner tube located within the outer tube and moveable relative thereto. An electrosurge electrode is mounted on the distal end of the inner tube so that it can be moved to a retracted position when it is not need or to an extended position when it is to be use. A vacuum system and an irrigation system are provided. The vacuum system is arranged to apply suction through an annular space between the tubes to effect the removal of tissue or other debris from the operative site within the patients body. The irrigation system is arranged to supply an irrigation liquid through the inner tube to the operative site. Each of the tubes is formed of an electrically insulating material so that the apparatus can be safely inserted within the patient's body. Various types of electrodes can be used. In another embodiment the electrode tip is not retractable.

Electrosurgical devices have been used to effect various types of medical procedures laparoscopically or endoscopically. Such devices commonly comprise an elongated stainless steel tube having an electrosurgical electrode at the free end thereof. The electrode is coupled to one pole of an electrosurgical generator. The other pole of the generator may be connected to a large surface area electrode arranged to be placed in contact with the skin of the patient being treated (as is the case with a unipolar device), or may be connected to an electrode immediately adjacent the electrode at the distal end of the tube (as is the case with a bipolar device). In either case the outer surface of the tube is typically covered by an electrically insulating material, e.g., a shrink wrapped plastic film, in order to electrically insulate the steel tube to protect the patient and the operator of the instrument and to confine the current to the electrode tip. Such shrink wrap, however, is susceptible to tear or damage when the stainless steel tube is manipulated into or out of the introducing device, e.g., trocar. Such an occurrence can destroy or otherwise compromise the electrical insulating properties of the device, thereby possibly exposing the patient or operator to shock or other injury.
Some prior art devices for effecting electrocautery make use of suction means to withdraw tissue, blood, debris, etc. from adjacent the cautery tip. Such devices may become clogged during the surgery. In such an occurrence the devices may have to be removed and disassembled to clear the suction passageway the operative site. This is obviously undesirable since time is frequently of the essence when utilizing such devices.
Thus, the need exists for a instrument which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
The following constitute examples of various types of prior art electrosurgical devices found in the following U.S. Pat. No.: 29,088 (Shaw); Re. U.S. Pat. No. 30,190 (Shaw); U.S. Pat. No. 2,447,169 (De Sousa); U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,916 (Edlich); U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,001 (Anderson et al); U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,241 (Jarrard); U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,761 (Prater et al.); U.s. Pat. No. 4,089,336 (Cage et al); U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,813 (Shaw et al); U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,950 (Pike); U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,632 (Shaw); U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,145 (Esty et al); U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,160 (Hiltebrandt); U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,802 (Okada); U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,218 (DiGeronimo); U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,006 (Nottke); U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,057 (Beard); U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,838 (Walker); U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,279 (Beard); U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,738 (Trott); U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,498 (Stasz); U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,346 (Mindich); U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,476 (Noerenberg et al); U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,696 (Stasz et al); U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,903 (Welch et al); U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,353 (Stasz et al); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,312 (Parins et al).

Electrosurgical apparatus for laparoscopic procedures and method of use


There is provided a substrate processing method and apparatus which can measure and monitor thickness and/or properties of a film formed on a substrate as needed, and quickly correct a deviation in process conditions, and which can therefore stably provide a product of constant quality. A substrate processing method for processing a substrate having a metal and an insulating material exposed on its surface in such a manner that a film thickness of the metal, with an exposed surface of the metal as a reference plane, is selectively or preferentially changed, including measuring a change in the film thickness and/or a film property of the metal during and/or immediately after processing, and monitoring processing and adjusting processing conditions based on results of this measurement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a substrate processing method and apparatus, and more particularly to a substrate processing method and apparatus for protecting interconnects by selectively covering exposed surfaces of embedded interconnects, which have been formed by embedding an electric conductor such as copper in a surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, with a coating film (protective film) of a metal or an alloy.
The present invention also relates to a substrate processing method and apparatus for caving in exposed surfaces of embedded interconnects to form recesses, preparatory to selectively covering exposed surfaces of the embedded interconnects, which have been formed by embedding an electric conductor such as copper in a surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, with a coating film (protective film) of a metal or an alloy.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a process for forming interconnects in a semiconductor device, a so-called "damascene process", which comprises embedding a metal (electric conductor) into interconnect trenches and contact holes, is coming into practical use. According to this process, aluminum, or more recently a metal such as silver or copper, is embedded into interconnect trenches and contact holes previously formed in an interlevel dielectric of a semiconductor substrate. Thereafter, an extra metal is removed by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) so as to flatten a surface of the substrate.
In a case of interconnects formed by such a process, for example, copper interconnects are formed by using copper as an interconnect material, and embedded copper interconnects have an exposed surface after flattening processing. In order to prevent thermal diffusion of such interconnects (copper), or to prevent oxidation of such interconnects (copper) or to improve electromigration (EM) properties by enhancing adhesion, e.g. in forming thereon an insulating film (oxide film) under an oxidizing atmosphere to produce a semiconductor device having a multi-layer interconnect structure, it is now under study to selectively cover exposed surfaces of interconnects with a coating film (cap material) composed of a Co alloy, a Ni alloy or the like so as to prevent thermal diffusion and oxidation of the interconnects. Such a film of a Co alloy, a Ni alloy or the like can be produced e.g. by electroless plating. Further, in order to form a flat coating film on the exposed surfaces of interconnects, a processing method is being studied which comprises caving in the exposed surfaces of embedded interconnects to form recesses. The recesses may be formed, for example, by etching or wet polishing.
Consider now an example of selective formation of a coating film (protective film) as illustrated in FIG. 1. In particular, fine interconnect recesses 4 are first formed in an insulating film 2 of e.g. SiO2, SiCO, SiOF, or an inorganic or organic low-k material, deposited on a surface of a substrate W, such as a semiconductor wafer. After forming a barrier layer 6 of TaN or the like on an entire surface, copper plating, for example, is performed to form a copper film on a surface (barrier layer 6) of the substrate W so that the recesses 4 are filled with copper. Thereafter, the surface of the substrate W is flattened by CMP (chemical-mechanical polishing), thereby forming interconnects 8 composed of copper film in the insulating film 2. A coating film (cap material) 9 of a Co—W—P alloy is formed, e.g. by electroless plating, selectively on surfaces of interconnects (copper film) 8 to protect interconnects 8.
In the above case, the interconnects 8 of metal (copper) and the insulating film 2 of insulating material are exposed on the surface of the substrate W, and it is necessary to selectively form the coating film 9 only on the exposed surfaces of the interconnects 8. When the coating film 9 is selectively formed only on the exposed surfaces of the interconnects 8, which are formed in a pattern of long narrow lines separated from each other by the insulating film 2, the coating film 9 will take the form of a number of separate discontinuous films and film properties are likely to vary. It is therefore required to control the coating film 9 so that film thickness and/or film properties are constant.
When forming the coating film 9 such that its surface is flush with the surface of the insulating film 2, as shown in FIG. 2, it is necessary to cave in the surfaces of the interconnects 8 to form recesses 8a preparatory to the formation of coating film 9. In this case, in addition to control of the thickness of the coating film 9, it is necessary to precisely control a depth of the recesses 8a formed above the interconnects 8.


A drawer-type dishwasher includes a dispenser mounted to one of front and opposing side walls of a basin. The basin is slidably supported in an outer body of the dishwasher. The dispenser includes a main body portion, first and second reservoirs and an actuator. Each of the first and second reservoirs includes upper and lower openings. The first reservoir includes a cover that selectively closes the upper opening, while the lower opening is opened by the actuator. The second reservoir is provided with first and second lids pivotally mounted to the main body portion. The first lid is opened to allow loading of wash aid, while the second lid is opened during a wash operation to release the wash aid. After the wash operation concludes, the second lid is closed, causing the first lid to open allowing detergent to again be loaded into the second reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of dishwashers and, more particularly, to a dispenser for releasing detergent and/or rinse aid into a wash chamber of a drawer-type dishwasher.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In general, dishwashers having one or more pull-out drawers are known in the art. In some cases, the dishwasher will include an upper, pull-out drawer forming a washing chamber for washing smaller objects such as glassware, utensils, small plates and the like, and a lower conventional-type dishwasher. In other cases, the dishwasher will include upper and lower pull-out washing chamber defining drawers, or simply include a single pull-out type washing chamber. Regardless of the design, the dishwasher is typically provided with a dispenser for releasing detergent and/or rinse aid into the washing chamber during a washing operation.
In a conventional dishwasher, a dispenser for detergent and rinse aid will be typically located on a door assembly. At the start of a washing operation, the door assembly is shifted to an open, substantially horizontal position, the dispenser loaded and, after loading dishes, the door assembly is closed and a washing operation is initiated. During the washing operation, a mechanism opens the dispenser to allow detergent to fall into the dishwasher. However, unlike conventional dishwashers, drawer-type dishwashers do not include a door assembly that allows loading of detergent in a horizontal orientation and dispensing in a vertical orientation.
A detergent dispenser for a drawer-type dishwasher is typically mounted to or formed in a front wall of the drawer. One dispenser design includes a pull-out chamber that, once open, is loaded with detergent. With this design, after the dispenser is loaded, the chamber is pivoted back into a receptacle formed in the front wall of the drawer. At a predetermined point of the washing operation, a jet of water is directed into the dispenser from a nozzle formed in the receptacle. The detergent is then washed through an opening formed in a bottom of the receptacle and into the drawer. While effective, this design requires tubing for creating the jet of water to be formed into the drawer during manufacturing, thereby raising the overall cost and complexity of the appliance.
Other designs utilize simple tilt-out chambers that are filled with detergent and later washed out by jets of water or disposable containers that are supported on side walls of the drawers. For instance, a single or multi-use disposable container, coupled to an actuation mechanism, can be used to dispense a prescribed amount of detergent at a predetermined point in the washing operation. Once the container is depleted, a new container must be positioned in the drawer. While this method is also effective, consumers are faced with limited choices. Not all manufacturers of detergent have developed detergent containers of this type.
Regardless of the known prior art, there still exists a need for an effective dispenser for a drawer-type dishwasher. More specifically, there exists a need for a dispenser for releasing detergent and/or rinse aid wherein the dispenser is mounted to a wall of a drawer-type dishwasher wash chamber without requiring special plumbing to wash the detergent into the wash chamber.


An exhaust gas control apparatus for an internal combustion engine is provided with an exhaust catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage (4) of the internal combustion engine, a concentration detection unit (10) that is capable of detecting a total concentration of a sulfur oxide and a hydrogen sulfide contained in an exhaust gas that passes through the exhaust catalyst, and detecting a concentration of the sulfur oxide, and a sulfur concentration estimation unit (15) that estimates a concentration of sulfur contained in a fuel based on a detection value of the concentration detection unit (10) when it is determined that the exhaust gas is at one of a stoichiometric and rich air/fuel ratio.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an exhaust gas control apparatus and an exhaust gas control method for an internal combustion engine, which is provided with a sulfur concentration sensor that detects a sulfur constituent of exhaust gas.
2. Description of Related Art
A publication of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. JP-A-2001-303937 discloses an exhaust gas control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, which detects a sulfur concentration of exhaust gas by a sulfur oxides (SOx) sensor that is disposed downstream of an occlusion reduction type NOx catalyst. Publications of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. JP-A-6-173652 and JP-A-2000-230419 further disclose related art of the invention.
The structure of the generally employed exhaust gas control apparatus as described above may fail to accurately detect the concentration of sulfur contained in the exhaust gas discharged from the internal combustion engine. When an air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is lean, the sulfur constituent such as SOx is oxidized, which will be held in the exhaust catalyst such as the occlusion reduction type NOx catalyst in the form of a sulfate. Meanwhile when the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is rich, the sulfur constituent passes through the exhaust catalyst. Most part of the sulfur constituent that has passed through the exhaust catalyst, however, may be reduced into a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is difficult to be detected by the SOx sensor.

Exhaust gas control apparatus and exhaust gas control method for internal combustion engine


A latch has a housing and an operating mechanism mounted on the housing. The operating mechanism has a latch arm pivotably mounted for movement relative to the housing between a latched position in which the latch arm is abuttable against a strike element and an unlatched position. The latch arm has a cam surface. The operating mechanism also has a lever pivotably mounted for movement relative to the housing between first and second operative positions. The lever has an edge which moves along the cam surface as the lever is moved from the second operative position to the first operative position to thereby move the latch arm from the unlatched position to the latched position.

Single lever draw latches are known in the art. A single lever draw latch, for example mounted on a door, uses a simple lever device to produce a force to draw the door towards, and to secure the door to, a strike element, such as those commonly mounted on recreational vehicles. Typically, the door is pivotably mounted on the recreational vehicle. Thus, the door can be pivoted between a fully open position and a fully closed position, with the draw latch and the strike element cooperating to secure the door in the closed position.
The draw latch has a lever arm which is pivotably mounted to a latch housing which is mounted on the door. The lever arm has a first end for receiving the strike element and a second end with a handle. The lever arm can be pivoted between a first position, wherein the second end is substantially flush with an exterior surface of the door, and a second position, wherein the second end protrudes significantly from the exterior surface of the door. If the door is pivoted such that the first end of the lever arm abuts the strike element, then movement of the lever arm from the second position to the first position will cause the first end of the lever arm and the strike element to cooperate to secure the door in the fully closed position. Alternatively, if the lever arm is moved from the first position to the second position, the first end of the lever arm and the strike element are spaced such that the door may be pivoted out of the fully closed position to the fully open position.
Because the second end of the lever arm protrudes significantly from the exterior surface of the door in the second position, pivoting the door to the fully open position with the lever arm in the second position can cause the second end of the lever arm to hit an exterior side of the recreational vehicle, which may damage the side of the recreational vehicle. The damage may result in warranty claims by the purchaser of the recreational vehicle on which the latch is mounted and general customer dissatisfaction.
Alternatively, as soon as the door is pivoted such that the first end can no longer receive the strike element, the lever arm can be rotated into the first position, such that the second end of the lever arm is flush with the exterior of the door. This may prevent damage to the side of the vehicle caused by the second end of the lever arm when the door is moved into the fully opened position.
However, in moving the lever arm into the first position, the first end of the lever arm protrudes from the door. Unless the vehicle user remembers to move the lever arm into the second position before attempting to close the door, the force generated when the first end of the lever arm collides with the strike element may damage the strike element and possibly knock the draw latch out of alignment.
Additionally, the setting of the lever to generate the force to secure the door to the strike element may vary over time, requiring frequent adjustment.
It is also known in the art to have a latch with a lever arm made of two pieces: a first piece for receiving the strike element and a second piece having a handle. Both pieces are pivotably attached to the latch housing. The second piece can be moved from a first position substantially flush with the exterior surface of the door on which the latch is mounted to a second position in which the second piece abuts the first piece to move the first piece into a position in which the first piece cannot receive the strike element. The second piece is biased in the first position, while the first piece is biased such that it ordinarily would be disposed to receive the strike element.
Because the first piece is biased so that it would ordinarily be disposed to receive the strike element, if the first piece is not first moved into a position in which the first piece cannot receive the strike element when the door which the latch is mounted on is closed, the collision of the first piece with the strike element may cause damage to the strike element, the latch, or both.


Methods, non-transitory computer readable media, workload management devices, and network traffic management systems that optimize systems with idempotent workloads are illustrated. With this technology, an identification is made when a status indicates a jobs is deferred. A determination is then made when the job is preempted based on a type of the job, when the identification indicates the job is deferred and the type and an identifier of the job matches another job. Another status is adjusted to indicate the other job is deferred. The status is then modified to indicate that the job is preempted, or the job is removed, when the determination indicates the job is preempted. Accordingly, jobs are selectively preempted, such as based on idempotency of the associated workload, to achieve intended consistent states for objects faster, with increased reliability, and with reduced overhead.

In many systems, the time required to process received jobs is large relative to the time required to issue the jobs. Such an asymmetry exists with respect to network security apparatuses that protect applications hosted by servers from network threats. The network security apparatuses can be deployed in a cloud, and can host proxy services that analyze network traffic originating from clients according to security policies. As a result of the analysis, the network security apparatuses perform any number of network security functions (e.g., generate alerts and/or allow or block the network traffic).
A network security apparatus can host a relatively large number of proxy services that analyze the network traffic based on the security policies, mitigate network threats, and steer benign network traffic to an appropriate destination (e.g., a server hosting an application). In such deployments, administrators generally maintain the security policies by submitting jobs in the form of configuration updates. Many of the submitted jobs are idempotent and any number of the jobs can be applicable to a relatively large number of the security policies and/or proxy services.
Updating the infrastructure as part of executing such jobs issued at a high rate in cloud-scale, distributed, and asynchronous systems, such as network security apparatuses, can require significant resource utilization, which can lead to device failure, and/or can result in significant delay with respect to the execution of the jobs and eventual consistency of the systems. To control overhead and reduce device failure, the rate at which jobs can be submitted by administrator(s) has been limited. However, rate-limiting the issuance of jobs degrades the experience for administrators and can introduce additional delay, which is undesirable.

Methods for optimizing cloud-scale distributed asynchronous systems with idempotent workloads and devices thereof


A gene activation/inactivation and site-specific integration system has been developed for mammalian cells. The invention system is based on the recombination of transfected sequences by FLP, a recombinase derived from Saccharomyces. In several cell lines, FLP has been shown to rapidly and precisely recombine copies of its specific target sequence. For example, a chromosomally integrated, silent .beta.-galactosidase reporter gene was activated for expression by FLP-mediated removal of intervening sequences to generate clones of marked cells. Alternatively, the reverse reaction can be used to target transfected DNA to specific chromosomal sites. These results demonstrate that FLP can be used, for example, to mosaically activate or inactivate transgenes for a variety of therapeutic purposes, as well as for analysis of vertebriate development.

Many recent manipulations of gene expression involve the introduction of transfected genes (transgenes) to confer some novel property upon, or to alter some intrinsic property of, mammalian cells or organisms. The efficacy of such manipulations is often impaired by such problems as the inability to control the chromosomal site of transgene integration; or the inability to control the number of copies of a transgene that integrate at the desired chromosomal site; or by difficulties in controlling the level, temporal characteristics, or tissue distribution of transgene expression; or by the difficulty of modifying the structure of transgenes once they are integrated into mammalian chromosomes.
Transgenes are often introduced into mammalian cells or organisms to determine which components of a transgene are required for specific qualitative or quantitative alterations of the host system. Since both chromosomal position and copy number are major determinants of transgene function, the usefulness of these analyses is limited because current techniques for efficiently introducing transgenes into mammalian hosts result in the insertion of a variable number of transgene copies at random chromosomal positions. It is, therefore, difficult (if not impossible) to compare the effects of one transgene to those of another if the two transgenes occupy different chromosomal positions and are present in the genome at different copy numbers. Considerably more refined analyses would be possible if one could routinely introduce single copies of a variety of transgenes into a defined chromosomal position.
The spatial or temporal characteristics of transgene expression is difficult to control in intact organisms. The restricted expression of transgenes is potentially of great interest, as this technique can be employed for a variety of therapeutic applications, e.g., for the selective interruption of a defective gene, for the alteration of expression of a gene which is otherwise over-expressed or under-expressed, for the selective introduction of a gene whose product is desirable in the host, for the selective removal or disruption of a gene whose expression is no longer desired in the host, and the like.
Transgene expression is typically governed by a single set of control sequences, including promoters and enhancers which are physically linked to the transgenes (i.e., cis-acting sequences). Considerably greater expression control could be achieved if transgene expression could be placed under the binary control of these cis-acting sequences, plus an additional set of sequences that were not physically linked to the transgenes (i.e., trans-acting sequences). A further advantage would be realized if the transient activity of these trans-acting functions resulted in a stable alteration in transgene expression. In this manner, it would be possible, for example, to introduce into a host a transgene whose expression would have lethal or deleterious effects if it was constitutively expressed in all cells. This would be accomplished by delaying the expression of the transgene to a specific time or developmental stage of interest, or by restricting the expression of the transgene to a specific subset of the cell population.
It is currently difficult (if not impossible) to precisely modify the structure of transgenes once they have been introduced into mammalian cells. In many applications of transgene technology, it would be desirable to introduce the transgene in one form, and to then be able to modify the transgene in a defined manner. By this means, transgenes could be activated or inactivated or the sequences which control transgene expression could be altered by either removing sequences present in the original transgene or by inserting additional sequences into the transgene.
Previous descriptions of recombinase-mediated rearrangement of chromosomal sequences in Drosophila and mammalian cells have not directly addressed the question of whether site-specific recombinases could routinely create a functional translational reading frame. Moreover, the reported efficiency of the prior art recombinase system, in the only other description of site-specific recombination in mammalian cells reported to date based on Cre recombinase, described by Sauer and Henderson in Nucleic Acids Research, Vol. 17: 147 (1989)! appears to be quite low.

FLP-mediated gene modification in mammalian cells, and compositions and cells useful therefor

The Salk Institute For Biological Studies


The invention relates to a system and method of identifying an edge of an object in an image. The method comprises: identifying a segment of the image and a central pixel in the segment; identifying a set of mini-vectors as possible edges for the central pixel, utilizing a calculated gradient figure for the center pixel; and producing a reduced set of mini-vectors from the set of mini-vectors by removing mini-vectors that do not generate a continuous edge with an adjacent edge in an adjacent segment in the image.

In mathematical terms, an object in an image may be defined as a homogenous agglomerate of pixels within which any variation among pixels in terms of both intensity and colour is attributable to noise only. An edge of an object is defined as a zone of contact separating that object from a different object. In digital images, a part of an edge may be a zone comprising several pixels. For the zone, the more pixels that it covers, the corresponding edge defined in the zone becomes less well defined.
Manipulation of objects in a digitized image is a tool commonly used in present-day image processing systems. In such systems, identification of an accurate edge of an object in an image may be necessary, e.g. object selection operations.
In current edge-detection algorithms, gradient values for the pixels of objects are a key calculation. Current edge-detection processes may produce a sub-image of an image, where edges in the sub-image are calculated with thick "lines" showing a central higher gradient core surrounded on both sides by lower gradient pixels. However, a well-defined central high-gradient element is found only for sharper, more distinct, edges. As such, for the purpose of reducing an edge zone to a line (where a line in a raster configuration is represented by a continuous, uninterrupted sequence of single pixels), comparing a gradient value of pixels in an edge zone against a threshold may not provide satisfactory results.
There is a need for a system and method for detecting edges of objects that improves upon the prior art.

System and method for determining edges of objects in an image


A method for early termination of transmission is disclosed. The method includes: receiving downlink (DL) data from a DL channel during a transmission time interval (TTI); attempting to decode the received DL data before receiving all DL data of the TTI; and transmitting an early termination indicator (ETI) in an uplink (UL) slot of a UL radio frame to terminate transmission of the DL data during the TTI based on a successful decode, wherein at least one symbol of the UL slot is replaced by the ETI.

Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to wireless communications systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatuses for early termination of transmission.
Description of the Related Art
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice, packet data, and so on. These systems may be based on code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), or other multiple access techniques. For example, such systems can conform to standards such as Third-Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2, or "CDMA2000"), Third-Generation Partnership (3GPP, or "Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA)"), or Long Term Evolution ("LTE").
FIG. 1 illustrates timing diagrams associated with a prior art signaling scheme for W-CDMA. It will be appreciated that the signaling scheme shown in FIG. 1 may describe either the downlink or the uplink.
In FIG. 1, each transport channel has a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) of 20 ms, and one TTI consists of two frames, each frame has 15 slots (slot #0 to slot #14 and slot #15 to slot #29). The transmitted data slots are received by a UE 120. In the prior art, the UE 120 collects the data slot #0 to slot #11 and attempts to decode the data. In Decoding attempt 1, the UE 120 does not decode the data successfully, and therefore the UE 120 sends a NACK to Node B 110. In Decoding attempt 2, the UE 120 collects the data slot #0 to slot #15 and attempts to decode the data. After a decoding processing time, the UE 120 decodes the data successfully. The UE 120 sends an ACK to Node B 110 to stop the remaining transmission in the TTI.
However, in W-CDMA architecture, a transmission scheme regarding the use of an early termination indicator (ETI) has not been proposed. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide techniques for terminating transmission of data in a W-CDMA system or other systems which have no ETI transmission to reduce transmission power and efficiently improve the capacity of the wireless communications systems.

Method and apparatus for early termination of transmission


Described is a DNA molecule comprising an open reading frame sequence encoding a selectable marker polypeptide, wherein the DNA molecule in the coding strand comprises a translation start sequence for the selectable marker polypeptide having a GTG or TTG start codon, and wherein the ORF sequence that encodes the selectable marker protein has been mutated to replace at least half of its CpG dinucleotides as compared to the native ORF sequence that encodes the selectable marker protein. Further provided are such DNA molecules wherein the ORF sequence that encodes a selectable marker polypeptide is part of a multicistronic transcription unit that further comprises an open reading frame sequence encoding a polypeptide of interest. Also described are methods for obtaining host cells expressing a polypeptide of interest, wherein the host cells comprise the DNA molecules described herein. Further provided is the production of polypeptides of interest, comprising culturing host cells comprising the DNA molecules described herein.

Proteins can be produced in various host cells for a wide range of applications in biology and biotechnology, for instance as biopharmaceuticals. Eukaryotic and particularly mammalian host cells are preferred for this purpose for expression of many proteins, for instance when such proteins have certain posttranslational modifications such as glycosylation. Methods for such production are well established, and generally entail the expression in a host cell of a nucleic acid (also referred to as "transgene") encoding the protein of interest. In general, the transgene together with a selectable marker gene is introduced into a precursor cell, cells are selected for the expression of the selectable marker gene, and one or more clones that express the protein of interest at high levels are identified, and used for the expression of the protein of interest.
One problem associated with the expression of transgenes is that it is unpredictable, stemming from the high likelihood that the transgene will become inactive due to gene silencing (McBurney et al., 2002), and therefore many host cell clones have to be tested for high expression of the transgene.
Methods of selecting recombinant host cells expressing relatively high levels of desired proteins are known.
One method describes the use of selectable marker proteins with mutations in their coding sequence that diminish, but do not destroy the function of the marker (e.g., WO 01/32901). The rationale is that higher levels of the mutant marker expression are required when selection conditions are employed and therefore selection for high expression of the marker is achieved, therewith concomitantly selecting host cells that also express the gene of interest at high levels.
Another method makes use of a selection marker gene under control of a promoter sequence that has been mutated such that the promoter has an activity level substantially below that of its corresponding wild type (U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,033).
Another method describes the use of an impaired dominant selectable marker sequence, such as neomycin phosphotransferase with an impaired consensus Kozak sequence, to decrease the number of colonies to be screened and to increase the expression levels of a gene of interest that is co-linked to the dominant selectable marker (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,648,267 and 5,733,779). In certain embodiments thereof, the gene of interest is placed within an (artificial) intron in the dominant selectable marker. The gene of interest and the dominant selectable marker are in different transcriptional cassettes and each contains its own eukaryotic promoter in this method (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,648,267 and 5,733,779).
Another method uses the principle of a selectable marker gene containing an intron that does not naturally occur within the selectable gene, wherein the intron is capable of being spliced in a host cell to provide mRNA encoding a selectable protein and wherein the intron in the selectable gene reduces the level of selectable protein produced from the selectable gene in the host cell (European Patent 0724639 B1).
In yet another method, DNA constructs are used comprising a selectable gene positioned within an intron defined by a 5′ splice donor site comprising an efficient splice donor sequence such that the efficiency of splicing an mRNA having the splice donor site is between about 80-99%, and a 3′ splice acceptor site, and a product gene encoding a product of interest downstream of 3′ splice acceptor site, the selectable gene and the product gene being controlled by the same transcriptional regulatory region (U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,053).
In certain methods, use is made of polycistronic expression vector constructs. An early report of use of this principle describes a polycistronic expression vector, containing sequences coding for both the desired protein and a selectable protein, which coding sequences are governed by the same promoter and separated by a translational stop and start signal codons (U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,196). In certain embodiments in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,196, the selectable marker is the amplifiable DHFR gene. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,196, the sequence coding for the selectable marker is downstream from that coding for the desired polypeptide, such that procedures designed to select for the cells transformed by the selectable marker will also select for particularly enhanced production of the desired protein.
In further improvements based on the concept of multicistronic expression vectors, bicistronic vectors have been described for the rapid and efficient creation of stable mammalian cell lines that express recombinant protein. These vectors contain an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) between the upstream coding sequence for the protein of interest and the downstream coding sequence of the selection marker (Rees et al., 1996). Such vectors are commercially available, for instance the pIRES1 vectors from Clontech (CLONTECHniques, October 1996). Using such vectors for introduction into host cells, selection of sufficient expression of the downstream marker protein then automatically selects for high transcription levels of the multicistronic mRNA, and hence a strongly increased probability of high expression of the protein of interest is envisaged using such vectors.
Preferably in such methods, the IRES used is an IRES which gives a relatively low level of translation of the selection marker gene, to further improve the chances of selecting for host cells with a high expression level of the protein of interest by selecting for expression of the selection marker protein (see, e.g., PCT International Publication WO 03/106684).

Selection of host cells expressing protein at high levels


The present disclosure provides systems and methods for adjusting an exhaust gas recirculation rate to provide accurate air-fuel ratio. The disclosure provides a method for calculating an exhaust-gas recirculation rate based on a measured exhaust-gas lambda and a turbocharger speed. Through the use of the exhaust-gas lambda and the turbocharger speed it is possible to calculate an exhaust-gas recirculation rate while dispensing with the difficult and unreliable determination of the mass air flow for determining an exhaust-gas recirculation rate, thus providing a stable method which further reduces fuel consumption and emissions.

The disclosure is aimed in particular at an exhaust-gas recirculation system for a turbocharged internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle, an internal combustion engine and a method for exhaust-gas recirculation for a turbocharged internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle.
Exhaust-Gas Recirculation (EGR) serves to minimize nitrogen oxide emissions generated during the combustion. Here, the already burned exhaust-gas is supplied to the fresh-air flow supplied to the engine, and the mixture thereby generated is burned in the engine with a supply of fuel.
Ever more stringent legal requirements demand the reduction of NOx emissions and an improvement of the exhaust-gas recirculation control system. As more EGR is recirculated there is less enthalpy on a turbocharger turbine, and less oxygen in the exhaust-gas resulting in progressively richer air-fuel ratio in the combustion chamber.
Present controllers base EGR rate on the mass air flow (MAF), in which feedforward setpoint values for the exhaust-gas recirculation valve are generated taking into consideration the present operating point of the engine, usually speed and load and/or rated torque. Some model-based adaptations are partially included, in which the theoretical flow area of the exhaust-gas recirculation valve is controlled. This approach however has problems with regard to stability, because a pressure ratio across the valve may be measured or estimated, and because there are adverse effects caused by fluctuations as a result of pumping of the engine, sensitivities around a pressure ratio of one, and by impurities with fine dust or solid bodies.
Furthermore, sensors for the mass air flow are liable to durability problems, which can lead to a large offset in the measurement. Said durability problems occur in particular during long periods of city driving.
A different controller for exhaust-gas recirculation, which has been developed for EURO VI+ applications, uses an oxygen sensor arranged in the intake manifold, also referred to as an FMAN sensor, in order to regulate the oxygen concentration. In this way, it is sought to obtain optimum combustion in the cylinders of the engine. Said method is however expensive and involves a considerable amount of expenditure in the revision of existing oxygen sensors. For example, the stability of the heating circuit and the dynamic characteristics of the pump cells use a continuously varying factor for the pressure correction.
The inventors have recognized the aforementioned disadvantages and disclose herein a system and methods for accurate monitoring and delivery of desired air charge oxygen content. The object of the present disclosure is the accurate control of EGR rate to produce desired air-fuel ratio. This is achieved by monitoring a turbocharger speed and exhaust-gas lambda.
Through the use of the lambda value and the speed or rotational speed of the turbocharger, which are relatively simple to determine, it is possible to dispense with the difficult and unreliable determination of the mass air flow. It is thus possible to provide a stable method which furthermore reduces the fuel consumption of the engine.
The present disclosure provides systems and methods for adjusting an exhaust gas recirculation rate to provide accurate air-fuel ratio. The disclosure provides a method for calculating an exhaust-gas recirculation rate based on a measured exhaust-gas lambda and a turbocharger speed. Through the use of the exhaust-gas lambda and the turbocharger speed it is possible to calculate an exhaust-gas recirculation rate while dispensing with the difficult and unreliable determination of the mass air flow for determining an exhaust-gas recirculation rate, thus providing a stable method which further reduces fuel consumption and emissions.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure. Further, the inventors herein have recognized the disadvantages noted herein, and do not admit them as known.

Exhaust-gas recirculation system and method for exhaust-gas recirculation