An identification device establishes a relative hierarchy of associated containers as logistical units, providing multi-layer visibility of nested and adjacent containers. The relative hierarchy comprises lower-layer containers and upper-layer containers relative to the identification device. An integrated reader device reads heterogeneous tag types. This allows disparate tag types simultaneously using a single device.

Ever-increasing global trade underscores a modern global economy that depends on goods transported in a global supply chain. Generally, a global supply chain is a network of international suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and other entities that handle goods from their component parts to consumer consumption. For example, semiconductor testing equipment is exported from the United States to Taiwan, where semiconductors are processed and then sent to Malaysia for assembly into computers. Subsequently, the computers are shipped to warehouses in the United States, and ultimately, to consumer outlets for consumption.
However, current tracking systems have difficulty tracking container contents because goods are nested within several containers during shipping and large shipping containers are stacked. For example, in terms of a nesting as defined by the ISO (International Standards Organization) item layers are packed into package layers, which are in turn stored in carton layers. Several carton layers are stored in a unit load layers, and several unit load layers are stored in container layers. In addition, containers are stacked several layers deep. Note that "container" is used here in a broader sense that includes each ISO layer and other enclosures. A vehicle transports several container layers at a time. Thus, an operator can only assume that an item is on a vehicle based on static nesting and stacking information collected during packing. Accordingly, if the goods were stolen during shipment, or lost by being shipped to a wrong location, it is not possible to discover the missing goods until each layer of container is opened at a consignee.
While a container configuration such as the above is used for purposes of description herein, the present invention is applicable to any grouping and any number of levels of subgrouping.
A related problem is that current tracking systems have no real-time information for tracking container contents, especially at the item-layer. Because physical contents travel separately from data about the contents, the tracking system is not able to provide dynamically verified information about contents. A port operator needing to know the contents of the container must log-in to the tracking system to retrieve static information. Moreover, the data about contents is often delayed and, thus, the operator may not even be able to retrieve some information.
Additionally, many large consumer stores are requiring that products use RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags in order to improve supply chain efficiency sufficient for just in time merchandise stocking. But these tags are typically heterogeneous and, thus not suitable to intra-tag communication. Thus, conventional tags wait until acted upon from a tag reader by passively outputting information to a centralized system. It is this centralized system that traditionally determines any relationship between goods.
In addition, heterogeneous tags traditionally require separate tag readers for each tag type. For example, for containers including both active and passive type tags, a separate device is required to obtain information from each tag type. Thus, in addition to the need for two separate devices for reading these tags, separate readers provide no information about the interrelationship between the heterogeneous tag types.
Therefore, what is needed is a robust system providing nested and adjacent visibility of a plurality of associated containers. The solution should further provide item-layer visibility and end-to-end tracking of goods within a global supply chain.

Item-level visibility of nested and adjacent containers


A system, a computer readable article of manufacture, and a method for verifying operation of a target system to be inspected. The system includes an abstract binary tree generation unit and a matching unit. The abstract binary tree generation unit obtains information about a functional specification of the target system and generates one or more binary trees that associate one or more states that can occur in the target system with respective nodes and that associate state transitions of objects constituting the target system and interactions between the objects with connection relationships between the nodes. The matching unit receives an event sequence in an application model of the target system obtained in response to the operation of the target system and matches the event sequence against the binary trees generated by the abstract binary tree generation unit. The method includes steps for accomplishing the functionality of the system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for verifying the operation of a target system, and more specifically, it relates to a system and method for observing and verifying the operation of a target system to be inspected while determining a variety of inspection conditions, and computer readable article of manufacture to implement the method of the present invention.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inspecting the operation of a real-time system, which requires processing in real time, or an embedded system, embedded in various types of devices, requires observation of the behavior of the system by actually executing software using an evaluation board or hardware of an actual device. Observation of the behavior of the system is carried out by a probe added to hardware and software. Due to the real-time nature of this type of system's operation, it is desirable that the effects (intrusion) of observation by a probe and the processing of obtained data on the system's operation performance be minimized.
One known example of this kind of technique is BlackBox Technology from the Swedish company ZealCore. See Henrik Thane, Daniel Sundmark, "Debugging Using Time Machines: Replay Your Embedded System's History", Real-Time & Embedded Computing Conference, p Kap 22, Milan, Italy, November, 2001. This known technique is one by which a system's operation is recorded and the recorded operation is reproduced. This technique aims to use a record of the system's operation recorded until a crash in order to determine the cause of the crash when the system crashes. This technique observes system behavior using probe code embedded in the system in conjunction with a code generation technique. The CPU time required for observation and processing by probe code is reduced relative to the entire computation time provided by the processor of the system. See Hans Hansson, "RTS Debugging", MALARDALEN REAL-TIME RESEARCH CENTRE, 2003, searched on Oct. 11, 2007, on the Internet at http://www.artes.uu.se/industry/031111/debugginq-ZC-031111.pdf. Although the amount of information of the system's operation in itself is enormous, the amount of information actually recorded can fall within a practical range by recording only information sufficient for reproduction of the operation.
As described above, inspecting the operation of a real-time system or an embedded system requires actually operating the system to be inspected and observing the behavior of the system. Intrusion of the observation and processing of obtained data is preferably small.
Debugging a target system requires inspection of the target system's operation, including various items, such as, verification of a functional specification and sufficiency of performance requirements. Necessary information varies depending on what kind of inspection is conducted. Accordingly, observation for general purpose use is inefficient and it is difficult to reduce intrusion.
In ZealCore's BlackBox technique, operation of a system to be inspected is observed and the information is recorded. However, the recording is aimed at determining the cause of a system crash so it does not support many other events required for debugging a system.

System and method for verifying operation of a target system

International Business Machines Corporation


A card edge connector (1) includes an insulating housing (2), two rows of contacts (3) and a cover (4). The insulating housing (1) includes a front mating surface (27) and a rear face (25). A retaining section (21) extends rearwards from the rear surface and defines a dove-tailed, retaining cavity (22) on a top surface (220) thereof. A retaining, through hole (23) is defined in the insulating housing and communicating with the retaining cavity (220). The cover includes a locating block (41) retained in the dove-tailed, retaining cavity and a locking portion (42) entering the retaining, through hole. Thus, the cover is mounted to the insulating housing (2) firmly to protect soldering tails (33) and medial portions (32) of the contacts outside the insulating housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, particularly to a card edge connector mounted on a printed circuit board with a cover to protect electrical contacts thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
TW Patent publication No. 493,818 discloses a slanted type card edge connector. The slanted type card edge connector comprises an elongated insulating housing with a front mating face and a rear face. As the mating face is slanted against a printed circuit board (PCB), in a small space, many connectors can be mounted on the PCB without occupying much area of the PCB. A central slot is defined in the front mating face for receiving a module or a card. Two rows of passageways are defined in the two sidewalls of the central slot for receiving respective contacts. Mating portions of the contacts are configured to mate with the module or the card. Connecting tails of the contacts are bent toward the PCB and exposed outside the rear face of the insulating housing. In this case, the connecting tails of the contacts tend to be greatly deformed during subsequent transportation. As a result, the assembly of the connector to the PCB and the soldering performance between the connecting tails of the contacts and the PCB will be infected badly. Therefore, there is a need to provide a member to protect the connecting tails exposed outside the insulating housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,036 discloses an electrical connector of a right-angle header with a cover to protect contacts outside the insulating housing. The insulating housing of the electrical connector comprises a front main wall, an upper wall and a pair of vertical walls. Pairs of upper and lower guide rails extend rearward from the frond, main wall along inside surfaces of respective vertical walls. The cover is formed as an elongated plate made from insulating material, comprising a pair of latching arms. The cover is assembled with the insulating housing by engagement between the latching member and the guide rails. However, the pairs of guide tails increase the dimension of the card connector, which is not desirable from the standpoint of the compactness in the computer industry. U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,272 also discloses the similar structure including a pair of side latches/guide rails which are horizontally assembled to the housing.
Therefore, an improved slanted type card edge connector with a cover is required to overcome the disadvantage of the prior art.


Apparatus and methods are disclosed for speed-based window control. An example disclosed vehicle includes a speed sensor and a body control module. When a side window is open, the body control module monitors, via the speed sensor, a speed of the vehicle. In response to the speed of the vehicle satisfying a first speed threshold, the body control module closes the side window and then, after the side window is closed, activates an air conditioner.

On hot days, occupants in a vehicle usually either roll down window or use the air conditioner. Open windows create drag on a moving vehicle, which affects fuel efficiency. Additionally, cooling the air through a compressor of the air conditioner also decreases fuel efficiency. Typically, the occupants do not know which option is best to cool down while also minimizing the impact on fuel efficiency of the vehicle.


A vehicle includes a high-voltage battery, a vehicle-mounted charger, an inlet, a charging ECU that controls the vehicle-mounted charger, and a parking lock mechanism that causes a rotation shaft to enter the rotation capable state or the rotation incapable state. The rotation shaft is provided for a gearbox which transmits driving power to the driving wheels. The charging ECU includes a backup RAM in which lock state information of the parking lock mechanism is written. When the high-voltage battery is to be charged with a charging connector of an external charger being connected to the inlet, the charging ECU uses the information stored in the backup RAM to control the vehicle-mounted charger.

An electrically driven vehicle travels in such a manner that power supplied from a battery is used to drive a motor. A battery mounted in the electrically driven vehicle may be charged in such a manner that a connector of a charging cable connected to a power supply source in the outside of the vehicle, such as a normal charging facility or a fast charging facility, is connected to an inlet provided on the electrically driven vehicle. Such external charging may be performed with the vehicle being parked on a slope. In this case, when external charging is started without operating a so-called parking lock mechanism, the vehicle may move during the external charging, causing the charging cable to drop off during supply of power.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-233021 describes a charging system in which a battery mounted in the vehicle is connected to electrical equipment in the outside of the vehicle through a cable and which enables power to be supplied from the battery to the electrical equipment. In the charging system described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-233021, only in the case where the ignition switch is in the off state and where the shift range is set to the parking state, charging from the battery to the electrical equipment is started. Therefore, use of such a technique may avoid a state in which a cable drops off during supply of power.
In vehicles, many computers, such as a driving control module that controls a driving device including the parking lock mechanism and an external-charging control module that controls a vehicle-mounted charger, are mounted. When the ignition switch is switched off, these vehicle-mounted computers enter the sleep state or the idle state in order to suppress consumption of excess power.
In contrast, external charging of a battery is often started in the state in which the ignition switch is switched off. Therefore, in the case where the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-233021 is applied to an external charging technique for vehicles, when external charging is started after the ignition switch is switched off, it is necessary to operate also the driving control module in order to check the operation state of the parking lock mechanism. Therefore, excess power for operating the driving control module may be consumed, or it may take time until external charging is started.

Vehicle with charge controller controlling vehicle-mounted charger


An anti-blooming composition which comprises a fatty acid monoglyceride composed of a fatty acid having 16 carbon atoms (A) and a fatty acid monoglyceride composed of a fatty acid having 18 carbon atoms (B), a weight ratio of A/B being 30/70 or larger is disclosed. A laurin fat and laurin fat chocolate containing the above anti-blooming composition is also disclosed.

In general, the quality of chocolate is greatly influenced by the raw materials used and various production conditions and, in particular, sufficient care should be taken not to form fat blooming which stains the surface of a product in off-white during its storage, resulting in loss of commercial value of the product.
A laurin fat, the main constituent fatty acid of which is lauric acid having 12 carbon atoms, has been known to be a raw material fat for the production of chocolate which does not require a tempering operation and, in addition to the production of bar chocolate, it has been used for the production of chocolate for coating cakes, doughnuts, biscuits and the like by blending suitable other oils and fats. However, the problem of fat blooming is still present.
Heretofore, various studies have been made to prevent or control fat blooming of chocolate using laurin fats (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "laruin fat chocolate"). Such studies include improvement of production processes of chocolate, modification of fats to be used, addition of surfactants as anti-blooming agents and the like.
As examples of addition of surfactants, JP-A 61-67444 discloses addition of a sorbitan saturated fatty acid ester together with a glycerin saturated fatty acid ester to a fat ingredient of chocolate. JP-A 64-39945 and JP-A 2-35042 disclose the addition of certain sugar fatty acid esters.
These conventional methods give certain improvements in the production of bar chocolate. However, for the production of covering chocolate, they are still insufficient. In addition, there is another problem that the use of sorbitan saturated fatty acid esters and sugar fatty acid esters debases the flavor of chocolate.

Anti-blooming composition, and laurin fat and chocolate containing the same


Nickel silicide formation with significantly reduced interface roughness is achieved by forming a diffusion modulating layer between the underlying silicon and nickel silicide layers. Embodiments include ion implanting nitrogen into the substrate and gate electrode, depositing a thin layer of titanium or tantalum, depositing a layer of nickel, and then heating to form a diffusion modulating layer containing nitrogen at the interface between the underlying silicon and nickel silicide layers.

As integrated circuit geometries continue to plunge into the deep sub-micron regime, it becomes increasingly more difficult to accurately form discreet devices on a semiconductor substrate exhibiting the requisite reliability. High performance microprocessor applications require rapid speed of semiconductor circuitry. The speed of semiconductor circuitry varies inversely with the resistance (R) and capacitance (C) of the interconnection system. The higher the value of the R×C product, the more limiting the circuit operating speed. Miniaturization requires long interconnects having small contacts and small cross-sections. Accordingly, continuing reduction in design rules into the deep sub-micron regime requires decreasing the R and C associated with interconnection paths. Thus, low resistivity interconnection paths are critical to fabricating dense, high performance devices.
A common approach to reduce the resistivity of the interconnect to less than that exhibited by polysilicon alone, e.g., less than about 15–300 ohm/sq, comprises forming a multilayer structure consisting of a low resistance material, e.g., a refractory metal silicide, on a doped polycrystalline silicon layer, typically referred to as a polycide. Advantageously, the polycide gate/interconnect structure preserves the known work function of polycrystalline silicon and the highly reliable polycrystalline silicon/silicon oxide interface, since polycrystalline silicon is directly on the gate oxide.
Various metal silicides have been employed in salicide technology, such as titanium, tungsten, and cobalt. Nickel, however, offers particular advantages vis-á-vis other metals in salicide technology. Nickel requires a lower thermal budget in that nickel silicide and can be formed in a single heating step at a relatively low temperature of about 250° C. to about 600° C. with an attendant reduction in consumption of silicon in the substrate, thereby enabling the formation of the ultra-shallow source/drain junctions.
Upon conducting experimentation and investigation to implement nickel silicide formation, it was discovered that the high resistance nickel disilicide phase (NiSi2) is formed on doped silicon and generates an undesirably rough interface therebetween. Such an interface can range in thickness from 200 Å to 1000 Å and can extend but for a short distance, such as 1 micron. Such interface roughness adversely impacts resistivity and capacitance, and can lead to spiking into the source/drain region or through the gate dielectric layer. This problem can become particularly acute in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures wherein such spiking can penetrate through to the underlying buried oxide layer and significantly increase contact resistance.
The formation of a rough interface is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein gate electrode 11 is formed on semiconductor substrate 10 with gate dielectric layer 12 therebetween. Dielectric sidewall spacers 13 are formed on side surfaces of gate electrode 11. Shallow source/drain extensions 14 and moderately or heavily source/drain region 15 are formed. A layer of nickel is deposited followed by heating to effect silicidation resulting in the formation of nickel silicide layers 16 on the source/drain regions and 15 nickel silicide layer 17 on gate electrode 11. The interface 18 between nickel silicide layers 16 and substrate 10 and the interface 19 between the nickel silicide layer and gate electrode 11, is extremely rough and can generate the aforementioned-problems, including spiking intro the substrate 10 as well as penetration through gate dielectric layer 12.
Conventional wisdom is that NiSi2 forms at a temperature of about 600° C., and that the actual formation temperatures are a function of the linewidth and doping type. However, upon conducting further experimentation and investigation, it was found that NiSi2 can form at a very low temperature, even lower that 450° C., such as 310° C. Since nickel diffuses very rapidly, it is extremely difficult to prevent formation of NiSi2 and, hence, rough interfaces.
Additional problems have been encountered in attempting to implement nickel silicidation. In conventional salicide technology, a layer of the metal is deposited on the gate electrode and on the exposed surfaces of the source/drain regions, followed by heating to react the metal with underlying silicon to form the metal silicide. Unreacted metal is then removed from the dielectric sidewall spacers leaving metal silicide contacts on the upper surface of the gate electrode and on the source/drain regions. In implementing salicide technology, it was also found advantageous to employ silicon nitride sidewall spacers, since silicon nitride is highly conformal and enhances device performance, particularly for p-type transistors. However, although silicon nitride spacers are advantageous from such processing standpoints, it was found extremely difficult to effect nickel silicidation of the gate electrode and source/drain regions without undesirable nickel silicide bridging and, hence, short circuiting, therebetween along the surface of the silicon nitride sidewall spacers.
Accordingly, there exists a need for semiconductor devices having nickel silicide interconnections with reduced roughness at the interface between nickel silicide layers and underlying silicon, and for enabling methodology. There also exists a need to implement nickel silicide technology without bridging between the nickel silicide layers on the gate electrode and the source/drain regions, particularly when employing silicon nitride sidewall spacers on the gate electrode.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device having nickel silicide with reduced interface roughness


A system and method is described for simplifying implementation of repeater (e.g., re-driver/re-timer) module implementation in high-data-rate interconnects that carry a relatively low-data-rate clock signal as well as the data stream (e.g., PCIe). At the endpoint, any information critical to the function of the repeater (e.g., the most recent data rate negotiated by a pair of endpoints communicating through the repeater) is embedded in the clock signal by pulse-width modulation as ordered sets. The repeater only needs to read the clock-embedded information rather than decoding the data stream. Thus repeaters for such applications reconstruct the high-rate data-stream while actually decoding only the low-rate clock signal. Because the clock-signal protocol is independent of the data-stream protocol, the repeater's operation is protocol-agnostic with respect to the data-stream.

In communication links, often an increase in data rate aggravates the distance-dependent signal degradation in the link thereby shortening the distance that a signal can travel through the link while remaining readable. To compensate for the increased signal degradation, higher-powered transmitters and/or repeaters may be used for higher data rates, or additional repeaters may be added between existing repeaters along the link. These solutions may increase cost, complexity, power consumption, or waste heat generation.
The cost of repeaters increases by a significant fraction if they need to be configured for the particular mode of operation of each link, especially if the mode may change (e.g., one message is transmitted at a low data rate, but a subsequent message is transmitted at a higher data rate). Operating parameters that may vary between different modes of operation may include data rate, link power states, and test mode.
A re-driving repeater may receive operating parameters or configuration instructions from a sideband signal. A re-timing repeater may receive information about the mode of operation by participating in link training and detecting and decoding the communications between the two endpoints. Either approach requires significant effort. Components needing to handle high data rates reliably may be subject to more and tighter constraints than those for use at lower rates; stricter or extra constraints tend to raise production costs. In addition, the repeaters may need to track and extract their required operating parameters, e.g., a Training Sequence 1 (TS1) ordered set, from among numerous other fast-moving messages on the link. Each communication protocol may have its own identifiers tagging the ordered set. Therefore, (1) the repeater must understand the particular protocol being used by the endpoints in order to find and extract the recovery parameters, and (2) a change in protocol on a network may involve replacing (or at least reconfiguring) all the affected repeaters. Both of these constraints also add cost.
The cost, energy efficiency, and reliability of PCIe and similar networks could therefore benefit from a way to make the repeaters simpler or to make them more versatile to use for different protocols. The present disclosure addresses such needs.

Digital interconnects with protocol-agnostic repeaters


A contact structure for connecting a semiconductor device to a wiring electrode includes a semiconductor layer forming a part of the semiconductor device. A first contact layer of reduced resistivity covers a surface of the semiconductor layer. An insulating structure is provided on the first contact layer so as to bury the first contact layer underneath. A penetrating hole is opened through the insulating structure so as to expose a part of the first contact layer. A second contact layer of reduced resistivity is provided on the part of the first contact layer exposed by the penetrating hole. The second contact layer extends from a bottom of the penetrating hole along its side wall. A conductor layer forms the wiring electrode provided on the second contact layer.

The present invention generally relates to fabrication of semiconductor devices and more particularly to a contact structure for connecting an electrode to a semiconductor device and a method of forming the same.
Connection of a wiring electrode to a semiconductor device is usually achieved through a contact hole provided on an insulator layer such as a silica glass or phosphosilicate glass (PSG) layer covering a part of the device which may be a substrate. In a typical example shown in FIG. 1, an aluminium or aluminium alloy conductor 1 is deposited on a surface of an insulator layer 2 including area of a contact hole 3 by sputtering and the like so that a part 4a of a substrate 4 exposed by the contact hole 3 at its bottom is covered by the conductor 1. When a layer of the conductor having a substantial thickness is formed continuously from the bottom of the contact hole 3 to the surface of the insulator layer 2 along a side wall 3a of the contact hole 3, there is achieved an excellent electrical contact between the substrate and the wiring electrode.
As will be easily understood, the key factor for achieving a successful electrical contact is to cover the side wall 3a of the contact hole 3 uniformly by the conductor having a substantial thickness. However, such a uniform coverage of the side wall is not achieved easily, as the side wall 3a of the contact hole generally extends vertically relative to the substrate 4 so as to reduce the diameter of the contact hole and hence the size of the device. When the conductor 1 such as aluminium or aluminium-silicon alloy is deposited by sputtering as is commonly practiced, the conductor covering the surface of the insulator layer grows laterally into the contact hole 3 and forms an overhang 1a. Under such circumstances, there is no or little deposition of the conductor at the bottom part of the contact hole 3, particularly on the side wall 3a even after a continued effort of deposition. When such a situation occurs, the layer of conductor 1 covering the side wall 3a becomes very thin as illustrated, and in the most extreme case, there is no conductor layer covering such portions. The connecting structure having such a profile is of course unstable and tends to cause disconnection of the electrical contact.
In order to eliminate the aforementioned problem, it is proposed to deposit a metal 5 such as titanium which forms a silicide when reacted with silicon, on the insulator layer 2 including the area of the contact hole 3 prior to the deposition of the conductor layer as shown by broken line in FIG. 2. The device deposited with the metal 5 is then subjected to heat treatment, whereby a layer of silicide 6 is formed so as to cover the substrate 4 in correspondence to the bottom of the contact hole 3 as a result of reaction between the metal 5 and silicon contained in the substrate 4. Further, silicon is transported upwards along the side wall 3a and there is formed a layer of silicide 6a which extends along the side wall 3a of the contact hole. After the heat treatment, the unreacted part of the metal 5 is removed. As the silicide layer 6 is formed by the reaction between the metal and silicon which is supplied from the substrate 4 through the bottom of the contact hole 3, the thickness of the silicide layer 6 is generally largest at the bottom of the contact hole 3 and the silicide layer 6a covering the side wall 3a of the contact hole 3 gradually decreases its thickness from the bottom to the top of the contact hole. In other words, the silicide layer 6 has a concaved inner surface 6b opened upwards. Further, this concaved profile of the inner surface of the silicide layer is formed with reliability even if there is formed an overhang 5a of the metal layer 5 when the metal is initially deposited on the contact hole. This is because there occurs a flow of component element constituting the metal in a direction opposite to the direction of the flow of silicon moving upwards from the substrate to the metal layer, irrespective of the initial profile of the deposited layer 5 of the metal. There is no difficulty in depositing the conductor layer on such a concaved surface 6b of the silicide layer 6 by the conventional procedure such as sputtering. By selecting the metal such that the silicide thus formed has a low resistivity, an excellent contact is achieved between the semiconductor device and the aluminium-based wiring electrode deposited on the silicide layer.
In such a prior art contact structure, there is formed a thick layer of silicide 6c at the bottom of the contact hole as already described. Such a silicide layer has a bottom surface which is generally not flat but has many projections or spikes 6d projecting into the substrate 4 particularly at a region adjacent to a bottom edge 3b of the side wall of the contact hole. Such a projection 6d is formed in a region of the substrate which acts as a source of silicon from which silicon is removed in exchange with incoming flow of the element of the metal such as titanium when the silicide layer 6a is formed along the side wall 3a of the contact hole. It should be noted that it is such a region along the bottom edge 3b of the side wall 3a that supplies most of silicon when the silicide layer 6a is formed along the side wall 3a of the contact hole 3. In conventional semiconductor devices having a relatively deep p-n junction in the substrate, the existence of such a projection of the silicide layer does not cause a serious problem. However, in a semiconductor device having a shallow junction represented schematically by a one-dotted line in FIG.2 as in the case of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) in which a very large number of devices are assembled in a unit area, there is a substantial risk that the spike 6d of silicide 6 thus extending into the substrate 4 causes short-circuit conduction in the shallow junction. In order to avoid such a problem and at the same time to achieve a reliable electrical contact, one has to prevent the excessive projection of the silicide into the substrate.
In a conventional contact structure where the aluminium-based wiring electrode is directly contacted with silicon substrate through the contact hole as in FIG. 1, there arises another problem of reaction between the silicon substrate and the electrode as a result of diffusion of aluminium and silicon as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. When such a reaction occurs, a spike of aluminium silicide 4b shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1 is formed in the substrate 4 and the p-n junction in the substrate is shorted. In order to prevent such a reaction, a diffusion barrier layer (not shown) which may be a layer of titanium nitride (TiN) or titanium tungstenite (TiW) is provided between the substrate and the wiring electrode so as to block the transportation of aluminium or silicon passing therethrough. In such a conventional contact structure, there is a problem in that the coverage of the substrate at the bottom of the contact hole by the diffusion barrier layer tends to become insufficient because of the reason similar to the case of depositing the conductor layer on the substrate through the contact hole, particularly when the device has a very fine pattern and the contact hole has a correspondingly large aspect ratio which is a ratio of a depth relative to a diameter of the contact hole. This problem is further deteriorated by the limited thickness of the diffusion barrier layer as the thickness of such a diffusion barrier layer is generally limited below about 3000 .ANG. in order to secure a sufficiently low resistance of the contact structure.

Contact structure for connecting an electrode to a semiconductor


A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing unit and a control unit. The processing unit is configured to perform an etching processing by immersing a substrate in a processing liquid containing phosphoric acid and a silicon-containing compound. The control unit is configured to control the processing liquid such that the substrate is processed, in a first processing time of the etching processing, with the processing liquid having a first phosphoric acid concentration and a first silicon concentration, and the substrate is processed, in a second processing time later than the first processing time, with the processing liquid having a second preset phosphoric acid concentration lower than the first phosphoric acid concentration and a second preset silicon concentration lower than the first silicon concentration or with the processing liquid having the second preset phosphoric acid concentration and the first silicon concentration.

Conventionally, in a substrate processing apparatus, there is known an etching processing of selectively etching, between a silicon nitride film (SiN) and a silicon oxide film (SiO2) formed on a substrate, the silicon nitride film by immersing the substrate in a phosphoric acid processing liquid (see Patent Document 1).
In order to etch the silicon nitride film selectively, it is desirable to improve selectivity, which is a ratio of an etching rate of the silicon nitride film with respect to an etching rate of the silicon oxide film, in a latter stage of the etching processing.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2013-232593
In the aforementioned substrate processing apparatus, however, since a silicon component is eluted from the substrate as the etching processing progresses, there is a concern that a silicon oxide (SiO2) may be precipitated on the silicon oxide film.

Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method and recording medium


An electrical connection device comprises: a receptacle connector and a plug connector. The receptacle connector comprises a receptacle body, a front guide-positional limiting portion, a rear guide-positional limiting portion and a first latching member. The plug connector removably mates with the receptacle connector, and comprises a plug body and a second latching member, when the plug connector mates with the receptacle connector, the second latching member of the plug connector is latched to the first latching member of the receptacle connector and limited by the front guide-positional limiting portion, and the rear guide-positional limiting portion of the receptacle connector engages with a recessed portion of the plug connector, so that two side walls of the plug connector are respectively exposed to two side openings of the receptacle connector and generally flush with two side walls of the receptacle connector.

In existing electrical connector assembly, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,181 (corresponding to Taiwanese Patent Application No.TW88119860) discloses a locking electrical connector for locking a plug and a header together. The locking electrical connector has interlocking portions for fixing the plug to the header. Specifically, when the plug and header are connected, the plug is mounted in a travel direction of pins, the pins are received by electrical contact portions respectively via openings of the header and plug. First interlocking portions positioned on a first side of the plug are interlocked with corresponding interlocking portions on a first surface of the header. The first interlocking portions of the plug comprise cams or other similarly shaped protruding members which are received by corresponding receiving portions (on the first surface of the header). Similarly, a second interlocking portion of the header interlocks with a second interlocking portion of the plug.
However, the interlocking structure of the abovementioned locking electrical connector has no function of guiding-positional limiting, therefore, when the plug is inserted into the header, it is easy to improperly insert due to misalignment.


Systems and methods of monitoring and controlling a back-up power supply are provided. The back-up power supply can include an uninterruptible power supply system configured with a plurality of primary battery banks maintained in long-term storage and a working battery maintained in an operable state. The back-up power supply system can monitor the condition of a first working battery to determine if the condition is below a performance threshold or a capacity threshold. The uninterruptible power supply system can transition a primary battery bank previously maintained in long-term storage to an operable state and designate the transitioned primary battery as a second working battery. The uninterruptible power supply system can switch the source of power provided by the back-up power supply from the first working battery to the second working battery.

A back-up power supply is frequently used to provide back-up power to a load in the event of a power outage or a disruption in a power supply. Back-up power supply systems typically include one or more batteries which are sufficiently sized to provide enough power to the power load for a short duration of time until the primary power source can be restored or power conditions have improved.

System and method for monitoring and controlling a back-up power supply using temperature controlled batteries


A portable computing system docking security system comprises a security module disposed in the portable computing system and configured to detect an undocking of the portable computing system from a docking station, the security module configured to automatically determine whether the undocking is an unauthorized undocking event.

Portable computing devices, such as notebook computers and personal digital assistants, are often connected to docking stations to facilitate charging of internal batteries and/or connecting the portable computing device to external devices and communication lines. However, because of the portable nature of such computing devices, the computing devices are subject to theft if left unattended. In an effort to reduce the likelihood of theft of such computing devices, docking stations are typically equipped with a lockable release device, such as a latch operated by an eject button or lever, such that the lock is used to prevent the release device from being actuated. However, docking stations may be broken, especially if constructed from plastic materials, thereby rendering the lockable release device ineffective for safeguarding the portable computing device.

Portable computing system docking security system and method

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A machine element has a shaft and at least a fitting member such as a cam or gear mounted on the shaft by pressure-fit. The fitting member has a bore for receiving the shaft. The shaft is formed with protrusions at least an area of the shaft on which the fitting member is fitted. The protrusions preferably extend continuously or discretely, peripherally or helically on the outer surface of the shaft and have a diameter larger than than the remaining areas of the shaft. The bore of the fitting member is formed with at east an inner chordal surface having a perpendicular from the center of the bore smaller than the radius of the protrusions. The fitting member is configured to be forced onto the protrusions of the shaft with at least one inner chordal surface forming a corresponding outer surface on the protrusions in a shaving and/or deforming operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine element of the type having at least a fitting member pressure-fitted on a shaft, such as a camshaft for use in internal combustion engines, a shaft-supported gear, and a shaft-supported rotor. The fitting member has a bore for receiving the shaft, which is eccentric to the center of the fitting member for use in the camshaft or the like and concentric in the shaft-supported gear or the like. At least one portion of the area of the shaft in which the fitting member is to be provided has a diameter which is greater than the remaining areas of the shaft. The bore has at least a narrow portion defining a spacing diametrically smaller than the increased diameter portion of the shaft. The fitting member is forced onto the increased diameter portion of the shaft with the narrow portion of the bore cutting and/or deforming the increased diameter portion.
The present invention a also relates to a method of manufacturing the above-described machine element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Machine elements are known in which the fitting members and the shafts, separately manufactured, are assembled by a press fit accompanying a chip-removing operation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,543 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,547 describes a camshaft which includes a shaft and at least one cam slid onto and connected to the shaft in an area of the shaft. The cam defines a bore for receiving the shaft. The bore has at least one radially inwardly directed projection. At least one portion of the area off the shaft has a diameter larger than the remaining areas of the shaft. The increased diameter portion of the shaft is a bead-like material displacement which extends circumferentially on the shaft and is manufactured by rolling. The cam is forced onto the increased diameter portion of the shaft with a projection in the bore of the cam for forming in a chip-removing operation, a groove in the increased diameter portion.
The projection is so finished as a cutting edge with an angular cross-section to form the groove in the outer surface off the shaft. It is also required for the fitting member to be harder than the shaft, since the fitting member must cut the groove off on the shaft with its projection. However, it is not easy to provide and finish the axially extending angular projection as a cutting edge within the bore of the fitting member. The cost of manufacturing the camshaft considerably rises when the fitting member is made from a harder material for coupling with the relatively hard shaft.
The object of the present invention is to provide a machine element in which at least one fitting member is pressure-fitted onto the increased diameter portion of a shaft with at least an inner wall portion of the fitting member shaving and/or deforming the outer surface of the shaft for a tight connection therebetween, while the fitting member is manufactured with ease at a relatively low cost. Another object of the present invention is to provide an assembling method to manufacture the aforementioned machine element.

Machine element with at least a fitting member pressure-fitted on a shaft and method of making the same


A method of providing a network service includes accepting an incoming transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) connection from a user device at a point of presence (POP) proxy server. The TCP/IP connection corresponds to a particular application that is not stored at the POP proxy server. The method also includes relaying the TCP/IP connection from the POP proxy server to a remote application server that stores the particular application via an accelerated network link. Further, the method includes streaming data between the user device and the remote application server after relaying the TCP/IP connection to the remote application server.

Network services can suffer performance limitations due to long-distance data transfer. In order to scale its services, a network service provider may contract with a content delivery network provider, which often requires the network service provider to relinquish control over its infrastructure. Alternatively, the network service provider can deploy collections of point-of-presence (POP) servers local to (e.g., within 200 miles of) all potential users of an Internet application. Deploying collections of POP servers can require significant resources, expertise and support.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.

System and method to provide a network service


A vehicle occupant safety apparatus (10) for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle (12) having a side structure (16) comprises an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device (14). The protection device (14) has a deflated condition and has an inflated condition in which the protection device is inflated between the occupant and the vehicle side structure. The safety apparatus (10) also comprises an inflator (22) for providing inflation fluid for inflating the protection device (14), and a fill tube (20) for directing inflation fluid into the protection device. The apparatus further comprises a support (60) for supporting the inflator (22) and the fill tube (20) relative to each other. The support (60) has a fluid flow passage (210) for directing inflation fluid from the inflator (22) to the fill tube (20). In a preferred embodiment, the support (60) comprises a clamp having a first portion clamped on the inflator (22) and a second portion clamped on the fill tube (20).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle safety apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device, such as a side curtain, for helping to protect a vehicle occupant in the event of a side impact to a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to inflate an air bag to help protect a vehicle occupant in the event of a vehicle collision. Some vehicles include an air bag in the form of a side curtain which is inflatable downward inside the side structure of the vehicle to help protect a vehicle occupant in the event of a side impact to the vehicle.
The side curtain is typically stored in a deflated condition along the roof rail above the side windows of the vehicle. The side curtain is part of a module including an inflator and a fill tube. Upon actuation of the inflator, inflation fluid is directed through the fill tube into the side curtain to inflate the side curtain.

Vehicle inflatable side curtain assembly


A decorative magnet having lens with a generally rounded upper surface, a generally flat lower surface, and a peripheral flange. An image is adhered to the bottom surface of the lens. The lens is mounted in a base having a central recess and a flange that interlockingly engages the peripheral flange of the lens. A small, strong magnet is positioned in the recess. The bottom wall of the base modulates the magnetic field of the magnet, providing a modulated magnetic attachment force.

This invention relates to decorative magnets and, in particular, to a decorative magnet that can incorporate and display a variety of decorative images or messages.
Decorative magnetic novelties are well known and widely used as promotional and novelty items. The most common type of decorative magnet includes a planar, flexible magnetic material onto which is mounted or laminated a decorative or promotional image. Another known type of decorative magnet includes a round planar magnet onto which is adhered an image and a clear bubble-like cover. This type of decorative magnet has become more popular, but is relatively expensive to manufacture because of its configuration.


A method and apparatus for changing a length of a landing gear system. A first cylinder and a second cylinder are moved relative to each other along an axis extending centrally through the first cylinder and the second cylinder such that the first cylinder and the second cylinder are in an extended position. In response to the first cylinder and the second cylinder being in the extended position, a flow of a fluid is substantially prevented between a first chamber formed between the first cylinder and the second cylinder and a second chamber within the first cylinder and the second cylinder. In response to a pressure applied to the first chamber, the first cylinder and the second cylinder are moved relative to each other along the axis such that a length of the first cylinder and the second cylinder is reduced.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to vehicles and, in particular, to aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to landing gear systems for aircraft.
2. Background
A landing gear system is a structure that supports an aircraft on the ground. A landing gear system is used by an aircraft during different phases of operation, such as taxiing, takeoff, and landing. Typically, a landing gear system includes wheels and a shock absorber for use on the ground. With commercial aircraft, a landing gear system is retractable. For example, the legs and wheels attached to the legs on the landing gear system may retract into the wing and/or the fuselage of the aircraft during flight. The leg on which the wheel is attached to the aircraft is also referred to as a strut.
The length of the strut in the landing gear system may affect the performance of the aircraft. For example, when the strut has a longer length, the aircraft may be able to pivot or rotate more on takeoff. This capability may allow for the use of a less-powerful engine, less thrust during takeoff, and/or a shorter length of the runway used to takeoff. The longer length of the struts in a landing gear system, however, may result in undesired configurations in the design, maintenance, and/or operation of an aircraft.
The different advantageous embodiments take into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.


The solid organic materials contained in wet-process phosphoric acid are removed by froth flotation in a flotation cell in which the solid organic materials overflow with the foam from the top of the cell and the acid, after passing through the cell, is passed to extraction. The froth flotation process can also be used to remove defoamer and organic soluble materials from the wet-process phosphoric acid. Uranium in the partially purified phosphoric acid product is extracted with a suitable organic extractant, typically a mixture of mono- and di-(alkylphenyl) esters of orthophosphoric acid.

This invention relates to the recovery of uranium from phosphate compounds and, more specifically, to the recovery of uranium from phosphoric acid produced by the acidulation of phosphate rock.
Most of the world's production of phosphate comes from marine phosphorites, and large deposits exist in Florida and the Western United States. These deposits generally contain from 50 to 200 ppm uranium (0.005 to 0.02%, or 0.1 to 0.4 pounds per ton). Although these concentrations are only 5% to 10% as high as those of commercially mined uranium ores, the vast extent of these deposits has made them of considerable interest as a uranium source for many years. It has been reported, for example, that mineable reserves of phosphate rock in the United States alone contain about 600,000 tons, or more than 1 billion pounds, of uranium.
During the early 1950's, considerable effort was directed toward methods of selectively leaching uranium from phosphate rock. However, it was found that alkaline leach methods were completely ineffective and that acid leaching required complete dissolution of the phosphate rock, consuming for example, several tons of sulfuric acid per pound of U.sub.3 O.sub.8 recovered. By contrast, uranium ores in the Western United States are primarily sandstone deposits containing 2-5 pounds of U.sub.3 O.sub.8 per ton of rock. There ores are essentially insoluble in acid and the uranium can be dissolved selectively by a relatively mild acid or alkaline digestion.
A large and increasing portion of commercial phosphate production is converted first to a relatively dilute phosphoric acid by the so-called "wet-process" (as distinguished from the furnace process which produces elemental phosphorus by direct reduction of the ore). The producer first manufactures sulfuric acid, then uses it to digest the rock. The chemical reaction forms phosphoric acid and calcium sulfate. The latter is filtered out, providing enormous quantities of gypsum, a waste product, and leaving an impure acid stream typically containing about 30% P.sub.2 O.sub.5. Most of the uranium in the original rock shows up in the 30% acid, and the various extraction processes have been developed to extract it therefrom. The 30% acid is generally evaporated to about 54% "merchant acid", which is either sold or used to manufacture a variety of products, chiefly fertilizers. The higher the acid concentration, the harder it is to extract the uranium, so the 30% stage is where the uranium extraction must take place. If uranium is not extracted, it ends up as a minor impurity in the various end products.
The 30% acid can be either "black" or "green". All of the phosphate rock contains measurable amounts of organic material such as humic acids. For example, Florida phosphate rock contains as much as 0.1% and more organic material, while Western phosphate rock contains substantially more. When phosphate rock containing solid organic material is acidulated with sulfuric acid, the aqueous phase takes up the solid organic material which is of such small particle size that much of it passes through the gypsum filter. This organic material is extremely fine and has a very slow filtration rate. Accordingly, it is not economically feasible to filter the acid to remove it.
The organic material, or black particulate, causes emulsions during uranium extraction. Richard H. Kennedy in an AEC report entitled "Recovery of Uranium from Low Grade Sandstone Ores and Phosphate Rock" presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency panel in June, 1966 points out the seriousness of the emulsion problem, and that it was never satisfactorily solved in all the uranium separation operations to that date. This problem was again acknowledged in an AEC report of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in October 1970 (ORNL-4572), and these emulsions continue today to be a serious problem to those interested in uranium separation. In particular, these emulsions will collect at the organic-aqueous interface in any solvent extraction process that utilizes an organic extractant. The volume of emulsion generated is often such that flooding occurs and the equipment must be shut down and cleaned out to remove the emulsion.
If the original organic content of the rock is too high to be tolerated in phosphoric acid production, the rock is calcined before digestion to burn out the organic content, and the acid comes out with a greenish tint. All acid produced from rock originating in the Western United States must be calcined to remove organic materials before dissolution because of the high organic content. This green acid is easier to process, but is more costly to produce. Also, up to 30% of the uranium is lost to the gypsum when the calcined rock is digested. Mose central Florida rock, which has the highest uranium content, is processed to black acid.
The 30% acid leaving the filter is supersaturated with calcium sulfate in solution and additionally contains about 1 to 2% inorganic solids. If this acid is allowed to settle for several days, the inorganic solids along with the organic solids will settle to the bottom leaving a clear dark amber solution at the top. However, clarification by settling is not desirable in a phosphoric acid plant which typically produces 400 gallons per minute of phosphoric acid solution because of the vast storage facilities that would be required and the solids handling problems associated therewith. For example, in excess of sixty tons of inorganic solids are present in the filtered acid produced each day in a typical phosphoric acid plant. Since these solids will readily settle out, it is the practice in the industry to agitate all tanks in which the acid is stored to keep the solids suspended.
A number of prior processes have been developed to recover the minor amounts of uranium contained in wet-process phosphoric acid. In many of these processes, any hexavalent uranium is first reduced to the tetravalent state by the addition of iron and then extracted by contacting the acid with an organic extractant which has a high extraction coefficient for uranium in the tetravalent state. As is known, the coefficient of extraction (E.sub.a.sup.o) is a measure of the extraction power of a reagent and is defined as the ratio of the concentration of uranium in the organic phase to the concentration of uranium in the aqueous phase at equilibrium. Thereafter, the uranium is removed from the organic extractant by one of several methods. In one of these methods, the uranium is removed from the organic extractant by contacting the organic extractant with an aqueous solution containing hydrofluoric acid or some other reagent that reacts with uranium to form uranium precipitates.
In another of these methods, the uranium is removed from the organic extractant by oxidizing the uranium in the organic extractant to the hexavalent state. Thereafter, the uranium is stripped from the organic extractant with concentrated phosphoric or hydrochloric acid. Finally, the uranium is recovered from the stripping acid, for example, by reextraction with the same organic extractant. U.S. Pat. No. 2,859,092 to Bailes et al is illustrative of these prior art processes in which uranium is first oxidized to the hexavalent state.
Other prior art processes for recovering uranium employ organic extractants having a favorable extraction coefficient (E.sub.a.sup.o) for the extraction of hexavalent uranium from phosphoric acid. When one of these extractants is used, the uranium is stripped from the organic extractant by contacting the extractant with an aqueous solution containing compounds which react with hexavalent uranium to form uranyl compounds.
One way to remove the solid organic materials such as humic acids contained in wet-process phosphoric acid is described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,512 in which the acid is contacted with a liquid hydrocarbon such as kerosene so that the solid organic materials are suspended in an emulsion within the hydrocarbon phase. The emulsion can be removed either with the liquid hydrocarbon or withdrawn continuously from the interface between the acid and liquid hydrocarbon. Subsequent separation of the solid organic materials from the emulsion may be carried out by filtration, but the filtration rate is poor because of the mixed aqueous-organic nature of the emulsion which makes suitable wetting of the filter medium difficult.
During the manufacture of wet-process phosphoric acid, antifoaming agents are often used to reduce the foam produced during the reaction of the sulfuric acid and rock. Some of these defoamers and/or the organic materials present in the acid are soluble in the liquid hydrocarbon used to clean acid by the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,512. On continued contacting of this liquid hydrocarbon with the acid the organic soluble defoamers and/or other organic soluble materials accumulate in the liquid hydrocarbon. Liquid hydrocarbon losses with consequent fresh make-up normally brings about an equilibrium level of the defoamers and/or other organic soluble materials in the liquid hydrocarbon, but the concentration has been measured in practice to be higher than 10% W/V compared with the few hundred parts per million in the acid fed to the liquid hydrocarbon cleaning unit.
These defoamers and other organic soluble impurities in the acid have been found by Ralph E. Worthington and Donald A. Luke to be strongly detrimental to the extraction of uranium and other metals using an extractant such as a mixture of mono- and di-(alkylphenyl) esters of orthosphosphoric acid. Since some liquid hydrocarbon is always carried over from the cleaning system described above into the extraction stages, the defoamers and other organic soluble materials have been found by Worthington and Luke to accumulate in the organic extractant used to recover uranium and/or other metals from wet-process phosphoric acid and thereby to reduce the extraction coefficient of the extractant.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for removing solid organic materials from wet-process phosphoric acid.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a process for removing solid organic materials from wet-process phosphoric acid in a manner in which the solid organic materials can be readily separated by filtration or other suitable techniques.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a process for removing organic soluble defoamers and other organic soluble materials from wet-process phosphoric acid.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a process for removing solid organic materials, organic soluble defoamers and other organic soluble materials from wet-process phosphoric acid which is economical and minimizes the consumption of costly reagents.

Process for removing solid organic materials and other impurities from wet-process phosphoric acid


A transcutaneous port includes a subcutaneous port section and a bone fixation section. The subcutaneous port section has upper portion which has an axial channel and a first micro-textured external surface, and a lower portion which has therein a transverse channel connecting to the axial channel. The bone fixation section has a transosseous collar portion which has a second micro-textured external surface, and a threaded shaft portion. The first and second micro-textured external surfaces include a multiplicity of alternating microgrooves and ridges for tissue and bone integration. The transcutaneous port is surgically implanted into a site of a patient and a conductive wire is introduced from the axial channel to the transverse channel, and placed in the subcutaneous soft tissue and in contact with a neural signal source for transmitting neural signals to a prosthetic motor device.

Transcutaneous devices have application in many areas of medicine, these including such areas as bone stents or pins where it is necessary to stabilize fragments of a bone during a period of healing, medication-dispensing soft tissue implants such as those that require external access by the needle of a syringe, and neural interface devices that require both physical stability at an amputation and/or nerve injury site and an external electrical port to which a prosthesis may be attached. These unique and diverse requirements, of transcutaneous devices have presented long-standing challenges within the medical disciplines, in which they exist.
Most transcutaneous devices must satisfactorily address requirements at three levels, namely, bone interface stability, soft tissue stability, and suitable properties of an external portion thereof. Accordingly, in a successful transcutaneous device, it is necessary to obtain a stable, reliable and bacteria free interface to both the hard and soft tissue surfaces thereof.
In the field of peripheral nerve interface development to develop a stable, practically useful mechanism for obtaining motor information from lesioned peripheral nerves, conduct this information out of the body and effectively activate prosthetic motor devices requires a stable nerve and skeletal attachment interface and a transcutaneous access port.
Common problems in the existing transcutaneous ports include instability of the transcutaneous ports which results in detachment of the device from the nerves, or the site and microbial infiltration at the interface between the transcutaneous port and surrounding soft tissue, which also results in the detachment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,607 (to Naiman et al.) teaches a transcutaneous implant which has a first and a second microtexturized surfaces provided on the outer circumferential surface of the implant, and separated by a barrier zone. The transcutaneous implant is to be implanted within soft issue in situ, and both microtexturized surfaces are used for enhancing integration of the implant with the soft tissue. This type of transcutaneous implant is not anchored into bone and has no involvement with bone tissue, and its stability in an amputation site is limited.
Therefore, there is a strong need in the field of peripheral nerve interface development for improved transcutaneous ports which enables integration of the device with surrounding soft tissue and bone tissue, hence, provides feasibility for long term use of the transcutaneous port in situ for providing electronic communication to prosthetic motor devices.

Transcutaneous port having micro-textured surfaces for tissue and bone integration


A frequency synthesizer comprises a voltage controlled oscillator, and a variable frequency divider for dividing the VCO frequency according to the frequency of a communication channel. The output of frequency divider is compared with a reference frequency and a phase difference of first polarity and a phase difference of second polarity are detected. A charge-control voltage is generated with a duration variable with the phase difference of first polarity and a discharge-control voltage with a duration variable with the phase difference of second polarity. First and second integrators are coupled respectively to outputs of the phase comparator for respectively smoothing waveforms of the control voltages. Energy is injected into a charge pump in response to the smoothed charge-control voltage and drained from it in response to the smoothed discharge-control voltage to produce a frequency control signal for coupling to the VCO. To achieve instant switching between adjacent channels, a differentiator is coupled across the outputs of the phase comparator for preserving part of energy to be supplied to or drained from the charge pump until sufficient energy is stored.

The present invention relates generally to frequency synthesizers, and more particularly to a phase-locked loop frequency synthesizer which can be switched to any of a group of communication channels.
A PLL frequency synthesizer having a charge pump is known. If this type of synthesizer is used for communication channels, and a switching occurs between channels, the synthesizer needs a long period of time to lock its frequency with the new channel. This occurs when the frequencies of these channels are close to each other.

Phase-locked loop having charge pump driven with preserved energy for instant channel switching


The method and device of the invention provides a measure of lung function at a preselected region of the lung by detecting and measuring light scattering following contact of the light onto lung tissue. Multiple parameters concerning the status of the lungs can be measured using a variety of wavelengths of light targeted at the lung tissue. In this way it is possible to determine regions of impaired lung function in patients with emphysema. The device utilizes an optical fiber, a light collection system and a spectral separation device to provide an image of the lung and to determine functional parameters such as gas exchange.

The lung is an organ dedicated to gas exchange. Gas exchange occurs at the septal surface of the approximately 300 million alveoli in the adult human lung. These myriads of units provide a large diffusion area (50-100 square meters for a human lung) where gas exchange occurs between the air entering the alveoli and the blood contained in capillaries wrapped around the alveoli.
Classic concepts of the mechanics and functioning of the lung at the level of alveoli and alveolar ducts have relied on inferences largely drawn from three different sources. These sources are:
1) Determining airway pressure and volume ventilation to obtain mechanical structure-function information on the whole lung, which in turn reflects on the properties of the lung's connective tissue and the mean properties of the air-liquid surfaces; PA1 2) In vitro analyses of biopsies taken from a small number of regions of the lung to determine the presence of infection or tumor tissue; and PA1 3) Visual methods including computer aided tomography and X-rays which may be used to identify gross morphological changes in vivo such as blockages, lumps and inflammation but are not suited for fine resolution imaging because of interference caused by the gas-liquid interfaces in the lungs. PA1 4) Morphometric analysis of lung tissue fixed and sectioned for microscopy. PA1 5) Gas exchange analyses of gross and large regional differences by multiple inert gas exchange, positron emission tomography and single photon emission tomography.
None of these methods provide direct means for measuring the dynamic properties of large numbers of small regions within the lungs of a living animal in real time.
Recent advances have brought about the recognition that the relevant structural geometry (Fung,(1975), Stress, deformation, and atelectasis of the lung, Circ. Res. 37:481-496; Karakaplan et al., (1980), A mathematical model of lung parenchyma, J. Biomech. Eng. 102:124-136; Mead et al.,(1970) Stress distribution in lungs: a model of pulmonary elasticity, J. Appl. Physiol. 28:596-608; Wilson,(1981) Relations among recoil pressure, surface area, and surface tension in the lung, J. Appl. Physiol. 50:921-926) of the lung is highly complex. Stereological techniques have been used on fixed tissues for measuring the effects on the alveolar surface configuration of changes in lung volume (Forrest, (1970), The effect of changes in lung volume on the size and shape of alveoli, J. Physiol. London 210:533-547; Gil et al., Morphological study of pressure-volume hysteresis in rat lungs fixed by vascular perfusion, Respir. Physiol. 15:190-213 (1972); Gil et al., Alveolar volume-surface area relation in air-and saline-filled lungs fixed by vascular perfusion, J. Appl. Physiol. 47:990-1001 (1979); Klingele et al., (1970), Alveolar shape changes with volume in isolated, air-filled lobes of cat lung, J. Appl. Physiol. 28:411-414) and of changes in the state of the air-liquid interface (Bachofen et al., (1979), Alterations of mechanical properties and morphology in excised rabbit lungs rinsed with a detergent, J. Appl. Physiol. 47:1002-1010; Gil et al. 1972 (cited above)). However, there are limitations inherent in using fixed tissues. These include: restriction to analysis of static circumstances; difficulties in being certain that no changes occur during the various processes which assail tissue between the original physiological condition and its fixed dehydrated sliced and stained state; and the necessity of studying a specimen from a different lobe or animal to obtain each individual physiological datum.
There is therefore a substantial need for new methods of studying the spatial distribution of changes that are too small to be otherwise detectable and yet are important to gas exchange. Such techniques would provide much needed information on the functioning of healthy lung tissue, as well as information on what constitutes abnormal performance of lung tissue that might be associated with a chronic pulmonary pathological condition.
Emphysema is an example of a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is a debilitating disease affecting 1.65 million Americans, half of whom are over age 65, at an annual cost of over $4 billion. The estimated number of patients has increased over 40% since 1982 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth-ranking cause of death in the United States (American Lung Association Lung Disease Data, Publication of American Lung Association, 1994). The lung damage is irreversible and current therapy is usually limited, at best, to symptomatic relief. Lung transplantation is being increasingly used for treatment of emphysema, but it is very expensive and limited by the small number of donor lungs available. More recently, lung reduction surgery, especially in elderly patients with severe emphysema, has gained increasing popularity with chest physicians and surgeons.
The distribution of emphysematous lesions can vary widely, and delineating the boundaries between more versus less affected regions is difficult in situ. Compounding the problem is that the bullous lesions that are detectable with current technology are very large in comparison with intrinsic alveolar size and that septal destruction that decreases the normal surface area, by, e.g., a factor of two, is virtually invisible to current measurement techniques. A method is needed to delineate boundaries between healthy and impaired tissues during surgery to maximise the effectiveness of surgical intervention.

Methods for measuring lung function using diffused light

The President and Fellows of Harvard College


An electrolytic protection system for stern drive marine motors having a cavitation plae, said system comprising an adaptors fixedly secured to said cavitation plate, and an anode mateable with said adopter.

It is well known to provide sacrificial anodes on marine products. On stern drive motors, it is customary to mount sacrificial anodes on the cavitation plate. However, the location of the cavitation plate provides little room to maneuver while installing or replacing anodes. Moreover, prior art methods of mounting anodes on the cavitation plate require that the attaching bolts be completely removed when replacing the anode. Due to the lack of space and the fact that the process of anode replacement takes place under water, and often in reduced visibility, it is easy for the attaching bolts to become misplaced or lost. Also, the procedure is difficult and time-consuming. Thus, the prior art methods and apparatus for anode replacement are unsatisfactory.

Electrolytic protection system for stern drive marine motors having a cavitation plate


An image forming apparatus includes a rotary member which transports a recording material; a first detecting unit which is provided upstream of the rotary member in a transport direction of the recording material and detects the recording material; a second detecting unit which is provided downstream of the rotary member in the transport direction of the recording material and detects the recording material; a driving unit which drives the rotary member; a control unit which controls the driving unit to rotate and stop the rotary member; and stopping units which operate independently of the control unit and forcibly stop the driving unit based on detection results of the first detecting unit and the second detecting unit.

A conventional image forming apparatus, for example, a copier, a laser beam printer, or a facsimile machine, includes a fixing apparatus that fixes an unfixed toner image transferred onto the recording material. The recording material bearing the unfixed toner image is transported to a nip portion formed by a heating roller and a pressure roller of the fixing apparatus, and then the unfixed toner image is fixed onto the recording material. In this configuration, a toner image in a melted state comes into contact with a surface of a fixing roller during fixation, which may cause the recording material to wrap around the fixing roller. A conventionally proposed configuration for preventing wrapping of the recording material around the fixing roller includes a separating claw provided downstream of the nip portion of the fixing rollers in a transporting direction. If a leading end of the recording material is mostly wrapped around the fixing roller, the separating claw forcibly peels off the leading end of the recording material from the fixing roller. Another configuration is proposed with a cleaning member that removes toner deposited on the fixing roller.
In order to prevent wearing of the separating claw from reducing separation capability and prevent the applied amount of oil from decreasing in accordance with the high transport speed of the recording material, recently, the wrapping of the recording material around the fixing roller needs to be further prevented. Conventionally, two sensors for detecting the recording material are provided upstream and downstream of the fixing apparatus in the transport direction of the recording material so as to have a predetermined positional relationship therebetween, thereby detecting the wrapping of the recording material (For example, PTL 1 and PTL 2). If the leading end of a recording material P does not reach the outlet sensor within a predetermined time after passing through the inlet sensor, a control unit decides that the leading end of the recording material may have been wrapped around the fixing roller. Subsequently, the rotations of the fixing roller and the pressure roller are stopped to prevent the recording material from further entering the fixing apparatus.

Image-forming apparatus with forcible stopping of rotary member


A system, topology, and methods including a multicomponent case for an electronic device, one component including an electrical energy storage element and being slidably removable from another component. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

It may be desirable to place a cover one or more sections of an electronic device to protect or improve handling of an electronic device. It may be further desirable to provide electrical energy from an additional covering apparatus or system as needed. The present invention includes such an apparatus and system.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic device multicomponent case with electrical energy storage


Provided is a food material which contains, as its main ingredients, a wheat protein and at least one of a fusuma bran and a nuka bran, and which eliminates a poor texture peculiar to the fusuma bran, the nuka bran, and a mixture of the fusuma bran and the nuka bran. For this purpose, the food material contains a thickening stabilizer as well as a wheat protein and at least one of a roasted fusuma bran and a roasted nuka bran.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a food material and to a food product using such a food material.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that obesity and lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes and hyperlipemia can be prevented by consuming food products of starchy carbohydrate, for example, rice and wheat flour, as little as possible. A known example of food materials with less content of carbohydrate contains, as its major ingredients, gluten, psyllium husk powder, and roasted wheat bran or roasted rice bran (see JP3687049B). Other known examples are bread containing wheat flour and roasted wheat bran (see JP SH062-22540A), and bread mix containing wheat flour, wheat bran powder and granulated wheat bran (see JP3692199B).
In the food material described in JP3687049B, the wheat bran or the rice bran is roasted to mask the peculiar grainy smell. However, the fact that the food material does not contain wheat flour, brings about the insufficient body formation, which, in turn, adversely affects the appearance of food products in a case where fermentation process by yeast is involved in the making of the food products such as bread. Specifically, the dough made from the food material not containing wheat flour does not rise during fermentation, or the insufficient breaking takes place in such dough, so that the bread does not rise when baked. In addition, the texture of the bread made from the above-mentioned food material is far from the ordinary bread on the market. Moreover, the quality of the bread described in JP SH062-22540A and the quality of the bread mix described in JP3692199A are not satisfactory. Furthermore, these food materials are wheat-flour-based food materials with addition of wheat bran, so that the food products produced from such food materials contain a lot of wheat flour. As a result, restriction of carbohydrate content cannot be achieved with such food products.
The present invention was proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a food material which contains wheat protein and at least one of fusuma bran (bran of wheat or the like) and nuka bran (bran of rice or the like), and which eliminates the poor texture peculiar to the fusuma bran, the nuka bran or a mixture of these two types of bran. Another object of the present invention is to provide a food product using such a food material.

Food material and food product using the same


To populate printed circuit boards by means of a pick-and-place line, multiple set-ups, each having an associated set-up family, are formed. A number of component types is associated with each set-up and a number of printed circuit board types is associated with each associated setup family, such that a printed circuit board of a printed circuit board type in a set-up family can be populated on the pick-and-place line using components of the component types associated with the set-up. A setting-up table comprising a stock of components of a component type in a set-up can be provided on the pick-and-place line. A method for populating the printed circuit boards includes the steps of recording printed circuit board types, from which printed circuit boards are to be populated with components of associated component types, and associating recorded printed circuit board types with set-up families.

An electronic module comprises a printed circuit board and components which are mechanically and electrically attached thereto. For printed circuit board production, the components are positioned on the printed circuit board using an automatic pick-and-place unit, and are then soldered thereto in a reflow kiln. A plurality of automatic pick-and-place units can be passed through sequentially in a pick-and-place line. For the production of multiple printed circuit boards, a population system comprising a plurality of pick-and-place lines can be employed.
A combination of component types on the automatic pick-and-place unit is described as a set-up. A set-up can be used to produce a quantity of different printed circuit boards, described as a set-up family. Customarily, however, printed circuit boards of a greater number of different printed circuit board types are to be produced than is possible with a single set-up, such that the set-up must be changed during production.
A set-up can be accommodated on one or more set-up tables, which can easily be replaced on the automatic pick-and-place unit. However, the fitting of a set-up table with components of predefined component types is frequently complex. Consequently, set-ups are frequently differentiated into fixed set-ups and variant set-ups, wherein a fixed set-up table is designed to maintain its combination of component types over a predefined planning horizon, whereas a variant set-up table can foreseeably be refitted within said planning horizon.
DE 10 2012 220 904 A1 relates to a method for the determination of a fixed set-up for a pick-and-place line.


Embodiments of the disclosure provide a power supply circuit for powering an OLED panel and a display panel. The power supply circuit for powering the OLED panel reduces the voltage outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit in the power supply circuit based on a target current. Moreover, the maximum value of the current that can be outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit when outputting the reduced voltage is not less than the target current. The target current may be a current outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit to the OLED panel at a time before a K-th preset duration counting from the latest preset duration for receiving the preset pulse signal.

During the operation process of the organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel, the efficiency of the DC-DC conversion circuit that supplies power to the OLED panel refers to a ratio of the output power to the input power. The power consumption of the OLED panel may be considered as a product of the output voltage and the output current of the DC-DC conversion circuit.
At present, the DC-DC conversion circuit for powering the OLED panel generally outputs two power supply signals, that is, a boost circuit in the DC-DC conversion circuit outputs a first power supply signal VDD, and a buck-boost circuit in the DC-DC conversion circuit outputs a second power supply signal VSS. The first power supply signal VDD may have a positive voltage, and the second power supply signal VSS may have a negative voltage. The OLED panel may be supplied with a voltage difference between the first power supply signal VDD and the second power supply signal VSS, so as to enable the OLED panel to work under the driving of a driving circuit (e.g., a driver IC). When the OLED panel works normally, the voltage outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit, i.e., the voltage difference between the first power supply signal VDD and the second power supply signal VSS, is a constant value.
Assuming that the voltage outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit is A, the output current of the DC-DC conversion circuit will change with the variation in the load, but vary within a range [B, C] (B is smaller than C). When the load of the DC-DC conversion circuit is relatively small, the current outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit will decrease. When the load of the DC-DC conversion circuit is relatively large, the current outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit will increase. It can be appreciated that, in case the voltage outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit is lower than A, the DC-DC conversion circuit may also have an output current with a value of B. When the OLED panel displays a low gray scale image, the OLED panel requires a relatively small current, in this case, the current outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit for example may have a value of B, and the required current B may correspond to an output voltage of the DC-DC conversion circuit that is smaller than A. Hence, in such a case, if the DC-DC conversion circuit is controlled to output a current with a value of B when the voltage difference outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit is A, too much electric energy may be consumed by the DC-DC conversion circuit is actually, thereby increasing the power consumption of the DC-DC conversion circuit and reducing the efficiency of the DC-DC conversion circuit.
To sum up, when the OLED panel works normally, the voltage outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit may have a constant value, while the current provided by the DC-DC conversion circuit to the OLED panel will vary with the variation in load, which may result in an increased power consumption when the current outputted by the DC-DC conversion circuit to the OLED panel is relatively small, reducing the efficiency of the DC-DC conversion circuit.

Power supply circuit for powering organic light emitting diode and display panel

ORDOS YUANSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS CO., LTD.