The present invention relates to a magnetic thin film containing a L11 type Co—Pt—C alloy in which atoms are orderly arranged, and can realize an order degree excellent in regard to the L11 type Co—Pt—C alloy to achieve excellent magnetic anisotropy of the magnetic thin film. Therefore, in the various application devices using the magnetic thin film, it is possible to achieve a large capacity process and/or a high density process thereof in a high level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic thin film containing an alloy of a L11 type atom ordered structure. In more detail, the present invention relates to a magnetic thin film achieving a magnetic characteristic excellent due to the structure. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing such magnetic thin film, and various application devices using the magnetic thin film.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various devices using a magnetic thin film include a magnetic recording medium, a tunnel magnetic resistive element (TMR), a magnetic resistive random access memory (MRAM), a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device, and the like.
First, the magnetic recording medium will be described as an example of the various devices using the magnetic thin film. The magnetic thin film is used in a magnetic recording device such as a hard disc, an optical magnetic record (MO), and a magnetic tape, and the magnetic recording system includes an in-plane magnetic recording system and a perpendicular magnetic recording system.
The in-plane recording system is the conventional system, for example, a system for carrying out a magnetic record horizontal to a hard disc surface. However, in recent years, there is mainly used the perpendicular magnetic recording system which can achieve a higher record density by carrying out the magnetic record perpendicular to the disc surface. Various studies have been made on a medium (perpendicular magnetic recording medium) to which the perpendicular magnetic recording system is applied, and for example, the following technology is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-85825 discloses a perpendicular magnetic recording medium provided with a granular structure where at least an under layer, a magnetic layer and a protective layer are sequentially formed on a substrate, wherein the magnetic layer comprises ferromagnetic crystal grains composed essentially of a Co—Pt alloy and non-magnetic grain boundaries composed essentially of an oxide surrounding the crystal grains, and wherein the under layer comprises an alloy of two or more elements of any of Cu, Pd and Au or any of Cu, Pd, Pt, Ir and Au. The perpendicular magnetic recording medium has excellent low noise characteristics, thermal stability and writing characteristics, and is capable of performing high density recording and being manufactured at a low cost.
At present a crystalline film of a Co—Pt alloy is mainly used in the magnetic layer of the perpendicular magnetic recording medium. The crystalline film of the Co—Pt alloy has a crystal orientation so controlled that a C axis of a Co—Pt alloy with a hexagonal closest packed structure (hcp) is perpendicular to a film plane (that is, C plane is parallel to the film plane), thereby enabling the perpendicular magnetic recording.
As one system for controlling magnetic characteristics of the magnetic layer, there is known a system for forming a granular magnetic layer having a structure of surrounding a periphery of the ferromagnetic crystal grains by a non-magnetic and non-metallic substance such as an oxide and a nitride.
In the granular magnetic layer, the grain boundary phase of the non-magnetic and non-metallic substance physically separates the ferromagnetic grains. Therefore, since a transition region of recording bits is narrowed without excessively increasing a magnetic mutual operation between the ferromagnetic grains to restrict the fluctuation, low noise characteristics can be obtained.
In recent years, in order to reduce a magnetic influence with each other between adjacent tracks for the purpose of realizing a higher recording density in the perpendicular magnetic recording medium, development of discrete track media (DTM) where a groove is formed between the tracks has been actively made. In addition, for enabling recording of one bit per one magnetic dot (or one magnetic grain), development of bit pattern media (BPM) where magnetic dots (or magnetic grains) are also artificially orderly lined up has been actively made.
Further, for obtaining a perpendicular magnetic recording medium capable of carrying out recording on a magnetic film having a high holding magnetic force, there is proposed a thermal assist magnetic recording (HAMR or TAMR) system, an energy assist recording system (MAMR) by a micro wave, or the like, and studies on the magnetic recording medium using these recording systems also have been actively made.
Next, a tunnel magnetic resistive element (TMR) as another example of various devices to which the magnetic thin film is applied and a magnetic resistive random access memory (MRAM) using the tunnel magnetic resistive element will be described. The conventional memory such as a flash memory and a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) records information using electrons in the memory cell, but MRAM is a memory using the same magnetic element as the hard disc in a recording medium.
MRAM has address access time of about 10 ns and cycle time of about 20 ns. Therefore, reading and writing by MRAM can be made at a high speed about five times the speed of DRAM, that is, substantially the same as a static random access memory (SRAM). In addition, MRAM has an advantage that low consumption power of about 1/10 of the flash memory and high cumulative performance can be realized.
Here, TMR used in MRAM can be constructed, for example, of a laminated element in which a ferromagnetic thin film is formed on an anti-ferromagnetic thin film, and various technologies are disclosed in relation thereto.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-333106 discloses an exchange-coupled element in which an anti-ferromagnetic layer and a ferromagnetic layer exchange-coupled to the anti-ferromagnetic layer are sequentially laminated on a substrate, and the anti-ferromagnetic layer has an order phase of a Mn—Ir alloy (Mn3Ir). FIG. 5 in this document discloses a schematic cross section of TMR. FIG. 4 in this document discloses a spin valve type magnetic resistive element equipped with the exchange coupled element, and this element is also a laminated element in which a ferromagnetic thin film is formed on an anti-ferromagnetic thin film in the same way as TMR described above.
Further, a micro electromechanical system (MEMS) device will be described as another example of the various devices to which the magnetic thin film is applied. The MEMS device is a generic name of a device in which mechanical element components, sensors, actuators, and/or electronic circuits are integrated on one silicon substrate, one glass substrate, one organic material or the like. Application examples of the MEMS device may include a digital micro mirror device (DMD) which is one kind of an optical element in a projector, a micro nozzle used in a head portion of an ink jet printer, various sensors such as a pressure sensor, an acceleration sensor and a flow sensor, and the like. These devices will hopefully be applied to not only manufacturing industries but also a medical field.
In any of the various devices (magnetic recording medium, TMR, MRAM, and MEMS device) to which the magnetic thin film is applied shown above, an improvement on magnetic characteristics of the magnetic thin film, specially the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (Ku) is demanding. Development of the magnetic thin film showing such an excellent Ku value is considered to contribute greatly to a large capacity process and/or a high density process of a recording medium and a memory.
For example, as a magnetic recording layer of the perpendicular magnetic recording medium, a recording layer equipped with grains or dots having a structure in which a hard magnetic layer and a soft magnetic layer are laminated, such as an ECC (exchange coupled composite), a hard/soft stack and an exchange spring is proposed as means for achieving the high density process.
However, for sufficiently effecting characteristics of these media to realize high thermal stability and excellent saturation recording characteristics, it is necessary to use the perpendicular magnetization film showing a large Ku value of the order of 107 erg/cm3 in the hard magnetic layer.
In addition, also in MRAM of a spin injection magnetization reverse type expected as the future high density memory, there have been made studies on realization of a large capacity process by using the perpendicular magnetization film showing a large Ku value of the order of 107 erg/cm3.
There have been made various studies on the perpendicular magnetization film showing a Ku value suitable for being used in such a magnetic recording medium and memory, and for example, the following technology is disclosed.
In H. Sato, et al., "Fabrication of L11 type Co—Pt ordered alloy films by sputter deposition", J. Appl. Phys., 103, 07E114 (2008), manufacture of L11 type Co—Pt ordered alloy films by sputter deposition is disclosed. In addition, in S. Okamoto et al., "Chemical order-dependent magnetic anisotropy and exchange stiffness constant of Fe—Pt (001) epitaxial films", Phys. Rev. B, 66, 024413 (2002) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-311925, L10 type Fe—Pt ordered alloy films are disclosed. Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-208129, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-173511, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-216330, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-311607, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-101645, and Patent Publication No. WO2004/034385, L10 type Fe—Pt ordered alloys such as a Fe—Pt ordered alloy, a Fe—Pd ordered alloy and a Co—Pt ordered alloy, and a magnetic recording medium using this as a magnetic layer are disclosed. It should be noted that the L11 type Co—Pt ordered alloy films disclosed in H. Sato, et al., "Fabrication of L11 type Co—Pt ordered alloy films by sputter deposition", J. Appl. Phys., 103, 07E114 (2008) can realize a much larger order degree as compared to the conventional alloy film, which is therefore expected to show a remarkably large Ku value.
However, under recent situations in need of a large capacity process and a high density process of various devices, it is desired to develop a perpendicular magnetic recording layer (magnetic thin film) having uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in size equal to or more than any magnetic thin film disclosed in the above documents and capable of being formed by a simpler manufacturing technology.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic thin film having large uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, a method of manufacturing the magnetic thin film, and various application devices using the magnetic thin film.

Magnetic thin film and method of manufacturing the same, and various application devices using the same

Fuji Electric Device Technology Co., Ltd.


An audio recording device comprises an audio input unit, a detect unit, and a control unit. The audio input unit includes a connection unit and an audio receive unit. The connection unit is configured to connect with an external pickup device. The audio receive unit is configured to receive the input of an audio signal from the pickup device. The detect unit is configured to detect the connection between the connection unit and the pickup device. The control unit is configured to display information indicating the input state of the audio signal from the pickup device in response to detection of the connection between the connection unit and the pickup device by the detect unit.

There are known audio recording devices to which an external microphone can be connected and with which sound can be picked up by an external microphone. With an audio recording device such as this, a constitution for preventing the user from forgetting to plug in the external microphone has been disclosed in Patent Literature 1.
With this conventional audio recording device, whether or not the plug of an external microphone has been inserted into the microphone jack of the audio recording device is detected, and if it has not been inserted, a notice to that information is display on the viewfinder of the audio recording device. This constitution prevents the user from trying to recording audio when the external microphone has not yet been hooked up.

Audio recording device and imaging device

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


An apparatus includes a finite impulse response (FIR) filter to receive a digital signal and a transmitter, operatively coupled to the FIR filter, to transmit an analog signal, converted from the digital signal, to a communication channel. The FIR filer is configured to change at least one operating parameter based on a bandwidth of the analog signal after transmission in the communication channel. The bandwidth of the analog signal is estimated, using an estimator, based at least in part on raw sampling data generated by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) operatively coupled to the transmitter.

Coherent line-cards using polarization-multiplexed quadrature phase-shift keying (PM-QPSK) or polarization-multiplexed quadrature amplitude modulation (PM-QAM) has become de-facto standards in quest for high spectral efficiency optical fiber communications systems. When a modulated signal passes through multiple reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexers (ROADMs), the bandwidth of the propagating signal usually narrows down due to the spectral shape of the ROADM filter and due to possible misalignments of the central frequencies of the signal and the ROADM pass-band. This bandwidth narrowing can in turn increase the observed bit error ratio (BER) at the receiving end and cause the receiver to lose track of the signal. Most dynamic gain equalizers (DGEs) can also introduce bandwidth narrowing by flattening the gain spectrum of cascaded Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). The bandwidth narrowing effect due to ROADMs and DGEs is relatively dynamic.
In addition, photodiode, trans-impedance amplifier, circuit traces, connector for pluggable optics, and analog digital converters (ADCs) form an analog interface between coherent receiver and digital signal processing (DSP) chip. There is also a similar analog interface between the DSP chip and the coherent transmitter. Both analog interfaces can influence the signal bandwidth. Although this influence can be relatively static, it might degrade over the lifetime. Accordingly, a need exists for methods and apparatus that compensate for the bandwidth narrowing effect.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatus for adaptive compensation of signal bandwidth narrowing through finite impulse response filters


Prioritizing traffic forwarding in a wireless mesh network. In a wireless mesh network using carrier detect multiple access—collision avoidance with backoff, such as mesh networks supporting IEEE 802.11 clients, access points in the mesh calculate a node rank based on downstream and upstream rank components. Access points in the mesh then generate backoff times inversely proportional to their node rank. This has the effect of prioritizing traffic at nodes that have higher rank. The downstream and upstream rank components take into account the amount of space occupied by downstream and upstream traffic, respectively, and are weighted by their position in the mesh tree.

The present invention relates to wireless digital networks, and in particular, to the problem of traffic forwarding in mesh networks.
Wireless digital networks commonly have a controller to which are attached one or more access points. Each access point supports a number of wireless clients. In most situations, each access point connects to its controller using a wired connection. Such wired connections, for example using 803.2 Ethernet and often 802.3af power over Ethernet, provide a high capacity channel between controller and access points.
In some situations, however, it is not possible to provide wired data connections to access points. Examples include large outdoor installations, such as rail yards, cargo terminals, and large college campuses. In such situations mesh networks are used. In a mesh network, only a few, perhaps only one access point has a wired connection to a controller. This access point may be referred to as a portal, or a root node. All other access points in the mesh network communicate wirelessly, access point to access point. Access points are organized into a mesh, a network usually represented topologically as a tree with its origin, or root, the access point with the wired connection to the controller.
In the operation of a mesh network, traffic from a client connected to an access point passes through the mesh in a directed fashion from access point to access point until the traffic finally reaches the root node. Similarly, traffic flows through the root node, and through a succession of access points until it reaches the access point to which the client is attached.
For various engineering reasons, mesh networks typically operate using a single radio channel for transferring data within the mesh, that is, from access point to access point. In many installations, this same channel may also be used in communicating between the access point and the wireless client.
The use of the shared channel leads to a problem where some mesh access points obtain a larger portion of the channel capacity for their transmissions compared to some other mesh access points that get a smaller portion. This imbalance causes data packets to accumulate at certain mesh access points eventually leading to data loss. To characterize the problem further, we need to consider both directions in which traffic flows through the mesh network—"downstream" from the portal (or root) towards the edge of the network, and "upstream" from the edge of the network towards the portal. To illustrate how the imbalance can affect downstream traffic, FIG. 1 shows a mesh network in which access point 200 is the root node of the mesh, access points 201 through 207 are mesh nodes, and 300 through 303 are wireless clients attached to nodes in the mesh.
Consider mesh access point 206. If parent node 205 has a steady stream of data destined to client node 302 and succeeds in getting access to the channel whenever it has data to send, then data packets will accumulate at 206 since 206 does not get a chance to forward the data downstream to client 302. In the upstream direction, the tree structure of the mesh causes a problem when traffic flows from multiple wireless clients up to the portal or root node. If an upstream node such as 205 does not get timely access to the channel for its transmissions, the memory capacity of that access point will be exceeded, and packets comprising the traffic must be dropped.
What is needed is a way of prioritizing traffic within access points in the mesh in both the upstream and downstream directions.


The invention enables a device type manager (DTM) to implement through a field device tool (FDT) frame application, field device management capabilities that are outside the defined operating capabilities of the FDT frame application. The enables controlling a field device, through a device type manager (DTM) configured to control a field device based on control instructions received from a field device tool (FDT) frame application. The FDT frame application and the DTM and/or a DTM wrapper within the DTM may be implemented based on a first runtime environment and a first set of specifications that defines a first set of operating capabilities for the FDT frame application. The DTM wrapper may be configured to communicate with the FDT frame application based on one or more messaging protocols defined by the first set of specifications and further to communicate through inter-process communication, with (i) a DTM framework controller configured to implement the communication and control instructions that enable the DTM to communicate with or control the field device, wherein the DTM framework controller is configured for implementation based on a second runtime environment that is different from the first runtime environment, and (ii) a DTM user interface controller configured to implement one or more user interface controls for controlling the field device.

Automation technology routinely uses field devices for monitoring, registering and controlling process parameters within the automation environment/industrial environment. Exemplary field devices may operate as sensors, for example, fill level measuring devices, mass flow measuring devices, pressure- and temperature-measuring devices, pH- and redox-potential-measuring devices, conductivity measuring devices, etc. for process automation technology. Such devices operate as sensors that detect and report on the corresponding environment parameters such as, fill level, flow, e.g. flow rate, pressure, temperature, pH-value and conductivity value, respectively. Other types of field devices may operate as actuators that enable control of process parameters, e.g. valves, which control flow of a liquid in a section of pipeline, or pumps, which change fill level in a container etc.
Field devices are typically communicatively coupled with application programs that can be used for process control, process visualization, device-management (configuration and servicing) and for plant management (asset management). The communicative coupling may be achieved by communication systems or protocols such as PRO FIBUS®, FOUNDATION-FIELDBUS®, HART®, etc.
The integration of field devices into application programs occurs through defined device descriptions that are provided by device manufacturers, so that the application programs as well as other devices communicating with field devices can recognize and interpret the meaning of data supplied by the field devices.
A specific type of device description is the Device Type Manager (DTM) description, which corresponds to Field Device Tool (FDT) specifications. The FDT specifications, serving as an industry standard, have been developed by the PNO (Profibus Nutzer Organisation (Profibus User Organization)) in cooperation with ZVEI (Zentralverband Elektrotechnik-und Elektroindustrie).
Field device manufacturers develop and distribute DTMs for their field devices based on defined device descriptions such as the FDT specification—which DTMs encapsulate all variables and functions of the pertinent field device and offer, most often, a graphical user interface for servicing the devices.
The DTMs require an FDT compatible frame application (FDT frame application)—which enable an operator to monitor and control the corresponding field device through an interface generated or controlled by the FDT frame application. The FDT frame application and the corresponding DTMs together enable access to field devices (e.g. to device parameters, measured values, diagnostic information, status information, etc.), as well as for invoking special functions, which individual DTMs make available.
DTMs typically correspond to one of two types of DTM—device DTMs for field devices, and communication DTMs for field communication control. In implementation, the DTMs are device objects, which, together with the FDT frame application, represent an object-oriented configuration system for field devices of automation technology.
Since FDT specifications are updated from time to time, later versions of FDT specifications offer operating capabilities for the FDT frame application that are not offered by or supported by earlier versions of the FDT specifications. For example, while the FDT specification version 1.2.x requires implementation through older technology (Microsoft COM) and can at most only use Microsoft .NET 3.5 software framework, the subsequent FDT specification versions 2.x use the Microsoft .NET 4.x software framework.
Additionally, even current versions of FDT specifications do not support rich content within the user interface display—for example through implementation of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) capabilities—as a result of which, such capabilities are not implemented within either current or earlier FDT frame applications There is accordingly a need for enabling existing FDT frame applications to implement user interface capabilities that may not be provided within the current or earlier FDT specifications.
Another consequence arising out of the changing capabilities of incrementally developed FDT specifications is that many automation environments already have FDT frame applications that are configured according to an earlier FDT specification—and such FDT frame applications are unable to benefit from the improved capabilities of the subsequently developed FDT specifications. Since replacement or upgrading the FDT frame application is a time and resource intensive procedure, entities are typically unwilling to make the change on a frequent basis—and as a result there is a need to ensure that FDT frame applications that have been developed based on an earlier FDT specification are able to implement the advanced capabilities of later FDT specifications.

Systems, methods and computer program products for controlling a field device


Touchdown between a read/write head of disk drive and a recording medium is detected based on the variance in the frequency domain of position error signals (PES), each of which is measured after incrementally positioning the read/write head closer to the recording medium, from a baseline PES. The synchronous portion of the baseline PES is quantified and removed from the baseline PES and subsequent PES measurements to remove the effect of the synchronous portion of the baseline PES. The non-synchronous portion of the PES measured at a particular read/write head position may also be removed by synchronously averaging multiple PES measurements for each read/write head position. Detection of touchdown may be based on the rate of change of the variance in the frequency domain of PES relative to a baseline PES, instead of the absolute value of the variance.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to magnetic disk drives and, more particularly, to a proximity detection method for a magnetic head and a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a hard disk drive (HDD), the spacing between a magnetic recording head and magnetic storage disk, referred to as "head clearance," is a critical performance parameter. Reducing head clearance during reading and writing operations can reduce bit error rate and allow accurate storage and retrieval of data that are stored on a disk at very high linear densities. Dynamic fly-height (DFH) control of read/write (R/W) heads is commonly used by modern HDDs to allow low enough fly heights for high-density storage media while maintaining sufficient head clearance over different head locations and disk drive temperatures.
For proper operation of an HDD, DFH control schemes generally require some form of calibration to determine how the fly height of an R/W head varies with stroke location, temperature, and applied DFH control signal. An important step in calibrating DFH control is determination of touchdown, i.e., when the R/W head actually makes contact with the storage medium. During normal operation such contact is avoided, but as part of calibration, touchdown provides an absolute benchmark of R/W head position relative to a disk, and is used in subsequent calibration procedures. For calibration at a given stroke location and temperature, the DFH control signal is stepped through increasing values until a portion of the R/W head begins to contact the disk. Given the touchdown control level and the actuation efficiency, i.e., the amount of fly-height change per unit of applied control signal, a DFH control algorithm can regulate the fly height accurately for an R/W head as a function of location and temperature.
A touchdown-detection algorithm is commonly used to control the HDD during HDD self-test when determining touchdown. Ideally, such a touchdown-detection algorithm can be performed by an HDD without the need for external measurement equipment. When no external equipment is needed for touchdown determination—other than the mechanical support and power supply already required for HDD self-test—the HDD test process is significantly expedited. This is because the setup and breakdown of each HDD before and after self-test can remain unchanged, thereby avoiding complications to the self-test process. In addition, a touchdown-detection algorithm should reliably determine touchdown. Declaring a touchdown power that is too low results in the R/W head flying higher than the optimal height, which can result in poor read/write quality. Declaring a touchdown power that is too high results in the R/W head flying lower than the optimal height, which can result in undesired head/disk contact and failure in the field. Further, a touchdown-detection algorithm should not require excessive head/disk contact during the measurement process for robust calibration of the R/W head position, to minimize the potential for damage to the R/W head and disk surface.
There are a number of methods known in the art for determining touchdown. One approach is to observe the gain of the read channel variable gain amplifier (VGA) as DFH power is increased, and declare touchdown when further increases in DFH power do not produce significant decreases in VGA gain. However, to detect the point at which VGA gain decreases, the DFH power must be driven past the point of initial head/disk contact, which is undesirable. Another approach involves observing acoustic output of the HDD by placing a microphone near the R/W head and declaring touchdown when a pre-determined level of acoustic output is detected. Because installation and removal of the microphone can significantly complicate setup of an HDD for the self-test process, this method is also undesirable. Another approach involves observing overall servo track misregistration (TMR) of the R/W head as DFH power is increased and declaring touchdown when the TMR exceeds a specified level. As with the VGA gain approach, accurate determination of touchdown may require overdriving the R/W head past the point of initial contact with the disk. Therefore, this approach is also undesirable for determining touchdown. In another approach, modulation of the read signal is observed from the R/W head, and touchdown is declared when a specified level of modulation is reached. Overdriving of the R/W head past initial contact with the disk may be necessary for this approach as well. In yet another approach, variance of position error signal (PES), either for total PES or specified frequency bands, is observed as a function of DFH power, and touchdown is declared when the observed variance exceeds a threshold value. While such an approach can detect touchdown for some disk drives, it has been demonstrated that for many disk drives, and even for particular tracks on a given disk drive, touchdown may not be reliably detected by this method.
In light of the above, there is a need for an improved method of touchdown detection that can be performed by an HDD during the self-test process without additional measurement equipment and does not require excessive head/disk contact.

Proximity detection method for magnetic head and recording medium


A carrier for beverage cups. A support panel includes openings for receiving beverage cups and a handle panel is foldably connected to the support panel along a centerline. The carrier is of two-ply construction, with the top ply of the support panel including a tab extending into each cup opening for contacting a cup and assisting in maintaining the cup in a more upright position. The carrier is formed from a one-piece blank.

Soft drinks or other beverages are commonly purchased in paper or plastic cup containers at various types of fast food outlets. When more than one beverage cup is purchased by a customer it is often necessary to provide the customer with some means to carry them. This usually takes the form of a tray or a bag, each of which has its limitations. A tray normally requires the use of both hands to hold it, while a bag is usually only large enough to hold two cups. In both cases the danger of the drink cup toppling and spilling is ever present.
It would be desirable to provide customers with a carrier capable of holding a number of cups without danger of the carrier failing or the cups falling out. It would also be highly desirable for the carrier to be inexpensive, readily manufactured and simple to erect and use.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a carrier which meets these objects.


A method of manufacturing a wiring circuit board includes: preparing an insulating layer; forming conductive thin films on the upper surface and the side end surface of the insulating layer; covering the conductive thin films formed on the upper surface and the side end surface of the insulating layer with photoresists; arranging a photomask so that an end portion and a portion to be provided with a conductive layer in the conductive thin film formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer are shaded and exposing the photoresist covering the conductive thin film formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer from above through the photomask; exposing the photoresist covering the conductive thin film formed on the side end surface of the insulating layer from below; forming plating resists by removing unexposed portions of the photoresists so as to form exposed portions into patterns; forming an end portion conductive layer on the end portion of the conductive thin film formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer, and forming the conductive layer on the conductive thin film formed on the upper surface of the insulating thin film at the same time, on the conductive thin films exposed from the plating resists; removing the plating resists; and removing the conductive thin films having been covered with the plating resists.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a wiring circuit board, and more specifically, it relates to a method of manufacturing a wiring circuit board such as a COF board.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, an additive process is employed for forming a conductive pattern of a wiring circuit board such as a COF board. For example, there is proposed an additive process of forming a conductive thin film made of chromium and copper on an insulating base layer made of polyimide and forming a conductive pattern made of copper on the conductive thin film (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-332549, for example).
According to the aforementioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-332549, the conductive thin film is formed on the overall surface of the insulating base layer by sputtering. Then, the conductive thin film is covered with a negative dry film resist, thereafter exposed from above through a photomask and then developed, thereby forming a plating resist in a reversal pattern of a wiring circuit pattern. Then, the conductive pattern is formed on the surface of the conductive thin film exposed from the plating resist by deposition of copper by electrolytic copper plating.

Method of manufacturing wiring circuit board


The method of present invention and the device used therein is directed for characterizing unknown metallic flakes present in an existing coating on a substrate such that a matching metallic paint composition can be formulated and applied over the substrate to produce a metallic coating having characteristics, such as flop, that match the existing coating. The method includes directing a beam of light at a preset intensity towards a target portion of a target coating; directing a reflection of the portion to a photosensitive surface to capture a target image of the target portion; measuring characteristics of the unknown metallic flakes in the target image at said preset intensity; correlating the characteristics of the unknown metallic flakes in the target image to stored characteristics of known metallic flakes at that preset intensity to identify one or more the known metal flakes that match the characteristics of the unknown metallic flakes; and displaying the identified one or more known metal flakes that match the characteristics of the unknown metallic flakes. Once the characteristics are known, a formulator can then formulate a metallic paint that can be applied over the surface of a substrate, such as a repaired autobody, to produce a metallic coating that matches the remainder of the autobody.

Surface coatings containing a metallic flake pigment, for example aluminum flake, are well known. They are especially favored for the protection and decoration of automobile bodies, such as for example by reason of their imparting a differential light reflection effect, usually referred, to as "flop", as well as flake appearance effects, which include flake size distribution and the sparkle imparted by the flake as well as the enhancement of depth perception in the coating. The flop effect is dependent upon the angle from which the car body is viewed. The degree of the flop effect achieved, is a function of the orientation of the metallic flakes with respect to the outer surface of the coating. To attain a maximum flop effect, ideally, the flakes should all lie in planes parallel to this surface. However, in practice it is not possible to obtain more than a proportion of the flakes lying truly parallel, the remainder lie at various angles to the surface plane, i.e. there is a distribution of the orientations of the metallic flakes in the coating. The degree of sparkle is a function of the flake size, surface smoothness, orientation, and uniformity of the edges. Metallic coatings usually also contain pigments, generally of a light absorbing rather than a light scattering type. Any light scatter from the pigments or the flakes themselves, e.g., from the flake edges, diminishes both the flop and the sparkle of the coating.
Instrumental characterization of metallic pigmented coatings can, in principle, be carried out by measuring with a spectrophotometer the spectral reflectance of a coated panel at a number of angles of incident illumination and of viewing, either within the plane of the illumination and viewing axes, or outside of this plane. The results of such measurements are dependent on the degree of flake alignment as well as the type of flake or other pigments used, but give no direct evidence of the degree of sparkle or flake size. As a result, their value in characterizing the coating is insufficient. Additionally, since these measurements are also dependent on the relative concentrations of the metallic flake and on the presence or absence of any light-absorbing or scattering pigment in coating composition, their value in characterizing the coating is diminished. In color matching for example a previously coated substrate of an automotive body, it is necessary to choose the correct pigments to match the color of that substrate as well as the correct flake to match the color and appearance of that substrate. For an effective measure of the flake characteristics such as size or degree of sparkle of the metallic flakes to be obtained, therefore, it is necessary under these circumstances for shaders to select, based on their expertise, the metallic flake to be used by visually analyzing the target surface, such as a previously coated substrate of an automotive body. Once the flake has been identified, the pigments are selected, typically by well known computer based algorithms, such as those based on radiative transfer theory, which mathematically adjust the pigment quantities, add or reduce black and white pigment quantities, and flop adjuster quantities, including flake quantities, so that the error in the color and flop match to the target surface is the lowest while ensuring that the resulting color/flop formulation is still within the bounds of accepted commercial practice. This formulation is then made up, sprayed on test panels, which are then visually compared to the target surface. If the flop and/or sparkle match are deemed unsatisfactory, the shader adjusts the type and/or changes the amount of the metallic flakes entered into the algorithm to get new color/flop formulation and the whole cycle is repeated until an adequate match is achieved in both color and appearance at all angles of illumination and view. The present invention is aimed at a method that substantially reduces the number of repeat matches needed for the selection of metallic flakes that closely match the appearance of metallic flakes present in the target surface.

Method of characterization of surface coating containing metallic flakes and device used therein


A shuttle-type printer includes a media feed assembly to controllably transfer a recording media through a printing station and a carriage operably mounted at the printing station to move bidirectionally across the media. The printer further includes means mechanically connected to the carriage and media feed assembly for simultaneously (1) moving the carriage and (2) indexing the media through the printing station, whereby the means includes a single motor. Accordingly, a single drive motor can accomplish both carriage motion and media advancement.

Shuttle-type printers are a class of printers having a movable shuttle or carriage that traverses back and forth across a printing surface. A printhead is mounted on the carriage and synchronized with carriage movement to print desired images. The shuttle class of printers includes both impact printers, such as dot matrix and daisy-wheel printers, and non-impact printers, such as ink-jet printers.
Conventional shuttle-type printers have a media feed assembly which advances a recording media through the printer and a separate shuttle drive assembly which maneuvers the carriage over the recording media. The media feed assembly typically consists of friction rollers or a tractor feed mechanism and a motor coupled to rotate them. The shuttle drive assembly typically consists of a motor and a belt and pulley assembly which connects the carriage to the motor. Common motors used in these assemblies include DC motors which change speed and direction in relation to the level and polarity of DC voltage applied thereto, and stepper motors which change speed and direction in response to intermittent pulses.
The two motors used for the media feed and shuttle drive assemblies are controlled in a synchronized manner. The carriage motor drives the carriage back and forth over the media in periodic swaths. At the end of each swath, the media feed motor increments the recording media within the printer to the next line. Special control circuitry is employed to synchronize the operation of these two motors.
A problem of prior shuttle-type printers concerns the complexity of controlling the independent operation of the media feed motor and the carriage motor. Sophisticated hardware and firmware are necessary to manage both motors. In addition to the cost of each motor, there are extra costs resulting from multiple connectors, logic boards, and cables needed to operate both motors, as well as added power supply requirements.
This invention overcomes the above problem by providing a mechanism for simultaneously moving the carriage and indexing the media by using a single motor. The mechanism thereby eliminates one motor and its associated logic board, connector, cable, and power supply overhead.

Media feed and carriage motion mechanism for shuttle-type printers


An airbag inflator assembly including an airbag inflator and an inflator attachment having a sleeve. The inflator includes an elongated sidewall and an end having a flange stop extending outwardly from the sidewall. The sleeve receives and supports the sidewall of the inflator with the flange stop butting against the sleeve. The sleeve has an inwardly extending resilient tab that faces away from the flange stop and engages a gas exhaust port defined by the sidewall to retain the inflator within the sleeve. At least one stud extends transversely to and outwardly from the sleeve for mounting the inflator attachment and inflator within an airbag module. The inflator attachment further includes at least two spaced-apart pairs of diametrically opposed ribs protruding inwardly from the sleeve and grippingly engaging the sidewall of the inflator. The sleeve also defines gas exhaust outlets, which on different versions of the sleeve may vary to accommodate different types of inflators. According to one alternative embodiment, the inflator does not include a flange stop. Instead, the sleeve includes an endwall that butts against the inflator, with the resilient tab facing the endwall. According to another embodiment, the inflator sidewall has a tapered neck, and the resilient tab engages the tapered neck instead of the gas exhaust port. According to an additional embodiment, the sleeve does not include the resilient tab but only includes the at least two spaced-apart pairs of diametrically opposed ribs for grippingly engaging and securing the inflator within the sleeve.

Providing easy attachment for mounting an airbag inflator within an airbag module, reducing the size of an airbag module and reducing the number of parts comprising an airbag module would be useful. An airbag module is part of an inflatable restraint system that is employed in an automobile for protecting an occupant against injury by physically restraining the occupant's body when the automobile encounters a collision. A side impact airbag module protects occupants from side collisions to the automobile and can be positioned in a seat, on the exterior of a seat, in a door or in a side pillar. A passenger side airbag module protects a passenger and is normally positioned in the dashboard in front of the passenger side seat.
A side impact or passenger side airbag module typically includes an airbag cushion and an inflator contained within a reaction canister. The inflator has an elongated cylindrical housing having gas exhaust ports and containing gas generant that, once triggered by a remote collision sensor, provides the inflation gas for inflating the airbag cushion. A hybrid inflator has gas exhaust ports located centrally or at one end while pyrotechnic inflators have gas exhaust ports distributed substantially along their entire length.
The inflator is usually mounted in the reaction canister by a flange end or attachment and fasteners such as a nut and threaded stud, the stud extending from the other end of the inflator. The flange end or attachment and the fastener engage opposite endplates of the reaction canister to secure the inflator therein. These securing means, however, impose structural limitations on the inflator, add additional parts to the airbag module, are sometimes difficult to assemble and are not conducive to automated assembly of the airbag module.
Providing an attachment for mounting an airbag inflator within an airbag module that requires fewer parts, less assembly time, is conducive to automated assembly, and that will help to reduce the size of an airbag module would be useful and desirable.

Airbag inflator attachment with snap-in sleeve


A radiant wall structure including a radiant emitting wall and a second wall spaced from the radiant emitting wall to define a combustion chamber therebetween. A line burner is positioned in the combustion chamber and delivers heated gases upwardly through the combustion chamber. The distance between the radiant emitting wall and the second wall is selectively varied to vary the velocity of the heated gases passing through the combustion chamber, to thereby selectively control the energy transferred to the radiant emitting wall.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and process for generating radiant energy, and is more particularly concerned with a radiant wall structure employed in an industrial oven. The structure includes a radiant wall, the temperature profile of which can be varied along selected areas, by increasing or decreasing the velocity of heated gases passing through a combustion chamber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various means have been utilized in the past to generate radiant energy for use, for example, in industrial ovens to cure coatings. In the conventional design of heated air ovens, it has been a common practice to provide the heated air for the oven from an external heater house containing a burner, and which utilized a fan to recirculate the heated air to and from the oven. These heater houses were interconnected to the oven with supply and return air ducts. When incinerators are used in conjunction with conventional ovens to oxidize the volatile organic compounds (VOC's) which are generated in the drying (curing) process, the incinerators are also interconnected to the ovens with external air ducts. In most instances, these ducts to and from the heater houses and/or the incinerator must be insulated. This duct work and the heater houses or incinerators occupy valuable space within the manufacturing facility. The external heater houses and associated duct work increase the mass of the oven that must be heated on each heat-up cycle of the oven. This increases the time from when the oven is started to when it is ready for use. On each cycle of the oven, the energy that is consumed in heating the mass of the oven is lost to the environment during the period the oven cools down. The external duct work and heater houses also increase the exposed surface area of the oven, therefore increasing the transmission losses. Not only is this lost energy costly, but often this necessitates the operation of additional, costly air conditioning apparatus to remove this wasted heat from the work environment.
In many applications of ovens using external heater houses, the recirculating fans operate at a high level of noise, which adversely impacts the working environment. The recirculating fans used in the external heater houses require extensive maintenance and consume large quantities of energy. It is common for each recirculating fan in large oven installations, such as those used in the automotive and truck industry, to require fan motors of 25 horsepower and larger. In a large installation of conventional ovens using heater houses, a typical cost of electric energy to drive the recirculating fans is estimated to be in excess of approximately $500.00 per day, or more than approximately $100,000.00 per year. The recirculating fans and the inherent disadvantage of their use is eliminated by the present invention. Also, all external or remote heater houses and associated duct work is eliminated by the structure disclose herein.
A means for generating radiant energy is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,553, for a Radiant Wall Oven and Process of Drying Coated Objects. This oven generates radiant energy by igniting a combustible fuel mixture behind the radiant wall, and employing a series of propeller fans to direct the heated gases within a chamber against the radiant wall. The heated gases within the chamber are in a turbulent condition, and therefore, the radiant wall is heated substantially uniformly throughout its entire surface area. While this oven provides an efficient and reliable means for drying coated objects, it is practically impossible to selectively vary the radiant energy emitted by different portions of the wall. Further, the fans which direct the heated gases against the radiant wall have many of the inherent disadvantages previously discussed.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,552 for a Convection Stabilized Radiant Oven, I disclose an oven in which radiant emitter walls emit radiant energy within a drying chamber, accomplishing highly efficient heat transfer by infra-red radiation. Overhead fans circulate the air within the drying chamber to control the equilibrium temperature of the surface of the object in the oven, and to minimize the variation of the temperature distribution in the oven. To generate the radiant energy, a separate furnace utilizing a gas burner assembly is disposed adjacent to the oven. Blowers force heated gas from the furnace through ducts and into outer plenum cavities. The heated gas is directed under pressure through nozzles, and impinges on the inner surface of a radiant emitter wall. While the temperature of the entire radiant emitter wall can be selectively controlled, there is no means to controlled the radiant energy emitted by selected portions of the wall. Further, the separate furnace and its associated duct work and fans also necessarily incorporate the disadvantages previously discussed.

Apparatus and process for generating radiant energy


An electronic paging system and method for transmitting paging signals over a broadcast network, such as a standard pre-existing commercial radio broadcast system, adds paging signals to a normal radio baseband signal for non-interferential co-transmission therewith over the existing standard radio broadcast transmission system. A telephone interface receives paging information via normal telephone lines. The paging information is used to pseudo-randomly frequency-hop a frequency-synthesized signal which is added to the baseband audio of a standard commercial radio signal. This composite signal is then used to modulate the standard commercial radio broadcast carrier in the normal manner. Mobile pagers, or "beepers," receive and selectively decode (i.e. pseudo-randomly frequency-dehop) the standard commercial broadcast signal to determine whether and which pager is being summoned, i.e. addressed. The respective addresses of the individual pagers within the system correspond to start addresses used in pseudo-random code generators within the pager transmitter and each pager receiver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic paging systems, and in particular, to direct access electronic paging systems using digitally encoded radio frequency signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal mobile pagers, or "beepers," have become increasingly common and more widely used. In particular, individuals whose occupations or personal circumstances require that they be accessible at all times, at least by telephone, find such pagers to be indispensable.
Typical electronic paging systems use radio frequency transmitters to access the individual mobile pagers associated with that particular system. A person wishing to page, or "beep," someone else's pager telephones the control center for the paging system. Either by conversing with an operator or entering information electronically over the telephone lines, e.g. via a Touch-Tone.RTM. key pad, the caller can specify which individual pager they wish to access. The appropriate access data is then transmitted over the radio frequency transmitter. The corresponding pager responds, e.g. by flashing a lamp, beeping or vibrating, thereby alerting its user that they are being summoned. More sophisticated pagers can also receive and display information informing its user as to the identity of the caller or the telephone number at which the caller wishes to be contacted.
Rising sophistication and falling costs of modern computer systems have allowed paging systems to become more sophisticated and less expensive to establish and operate. However, a major cost and obstacle to establishing and operating a paging system continues to be the radio frequency transmitter portion of the system. Dedicated radio frequency transmission systems can be and generally are quite expensive. Furthermore, obtaining a license and certification for the transmitter can be costly and very time consuming. With the advent and increasing use of such things as cellular telephones and other means of mobile communications, the radio frequency spectrum has become extremely crowded. Therefore, obtaining a frequency allocation and license for a new paging system is difficult, and in urban areas in particular, frequently impossible.
In rural areas this problem can be more acute. Aside from the expense and difficulty of establishing and licensing a paging system, profitability of operating the system may not be possible, depending upon the number of users or customers in the rural area. The area of coverage afforded by the transmitter may not include enough potential users to support the system.
Whether in urban or rural areas, these problems of cost, licensing and profitability of a paging system tend to reduce the number of systems competing in the marketplace. This lack of competition keeps user costs high and often tends to discourage any motivation among existing systems' operators to improve features or service.
One means by which a paging system can be simplified involves providing the capability for the users, e.g. customers, to initiate the paging signals themselves. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,145 to Hanway discloses a system in which the users, via individual telephones, can access the paging system to initiate their own paging signals. Thus, operation of the system from the perspective of the owner-operator can potentially be simplified. However, a dedicated radio signal transmission system is needed, which, as discussed above, is generally quite costly.
Another means by which a paging system can be simplified involves using already existing radio signal transmission equipment to provide the media through which the system's pagers can be accessed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,828 to Tikalsky discloses a system in which a user, via a host interface, transmits paging signals over several FM radio stations which are tied together in a network. The paging signals are transmitted in the SCA ("subsidiary communication authorization") band, which is normally used to transmit background music, weather, time signals, educational information, etc. However, a network of several radio transmitters, accessed through a single host interface, are needed, thereby resulting in a high cost system, as discussed above. Furthermore, such a system interferes with normal usage of the SCA band.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a simplified means by which establishing, licensing and profitably operating a paging system could be accomplished more quickly and economically.

Paging system which combines a paging signal with a standard broadcast baseband signal


A porous material with liquid in the pores is examined by submerging the material in a bathing liquid, possibly a perfluorocarbon, which is immiscible with the liquid in the pores, is non-wetting towards the material, is immiscible with and differs in density from any liquid on the outside of the material, and does not contain a resonant element found in the bathing liquid. This bathing liquid displaces fluid from the surface of the porous material but not the liquid in the pores. Nuclear magnetic resonance signals from liquid in the pores give a measurement of pore volume. Volume of bathing liquid displaced by the porous material gives the bulk volume and porosity can be derived from these measurements. Sample preparation is minimal and a benchtop spectrometer can be used, making the method practical for examination of drill cuttings from a borehole while drilling.

The present disclosure is concerned with determining porosity and/or other properties of porous material with liquid in the pores of the material. Porous material to be examined may be encountered in a number of industries and circumstances. Possibilities include examination of samples of particulate catalysts, chromatography column packing materials, porous pharmaceutical materials as well as many other porous materials which may be in the form of particles or larger objects. A number of physical properties of porous material may be of interest, again depending on industry and circumstances. Some are properties of liquid in the pores, others are characteristics of the porous material, including its porosity which can be expressed as the volume of the pores as a percentage of the bulk volume of the material.
An area of interest to the present applicants is the examination of drill cuttings brought to the surface during the drilling of a subterranean borehole. When drilling a subterranean borehole with a rotary drill, as is done when drilling for oil or gas, it is standard practice to pump drilling fluid from the surface, down the drill string within the borehole to the drill bit and then back to the surface entraining the cuttings made by the drill bit. Drill cuttings are then separated from the drilling fluid at the surface.
There are numerous techniques for investigating the nature and properties of underground strata before, during and after drilling. Examination of drill cuttings is one of this range of techniques.
When drilling for oil or gas, examination of drill cuttings is used in the course of so called mud logging carried out at the well site, that is logging data from drilling fluid returning to the surface to build a geological description of the reservoir, determine hydrocarbon indices, and identify zones from which oil or gas can be produced.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has become a recognized tool in the field of petrophysics, both as a laboratory tool and as a downhole well logging tool. The signal amplitude obtained in an NMR measurement is directly proportional to the number of resonant nuclei (usually 1H) in a sample which is being examined, and therefore the signal amplitude is directly proportional to the mass of oil or brine present in a sample.
Although NMR can observe liquids within cuttings, NMR measurements are also sensitive to liquids surrounding the exterior of cuttings, which will include interstitial liquid trapped between the cuttings which are packed together. This liquid at the exterior of cuttings can provide a significant or dominant contribution to the observed signal. Thus it can be impractical or even impossible to use NMR to examine properties of fluid within pores because signals from a resonant nucleus within the pores are inseparable from much stronger signals coming from the same resonant nucleus present in fluid at the exterior of the porous material. Although there have been a few proposals to make use of NMR at a well-site, these have tended to envisage time-consuming cleaning of the cuttings' exterior as a preliminary step which may prove to be impractical to implement at the well site for significant sample volumes. Thus, the majority of studies published on petrophysics from drill cuttings have relied on data generated in laboratories away from the well site.
In summary, obtaining information rapidly at the well site as drilling is in progress is desirable, because the information is then available in near real time as an input to decisions about the drilling. However, there are a number of properties, relevant as petrophysical information, which can be determined through off-site laboratory analysis of drill cuttings but which are rarely if ever determined on cuttings at the well site due to the complexity of the methodology or the size and cost of equipment required. More specifically porosity of the rock from which the cuttings have been drilled is a significant property which is not normally determined at the well site. Others which normally are only available through off-site analysis are permeability, irreducible water saturation and wettability.

Determining properties of porous material by NMR