A bus arbiter for a group of masters and a bus access control method. An arbitration priority control section output basic priority data for each of the masters. An arbitration priority generating section is provided for each of the masters, and combines the basic priority data for the corresponding master with request indication data indicating existence or non-existing of a bus access request from corresponding master to generate arbitration priority data. An arbitration priority comparing section compares the arbitration priority data for the masters with each other to determine the arbitration priority data which has the highest priority, and outputs a comparison resultant signal containing data for specifying the master corresponding to the arbitration priority data with the highest priority. An arbitration result notifying section outputs a bus use permission signal to the corresponding master with the highest priority in response to the comparison resultant signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bus arbiter and a bus access arbitrating method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a processor is known in which a plurality of masters and a plurality of slaves are connected with a bus such as a CPU local bus and a PCI bus. In such a processor, when the masters generate bus access requests to the slaves at a same time, a competition of the bus accesses requests is caused. The processor is provided with a bus arbiter to avoid the competition of the bus access requests. The bus arbiter arbitrates the bus access requests from the plurality of masters and allocates a bus usage right to only one of the masters.
Hereinafter, the conventional bus arbiter will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of the conventional processor to which the bus arbiter is applied.
Referring to FIG. 1, the processor is composed of a bus 10, a plurality of masters (MASTER1 to MASTERn) 201 to 20n which can access the bus 10 actively, a plurality of slaves (SLAVE1 to SLAVEm) 301 to 30m which receive the access passively, and a bus arbiter (ARBITER) 40. It should be noted that in case of a PCI local bus or Card Bus (Card Bus), the slave is called a target, too.
Generally, the masters 201 to 20n generate bus access requests asynchronously. The bus arbiter 40 arbitrates the competition of the bus access requests asynchronously generated. The masters 201 to 20n send the bus access requests REQ1 to REQn to the bus arbiter 40 to request the bus usage right. The bus arbiter 40 determines one of the masters for the bus usage right to be allocated in response to the bus access requests REQ1 to REQn and sends one of bus use permission signals GNT1 to GNTn corresponding to the master, to which the bus usage right is allocated, to permit the use of the bus 10.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detailed structure of the bus arbiter 40. The bus arbiter 40 is composed of an arbitration priority control section (PRICONT) 50, a plurality of arbitration priority generating sections (PRIGEN1 to PRIGENn) 511 to 51n, an arbitration priority comparing section (CMPR) 52, an arbitration result notifying section (GNTGEN) 53, and a bus monitoring section (BUSCHK) 54.
When the bus access requests REQ1 to REQn are sent from the masters 201 to 20n to the bus arbiter 40, a bus access arbitration process is started. In the bus access arbitration process, the arbitration priority generating section PRIGENi 51i (i=1, 2, . . . , n, hereinafter, being same) receives the bus access request REQi, and generates arbitration priority data PRIINFOi based on basic priority data PRIBASEi which is sent as a basic priority from the arbitration priority control section 50. Also, the arbitration priority generating section PRIGENi 51i generates a request ON signal REQONi showing the existence or non-existence of the bus access request REQi from the master 20i. The arbitration priority data PRIINFOi and the request ON signal REQONi are sent to the arbitration priority comparing section 52.
The arbitration priority comparing section 52 compares the arbitration priority data to select the master with the highest arbitration priority from among the masters corresponding to the request ON signals. The arbitration priority comparing section 52 sends an arbitration priority comparison resultant signal to the arbitration result notifying section 53 based on the comparing result. The arbitration priority comparison resultant signal contains data to specify the selected master. The arbitration result notifying section 53 sends a bus usage permission signal GNTi to the selected master 20i shown by the arbitration priority comparison resultant signal.
The above-mentioned bus access arbitration process is carried out for every bus access, i.e., for every bus cycle. The bus monitoring section 54 monitors and detects the start and end of the bus cycle, and sends a bus arbitration control request signal to the arbitration priority control section 50 and the arbitration priority comparing section 52, to define the timing to permit the use of the bus 10 in the next bus cycle.
Also, the arbitration result notifying section 53 sends to the arbitration priority control section 50 an arbitration result reflection control signal generated based on the arbitration priority comparison resultant signal from the arbitration priority comparing section 52 to reflect an arbitration result. By this, the arbitration priority control section 50 can reflect the arbitration result to the generation of the next basic priority data PRIBASEi.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the arbitration priority generating section (PRIGENn) 51n, the arbitration priority comparing section (CMPR) 52 and arbitration result notifying section (GNTGEN) 53 in detail. It should be noted that each structure of the arbitration priority generating section (PRIGEN1 to PRIGENn−1) 511 to 51n−1 are omitted from FIG. 3. However, they have the same structure as that of the arbitration priority generating section (PRIGENn) 51n.
The arbitration priority generating section 51i generates the arbitration priority data PRIINFOi based on the basic priority data PRIBASEi from the arbitration priority control section 50, and the arbitration priority data PRIINFOi contains a plurality of bits showing a priority. Also, the arbitration priority generating section 51i generates the request ON signal REQONi based on the bus access request REQi to show the existence or non-existence of the bus access request. The arbitration priority data PRIINFOi and the request ON signal REQONi are sent to the arbitration priority comparing section 52 as different parameters.
The arbitration priority comparing section 52 is composed of an arbitration object determining section 70. The arbitration object determining section 70 determines as comparison objects, only the arbitration priority data corresponding to the request ON signals and outputted from the arbitration priority generating sections. The arbitration priority comparing section 52 selects the highest one of the arbitration priority data determined as the comparison objects by the arbitration object determining section 70, and sends the arbitration priority comparison resultant signal to the arbitration result notifying section 53. The arbitration result notifying section 53 generates and sends the bus usage permission signal to the master with the highest priority based on the arbitration priority comparison resultant signal to permit the bus use. Thus, the bus access arbitration process completes.
As mentioned above, in the conventional bus arbiter, when the bus access requests are generated, the request ON signals are sent to the arbitration priority comparing section in addition to the arbitration priorities, to show the existence or non-existence of a bus access request. The arbitration priority comparing section 52 includes the arbitration object determining section 70, and determines whether each bus access request is the object of the arbitration, based on the request ON signal by the arbitration object determining section 70. Therefore, the arbitration priority comparing section 52 becomes larger in the hardware structure. As a result, the bus arbiter becomes expensive.
In conjunction with the above description, a bus control apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 2-170255). In the bus control apparatus of this conventional example, a plurality of processors are connected with a bus. A selector selects one of the plurality of processors. A priority determining section determines priorities of the processors dynamically based on the statuses of them.
Also, a bus arbiter is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 5-242021). In the bus arbitration circuit of this conventional example, the priority of each of a plurality of masters to the bus usage right is stored in a priority storage circuit. A priority comparing circuit compares the priorities stored in the priority storage circuit to determine the current priority order of the masters to bus usage right. A bus use permission signal is outputted to one of the masters, which has the highest priority of the current priority order, by the priority comparing circuit in response to bus use requests. A priority control circuit carries out a priority control to increase the priorities stored in the priority storage circuit and corresponding to the masters other than the master with the highest priority. Also, the priority of the master with the highest priority is decreased. By the structure, it is possible to equally allocate the bus usage right to masters without limiting the reception of the bus use requests. Also, it is possible to allocate the bus usage right to the masters with high priority levels and the masters with low priority levels while keeping a constant rate.
Also, a bus arbiter circuit is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 5-274254). In the bus arbiter circuit of this conventional example, a bus use permission signal generating section receives a bus use request from a plurality of masters and allocates a bus use permission signal to a master with the highest priority. A bus use priority updating section reduces the priority of the master with the bus use permission signal to the lowest. Thus, the priorities of the masters with the priorities lower than the master supplied with the bus use permission signal are made higher by one. As a result, the bus use permission can be given to the plurality of masters equally.
Also, a bus control system is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 6-243093). In the bus control system for a serial bus of this conventional example, a plurality of bus masters are connected with a bus. Each bus master is composed of a bus request priority setting section which sets priority of a bus request variably, and a priority sending section which sends priority data indicative of the priority onto the bus. A priority receiving section receives the priority data from the bus masters. A bus arbiter permits the bus requests to the bus masters in accordance with a higher order of the priorities received by the priority receiving section.
Also, a method of determining a circulating-type bus priority is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 7-249000). In the bus arbitration method for a serial bus of this conventional example, when a plurality of ports connected with the serial bus tries to acquire the bus, one of the plurality of ports is selected, and the bus is allocated to the selected port. That is, when transmission requests are outputted from the plurality of ports to the bus, one of the plurality of ports having the largest port identification number is selected to acquire the bus, and the port identification number of the port having acquired the bus is made smaller than the port identification numbers of the other ports.
Also, a common bus usage right control system is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 8-161257). In the common bus usage right control system of this conventional example, a plurality of bus masters are connected with a common bus. An allocating section allocates a priority level to each of use requests of the common bus from the plurality of bus masters in accordance with an external instruction. An arbitration section arbitrates the use requests to the common bus in accordance with the priority levels. A connection section is provided to connect the plurality of bus masters in series such that a bus use permission signal is propagated between ones of the plurality of bus masters to which the same priority level is allocated.
Also, a bus arbitration system is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 10-228446). The bus arbitration system of this conventional example is composed of a bus arbitration circuit to arbitrate accesses to a bus from a plurality of bus masters. Each bus the master has a function to output a bus use request, a function to wait the bus access until a bus use permission signal is received, and a function to send out an address to the bus. The bus arbitration circuit is composed of a priority data storage section for storing a plurality of sets of bus master priority data, and each set of bus master priority data shows priorities of the bus masters. A priority data selecting section selects one of the plurality of sets one by one for every bus cycle. A bus use permission signal generating circuit outputs a bus use permission signal to one with the highest priority of the bus masters which have generated bus use requests in accordance with the selected set of bus master priority data, to permit the use of the bus during only one bus cycle bus.
Also, a bus arbitration apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 10-254823). In this conventional example, a plurality of devices are connected to a bus. The bus arbitration apparatus arbitrates the bus use requests when the bus use requests are outputted from the plurality of devices and compete to each other. The bus arbitration apparatus stores variable weight values which are different between the devices and are changed for every bus arbitration. The variable weight values are used as the priorities of the devices.
Also, a first arrival priority bus competition control system is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-P2000-99455A). In this conventional example, a plurality of input/output processors are connected to a bus. A first arrival fixed priority arbitration section selects one of bus use request signals in accordance with the arrival order in units of clocks. A change detecting section detects the change of the priority output from the arbitration section. A priority storage section stores the priority output from the change detecting section until the bus use end. A bus use permission signal synchronization section outputs the bus use permission signal. An arbitration control unit controls the bus use permission signal synchronization section based on the output state of the bus use permission signal.

Bus arbiter and bus access arbitrating method


The invention provides compositions and methods for rapid assembly of one or more assembled polynucleotides from a plurality of component polynucleotides, as well as methods of designing polynucleotide primer and linker sets useful in the assembly methods of the invention.

Assessing the effects of combinations of genetic mutations in heterogenous populations of cells (bacteria, eukaryotic etc.) has implications in metabolic and genetic engineering, disease diagnostics and synthetic biology. Particularly, individual genetic mutations conferring a phenotype when found alone, may result novel or unpredictable phenotypes in the presence of other mutations. But current genotyping methods do not adequately assess the effects of combinations of mutations found in heterogenous populations and there are presently no high-resolution and high-throughput techniques for screening combinations of mutations that exist in a population.
Assembly of diverse genetic elements into a single vector traditionally required restriction and ligation enzyme-based methods that are time-consuming and laborious. For example, each sub-cloning step requires the resulting clone be screened and characterized before the introduction of additional fragments. Clones produced by blunt end ligation require confirmation that the fragment was introduced in the proper orientation, while sticky-end ligation requires that the restriction sites utilized to produce the sticky ends on the acceptor fragment also be present in the donor fragment, but not at a site that would interrupt the sequence of interest within the donor fragment. Thus, the selection of workable restriction sites depends entirely on the compositions of the pieces being joined and must be carefully considered in each case. Moreover, the efficiency of such restriction-enzyme based cloning methods is limited by the number of nucleic acid molecules that can be ligated together in a single reaction.
It has been shown that simultaneous amplification of more than one DNA segment can be achieved with a Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers tagged with unrelated nucleotide sequences which are then ligated together into a single DNA molecule (Chamberlain et al. (1988) Nucleic Acids Research 16 (23): 11141-11156). But PCR products amplified with primers lacking the unrelated nucleotide sequence are not reliably produced due to differences in hybridization kinetics among the primers, and it is therefore necessary to tag each primer with an identical nucleotide sequence to achieve efficient amplification of multiple sequences. All of the PCR products then contain identical unrelated sequences which have to be removed or extended before they could be linked to form one DNA molecule containing all sequences of interest.
One method of amplifying several DNA segments which occur in non-adjacent portions of a DNA sample, termed "splicing by overlap extension" (U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,171), assembles DNA molecules at precise junctions without the use of restriction enzymes or ligase. Component fragments to be recombined are generated in separate polymerase chain reactions using uniquely designed primers which produce amplicons having complementary termini to one another. Upon mixing and denaturation of these amplicons, strands having complementary sequences at their 3′ ends overlap and act as primers for each other. Extension of this overlap by DNA polymerase produces a nucleic acid molecule in which the original sequences are spliced together. Subsequent rounds of PCR amplify the resulting spliced polynucleotide. This technique requires time to optimize primer sequences and amplification conditions to produce desired products. Each junction between the fragments to be spliced together must be individually considered, and a pair of primers must be designed for each target DNA fragment in order to make the ends compatible. Considerations for the design of PCR primers, (e.g., melting temperature, G-C content, avoidance of hairpin and dimer formation, and stringency for false priming sites) become increasingly complex as the number of fragments to be spliced in the reaction increases, such that combining more than just three or four target DNA segments becomes an insurmountable PCR reaction design problem. In addition, splicing by overlap extension performs the linker tagging and amplification in each site in a separate reaction, and subsequent reactions are used to assemble the pieces. This limits the usefulness of this technique from a genotyping approach although it is an effective gene construction technique.
Thus, despite advances in recombinant DNA technology, there exists a need for improved methods that provide for the rapid and ordered 1-step assembly of non-adjacent polynucleotides from a heterogenous DNA population. Particularly needed are methods which can facilitate the assembly of a number of polynucleotides with minimal manipulation and characterization of intermediate products, into a single DNA molecule in suitable quantity for accurate characterization of mutations within the assembled DNA fragments and with efficient, high throughput processing that will enable the characterization of multiple mutations that interact to create a specific phenotype. These and other needs can be met by the methods of the present invention.

The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate


The housing includes a base and an antenna coating layer. The base includes a first surface. The base is made of one of glass and ceramic. The antenna coating layer is formed on the first surface. The antenna coating layer is made of metal power. The metal power is selected from one of copper power, copper alloy power, or copper and nickel mixed power.

Electronic devices commonly includes an antenna assembly configured for transmitting/receiving signals such as an antenna coating layer. The typical antenna coating layer can be an Laser Direct structuring (LDS) antenna coating layer, a double double-shot antenna coating layer, a printing antenna coating layer, and so on. However, considering cost of the antenna coating layer and development of the electronic devices tend to light and thin, the antenna coating layer mentioned-above cannot satisfy requirements of users.

Housing for electronic device and method for making same

SHENZHEN FUTAIHONG PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.


A block of picture elements is DCT transformed and coded to produce a corresponding data block of variable length codewords having an average length. The data blocks are apportioned among fixed length transport blocks as needed to produce full transport blocks. The transport blocks include a direct (DC) component and alternating components at prescribed locations, as well as an address information flag indicating whether or not block data is longer or shorter than the average length, and an address pointer, to facilitate recovery and synchronization of apportioned data blocks at a decoder.

In German Patent DE 37 02 490, a data transmission method is described in which data from picture element (pixel) blocks is converted from a DCT (discrete cosine transformation) into digital signals which are coded with variable word lengths. In doing this, the digital signals are recorded in blocks with an average length. Blocks which are not completely full are filled up with data from other blocks. In order to improve (i.e., reduce) interference susceptibility, direct DC components and significant alternating AC components are recorded at fixed intervals. If faults occur in the transmission channel or in the storage medium, block data which is distributed over other blocks cannot be decoded.

System for processing a digital signal including auxiliary data to facilitate data reconstitution at a decoder


A microlithography reduction objective formed from six mirrors arranged in a light path between an object plane and an image plane is provided. The microlithography reduction objective is characterized by having an image-side numerical aperture NAxe2x89xa70.15. In some embodiments, the mirror closest to the image plane, i.e., the fifth mirror is arranged such that an image-side optical free working distance is greater than or equal to a used diameter of a physical mirror surface of the fifth mirror, a physical mirror surface being the area of a mirror where light rays from the object impinge. The fifth mirror may be arranged such that an image-side optical free working distance is greater than or equal to the sum of one-third the used diameter of the physical mirror surface on the fifth mirror and a length between 20 mm and 30 mm. The fifth mirror may be arranged such that the image-side optical free working distance is at least 50 mm, as well. The image-side free working distance is the physical distance between the vertex of the surface of the fifth mirror and the image plane. Other embodiments are described.

The invention relates to a microlithography objective, a projection exposure apparatus containing the objective, and a method of manufacturing an integrated circuit using the same.
Using a lithography system operating with wavelengths below 193 nm for imaging structures of below 130 nm resolution has been proposed. In fact, such lithography systems have been suggested for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range with wavelengths of xcex=11 nm or xcex=13 nm producing structures of below 100 nm. The resolution of a lithographic system is described by the following equation:
RES=k1xc2x7xcex/NA
where k1 is a specific parameter of the lithographic process, xcex is the wavelength of the incident light, and NA is the image-side numerical aperture of the system. For example, if one assumes a numerical aperture of 0.2, then the imaging of 50 nm structures with 13 nm radiation requires a process with k1=0.77. With k1=0.64, the imaging of 35 nm structures is possible with 11 nm radiation.
For imaging systems in the EUV region, substantially reflective systems with multilayer coatings are available as optical components. Preferably multilayers of Mo/Be are used as multilayer coating systems for systems operating at xcex=11 nm, whereas Mo/Si systems are used for xcex=13 mm. Since the reflectivity of the multilayer coatings is approximating 70%, it is desirable to use as few optical components as possible in e.g. an EUV projection microlithography objective to achieve sufficient light intensity. Specifically, to achieve high light intensity and to allow for the correction of imaging errors, systems with six mirrors and a image side numerical aperture (NA)=0.20 have been used.
Six-mirror systems for microlithography have become known from the publications U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728, EP 779,528 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,310. The projection lithography system according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728 has a projection objective with six mirrors, where each of the reflective mirror surfaces has an aspherical form. The mirrors are arranged along a common optical axis in such a way that an obscuration-free light path is achieved. Since the projection objective known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728 is used only for UV light with a wavelength of 100-300 nm, the mirrors of this projection objective have a very high asphericity of approximately xc2x150 xcexcm as well as very large angles of incidence of approximately 38xc2x0. Even after reducing the image side aperture to NA=0.2, an asphericity of 25 xcexcm from peak to peak remains, with a barely reduced angle of incidence. Such asphericities and angles of incidence are not practicable in the EUV region due to the high requirements for surface quality and reflectivity of the mirrors.
Another disadvantage of the objectives disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728, which precludes their use with wavelengths below 100 nm such as the 11 nm and 13 nm wavelengths desirable for EUV microlithography, is the short distance between the wafer and the mirror arranged next to the wafer. In the case of U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728, due to this short distance between the wafer and the mirror next to the wafer, the mirrors could be made only very thin. Due to the extreme layer stress in the multilayer systems discussed for 11 nm or 13 nm wavelengths, such thin mirrors are very unstable.
A projection objective with six mirrors for use in EUV lithography, particularly also for wavelengths of 13 nm and 11 nm, has become known from EP 779,528. This projection objective also has the disadvantage that at least two of the six mirrors have very high asphericities of 26 and 18.5 xcexcm. However, even in the EP 779,528 arrangement, the optical free working distance between the mirror next to the wafer and the wafer itself is so small that either instabilities occur or the mechanical free working distance is negative.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a projection objective for lithography with short wavelengths, preferably smaller than 100 nm, which does not have the disadvantages of the state of the art described above.
According to one aspect of the invention, the shortcomings of the prior art are overcome by a projection objective having an object plane and an image plane and a light path for a bundle of light rays from the object plane to the image plane. The six mirrors of the objective are arranged in the light path from the object plane to the image plane. According to the invention the mirror closest to the image plane where e.g. an object to be illuminated such as a wafer is situated is arranged in such a way that an image-side numerical aperture is NAxe2x89xa70.15. In this application the image-side numerical aperture is understood to be the numerical aperture of the bundle of light rays impinging onto the image plane. Furthermore, the mirror arranged closest to the image plane of the objective is arranged in such a way that the image-side free working distance corresponds at least to the used diameter of the mirror next to the wafer. In a preferred embodiment the image-side free working distance is at least the sum of one-third of the used diameter of the mirror next to the image plane and a length between 20 and 30 mm. In an alternative embodiment the image-side free working distance is at least 50 mm. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the image-side free working distance is 60 mm. In this application the free working distance is defined as the distance of the vertex of the surface of the mirror next to the image plane and the image plane. All surfaces of the six mirrors in this application are rotational-symmetric about a principal axis (PA). The vertex of a surface of a mirror is the intersection point of the surface of a mirror with the principal axis (PA). Each mirror has a mirror surface. The mirror surface is the physical mirror surface upon which the bundle of light rays traveling through the objective from the object plane to the image plane impinge. The physical mirror surface or the used area of a mirror can be an off-axis or an on-axis mirror segment relative to the principal axis (PA).
According to another aspect of the invention, a projection objective that comprises six mirrors is characterized by an image-side numerical aperture, NA, greater than 0.15 and an arc-shaped field width, W, at the wafer in the range 1.0 mmxe2x89xa6W. The peak-to-valley deviation, A, of the aspheres are limited with respect to the best fitting sphere of the physical mirror surface of all mirrors by:
Axe2x89xa619 xcexcmxe2x88x92102 xcexcm (0.25xe2x88x92NA)xe2x88x920.7 xcexcm/mm (2 mmxe2x88x92W).
In a preferred embodiment, the peak-to-valley distance A of the aspheres is limited with respect to the best fitting sphere of the off-axis segments of all mirrors by:
Axe2x89xa612 xcexcmxe2x88x9264 xcexcm (0.25xe2x88x92NA)xe2x88x920.3 xcexcm/mm (2 mmxe2x88x92W).
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a projection objective that includes six mirrors is characterized by an image-side numerical aperture NAxe2x89xa70.15 and an image-side width of the arc-shaped field Wxe2x89xa71 mm, and the angles of incidence AOI are limited for all rays of the light bundle impinging a physical mirror surface on all six mirrors S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6 by:
AOIxe2x89xa623xc2x0xe2x88x9235xc2x0(0.25xe2x88x92NA)xe2x88x920.2xc2x0/mm(2 mmxe2x88x92W)
wherein the angles of incidence AOI refer to the angle between the incident ray and the normal to the physical mirror surface at the point of incidence. The largest angle of any incident bundle of light rays occurring on any of the mirrors is always given by the angle of a bundle-limiting ray.
Preferably, an embodiment of the invention would encompass all three of the above aspects, e.g., an embodiment in which the free optical working distance would be more than 50 mm at NA=0.20 and the peak-to-valley deviation of the aspheres, as well as the angles of incidence, would lie in the regions defined above.
The asphericities herein refer to the peak-to-valley (PV) deviation, A, of the aspherical surfaces with respect to the best fitting sphere of the physical mirror surface of an specific mirror. The physical mirror surface of a specific mirror is also denoted as the used area of this specific mirror. The aspherical surfaces are approximated in the examples by using a sphere. The sphere has a center on the figure axis vertex of the mirror. The sphere intersects the asphere in the upper and lower endpoint of the used area in the meridian section. The data regarding the angles of incidence always refer to the angle between the incident ray and the normal to the physical mirror surface at the point of incidence. The largest angle of any incident bundle of light rays occurring on any of the physical mirror surfaces is always given by the angle of a bundle-limiting ray. The used diameter or the diameter of the physical mirror surface will be defined here and below as the envelope circle diameter of the physical mirror surface or the used area of a mirror, which is generally not circular.
In a preferred embodiment, the free working distance is 60 mm.
The objective can be used not only in the EUV, but also at other wavelengths, without deviating from the scope of the invention. In any respect, however, to avoid degradation of image quality, especially degradation due to central shading, the mirrors of the projection objectives should be arranged so that the light path of the bundle of light rays traveling from the object plane to the image plane is obscuration-free. Furthermore, to provide easy mounting and adjusting of the system, the physical mirror surfaces have a rotational symmetry to a principal axis (PA). Moreover, to have a compact design with an accessible aperture and to establish an obscuration-free light path of the bundle of light rays traveling from the object plane to the image plane, the projection objective device is designed in such a way that an intermediate image of the object situated in the object plane is formed after the fourth mirror. In such systems, it is possible that the aperture stop is situated in the front, low-aperture objective part, with a pupil plane conjugated to the aperture stop imaged in the focal plane of the last mirror. Such a system ensures telecentricity in the image plane.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the aperture stop is freely accessible and arranged in the light path from the object plane to the image plane between the second and third mirror. Good accessibility of the aperture stop is ensured when the ratio of the distance between the first and third mirror to the distance between the first and second mirror lies in the range of:
0.5 less than S1S3/S1S2 less than 2.
As defined for the free working distance in general a distance between two mirrors is the distance of the vertices of the surfaces of these mirrors.
Furthermore, in order to prevent vignetting of the light running from the third to the fourth mirror, by the aperture stop arranged between the second and third mirror, the ratio of the distance between the second mirror and aperture stop to the distance between the third mirror and the aperture stop lies in the range:
0.5 less than S2 aperture/(S3 aperture) less than 2.
In such a system, the angles of incidence on the physical mirror surfaces in the front part of the objective are reduced.
An aperture stop which physically lies between the second mirror, S2, and the first mirror, S1, must be formed at least partially as a narrow ring in order to avoid clipping of light moving from S1 to S2. In such a design, there is a danger that undesirable direct light or light reflected on S1 and S2, will pass outside the aperture ring and reach the image plane and thus the wafer. However, if the aperture stop is placed in the light path between the second and third mirror and physically close to the first mirror (which can be easily achieved mechanically), an efficient masking of this undesired light is possible. The aperture stop can be designed both as an opening in the first mirror or an opening which is arranged behind the first mirror.
In another embodiment of the invention, the aperture stop is arranged on or near the second mirror. Arrangement of the aperture on a mirror has the advantage that it is easier to manufacture.
In order to ensure an obscuration-free ray path with simultaneously low angles of incidence, the ratio of the distance between the first and third mirrors (S1S3) to the distance between the first and second mirrors (S1S2) lies in the range:
0.3xe2x89xa6S1S3/S1S2xe2x89xa62.0,
while the ratio of the distance between the second and third mirrors (S2S3) to the distance between the third and fourth mirrors (S3S4) lies in the range:
0.7xe2x89xa6S2S3/S3S4xe2x89xa61.4.
In order to be able to make the necessary corrections of imaging errors in the six-mirror systems, in a preferred embodiment, all six mirrors are designed to be aspherical. However, an alternative embodiment whereby at most five mirrors are aspherical can simplify the manufacturing, because it is then possible to design one mirror, preferably the largest mirror, i.e., the quaternary mirror, in the form of a spherical mirror. Moreover, it is preferred that the second to sixth mirror be in a concave-convex-concave-convex-concave sequence.
In order to achieve a resolution of at least 50 nm, the design part of the rms wavefront section of the system should be at most 0.07xcex and preferably 0.03 xcex.
Advantageously, in the embodiments of the invention, the objectives are always telecentric on the image-side.
In projection systems, which are operated with a reflection mask, a telecentric light path on the object-side is not possible without illumination through a beam splitter, which reduces the transmission strongly. One such device is known from JP 95 28 31 16.
In systems with transmission mask, the projection objective can be telecentric on the object side. In these embodiments, the first mirror is preferably concave.
The telecentericity error in the image plane, where the wafer is situated should not exceed 10 mrad and is typically between 5 mrad and 2 mrad, with 2 mrad being preferred. This ensures that changes of the imaging ratio remain within tolerable limits over the depth of focus.
In an preferred embodiments of the invention, the six mirror objective may include a field mirror, a reducing three-mirror subsystem and a two-mirror subsystem.
In addition to the projection objective according to the invention, the invention also makes available a projection exposure apparatus that includes at least a projection objective device. In a first embodiment, the projection exposure apparatus has a reflection mask, while, in an alternative embodiment, it has a transmission mask. Preferably, the projection exposure apparatus includes an illumination device for illuminating an off-axis arc-shaped field and the system is designed as an arc-shaped field scanner. Furthermore, the secant length of the scan slit is at least 26 mm and the ring width is greater than 0.5 mm.
The invention will be described below with the aid of the drawings as examples.

Microlithography reduction objective and projection exposure apparatus


A device and method of fabricating are provided. The device includes a substrate having a first side and an opposite second side, a cavity defined within the substrate from the first side, a die coupled to a floor of the cavity and having a conductive pad on a side of the die distal to the floor of the cavity. A laminate layer coupled to the second side of the substrate may be included. A hole may be drilled, at one time, through layers of the device, through the die, and through the conductive pad. The hole extends through and is defined within the laminate layer (if present), the second side of the substrate, the die, and the conductive pad. A conductive material is provided within the hole and extends between and through the laminate layer (if provided), the second side of the substrate, the die, and the conductive pad.

The demand for handheld and wearable electronic devices continues to grow. Examples of handheld electronic devices include mobile cellular telephones, imaging device (e.g., cameras), music devices (e.g., MP3 players), and devices that integrate the functionality of one or more of the just-mentioned devices. Examples of wearable electronic devices include eyeglasses that may integrate the functionality of an imaging device, a video display, and an Internet access terminal. An additional example of a wearable device includes a wrist-wearable device that may integrate the functionality of devices that monitor/record/transmit a user's physiological parameters (e.g., heart rate, blood oxygen level, restlessness during sleep) and/or geographic location. Wrist-wearable devices may additionally or alternatively integrate the functionality of mobile cellular devices with color displays. Many handheld and wearable electronic devices integrate with some form of wireless communication. Users expect new features, additional memory, and improved performance with each iteration of an electronic device. Moreover, users expect that their devices will remain the same size or be reduced in size despite the incorporation of new features, additional memory, and improved performance.
To reduce size, devices may be designed with an increase in transistor density and/or a decrease in the size of the die incorporated within the device. At least for protection and integration purposes, the die can be mounted into packages. To reduce package size, wire-bonding of die into packages has given way to flip-chip bonding. Package forms, such as the ball grid array, are also used to reduce overall size of the devices.
Vertical integration of die/packages has also helped to reduce the overall size of electronic devices. In vertically integrated designs, dies/packages may be stacked one atop the other. Examples of dies/packages stacked vertically include the package on package (PoP) structure. The PoP structure may be comprised of a vertical stack of ball grid array packages.
Another structure used for vertical integration is known as an embedded die substrate or embedded laminate substrate (referred to herein for consistency as embedded die substrate (EDS)). An EDS may employs a multiple layer substrate. To reduce vertical size, instead of mounting active die and/or active/passive components to the top of the multiple layer substrate, the active die and/or active/passive components are mounted within a cavity in the multiple layer substrate.
Use of EDS may reduce vertical size but difficulties remain in implementation. For example, in an EDS implementation, access to pads on a topside (e.g., first side) of a die from nodes adjacent to an opposite backside (e.g., second side) of the die may involve use of die that are costly to fabricate. It is therefore desirable, for example, to reduce the costs of die used in EDS implementations yet maintain access to pads on a topside of the die from nodes adjacent to a backside of the die.


A manufacturing method of products attached with a RFID label in a mold includes a first step of forming a thin substratum by injecting molding, pushing molding, vacuum molding, blowing molding or sword molding in a first mold, a second step of making a substratum label composed of the substratum and an RFID label adhered with the substratum, and a third step of placing the substratum label in a second mold, in which a plastic product is to be formed and also to be attached with the substratum label inside the product during molding process. Thus, protected by the substratum and the plastic product. The RFID cannot be broken or damaged to always maintain its capacity to be identified, with the plastic product enhanced in its value.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a manufacturing method of products attached with an RFID (radio frequency identification device) in a mold, particularly to one having several steps for making a product attached with a substratum label consisting of a substratum and a radio frequency identification device during forming the plastic product in a mold. Then the RFID combined with the label is positioned between the substratum and the plastic product so that the RFID is protected from unnecessarily broken or damaged, with its identifying capacity possible to be always maintained intact.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nowadays radio frequency identification has widely been used on various goods, in order to escalate the speed of circulation, identification, and filing. At present the chips used for radio frequency identification always have an adhesive film layer glued on the electronic circuit of the chip, and then the adhesive film layer is adhered on a product, and an adhesive layer is further attached on the adhesive film layer for protecting the radio frequency identification device under the film layer from being broken, damaged or worn off.
However, the conventional radio frequency identification system has a flow that it cannot be applied to a wide variety, in other words, it is extremely limited in its applicable scope, with every circuit board necessary to be adhered on with an adhesive layer, so it is not convenient for mass production, increasing manufacturing processes, lowering effectiveness and enhancing its cost.
There are Taiwan patent No. 93127285, China patent NO. 200410078355, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,777 B1 disclosed the same "Label to be attached on a plastic product formed in a mold and identifiable by a detective device" wherein a substratum is made of a soft circuit board for arranging thereon a RFID (radio frequency identification device) and an antenna.

Manufacturing method of products attached with RFID label in a mold


An apparatus according to one embodiment includes a door closer having a pinion adapted to be operably coupled to a door and rotate in a first direction in response to opening the door and to rotate in a second direction in response to closing the door, and a power boost module operably coupled to the pinion. The power boost module includes a motor adapted to generate electrical energy via rotational movement of the pinion and supply a boost force to the pinion to assist closing the door, a gearing operably coupled to the pinion and the motor and structured to back drive the motor to generate the electrical energy in response to rotation of the pinion, and an energy storage device adapted to store the electrical energy generated by the motor and supply stored electrical energy to the motor for the boost force.

The present application generally relates to a door closer, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to a door closer that harvests energy which is subsequently used to boost terminal shutting of the door.
Doors may not fully close for a number of reasons. Many hydraulic door closers are set to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") requirement of 5 lbs. force to open the door. Due to this limited opening force, the amount of energy that can be stored in the hydraulic door closer is also limited. This may cause the door to have insufficient closing force to overcome adverse conditions such as pressure fluctuation due to operation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ("HVAC") systems, friction forces, poor condition of door hardware, weather stripping, etc. In these situations, the user must either increase the closer spring force (which may in turn cause the door to not meet the ADA requirement), leave the door in a possible non-secure state, or invest in a powered door closing device such as an auto operator. Therefore, a need exists for further technological developments in the area of door closers.


A method includes: forming a metal oxide film on a substrate including an etching target film and a metal pattern formed thereon, and forming an oxide film having a relatively strong oxygen bond on the metal pattern; performing a reduction treatment such that the metal oxide film formed on the metal pattern is defined as a first metal-containing film and the metal oxide film formed on the etching target film is defined as a second metal-containing film whose surface is reduced into metal; selectively forming a metal film on only the second metal-containing film formed on the etching target film, the metal film having such a property that it is easy to be formed on metal and is hard to be formed on an oxide; and obtaining an inversion pattern composed of the inversion material by etching away the metal pattern and leaving the inversion material and the metal film.

As the next-generation exposure technology adapted for miniaturization of semiconductor devices in the future, an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology using a very short wavelength of 13.5 nm is under consideration. However, this EUV technology is not mass produced due to the lack of a light source having adequate luminance Thus, there is a need to employ other approaches.
As such, multi-patterning methods based on exposure of ArF having a wavelength of 193 nm have been mainly applied. Among these methods, a patterning method called a self-align double patterning (SADP) has been widely used. As shown in FIGS. 9A to 9F, the SADP method includes: forming a pattern 102 having a pitch of S on an etching target layer 101 by photolithography (FIG. 9A); forming a first pattern 103 called a mandrel (core material) by slimming (FIG. 9B); forming a spacer 104 along the first pattern 103 (FIG. 9C); etching-back the spacer 104 (FIG. 9D); etching the first pattern (mandrel) 103 to form a second pattern 105 using spacers (FIG. 9E); and etching the etching target layer 101 using the second pattern 105 as a mask (FIG. 9F). Thus, an etching pattern 106 having a pitch of S/2 is obtained. That is to say, it is possible to obtain a pattern having a pitch of S/2 which is half the pitch of S formed with only photolithography. Further, a self-align quadruple patterning (SAQP) method capable of reducing the pitch by ¼ by repeating the SADP method once again is under consideration. As another multi-patterning method, there has been used an LEx method which repeats a litho etching method plural times (x times), such as a litho etch-litho etch (LELE) method which includes transferring an exposed pattern onto a hard mask of a substrate by etching, performing a secondary exposure at a position deviated by a pitch of ½, machining the hard mask.
These methods pose a noticeable problem in that it is difficult to control deviation and work precision due to the increased number of processes. For example, for the SADP method, there are two types of space portions (S) of a line-and-space (L/S) by nature. One of them is affected by a spacer film thickness deviation, an etching deviation and a lithography CD deviation. Thus, a CD deviation of the final space portion tends to increase. On the other hand, line portions L are affected by only the spacer film thickness deviation and the etching deviation. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, all the line portions L1 correspond to the width of the spacer 104, and their deviation depends only on the film thickness of the spacer 104 and etching. In contrast, for the space portions, there are two types, i.e., a first space S1 corresponding to the first pattern 103 and a second space S2 corresponding to a space between adjacent spacers 104. A deviation of the first space S1 depends only on lithography CD and etching, whereas a deviation of the second space S2 depends on lithography CD, spacer film thickness and etching.
At present, a semiconductor device wiring process mainly uses Cu wiring using a damascene structure. In this case, a space portion formed by the SADP method becomes a wiring portion. That is to say, this means that a deviation of the wiring portion increases. This situation is caused even in the SAQP method and the LEx method.
However, in the wiring process, there are many cases where the deviation of the wiring portion is more problematic than a deviation in an insulating portion. Therefore, an inversion method which is capable of minimizing the deviation of the wiring portion by inverting a line portion and a space portion is under consideration.
In addition, a typical inversion method inverts a line portion and a space portion through a series of processes including: forming an inversion material on a pattern, etching-back the inversion material, and etching away the original pattern. However, such a method includes a number of processes, which causes deviations. In addition, a problem occurs in that work controllability is difficult. Therefore, such an inversion method is not actively practiced in reality.

Pattern forming method capable of minimizing deviation of an inversion pattern


A method and apparatus for propelling and retrieving an aerodynamic flying disk. The apparatus includes a lower support member used to support the flying disk. The lower support member is hingedly coupled to an upper support member, and the two support members form a cavity to retain the disk. A handle is also provided on the lower support member, opposite an open end of the cavity, to allow a user to grasp the apparatus. A disk is inserted within the apparatus, propelled by a player out through an aperture at the opposite end of the cavity from a handle, and retrieved by opening and closing upper and lower support members to retain the disk.

For many years, children and adults alike have found amusement and have passed the time by playing with aerodynamic flying disks. One popular version of such disk is marketed under the trade name "FRISBEE" and distributed by WHAM-O Manufacturing Co., a Kransco Group Company, of San Francisco, Calif. The object of the game, played in its traditional fashion, is to toss a disk back and forth between two or more players. The disk can be thrown with accuracy by imparting a circular spin on the disk by using a wrist-snapping or whipping motion.
In the above-described game, the person catching the disk can do so in a variety of ways. A player can simply catch the disk while it is in the air by grabbing the disk at its periphery and thus stopping its spinning motion. Some more advanced players, however, have developed various intricate and acrobatic ways of catching the disk involving many stunts and tricks to ultimately bring the disk to rest in one's hands.
More elaborate games have also been devised employing the aerodynamic flying disk. One example includes a game called "ultimate frisbee" that combines some of the features of European soccer and English rugby while using the flying disk. The aerodynamic flying disk can also be played solo employing some of the acrobatic acts referred to above in connection with catching the disk.
One problem with playing with the popular aerodynamic disk has been the player's ability to propel and catch the disk properly. For those who have difficulty developing the wrist-snapping motion required to accurately and properly throw the disk, the above games become hard, if not impossible, to play. In addition, there is a risk of injury to the hands and fingers if the disk is not caught properly. Moreover, for those who lack sufficient hand/arm strength, it is difficult to propel the flying disk more than a short distance, even when thrown using the proper technique.
Attempts have been made to provide an apparatus to assist in playing with an aerodynamic flying disk, but such attempts suffer from their own deficiencies. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,828, discloses a hand-held disk launching and catching device. However, the device disclosed is large and cumbersome, and may be difficult to manipulate to catch and retain the flying disk. Another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,688, also discloses a hand-held disk launching and catching apparatus. However, this patent may also be difficult to use to catch and retain the flying disk.
What is lacking, therefore, is a device that can be used to easily catch and retain the disk. A device of this type would be easy to use and would allow those who are young or are unable to properly manipulate the flying disk to catch and propel the disk. Such a device would preferably be light in weight and provide a facility to easily locate and catch the disk. The device would also preferably assist the player in throwing the disk using the same wrist-snapping motion employed to propel the disk by hand.

Apparatus and method for propelling and retrieving a disk

Rapid Mounting and Finishing Co.-Cadaco Division


A rooftop-mounted air-conditioning installation, in particular for the roof of a bus, has at least having a condenser unit and an evaporator unit. It has an air-flow duct with at least one air intake opening and one air discharge opening. A heat exchanger and a radial fan are arranged in the air-flow duct between the air intake opening and the air discharge opening. An axis of rotation of a fan wheel of the radial fan is oriented parallel to an air flow main direction that extends through the air-flow duct from the at least one air intake opening through the heat exchanger to the radial fan.

Rooftop air-conditioning installations have basically been known for a long time for busses. They usually comprise a condenser unit and one or more evaporator units and communicate with the passenger compartment of the bus by flow technology in order to supply it with fresh air. The supplied air can be heated or cooled by the rooftop air-conditioning installation.
Generic, published prior art has been published, for example as DE 10 2007 023 249 A1 or DE 60 2004 006 988 T2.
Usually, several double radial fans with fan wheels which are curved forward in a completely spiral housing are used in the evaporator units used which transport an air flow in an air flow duct through the heat exchanger into the passenger compartment. The air flow is deflected several times, in particular during the intake, in the radial fan itself, during discharge and when conducted further. This has a negative effect on the efficiency of the air conditioning installation. At the same time the current consumption of the electromotors driving the radial fans rises and with it the fuel consumption of the vehicle.


A hinge assembly includes first and second linkage rods pivoted to a base seat, a cam connected to the first and second linkage rods, and a kickstand support pivoted to the cam. A latch is disposed in the cam. When the first and second linkage rods, the kickstand support, and the cam are received inside the base seat, the latch is in a first locking position, where the latch locks rotational movement of the kickstand support relative to the cam. When the second linkage rod moves outward of the base seat and brings the first linkage rod to rotate relative to the cam, the latch is pushed by the kickstand support to move into a second locking position, where the first linkage rod is limited from rotating relative to the cam.

Referring to FIG. 1, an existing tablet computer 1 includes a device body 11 and a backplate 12 mounted on the device body 11. The backplate 12 includes a casing part 121, a kickstand 122 pivotally connected to the casing part 121 through two conventional hinge assemblies 123. When the kickstand 122 is rotated relative to the casing part 121, the hinge assemblies 123 can produce a friction force to position the kickstand 122 by a predetermined angle relative to the casing part 121. As such, the device body 11 can be placed on and inclined to a desktop
There is another tablet computer which has the kickstand 122 and the hinge assemblies 123. The kickstand 122 is interlockingly connected to the device body of the another tablet computer, and each hinge assembly 123 further has a spring. When the kickstand 122 is pulled and disengaged from the device body to move to a spring-out state, the spring of each hinge assembly 123 produces a torque to automatically position the kickstand 122 by a predetermined angle relative to the device body. Thereafter, a desired angle can be adjusted between the kickstand 122 and the device body.
However, when the kickstand 122 is in a fully folded state, as it is subjected to the torque created by the springs of the hinge assemblies 123, the kickstand 122 is slightly bulged outward, thereby adversely affecting the aesthetic appearance of the tablet computer. Further, when rotating the kickstand 122 between the fully folded state and the spring-out state, because one side of the kickstand 122 is close to the computer body of the tablet computer, friction and hence abrasion can occur between the kickstand 122 and the computer body. In addition, automatic rotation of the kickstand 122 by the springs of the hinge assemblies 123 may be unsmooth due to the friction which counteracts the torque created by the springs.


A power distribution module for a distributed low voltage power system can include at least one input channel configured to receive line voltage power from at least one power source. The power distribution module can also include at least one receiving feature electrically coupled to the at least one input channel, where the at least one receiving feature is configured to receive at least one replaceable circuit module. The power distribution module can further include at least one output channel electrically coupled to the at least one receiving feature, where the at least one output channel is configured to send a final low voltage (LV) signal to at least one LV device.

Certain devices within distributed power systems can operate on different types (e.g., direct current (DC), alternating current (AC)) and/or amounts (e.g., 24V, 2 A, 120V, 50 mA) of power relative to the type and amount of power that feeds the distributed power system. Further, the devices receiving power from the device distributing the power within the distributed power system can be located relatively close. In some cases, distributed low voltage power systems use one or more power distribution circuit modules.

Configurable low voltage power distribution circuit modules


A wear-resistant compound roll comprising an outer layer made of an iron-base alloy containing such components as to precipitate at least one of carbides of W, V, Nb, Ti, Ta, Zr and Hf from an alloy melt in a solidification process thereof, and a steel shaft metallurgically bonded to the outer layer, the outer layer having a surface with a Shore hardness of 70 or more, and the shaft having a tensile strength of 55 kg/mm.sup.2 or more and an elongation of 1.0% or more, and a boundary layer between the outer layer and the shaft being not weaker than weaker one of the outer layer and the shaft.. The iron-base alloy has a composition by weight % consisting essentially of 1.5-3.5% C, 0.3-3.0% Si, 0.3-1.5% Mn, 2-7% Cr, 9% or less Mo, 20% or less W, 3-15% V and balance substantially Fe.

Widely used a rolls for rolling mills are compound rolls produced from cast iron by a centrifugal casting method. These compound rolls are those having a structure consisting of an outer layer made of a cast iron material in which a lot of highly wear-resistant carbides are precipitated, and an inner layer made of gray cast iron or ductile cast iron having large toughness. In this production method, however, only limited types of materials can be used for outer layers and inner layers.
Carbides of such elements as W, V, Nb, Ti, Ta, Zr, Hf, etc. have as high a Vickers hardness Hv as 2000 or more, and the inclusion of these carbides in outer layers is highly effective to increase the wear resistance of rolls. However, it is practically impossible to produce a compound roll comprising an outer layer precipitated with the above carbides and an inner layer strongly bonded thereto by a centrifugal casting method.
The reason for it is that since carbides formed from these elements have different specific gravities from that of a melt, they tend to be segregated due to a centrifugal action in the casting process. In addition, some of these elements are vulnerable to oxidation, making it extremely difficult to conduct melting, casting and bonding to the inner layer in the air. Further, in the centrifugal casting method in which gray cast iron or ductile cast iron containing graphite precipitates is used for the inner layer to provide it with sufficient toughness, when the outer layer contains a large amount of elements likely to form white cast iron, the formation of graphite in the inner layer is suppressed because of some components dissolved from the outer layer into the inner layer, making the inner layer brittle. In particular, since the carbides tend to be concentrated in a boundary between the inner layer and the outer layer, the boundary becomes brittle, making it likely that the outer layer peels off from the boundary.
In addition, when gray cast iron or ductile cast iron is used for the inner layer, the inner layer's tensile strength is at most 55 kg/mm.sup.2 or so, and its elongation is less than 1%. If higher tensile strength and elongation are to be obtained, the inner layer should be made of steel materials. However, this is difficult in the centrifugal casting method. This is due to the fact that since the inner layer has a higher melting point than the outer layer when steel is used for the inner layer, the outer layer is melted during the casting of the inner layer, thereby providing, as a final solidification phase, a boundary portion made of a mixture of both layers, this boundary portion being a site likely to generate cast defects.
Accordingly, the centrifugal casting method has been unable to provide a compound roll comprising an outer layer containing a large amount of carbides of the above-described elements and an inner layer having a tensile strength of 55 kg/mm.sup.2 or more and an elongation of 1.0% or more, both layers being strongly bonded to each other.
On the other hand, to increase the efficiency of rolling by increasing an amount of rolled products produced in a single roll repair cycle and to improve the size precision of rolled products, it has become necessary to drastically increase the wear resistance of rolls. At the same time, the improvement of size precision of rolled products makes it necessary to exert a bending force to both extending portions of a roll shaft in an opposite direction to the direction of deflection of the rolls caused by a rolling force, and the reduction of number of roll stands necessary to complete rolling makes it necessary to increase pressure applied to the rolls in a roll stand. This inevitably increases a bending force applied to both extending portions of the roll shaft, which in turn requires that the roll shaft has higher strength. However, in a roll in which an outer layer and a shaft are shrink-fitted or assembled, sliding may take place between the outer layer and the shaft, or the outer layer is susceptible to cracking during the rolling operation. Accordingly, the outer layer and the shaft should be completely metallurgically bonded to each other.
To satisfy these requirements at the same time, it is necessary that the outer layer is made of materials containing such components as to precipitate a large amount of carbides of elements such as W, V, Nb, Ti, Ta, Zr, Hf, etc., that the shaft is made of tough steel, and that the outer layer and the shaft are completely metallurgically bonded to each other. In this sense, casting methods such as the centrifugal casting method cannot be used for the above-described reasons. In addition, a diffusion bonding method between solid materials is not practically applicable because it needs extremely expensive facilities for relatively large objects such as rolls.
In view of the above circumstances, attention has been paid to a so-called shell casting method for manufacturing a compound roll by supplying a melt of an outer layer material around a central shaft made of cast steel or forged steel, bonding and solidifying the outer layer material to the shaft. Thus, compound rolls composed of various combinations of outer layers and shafts produced by the shell casting method have been proposed.
For instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-180608 discloses a compound roll for hot rolling having excellent resistances to adhesion of rolled materials and to surface roughening, which is composed of an outer layer and a shaft metallurgically bonded to each other, the outer layer being high-chromium cast iron containing, by weight, 2.0-3.5% C, 0.5-1.5% Si, 0.4-1.5% Mn, 8-25% Cr, 0.5-3.0% Mo, 10% or less V, 1.5% or less Ni and the shaft being made of cast steel or forged steel having a tensile strength of 55 kg./mm.sup.2 or more and an elongation of 1.0% or more. The outer layer is formed on the shell prepared in advance, by supplying a melt of an outer layer material onto the shaft and metallurgically bonding them. Bonding strength between the outer layer and the shell is higher than or equal to the strength of weaker one of the outer layer and the shaft, and the outer layer has a Shore hardness of 70 or more and, the decrease in its Shore hardness by a depth of 100 mm from its surface is 3 or less.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-180609 discloses a high-chromium cast iron compound roll for cold rolling composed of an outer layer made of high-chromium cast iron and a shaft made of cast or forged steel with a surface hardness of 90 or more in Shore hardness, the outer layer being formed on the shell prepared in advance, by supplying a melt of an outer layer material onto the shell and metallurgically bonding it to the shell. The high-chromium cast iron of the outer layer consists essentially of, by weight, 2.5-3.5% C, 0.5-1.5% Si, 0.4-1.5% Mn, 0.5-3.0% Ni, 8-25% Cr, 1.0-5.0% Mo and balance substantially Fe, and the shaft has a tensile strength of 55 kg/mm.sup.2 or more and an elongation of 1.0% or more. Bonding strength between the outer layer and the shaft is higher than or equal to the strength of weaker one of the outer layer and the shaft.
Since the outer layers are made of high-chromium cast iron in both of the above compound rolls, their wear resistance is generally high, but it is not necessarily sufficient to satisfy the demanded level which is getting increasingly higher in recent years.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-24969 discloses an extremely wear-resistant steel having an iron matrix containing 0.2-0.6 weight % C and at least one selected from 2 weight % or less Ni, 2-6 weight % Cr, 1-6 weight % Mo, 1-6 weight % W and 10 weight % or less Co, in which carbides formed from 5-12 weight % V, 3-10 weight % Nb and carbon in an amount necessary for bonding to them are precipitated. It is described that this extremely wear-resistant steel can be used for rolls, but no description is given about its use for compound rolls.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a wear-resistant compound roll composed of an outer layer made of a material in which hard carbides of W, V, Nb, Ti, Ta, Zr, Hf, etc. are precipitated, and a shaft made of tough steel, the outer layer free from the segregation of carbides and the shaft being metallurgically bonded to each other, and a method of producing such a wear-resistant compound roll in the air with relatively small cost.


A foam type elevator base that may be purchased large enough to fit most commodes and that is easily cut with a sharp tool or a hot wire and that is given a finished look using a thin plastic cover fastened adhesively over the edge is disclosed.

There is a large amount of prior art in the literature but we find none that has a plastic user shapeable elevator base. The standard height of the seat of a normal flush toilet above the floor is about 14 inches.
For use by the elderly and/or partially disabled or to allow tie ins to the commode floor drain an elevator type base is necessary. Since there is some variation in the shape or "footprint" of bases made by different manufactures a user shapeable base gives some economy in manufacture, storage, shipping etc. This patent covers a closed or open cell foam plastic with about a 20 #per square inch or higher load bearing capacity that we have found makes a suitable long lived base for elevating a commode. This foam plastic may be easily shaped to the exact shape of a commode bottom and may be finished with a relatively thin vinyl plastic glued over the cut edge. The foamed base has a further advantage in that the foam base will deform to encompass a small pebble or similar irregularity there by giving solid non-rocking commode installation. Bases may be most any thickness from one to four inches or more. A polystyrene foam has been found to be suitable but other type plastic foams should be equally suitable.

User shapeable elevator base for toilets


The invention relates to a device and a method for compensating for a material web offset in inspection systems for material webs which are moving in the direction of a material web length and/or a material web width. The method comprises the following steps: taking a first picture of a first portion of a material web at a first point in time with a camera which comprises a matrix chip, and taking a second picture of a second portion of the material web at a second point in time with the camera. A first active partial surface of the matrix chip is used for the first picture and a second active partial surface of the matrix chip is used for the second picture here, wherein the first active partial surface and the second active partial surface are not identical.

When products are manufactured in the form of material webs, such as printed products like labels or packaging, monitoring and/or automated quality assurance after printing is of considerable importance in order to check the printed product. In addition to automated monitoring, help with visual monitoring by an operator can also be provided here. In this type of quality assurance, the material webs are passed through monitoring or inspection systems that take pictures of the material webs. These pictures can be checked by an operator or automatically. In order to guarantee that pictures are of a high quality, the material webs may be lit for the pictures using corresponding devices.
In one particular type of inspection, what is referred to as multi-inspection, an attempt is made to capture the entire material web (100% inspection) with two types of lighting. However, more than two, in other words three, four or five types of lighting may also be used. The conditional alternating or staggered taking of pictures with different types of lighting and picture parameters means, for example, that two sequences of pictures with different information can be assessed. However, an offset is produced here between the taking of individual pictures and the sequences of pictures in the direction of movement of the material web which, for example, have been taken with incident lighting and transmitted light lighting. The effects of the offset may be greater the faster the web speed, the higher the resolution of the matrix chip and the greater the delay between the taking of pictures and sequences of pictures. In known inspection systems, an attempt is made to compensate for this offset by complex means using software and corresponding computer power because the sequences of pictures in the two (or more) types of inspection need to be laid exactly on top of one another for assessment in order to give the same referencing or the same reference (in the case of inspection errors) to the moved object. On the other hand, it is also possible to ignore a slight offset, but this is unsatisfactory. In other systems with software compensation, an algorithm is usually used to stabilize the pictures in which identical patterns are laid on top of one another after pattern matching using registration zones. However, the disadvantage with different lighting and therefore also other picture information is that it is very difficult to find identical patterns. The same lighting is actually a prerequisite here. To compensate for this using software is, on the one hand, very complex and, on the other, sometimes completely impossible or unsatisfactory in multi-inspection systems. The characteristics of the material web, which may be transparent, translucent, opaque or a mixture, may also result in unsatisfactory software compensation.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a device and a method which overcome the disadvantages of software compensation.

Method and device for compensating for a material web offset in material web inspection


A method of forming a drawn and redrawn and ironed container having a contoured sidewall. A cup is blanked and formed from stock in conventional fashion. A profiled bottom may be formed in the cup during the redraw step. The cup is ironed using at least one ironing ring and an ironing punch having at least one recessed area for shaping the interior sidewall of the cup. When the cup is ironed, areas of extra material are formed on the interior of the sidewall where the recessed areas of the ironing punch were present. These areas of extra material are shaped during a spin forming step that creates the contoured sidewall of the can.

The large consumer demand for products contained in metal containers creates a correspondingly large demand for metal containers. There are numerous known methods for manufacturing metal containers. These methods produce cans that may be labeled or otherwise decorated in a fashion that is designed to attract consumer attention and convey information.
Cans of the type involved in this application are generally fabricated from three pieces or two pieces. A three piece can comprises a bottom, a top, and a sidewall that are fitted together with at least one joint being welded to form a generally closed, cylindrical unit. The cost of the welding process and the fact that the weldment posed at least a possible contamination problem created a desire for a two-piece can construction.
The two-piece design comprises one drawn piece that comprises the bottom and the sidewall and a second piece that comprises the top. Containers formed by both of these methods normally create straight side walls or, in other words, a cylindrical configuration or, in some cases a conical configuration. Furthermore, the cost of the material used to manufacture the cans has moved the industry to form the cans with increasingly thin material. As the thickness of the material decreases, the ease with which it tears or wrinkles increases. Thus, the machines and methods used to work with this material must take into account that the material will easily wrinkle or tear.
Recently, can purchasers have expressed the desire to purchase a can that has a contoured sidewall. For the purposes of this application, a contoured sidewall is one that has a profile that is not straight. The profile may have a single curve or a plurality of curves. It is believed that cans having a contoured sidewall will be useful for marketing purposes. It is also believed that a can having a contoured sidewall will be attractive to consumers who will identify the contoured can with a specific product. For example, it may be desirable to form a can in the well-known shape of a Coca-Cola beverage bottle. Such a can would enable a consumer to identify the can by its shape as well as by its labeling. An example of such a container may be seen in Kornick Design U.S. Pat. No. 365,501. Another use for a contoured sidewall is to provide portions of the can to assist gripping. These functions are also useful on containers other than metal containers used for beverages. Containers that store food items and other consumer goods will also benefit from having a contoured sidewall.
Known manufacturing methods are not able to economically mass produce containers having a contoured sidewall. One suggested method has been to form a can in a well known manner including the step of ironing the can to initially form the sidewall. An inflatable bladder is then inserted into the can and expanded with compressed air or other fluid substance. The bladder presses outwardly on the sidewall from the inside of the can creating a contoured sidewall. The problem with this process is that the sidewall hardens after it has been ironed. When the bladder is expanded to stretch the hardened wall, the wall tends to split, wrinkle, or crack resulting in rejection of that can. There is, therefore, clearly a need in the art for a method for forming a can having a contoured sidewall utilizing, so far as possible known two piece can forming methods.


In order to take into account the local illumination variations in a scene, the invention proposes a method of compensating illumination variations in which distributions are determined for each block of an image (or view) and, in order to avoid a loss of the video coding efficiency, a distribution-based mapping function is automatically computed by a remote apparatus, such a decoder, from only information available at that apparatus when decoding a current block of the sequence of images. The present invention relates also to a method and device of encoding and/or decoding a sequence of images which comprises means configured to implement the method of compensating illumination variations according to the invention.

A sequence of images shall be considered in the following in a broad meaning because it covers a 3D video sequence, scalable video sequence, a multi-view video sequence, etc. . . . . Consequently, the claimed method may applied to any of kind of sequence of images the illumination variations of which shall be compensated from a reference image.
In a multi-view video sequence, for example, an object or a scene is recorded using a setup of several synchronous cameras from different positions. Each camera records an image which is usually called a view. A multi-view video sequence is thus composed of multiple scenes and several views are recorded for each scene. A view is a set of pixels as an image but the term 'view' is used in the following rather than the term 'image' to keep in mind that multiple views of a same scene (or object) are embedded in the sequence of images.
Frequently discussed applications for sequence of images include three-dimensional television (3DTV) as well as free-viewpoint television (FTV), where the user is able to navigate freely through the scene.
The recording of a sequence of images creates a large amount of data. Therefore, efficient compression techniques are required to store or transmit video streams.
For example, MVC (Multi-views Video Coding), specified by ISO/IEC 14496-10 ITU-T Rec. H.264, supports the direct coding of the synchronous information from multiple views using a single stream and exploits inter-camera redundancy to reduce the bit rate. The basic coding scheme uses the hierarchical B prediction structure for each view. This scheme utilizes the correlation between images at the same time point but different views for disparity estimation and compensation. Motion compensation techniques that are well-developed for single-view video compression can be used for temporal prediction. Likewise, disparity compensation techniques can be utilized to reduce inter-view redundancies. The compensation process is fulfilled by block matching technique, generally aiming to find the best matching block in the reference image, so that it contributes to minimum residual error after prediction.
There exists illumination change between multiple views of a same scene (or object). Such a change can be classified into two categories: the global illumination change, which is caused by different calibrations between cameras, and the local illumination change, which is caused by the different angles and positions of the cameras.
The reason why the problem has to be dealt with is that it may influence the quality of the image-based rendering algorithms or the accuracy of the disparity estimation and compensation (inter-view prediction in case of video coding). In the last case, the amount of residual energy for the best match candidate will be increased. Furthermore, the searching process for best matching block and the disparity vector will be affected. Both of those further results in decreasing the coding efficiency.
This is also the case for the inter-view matching for depth estimation (3D video) or for the bit-depth scalable video coding or for predicting HDR (High Dynamic Range) videos from LDR (Low Dynamic Range) videos.
To solve this problem, MVC implements an illumination compensation process which uses a weighting prediction tool. The illumination compensation process which predicts a view D from reconstructed samples RecR(.,.) of another view R, is given by equation (1):PredD(x,y)=WR×RecR(x+dx,y+dy)+OR  (1)where WR and OR, are the scaling parameter and offset respectively, which are, in a transmission context, transmitted in a slice header relative to the current view D of the sequence of images. The scaling parameter and the offset are constant for the whole slice.
Such an illumination compensation process, which is linear, is too simple in case of light reflections or flashes for multi-view video coding. Moreover, it does not take into account the local illumination variations in a scene because the same parameters are applied for the whole slice.
The illumination compensation linear process is definitely not adapted in the case of views from heterogeneous captors, e.g. bracketing, or for heterogeneous scalable prediction, e.g. HDR (High Dynamic Range) to LDR (Low Dynamic Range) video conversion.
Fecker et al. ("Histogram-based prefiltering for luminance and chrominance compensation of multiview video", IEEE, Transactions on circuits and systems for video technology, vol. 18, NO. 9, September 2008) design a cumulative-histogram-based matching process for illumination compensation. Such a cumulative histogram based process for illumination compensation applies the same correction to the entire view, it is especially useful to correct global discrepancies in the luminance and the chrominance. However, such a process for illumination compensation does not take into account the local illumination variations in the scene because the histograms are calculated for the entire view.
In order to take into account the local illumination variations in the scene, the matching process for illumination compensation should be adapted locally. However, if the adaptation is made per block, for instance, one should transmit a matching information per block. This huge amount of information is not efficient for video coding.

Method and apparatus for compensating illumination variations in a sequence of images


LGA connectors are fabricated with buttons or spring contacts preformed to different heights to accommodate the initial topography of a typical module or PCB of a particular product type. This is accomplished during fabrication by measuring topographies of mating surfaces of a first electronic device and of a second electronic device; fabricating interposer contacts to form opposing non-planar sides having respective inverse topographies for contacting the mating surfaces; and sandwiching the interposer between the first and second electronic devices with the opposing sides in contact with respective mating surfaces.

Land Grid Array interposers (LGA) are an important class of area-array socket connectors used to reversibly connect a chip module to a printed circuit board (PCB, PWB). They consist of a two-dimensional array of contacts, each of which spans from one side of an insulating carrier plane to the other, is compliant and conducts electricity from one extreme end point on the contact to the other extreme. LGAs are typically held under force sandwiched between a chip module and a printed wiring board. The force is typically provided by an external spring and hardware system.
While offering many advantages, LGAs do suffer from some problems, notably, a wide distribution of forces across the array resulting from non-planar mating surfaces of the module bottom and/or the PCB top. This can lead to unreliable electrical performance. This mating surface nonuniformity may stem from inherent warp in the PCB or chip module, dynamic bending under the applied load, non-uniformity in the applied load, or any combination of these factors.
LGA contacts are made to be compliant in order to accommodate some mating surface nonuniformity. Nonetheless, an unfavorable distribution of button forces is found in practice. This becomes worse as the size of the array becomes larger, with smaller applied forces, and with decreased rigidity and planarity of the module and PCB materials. This is particularly problematic in organic packaging modules of the SLC type which suffer from poor initial planarity, low rigidity, and is limited to the use of low applied force to minimize internal damage to module circuitry.

Method of making a land-grid-array (LGA) interposer

International Business Machines Corporation


An inexpensive stall warning device for the instrument panel of an airplane or glider operates on the principle of balancing dynamic pressure against normal acceleration forces. It requires only static and pitot pressure inputs and electric power and employs a differential pressure transducer, MEMS rate gyros and accelerometers. These sensors will be monitored by a microprocessor to derive the aerodynamic states of the aircraft, thereupon issuing explicit display and vocal announcements to a pilot to prevent or guide recovery from a stall or spin state as well as overspeed or spiral dive.

This invention relates to the art of stall indicators or warning devices for use in fixed-wing aircraft. A sample of the multitude of stall warning devices or systems to be found among the US Patents is listed in the Information Disclosure Statement.
Unexpected wing stall during aircraft flight operations is a serious phenomenon that has led to a significant proportion of small aircraft accidents and deaths. At busy or stressful times, a pilot may approach this condition without awareness, even though an alert pilot can notice certain signs of impending stall. Typically, this condition occurs at low altitude while banking for a turn in the "pattern" prior to landing, especially under gusty wind conditions that can result in sudden changes of airspeed. Lift diminishes and drag increases, snowballing the condition. Stall can also happen when pulling out of a dive or other condition of increased acceleration (Gs) due to excessive pitch control action. Generally, the nose, and frequently one wing, of the aircraft drops, more or less suddenly, and it is possible that the aircraft may go into a spin. The pilot must react quickly (at least to ease the stick forward to reduce angle of attack), but he may not if surprised.
Specifically, stall of a fixed-wing aircraft is the condition where the angle of onrushing airflow relative to the wing chord (the "angle of attack", i.e., AoA) exceeds the angle of maximum lift, causing separation of the airflow from the wing surface and loss of lift. In particular, it happens when attempting to fly the aircraft below the airspeed (the "stall speed") that develops just enough lift to support the effective weight (under G-loading) of the aircraft at the angle of attack of maximum lift.
It is common to provide some kind of automatic stall sensor and alarm system to bring an impending stall to the instant attention of the pilot so that s/he will react with appropriate evasive action. However, there are some production and experimental aircraft that do not have stall warning devices. Most gliders don't, one reason being that they usually have removable wings that make placement and reconnection of such devices inconvenient or unreliable, or subject them to damage. Experimental and ultralight aircraft frequently don't have stall sensors because of cost, uncertainty of calibration, or the sense that "they're not needed".
Numerous devices or combinations of sensors, computers and attention-raisers have been employed to warn of such an impending or occurring event so the pilot can take control action to avert or correct the outcome. The most direct approach to sensing stall is to measure the angle of attack that the wing experiences, so impending stall is often sensed by monitoring critical changes in airflow or pressure distribution relative to the wing leading edge, as done by the first four patent references.
One type frequently seen on smaller general aviation is based upon a sensor located upon a wing in a position that can directly detect changes in airflow dependent upon changes in the angle of attack. Specifically, near the leading edge of the wing, a precisely located open slot leading to a resonance chamber will emit a loud warning sound when stall is impending, or a vane type facing into the airflow will flip a switch when the critical angle of stall is approached (Blair and Andrew), or pressure or flow sensors at two spaced locations on the leading edge are differentially compared to obtain a signal dependent upon angle of attack (Maris and Corey).
Several other basic types of devices or systems can accomplish the stated purpose. The Dendy and Quinlivan patents are typical of systems that employ a multiplicity of sensors that may be located at various control locations on an aircraft, their outputs all combined in a computer to yield a signal on an appropriate indicator to command the pilot's attention or even take automatic corrective measures. This type tends to be seen on large commercial or military aircraft.
The remaining five cited patents are all based upon a different principle from those that directly are mounted near or on a wing to determine angle of attack from the airflow. Those five may share some of the types of sensing and computation involved in Dendy and Quinliven, but are mostly located in a single device on the instrument panel of the aircraft and primarily have connections to the usual static and pitot (dynamic) pressure sources, plus a battery or other source of electricity, and they all sense normal accelerations, parallel to the lift vector. Specifically, these five patents all operate on the principle of balancing the forces of normal accelerations due to gravity and maneuvering (i.e., G-forces) against a force proportional to dynamic pressure (which in turn is proportional to the square of airspeed), and therefrom developing a measure of angle of attack.
The current invention is similar in its underlying use of the same basic principle as the last five cited, but an optional new physical implementation and important safety features are added in the instant device to enhance that function and to extend warnings to other unusual and dangerous aerodynamic events.

Unusual state alarm and recovery director


Provided are a spectrometer that may be easily manufactured while having high resolution and sensitivity due to reduced light loss and a non-invasive biometric sensor including the spectrometer. The spectrometer includes: a stacked light absorbing structure including a plurality of absorbing layers stacked in a vertical direction and having different absorption wavelength bands, and a plurality of tunnel junction layers respectively interposed between the plurality of absorbing layers to electrically connect the plurality of absorbing layers; and an illuminating unit configured to provide the stacked light absorbing structure with an illumination light for saturation of the plurality of absorbing layers.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a spectrometer including a vertical stack structure and a non-invasive biometric sensor including the spectrometer, and more particularly, to a spectrometer that may be easily manufactured while having high resolution and sensitivity due to reduced light loss and a non-invasive biometric sensor including the spectrometer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method considered to have the most potential as a method for non-invasive blood sugar measurement is a method of spectroscopic analysis of light including a biometric signal, which is scattered by a skin after being radiated to the skin. Recently, with improvements in performance of mobile apparatuses such as mobile phones, various attempts have been made to integrate a non-invasive biometric sensor into a mobile apparatus. To this end, it is necessary to develop a micro spectrometer that may be installed in a mobile apparatus.
For example, a linear variable filter (LVF)-based spectrometer has a structure in which a spacer having a gradually changing thickness is disposed on a plurality of photodiode pixels. Based on the principle that the transmission wavelength varies depending on the thickness of the spacer, lights of different wavelength bands may be sensed in the respective pixels. Also, a filter array-based spectrometer has a structure in which band-pass filters (BPFs) of different transmission bands are disposed in respective photodiode pixels.
The above spectrometers may be manufactured to be a micro sized. However, since a plurality of photodiode pixels are arranged in a horizontal direction, the resolution thereof is difficult to increase. Also, since the spacer or the BPFs absorb lights of wavelength bands other than the transmission bands, sensitivity degradation may occur due to light loss. For example, when N wavelength bands (where N is an integer equal to or greater than 1) are to be analyzed by the spectrometer, N different BPFs are used and the amount of light sensed by each pixel is only 1/N of the amount of light that is actually input to the pixel.

Spectrometer including vertical stack structure and non-invasive biometric sensor including the spectrometer