A no-lead electronic package including a heat spreader and method of manufacturing the same. This method includes the steps of selecting a matrix or mapped no-lead lead frame with die receiving area and leads for interconnect; positioning an integrated circuit device within the central aperture and electrically interconnecting the integrated circuit device to the leads; positioning a heat spreader in non-contact proximity to the integrated circuit device such that the integrated circuit device is disposed between the leads and the heat spreader; and encapsulating the integrated device and at least a portion of the heat spreader and leads in a molding resin.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to packages for encapsulating one or more semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a method for the assembly on a no-lead package having exceptional thermal performance.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In lead frame based semiconductor packages, electrical signals are transmitted between at least one semiconductor device (die) and external circuitry, such as a printed circuit board, by an electrically conductive lead frame. The lead frame includes a number of leads, each having an inner lead end and an opposing outer lead end. Inner lead ends are electrically interconnected to input/output (I/O) pads on the die and outer lead ends provide terminals outside the package body for interconnection to external circuitry. When the outer lead end terminates at the face of the package body, the package is known as a "no lead" package. If the outer leads extend beyond the package body perimeter, the package is referred to as "leaded." Examples of well known no-lead packages include quad flat no lead (QFN) packages which have four sets of leads disposed around the perimeter of the bottom of a square package body and dual flat no lead (DFN) packages which have two sets of lead disposed along opposite sides of the bottom of a package body. Interconnection of the die to the inner lead ends is typically performed using wire bonding, tape automated bonding (TAB) or flip chip bonding. In wire bonding or TAB bonding, the inner lead ends terminate a distance from the die and are electrically interconnected to I/O pads on an electrically active face of the die by small diameter wires or conductive tape. The die may be supported by a die pad which is surrounded by the leads. In flip chip bonding, the inner lead ends of the lead frame extend beneath the die and the die is flipped so that the I/O pads on the electrically active face of the die contact the inner lead ends by a direct electrical contact, such as a solder joint.
A representative QFN package and its method of manufacture is more fully disclosed in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/563,712 published as PCT International Application No. WO2005/017968 A2 on Feb. 24, 2005. The disclosure of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/563,712 is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
An ongoing objective for the designers of no lead semiconductor packages is better thermal management. That is, the ability to remove heat from the electrically active semiconductor die. The QFN is one of the best lead frame based packages in terms of thermal management and cost, but as integrated circuit devices become more complex, there is a need for improved thermal and electrical performance. Among the options available in the market are the use of heavy wires and metal ribbons to conduct heat away from the integrated circuit die.
The use of a heat spreader in a leaded package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,267 to Mahulikar et al. The use of the heat spreader with a substrate based package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,977,626 to Wang et al. and 6,432,749 to Libres. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,608,267; 5,977,626 and 6,432,749 are all incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.
None of the prior art designs include a no-external lead, lead frame based package having a heat spreader. Such a package would have enhanced thermal performance as compared to the QFN and other no-lead type packages presently known.


An inspection apparatus and a method for detecting defects in a substrate having a semiconductor device thereon are provided. The method includes establishing a first inspection region including first patterns repeatedly formed in a first direction and a second inspection region including second patterns repeatedly formed in a second direction on the substrate, determining a first unit inspection size of the first inspection region and a second unit inspection size of the second inspection region, obtaining images of the first and second patterns by moving the substrate in the first direction, and detecting defects in the first and second inspection regions by comparing the obtained images of portions of the first and second inspection regions, respectively, with each other. The first inspection size and second inspection size function as comparison units if defects are detected. The substrate may face an image receiving member.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a method for detecting defects in a substrate having a semiconductor device thereon. Other example embodiments relate to a method for detecting defects in a substrate having a semiconductor device thereon using a less complex process within a shorter amount of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
As processes for manufacturing a semiconductor device become more complex and critical dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, problems may occur such as defects (e.g., bridges) between semiconductor patterns, breaking of the semiconductor patterns, voids in the semiconductor patterns, etc.
A process for detecting defects generated during processes for manufacturing a semiconductor device may be performed after performing each unit process thereof. If the detection process is accurately performed, successive processes may be performed without defects, preventing a decrease in a yield rate.
Comparison algorithms for detecting defects in a semiconductor device may be classified as a random mode algorithm or an array mode algorithm.
A random mode uses a die-to-die method in which a target die to be inspected is compared to an adjacent die. In the random mode, a first region of the target die may be compared to a second region of the adjacent die, which corresponds to the first region. If pixels in the first region are found to be different from those in the second region, defects may be present. In the random mode, corresponding regions between adjacent dies are compared with each other in order to detect defects in a region having irregular patterns therein and defects in a region having regular or repeated patterns therein. If defects are detected in the random mode, noise may increase due to a color difference or a focus difference between the adjacent dies. As the noise increases, detection power decreases.
In an array mode, images of repeated patterns on a die may be compared to one another at a predetermined interval. If a difference is found in the images of the repeated patterns, defects may be present. That is, a pixel having the different images may have defects. In the array mode, adjacent patterns on a die are compared to one another in order to detect defects in a region having the repeated patterns therein.
There are seldom color differences or focus differences between the adjacent patterns such that defects may be detected in the array mode more accurately than the random mode because adjacent regions, in which the repeated patterns are formed in one die, are compared to one another in the array mode. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the array mode may be about 1.5 times higher than that of the random mode. Minute defects may be accurately detected in the array mode due to the higher SNR thereof. Defects in a substrate having a highly-integrated semiconductor device thereon are usually detected using the array mode because the detection power of the array mode is higher than that of the random mode.
A semiconductor device may include a first region where patterns are repeatedly formed along an x-axis direction and a second region where patterns are repeatedly formed along a y-axis direction. The first and second regions, in which repetitive patterns are formed in different directions from each other, are inspected.
A substrate having a semiconductor device thereon is scanned in the x-axis direction with an image sensor so that images are obtained of first repetitive patterns in a first region, in which the first repetitive patterns are formed in the x-axis direction. The obtained images of the first repetitive patterns are compared to one another at predetermined intervals so that defects in the first region may be detected. After rotating the substrate by about 90 degrees in the same plane, the substrate is scanned in the y-axis direction with the image sensor so that images are obtained of second repetitive patterns in a second region, in which the second repetitive patterns are formed in the y-axis direction. The obtained images of the second repetitive patterns are compared to one another at predetermined intervals so that defects in the second region may be detected.
A time delay integration (TDI) sensor chip used in the array mode may be arranged in such a way that images of patterns may be obtained only in a scanning direction. As such, defects may be detected in a region where the patterns are repeatedly formed in the scanning direction. An inspection time may be longer if defects of the substrate are detected using the array mode, in which patterns are repeatedly formed on the substrate in the x-axis and y-axis directions, because the substrate is scanned in each of the x-axis and y-axis directions in order to detect the defects.
A peripheral portion of the region, in which the repetitive patterns are formed, may have a shape different from that of another portion of the region. As such, detecting defects in the peripheral portion of the region may be difficult using the array mode, in which images of the repetitive patterns in one portion of the region are compared to those of another portion of the region.

Method for detecting defects in a substrate having a semiconductor device thereon


The disclosure relates to a container for shipping, storing, dispensing, and receiving units for storing, dispensing, and receiving medical sharps, wherein the container includes a plurality of compartments, said compartments each being capable of containing one unit for storing, dispensing, and receiving medical sharps and to a method of using said container to store, dispense, receive, and ship said units.

Because of well known health issues, the safe disposal of syringes and other "sharps" has long been a high priority for medical related professional facilities and industries. An increasing number of individuals are using medical sharps in private and public settings which use potentially creates a source of used and contaminated sharps outside of a relatively well controlled environment with established disposal protocols and collection points.
Medical delivery pens (hereinafter sometimes "MDPs") have, more recently, become widely used instead of or in addition to syringes, e.g., by diabetics, who frequently inject themselves several times a day with accurately measured, adjustable, pre-selected amounts of insulin or other medication. Medical delivery pens include a reservoir of medication and a distal end adapted to be attached (usually by thread means) to a pen needle assembly (PNA). The pen needle assemblies typically include a removable thin sterile seal covering the proximal (large diameter) end of the said outer shield and a removable tube-like shield covering the distal portion of the hollow needle. The assembled pen needle assembly is then factory sterilized. The user of a pen needle assembly removes the seal from the outer shield, screws the pen into the proximal end of the pen needle housing, removes the outer and tube-like shields, sets the medical delivery pen for the desired dose of medication, and then inserts the distal end of the pen needle into the target tissue following which the medical delivery pen is actuated to deliver the desired dose of medication through the hollow needle into said tissue.
Many diabetics routinely administer medication to themselves several times a day by injection of a pre-selected quantity of insulin (or substitute medication) in liquid form; the correct amount of medication can be determined from prior professional medical instruction or by use of convenient portable blood analysis kits which are small, compact and provide rapid indicators of the user's blood sugar level. The several daily injections are often done away from the diabetic's home or residence which has made the use of the portable, convenient medical delivery pens widespread. The aforesaid testing kits and the medical delivery pens are relatively small in size and can easily fit within a woman's purse or equivalent. A typical scenario for a diabetic at a restaurant for a meal is to first use the blood sugar testing kit to obtain an indicator of his or her blood sugar level. This information then facilitates programming or adjusting the medical delivery pen to deliver the desired quantity of medication. Then the pen with an attached PN (a PNA sans the outer protective shield) is used to inject the medication. These steps require a relatively short length of time and can be done with minimum loss of privacy.
MDPs are also widely used by doctors, nurses and other professionals in their duties. Many individuals will request (sometimes insist) that an injection be done with a pen needle rather than a syringe.
Devices which dispense unused pen needle assemblies and subsequently receive and store used pen needle assemblies are now available and are well accepted for convenience and safety in minimizing user contact with used medical sharps; however the used sharps must still be treated with caution until they are returned to an appropriate medical waste facility. Larger facilities such as hospitals and clinics typically have regularly scheduled services which collect containers of medical waste and used medical sharps. In areas where such routine collection of medical waste is not readily available, it would be desirable to provide a system and method of consolidating medical sharps containers and packaging the consolidated material for return to an appropriate medical waste treatment facility. Often this may be conveniently accomplished at a facility such as a pharmacy which originally dispensed the medical sharps.

Shipping and aggregation system for medical sharps


An equipment for facsimile call service of a telephone exchange which can apply an unique charging system to a facsimile call by distinguishing the facsimile call from ordinary speech calls, notify a caller of cause when occurring a failure in transmitting the facsimile call, and advise the caller on the way to eliminate the cause.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an equipment for facsimile call service of a telephone exchange and, more particularly, to an equipment for facsimile call service of a telephone exchange which can apply an unique charging system to a facsimile call by distinguishing the facsimile call from a speech call, notify a caller of cause when occurring a failure in transmitting the facsimile call, and advice the caller on the way to eliminate the cause.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Up to this time, an overseas facsimile communications network has been made by connecting subscriber facsimiles to respective subscriber lines. The demand for such a facsimile communication rapidly increases as overseas business expands. The facsimile communication generally has the advantages of finishing caller's work even if the callee is not there and making transmission time shorter than speech communication.
All kinds of communication, such as facsimile, data communication or the like, passing through telephone exchanges is processed in the same manner as the speech communication since these communications can not be distinguished from the speech communication at the telephone exchanges. Also, the facsimile communication is made using local telephone lines, so that an ordinary telephone call charging system is applied thereto. For this reason, any caller will be charged for the call even if the caller has not completed his or her work due to a failure of the facsimile transmission, and this has caused a problem that an appropriate communication system has not yet realized by making a good use of properties unique to the facsimile communication but not the speech communication.
Further, when failing in the transmission, no subscriber can know information other than the result of "transmission error" displayed on his or her facsimile since the transmission is made between the facsimiles. Therefore, in order to transmit document information to the receiving side, the sending side has no other way than to repeatedly transmit the document till the transmission is achieved successfully without knowing the reason for the transmission error. Particularly, when the facsimile transmission through the international telephone network was not completed by an unknown reason, the subscriber of the sending side must attempt the transmission many times without success since he or she can never know the reason.

Equipment for facsimile call service of telephone exchange


A device and a system are provided. The system may include a perforated barrier disposed within an exhaust stream downstream from the combustion chamber(s). The barrier may divide the exhaust stream radially and longitudinally. A mixing surface may be coupled with the perforated barrier which may define a path within the exhaust stream to impart a swirl to the exhaust stream.

A diesel particulate filter (DPF) may be used to remove diesel particulate matter or soot from the exhaust gas of a diesel engine. A soot sensor may be located downstream from the DPF and may be configured to determine whether or not a soot concentration in the exhaust gas is within acceptable levels.
The inventors herein have recognized examples wherein the soot sensor reading may not represent the actual average soot concentration. For example many DPF cracks may originate close to the DPF circumference area of the exhaust conduit. Accordingly, the concentration of soot closer to the conduit center may be lower than average levels, and higher than average levels at near the conduit circumference. In addition, many applications require that the on board diagnostic soot sensor be located a short distance downstream from the DPF exit cone where soot distribution is usually very poor due to a lack of distance for adequate soot particulates redistribution. The soot sensor may extend into, for example, a three to four inch exhaust pipe diameter only about one inch.
Efforts have been made to provide better exhaust stream soot concentration readings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,225,648 provides a particulate matter sensor for sensing particulate matter present in exhaust gases in a conduit which attempts to solve the problem of undesirable spikes in the output signal of the particulate matter sensor which may be caused when large particles impinge upon the electrodes of the sensor. The disclosed device provides an inner shield surrounding a sensing face and an inner shield inlet passage for admitting exhaust gases to be sensed. The inner shield also has an exit passage to allow exhaust gases to exit. An outer shield surrounds a portion of the inner shield to define an outer shield chamber that extends axially beyond the inner shield and includes an outer shield inlet passage for communicating exhaust gases into the outer shield chamber from the upstream end of the exhaust conduit. Exhaust gases enter the inner shield from the outer shield inlet chamber.
The inventors of the present application have recognized a number of problems with the above approach. For example, the disclosed attempt appears to simply change the location within the exhaust conduit from which the exhaust gas is sampled. The disclosed attempt does not, however, provide a sample of exhaust which better represents the overall concentration of soot in the exhaust stream.
The inventors herein provide a system including a perforated barrier disposed within an exhaust stream downstream from the engine cylinder(s). The perforated barrier may divide the exhaust stream radially and longitudinally. The system may also include a mixing surface coupled with the perforated barrier. The mixing surface may define a path within the exhaust stream to impart a swirl to the exhaust stream. In this way, any soot that may be in the exhaust stream may be better mixed into the exhaust stream to provide a more homogeneous mixture. In this way, the soot sensor may provide a more accurate reading of the amount of soot that may be present in the exhaust stream. Using both flow impingement and swirling together may tend to improve flow mixing, and may provide improved performance with less pressure loss.
The perforated barrier may have a circumferential edge in substantial sealing engagement with an inner diameter wall of an exhaust conduit. The barrier may define a surface which extends upstream from the circumferential edge while extending in a radial direction from the inner diameter wall. In this way, as exhaust gas flows across the barrier it may enter a region between the circumferential edge of the exhaust conduit and the barrier outer surface. The barrier may divide the exhaust conduit into two parts, and consequently two exhaust flow paths, an upstream path and a downstream path. Flow in upstream path may pass through the perforated holes on the perforated barrier to exit to the downstream path. Since the perforated holes may be located at circumference of the barrier surface, the flow direction may be significantly pointed toward the center line of exhaust conduit. The mixing surface coupled with the perforated barrier may create a swirling flow. As flow enters the region between exhaust conduit and cone outer surface area, it may follow the curve of the mixing surface and flow rotation may be generated before it passes through the perforated holes. As the flow exits from perforated holes, the swirling momentum may carry on inside the perforated barrier and help flow mixing. With those two flow mechanisms, soot particulates may be more uniformly distributed downstream of the perforated barrier forming an effective soot mixer. In this way, the soot sensor can detect soot leakage within short distance from the DPF.
Embodiments may provide a system including a conduit for passing a stream of exhaust from a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. An exhaust gas sensor may be located within the conduit. A wall may be located within the conduit upstream from the exhaust gas sensor. The shape of the wall may at least approximate a cone and may have an upstream portion with a first outer diameter and a downstream portion with a second outer diameter. The second outer diameter may be larger than the first outer diameter. A plurality of passages may be in the wall. One or more edges may be coupled with the wall and may extending axially and radially within the conduit. In this way the edges may impart at least a partial swirl to the flow of exhaust, and the configuration of the wall and the plurality of passages may tend to intermix relatively upstream exhaust with relatively downstream exhaust. In this way the exhaust may be more thoroughly mixed even a relatively short distance from the DPF.
Various embodiments may provide a system including a circular exhaust pipe having a perforated bell housing with an open end of the bell facing downstream. A plurality of fins may extend helically around an outer surface of the perforated bell. In this way, soot that may be present in the exhaust stream may be more homogenously mixed into the exhaust stream which may provide a more accurate exhaust sample to be sensed by the soot sensor.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


An imaging apparatus includes: a pixel configured to generate a signal through photoelectric conversion; a comparator configured to compare a signal generated by the pixel with a first reference signal that changes with time; and a control unit configured to change the rate of change of the first reference signal with respect to time according to a comparison result of the comparator.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
A solid imaging apparatus has been known that includes a comparator unit comparing a predetermined level of an analog pixel signal obtained from a pixel with a reference signal that gradually changes for converting the predetermined level into digital data (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-136043). A count unit performs a counting process in parallel with a comparison process in the comparator unit, and holds a count value at the time when the comparison process is ended, thereby acquiring digital data at the predetermined level. A reference signal generating unit changes the slope of the reference signal according to a signal from a communication and timing control unit.
An analog-digital converter has been known that includes a latch circuit for a higher order bit and a latch circuit for a lower order bit, and quantizes the higher order bit and the lower order bit separately from each other (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-232291). First, a pixel signal is supplied to one input terminal of a comparator provided for each column. A staircase wave having a large voltage step is supplied to the other input terminal as a reference voltage. A count value corresponding to the number of steps when the output of the comparator is inverted is held in a latch circuit as a higher order bit. Meanwhile, the reference voltage at this time is held in a capacitor. Subsequently, a reference voltage having a small voltage step is supplied via the capacitor, and a count value at the time when the comparator is inverted again is held in the latch circuit for the lower order bit.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-136043, the slope of the reference signal changes according to the signal of the communication and timing control unit. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the count value of the count unit on each column has a different value when the slope of the reference signal changes. In this case, it is difficult to design timing between the slope of the reference signal and the count value of the counter unit. When the slope of the reference signal is changed, the clock signal is also required to be changed. Accordingly, the circuit size of the counter unit becomes large.

Imaging apparatus having comparator configured to compare pixel signal with reference signal that changes with time


A condition setting process of determining peening conditions for water jet peening on a peening target object, an analysis process of analyzing a jet when a liquid is jetted from a nozzle model to a peening target object model and obtaining a void rate that is a volume rate of air bubbles contained in a unit volume of the liquid and a collapse rate that is a volume of the air bubbles collapsing in a unit time in the unit volume of the liquid in each position on a surface of the peening target object model, a shock pressure correlation value calculation process of obtaining a shock pressure correlation value that is a product of the void rate and the collapse rate in each position, and a range calculation process of obtaining an effective processing range in which the shock pressure correlation value on the surface of the peening target object model is greater than a predetermined value, based on the shock pressure correlation value in each position.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of pre-evaluating water jet peening, a recording medium having a program recorded thereon to execute this method, a device for executing the method, and a water jet peening method.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-247967, filed Nov. 29, 2013, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Background Art
In order to suppress stress corrosion cracking of a structure, water jet peening (hereinafter referred to as WJP) may be performed on this structure. This WJP is a technology in which high pressure water is jetted from a nozzle to a surface of the structure, shock waves generated when fine air bubbles generated in this high pressure water collapse are applied to the surface of the structure, an area including the surface is plastically deformed due to the shock waves, and residual tensile stress generated on the surface is converted into residual compressive stress.
In many cases, a part on which WJP is performed is submerged. Therefore, residual stress in the peened part cannot be measured after performing WJP. Therefore, a method of predicting the residual stress of the peened part is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. In this method, a jet jetted from a nozzle is analyzed to estimate collapse pressure of air bubbles on a peened surface based on a prediction result of internal air bubble pressure of the air bubbles and density of the air bubbles, and residual stress of the peened surface is predicted using this collapse pressure.

Method of pre-evaluating water jet peening, recording medium having program recorded thereon to execute the method, device for executing the method, and water jet peening method


The present invention comprises systems, methods and devices for the delivery of compositions for diagnosing or treating conduits. The delivery system is positioned to allow for placement of the composition into the body conduit. Use of delivery systems, methods and devices for delivering to a body conduit are also included.

In the medical and research fields, there are many clinical situations where it is desired or necessary to deliver or transfer substances within a body tube or conduit by using a device. It is often desirable for treatment or diagnostic purposes. Unfortunately, many delivery techniques are challenging or not optimal to achieve the desired therapeutic treatment or diagnostic evaluation.
What is needed are devices that deliver therapeutic treatments or can be used for diagnostic evaluations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and devices for delivering to conduit


A highly reliable ceramics substrate which can sufficiently secure a bonding strength of a surface conductor in an initial state and after a lapse of time (e.g., after a PCT) is provided. The multilayer ceramics substrate has a surface conductor on at least one surface of a multilayer body constituted by a plurality of laminated ceramics substrate layers. A reaction phase formed by a reaction between a ceramics component in the ceramics substrate layers and a glass component in the surface conductor is deposited at an interface between the surface conductor and ceramics substrate layers. For example, an alumina filler in the ceramics substrate layers and Zn in the surface conductor react with each other, thereby forming ZnAl2O4 as the reaction phase.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramics substrate having a surface conductor made of a sintered metal and the like on a surface.
2. Related Background Art
While substrates for mounting electronic devices have widely been in use in the fields of electronic appliances and the like, multilayer ceramics substrates have recently been proposed and put into practical use as a highly reliable substrate responding to demands for the electronic appliances to reduce their size and weight and diversify their functions. A multilayer ceramics substrate is constructed by laminating a plurality of ceramics substrate layers and enables high-density mounting by integrating surface conductors, inner conductors, electronic elements, and the like with the ceramics substrate layers.
When a surface conductor formed on an outer surface of the multilayer ceramics substrate is made of a sintered metal, a conductor paste employed is typically doped with glass frit. Doping with glass frit is effective in securing the bonding strength between the surface conductor made of the sintered metal and the ceramics substrate layer. For example, using a conductor paste containing an Ag powder (conductive material) and glass frit as a conductive paste for forming the surface conductor can secure the adhesion between the surface conductor and ceramics substrate layer to a certain extent.
For keeping the electric resistance of the surface conductor at a low value and making its solder wettability and platability favorable, the doping amount of glass fit has its limit, so that sufficient results may not always be obtained by doping with glass frit alone. Therefore, various studies have been under way in order to improve the bonding strength of the surface conductor, and it has been proposed to secure the bonding strength of the surface conductor, for example, by forming an undercoat layer or the like (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. HEI 6-237081 and 9-221375).
Namely, the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 6-237081 forms a glass layer at the interface between a glass ceramics layer and a conductor lead on the uppermost layer by printing a glass paste, thereby attaining a high bonding strength. Similarly, the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 9-221375 forms an undercoat layer containing predetermined glass and alumina between a ceramics substrate layer and a surface conductor layer, so as to secure the adhesion between the substrate and surface conductor layer.


The present invention relates to a non-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) process, particularly a transcription-based amplification method, for amplifying and cloning sequences containing a variable domain sequence such as an immunoglobulin variable domain sequence from the immunological gene repertoire. The present invention comtemplates the expression of antibody library in either in an in vivo expression vector or in an in vitro transcription/translation system. Isolation of a gene coding for a receptor having the ability to bind a preselected ligand and receptors produced by the gene isolated by the method is also contemplated.

A dozen or so monoclonal antibodies have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as human therapeutics including Orthoclone OKT3 for allograft rejection, ReoPro (abciximab) for adjunct treatment of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) including balloon angioplasty, atherectomy and stent placement, Rituxan for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Simulet and Zenapax for organ rejection prophylaxis, Remicade for Rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease, Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Herceptin for metastatic breast cancer, Mylotarg for acute myeloid leukemia and Campath for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, etc. These therapeutic antibodies can be divided into three major categories: murine monoclonal antibodies (Orthoclone OKT3); chimeric monoclonal antibodies (ReoPro, Rituxan, Simulet, and Remicade); and CDR-grafted monoclonal antibodies (Zenapax, Synagis, Herceptin, Mylotarg, and Campath). A murine monoclonal antibody is a mouse antibody; a chimeric antibody contains antibody of two or more species of animal, such as human and mouse; while CDR-grafted antibodies have lower amounts of foreign protein, generally in the complementarity determining region (CDR), thus the framework is human and the CDR are of mouse origin. In the above clinically approved antibodies, the non-human portion of the antibody derived is from a mouse antibody.
The mouse portion of the murine, chimeric or even CDR-grafted antibodies would elicit an immune response and associated side effects when administrated to a human, such as HAMA (human anti-mouse antibody) or HACA (human anti-chimeric antibody) responses. Thus, therapeutic antibody development is best suited with totally or 100% human antibodies.
There are two approaches in making human antibodies. One approach uses a human-mouse system such as the XenoMouse technology of Abgenix (Fremont, Calif.) or the HuAbMouse technology of Medarex, Inc. (Princeton, N.J.), wherein the host mouse immunoglobulin genes are inactivated and most of the human immunoglobulin genes are incorporated into the mouse to produce totally human antibodies in response to antigen stimuli in the mouse. Some of the difficulties in producing monoclonal antibodies with the human-mouse methodology include genetic instability, smaller antigenic specificities due to tolerance restriction of certain antibodies in a live animal, low throughput in access and screening of the in vivo antibody repertoire which can only be accessed via immunization with a selection on the basis of binding affinity and low production capacity.
The other approach is to generate libraries of antibody genes by cloning. Often the target genes are amplified prior to cloning.
There are a number of methods in the field of amplifying specific target nucleic acid sequences of interest. The polymerase chain reaction method (PCR), as described by Mullis et al., (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195, 4,683,202, and 4,800,159; and European Patent Application Nos. 86302298.4, 86302299.2, and 87300203.4, and Methods in Enzymology, Volume 155, 1987, pp. 335-350), is one of the most prominent methods. PCR involves the use of a pair of specific oligonucleotides as primers for the two complementary strands of the double-stranded DNA containing the target sequence. The primers are chosen to hybridize at the ends of each of the complementary target strands, 3′ of the target sequence. Template-dependent DNA synthesis, on each strand, can then be catalyzed using a thermostable DNA polymerase in the presence of the appropriate reagents. A thermal cycling process is required to form specific hybrids prior to synthesis and then to denature the double stranded nucleic acid formed by synthesis. Repeating the cycling process geometrically amplifies the target sequence.
A PCR method employing a reverse transcription step is also used with an RNA target using RNA-dependent DNA polymerase to create a DNA template. The PCR method has been coupled to RNA transcription by incorporating a promoter sequence into one of the primers used in the PCR reaction and then, after amplification by the PCR method, using the double-stranded DNA as a template for the transcription of single-stranded RNA. (see, e.g., Murakawa et al., DNA 7:287-295 (1988)). The PCR method has been applied to the amplification and cloning of the variable domain sequences of immunoglobulin or antibody genes (U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,158 to Winter et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,161 to Lerner et al.).
There are, however, several non-PCR-based amplification methods that can be used for amplifying specific target genes. One types of the non-PCR-based amplification methods include multiple cycles of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase-driven RNA transcription amplification or RNA-directed DNA synthesis and transcription to amplify DNA or RNA targets (see, e.g., Burg et al., WO 89/01050; Gingeras et al., WO 88/10315; Kacian and Fultz, EPO Application No. 89313154; Davey and Malek, EPO Application No. 88113948.9; Malek et al., WO91/02818 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,238; Davey et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,409,818; 5,466,586; 5,554,517 and 6,063,603; Eberwine et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,545; Lin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,554; and Kacian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,779).
Another type of amplification method uses a ligase chain reaction (LCR) as described in European Patent Publication No. 320,308. This method requires at least four separate oligonucleotides, two of which hybridize to the same nucleic acid template so their respective 3′ and 5′ ends are juxtaposed for ligation. The hybridized oligonucleotides are then ligated forming a complementary strand on the nucleic acid template. The double-stranded nucleic acid is then denatured, and the third and fourth oligonucleotides are hybridized with the first and second oligonucleotides that were joined together. The third and fourth oligonucleotides are then ligated together. Amplification is achieved by further cycles of hybridization, ligation, and denaturation.
Another amplification method uses Qβ replicase (Qβ) method as described in PCT Publication Ser. No. 87/06270 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,600 that uses a specific RNA probe which is capable of specific transcription by a replicase enzyme. The method requires the design and synthesis of RNA probes with replicase initiation sites.
Another type of amplification uses palindromic probes as described in EPO Publication Nos. 0427073A and 0427074A. The palindromic probe forms a hairpin with a nucleic acid target sequence. The probe contains a functional promoter located in the hairpin region from which RNA transcripts are produced.
There are also several versions of a strand displacement amplification method that uses one strand of DNA to displace same strand DNA sequences hybridized to their complementary DNA sequences to generate many copies of the target DNA sequences under isothermal conditions.
Walker et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 89:392-396 (January 1992), Walker et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 20:1691-1696 (1992), European Patent Application No. EP 0 497272, and European Patent Application No. EP 0 500 224, describe an oligonucleotide-driven amplification method using a restriction endonuclease. The restriction endonuclease nicks the DNA/DNA complex to enable an extension reaction and, therefore, amplification.
Becker et al., EPO Application No. 88306717.5, describe an amplification method in which a primer is hybridized to a nucleic acid sequence and the resulting duplex cleaved prior to the extension reaction and amplification.
Dattagupta et al. described another version of the strand displacement amplification method by using a nucleic acid polymerase lacking 5′ exonuclease activity and a set of oligonucleotide primers to carry out isothermal amplification without requiring exonuclease activity or restriction endonuclease activity (U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,587).
Another amplification method is rolling circle amplification. The method involves insertion of a nucleic acid molecule of interest in a linear vector to form a circular vector where one strand is continuous and the other strand is discontinuous. The continuous strand of the circular vector is then amplified by rolling circle replication, amplifying the inserted nucleic acid molecule in the process. The amplification is rapid and efficient since it involves a single, isothermal reaction that replicates the vector sequences exponentially (U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,824 to Lizardi).
A related amplification method using a similar approach is termed ramification extension amplification (RAM), U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,391 to Zhang et al. The RAM method involves hybridizing a target nucleic acid to several non-overlapping oligonucleotide probes that hybridize to adjacent regions in the target nucleic acid, the probes being referred to as capture/amplification probes and amplification probes, respectively, in the presence of paramagnetic beads coated with a ligand binding moiety. Through the binding of a ligand attached to one end of the capture/amplification probe and the specific hybridization of portions of the probes to adjacent sequences in the target nucleic acid, a complex comprising the target nucleic acid, the probes and the paramagnetic beads is formed. The probes may then ligate together to form a contiguous ligated amplification sequence bound to the beads, which complex may be denatured to remove the target nucleic acid and unligated probes.
Attempts to clone variable domain sequences of the immunological genes into an antibody framework vector and expressing the antibodies in a host cell such as in a phage using PCR have been described (U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,158 to Winter, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,161 to Lerner, et al.). Some of the difficulties in employing that PCR amplification scheme are that PCR amplification efficiency is dependent on both the primer and the template sequences. Certain sequences are preferentially amplified with other sequences being under-amplified or not amplified leading to under representation of the diversity of the resulting antibody libraries. An example of the limitations encountered when using PCR to clone a library is provided in Gao et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (1999) 96:6025-6030.
The size of the human antibody repertoire is estimated to be on the order of 106 to 108 different antigen specificities. Exceptional larger numbers of specificities of the human antibodies can be generated by in vitro construction of VH and/or VL libraries by random recombination and shuffling, and saturation mutagenesis of the VH and VL DNA homologs.
One of the potential benefits of constructing human antibody libraries is to obviate the need for immunization by the generation of highly diverse "generic" human antibody libraries. In certain cases, very specialized human antibody libraries such as human antibody libraries made by using blood cells of cancer patients or blood cells of patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, etc. may contain human antibodies with very high avidity and specificity for that particular diseases. Another benefit of having human antibody libraries is that they permit iterative cycles of mutagenesis or random recombination of the VH and VL gene repertoire to further optimize the specificity, affinity or catalytic properties of the immunoglobulins or their derivative antibodies such as Fab and scFv fragments.

Method for cloning variable domain sequences of immunological gene repertoire


A multi-purpose closure device for the tubular stem of an inflatable balloon including two wings which are interconnected by a hinge for movement from an open to an interlocked position wherein a stem of an inflated balloon is held therebetween and a closure member mounted on one wing passes through an opening on the other and interlocks with the other wing in order to seal the stem of the inflated balloon whereby a balloon can be reliably sealed by compressing and clamping a balloon stem. The closure member may also be provided with an adhesive layer on at least one wing for attachment to other surfaces, an opening in the hinge for a string and tapered portions adjacent the hinge to hold a string.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to balloon closure devices and particularly to multi-purpose balloon closure devices for sealing, capturing, attaching and making decorative arrangements from balloons.
2. Prior Art
The prior art has recognized that the stems of inflated balloons are difficult to manipulate in order to tie them into knots or to tie string or some other line around them to seal them in order to prevent the leakage of lighter than air gas or air. As a result, there may be significant leakage of gas during the process of tying and thereafter. Conversely, the more effectively the knot is tied to prevent leakage, the less likelihood there is that the knot can be reopened, relegating the balloon to one time use, and making the balloon difficult to dispose of since it can only be deflated by bursting it or by allowing the gas to gradually seep out.
To overcome these difficulties, there have been developed balloon closure devices, clips and clamps, but such devices are unreliable and examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,201,045; 3,094,807; 4,416,038; 3,612,465; 3,713,622; and 4,390,103.
In addition to the difficulties described above, the adherence of an inflated balloon to surfaces presents a particular problem. In the case of balloons which are inflated with a lighter than air gas, traditionally tape or some other adhesive means has been provided directly on the balloon and used to fasten it to walls, ceilings, streamers and other surfaces for decorative purposes. Balloons inflated with lighter than air gases have been similarly fastened to surfaces for decorative purposes, or allowed to float to ceilings, or tied by string or other capturing devices to furniture or other stationary objects.
Still further, the attachment of balloons to hold them captive for decorative purposes or for transport has been generally by means of string, line or some other retainer, attached on one end to a tubular stem of an inflated balloon and held by hand or attached in some makeshift manner to furniture or some other surface or object of the room. This solution has presented somewhat of a problem because it has required the tying of a knot on the stem of the inflated balloon which is time consuming and cumbersome. However, if the balloon is held captive by tying it to another surface, yet another time consuming and cumbersome tying operation is required. Furthermore, the line which holds the inflated balloon captive may be hand held and, as such, is hard to control and retain, especially by children.
Additionally, the placement of balloons in decorative or divergent arrangements of various sizes such as hand held bouquets, table place settings and room size configurations has heretofore represented additional problems. Traditionally, balloon users have sealed the stems of balloons by tying them by hand and, in turn, tying individual balloons together and then, further, tying these clusters onto a stationary object, arm of a person, string, line or other means to retain the balloons and form them into decorative shapes. Complex or large decorative devices have traditionally only been created and installed by balloon professionals because of the attendant problems associated therewith. In addition to the problems related to tying the balloons, the range of decorations has been limited by the ability to manipulate balloons. As a result, the ability to create large and/or complex decorations using balloons has been generally the realm of a professional and the balloon user who does not have access to lighter than air gas is particularly limited since most balloon related decorations utilize lighter than air gas to float the balloons which provides the levitation frequently to be used to help create one of these decorative designs. Therefore, the ability to fashion useful decorative designs utilizing non-floating balloons has heretofore been very limited, but would be of great value to the casual balloon user who may not have access to lighter than air gas and who would, otherwise, be deprived of the opportunities to create complex balloon-related decorations.


Embodiments relate to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same. According to embodiments, a semiconductor device may include a gate insulating layer and a gate electrode formed on a semiconductor substrate with an isolation layer, a low-density junction region formed at both sides of the gate electrode, a patterned insulating layer formed while exposing a portion of the low-density junction region, and a high-density junction region formed beneath the exposed low-density junction region of the semiconductor substrate.

Embodiments relate to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same.
A semiconductor device may include a semiconductor substrate with high-density and low-density junction regions isolated from each other about a channel region. A semiconductor device may further include a gate insulating layer and a gate electrode that may be sequentially formed on the channel region. A spacer may be formed on sidewalls of the gate insulating layer and the gate electrode while existing on the low-density junction region. A gap fill oxidation may be formed on an entire surface of the semiconductor substrate and may have a contact hole thereon. A metal interconnection may be electrically connected to the high-density junction region of the semiconductor substrate through the contact hole.
The spacer may be used to form the low-density junction region and to isolate adjacent gate electrodes from each other. This may prevent a punchthrough from being produced in a semiconductor device due to a short channel effect that may occur as a length of a channel is reduced due to the high level of integration of the semiconductor device.
Such a spacer may be formed by depositing a spacer insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate and a gate electrode and performing an etch-back process.
However, the spacer insulating layer may be deposited at a high temperature, for example of about 800° C. Therefore, dopants formed on a semiconductor substrate may be diffused into a channel region and a short channel effect may occur. Accordingly, operational characteristics of a semiconductor device may be degraded.
Further, since it may be difficult to control a region of the spacer through a related art etch-back process, the spacer formed on a sidewall of a gate electrode may have a broad width. Moreover, it may be difficult to adjust a width of the related art spacer. Accordingly, since an isolation space between adjacent gate electrodes may be reduced due to the broad width of the spacer, an interior of a gap between the gate electrodes may not be sufficiently filled with an oxidation film. Voids may therefore occur. Such voids may degrade the reliability of a semiconductor device because they may induce a leakage current when driving the semiconductor device.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device


A speech service, including a speech-to-text engine and a text-to-speech engine, creates and maintains user profiles at a central location accessible over the Internet. A user connects to a software application over a mobile telephone and delivers a voice command. The speech service transcribes the voice command into a text command for the software application. The software application performs a service desired by the user and delivers a text result to the speech service that is converted into a speech result that is delivered to the user. A user speaks to a hardware device to perform a function. The hardware device sends the speech to the speech service over the Internet that transcribes the speech into a text command that is sent over the Internet to a device service provider. The device service provider maps the text command into a device command that is then sent back over the Internet to the hardware device to perform the function. A remote hardware device can be controlled using the software application.

The use of mobile telephones is becoming more prevalent. More people now carry mobile telephones wherever they go; they expect a signal in most locations and expect to be able to communicate with others and to receive information virtually anytime and anywhere. But, the current technological climate hampers the ability of a person to send and receive information.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/368,840 filed Mar. 6, 2006 entitled "Message Transcription, Voice Query and Query Delivery System" presents techniques for converting speech to text and is hereby incorporated by reference. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement.
Currently, speech recognition software requires that each user have a custom user profile. These user profiles are distributed in the sense that a user must have numerous user profiles if he or she uses different speech recognition software. (For example, while the DRAGON brand software from Nuance Corporation might be used on an IBM-compatible computer, it cannot be used on a computer from Apple Inc., so the user may choose the ILISTEN brand software available from MacSpeech, Inc. for use on an Apple computer.) Further, even if the user always uses a single brand of computer, his or her speech profile must be physically transported and installed on each computer (home, office, travel computer) that the user might be using.
The huge vocabulary of potential words that a user might speak also presents a problem. Speech recognition companies attempt to ameliorate this problem by providing language-specific versions of their software tailored to specific categories of users. For example, a speech recognition engine may provide versions based upon "English," "American English," "Indian English," etc., in an attempt to reduce the vocabulary required and to increase accuracy of the engine. Nevertheless, each engine may still require a vocabulary of 50,000 to 100,000 words in order to accurately convert speech to text for any potential user in a given category (in order to match any potential spoken word with a known word in the vocabulary).
Further compounding the problem is that each user of a particular brand of speech recognition software must perform training of that software for it to be accurate. At least two to three hours of training are typically required. Although certain speech engines advertise that no training is required, realistically, at least a minimal amount of training is needed otherwise accuracy suffers. It is not uncommon for a professional user of speech recognition software to spend many hours training that software in order to achieve the highest accuracy. And finally, a user or enterprise must deal with the mechanics of installing and maintaining speech recognition software that can be a great burden. The software must be selected based upon available computers, purchased, installed and maintained. Problems with computer compatibility, lack of memory, etc., are not uncommon. Many versions of installed speech recognition software are out of date (and hence less accurate) because the user or enterprise has not bothered to update the software.
In addition, a user may wish to perform an action, request a service, or retrieve information from a company, web site or other location when all the user has at their disposal is a mobile telephone, voice-enabled computer or other similar voice input device. It can prove difficult for a user to find a person to speak with, or, even if a company has a software application or web site that has the information the user desires or that has the capability to perform a particular service, such software application or web site may be unable to handle the user's request by voice.
Further, various hardware devices such as telephones, cameras, television remote controls, navigation devices, etc. are becoming increasingly more complex to use. A user may know the exact result they wish to achieve with the device but may not know the required instructions, sequence of buttons, controls, etc., to make the device perform the desired function. Currently, it is not feasible for each and every hardware device to incorporate artificial intelligence such that the device can understand a user's speech command and perform the desired function. Yet, a user would like to be able to give a voice command to a device in order to control it.
Another challenge facing any system that handles user speech is the quality of the user speech and dropped connections. Generally, the quality of a live telephone connection (especially with mobile telephones, cordless home telephones, "smart" telephones, a VoIP connection, a SKYPE-type telephone service, etc.) can be poor, compared with traditional, wired analog telephones. Any service that handles user speech arriving over a live telephone connection must deal with lower quality voice data. Also, any time user speech is being recorded over a live telephone connection there is always the possibility of dropouts, static, dead zones, and a dropped connection.
Based upon the above state of technology and the needs of individuals, various systems, services and methods are desired that would address the above needs.

Speech controlled services and devices using internet


Paper chaff consisting of confetti, paper dust fibers or crimp lugs are scrubbed from continuous, edge-perforated computer paper between the paper supply and a printer by stationary brushes and are then captured in a collector chamber for subsequent removal. The collector chamber may be removed, emptied and reinstalled without severing the continuous paper web between the printer and the supply or retracting the paper from the printer. When in operative cleaning position, the chamber essentially confines the area where scrubbing takes place except for inlet and outlet slots through which the paper passes, in order to minimize dust particles from becoming airborne and migrating outside the confined area. In its preferred form, the collector chamber includes materials which electrostatically attract and collect such airborne particles. In one form of the invention wherein fan-folded paper is fed from a carton or box directly to a printer, the collector chamber may rest by gravity on or be fastened to the upper edges of the box.

The general objective of avoiding or minimizing the affect of contaminants on webs from reaching equipment to which the web is being fed is known in a variety of different arts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,418,830 shows the use of flannel wipers for cleaning film being delivered to a motion picture projector.
More pertinent because of the nature of the cleaning device itself is the teaching in U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,625 by Lindau, who uses brushes on opposite sides of strip material such as movie film or magnetic tape. Lindau recognizes that other types of cleaning elements may also be employed, specifically mentioning "fabric, fibers, magnetic and electrostatic elements". In his claims, Lindau addresses the intent "to at least partially dissipate static charges on the moving film".
DiVito U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,868 shows a pair of brushes contacting film from opposite sides, rather than being staggered along the film as in Lindau.
Other types of machines are also provided with various devices for cleaning continuous web material. Examples of such are Lovell U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,273 for scrubbing driving tapes to keep contaminant build-up from affecting the driving speed of endless tapes of a textile strand processing machine, rotary brushes for scrubbing film as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,470,576 and 3,945,077 and wiping film and then cleaning the wiper web with vacuum rolls.
It is well appreciated that chaff accumulating on continuous computer paper, i.e., edge-perforated, tractor-driven, fan-folded paper is the cause requiring frequent servicing of printers, resulting also in poor print quality and down-time occasioned by the need to manually clean the printer. Such chaff results from paper dust and confetti remaining on the paper supply after the tractor holes and tear perforations are produced in the web. In the case of multi-part forms, the edges are crimped during production. The crimping is staggered along the perforated edges to hold the forms together, and, depending on the type of crimp made, can also result in some crimp lugs breaking loose and becoming additional chaff. Although the problem has been affecting the computer printing industry for a considerable period, and although web cleaning is commonly addressed in other types of web-fed equipment, nothing appears to have been provided to address the problem in this growing product area.

Apparatus for cleaning edge-perforated computer paper


In an optical space communication system, a remote controller is provided at an arbitrary position remote from an optical space communication apparatus. The optical space communication apparatus is provided with an interface device for exchanging status information of the operating apparatus, operation start setup/manipulation information or operating setup/manipulation information of the apparatus with the interface device. Communication between the remote controller and the interface device is made for a transmission light power, a transmission signal power, a reception light power, a reception signal power, a light beam transmission angle, a temperature of a predetermined portion in the apparatus, an angular error between the reception light and an optical axis of a light reception unit in the apparatus, a transmission light beam divergence angle or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical space communication apparatus for performing optical radio information communication using a remote control means.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional optical space communication apparatus for performing optical radio information communication is generally installed on the rooftop of a building or the like so as to clear any obstructing objects from the space between itself and an opposing apparatus separated by a predetermined distance. As shown in FIG. 1, optical space communication apparatuses 1 and 2 are installed on the rooftops of buildings to face each other. For example, a displaying unit for displaying operating states such as optical reception power, a setup unit for setup the divergence angle of a transmission light beam, and the like, a manipulating unit for adjusting the transmission angle of the light beam, and the like are arranged on the rear surface of each of the apparatuses 1 and 2.
When the optical space communication apparatuses 1 and 2 are installed on the rooftops or the like as described above, the operation personnel must go to the rooftop and confirm the operating state of the apparatus 1 or 2 using indicators mounted on the apparatus 1 or 2. When the apparatus 1 or 2 must be installed in a place which makes it difficult to access depending on the situation, it is very difficult to confirm the operating state of the apparatus 1 or 2.
To solve this problem, an optical space communication apparatus as shown in FIG. 2 is known. Referring to FIG. 2, a main body head unit 3 is functionally separated from a manipulating control unit 4, the main body head unit 3 is installed on the rooftop, and the manipulating control unit 4 which performs signal processing is installed indoors to perform optical communication. In this apparatus, the main body head unit 3 is connected to the manipulating control unit 4 via a coaxial cable 5. In the opposing apparatus, similarly, a main body head unit 6 is connected to a manipulating control unit 7 through a coaxial cable 8.
With the above arrangement, transmission data signals or preliminarily modulated transmission data signals, power supply information, operation start setup/manipulating information, and setup/manipulating information during operation are input from the manipulating control units 4 and 7 to the main body head units 3 and 6. The main reception data signals, preliminarily modulated reception signals, and information representing the states of the main body head units 3 and 6 are input from the main body head units 3 and 6 to the manipulating control units 4 and 7. The manipulating control units 4 and 7 installed indoors mainly display the operating states of the optical space communication apparatuses to perform setups and manipulations. Note that data signal interfaces and cables for connecting the data signal interfaces to the optical space communication apparatuses are not illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.
In the conventional optical space communication apparatus described above, since the transmitted/received/data signals and the preliminarily modulated transmitted/received/data signals have a broadband, the lengths of the coaxial cables 5 and 8 which connect the main body head units 3 and 6 to the manipulating control units 4 and 7 are limited. The manipulating control units 4 and 7 for displaying the operating states of the optical space communication apparatuses cannot be installed on the data signal interface sides in positions desired by an operator.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the conventional problem described above, and provide an optical space communication apparatus capable of allowing an operator to confirm the operating state from a desired position and at the same time perform the operation start setup/manipulation and setup/manipulation during operation at this desired position.
In order to achieve the above object, there is provided an optical space communication apparatus installed remote from an opposing optical space communication apparatus by a predetermined distance to perform desired optical radio signal communications, wherein remote control means is set at an arbitrary position remote from the optical space communication apparatus, and interface means for communicating operating state information of the apparatus, operation start setup/manipulating information, and setup/manipulating information during operation of the apparatus is set in the optical space communication apparatus.
According to the present invention, there is also provided an optical space communication apparatus in which a transmission/reception optical head unit for converting an electrical signal into an optical signal and transmitting the optical signal to an opposing apparatus, and converting an optical reception signal from the opposing apparatus into an electrical signal is provided separately from a signal processing control unit for performing preliminary modulation, demodulation, and signal level conversion in order to efficiently communicate data signals, wherein remote control means is set at an arbitrary position remote from the optical space communication apparatus, and interface means for communicating operating state information of the apparatus, operation start setup/manipulating information, and setup/manipulating information during operation of the apparatus is set in the optical space communication apparatus.


A bandgap reference circuit (60) provides a selectable bandgap reference voltage that is substantially insensitive to temperature variations of an operating reference circuit. A final curvature caused by a current (I.sub.2) in a temperature coefficient compensation transistor (40) is equal to a drift in a Vbe voltage of a transistor (18) having a negative temperature coefficient plus the drift in a Vbe voltage of a transistor (20) having a positive temperature coefficient minus the drift in a Vbe voltage of the temperature coefficient compensation transistor (40). The nonlinearity of the current (I.sub.2) in the temperature coefficient compensation transistor (40) is adjusted by selecting a compensating current and associated temperature coefficient for the compensating current (I.sub.0) to minimize the characteristic bow or curvature of the current (I.sub.2) in the temperature coefficient compensation transistor (40).

The present invention relates, in general, to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to an integrated circuit for generating a bandgap reference voltage.
Electronic circuits such as, cellular telephones, laptop computers, coders/decoders, and voltage regulators require a stable and accurate reference voltage for effective operation. However, reference voltages may not remain constant due to temperature variations that occur during circuit operation. A circuit known as a bandgap reference voltage generator is used to compensate for the temperature dependence of reference voltages and provide a constant reference voltage.
Typically, a bandgap reference voltage generator must provide a reference voltage that has less than a one percent change in voltage over the operating temperature range. One indication of the performance of the reference voltage generator is the shape of the plot of the reference voltage versus temperature. The plot is characterized by the reference voltage increasing as the temperature is increased until an inflection temperature is reached, at which point the reference voltage decreases. The curvature of this plot is referred to as the characteristic bow of the temperature response.
A common technique for generating a bandgap reference voltage is to use thin film resistors to generate the reference voltage. Although thin film resistors have a temperature coefficient of about zero, they require additional processing steps that increases the cost of the integrated circuit.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and circuit for providing a stable and accurate reference voltage. It would be of further advantage to compensate for second order effects on the temperature coefficient of a transistor's base-emitter voltage. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a low cost bandgap reference voltage generator that is independent of changes in operating and process characteristics.


A surface-profile measuring instrument includes a movement-estimating unit that estimates a movement state of a drive mechanism in accordance with a scanning vector command issued by a scanning vector commanding unit to calculate an estimated movement state quantity, and a correction calculating unit that corrects a detection value of a drive sensor in accordance with the estimated movement state quantity calculated by the movement-estimating unit. The movement-estimating unit has a nominal model setting unit in which a nominal model from the scanning vector commanding unit to the probe is set. The correction calculating unit includes a correction-amount calculating unit that calculates a correction amount for correcting a measurement error generated by a deformation of the drive mechanism in accordance with the movement thereof and a measurement data synthesizing unit that synthesizes the detection value of the drive sensor and the displacement sensor and the calculated correction-amount calculated by the correction-amount calculating unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface-profile measuring instrument.
More specifically, it relates to a surface-profile measuring instrument that scans a surface of a workpiece to measure a contour, surface roughness, waviness and the like of the workpiece.
2. Description of Related Art
A surface-profile measuring instrument that scans a surface of a workpiece to obtain a three-dimensional shape of the workpiece has been known.
FIG. 19 shows an arrangement of a measuring system 100 (surface-profile measuring instrument) using a scanning probe 130.
The measuring system 100 includes a coordinate measuring machine 110 that moves scanning probe 130, a manually-operated console 150, a motion controller 160 for controlling the movement of the coordinate measuring machine 110 and a host computer 200 that drives the coordinate measuring machine 110 via the motion controller 160 and processes the measurement data obtained by the coordinate measuring machine 110 to acquire the dimension and shape of a workpiece W.
The coordinate measuring machine 110 includes a base 111, a drive mechanism 120 vertically mounted on the base 111 to move the scanning probe 130 three-dimensionally, and a drive sensor (not shown) for detecting the drive amount of the drive mechanism 120.
The drive mechanism 120 includes: two beam supporters 121 provided on both sides of the base 111, the beam supporters having a height in Zm-axis direction (approximately vertical direction) and being slidable in Ym-axis direction (along the sides of the base 111); a beam 122 supported on the upper ends of the beam supporters 121 and having a length in Xm-axis direction; a column 123 provided on the beam 122 in a manner slidable in Xm-axis direction, the column 123 having a guide in Zm-axis direction; and a spindle 124 provided on the column 123 to be slidable therewithin in Zm-axis direction and holding the scanning probe 130 on the lower end thereof.
The drive sensor includes a Ym-axis sensor for detecting the movement of the beam supporter 121 in Ym-axis direction, an Xm-axis sensor for detecting the movement of the column 121 in Xm-axis direction, and a Zm-axis sensor for detecting the movement of the spindle 124 in Zm-axis direction.
As shown in FIG. 20, the scanning probe 130 includes a stylus 131 with a probe (measurement portion) 132 at the tip end thereof and a support 133 that supports the base end of the stylus 131 in a manner slidable in Xp direction, Yp direction and Zp direction.
The support 133 includes a slide mechanism (not shown) having an xp slider, yp slider and zp slider (not shown) and a probe sensor (not shown) for detecting the displacement of the slide mechanism in the respective axis directions and outputting the detected displacement.
The stylus 131 is supported by the slide mechanism in a manner slidable within a predetermined range relative to the support 133.
Such arrangement of the scanning probe 130 is disclosed in, for instance, document 1 (JP 05-256640 A).
With this arrangement, while the probe 132 is in contact with the workpiece surface S by a reference pressing amount Δr, the scanning probe 130 is scan-moved along the workpiece surface S.
Then, a movement locus of the scanning probe 130 can be obtained from the drive amount of the drive mechanism 120.
The movement locus of the scanning probe 130 represents the movement locus of the probe 132. The contact point of the workpiece surface S and the probe 132 is present at a position offset from the movement locus of the center of the probe 132 by a predetermined amount (ΔQ).
The position of the scanning probe 130 detected by the drive sensor and the displacement of the stylus 131 detected by the probe sensor are summed to obtain the position of the probe 132, and the position of the probe 132 is corrected by the predetermined offset value (ΔQ) to calculate the position of the workpiece surface S.
When the workpiece surface is scanned by the surface-profile measuring instrument, inertia is applied on a part of the instrument driven with acceleration.
For instance, when the workpiece W is a circle or an arc, centrifugal force is generated by a circular movement, which deforms the drive mechanism 120 (spindle 124) as shown in FIG. 21.
When the deformation on account of the acceleration occurs, the detection value of the sensor contains error corresponding to the deformation.
For instance, when the centrifugal force is generated, the detection value of the sensor represents inner side of the circle on account of the outward deformation of the spindle 124, which results in radial deviation shown in FIG. 22.
In FIG. 22, L1 is a diameter of a ring gauge and L2 is a measurement data
Such problems become prominent when a high-speed scanning measurement is conducted by a large-size coordinate measuring instrument for measuring, for instance, a vehicle body.
In view of this, following arrangement is disclosed in Document 2 (JP 07-324928 A) for correcting the measurement error generated by acceleration.
In the Document 2, a correction value representing deflection characteristics is calculated in advance as a function of a position of a measurement slider and acceleration of the measurement slider.
For instance, a diameter-known ring gauge is measured at various positions within a measurement area with various accelerations to obtain the function of the acceleration and the deflection characteristics.
When a workpiece is measured, in addition to obtaining detection data by various sensors, the correction value is identified based on the acceleration at the time of the measurement and the detection data is corrected by the correction value.
The measurement error on account of acceleration is thus corrected to obtain an accurate measurement value.
In order to obtain the acceleration at the time of measurement, the Document 2 teaches: a method in which the measured value of the position of the measurement slider is differentiated twice (paragraph 0037, claim 12); and a method in which the acceleration of the measurement slider is detected by providing an acceleration sensor (paragraph 0047, claim 13).
According to the method of the Document 2, the position of the measurement slider is differentiated twice to identify the acceleration during the measurement However, the resolution of the acceleration deteriorates in reverse proportion to square of sampling frequency when the position detection value is differentiated twice.
For instance, if the sampling frequency for detecting the position is decupled, the resolution of the calculated acceleration is degraded to one hundredth of the original, which results in deterioration of the resolution of the correction amount by one hundredth of the original.
Accordingly, the acceleration by double differentiation of the position is not practical and cannot answer to the demand for high-speed and high-accuracy movement
Further, though the acceleration of the measurement slider is obtained by differentiating the position of the measurement slider twice, the acceleration and deformation are generated on a tip end of the spindle 124 or a probe unit during the actual measurement, so that there is naturally a limit on the correction accuracy when focusing on the acceleration of the measurement slider.
Incidentally, though the Document 2 mentions to the provision of the acceleration sensor to obtain the acceleration of the measurement slider, no clear recitation for the performance and providing method are disclosed therein and the provision of acceleration sensor is practically difficult.
For instance, when a circle of 100 mm diameter is scan-measured at scanning speed of 10 mm/sec, centripetal acceleration of approximately 50 μG is generated. However, it is difficult to provide an acceleration sensor capable of detecting 50 μG acceleration for each movement axis (total three acceleration sensors) and, even more, it is impossible to provide acceleration sensors adjacent to the probe unit
As discussed above, since the deformation generated during the scanning measurement cannot be accurately calculated, the deformation cannot be corrected.
Accordingly, the shape of a workpiece cannot be accurately measured during high-speed measurement. In order to accurately measure a workpiece, the scanning speed is restricted to a level without causing deformation.
Especially, since a large-size coordinate measuring instrument 110 capable of high-speed measurement of a large workpiece (such as a vehicle) is in demand, a solution for the above problem has been eagerly desired.


Both a “grip” run and a drift run of a remote control car are achieved by fitting rings to an outer peripheral surface of a tire or tires. In a drift tire, at least one annular groove is formed on an outer surface of an annular body of a tire main body in a circumferential direction, at least one ring made of a different material and/or shape from that of the annular body is fitted to the annular groove, and the ring is level with or protrudes from the outer surface of the annular body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a remote control car represented by a radio control car, and more particularly to a drift tire by which a drift run can be easily achieved, and a remote control car to which the tire is attached.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the run of a remote control car is mainly constituted by a "grip" run, and a main object of the remote control car is to stably run and compete in speed. Accordingly, in the tire used in the remote control car, in order to improve traction (a grip force) with various road surfaces, concavity and convexity having various shapes are formed on an outer surface of the tire, or a material likely to grip is selected (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 7-39652).
As mentioned above, the tire in the conventional remote control car is provided for achieving the grip run, and a technical development has been focused on improvement on a grip state with respect to a road surface. There is no technical development undertaken for a tire expected to perform a drift run.
In order to achieve the drift run, a manipulator controls and changes an angle of the tire in a slipping direction; however, since the tire itself is structured so as to achieve the grip run as mentioned above, and a frictional force with respect to the road surface is applied, the drift run intended by the manipulator can not be achieved, and in some cases, a vehicle has a fall. Therefore, the tire surface is designed to be made slippery with respect to the road surface by putting a smooth synthetic resin pipe on an outer peripheral surface of the tire or by winding tapes around the outer peripheral surface of the tire. However, in the case of the pipe, it is hard to attach the pipe, and in the case of the tapes, the tapes frequently drop out more easily than the tire. Further, in order to make the running road surface itself slippery, the road surface is designed to be formed by a P-tile or be coated with a wax; however, there is a problem in that the road surface must be specifically constituted.

Drift tire and remote control car having tire attached thereto


A lifting support structure includes an actuating element having a cylinder and a movable rod moved reciprocally in the cylinder. A bearing seat is disposed on a lateral side of the actuating element, and one end of the movable rod is inserted in the bearing seat. A connecting rod is pivoted on the bearing seat and can pivot in the horizontal direction relative to the bearing seat. One end of the connecting rod is connected with the movable rod, and the other end is suspended freely. And a pedal is connected on the free end of the connecting rod.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a supporting device and, in particular to a lifting support device for lifting a panel.
2. Description of Prior Art
The touch panels are widely used in various places by people with a progress and maturity of the touch panel technology, such as navigation systems in exhibitions or personal displays in a conference room.
In operation, the panel is usually required to fix at a certain height for providing feasible view for user. However, the panels are mostly fixed on a wall or assembled on a supporter or embedded in a desk that users cannot adjust the height of the panel as demands.
Moreover, few panel supporters that can be adjusted to get a required height by manual adjustment of the fixed location of a telescopic rod. However, such adjustment is time-consuming and laborious. Besides, a fixed position of a telescopic rod is usually located below the panel, and users need to squat aside the panel support to adjust the height of the panel. Therefore that is inconvenient for users.
In view of the above drawbacks, the Inventor proposes the present invention based on his expert knowledge and elaborate researches in order to solve the problems of prior art.


A system for removing oil from oil/water or oil/sand or oil/water/sand mixtures. An oil/water mixture is taken from an oil spill on the surface of the water or from other sources such as producing oil wells and is transported to a surge tank where it is agitated and then passed on to a separator which separates the oil from the water. The system also covers separating oil from sand or earth when the spill is on land.

Oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with small amounts of other substances and is found in many places in the upper strata of the earth. Wells are drilled for these deposits and oil is produced. Oil is nearly always produced with some water and must be separated from the water before it can be used. There are elaborate transport systems for the oil, including pipelines that crisscross the country and, in some cases, even in water covered areas. Transport systems also include huge ocean-going oil tankers for carrying the oil. It is inevitable that there will be an occasional spill or leakage of the oil onto water or land. One of the most published oil spills is the Kuwait oil disaster created by the Gulf War of 1991. To limit the damage to the environment it is necessary to clean up these oil spills as expeditiously as possible. The invention disclosed herein shows a system for recovering oil from such spills.


A system and method for capturing water from an atmosphere including an air compressor configured to compress air captured from an atmosphere and to receive power from a power source and collecting moisture from the compressed air at an elevated pressure. A first chamber may be used to heat or concentrate the humidity of the air before the air is compressed. A valve assembly maintains the pressure at which the water is captured at an elevated pressure. The humidity of the air may be concentrated before the air is compressed and the moisture of the air is collected.

Several devices have been previously described for acquiring water from the atmosphere. In general, these devices use refrigeration and refrigerated coils to cool air to its dew point or below in order to collect atmospheric water that condenses on the coils. Typically, these systems are based on a refrigeration device operating according to a vapor compression refrigeration cycle. Such systems may be known as dehumidifiers. In the vapor compression refrigeration cycle, a refrigerant is circulated through a closed circuit cycle of condensation and evaporation to produce a cooling effect. Cooling is accomplished by the evaporation of the liquid refrigerant at low pressure. The refrigerant first enters a compressor where the temperature of the refrigerant is elevated by mechanical compression, such compression turns the refrigerant into a superheated, high pressure vapor. The high pressure vapor is allowed to enter a condenser, where the vapor condenses to a liquid and resultant heat is dissipated to the surroundings. Then, high pressure liquid is allowed to pass through an expansion valve through which fluid pressure and temperature are lowered. Finally, the low-pressure fluid is allowed to enter an evaporator, where the low-pressure fluid is allowed to evaporate by absorbing heat from the cooled space. The resultant vapor is then allowed to reenter the compressor and the cycle is repeated. As air is flowed across the evaporator, the air is cooled below its dew point. Thus, water, in the form of condensation, is obtained as a product of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle. A water collection device may be disposed below the evaporator to collect water that condenses as air is flowed over the evaporator. Often, water capture devices are equipped with various water storage and water purity controlling devices, such as UV lights and filters. Conventional water capture devices may be designed to provide water that is either cooled or heated for the convenience of the user.
The temperature at which evaporated water forms into droplets is called the dew point. In air with relatively low humidity, the dew point may be at or below the temperature at which water freezes. In many desert environments, the dew point is well below 40 degrees for most of the year, often in the single digits. Dehumidifiers in these conditions can rapidly accumulate ice instead of liquid water, clogging the dehumidifier and preventing the dehumidifier from functioning correctly. One way to increase the dew point of air with relatively low humidity is to condense water from the air at an elevated pressure, i.e., a pressure above atmospheric pressure.

Atmospheric water capture systems and methods


A penetration pocket, useful to seal roof openings at protruding pipes or the like, is made of a material compatible with roofing asphalt. The penetration pocket material is asphalt-based with polymeric materials added to impart strength and toughness. Fibrous material may also be added for increased strength. The roofing asphalt, when applied around the penetration pocket, fuses with penetration pocket walls and base, and upon cooling, the penetration pocket and the roofing asphalt are welded together to effect a secure, water-proof joint.

With the widespread development and use of flat or low slope roofs, as in office buildings or similar structures, the need for long-lasting sealing systems to seal the openings in such roofs through which pipes pass has led to the development of many types of sealing devices. Commonly referred to as "penetration pockets," these devices are frequently constructed of metal, and typically comprise a flat base with an opening in the middle for the protruding pipe, and an upstanding wall around the periphery of the hole adjacent to the pipe. Such devices are placed around pipes extending through a low slope or flat roof of a building prior to the roof being covered with roofing asphalt. After placement around the protruding pipe, the gap between the pipe and the upstanding wall of the pocket is typically sealed by pouring a sealant such as asphalt or a waterproof adhesive into the gap, and the interface between the base and the roof is sealed by the roofing asphalt applied onto the roof.
Unfortunately, these systems have several major drawbacks. For instance, such penetration pockets are frequently comprised of a plurality of metal parts or sections which have to be assembled on site, and which require that the seams between adjoining sections be sealed, which often lengthens the roof sealing process. Moreover, the greater the number of sections, the more seams to be sealed and the greater the chances of seepage after the penetration pocket's installation. Furthermore, even though the gap between the upstanding wall section of the penetration pocket and the pipe is typically filled with a sealant, and the interface between the base of the penetration pocket and the roof is sealed when the building roof is covered with asphalt, over time, the penetration pockets often separate from the sealant and roofing asphalt creating gaps that destroy the seal.
Consequently, a need exists for a prefabricated penetration pocket which is easily installed on site, and which forms a long-lasting seal between the penetration pocket and the sealant and roofing asphalt materials. These needs are met by the asphalt-based penetration pockets of the invention described herein.

Owens Corning Fiberglas Technology, Inc.


A system and method for processing multiple client flows to a single outbound link is provided. Specifically, a scheduler enforces a maximum symbol rate on the aggregate output flow. Inbound client flows are scheduled for output based upon individual quality of service parameters. For each round of scheduling, packets configured for a first bandwidth range are processed in a first pass and packets configured for a second bandwidth range are processed in a second pass. The packets are placed into frames before transmission. A comparison of the actual symbol usage with the estimated symbol is made and used to determine how to schedule inbound client flows for the second pass of the round.

Digital Video Broadcasting-Satellite-Second Generation (DVB-S2) is a standard for satellite broadcasting. In accordance with the DVB-S2 standard, a frame of data packed is known as a baseband frame (BBFRAME). BBFRAMEs can have variable lengths from 3072 to 58192 bits. Further, each frame when transmitted can have different Modulation and Coding rates, or MODCODs. Modulation defines the mapping of bits to symbols and hence defines the number of bits conveyed by a symbol, and coding is used for error correction.
The transmission of transport streams of BBFRAMEs from a transmitter to a receiver may be constant bit rate ("CBR") or variable bit rate ("VBR"). DVB-S2 further supports an adaptive transmission mode: Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM). ACM adjusts the carrier's coding and modulation during transmission to optimize quality of service and throughput, adapting to changing link conditions. Thus, based on transmission conditions, a constant symbol rate can convey different bit rates of information.
A network transmitter device may be connected to a single outbound link. If the transmitter device supports multiple inbound client flows, the transmitter device is responsible for arbitrating the sharing of the single outbound link among the multiple inbound client flows.
One prior art arbitration scheme is a first-come-first-serve scheme. In this solution, packets are received by the transmitter device from inbound clients. The packets are transmitted by the transmitter device to the outbound link in the same order in which the packets are received. This scheme does not preclude one client from monopolizing or unfairly consuming the entire outbound link
Another prior art arbitration scheme is packet-wise round-robin. In this solution, the transmitter device periodically services each inbound client or incoming queue. The transmitter device sends a packet onto the outbound link each time an inbound client is serviced. This solution prevents a single flow from monopolizing the entire link. However, transmission is not a function of varying incoming packet sizes, and thus fairness among the inbound client streams cannot be guaranteed. Another variation of this scheme is to evaluate each incoming bit from the inbound client. However, while it provides the finest level of granularity, this approach consumes significant resources and is difficult to implement in practice.
None of the prior art methods, however, take into account the flexibility of varying the outbound modulation link encoding when scheduling packets for transmission. Thus, there is a need for systems and methods which take into account the adaptive modulation capability when transmitting frames to more efficiently schedule the multiplexing of input streams.

Packet scheduling system for digital video broadcasting