A liquid crystal electro-optical device based on a dispersion-type liquid crystal, comprising a pair of substrates at least one of which is light-transmitting, having established thereon electrodes and an electro-optical modulating layer having incorporated between said pair of substrates, said electro-optical modulating layer being composed of a resin support having dispersed therein a liquid crystal material, wherein, the liquid crystal material as viewed in the cross section is dispersed in the resin support as droplets flattened along the direction parallel to the substrates. The dispersion-type liquid crystal electro-optical device according to the present invention has a high scattering efficiency and provides an excellent light-transmittance upon application of an electric field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dispersion-type liquid crystal electro-optical device based on a liquid crystal resin composite comprising a polymer resin having dispersed therein a liquid crystal material, and a method for forming the same. More particularly, the present invention provides a liquid crystal electro-optical device comprising substrates having set at a little spacing, yet achieving high scattering efficiency.
2. Prior Art
Many liquid crystal electro-optical devices operating on a twisted nematic (TN) or a super-twisted nematic (STN) mode using nematic liquid crystal and the like are known and put into practice. Recently, there is also known a device using ferroelectric liquid crystals. All those liquid crystal electro-optical devices basically comprise a first and a second substrate each having provided thereon an electrode and a lead, and a liquid crystal composition being incorporated between those facing two substrates. Thus, by applying an electric field between the electrodes, the state of the liquid crystal molecules having incorporated between the substrates are changed according to the anisotropy in dielectric constant. Otherwise, in the case of ferroelectric liquid crystals, the state of the liquid crystal molecules are changed according to the spontaneous polarization of the liquid crystal molecule itself. The liquid crystal devices take advantage of this electro-optical effect for displaying images.
In a liquid crystal operating in a TN or an STN mode, the liquid crystal molecules which are brought into contact with the two substrates are subjected to an orientation treatment and are arranged along the rubbing direction. The rubbing directions in the upper and the lower substrates are twisted with respect to each other so that they may make right angle or an angle from 200.degree. to 290.degree.. Thus, it can be seen that the liquid crystal molecules at the midway between the two substrates are arranged in spirals to achieve a minimum energy. In the case of an STN type device, a chiral substance is added to the liquid crystal material if necessary.
The devices described hereinbefore, however, require essentially a polarizer sheet. Furthermore, the liquid crystals must be arranged along one direction within the liquid crystal electro-optical device. Such a regular orientation of liquid crystal molecules had been achieved by rubbing an orientation film (generally an organic film) with a cotton or a velvet cloth. If not for such an orientation treatment, the liquid crystal molecules would not arrange themselves along one direction and the electro-optical effect of the liquid crystals would not be fully exhibited. Thus, a conventional device generally takes a cell-like structure comprising a pair of substrates to support the liquid crystal material therebetween, so that the liquid crystal may be injected and then imparted orientation by applying a rubbing treatment thereto to exhibit the optical effect.
In addition to the liquid crystal electro-optical devices of the type above, there is also known a dispersion-type liquid crystal capable of providing a clear and high contrast image plane, yet free of such polarizer sheets and rubbing treatment mentioned above. Referring to FIG. 2, a typical type of a prior art dispersion-type liquid crystal device is described. The two light-transmitting substrates 100 and 100' support therebetween a dispersion-type liquid crystal comprising a light-transmitting solid polymer 102 having dispersed therein granular or sponge-like liquid crystal materials 103 to give an electro-optical modulating layer. This liquid crystal device can be fabricated by dispersing encapsulated liquid crystal materials into the polymer, and then coating a film or a substrate with the resulting polymer to give a thin film. Materials such as gum arabic, poly(vinyl alcohol), and gelatin can be used for encapsulating the liquid crystal materials.
Let us consider a case in which the microcapsules are prepared by encapsulating a liquid crystal material with poly(vinyl alcohol). If the liquid crystal molecules exhibit a positive dielectric anisotropy in the polymer thin film under an electric field, the molecules are arranged in such a manner that the major axes thereof are in parallel with the electric field. Thus, if the refractive index of the liquid crystal is the same as that of the polymer, the thin film turns transparent. When the applied electric field is removed, the liquid crystal molecules take a random orientation to hinder light path, and thus the film turns opaque. Various types of information can be displayed by taking advantage of the two states, i.e., a light-transmitting and an opaque state.
Dispersion-type liquid crystals include, in addition to the encapsulated type above, those comprising liquid crystal materials being dispersed in an epoxy resin, those taking advantage of phase separation between liquid crystals and a resin by irradiating a light to a mixture of a liquid crystal and a photo-curable resin, and those comprising a three-dimensionally structured polymer having impregnated with a liquid crystal. The present invention refers to all those mentioned hereinbefore collectively as dispersion-type liquid crystals.
Because those dispersion type liquid crystal electro-optical devices can be fabricated free of polarizer sheets, an extremely high light transmittance can be achieved with the devices of this type, if compared with the conventional ones operating in a TN or an STN mode and the like. More specifically, the transmittance per polarizer sheet is about 50%, and in an device driven by an active matrix using a plurality of sheets in combination, the transmittance falls to a mere 1%. The transmittance of an STN mode device also falls to about 20%, and hence efforts are made to obtain a brighter image plane by increasing luminance of the backlighting. In contrast to these devices, a dispersion-type liquid crystal electro-optical device transmits 50% or more of the light. This owes to the fact that the device can be made completely free of polarizers.
As described in the foregoing, a dispersion-type liquid crystal functions by changing its state, i.e., a transparent state and an opaque state, and is advantageous in that it allows transmission of light at a larger amount. Thus, R & D efforts are paid mainly in realizing a transmitting-type liquid crystal electro-optical device; more particularly, in the realization of a projection type liquid crystal electro-optical device. In a projection type liquid crystal electro-optical device, the light is passed through a liquid crystal electro-optical device panel established midway in the light path of an incident light from the light source, and the light having passed through this panel is projected onto a wall via a slit having a predetermined angle. The liquid crystal molecules in the panel are in a random arrangement to give an opaque state when a low electric field below a certain threshold value is applied, i.e., when a low voltage to which the liquid crystal molecules do not respond is applied. The light is scattered upon incidence to the panel at this state, thus enlarging the light path. Then, the slit provided next to the panel cuts off most of the scattered light to give a black state to the wall. On the other hand, a light incident to liquid crystal molecules having arranged in parallel in correspondence to the applied electric field passes straight through the molecules without being scattered to yield a light state on the wall at a high brightness.
It can be seen from the foregoing description that a dispersion-type liquid crystal switches its state in accordance with the light incident to the light-control layer (electro-optical modulating layer) through a light-transmitting substrate. The light inside the light-control layer (electro-optical modulating layer) changes its light path for a plurality of times each time it comes to a boundary between the resin and the liquid crystal droplets having dispersed therein, and reaches the substrate on the other side in a greatly scattered state. Thus, to obtain a high scattering efficiency, the resin and the liquid crystal droplets are preferably arranged as such that they contact with each other as many times as possible along the thickness direction of the light control layer (electro-optical modulating layer), because the light is scattered each time it comes to the boundary between the droplet and the resin. Of course, the scattering efficiency also increases with increasing thickness of the light-control layer (electro-optical modulating layer). However, a thicker control layer (electro-optical modulating layer) also increases the distance between the substrates, i.e., the distance between the electrodes. As a result of this extended distance between the electrodes, a larger driving voltage for switching the light control layer (electro-optical modulating layer) becomes necessary. Thus, despite an improvement in scattering efficiency is achieved, the control layer (electro-optical modulating layer) then cannot be driven with an integrated circuit (IC), i.e., a thin film transistor (TFT).

Electro-optical device having a layer comprising an oblate liquid crystal dispersed in a resin and method for forming the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A method for controlling an optical power level includes the steps of a) regularly increasing a control value of a driving signal generator for driving a pickup unit adapted to output an optical power, b) checking a driving signal of the driving signal generator according to the increasing control value, and c) setting a control value at which the driving signal begin to be generated as an offset value for setting up an optical power. Therefore, an offset value for a reference optical power needed for setting up laser power levels for individual operation modes is more accurately calculated, and the laser power levels for individual operation modes are optimally controlled based on the offset value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for controlling an optical power level, which sets up an offset value for a reference optical power, and controls laser power levels required for individual operation modes of an optical disc apparatus based on the offset value.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, an optical disc apparatus records data on an optical disc such as a CD (Compact Disc) and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) using a laser diode, or reproduces the data recorded on the optical disc.
A power level of the laser diode has been determined when initially setting up a laser power, and has been constantly maintained and generated by an APC (Automatic Power Control) circuit contained in an RF (Radio Frequency) IC (Integrated Circuit).
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram for implementing an APC function of the APC circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, an RF IC 10 receives a feedback signal FPDO from a photo detector (not shown) contained in a pickup unit 20 and an output signal of a DAC (Digital Analog Converter) 102, and outputs its resultant signal while maintaining a constant voltage level at an operational amplifier (OP-AMP) 103.
The DAC 102 receives digital data (hereinafter referred to as a DAC value) from a microcomputer 30, and converts the digital data into analog data or analog signal. In this case, the microcomputer 30 differently sets up the DAC values for individual operation modes, i.e., a data recording mode, a data playback mode, and a disc discrimination mode.
In case of setting up laser power levels according to individual operation modes, the microcomputer 30 sets up the laser power levels on the basis of a DAC offset value. The DAC offset value is an offset value transmitted from the microcomputer 30 to the DAC 102 at a time when an output voltage is about to come into existence from the RF IC 10. If a level shift circuit 101 is further used for the APC circuit shown in FIG. 1, an output voltage shifted by a prescribed voltage is generated as a resultant signal from the RF IC 10.
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating a conventional method for calculating the DAC offset value. Referring to FIG. 2, the DAC offset value is the X-coordinate of a point at which a linear function graph meets the X-axis. The linear function graph is formed by predetermined DAC values DAC1, and DAC2 transmitted from the microcomputer 30 to the DAC 102, laser power levels P1, and P2 generated from the pickup unit 20 upon receiving the predetermined DAC values DAC1, and DAC2, or feedback voltage levels FPDO1 and FPDO2.
The DAC offset value can be calculated by a linear equation shown in the following Equation 1:
                                          rDAC            offset                    =                                                    DAC                                                                                1                ×                P1                            -                              DAC                                                                                2                ×                P                                                                                2                                                                    P                                                                                2                            -                              P                                                                                1                                                    ,                            [                  Equation                                                              1                ]
where "rDACoffset" is a DAC offset value.
In the meantime, FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating another conventional method for calculating a DAC offset value. Feedback voltage levels F1 and F2 of a laser diode are proportional to output power values P1 and P2 of a laser, such that a DAC offset value can be calculated by the following Equation 2:
                                          rDAC            offset                    =                                                    DAC                                                                                1                ×                F                                                                                1                            -                              DAC                                                                                2                ×                F                                                                                2                                                                    F                                                                                2                            -                              F                                                                                1                                                    ,                            [                  Equation                                                              2                ]
where "rDACoffset" is a DAC offset value.
However, in case of calculating the DAC offset value as above, laser power levels P1, and P2 and feedback voltage levels FPDO1 and FPDO2 vary with characteristics and status of the pickup unit 20 shown in FIG. 1, resulting in unavoidably increasing deviations of resultant DAC offset values. Furthermore, because DAC values for individual operation modes, for example, a data recording mode, a data playback mode, and a disc discrimination mode are determined based on the DAC offset value, DAC values for individual operation modes vary with the DAC offset value, and laser power levels for individual operation modes cannot be appropriately determined.

Method for controlling optical power level


Methods for etching copper in the fabrication of integrated circuits are disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, a method for fabricating an integrated circuit includes providing an integrated circuit structure including a copper bump structure and a copper seed layer underlying and adjacent to the copper bump structure and etching the seed layer selective to the copper bump structure using a wet etching chemistry consisting of H3PO4 in a volume percentage of about 0.07 to about 0.36, H2O2 in a volume percentage of about 0.1 to about 0.7, and a remainder of H2O, and optionally NH4OH.

The majority of present day integrated circuits are implemented by using a plurality of interconnected field effect transistors (FETs), also called metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), or simply MOS transistors. A MOS transistor includes a gate electrode as a control electrode and spaced apart source and drain regions between which a current can flow. A control voltage applied to the gate electrode controls the flow of current through a channel between the source and drain regions.
Modern integrated circuits can be made up of literally millions of active devices, such as transistors, capacitors, and the like. These devices are initially isolated from each other, but are later interconnected together to form functional circuits. Typical interconnect structures include lateral interconnections, such as metal lines (wirings), and vertical interconnections, such as vias and contacts. Interconnections are increasingly determining the limits of performance and the density of modern integrated circuits. On top of the interconnect structures, bond pads are formed and exposed on the surface of the respective semiconductor wafer or "chip." Electrical connections are made through bond pads to connect the chip to a package substrate or another die. Bond pads can be used for wire bonding or so-called "flip-chip" bonding. As known in the art, a flip chip, also known as a controlled collapse chip connection or its acronym, "C4," is a method for interconnecting semiconductor devices, such as integrated circuit chips and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), to external circuitry with solder bumps that have been deposited onto the chip pads. The solder bumps are deposited on the chip pads on the top side of the wafer during the final wafer processing step. In order to mount the chip to external circuitry (e.g., a circuit board or another chip or wafer), it is "flipped" over so that its top side faces down, and aligned so that its pads align with matching pads on the external circuit, and then the solder is flowed to complete the interconnect. This is in contrast to wire bonding, in which the chip is mounted upright and wires are used to interconnect the chip pads to external circuitry.
Structurally, a solder bump actually contains the bump itself and a so-called under-bump-metallurgy (UBM) located between the bump and a pad. An UBM generally contains an adhesion layer, a barrier layer, and a wetting layer, arranged in that order, on the pad. The bumps themselves, based on the material used, are classified as solder bumps, gold bumps, copper pillar bumps, and bumps with mixed metals. In copper pillar bump technology, instead of using a solder bump, the electronic component is connected to a substrate by means of a copper pillar bump (or more simply copper pillar), which achieves finer pitch with minimum probability of bump bridging, reduces the capacitance load for the circuits, and allows the electronic component to perform at higher frequencies.
In current practice, during wet etching of the UBM copper layer or bump in accordance with some fabrication steps, an isotropic etch profile is produced, in which the etching is at the same rate in all directions, leading to undercutting of the etched copper bump. This action results in an undesirable loss of copper pillar width. The undercut caused by the wet etching process will also induce undesirable stresses in the copper pillar, possibly resulting in bump sidewall delamination and bump cracking. Although the undercut is an inherent result of the etching process, the undercut is detrimental to the long-term reliability of the interconnection. The undercut compromises the integrity of the solder bump structure by weakening the bond between the solder bump and the bonding pad of the chip, thereby leading to premature failure of the chip.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved methods for fabricating integrated circuits that include copper layers, such as copper bumps. It further is desirable to provide methods for fabricating integrated circuits that avoid undercutting the copper bump during etching of one or more of the copper layers. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present disclosure will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Methods for etching copper during the fabrication of integrated circuits


An electrode is disclosed. The electrode includes a substrate having macropores therein. A barrier support layer, established on the substrate, has micropores therein. The macropores and at least some of the micropores are substantially lined with an electrolyte layer. A catalyst is in ionic contact with the electrolyte layer. A current collector is in electrical contact with the catalyst. A barrier layer is established on the barrier support layer and is electrically isolated from the current collector.

The present disclosure relates generally to electrodes, and more particularly to electrodes having macropores and micropores therein.
Fuel cells use an electrochemical energy conversion of fuel (including but not limited to hydrogen, propane, methane, carbon monoxide, and the like) and oxidant(s) into electricity and heat. It is anticipated that fuel cells may be able to replace primary and secondary batteries as a portable power supply. In fuel cells, the fuel (usually containing a source of hydrogen) is oxidized to produce (primarily) water and carbon dioxide. Liberated electrons from the oxidation and reduction reactions occurring at the electrodes, result in a useful electrical potential difference and current through the load.
Many fuel cells make use of alternative fuels, such as hydrocarbons or alcohols, which are converted into hydrogen via a chemical process. Electrochemical fuel cells employing alcohols (e.g. ethanol, methanol, etc.) as a fuel are referred to as Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells (DAFC) and more specifically, those employing methanol are referred to as Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC). In a DMFC, the methanol molecule's carbon-hydrogen and oxygen-hydrogen bonds are broken to generate electrons and protons at the site of the anode. One potential problem with DMFC is that methanol may diffuse or "crossover" from the anode to the cathode via diffusion. If the fuel reaches the cathode, it may adsorb onto the cathode catalyst and react with oxygen, resulting in a parasitic loss of fuel and poisoning the alcohol-intolerant cathode catalyst, thereby decreasing the performance.
Attempts for reducing methanol crossover include: structural modifications of the electrolyte membrane; reduction in the delivered concentration of the fuel; and the addition of a metal hydride barrier layer. Modifying the electrolyte membrane may be difficult due to the relatively high methanol permeability of such membranes. A reduction in the delivered concentration of the fuel may result in reduced catalytic efficiency. Potential problems associated with the metal hydride barrier layer may include cracking and delamination, which may occur as a result of hydration cycling. In addition, the metallic layer may have poor adhesion to a traditional polymer electrolyte membrane, due, at least in part, to the expansion and lack of mechanical integrity of both the metallic layer and solid electrolyte.
As such, it would be desirable to provide an electrode that substantially prevents fuel crossover in a fuel cell while substantially maintaining its efficiency.

Electrode having macropores and micropores therein

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An electromagnetic valve for a vehicle gas cylinder, said valve comprising: a valve body; an external thread section of the valve body, that can be screwed into an internal thread on the gas cylinder; a section of the valve body protruding into the gas cylinder; a shut-off piston; and electromagnetic control elements which can be used to displace the shut-off piston from a conducting position into a closed position. The valve body comprises a cavity for receiving the shut-off piston and the control elements, said cavity being located inside the thread section and/or in the section of the valve body protruding into the gas cylinder. In order to simplify the disassembly and assembly of one such valve, the mouth of the cavity is arranged on the head end of the valve body located outside the gas cylinder. The shut-off piston and the electromagnetic control elements can be inserted into the cavity through the mouth thereof.

Such electromagnetic valves are known for example from the printed documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,710, U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,151 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,738.
The known electromagnetically actuated valves or solenoid-actuated valves are used to control the flow of compressed gases into the gas cylinder or out of the gas cylinder. Gas cylinders for gas-powered vehicles hold the combustion gas at a pressure above atmospheric, for example between 2 and 260 bar. The said electromagnetic valves allow a bi-directional gas stream, on the one hand, during refuelling into the gas cylinder and, on the other hand, during driving mode of the engine out of the gas cylinder towards the engine. During driving mode, the gas flows from the interior of the gas cylinder at high pressure through a connection channel into the supply line to the pressure reducer, in which the pressure is reduced to the required injection pressure of the engine, e.g. 2 to 8 bar. During refuelling, the gas flows in the opposite direction from a refuelling system though the same connection channel into the gas cylinder. During the refuelling operation, the refuelling channel of the refuelling system has a high internal pressure, e.g. 200 to 260 bar. The empty gas cylinder has a lower internal pressure until it has been completely filled with gas and reaches the pressure of the refuelling system.
In addition to their function of reliably regulating the gas flow in the two different operating situations, such electromagnetic valves have to meet high safety standards. For this reason, in the cited US patents it was proposed that the cavity for receiving the shut-off piston and the electromagnetic control elements of the valve be disposed inside the threaded portion and/or the portion of the valve body projecting into the gas cylinder. The valve body is made of a relatively non-rigid material, for example brass, whereas the gas cylinder is made of very hard material, usually steel or composite material. By shifting the shut-off piston and the control elements into portions of the valve body that are situated inside the hard wall of the gas cylinder, the safety of the valve in the event of a crash, i.e. in the event of powerful impacts upon the valve owing to an accident, is dramatically increased compared to valves having functional elements situated outside of the cylinder. To disassemble the valves for maintenance or cleaning purposes, the valve body first has to be unscrewed from the gas cylinder to gain access to the functional elements of the valve, namely the shut-off piston and the control elements, from the rear of the valve body situated in the gas cylinder.
Accordingly, it is desirable to facilitate the disassembly and assembly of a valve of the described type.


An internal combustion engine comprises an intake tract in which a throttle valve is disposed. The engine also comprises a camshaft which acts on gas inlet valves associated with respective cylinders. A phase-adjustment device is used to adjust a phase between the camshaft and a crankshaft. A desired air mass flow in a combustion chamber of the cylinder is determined depending on a charge requirement requested by the driver. The desired air mass flow is adjusted by varying the phase between the camshaft and the crankshaft if the desired air mass flow can be adjusted by varying the phase while substantially maintaining an actual pressure difference upstream and downstream of the throttle valve. Otherwise, the desired air mass flow is adjusted by varying the opening angle of the throttle valve.

High demands are increasingly being placed on internal combustion engines in terms of their performance and efficiency. At the same time, the emissions also have to be low due to strict legal regulations. Demands of this kind can readily be satisfied if the internal combustion engine is fitted with gas exchange valves and corresponding drives for said valves, in which the valve-lift response differs depending on the operating point of the internal combustion engine. In this way, throttle losses upon intake of air can be reduced and, optionally, high exhaust-gas recirculation rates rapidly adjusted.
Thus, it is known, for example, for the valve lift of a gas inlet valve of the internal combustion engine to be adjusted between a low and a high lift. Furthermore, it is also known for the phase relation between the valve lift of the gas inlet valve and the valve lift of the gas outlet valve to be adjusted. Thus, for example, the Porsche 911 Turbo is fitted with a device for adjusting the phase relation between the valve lift of the gas inlet valve and of the gas outlet valve. Furthermore, the internal combustion engine of this vehicle is fitted with a camshaft on which for each gas inlet valve one cam with a low lift and two further cams with a higher lift are fashioned. The cam displacement is transferred by means of a transfer unit to the gas inlet valve. The transfer unit is fashioned as a cup tappet, which comprises a cylinder element and an annular cylinder element arranged concentrically in relation to said cylinder element. The cam with the low lift acts on the cylinder element while the cams with the higher lift act on the annular cylinder element. Depending on a switching position of the cup tappet, either the low or the high lift is transferred to the gas inlet valve. When the internal combustion engine is idling, the low cam lift is transferred to the gas inlet valve. As a result, reduced frictional losses occur due to the small diameter of the cam used in this operating state and to the cylinder element and to the lower valve lift.
Also, a higher charge movement is achieved. By this means, the emissions of the internal combustion engine can be cut and at the same time fuel consumption kept low. The low valve lift is maintained at low and medium charge. Throttle losses can additionally be reduced by a corresponding phase adjustment between the gas inlet valve and the gas outlet valve and an internal exhaust gas recirculation rate resulting therefrom. Where the charge requirements on the internal combustion engine are high, a switch is made to the higher valve lift.

Method and device for controlling an internal combustion engine


The invention provides a lifting device for a working station of a packaging machine, the working station comprising a first tool member and a second tool member mounted for movement relative to the first tool member. The lifting device comprises a first lifting member for producing a first closing travel of the second tool member towards the first tool member and a second lifting member for producing a second closing travel following said first closing travel. The second lifting member comprises drive means and mechanical transmission means having means for producing substantially constant closing force for the second closing travel upon occurrence of a resistance. The mechanical transmission means preferably comprises rollers mounted between three planes, whereby the lifting movement for the second closing travel is produced by moving the first plane from a first position into a second position by means of the drive means, thereby displacing the rollers between the second and the third plane such that the distance between the second and third plane is enlarged.

The invention relates to a lifting device for a working station of a packaging machine, the working station having a first tool member and a second tool member mounted for movement relative to the first tool member.
A packaging machine conventionally comprises working stations for various operations such as forming, filling, sealing and cutting. A lifting device moves at least a movable member of a working station into its operating position. In this position an enhanced closing force for closing the tool members of the working station is required to lock a packaging web for carrying out the operation. For example, a chamber is hermetically closed for molding a portion of a plastic sheet material and thereafter the sheet material is molded using fluid from a pressurized air source. The high pressures used for a fast and exact molding operation put a high load on the forming station.
In order to receive this high load in the closed state of the working station it is necessary to have closing members producing a closing force which is greater than the load imposed during the operational phase. Simple members consist of piston-cylinder devices having a correspondingly large effective area. However, such members are very expensive because of their high air consumption for the entire lifting stroke. Other members consist of toggle lever systems producing higher forces at the end of the travel by mechanical transmission. It is a drawback of such toggle lever systems that they produce a defined closing movement having a so-called dead point. Thus, close tolerances must be observed on the one hand for generating the required closing force at the dead point and on the other hand the forces are varying dependent on the thickness of the web material. However, the thickness of the material depends on the intended use and may therefore vary within wide limits. Hence, the adjustment of the lifting device must be adapted after each change of the thickness of the material. This demands a lot of the operator.
German patent application 42 16 207 discloses a lifting device for a cutting station of a packaging machine. The lifting device comprises a piston-cylinder device with a piston rod being adapted to form an abutment at its free end. At the end of a lifting travel produced by the piston-cylinder device the piston rod is further lifted by pushing a wedge-shaped member into a corresponding recess of the piston rod to produce, in the final position thus obtained, a force which is higher than the force which can be produced by the piston-cylinder device. However, the friction forces occurring by pushing in the wedge cause a rapid wear of material.

Lifting device for a working station of a packaging machine


A new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant named ‘Fikalpiton’, characterized by its compact, upright and uniformly mounded plant habit; moderately vigorous growth habit; moderately freely branching plant habit; glossy dark green-colored leaves; uniform, early and freely flowering habit; large light red and orange bi-colored flowers; and excellent postproduction longevity.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct Kalanchoe plant, botanically known as Kalanchoe blossfeldiana and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Fikalpiton'.
The new Kalanchoe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Odense, Denmark and De Lier, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new freely-branching and freely-flowering Kalanchoe plants with attractive leaf and flower coloration.
The new Kalanchoe plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Odense, Denmark in April, 2008 of a proprietary selection of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana identified as code number 0412-02 (06), not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana identified as code number 2375-01 (08), not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Kalanchoe plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in De Lier, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kalanchoe plant by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in De Lier, The Netherlands since 2009 has shown that the unique features of this new Kalanchoe plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A cassette for magnetic tape includes a pair of cassette halves cooperating with each other to form a cassette body; a pair of reels disposed rotatably in one of the cassette halves to wind the magnetic tape around the reels, each of the reels including a flange having a plurality of teeth formed at a circumference of the flange; and a reel locking assembly engaging the flanges for preventing rotation of the reels, the reel locking assembly includes: a slide body slidably disposed between the reels for sliding movement in a front-rear direction of the cassette body; an urging member urging the slide body towards a front of the cassette body; a pair of support members each disposed on a respective side of the slide body; and a pair of lock-engagement members, each having a central portion which is supported rotatably by a respective one of the support members, the lock-engagement members being made of a resilient spring wire rod. Each of the lock-engagement members further includes a first engagement end engaged to the slide body and a second engagement end which is enabled to engage the teeth of one of the flanges when the slide body is positioned towards the front of the cassette body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette for containing a magnetic tape cassette to be used preferably for a video tape cassette, and more particularly to such a cassette capable of preventing engagement members of a reel locking device from being deteriorated to make it possible to certainly lock reels, and also capable of decreasing the number of parts constituting the reel locking device.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates an inside structure of a conventional cassette for containing a magnetic tape (hereinafter, referred to as "magnetic tape cassette). A video tape cassette 5 comprises a cassette half 51 (an upper cassette half is removed for clarity, and hence only a lower cassette half is illustrated in FIG. 1) in which a pair of reels 52 and 53 are disposed for rotation. Around each of the reels 52 and 53 is wound a magnetic tape 54. The magnetic tape 54 is guided by tape guides 55 and 56 disposed in the vicinity of a front (an upper side in FIG. 1) and at opposite sides of the cassette 5 so that the magnetic tape 54 passes along an opening 57 formed in the vicinity of the front of the cassette half 51. The reels 52 and 53 are formed with lower flanges 58, 59 which are formed at a whole perimeter thereof with teeth 60 and 61, respectively.
There is disposed a lock member 62 which is disposed in an almost triangular space located in the vicinity of a rear of the cassette 5 and between the pair of the reels 52 and 53, and which acts as a reel locking device for preventing the reels 52 and 53 from rotating in order not to loosen the wound magnetic tape 54 in transportation and handling thereof while the video tape cassette 5 is not being loaded in a video deck (not illustrated).
The conventional lock member 62 is formed with almost triangular shaped ribs 80 and 81 between a rear plate 63 of the cassette half 51 and the pair of reels 52, 53. The ribs 80 and 81 have straight portions 65 and 66 extending in a front-rear direction of the cassette half and parallel to each other, and an engagement member 67 is slidably interposed between the straight portions 65 and 66. A compressed spring 68 disposed between the rear plate 63 and the engagement member 67 exerts pushing force on the engagement member 67 towards the front of the cassette half. The engagement member 67 is formed at a bottom surface thereof with an opening 69 through which a lock-releasing pin of a video deck is to be inserted. The cassette half 51 is formed at a bottom surface 70 thereof with an opening (not illustrated) located in alignment with the opening 69 of the engagement member 67.
The engagement member 67 is suitably made of elastic resin, and has a rectangular-shaped slide body 71 having a relatively wide bottom surface area for stable slide movement, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The slide body 71 is integrally formed at a front end surface thereof with a pair of engagement claws 72 and 73 which are engagable to the teeth 60 and 61 formed with the reels 52 and 53, respectively.
The engagement claws 72 and 73 are designed to be relatively long and to have thin hinge portions 74 and 75, respectively, at the proximal ends of the engagement claws 72 and 73, that is, at joint portions connecting the engagement claws 72 and 73 to the slide body 71. Thus, the engagement claws 72 and 73 are able to elastically and transversely swing as shown with arrows A in FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a guide member such as pins 90 are disposed on the cassette half 51 in a projecting fashion. The pins 90 ensure that the engagement claws 72 and 73 open relative to each other to engage to the teeth 60 and 61 for locking the reels 52 and 53 as the slide body 71 makes slide movement towards the front of the cassette half, and that the engagement claws 72 and 73 close relative to each other or move towards each other to move away from the teeth 60 and 61 for releasing lock of the reels as the slide body 71 makes slide movement towards the rear of the cassette half. The magnetic tape cassette having the reel locking device as mentioned above is suggested, for instance, in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-14342.
On the other hand, there has been suggested another magnetic tape cassette 8 as illustrated in FIG. 3 in which engagement portions 200 and 201 are prepared separately from a slide body 202, and are secured to a cassette half 83 for rotation. The engagement portions 200 and 201 are maintained to be pushed towards the reels 85 and 86 by a spring 84. For instance, refer to Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-44733.
When the video tape cassette 8 is not being loaded into a video deck, the slide body 202, which is designed to be slidable by a suitable guide member in a front-rear direction of the cassette, is pushed by a compressed spring 87 to the foremost movement location. In this stage, the engagement claws 88 and 89 are guided to insert into the adjacent teeth 95 and 96, respectively, so that the reels 85 and 86 are surely locked.
When the video tape cassette 8 is loaded into a video deck, the slide body 202 retreats with the result that engagement members 92 and 93 of the engagement portions 200 and 201 are pushed by the slide body 202 towards the rear of the cassette. Thus, the engagement portions 200 and 201 are made to rotate in clockwise and counterclockwise directions, respectively, and hence the engagement claws 88 and 89 are made to come out of engagement with the teeth 95 and 96, resulting in that lock of the reels 85 and 86 are released.
In the former video tape cassette 5, the engagement claws 72 and 73 are designed to be elongated and to have the hinge portions 74 and 75 by forming the proximal ends of the engagement claws 72 and 73 to be thin so that the engagement claws 72 and 73 of the engagement member 67 of the lock member 62 are transversely swingable. Thus, the hinges 74 and 75 are often fatigued when the video tape cassette 5 falls on a floor or by long term use, for instance, so that the engagement claws 72 and 73 would be broken at the hinge portions 74 and 75 or would be deformed plastically with the result of uncertain lock of the reels 52 and 53.
On the other hand, in the latter video tape cassette 8, the magnetic tape cassette has to have a greater number of parts since the engagement portions are formed separately from the slide body, and the spring 84 has to be prepared for urging the engagement portions 200 and 201 toward the reels. In addition, the video tape cassette 8 has much complexity in assembling thereof. In particular, each of parts has to be small in a small-sized magnetic tape cassette. Thus, if there are a great number of parts, the assembling of the cassette unpreferably takes too much time and labor. The above mentioned problem also arises in various types of magnetic tape cassettes as well as the video tape cassettes 5 and 8.

Cassette for magnetic tape with a reel locking assembly having a resilient coil lock-engagement member


In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, an airfoil is disclosed. The airfoil may include a platform and a blade extending from the platform. The blade may have a root proximate the platform and a tip radially outward from the platform. The root may have a greater thickness than a cross-section at about a quarter-span of the blade or greater.

Gas turbine engines are well known devices, having a plurality of rotating elements including a fan, a compressor, and a turbine, as well as a combustor and other components. The fan is rotated to draw ambient air into the engine and accelerate that air, while the compressor is rotated to compress the air entering the engine. The compressed air is then mixed with fuel and combusted in the combustor creating an exhaust which exits the engine as it expands through the turbine. As the exhaust expands through the turbine, the turbine rotates. This rotational motion is transferred via an engine shaft to the compressor and fan causing both to also rotate.
In an effort to reduce noise, emissions, and fuel burn new aircraft and engines have been developed. These new aircraft and engines designs, however, increase the ingested distortion in a boundary layer of low energy air formed on the surfaces of the aircraft or engine. These distortions are caused by an increase in thickness of the typically thin boundary layer or by an increase in the amount of this low energy air that enters the engine due to placement of the engines on the aircraft. This low energy air reduces engine efficiency and thus is undesirable. These distortions can either occur throughout the operation of the engine or aircraft, or under specific circumstances such as, but not limited to, take-off, landing, or where wind is moving in a lateral direction to that of the engine. Therefore, new features must be developed to address issues arising from this increased ingested boundary layer distortion, including high cycle fatigue and resonant stresses.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,74,282 B2 describes a typical fan blade utilized by gas turbine engines. While effective, such fan blades do little to mitigate the new boundary layer ingested distortions, and thus new fan blades that address these difficulties are needed.

Airfoil with thickened root and fan and engine incorporating same


An amusement game of skill which can be used as a fund raiser for various purposes, such as charity, while also serving as an advertising media. The game is in the form of a free-standing display and includes a receptacle having a mouth at one end, a base at its other end and a central body portion therebetween. Disposed within the central body is a plurality of pins forming a maze through which a coin travels and a coin rest pedestal upon which a coin must rest in order to win the game. The plurality of pins can be formed on replaceable cards in numerous maze patterns, thereby creating many games in a single device. The base is such that it supports the game in an upright manner while also functioning as a money collection box. The receptacle is formed so as to be watertight, thereby allowing the game to be filled with a fluid in order to alter a dropped coin's path of travel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amusement game, more particularly to a game of skill and chance where a coin is dropped through a maze. The object of the game is to get the coin to travel through the maze and come to rest on a pedestal spaced above the coin collection surface at the bottom of the game.
The invention came about in order to stimulate customers to donate their change to worthwhile causes. Typically, fund raising money collection receptacles are placed near the cash register in a retail store, with printed advertising, asking the customer to donate. The typical fund raiser does not encourage any user interaction, while the present invention invites the user to try his skill at getting a coin to rest on the pedestal. This user interaction has been found to create more user participation, which in turn results in increased fund raising.
2. Description of the Background Art
Coin drop amusement games have been around for centuries, as witnessed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,781 to Wiedemann and U.S. Pat. No. 2,191,150 to Abell.
The game in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,781 reference involves a coin being dropped through the mouth of a fluid-filled bottle, wherein the object of the game is to get the coin to land in a shot glass instead of on the bottom surface.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 2,191,150 reference, a coin is dropped through a slot in the top of a container filled with a liquid, and then the container is manipulated in order to try to balance the coin on top of a post extending upward from the bottom of the container.
The patent to Nicholson (U.S. Pat. No. 1,685,291) is representative of the many amusement devices in which a ball is dropped through a series of pins and randomly comes to rest at one of many designated areas.
Other prior art devices, such as Weitzman (U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,912) and Knaier (U.S. Pat. No. 1,303,211) display a coin traveling through a maze for amusement purposes.


A content-addressable memory (“CAM”) architecture and method for reducing power consumption thereof are described. A CAM cell array includes CAM cells, each of which includes two thyristor-based storage elements. Each thyristor-based storage element of the CAM cells has a control gate, an anode, and a cathode for providing control gates, anodes, and cathodes of the CAM cells. The CAM cell array further includes matchlines directly coupled to the cathodes of the CAM cells; searchlines directly coupled to the anodes of the CAM cell; and gatelines coupled to the control gates of the CAM cells.

Semiconductor memories such as static random access memory ("SRAM") and dynamic random access memory ("DRAM") are in widespread use. DRAM is very common due to its high density with a cell size typically between 6F2 and 8F2, where F is a minimum feature size. However, DRAM is relatively slow having an access time commonly near 20 nanoseconds ("ns"). Although SRAM access time is typically an order of magnitude faster than DRAM, an SRAM cell is commonly made of four transistors and two resistors or of six transistors, thus leading to a cell size of approximately 60F2 to 100F2.
Others have introduced memory designs based on a negative differential resistance ("NDR") cell, such as a thyristor cell, to minimize the size of a conventional SRAM memory. A thyristor-based random access memory ("RAM") may be effective in memory applications. Additional details regarding a thyristor-based memory cell are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,767,770 B1 and 6,690,039 B1.
Charge leakage out of a thyristor-based memory cell negatively impacts the restore rate of such cell. Additional details regarding periodically pulsing a thyristor-based memory cell to restore state of such a cell may be found in Patent Cooperation Treaty ("PCT") International Publication WO 02/082504.
Content-Addressable Memory ("CAM") is conventionally used for performing searches more rapidly than other forms of memory. CAM is used in many applications where search speed is a significant performance criterion. Some of these applications include telecommunication and computer networking switches, among other applications. A survey of CAM design is disclosed in "Content-Addressable Memory (CAM) Circuits and Architectures: A Tutorial and Survey" by Kostas Pagiamtzis, et al. in the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 41, No. 3, March 2006, pages 712-727.
A binary CAM ("BiCAM") cell may be used to compare an incoming search word in parallel against CAM stored "match" words. Each comparison of the multiple comparisons performed in parallel gives an indication of whether or not the incoming search word matches one or more of the stored match words. In some implementations, the search word will only match one of the stored match words, known as a "one-hot" configuration. In other implementations, the search word may match more than one of the stored match words. The stored match words in the CAM are compared at the bit level with the results of such bit comparisons conventionally being either ORed (e.g., looking for any bit having a mismatch) or ANDed (e.g., looking for all bits matching).
Conventionally, a BiCAM cell includes a storage element for storing a bit of a stored match word, a circuit to compare the bit contained in the storage element against a corresponding bit of a search word, and an output driver for outputting results of the comparison onto a matchline. The circuit that compares the bit contained in the storage element, namely the bit of the match word, with a corresponding bit of a search word is an XOR circuit. Furthermore, the output driver conventionally may include either of the above-described OR or AND circuitry for comparing the individual bits outputs.
A conventional BiCAM cell may employ an SRAM storage element with NOR or NAND circuitry. A NOR-type BiCAM cell conventionally includes ten transistors, and a NAND-type BiCAM cell conventionally includes nine transistors. It should be appreciated that the XOR function in each of the NOR-type BiCAM cell and the NAND-type BiCAM cell uses differential data for both the stored match word and the search word. Furthermore, the SRAM storage element provides differential data using only one storage element in such memory cell.
A Ternary CAM ("TCAM") cell is capable of representing any of three data states, namely a logic 1, a logic 0, and a "don't care" state. In a "don't care" state, a TCAM cell generates a "hit" regardless of the state of data on an associated searchline. A "hit" means a match between a search bit and a stored match bit ("match bit"). A TCAM cell allows a bit in a match word to be ignored as part of a search operation. Thus, a TCAM cell allows bit masking as part of the function of such cell, which is useful in some CAM applications.
For a NOR-type TCAM cell, the storage capability of the cell is bifurcated by using two storage elements in a TCAM cell. However, a conventional TCAM cell suffers from a substantial area penalty compared to a conventional BiCAM cell because two storage elements are used for each cell. A conventional NOR-type TCAM cell may include 14 transistors. A DRAM-based TCAM cell using 6 transistors and 2 capacitors is described in additional detail in "eDRAM-Based TCAM Cell" by Noda et al. in the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 40, No. 1, January 2005, paged 245-253.
Others have suggested using static thyristor-based cells for CAM, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,026. However, static thyristor-based cell arrays, while smaller than SRAM-based CAM arrays of equivalent capacity, are still relatively large.
As is known, conventional CAM may have significantly large power consumption. Others have considered using precomputation to reduce CAM power consumption, as disclosed in "A Low-Power Precomputation-Based Fully Parallel Content-Addressable Memory" by Chi-Sheng Lin, et al. in the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 38, No. 4, April 2003, pages 654-662.


A semiconductor device includes a phase compensation circuit 6 using a MOS capacitor with a structure in which an insulating film is disposed between a gate electrode formed on a semiconductor substrate and a diffusion layer. The phase compensation circuit includes first and second MOS capacitors 14, 15. A gate electrode terminal of the first MOS capacitor is connected equivalently to a diffusion layer terminal of the second MOS capacitor that is a terminal opposite to the gate electrode terminal. A potential difference generating element 16 that generates a potential difference by allowing a current to flow therethrough is connected between a diffusion layer terminal of the first MOS capacitor and a gate electrode terminal of the second MOS capacitor. When the MOS capacitors having the voltage dependence are used, e.g., as a phase compensation circuit element of an operational amplifier, the MOS capacitance is not reduced, no matter the range of the input or output voltage of the operational amplifier, so that the phase margin will not reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device that uses a MOS capacitor having the voltage dependence as a phase compensation circuit element of an operational amplifier or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional semiconductor device, when a MOS capacitor is used for the phase compensation of an operational amplifier or the like, two MOS capacitors are connected in parallel with their respective terminals of opposite polarities connected to each other. The MOS capacitor is formed in a semiconductor substrate and configured by disposing an insulating film (gate oxide film) between a gate electrode and a diffusion layer. In the following, a "CMOS operational amplifier" disclosed in JP 10 (1998)-270957 A will be described as a conventional example of the semiconductor device with reference to FIG. 7.
In FIG. 7, an N-channel MOS transistor 87 and an N-channel MOS transistor 88 constitute a differential input stage, and signals from an inverting input terminal 81 and a non-inverting input terminal 82 are input to the gates of the MOS transistors 87 and 88, respectively. The source of the MOS transistor 87 and the source of the MOS transistor 88 are connected to each other, and a constant current is drawn through the drain of an N-channel MOS transistor 89. In the MOS transistor 89, a drain current is set by a voltage applied to a bias voltage input terminal 83.
The sources of P-channel MOS transistors 91, 92 are connected to a common power supply terminal 84 (higher potential power supply VDD). The drain of the MOS transistor 87 is connected to the gates of the MOS transistors 91, 92, and also to the drain of the MOS transistor 91. The drain of the MOS transistor 88 is connected to the drain of the MOS transistor 92.
The drain of the MOS transistor 88 is connected further to the gate of a P-channel MOS transistor 93, whose source is connected to the higher potential power supply VDD, and also to one terminal of a phase compensation capacitor 86. The other terminal of the phase compensation capacitor 86 is connected to the drain of the MOS transistor 93. The drain of the MOS transistor 93 is connected to the drain of an N-channel MOS transistor 90 in which a drain current is set by the voltage applied to the bias voltage input terminal 83. The node between the drains of the MOS transistors 93 and 90 is connected to an output terminal 85.
The phase compensation capacitor 86 includes two MOS capacitors 94, 95 that are connected in parallel with their respective terminals of opposite polarities connected to each other. FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional structure of the MOS capacitors 94, 95 that serve as MOS-type capacitative elements (N well capacitative elements).
In FIG. 8, reference numeral 114 denotes a P-type semiconductor substrate in which N well layers (N-type diffusion layers having a low impurity concentration) 111, 112 and a field oxide film 113 are formed. N-type diffusion layers having a high impurity concentration (N-type diffusion layers with a small specific resistance) 107, 108 and 109, 110 are formed in the N well layers 111 and 112, respectively. A gate electrode 103 is disposed via a gate oxide film 105 in a region between the N-type diffusion layers 107 and 108. Similarly, a gate electrode 104 is disposed via a gate oxide film 106 in a region between the N-type diffusion layers 109 and 110. Terminals 101, 102 are provided for the MOS capacitors 95, 94.
The terminal 101 of the MOS capacitor 95 and the terminal 102 of the MOS capacitor 94 are connected to the gate and the drain of the MOS transistor 93 in FIG. 7, respectively.
With this configuration, when a voltage V1 i.e., the voltage of the terminal 101 of the MOS capacitor 95) is higher than a voltage VOUT (i.e., the voltage of the terminal 102 of the MOS capacitor 94), a depletion layer is formed in the N well layer 111 directly below the gate electrode 103 in the MOS capacitor 95, and the capacitance of the MOS capacitor 95 becomes extremely small. On the other hand, when the voltage V1 is lower than the voltage VOUT, a depletion layer is formed in the N well layer 112 directly below the gate electrode 104 in the MOS capacitor 94, and the capacitance of the MOS capacitor 94 becomes extremely small.
However, since the MOS capacitors 95, 94 are connected in parallel with their respective terminals of opposite polarities connected to each other, whether the voltage V1 is higher or lower than the voltage VOUT by a certain level (except for the vicinity of the same potential), the capacitance of one of the MOS capacitors is maintained at a predetermined level, namely is not reduced due to the depletion layer. That is, whether the voltage V1 is higher or lower than the voltage VOUT by a certain level (except for the vicinity of the same potential), the capacitance of the phase compensation capacitor 86 (i.e., the total capacitance of the MOS capacitors 94, 95) is maintained at a predetermined value or more. Therefore, when the semiconductor device is used as an operational amplifier or the like, it will not oscillate.
In addition to JP 10 (1998)-270957 A, JP 11 (1999)-97626 A also discloses a similar example in which a parasitic capacitance component is added using AL wiring.
However, the conventional semiconductor device as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has the following problems.
FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram showing the voltage dependence of the phase compensation capacitor 86. The horizontal axis indicates a voltage (VOUT-V1), and the vertical axis indicates a capacitance. A dotted-line curve a represents the capacitance of the MOS capacitor 94, a broken-line curve b represents the capacitance of the MOS capacitor 95, and a solid-line curve c represents the capacitance of the phase compensation capacitor 86 (i.e., the total capacitance of the MOS capacitors 94, 95).
In a general MOS capacitor, if the voltage of a diffusion layer terminal is higher than that of a gate electrode terminal, a depletion layer is formed in the N well layer directly below the gate electrode. Consequently, the length L as the capacitor in combination with the thickness of the gate oxide film is increased to reduce the capacitance. The characteristics of the MOS capacitor 94, the characteristics of the MOS capacitor 95, and the capacitance of the phase compensation capacitor 86 (i.e., the total capacitance of the MOS capacitors 94, 95) are as indicated by the curves a, b, and c in FIG. 9, nothing that a small variation of the voltage dependence of the MOS capacitor may be caused according to the conditions of the impurity concentration of the N well layer, the thickness of the gate oxide film, or the like.
As shown in FIG. 9, when (VOUT-V1) is in the vicinity of 0 V, the capacitance of the phase compensation capacitor 86 is extremely small. Thus, if the operational amplifier in FIG. 7 is used, e.g., in such a way that the voltage between the terminals of the phase compensation capacitor 86 changes with the input conditions, the operational amplifier probably will oscillate under the operating conditions in which (VOUT-V1) is in the vicinity of 0 V.
To eliminate the possibility of oscillation even under the operating conditions in which (VOUT-V1) is in the vicinity of 0 V, the phase compensation capacitor 86 has to be very large, leading to an increase in the chip size.


The present invention provides a system and method for controlling a simulator to run a software simulation of a data processing system in order to generate simulated timing data indicative of performance of an unmodelled portion of the data processing system not modelled by the software simulation. The software simulation provides a timing accurate model of those parts of the data processing system other than the unmodelled portion. The method of the invention comprises inputting to a controller of the simulator real trace data obtained from execution of a program by the data processing system, the real trace data identifying the sequence of instructions executed by the data processing system, and associated timing data. The method then involves running the software simulation under the control of the controller, the controller determining from the real trace data the sequence of instructions executed by the data processing system and controlling the software simulation to ensure that the same sequence of instructions is executed within the software simulation. Then simulated timing data is generated resulting from execution of the sequence of instructions within the software simulation, whereby the performance of the unmodelled portion of the data processing system is derivable from a comparison of the real trace data and the simulated timing data. This technique provides a particularly efficient technique for obtaining performance information about a portion of a data processing system which is not modelled within a software simulation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for facilitating analysis of the performance of a portion of a data processing system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to trace the activity of a data processing system in order to obtain data representing activities of the data processing system that are desired to be monitored. Tracing mechanisms to produce trace streams of data representing such activities of the data processing system may be provided externally to the chip containing the processor core of the data processing system, or on-chip. However, with the general move towards more deeply embedded processor cores, it becomes more difficult to track the state of the processor core via externally accessible pins, and accordingly increased amounts of tracing functionality are being placed on-chip. An example of such on-chip tracing mechanisms is the Embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM) provided by ARM Limited, Cambridge, England, in association with various of their ARM processors.
Such tracing mechanisms produce in real time a trace stream of data representing activities of the data processing system that are desired to be traced, and such trace streams can provide accurate information about the performance of the data processing system. The trace stream can, for example, provide information about how long the processor core took to execute each instruction. However, what it cannot do, in general, is give an explanation of the source of any delays in the data processing system giving rise to performance problems.
An alternative technique for analysing the performance of a data processing system is to build a software simulation of the data processing system, using a simulator, for example the "ARMulator" product produced by ARM Limited. The running of such a software simulation can give very detailed information about the data processing system, but it is difficult to build an accurate simulation of a complete data processing system. In particular, unless the full behaviour of all components of the data processing system is known, building such an accurate simulation is impossible. Even if all components are fully understood, the work involved in building such a software simulation of a real data processing system is considerable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for facilitating the derivation of performance information for a portion of a data processing system, so as to enable a better understanding of the source of delays in the data processing system.

Analysis of the performance of a portion of a data processing system


The present invention extends to methods and systems for providing a seamless user interface to one or more web-based external systems and applications that monitor and control access to information, products, and/or services provided by such web-based external systems. Accordingly, the methods and systems enable a user to utilize a single web-based graphical user interface to access external systems with minimal input from the user. Further, the invention coordinates the log-on, log-off, and time-out of the user from the external systems so that user has a seamless on-line experience. The user remains logged into each of the external systems so long as the user is logged into a main system and can log-out of all the external systems by logging out of the main system. In addition, the user is not timed out of any external system unless the user is timed out of the main system.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to facilitating communication between various disparate applications and systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to logging into and out of multiple disparate applications and systems, while enabling such applications and systems to track the activities of the user and maintain state. Further, the present invention relates to providing an interface for the user that seamlessly displays information and data from the multiple disparate applications and systems as user accesses the same applications and systems.
2. The Relevant Technology
Storing and controlling information and knowledge has been a continual challenge and pursuit of individuals and businesses alike. From managing access to information stored on paper or microfilm products to protecting information stored on magnetic or optical media, individuals and businesses attempt to control access to and use of selected information. With advances in technology in recent years, the amount of available information has increased dramatically, with the potential for growth in the quantity and quality of available information in the future.
One development that promotes access to different information and knowledge is the Internet. Through the Internet, individuals and businesses can access an assortment of repositories containing varied materials. Typically, web-based repositories limit access to their resources through requiring users to open an account or otherwise become a registered user. Users of these sites commonly create a user account through a registration process that lets the user choose a user identity and a password; i.e. "credentials." Once registered, the user can login to the web site and access the protected resources within the repository.
In addition to the Internet, many organizations and businesses develop intranets or networks to populate information and knowledge between the members of the organization or business. Typically, such intranets are based upon TCP/IP protocols, and are accessible only to authorized employees or users associated with the particular organization or business. These intranets can display information and knowledge as web pages and can use uniform resource locators (URLs) to identify the location of such web pages within the intranet.
One type of organization that can use an intranet is a university or similar institution. A university's intranet typically connects the various buildings and departments and facilitates communication between students, faculty, alumni, and university administration. The user of the network will have a credential to access certain information available through the network. Unfortunately, each user may have multiple identities and credentials to access multiple repositories or different services provided by the university or institution. For instance, a user may use one set of credentials to access an electronic mail (email) account, while using a different set of credentials to access their library account.
Further, each user may have multiple identities and credentials to access external systems or applications not included within the university's network, but which they frequently access from university computers. For example, a student may have credentials allowing the student to use online research resources related to the student's major. Consequently, many users must remember multiple identities and credentials to access different information repositories or services accessible through the university's intranet and the Internet. Attempting to remember multiple identities and credentials is problematic and provides a fertile field for forgotten or inaccurately input identity information or credentials as a user attempts to access resources and information.
In addition to problems associated with remembering multiple identities and credentials, various systems or applications accessible through the intranet or Internet typically require each user to separately access such systems or platforms. For instance, a user may research a project using a third-party system, enroll in courses through another application, system, or platform, and send electronic mail messages through yet another application or system. The user, therefore, must switch from one application or system to another to perform the desired activities and input the requisite identity and credential information. This is a time consuming and tedious process to perform each time a user changes activities.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems that overcome or avoid the above problems and limitations.

Methods and systems for coordinating sessions on one or more systems


An electrically conductive polymeric material useful in electrographic imaging elements is disclosed. The material comprises, in polymerized form: (1) a polymerizable, conductivity exalting comonomer selected from the group consisting of interpolymerizable acids with an acid number between 100 and 900, hydroxyalkyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid, cyanoalkyl esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid, and combinations thereof; (2) a polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated ammonium precursor; and, optionally, (3) other polymerizable precursors. A layer of the material has an apparent surface resistivity of 1.times.10.sup.4 to 1.times.10.sup.7 .OMEGA./.quadrature..

In electrographic imaging a latent image of electric charge is formed on a surface of a carrier sheet. Toner particles that are attracted to the charge are applied to the surface of the carrier sheet to render the latent image visible. The toned image is fixed, either by fusing the toner particles to the surface of the carrier sheet, or by first transferring the toned image to a receptor and fusing, or otherwise permanently affixing, the particles to the receptor.
The latent image is produced by imagewise deposition of electrical charge onto the carrier surface. Typically, charged styli, arranged in linear arrays across the width of a moving dielectric surface, are used to create the latent image. Such processes are disclosed, for example, in Helmberger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,489; Doggett, U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,542; and St. John, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,584.
An electrographic imaging element requires a conductive layer. The conductive layers may be metallic, such as when a sheet of metal is used as a substrate for the imaging element. Or it may be a conductive coating on an otherwise non-conducting substrate, such as a polyethylene terephthalate film coated with a conductive metal oxide, such as tin oxide, or a paper sheet bearing a conductive coating.
It is well known that both bulk and surface electrical conductivity can be imparted to many types of materials, especially polymeric materials, by the incorporation of ionic substances, such as monomeric or polymeric quaternary ammonium salts. Low concentrations of ionic additives, or of hydroscopic compounds such as polyglycol ethers or amines, can provide antistatic properties, i.e, surface resistivity of about 10.sup.9 -10.sup.10 .OMEGA./.quadrature.. Larger concentrations of quaternary salts can afford surface resistivities as low as 10.sup.2 -10.sup.5 .OMEGA./.quadrature..
There are, however, significant problems associated with such conductivizing agents. Low molecular weight quaternary salts and hydroscopic additives migrate from the bulk of the host material to the surface. As the conductivizing agent diffuses to the surface the surface properties may vary with time. Because the conductivizing agent is not bound to the surface, contact with other materials can remove it.
Although these problems are solved by the use of polymeric conductivizing agents as bulk additives, there are significant problems associated with these materials as well. Use of the widely used quaternary derivatives of polystyrene and the cyclopolymer derived from dimethyldiallylammonium chloride (DMDAAC) is limited both by their water and alcohol solubility and by their tendency to become soft, tacky, and fragile at high relative humidities, where they exhibit their maximum conductivity.
Polymeric quaternary salts are also immiscible with most other polymers, which limits there usefulness as bulk additives. Because phase separation may occur during the coating process, it is difficult to produce homogenous coatings with these materials.
As described in Shay, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,322,331 and 4,420,541, some of these problems can be overcome by addition of polymerizable quaternary ammonium monomers to radiation polymerizable compositions to produce a conductive cross-linked copolymer. However, high levels of quaternary ammonium monomers are required to produce conductivities that are useful for the production of electrographic imaging elements. Thus, the polymers formed by polymerization of these compositions tend to be hydroscopic and produce coatings that are soft and tacky. These coatings generally do not form acceptable electrographic element. Therefore, a need exists for polymerizable compositions that will produce conductive polymeric materials with apparent surface resistivities of 1.times.10.sup.4 to 1.times.10.sup.7 .OMEGA./.quadrature., yet do not contain so much polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated ammonium precursor that the coating is soft and tacky.

Conductivity exaltation in radiation cured electrically conductive coatings


A shear failure reinforcing system for structural elements, in which thin elongate strips of high stiffness material are anchored around a layer of conventional reinforcement, and/or are anchored around a plurality of layers of conventional reinforcement, such that the strips tie the element and improve its resistance to shear failure.

Thin reinforced concrete elements, for example flat concrete slabs, provide an elegant form of construction, which simplifies and speeds up site operations, allows easy and flexible partitioning of space and reduces the overall height of buildings. Reinforced concrete flat slab construction also provides large uninterrupted floor areas within a minimum construction depth, and is used extensively for a wide range of buildings such as office blocks, warehouses and car parks.
One design problem associated with this form of construction is punching failure, which occurs as a result of high point loads or high shear stresses around the supporting columns. In punching failure, the failed surface of the slab forms a truncated cone or pyramid. This problem has in the past often lead to the use of mushroom heads or local thickening of the slab, but these solutions increase costs and slow down the rate of construction. As the spans become larger and the slabs become thinner the increased stresses around the critical shear perimeter have created even greater problems for the structural engineer. A variety of design solutions have been proposed, of which the most commonly used are as follows:
1. Conventional shear reinforcement
This solution is very labour-intensive and requires extra work both in the design and on site.
2. Use of a larger column and/or a thicker concrete slab
These solutions increase the deadload of the building and reduce the available space.
3. Use of a column head
This requires more complicated formwork, slows down the rate of construction, and interferes with the installation of building services.
4. Use of slab drops
These are a modified form of column head.
Shear reinforcement, when required, is normally accomplished by providing reinforcing members either at an angle or laterally to the main flexural reinforcement. In thin structural elements, such as flat slabs, anchoring of short lengths of shear reinforcement is a major design problem. The problem is aggravated by the fact that normal shear reinforcement cannot be placed above the top layer of flexural reinforcement without reducing either the durability, or the efficiency, of the flexural reinforcement. In addition, there is the practical problem of supporting the shear reinforcement during the construction stages.
Recently a new system has been introduced by Square Grip Limited, designated the Shearhoop (registered trade mark) system, which consists of assembly of specially shaped links (shear leg bobs) and hoop reinforcing bars. The hoops are available in a range of sizes and can be combined to form a complete system extending outwards from the column to the zone where the shear resistance of the concrete slab alone is adequate.
In the construction of a slab using Shearhoop (RTM) hoops, bars B1, B2 for the bottom layer of reinforcement are first laid down and the hoops placed over them in the appropriate location. Top reinforcement T2 is then positioned on chairs and the bars overlapping the hoops fully located under the ends of the shear leg bobs extending from the hoops. Finally the top reinforcement T1 is placed over the entire structure.
Whilst the Shearhoop (RTM) system is an improvement on previous arrangements, the hoops still cannot be anchored above the top layer of reinforcement T1 and thus do not provide the best possible shear reinforcement.
From the above, it is apparent that, although much effort has gone into the design of reinforcing systems that address some of the above mentioned problems, none of them provide a complete solution. Although prepackaged reinforcing systems offer some time savings over the in-situ steel fixing solutions, they are nevertheless more expensive in terms of materials and other resources, such as labour and crane time. Some of the other prior art proposals are also of questionable effectiveness, or produce an unquantifiable increase in flexural capacity.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved reinforcing system to impart better shear resistance, without increasing the thickness of the slab. An additional advantage would be to provide a shear reinforcement system enabling thinner slabs to be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,106 describes foundations for buildings and like structures employing steel reinforcement. A hook leg has an elongate member bifurcated at each end longitudinally of the member to form a pair of extensions with a slot there between, the distal portion of the extensions being bent into a curved form extending transversely of the member to form hooks adapted to resiliently engage of pair of reinforcing rods in the reinforcement, the slots in the unbent portions of the extension being adapted to receive a second pair of reinforcing rods extending transversely of the first pair, whereby to fix the rods in spaced alignment. There is no mention of shear reinforcement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,331 describes are inforcing framework for a concrete building structure in which column and beam reinforcing bars are inserted into holes in reinforcement frames disposed at predetermined intervals. Shearing reinforcement bands, formed by bending a steel strip into a rectangular frame shape, are disposed between adjacent reinforcement frames and secured to wooden sheathing boards by nails. The construction requires access to all sides of the column or beam, and the protruding nails would give rise to potential corrosion problems.
DE 3331276 describes shear reinforcement elements for column supported flat slabs or beams of reinforced or prestressed concrete, which consist of flat steel strips which are undulating in at least two dimensions and transverse to the main surface of the flat slab or beams. The shear reinforcement elements are used in place of conventional round reinforcing bars.
GB-A-292267 describes a method of securing top and bottom reinforcement cages in a road foundation where crossed rods from one cage are secured by a locking member arranged parallel to one of the rods and formed with a looped crutch into which the rods of the cage are threaded. The locking member then extends across to the parallel cage where a similar arrangement locks the rods of that cage together.


A tunable solid state laser produces a laser emission at one or more wavelengths simultaneously. The tunable solid state laser includes a laser resonator defined by an output coupler reflective element, two fold mirrors, and one or more high reflectivity end elements to form a reflective path in a laser resonator cavity therebetween with a laser crystal disposed in the laser resonator cavity. A means for optically exciting the laser crystal is appropriately disposed for end pumping the laser crystal to produce a laser emission in a predetermined range of wavelengths. A wavelength dispersing element such as a prism is disposed in the laser resonator cavity between one of the fold mirrors and the high reflectivity end elements for tuning the laser emission at one or more of the desired wavelengths in the predetermined range of wavelengths, the dispersing element being transparent to the laser emission over the predetermined range of wavelengths. Wavelength tuning of each wavelength can be accomplished by a simple angular rotation of the appropriate high reflectivity end element. The tunable solid state laser can further include a plurality of birefringent optical plates oriented at Brewster's angle in the reflective path in the laser resonator cavity or line-narrowing etalons, or optical shutters, Q-switches or other optical elements.

The present invention relates to lasers and particularly to a tunable solid state laser for producing a laser emission at one or more laser wavelengths simultaneously over a preselected wavelength range.
Multifrequency operation of a tunable solid state laser is desirable when there is independent wavelengths and bandwidth control of each output wavelength since such a device can be useful for such applications as differential absorption LIDAR (DIAL) and sum frequency generation. Early demonstrations of multifrequency devices concentrated on pulsed dye lasers, see for example H. S. Pilloff, "Simultaneous Two-Wavelength Selection in the N.sub.2 Laser Pumped Dye Laser," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 21, pp. 339-340, 1972; C. Wu and J. R. Lombardi, "Simultaneous Two-Frequency Oscillation in a Dye Laser System," Optics Communications, vol. 7, pp. 233-236, 1973; H. Lotem and R. T. Lynch, Jr., "Double Wavelength Laser," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 27, pp. 344-346, 1975. The technique of using a dye laser in a pulse mode for simultaneous operation is both cumbersome and complicated and gives rise to numerous problems. For example, the gain medium lifetime is fairly short, requiring frequent changes of dye and solvent. Dye solvents are often flammable and dyes themselves are generally carcinogenic. In addition, the techniques used to generate simultaneous multifrequency operation in the pulse dye lasers use inefficient means to separate and tune the wavelengths and these techniques therefore are not suitable for CW operation. The titanium-doped sapphire (Ti:sapphire) laser is a tunable laser that operates over the wavelength range of about 680 nanometers to about 1.1 microns and is ideally suited for a number of applications that previously had used dye lasers. The Ti:sapphire gain material is presently grown in very high quality and it has been shown to be an extremely efficient laser material. However, prior operation of the Ti:sapphire laser had been at only one frequency (or wavelength) at a time. Simultaneous multifrequency operation had not been demonstrated previously in the Ti:sapphire laser, and cw multifrequency operation had not been previously demonstrated in any tunable laser. It is to be noted that the terms "wavelength" and "frequency" as used in this patent are interchangeable. The relationship between the frequency v and the wavelength .lambda. of
optical radiation is given by the well-known equation .lambda.v=c, where c is the speed of light.
A U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,486, entitled "Laser Resonator Cavities with Wavelength Tuning Arrangements", by Ali Javan, discusses various means of using tunable gain media to obtain multifrequency operation where all wavelengths can emerge collinearly. Independent control of wavelength and spatial separation between wavelengths is provided. Javan's design is most appropriate for lasers that are either discharge pumped such as gas lasers or optically pumped from the side. The unique features of end pumping are not taken advantage of nor are they addressed in Javan's patent. In addition, although Javan shows an intracavity prism as a wavelength dispersive element, no attempts are made to collimate the beam through the prism in the laser resonator cavity and dispersion by that prism is therefore degraded. An apparent limitation in Javan's patent is that wavelength tuning is accomplished by use of a small aperture which may lead to unacceptably high diffraction losses for a cw pumped laser. If the aperture is made wider to reduce these losses, the laser bandwidth would increase and wavelength selectivity would be degraded. An additional apparent limitation is that the Javan laser does not operate naturally in the lowest order transverse mode so that a hard aperture must be inserted in the laser resonator cavity to achieve the low order spatial mode operation; but this aperture also would increase the passive loss of the laser resonator cavity to unacceptably higher levels for cw operation.
Thus, a continuing need exists in the state of the art for an operational cw multifrequency solid state laser having the laser resonator cavity mode focused at the gain element thereby providing for very high optical pump efficiency that may be efficiently end-pumped, is practical, contains a region where the laser resonator cavity mode is collimated thereby allowing optimal use of an intracavity prism used in a minimum deviation orientation, as well as allowing for insertion of birefringent wavelength tuning elements and intracavity etalons for line narrowed operation, and is readily tuned such as by independent wavelength control at each wavelength by angular tuning of one mirror or by rotating the prism to permit the simultaneous scanning of all wavelengths while the separation between the wavelengths is maintained constant when pumped with suitable optical means.

Multifrequency, rapidly sequenced or simultaneous tunable laser

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy