A semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus includes a substrate holding section that holds a semiconductor wafer substrate, a discharge mechanism that discharges liquid drops of metal paste from a discharge nozzle toward a surface of the semiconductor wafer substrate, and a driving mechanism that moves at least one of the substrate holding section and the discharge nozzle. A control section is provided to control the discharge and driving mechanisms so as to adhere the metal paste to the surface. The semiconductor wafer substrate includes a terminal unit formed from two or more electrically separated terminals connected to a device circuit and an insulation layer having an opening in a formation position of the terminal unit. Further, the control section controls the discharge and driving mechanisms to selectively coat the opening of the semiconductor wafer substrate with the metal paste overlying the terminal unit to be electrically connected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and method, and in particular to a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and method capable of suppressing laser trimming problems.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Laser trimming is a well known method of cutting one of fuse elements formed on a semiconductor wafer substrate fuses are cut at an appropriate position with a laser beam in order to adjust an electric performance of a semiconductor device having an analog circuit. Cutting is performed before division of a semiconductor wafer substrate into a plurality of chips, as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-323576.
A constant voltage generation circuit and a voltage detection circuit are typical examples of such an analog circuit.
FIG. 14 illustrates a semiconductor device including a constant voltage generation circuit 81 that stably supplies power from a direct current power source 77 to a load 79. The constant voltage generation circuit 81 includes an input terminal Vbat 83 to which the direct current power supply 77 is connected, a reference voltage generation circuit 85, an operational amplifier 87, a P-channel type MOS transistor 89 (hereinafter referred to as a PMOS) constituting an output driver, a voltage divider formed by a pair of division resistances R1 and R2, and an output terminal Vout 91.
In the operational amplifier 87, an output terminal is connected to a gate electrode of the PMOS 89. A reference voltage Vref is applied from the reference voltage generation circuit 85 to an inversion input terminal. A voltage obtained by dividing an output voltage Vout with the pair of resistances R1 and R2 is applied to a non-inversion input terminal. The voltage is thus controlled to equal the reference voltage Vref.
Another semiconductor device including a voltage detection circuit 93 is illustrated in FIG. 15. As shown in the voltage detection circuit 93, an operational amplifier 87 is provided, and a reference voltage generation circuit 85 is connected to an inversion input terminal to receive a reference voltage Vref. A terminal voltage to be measured from an input terminal Vsens 95 is divided by the voltage divider R1 and R2 and is input to a non-inversion input terminal of the operational amplifier 87. The operational amplifier 87 then outputs a signal via an output terminal 97.
In the voltage detection circuit 93, when the terminal voltage to be measured is high, and accordingly, a voltage divided by the voltage divider R1 and R2 is higher than the reference voltage Vref, an output of the operational amplifier 87 maintains a high level. In contrast, when the terminal voltage to be measured descends and accordingly, a voltage divided by the voltage divider R1 and R2 is lower than the reference voltage Vref, an output of the operational amplifier 87 becomes low.
In general, since a reference voltage Vref transmitted from a reference voltage generation circuit varies from chip to chip due to imprecision in a manufacturing process for the constant voltage generation circuit of FIG. 14 and the voltage detection circuit of FIG. 15, tunable division resistances are utilized to change and adjust a resistance value by cutting fuse elements at an appropriate position in order to adjust for the imprecision.
FIG. 16 illustrates still another semiconductor device including a circuit having tunable division resistances for adjusting a resistance value. As shown, a resistance element Rbottom, m+1 items of resistance elements RT0 to RTm, and a resistance element Rtop are serially connected, wherein the sign "m" represents a positive integer. To the resistance elements RT0 to Rtm, fuse elements RL0 to RLm are connected in parallel, respectively, as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-150799.
When a faulty division resistance unbalances a resistance ratio between a pair of resistances, in order to increase a manufacturing precision in a manufacturing process, corrections are made using a tunable resistance circuit formed from units of a resistance element and a fuse element serially connected and arranged in a ladder. Such a division resistance is corrected by optionally cutting one of fuse elements RL0 to RLm with a laser beam. Accordingly, a prescribed serial resistance value can be obtained between a NodeM, between the resistance elements Rtop and RTm, and a NodeL, between the resistance elements Rbottom and RT0.
When the tunable resistances of FIG. 16 are applied to the voltage divider R1 and R2 of the constant voltage generation circuit of FIG. 14, an end of the resistance element Rbottom is grounded, an end of the resistance element Rtop is connected to a drain of PMOS89, and a terminal NodeL is connected to a non-inversion input terminal of the operational amplifier 87, for example. Otherwise, an end of the resistance element Rbottom is grounded, an end of the resistance element Rtop is connected to the drain of the PMOS89, and the terminal NodeM is connected to the non-inversion input terminal of the operational amplifier 87.
Further, when the tunable resistances of FIG. 16 are applied to the voltage divider R1 and R2 of the voltage detection circuit of FIG. 15, an end of the resistance element Rbottom is grounded, an end of the resistance element Rtop is connected to an input terminal 95, and a terminal NodeL is connected to the non-inversion input terminal of the operational amplifier 87, for example. Otherwise, an end of the resistance element Rbottom is grounded, an end of the resistance element Rtop is connected to the direct current power source 77, and the terminal NodeM is connected to the non-inversion input terminal of the operational amplifier 87.
However, various problems are raised when the fuse element is cut by irradiation with a laser beam. Specifically, a laser trimming apparatus irradiating the laser beam is expensive. A running cost of the laser trimming apparatus is high. A peripheral protection film and a substrate film of the fuse element are damaged by the laser beam. In addition, a fuse element material or the like scatters around an opening section when the fuse is being melted.

Laser trimming problem suppressing semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and method


A portable assembly for securing a plastic fitting to a plastic pipe by employing fusion or thermal sealing is disclosed. The assembly is secured to the outer circumference of a plastic pipe at a desired location. The assembly can be secured at any longitudinal and lateral position along a plastic pipe. A heater heats both the pipe and the fitting to the point where they begin to melt. The heater is then removed and the fitting is pressed onto the surface of the pipe, thus fusing the fitting to the pipe. After cooling, the assembly is removed and the surface of the pipe within the interior of the fitting is drilled or removed. This now enables fluid within the pipe to be sent to the fitting and onto distribution lines which are connected to the fitting.

It is known in the art to join two plastic pipes together by heating the facing butt ends of each pipe to a selected temperature until they become molten and then pressing the two ends together. This will make a joint that is as strong as the original pipe. It is also known that a selected force should be applied to form the perfect joint. This thermal technique can also be used to secure plastic fittings to the side walls of plastic pipes. Employing this technique, the fitting can be placed onto the pipe and its exact location and position determined prior to the fitting being secured to the pipe. This "trial and error" type of placement of a fitting on a pipe eliminates any judgment errors on behalf of the individual installing the fitting.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A spatial maximum value filter generates a low frequency video signal in an intermittent frame by removing high frequency components from a video signal in the intermittent frame. A division signal extraction unit calculates a ratio of a signal value of a video signal in an acquired frame to a signal value of a low frequency video signal in an intermittent frame closest to the acquired frame, and generates a high frequency video signal having the calculated ratio as a signal value. A signal adjustment unit calculates a ratio of a signal value of the video signal in the intermittent frame to a signal value of a high frequency video signal in the intermittent frame, and generates an adjusted low frequency video signal having the calculated ratio as a signal value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for improving dynamic characteristics of an image projected by, for example, a projector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A projected video upon projecting a video by a liquid crystal projector suffers problems related to low contrast and low dynamic characteristics due to floating blacks. Deterioration of dynamic characteristics are caused by a long time period required for an orientation change of liquid crystal elements which determine the transmission amount of light when a luminance level of a pixel in a video signal changes; that is, a long time period is required until the luminance level of projected light becomes stable.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-116098, two light modulation systems are provided, and light coming from a light source undergoes double light modulations, so as to suppress floating blacks and to realize high contrast. However, even this system cannot improve dynamic characteristics. According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-171098, for example, a general normally white liquid crystal element has characteristics in which a luminance change from white to black is faster than a change between intermediate tones.
In either case, even with the related arts, the dynamic characteristics of a video image projected by a liquid crystal projector remain low.

Image display device and image display method


A package includes a thermoformed web or support member, an optical data storage medium disposed in a cavity of the thermoformed web, or on the support member; and a covering web disposed on the optical data storage medium, and on the thermoformed web or support member, and in sealing relationship to the thermoformed web or support member; where each of the thermoformed web or support member, and the covering web, includes an oxygen barrier; and where at least one of the thermoformed web or support member, and the covering web, includes an oxygen scavenger. Methods of making the package are also disclosed. In addition to, or alternatively to including the oxygen scavenger in at least one of the thermoformed or support member, and the covering web, the oxygen scavenger can be disposed on the optical medium, e.g. in the form of a disc, coating, label, pellet, wafer, or flattened sachet.

Optical data storage media such as CD's (Compact Discs), DVD's (Digital Video Discs or Digital Variety Discs), DVD-ROM, and CDROM's are used to distribute software, games, movies, and the like. Limited lifetime versions have been developed, e.g. by Flex-play Technologies, Inc. and Spectra-Disc, that are playable for a limited amount of time, e.g. between 15 and 48 hours. Examples of this technology are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,484 (Smith et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,933 (Lawandy et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,063 (Rollhaus et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,772 (Rollhaus et al.), all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. These technologies would allow for example, point-of-purchase of movies that would not have to be returned, because after a limited time the disc will no longer play, i.e. become inactive.
One method to make limited lifetime discs is to incorporate a layer within them that contains a dye in a transparent reduced (leuco) form. Upon exposure to oxygen for a period of time, e.g. oxygen from air, the leuco dye oxidizes and becomes optically colored or darkened. This chemical reaction and resulting color change effectively blocks the interrogating laser beam used to read the data. This can be incorporated for example into various DVD formats including DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-18 and the like. Other technologies achieve limited play life by incorporating chemistry that causes, in the presence of oxygen, the reflective metallic coating to oxidize or corrode. The oxidized or corroded metallic coating can not then accurately reflect the interrogating laser beam used to read the data.
A shelf life of between 6 and 12 months is highly desirable for such oxygen-sensitive optical discs. Unfortunately, even in a rigorously gas flushed and/or vacuum high barrier package sufficient oxygen is often present to oxidize the dye used to block the laser beam. The oxygen may be dissolved in the polycarbonate (PC) disc and/or trapped in the small headspace in the package. Because of the thickness and OTR (oxygen transmission rate) of typical optical discs, it requires about 24 hours to de-oxygenate the PC by inert gas flushing, which is an impractical packaging scenario. A failure to control and limit the presence of oxygen will result in premature disabling of the optical disc. While polycarbonate is currently the material of choice in the manufacture of optical discs, dissolved oxygen and oxygen diffusion issues would also be present in any other polymer that may be used to manufacture optical discs. Polymers that may be selected for optical disc manufacture include acrylic polymers and copolymers, polyamides, polymethylpentene, ethylene/norbornene copolymers, polyesters, and styrenic polymers.
In order to have reasonable shelf life through distribution, these limited lifetime discs can benefit greatly from oxygen scavenging packaging.
One form of oxygen scavenging packaging is oxygen scavenging sachets. These could be used in a MAP (modified atmosphere) package, but unfortunately can be costly, and aesthetically difficult to accommodate in a package containing a typically thin optical data storage medium such as a CD or DVD.
It has now been found that a primary vacuum or MAP (modified atmosphere) package in the form of a thermoformed package, that additionally incorporates an oxygen scavenger in either or both of a thermoformed (preferably bottom) web and a covering (preferably non-formed and preferably top) web, can prevent premature disabling or inactivation of an optical data storage medium before the intended lifetime of the medium is reached. Since the preferred package format is a vacuum package, an oxygen scavenger relatively uniformly dispersed in the film is preferred over sachets and the like. This is because, in a tight vacuum package, a sachet tends to provide oxygen scavenging activity that is physically localized and therefore functionally limited to its position in the package. In contrast, an oxygen scavenging film which physically forms at least a portion of the primary packaging material, e.g. as a continuous or semi-continuous layer or coating, will effectively scavenge oxygen in whatever portion of the package the scavenger is present.
The inventors have found that a package of the type described above can incorporate an oxygen scavenger in the form of a layer or coating, preferably along with at least one of several other useful features. These include means for opening the package, a means for identifying the package (authentication), an anti-theft feature, a means of tracking and/or inventory management, and printing (graphics).

Packaging for limited lifetime optical data storage media


A method and system for a feed-forward encoder is described. The method includes evaluating one or more source characters to determine whether each source character will invert or maintain a current running disparity and determining a running disparity for each source character before encoding the source character based on the current running disparity and whether the source character will invert or maintain the current running disparity. The current running disparity along with the associated source character may then be passed to an encoder to encode the source character into a transmission character.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of circuits for data communications encoding, and more specifically to a feed-forward encoder.
2. Background Information and Description of Related Art
A conventional 8B/10B encoder used for encoding signals for data communications is shown in FIG. 1. This encoder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,739 and in an article entitled "A DC-Balanced Partitioned-Block, 8B/10B Transmission Code," IBM Journal of Research and Development, Volume 27, Number 5, September 1983, pages 440–451.
The encoder of FIG. 1 maps each incoming source 8-bit character 112 into a 10-bit encoded transmission character 118 based on the contents of the source character 112, a data/control selector bit 114, and a current running disparity. The running disparity of the character being encoded is calculated based on the resulting transmission character and is fed back to be used to encode the next character. The first five bits of each source character are fed into combinatorial logic block 102 that produces partial encodings based on the values of those bits. The last three bits are likewise fed into a similar block 104. These partial encodings are used, in conjunction with the current running disparity from the previous character, to determine how the final encoding should occur to maintain DC balancing of the resulting transmission character stream. This is done by block 106, which uses the partial encodings determined by blocks 102 and 104 and the current running disparity of the previous transmission character. The final encoding is done in combinatorial logic blocks 108 and 110.
A conventional running disparity calculation function 106 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown, the six bits from the 5B functions block 102 and the current running disparity 210 of the previous transmission character are input into combinatorial logic block 202. Combinatorial logic block 202 resolves these seven bits to a single bit, which is then captured in flip-flop 214 on the falling edge of the clock 216. The output of flip-flop 214 tracks the running disparity of the first six bits of the transmission character, and is passed to logic blocks 204 and 206. The output of block 206 is used to control the final encoding of the last four bits of that transmission character. The four bits from the 3B functions block 104 and the running disparity 218 of the first six bits are input into combinatorial logic block 204. Combinatorial logic block 204 resolves these five bits to a single bit, which is then captured in flip-flop 212 on the rising edge of the clock. The output of flip-flop 212 is the running disparity of the entire transmission character, and is passed to logic block 208. The output of block 208 is used to control the final encoding of the first six bits of that transmission character. As shown by the cross-coupling in FIG. 2, it is necessary for one portion of the character to complete evaluation before the next section can begin the encoding process.
An alternative character encoder implementation 300 is shown in FIG. 3a. In this case, the same function shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is performed in a single clock edge, instead of using a dual-phase clock. A large combinational logic block 302 is placed between the source character 304 and the output transmission character 306. The running disparity 308 is captured by flip-flop 310 once each character time, where it becomes the current running disparity 312 to be used in encoding the following character. The critical path in this implementation is the running disparity calculation of each character.
Due to the finite speed of logic circuits, it is often necessary to encode multiple characters in parallel. FIG. 3b illustrates a character encoder implementation that encodes multiple characters in parallel. The total time gained is effectively the number of characters encoded in parallel minus one, multiplied by the setup and clock-to-out time of the running disparity-tracking flip-flop. However, the delays in this implementation remain dominated by the sequential gating structures used to calculate the running disparity of each character.
FIG. 3c illustrates a character encoder implementation that speeds up a portion of the disparity calculation function when implemented across multiple characters. This implementation is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 60/503,570, filed on Sep. 17, 2003, entitled "Faster 8B/10B Encoding and Decoding on Multi-Byte Datapath." In this implementation, one encoder for each character in the data path generates the new transmission character assuming the previous one ended with positive running disparity, and another encoder generates the new transmission character assuming the previous one ended with negative running disparity. A multiplexer is used to select one of each of the generated pairs of transmission characters. This allows the encode function to occur in parallel on multiple characters and reduces the critical path to the delay of the running disparity calculation of the first character plus the delay through successive multiplexers of the remaining characters in the data path. However, this implementation requires the number of encoders to be doubled, the number of running disparity calculation circuits to be doubled, and adds multiple 11-bit-wide 2:1 multiplexers.

Method and system for a feed-forward encoder


The mechanism comprises a swinging arm (1) which pivots at one end on a wheel (2) and at the other end on the frame of the vehicle, and comprises a power pinion (20) and a driven pinion (21) on the shaft of the drive wheel joined together by a chain.. It is characterized in that the swinging arm (1) is arranged parallel to the "antisquat" direction which is defined by the distance between the axes (8,10) of the wheels (2,4) and the center of gravity of the vehicle.. The branches (28,29) of the chain (22) are parallel to the swinging arm (1).. The effects of the drive wheel (2) and the chain (22) on the swinging arm (1), which tend to open and close it, are reduced.

In vehicles which use a suspension/transmission mechanism of the type described, the combined action of the force of the chain and the contact force due to traction can produce reaction forces on the swinging arm which are the cause of considerable instabilities in the vehicle.
The basic design of the chain transmission geometry of conventional motorcycles is suitable for avoiding the lifting or sinking of the rear end during acceleration or deceleration while the traction wheel is fully gripping the ground.
Nevertheless, when the traction wheel loses or recovers its grip with the ground an abrupt change in the equilibrium of forces is produced giving rise to considerable reaction forces on the swinging arm which cause instabilities in the motorcycle such as the phenomena known as "pitching" and "high sider".
Independently of the type of motorcycle suspension/transmission system, the resultant force on the drive wheel at the point of contact with the ground, due to acceleration and in the absence of slipping (the forces due to weight being eliminated), is in a direction known as "antisquat" which is defined by the wheelbase of the motorcycle and the height of the center of gravity.
The effect of any force applied to a wheel which can rotate freely is transferred to the support (in this case the swinging arm) via the pivot while the wheel accelerates.
If the traction wheel suddenly loses its grip with the ground, the contact force disappears and the wheel accelerates. Then only the force of the chain is transferred to the swinging arm via the wheel pivot.
This gives rise to a considerable opening moment of the swinging arm relative to the frame, an effect which is converted into a lifting of the rear end of the vehicle if it is in the vertical position, or an escape of the wheel if the motorcycle is in an inclined position.
If, after hard acceleration, the drive wheel completely and suddenly recovers its grip with the ground, without the force of the chain acting, the contact force reappears due to the rapid deceleration of the wheel.
Then only the contact force is transferred to the swinging arm via the wheel pivot. This force gives rise to a considerable closing moment of the swinging arm relative to the frame which is converted into a dropping of the rear end of the vehicle.
Assuming that the force of the chain is approximately constant while the vehicle accelerates, after the first wheel slip a complex phenomenon of self-sustaining oscillations of the system of forces appears, leading to an oscillation of the contact force intensity relative to its initial value.
This oscillation provokes an opening and closing phenomenon of the swinging arm which gives rise to the continuous instability of the vehicle while accelerating at the limit of its grip.
In fact, as the wheel begins to slip (increasing its angular velocity to a value above that corresponding to the velocity of the vehicle) the couple of the force of the chain becomes greater than that of the contact force of the wheel. Due to the first of the phenomena described above, this produces a tendency for the swinging arm to open which causes an increase in the contact force.
The increase in the contact force causes the drive wheel to decelerate (returning to the wheel velocity which corresponds to the velocity of the vehicle), giving rise to a couple of the contact force on the swinging arm which is greater than that of the force of the chain. Due to the second of the phenomena described above, this produces a tendency for the swinging arm to close, which causes the wheel to lose its grip with the ground and can thus cause it to slip again.
This phenomenon is known as "pitching" and occurs particularly in vehicles with a low weight-to-power ratio. Once it has started in the rear portion of the vehicle it is transmitted to the front suspension and can easily cause the vehicle to become totally unstable.
The instability stops when the rider releases the throttle, which is not convenient during a race.
In the case of a complete and sudden slip at the point at which the wheel is in contact with the ground (due to an oil patch, sand, humidity, painted lines etc.) the first of the two phenomena described gives rise to a violent opening of the swinging arm which tends to throw the rider upwards and forwards with a force comparable to his own weight. This tendency is absorbed to a large extent by the shock absorbers.
If this phenomenon occurs while the motorcycle is in an inclined position on a bend, it can give rise to more complex and more dangerous situations.
In fact, the opening of the swinging arm due to abrupt slipping causes an over-inclination which (often followed by a throttle release) causes the drive wheel to find its grip again. Then the swinging arm closes relative to the frame while the motorcycle moves in the opposite direction and returns to the vertical position. A subsequent reaction force throws the rider upwards.
This phenomenon is known as "high sider" and can cause very dangerous falls.
These phenomena are due on one hand to the arrangement of the swinging arm relative to the frame where the forces which act on the drive wheel are transmitted to the swinging arm, and on the other hand to the direction of the chain which also acts on the swinging arm.
In order to minimize the effects of the drive wheel and the chain on the swinging arm various solutions have been sought based either on controlling the accelerations and decelerations, such that they are effected gradually, or in damping the movements of the swinging arm.
Nevertheless, none of the solutions adopted proposes a new arrangement of the swinging arm relative to the frame, i.e. a design which enables the effects of the drive wheel movements on the swinging arm to be substantially reduced, nor a chain arrangement which minimizes its effects.

Suspension/transmission mechanism for motorcycles and the like


A delivery vehicle for delivering liquids to a storage location and a liquid delivery control system therefor. The apparatus comprises manual and remote actuation of a clutch controller for engaging and disengaging a clutch of the vehicle, remote and manual actuation of a throttle controller for opening and closing a throttle of the vehicle, actuation of a power take-off controller for engaging and disengaging a power take-off on the vehicle, and actuation of a valve controller for opening and closing an internal flow valve in a cargo tank on the vehicle. The apparatus also may include actuation of a reel controller for unwinding a liquid delivery hose from a reel and rewinding the hose on the reel. A method of delivering a liquid to a storage location is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicles for delivering of liquids to a storage location, and more particularly, to a liquid delivery vehicle having a liquid delivery system which is at least partially remotely controllable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many applications for the transportation of liquids by a ground vehicle for delivery to a storage location. The design and construction of such vehicles, and of the liquid delivery systems on those vehicles, vary depending upon the type of liquid being transported and delivered. In many cases, rules and regulations, both state and federal, such as United States Department of Transportation regulations, apply to the vehicles and to the delivery of liquids therefrom.
Volatile and flammable liquids, such as liquefied petroleum gases (LP gas or LPG), require very specialized equipment and careful handling. Liquefied petroleum gases, such as butane and propane, must be maintained under pressure at ambient temperatures to keep them in a liquid state. These liquids are extremely volatile; they will boil unless maintained under pressure. For example, propane boils at -44.degree. F., and butane boils at +31.degree. F. That is, butane and propane exist only in a gaseous state at atmospheric pressure and most ambient temperatures. In order to keep liquefied petroleum gases in a pressurized, liquid state, they must be stored in pressure vessels capable of withstanding internal pressures greater than atmospheric pressure.
Delivery vehicles for transporting and delivering liquefied petroleum gases must therefore have a pressurized tank or vessel thereon to hold the LP gas in a liquid state, and when the LP gas is delivered, it must be transferred into a similar pressurized storage tank or vessel. All of the interconnecting equipment and piping must also be designed to withstand these high internal pressures. The present invention is designed specifically to be used in an LP gas transport and delivery system, although the main components and principles of operation would also be applicable to the delivery of other liquids, including non-volatile liquids.
LP gas delivery vehicles are well known in the art, and are frequently used to deliver liquefied petroleum gas to storage vessels, particularly in rural areas. LP gases are flammable, and thus useful as fuels, and typically delivery vehicles are used to deliver the LP gas to residential storage tanks and also to larger commercial storage vessels from which the LP gas may be further distributed. LP gases are used for commercial and residential heating, motor fuels, and other applications such as heating, cooling and cooking on recreational vehicles.
In a typical LP gas delivery cycle, the driver/operator parks the vehicle at some distance spaced from the storage vessel or tank to be filled. It may be possible to park the vehicle immediately adjacent to the storage tank, but in most cases, this is not possible. Regardless of the distance, however, the general procedure for filling the storage tank is the same.
After parking the vehicle, the operator chocks the wheels so that unintended movement of the vehicle is prevented, after which the actual delivery cycle may be carried out.
These delivery vehicles typically have a flow meter, and the operator inserts a ticket into the meter which records the transaction so that the customer can be billed the appropriate amount for the volume of liquid delivered to the customer's storage tank. The operator then takes or "acquires" a delivery hose attached to the vehicle and extends the hose from the vehicle to the storage tank. A hose valve is disposed on the end of the hose along with a coupling. The coupling is attached to a mating fitting on the tank, and the hose valve is opened. The operator then returns to the delivery truck.
Back at the truck, the operator actuates control levers to open an internal flow valve on the truck which allows fluid communication between the delivery tank and a liquid transferring means, such as a pump. The operator then disengages the clutch on the vehicle, assuming the vehicle has a manual transmission, and while the clutch is disengaged, engages a power take-off. For vehicles with automatic transmissions, a control solenoid on the power take-off is actuated. The power take-off is connected to a shaft of the pump. Once the power take-off is engaged, the clutch is reengaged to allow power from the engine to drive the pump through the power take-off.
The operator then returns to the storage tank and observes the liquid fuel level on a liquid level gauge at the tank. Just before the fluid level reaches the maximum allowable amount, the driver again returns to the truck from the storage tank and stops the pump. This procedure includes disengaging the clutch and then disengaging the power takeoff. The internal flow valve in the delivery tank can then be closed.
The operator again returns to the storage tank, closes the hose valve, and disconnects the hose from the storage tank. The hose is then rewound onto its reel. At this point, the vehicle can then be driven to another location for filling another storage tank.
In this prior art procedure, three round trips by the operator from the delivery vehicle to the storage tank are required. Also, since the operator has to leave the storage tank before it is full, the amount of fluid pumped into the storage tank is only an estimate at the time the operator disengages the pump. Thus, it is possible that the storage vessel will not be completely filled. This presents a disadvantage to the provider of the LP gas of not selling as much as possible and also provides the disadvantage to the customer of not having the tank completely filled which may necessitate a shorter time between deliveries or possibly result in the customer running out of fuel. If the tank is overfilled, it may present a safety hazard.
Thus, there is a need to provide more accurate filling as a benefit to both the provider of the LP gas and to the customer. There is also a need to reduce the amount of time for each filling cycle. The present invention meets these needs by providing a liquid delivery vehicle with a remote control system so that the operator can stand at the storage tank and remotely operate the controls on the truck. This reduces the number of round trips between the delivery vehicle and the storage tank from three to one. Obviously, this saves time and makes the delivery cycle shorter and more efficient. A benefit to the provider of the LP gas is that it allows more deliveries in a given time period and also results in less operator fatigue.
Recently implemented Department of Transportation rules [see 49 C.F.R. .sctn.171.5], require a remotely controlled emergency shut-down, or alternatively, an additional person standing at all times at arm's length from the controls at the truck. The addition of another person at the truck obviously greatly increases labor costs which is not an acceptable alternative in the great majority of cases. The present invention meets the requirements of the regulations by providing a remotely controlled emergency shut-off which substantially simultaneously stops the engine on the vehicle, disengages the power take-off and closes the internal flow valve. In addition to meeting the Department of Transportation regulations, the present invention provides a remote operation of the controls on the vehicle during a typical delivery cycle as described above.

Liquid delivery vehicle with remote control system


An exemplary embodiment of the invention is a ceramic filter for use as a front-end filter feeding directly into an A-D portion of a digital signal processor to form a radio-beacon DGPS receiver. The filter includes a plurality of piezo-electric resonant stacks in a multi-stage topology to emulate a discrete component ladder network, representing a Butterworth filter modified to exhibit the roll-off characteristics of an Elliptical band-pass filter. This embodiment has a pass-band center frequency at about 304 kHzxc2x11.5 kHz. The ceramic filter uses square and circular shaped ceramic piezo-electric resonant elements to provide enhanced performance and reduced size. The square and circular piezo-electric resonant elements, sandwiched between spring-plates, are arranged in horizontal layers with said spring-plates at filter section boundaries being joined by tabs at the respective layers.

The invention relates to ceramic filters and in particular to a specific design of a ceramic filter for use with a radio-beacon receiver. Radio-Beacon receivers are commonly used in certain Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) for accurate navigational and position-locating needs. The international DGPS radio-beacon networks operate in the rf-band of 283-kHz to 325-kHz. To produce a quality radio-beacon receiver, the front-end filter is required to exhibit high-Q properties to provide high selectivity. Conventional beacon receivers based on prior art design techniques have relied upon multiple-pole discrete component ladder-type front-end filter networks, but these had difficulty in maintaining high attenuation in the stop-band whilst also achieving a narrow pass-band with low ripple and low insertion-loss. Such conventional filter networks also imposed the use of very tight tolerance discrete components and quite often invoked the need for custom manufactured components, particularly for the inductor elements. With these impositions and the constraints of critical layout design to achieve desired characteristics, the conventional solutions proved both costly and somewhat unpredictable.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art system for implementing a radio-beacon DGPS receiver. This design entails a combination of analogue processing and digital processing stages. A front-end band pass filter 10 is used to select signals having a frequency in the range of 283 kHz to 325 kHz. The filtered signal is then provided to a multiplier 11, an Intermediate Frequency (IF) filter 12 and an amplifier 14 to perform dual down-conversion. Exemplary dual down-conversion converts the input signal from 283-kHz to 325-kHz down to 43-kHz to 85-kHz. The down-converted signal is then applied as input to an A-D converter 16 and a digital signal processor 18. Feedback to the amplifier 14 is provided from the digital signal processor 18 through D-A converter 20.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is a novel ceramic filter for use as a front-end filter in an innovative radio-beacon DGPS receiver. The filter includes a plurality of piezo-electric resonant stacks in a multi-stage topology to emulate a discrete component ladder network, representing a band-pass filter derived from a combination of a modified Butterworth filter and Elliptical filter, having a pass-band center frequency at about 304 kHzxc2x11.5 kHz. The ceramic filter uses square and circular shaped ceramic piezo-electric resonant elements to provide enhanced performance and reduced size. The square and circular piezo-electric resonant elements, sandwiched between spring-plates, are arranged in horizontal layers. The filter stages are serially linked, at the necessary stage boundaries, with the spring-plates at the respective layers joined by tabs.

Ceramic filter for use with a beacon receiver

Communications Systems International, Inc.


An EEPROM cell with a single level gate structure is structured over at least three distinct active areas of the semiconducting substrate over which extend portions of the single isolated gate structure of the cell. A read transistor of the cell is formed in a distinct active area which is substantially isolated from the active area of the select transistor, wherein the thin dielectric tunnel layer is formed. Therefore the interface toward the external logic circuitry represented by the read transistor and the interface toward the programming circuitry are substantially isolated from each other. The read transistor may be designated to function at voltage and current levels compatible with the operating levels of the logic circuitry without interfering with the programming of the cell, thus eliminating the need for level regenerating stages. A second complementary read transistor may be formed into a fourth distinct active area, suitably doped, thus providing a read interface structured as a normal CMOS inverter stage.. The ability of the read transistor to operate at standard CMOS levels, makes the EEPROM cell particularly suited for implementing multiplexing or programmable interconnection arrays in CMOS devices.

The structure of an EEPROM memory cell with a single level of gate conductor, which is frequently constituted by a polycrystalline silicon layer (single poly) though it may also be constituted by an aluminum or aluminum alloy layer, may be schematically depicted as the structure of a MOS transistor, commonly an n-channel, isolated-gate transistor, wherein the control terminal is capacitively coupled to the isolated gate. The isolated gate is fundamentally and physically contoured over two zones: a thin tunnel-oxide zone, through which the basic electrical phenomena of the writing and erasing mechanisms of the memory cell occur, and a relatively thicker oxide zone, over which the isolated gate acts as the gate of a "read" transistor for reading the state or the data stored in the memory cell.
This typical structure of the known art, is depicted schematically in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,790 incorporated herein by reference. The isolated gate 1 lies over a programming first active area 2 of the semiconducting substrate in order to form a capacitive coupling zone between the same isolated gate 1 and a control terminal 3. The isolated gate 1 has a first projection 1t and a second projection 1l, both extending over a second active area 4. In this second active area, the relative diffusions for creating a "read", n-channel, MOS transistor are formed, the drain terminal (contact) of which being indicated with 5 and the source region with 6 in the figure. Also in this second active area 4 the capacitive coupling between the isolated gate structure with a zone 7 of the semiconducting substrate which is covered with a thin, dielectric, tunnelling layer, essentially thinner than the dielectric gate layer which is present over the rest of the area 4, is realized. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, within the same second active area 4, an n-channel select transistor is also commonly formed, the gate of which is indicated with 8 and the relative control terminal with 9 (FIG. 1) and whose source terminal is indicated with 10.
The fact that the gate 1l of the "read" transistor is formed on the same active area 4 over which the writing/erasing gate 1t is also formed, creates precise limitations and nonnegligible drawbacks. In these known cells, relatively low voltages must be maintained across the "read" gate of the cell, i.e. between the source and the drain regions (6 and 5) of the read transistor of the cell, in order to prevent an unintentional modification of the programmed or erased state of the memory cell. In fact, by being the read transistor's gate 1l formed within the same active area 4 of the write/erase tunnelling zone 7, any voltage across these regions is replicated in the write/erase gate zone and this voltage determines an electric field across the tunneling thin dielectric layer 7 given by: ##EQU1##
If not appropriately limited, this electric field may determine a reverse voltage value sufficient to program an erased cell or to erase a programmed cell, thus causing erroneous responses of the memory device.
These restraints on the voltage levels which may be safely used in reading the data stored in the memory cell, i.e. of the voltage levels which may be used at the interface of the memory cell toward the external circuitry, disadvantageously limit the use of the memory cell as a modular element capable of being coupled directly with other CMOS structures of the circuitry outside the memory section of the integrated circuit. On the contrary, this makes necessary to operate with relatively small amplitude signals and to add signal level regenerating stages "downstream" of the EEPROM cells, thus increasing the signal propagation times and the power consumption of the integrated circuit.

Eeprom cell having a read interface isolated from the write/erase interface


An adjustable sanitary hose donut has a variable inner diameter, which allows the adjustable sanitary hose donut to be used with multiple hoses having different diameters. The adjustable sanitary hose donut has an annular body and a fastener. The annular body has a plurality of sectors that are divided by a plurality of flex points. The plurality of flex points allows the plurality of sectors to bend inwards or outwards from one another in order to adjust the inner diameter of the annular body. A first overlapping section and a second overlapping section of the annular body also aid in allowing the inner diameter of the annular body to expand or contract. The fastener is positioned through both the first overlapping section and the second overlapping section and is used to lock the annular body at the desired inner diameter.

Processing plants around the country use hoses to pump fluids and other products from one area to another. Many of these processing plants utilize hose collars, which are attached around the exterior of the hose. These hose collars serve a number of purposes and are often made out of rubber or plastic material. One function of hose collars is to protect the exterior of the hose, as hoses are often dragged across the ground. Another function of hose collars is to protect the hose fittings from being damaged, as the hose fittings are costly. A third function provided by hose collars is to raise the entire hose off of the ground in order to protect the hose from any contaminants.
While current hose collars are able to provide the benefits described above, the problem remains that not all hoses have the same outer diameter. Even the same hose may have outer diameter tolerance variations along its length, resulting in a hose collar fitting tight around one end, while fitting loose around the opposing end. Making a hose collar that fits various hose outer diameters properly and tightly has always been extremely difficult. While a hose collar could be made to fit each and every individual hose, it would not be practical as it would require a multitude of hose collar sizes to satisfy every need. Another problem with current hose collars is that many cannot be installed in the field or require the hose fitting to first be removed. The best solution has always been to have an adjustable hose collar that can be easily attached to or removed from a hose while in the field.
Therefore it is the object of the present invention to provide a hose collar having a variable inner diameter, such that the hose collar can be fitted around a multitude of hoses having different outer diameters. The present invention provides a circular one piece body having a plurality of flex points. The plurality of flex points allows the one piece body to be opened or closed in order to adjust the inner diameter of the one piece body. A fastener is used to secure the one piece body at the desired diameter once the hose collar has been fitted around a hose. In addition to providing the functions of a hose collar, the present invention can also be designed to function as an adjustable pipe hanger.


An improved lens for highlighting dents and including a narrow reference strip which is luminescent or of intensified light. A preferred embodiment of the lens having at least one light colored translucent strip adjacent at least one dark colored opaque strip and a narrow reference strip which is luminescent or of intensified light and which extends across at least a portion of the dark colored opaque strip. The characteristics of the reflected light from the luminescent or intensified light reference strip makes the reference strip stand out more than a reference strip which is not luminescent or of intensified light thereby facilitating the detection of dents.

The present invention relates to an improved lens for light panels used to highlight dents or other flaws on a surface such as the surface of an automobile body.
It is often difficult to detect small dents and other imperfections in the surface of an automobile body by unaided eyesight. This is particularly true of new or newly painted automobiles viewed under artificial light, such as in an automobile assembly plant or repair and paint shops. In such assembly plants and repair shops, it is important that even the smallest dent or imperfection be detected to provide for satisfied customers and dealers and to avoid adversely affecting the reputation of the plant or shop.
In U.S. Pat Nos. 5,436,726 and 5,583,640, I disclosed a flaw highlighting light panel and a light panel booth for highlighting flaws on the surface of an automobile body. The panel and booth incorporate a lens mounted in front of a fluorescent light. The lens is formed from a sheet of a light colored translucent material with a black, opaque stripe or band painted across the center of the lens. A narrow centerline, strip or band on the lens is masked off when the black, opaque stripe is painted across the lens, such that when the tape is removed a narrow centerline, stripe or band of the light colored translucent material extends along the center of the black opaque stripe.
The light panel is directed toward a surface to be inspected such that the pattern of the lens is reflected on the surface. The narrow centerline serves to project a narrow centered light band in the middle of each black, opaque stripe of the pattern to function as a reference line, allowing an observer to correctly position his observation position to facilitate the observation of dents and flaws.


In a discrete tone system, a base station receives a transmission burst from a remote unit being installed that includes delay compensation pilot tones that are uniformly spread throughout the transmission bandwidth. The arrival time transmission burst is not synchronized with the other remote units transmitting to the base station. The base station measures the phase delay of each tone and calculates the delay of the remote unit from the slope of the line of phase angle versus tone frequency. The base station transmits a signal to the remote unit that includes the magnitude and direction of the delay, which allows the remote unit to adapt the timing of its transmission to be synchronized with the other remote units.

Wireless communications systems, such as cellular and personal communications systems, operate over limited spectral bandwidths and must make highly efficient use of the scarce bandwidth resource for providing good service to a large population of users. Wireless systems consist of cells, each of which include a base station and remote units. The Personal Wireless Access Network described in the Alamouti, et al patent application cited above, is an example of a successful technology for wireless service.
The personal wireless access network (PWAN) system described in the referenced Alamouti et al. patent application, uses a form of protocol known as discrete tone to provide efficient communications between a base station and a plurality of remote units. In this protocol, the user's data signal is modulated by a set of weighted discrete frequencies or tones. The weights are spatial spreading codes that distribute the data signals over many discrete tones covering a broad range of frequencies or tones. The weights are complex numbers with the real component acting to modulate the amplitude of a tone while the complex component of the weight acts to modulate the phase of the same tone. Each tone in the weighted tone set bears a different data signal. The weighted tone set for a particular user is transmitted to the receiving station where it is processed with spatial despreading codes to recover the user's data signal. For each of the spatially separated antennas at the receiver, the received discrete tone signals are transformed from time domain signals to frequency domain signals. Despreading weights are assigned to each frequency component of the signals received by each antenna element. The values of the despreading weights are combined with the received signals to obtain an optimized approximation of individual transmitted signals characterized by a particular discrete tone set and transmitting location. The PWAN system has a total of 2560 discrete tones (carriers) equally spaced in 8 MHz of available bandwidth in the range of 1850 to 1990 MHz. The spacing between the tones is 3.125 kHz. The total set of tones are numbered consecutively from 0 to 2559 starting from the lowest frequency tone. The tones are used to carry traffic messages and overhead messages between the base station and the plurality of remote units. The traffic tones are divided into 32 traffic partitions, with each traffic channel requiring at least one traffic partition of 72 tones.
In addition, the PWAN system uses overhead tones to establish synchronization and to pass control information between the base station and the remote units. A Common Link Channel (CLC) is used by the base to transmit control information to the Remote Units. A Common Access Channel (CAC) is used to transmit messages from the Remote Unit to the Base. There is one grouping of tones assigned to each channel. These overhead channels are used in common by all of the remote units when they are exchanging control messages with the base station.
In the PWAN system, Frequency Division Duplexing, (FDD) is used by the base station and the remote unit to transmit data and control information in both directions. Transmission from the base station to the remote unit is called forward transmission and transmission from the remote unit to the base station is called reverse transmission. The base station and each remote unit must synchronize and conform to the timing structure and both the base station and the remote unit must synchronize to a framing structure. All remote units and base stations must be synchronized so that all remote units transmit at the same time and then all base stations transmit at the same time. When a remote unit initially powers up, it must acquire synchronization from the base station so that it can exchange control and traffic messages within the prescribed time format. The remote unit must also acquire phase synchronization for the signals so that the remote is operating at the same frequency and phase as the base station.
When a remote unit is first installed, it transmits a signal over the CAC channel to the base station. This signal will probably be received at the base station at a time which is not the same as the other remote units transmitting to the base station. The difference between the expected time of the signal, and the time that the signal actually arrives at the base station, is the delay.
Previous systems that compensate for this delay have included systems which have a delay time measurement resolution that is limited. Furthermore, delay time measurement in a protocol is subject to both noise and multipath fading.


The present invention provides a lithographic printing plate precursor element capable of being used on a printing press immediately after imagewise exposure without the requirement of bath processing. A preferred embodiment has in order (a) a substrate; and (b) a photoresist photohardenable upon imagewise exposure to actinic radiation, the photoresist comprising (i) a macromolecular organic binder; (ii) a photopolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer having at least one terminal ethylenic group capable of forming a high polymer by chain-propagated polymerization, and (iii) a polymerization initiator activatable by actinic radiation; and (c) an on-press removable polyphosphate-containing overcoat. The polyphosphate-containing overcoat imparts the plate with a non-tacky surface and an enhanced resistance to the adverse influence of ambient humidity.

At the present time, virtually all printed copy is produced through the use of three basic types of printing plates. One type is a relief plate which prints from a raised surface. Another type is an intaglio plate which prints from a depressed surface. The third type is a lithographic plate which prints from a substantially flat surface which is neither appreciably raised above nor appreciably depressed below the adjacent and surrounding non-printing areas. The present invention concerns the third type of printing plate.
Lithographic printing is occasioned by an ink's respective affinity and/or aversion to areas of different chemical properties. Lithographic printing plates are commonly processed to have water-repellent (hydrophobic), oil-receptive (oleophilic) image areas and water-receptive (hydrophilic) non-image areas.
In preparing a conventional lithographic plate for use on a printing press, the plate is first imagewise exposed to actinic radiation to effect specific chemical reactions therein. Such photoinduced chemical reactions may either reduce or enhance the solubility of the photoresist, depending on whether the resist is negative-working or positive-working. In negative-working plates, exposure to actinic radiation will generally cause a "hardening" or insolubilization of the photoresist. In positive-working plates, exposure to actinic radiation will generally cause a "softening" or solubilization of the photoresist.
After photoexposure, a wet development step is normally conducted to remove those areas of the photoresist which have undergone photoinduced chemical change or those which have not been photoexposed. Solvation under conventional development techniques will typically involve treating the exposed plate with organic solvents in a developing bath. For negative-working resists, the solvent will swell and dissolve the unexposed portions of the resist. For positive-working resists, the response of the unexposed and exposed coatings are reversed, but the same general principles apply. In either case, the solvent should not react with the unintended portions, otherwise distortion of the developed image may result.
As a result of the preferential solvation and washing away of portions of the photoresist, corresponding portions of the underlying hydrophilic substrate are uncovered. For negative-working plates, the aforementioned hydrophobic image areas correspond to the portions of the photoresist remaining after salvation and washing, whereas the aforementioned hydrophilic non-image areas correspond to portions of the substrate revealed by said solvation and washing. The image and non-image areas thus differentiated, the processed plate may then be mounted onto a printing press and run.
Encumbered by required wet development, the processing of conventional lithographic plates prior to their use on a printing press is both time and labor consuming and involves use of volatile organic chemicals. Considerable desire is thus present for means that would satisfactorily eliminate or reduce the long-felt dependency of conventional lithographic processes upon the conduct of wet development and thereby permit use of lithographic plates on a printing press immediately after exposure without required post-exposure prepress processing.
So-called "expose-only", "no-process", and "on-press developable" lithographic plates have been suggested. Among printing plates that may be characterized as such are: e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,033, issued to Mukhedjee on Feb. 19, 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,851, issued to Muzyczko et al. on Jun. 16, 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,532, issued to J. H. Incremona on Oct. 11, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,263, issued to Z. K. Cheema, A. C. Giudice, E. L. Langlais, and C. F. St. Jacques on Nov. 2, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,973, issued to Hasegawa on Nov. 29, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,734, issued to Vogel et al. on Mar. 7, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,090, issued to Gardner et al. on Apr. 9, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,522, issued to W. C. Schwarzel, F. R. Kearney, M. J. Fitzgerald, and R. C. Liang on May 7, 1996; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,620, issued to L. C. Wan, A. C Giudice, J. M. Hardin, C. M. Cheng, and R. C. Liang on May 14, 1996. Mention may also be made of PCT/US95/11104; U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,147; GB 9322705; EP 599463; EP 562952; U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,785; U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,316; U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,015; U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,771; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,972.
While good results are obtained from current on-press developable plates, a desire has developed to extend the performance of such and like media across a wider range of environmental conditions without departing from good imaging performance. Of particular interest is the realization of such performance under varying environmental conditions, particularly tropical (i.e., hot and humid) conditions, these conditions being foreseeably encountered when such media are transported, stored, and/or used during imaging and development. Advantage may be derived from reduced implementation of environmentally-insulating packaging, transportation, and storage, as well as by ameliorating the affects on imaging of environmental conditions.

Protective overcoat useful for enhancing an article resistance to ambient humidity


An XML (eXtensible Markup Language) schema to define a list of terms to be recognized as semantic categories is disclosed. Using an instance of the XML schema, a user may easily define terms to be recognized as semantic categories without having to compile a complete recognizer plug-in. The XML schema may be written using any editing tool or XML schema editing tool to create an instance of the schema. An instance of the semantic category list schema is also referred to as a semantic category list file. Typically, the user completes all of the properties of the XML schema and specifies the list of terms to recognize directly in the XML schema. In addition to specifying terms directly in the XML schema, the user may use a binary representation of the list of terms because of size constraints. The user may also define actions in the semantic category list file.

Electronic documents typically include semantic information that would be helpful if the information was recognized as such. Recognition and use of this semantic information could result in increased interoperability between desktop software applications and other desktop applications and/or web-based applications. Recognition of this semantic information may also provide benefits in electronic commerce. Independent third parties should also be able to easily develop list of terms for recognition without the need to create compiled dynamic link libraries (DLLs).
Independent software developers and individual users are often in the best position to determine the semantic information that needs to be recognized in electronic documents. For example, a corporation's IT department knows the format of part numbers, employee numbers, and other semantic information that may be important to individuals in their corporation. Thus, there is a need for a system and method that allows users to define the format of semantic information to be recognized and to provide actions based on the defined semantic information. There is a further need to make this method and system as simple as possible so that the population of developers is increased and so that those who are best able to define semantic information are able to do so.

Method and system for defining semantic categories and actions


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a first semiconductor region of a first conductive type and a second semiconductor region of a second conductive type in a predetermined region of the semiconductor substrate of a first conductive type; and first to third ion implantation processes sequentially executed for controlling threshold voltages corresponding to each transistor formed on the semiconductor substrate the first semiconductor region, and the second semiconductor region respectively. The first ion implantation process is executed in a high-threshold low-voltage transistor forming region of the first semiconductor region after forming the first semiconductor region. The second ion implantation process is executed in a high-threshold low-voltage transistor forming region of the second semiconductor region. The third ion implantation is executed simultaneously in the low-threshold low-voltage transistor forming regions of the semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor region respectively.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, particularly to a semiconductor device including a memory cell region and peripheral circuit region, the peripheral circuit region having a transistor capable of operating under low power voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among semiconductor devices, a typical nonvolatile memory such as a NAND flash memory includes a memory cell and a peripheral circuit cell. The memory cell is driven by the peripheral circuit cell and is provided with a low-voltage transistor. The peripheral circuit cell, on the other hand, is generally provided with both types of high- and low-voltage transistors of P-type and N-type respectively.
The latest application of such semiconductor device contains therein a low-voltage power source. Such configuration allows combination of two types of low-voltage transistors to be provided in a single device, namely a high-threshold type powered by external source and a low-threshold type powered by internal source. The process of forming the low-voltage transistor in such case involves implantation of ions into a well formed in the semiconductor substrate in order to control the threshold voltage. A complimentary metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuit (CMOSIC) having a combination of transistors of varying threshold voltages is disclosed in JP-A-2000-323587.
The aforementioned patent publication discloses a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device in which an N-well and a P-well is created whereafter MOS transistors having different threshold voltages are formed in each well by performing less number of times of ion implantation than the number of types of different threshold voltages.
However, when forming transistors having different threshold voltages by using wells of identical conductive type, a separate ion implantation process is required after forming the wells in order to form the transistors having different threshold voltages. Such requirement renders process cycle reduction difficult.

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device


Sarcodictyin A and B, eleutherobin, and bioactive analogs thereof synthesized using solid phase and solution phase chemistries. The synthetic method employs an attachment of common precursors, e.g., compounds 1880 or 200, on a solid support for generating conjugates 230 and 240, followed by standard chemical manipulations. A combinatorial library of sarcodictyins and eletherobin analogs was constructed with modified C-8 ester, C-15 ester and C-4 ketal functionalities and was screened for activity with respect to tubulin polymerization and cytotoxic activity against tumor cells, including Taxol-resistant lines. Compounds 600, 610, 630, 660-700, 730, 760, 850, and 920 were identified to be of equal or superior biological activities as compared to their corresponding natural product.

The Sarcodictyins A (7) and B (8) (FIG. 1) were discovered by Pietra et al. in the Mediterranean stoloniferan coral Sarcodictyon roseum and first reported in 1987 (D'Ambrosio et al. Helv. Chim. Acta 1987, 70, 2019-2027; D'Ambrosio et al. Helv. Chim. Acta 1988, 71, 964-976). Sarcodictyins C-F were subsequently disclosed by the same group (D'Ambrosio et al. Helv. Chim. Acta 1988, 71, 964-976).
Eleutherobin was isolated from an Eleutherobia species of soft coral (possibly E. albiflora Alcynacea, Alcyoniidea collected from the Indian Ocean near Bennett's Shoal in Western Australia) by Fenical et al. and first reported in 1995 (Fenical et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,057, Dec. 5, 1995).
Eleuthosides A (5) and B (6) were isolated from an Eleutherobia aurea species of soft coral (collected near the Kwazula-Natal coast of South Africa) and reported by Kashman et al. (Ketzinel et al. J. Nat. Prod. 1996, 59, 873-875). These substances are closely related to eleutherobin (4).
Valdivone (6) was first reported by Kennart and Watson (Lin et al. Tetrahedron 1993, 49, 7977-7984). These substances are also related, both structurally and with regards to their biological action, to eleutherobin (4) and to eleuthosides A (5) and B (6) (FIG. 1).
All four of the above marine-derived natural products (4-8) share the same mechanism of action with the soil-derived (myxobacteria) epothilones A (2) and B (3) (FIG. 1) and the forest-residing Taxol.TM. (1) (FIG. 1). (Lindel et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 8744-8745; Long et al. Cancer Res. 1998, 58, 1111-1115). This mechanism involves tubulin polymerization and microtubule stabilization.
What is needed are synthetic analogs of sarcodictyin A and B, eleutherobin having enhanced bioactivity, and synthetic methods for producing these natural products and their bioactive analogs.

Analogs of sarcodictyin and eleutherobin


A device (1) is provided for reversing the movement and/or actuation direction of an actuating cable (2) of a mechanism. A sliding piston (5) is arranged in a housing (3), which is fixed to the frame, so as to be displaceable in a sliding manner. The sliding piston can be displaced by the actuating cable (2). At least one actuating element (6) is arranged laterally on the sliding piston (5). A direction of movement of the actuating element is opposite to a direction of movement of the actuating cable (2) and the actuating element is mechanically coupled to the mechanism that is actuated.

In the prior art, actuating cables for mechanisms arranged remotely in a vehicle are arranged or laid in such a manner that a reversal of a movement and/or actuation direction is not necessary. Under some circumstances, this requires the actuating cable to be laid in a large arc, as a result of which the requirement for construction space and length of the actuating cable increase.
FR 2 765 926 A1 describes a device for reversing the movement and/or actuation direction of an actuating cable of a mechanism.
GB 166 655 A describes a device with a plurality of actuating cables which are actuatable together or independently of one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,057 A describes a device which actuates two coupled mechanisms by means of an actuating cable.

Device for reversing the movement and/or actuation direction of an actuating cable of a mechanism


An apparatus and method for simply and inexpensively positioning mounted automobile and truck tires for effective setting of a bead, with subsequent inflation in an efficient manner. In one exemplary embodiment, the apparatus is a wheel-like structure with an outer rim in the shape of a polygon, such as a circle, octagon, hexagon, or square. The outer rim supports a plurality of mounting brackets adapted to hold tires for inflation. Tires that have been mounted on wheel rims are placed on the mounting brackets, a bead is set by a blast of air, and an air inflation hose is connected to the tire. The wheel rotates, so that additional tires can be placed on subsequent mounting brackets, resulting in a series of tires being inflated continuously and simultaneously. When a tire is completely inflated, the hose is disconnected and the tire removed from the device for storage, shipping or further handling.

In the truck tire industry, tire mounting facilities mount truck tires on suitable rims, inflate the tires, and prepare and package them for shipment to various truck manufacturers or service centers. Due to the competitive nature of the business, the commercial viability of these facilities depends on minimizing costs, reducing production time, and increasing overall efficiency. As shipping costs of the mounted tires comprise a large expense, most such facilities serve a limited geographic area, and thus cannot undertake the burden of large capital investment in machinery.
The step of tire inflation is a critical step in the tire mounting process. Once the tire is mounted on an appropriately-size rim, the tire must be inflated to the proper pressure. This requires a two step process: setting the bead with an initial blast of air, then inflating the tire through the valve stem. As truck tires generally have a sizable volume, the time to inflate a typical truck tire using a standard air hose can be several minutes. As the time to mount a tire is substantially less than the time to inflate it, the tire inflation step can be a chokepoint in the process, and thus substantially reduce production.
Various methods and systems for inflating tires are well known in the prior art. One known method adjusts the inflation device to match a particular size of tire. When the tire size is changed, however, the inflation device must be adjusted and re-calibrated, with a concomitant increase in cost and loss in production time. A related tire inflation device with two inflation chambers accommodates tires of different sizes, but the device is expensive and cumbersome. Such devices also are designed to work in production lines in automobile or tire factories, and thus are not suited for truck tires.
Accordingly, what is needed is a simple and inexpensive device and method for positioning mounted truck tires for effective bead-setting, and then inflating said tires to a set pressure in an efficient manner.


A firearm handgrip includes a housing and a bipod movable between stored and deployed positions. The bipod is adapted for panning (horizontal rotation), tilting (up-down) and canting (right-left) movements when deployed and includes a torsion spring enabling tracking a horizontal angle for quick leg realignment. The bipod includes a piston, a deployment spring between the piston and the housing, and a locking assembly for holding the bipod in the stored position. The locking mechanism preferably first and second magnet pieces respectively located on a release ram near the top of the housing and on the piston. Alignment between the magnet pieces in a first ram position holds the bipod in the stored position while movement to a second ram position creates magnet misalignment for bipod release.

Shooting a firearm with precision accuracy, particularly during combat, requires a steady and stable rifle support. Stabilizing the rifle manually, relying solely on body support, is difficult for the degree of stability needed for long range or small target accuracy. Therefore, mechanical support devices are used as a means for stabilizing the weapon and improving accuracy.
Stabilizing devices include various slings, shooting sticks, bipods and tripods. In recent times, compact collapsible and/or extendable bipods have been developed. Collapsible bipods are relatively lightweight and are mountable to the forearm stock or mounting rail of a firearm. These bipods include a pair of legs that can be pivoted from a tucked position adjacent the firearm stock to a down position to support the barrel on a support surface. Extendable bipods allow the length of the legs to be extended.
Tracking a moving target typically requires several different motions of the firearm. One motion is a horizontal or lateral rotation, also referred to as "panning." Another motion is the vertical rotation of the firearm, also referred to as "tilting." A third motion is sometimes required if the bipod legs are on an uneven support surface, requiring the firearm to be rotated on the support axis in order to stay vertically aligned with the gravity force. This motion is referred to as "canting."
Bipods have been made that are retractable within a housing that also serves as a forward handgrip. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,424 (Moody et al) discloses a fore end handgrip in the form of a tubular housing that holds a concealable bipod. The bipod legs deploy from the handgrip and lock in the extended position when a latch releases a spring. However, the locked bipod then restricts the above-mentioned motions (panning, tilting, and canting).
U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2005/0241206 (Teetzel et al.) discloses a similar hollow fore end grip with a retractable bipod. The bipod grip allows horizontal planning, and provides stop members to limit the degree of horizontal panning of the weapon relative to the bipod leg. The relative rotation permits the weapon to be horizontally pivoted to engage the target without the need to move or shift the bipod feet relative to the underlying support surface, but when the weapon is lifted there is no restoring force to return the bipod legs to alignment with the bore of the weapon.
Sometimes it is required to pan along the path of a moving target. If the target stops and allows time to obtain a good sight picture, it would be an advantage to be able to lift the weapon to take the weight off of the bipod legs and have the legs automatically return to alignment with the bore while achieving a precise sight picture prior to making the shot. It would be advantageous, therefore, to have a quick-deployment bipod that tracks the horizontal rotation angle of the firearm and enables a quick realignment of the bipod.
It would also be an advantage to have a release mechanism for the bipod release that is reliable and difficult to jam with dirt or debris.

Firearm handgrip with a horizontal angle tracking bipod


A method of forming an organic film disposes a substrate on which the organic film is formed in a chamber capable of reducing a pressure therein, introduces a gas including a deuterium compound or a trideuterium compound in the chamber, to generate a plasma by ionizing the gas; and etches and patterning the organic film by the plasma.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of processing an organic film and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, in which a plasma etching is used.
2. Related Art
Dry etching which uses radicals generated by plasma discharge is widely used as a method of processing a semiconductor substrate or a method of processing various thin films formed on a semiconductor substrate.
In a case where a trench is formed in an organic film by using a protective film pattern disposed on the organic film as a mask, if plasma etching is performed using a gas which contains hydrogen as a main component, there arises the problem that a plasma causes not negligible damage to an underlayer film exposed to the bottom part of the trench of the organic film.
Particularly, with miniaturization and high integration of the semiconductor device, when a dielectric film having a smaller dielectric constant than that of a silicon oxide film is used as an underlayer film, the above-described damage may easily occur.
Plasma etching techniques which form trenches in a silicon substrate by using a gas which contains deuterium (D2) as a main component have hitherto been known. For example, see the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-84841 (page 2, FIG. 1).
In the plasma etching technique disclosed in the above patent document, trenches are formed in a silicon substrate by performing plasma etching using a silicon oxide film as a mask and using a gas which contains deuterium as a main component. In this technique, etching rates which are an order of magnitude higher than when hydrogen (H2) gas is used are obtained.
However, the above patent document discloses only an example in which a silicon substrate is etched by a gas which contains deuterium as a main component. Furthermore, it neither discloses nor suggests gases other than deuterium.

Method of processing organic film using plasma etching and method of manufacturing semiconductor device


A toy rifle (air soft rifle, BB-rifle) backlash vibration structure is disclosed formed of a receiver extension, a weight, a reaction spring and a buttcap spacer. The weight has a front extension inserted through the frame of the toy riffle and connected to the rear end of the piston spring at the rear side of the piston so that the component parts of the backlash vibration structure does not touch the piston during movement of the piston. The buttcap spacer is detachably fastened to the rear side of the receiver extension and mounted with an adjustment screw rod that is rotatable relative to the buttcap spacer to adjust the level of the backlash vibration from zero to the maximum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy rifle (air soft rifle/BB-rifle) and more particularly, to a toy riffle backlash vibration structure that allows adjustment of the backlash vibration from zero to the maximum level.
2. Description of the Related Art
To simulation of a real automatic rifle, a toy rifle (air soft rifle/BB-rifle) may be provided with a backlash vibration structure. Taiwan Patent Publication No. 200708712 discloses a similar design. However, this design is still not satisfactory in function.
FIG. 1 illustrates a backlash vibration structure a′ installed in a toy riffle. As illustrated, the backlash vibration structure a′ is arranged at the rear side in axial alignment with the piston 10 in the piston-cylinder mechanism b′, comprising a receiver extension 20, a weight 30, a reaction spring 40, and a buttcap spacer 50 The receiver extension 20 is connected to the rear side of the lower receiver c′ that accommodates the piston-cylinder mechanism b′. The weight 30 and the reaction spring 40 are mounted inside the receiver extension 20. The reaction spring 40 is connected between the weight 30 and the buttcap spacer 50. The piston 101 has its rear side mounted with a piston spring 101. The piston spring 101 has its one end received in the piston 10, and its other end stopped against an inside wall of the lower receiver c′. Further, a connection rod 60 is movably inserted through the lower receiver c′ and connected between the piston spring 101 and the weight 30. The toy riffle further comprises a transmission mechanism d′, a trigger c′ and a bullet pusher f′. When pressed the trigger e′, the transmission mechanism d′is forced to move the piston-cylinder mechanism b′, causing the bullet pusher f′ to push the bullet into the firing position for striking by (the firing pin of) the piston 10. During movement of the transmission mechanism d′, the piston 10 is moved backwards, and the connection rod 60 is moved with the piston 10 to force the weight 30 against the reaction spring 40 (see FIG. 2). When over the compression limit of the reaction spring 40, the reaction spring 40 forces the weight 39 forwards, and the piston 10 is moved forwards in a rush to shoot the bullet (see also FIG. 1). During forward movement of the weight 30, a reactive force is produced, causing a backlash vibration.
According to the aforesaid design, the connection rod 60 is connected between the piston spring 101 and the weight 30 and has its front end suspending in the piston 10, the inside wall of the piston 10 will strike the front end of the connection rod 60 during backward movement of the piston 10, and the front end of the connection rod 60 will strike the inside wall of the piston 10 during forward movement of the weight 30. Therefore, the piston 10 wears quickly with use. Further, the pressure of the backlash is determined subject to the weight of the weight 30 and the spring force of the reaction spring 40 and the piston spring 101. However, because the weight of the weight 30 is fixed, and the spring force of the reaction spring 40 and the piston spring 101 will be gradually reducing after a long use. In consequence, the backlash vibration will become small and not adjustable after a long use of the toy riffle. Therefore, an improvement in this regard is necessary.