A gas turbine engine rotor blade includes an airfoil, platform, shank, and dovetail integrally joined together. A dust escape hole extends through the platform adjacent a fillet bridging the platform and shank to bleed dust therefrom during operation.

The present invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and, more specifically, to turbine rotor blades therein.
In a gas turbine engine, air is pressurized in a compressor and mixed with fuel in a combustor for generating hot combustion gases. Energy is extracted from the gases in various turbine stages in a high pressure turbine (HPT) and a low pressure turbine (LPT).
The HPT includes one or more stages of rotor blades extending from a supporting rotor disk which drive the corresponding rotor blades of the compressor. And, the LPT typically includes several rotor stages of blades extending from corresponding disks which drive an upstream fan in an aircraft engine application, or drive an external drive shaft for marine and industrial applications.
An aircraft engine is used to power an aircraft in flight in various locations around the world. The engine is therefore subject to ingestion of dust and other pollutants along with the intake air. Dust is a generic term for the various particulates or foreign body contamination found in the ambient air through which the aircraft flies, and which may be harmful to the longevity of the engine.
For example, the ambient air may be polluted from automotive vehicles and industrial plants typically concentrated around major cities, which also typically have regional airports. Airports in cold regions typically use chemical deicers in the winter months for de-icing aircraft prior to flight. And, the eruption of volcanoes additionally discharges substantial contamination into the atmosphere.
Accordingly, the atmosphere found around the world contains various pollutants which can adversely affect the life of a gas turbine engine. The terms dust is used herein as a generic term for the various forms of foreign body matter which may be found in the air that may adversely affect engine life. Typical dust is in the form of fine particles of foreign matter like sulfur, sodium, potassium, and magnesium for typical examples found in various aircraft routes around the world.
Dust can be a problem in gas turbine engines because it is ingested with the ambient air and is subject to the hot combustion process, as well as remains in the air bled from the compressor in typical use for cooling hot engine components.
The HPT is subject to the hottest combustion gases and is therefore configured with various cooling circuits that circulate pressurized cooling air from the compressor. The cooling circuits include small channels and typical film cooling holes through which the pressurized air must pass.
Since the film cooling holes are relatively small, plugging thereof by dust during operation would severely shorten the useful life of the component. In a typical turbine rotor blade, for example, the tip thereof may include relatively large dust escape holes to provide a convenient location for the discharge of undesirable dust and minimize its accumulation inside the hollow blade.
However, recent experience in use of an exemplary gas turbine engine enjoying years of successful commercial public use in this country and abroad has uncovered a new problem of dust accumulation under the platform of turbine blades.
A turbine rotor blade typically includes a hollow airfoil extending radially outwardly from a platform which defines the radially inner flowpath boundary. The platform in turn is joined to a plain shank that terminates in a dovetail for mounting the blade in a corresponding slot in the perimeter of the supporting rotor disk.
Since energy is extracted from the combustion gases as they flow downstream between the turbine blades in each stage or row, there is a corresponding pressure drop between the leading and trailing edges of the blades. Pressurized cooling air is bled from the compressor and channeled to the blades through inlets at the base of the dovetails thereof. The shank regions of the blades are typically provided with pressurized purge air to prevent the ingestion of combustion gases therein.
Accordingly, dust-laden air is not only channeled through the individual turbine rotor blades, but is also channeled outside the blades under the corresponding platforms, and is therefore subject to undesirable accumulation in any local surface discontinuity or pocket formed by the various portions of the turbine blade below the platform.
For example, the platform joins the shank at corresponding fillets which is one site for accumulation of dust. The platform also joins the shank at forward and aft angel wing seals that define additional internal corners and fillets in which dust may accumulate. And, turbine rotor blade may also include dampers which are trapped in corresponding pockets between adjacent blades, with these pockets also providing additional sites for undesirable dust accumulation.
Furthermore, the turbine blade extends radially outwardly from the rotor disk and is subject to considerable centrifugal force during operation. The centrifugal force also acts on the dust particles in the cooling air driving these particles into stagnant fillets or corners or pockets where they may accumulate.
The recent experience described above has shown that the accumulation of undesirable dust can lead to corrosion of the superalloy metal materials that form the turbine blades, which further shortens the useful life of the turbine blades in the hostile environment of the gas turbine engine.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a turbine rotor blade with a dust proof or resistant platform for minimizing the accumulation of undesirable dust therein over the life thereof.


A method for transmitting a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) from a base station supporting multiple transmit antennas to a mobile station. The method according to one embodiment includes transmitting, at the base station, information of one or more CSI-RS configurations to the mobile station; and transmitting, at the base station, at least one downlink subframe mapped with the CSI-RSs to the mobile station. The one or more CSI-RS configurations include i) at least one CSI-RS configuration for which the mobile station assumes non-zero transmission power for the CSI-RS, ii) at least one CSI-RS configuration for which the mobile station assumes zero transmission power for the CSI-RS, or iii) at least one CSI-RS configuration for which the mobile station assumes non-zero transmission power for the CSI-RS and at least one CSI-RS configuration for which the mobile station assumes zero transmission power for the CSI-RS.

1. Field of Disclosure
The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for providing Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configuration information in a wireless communication system supporting multiple antennas.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system refers to a system for improving data transmission/reception efficiency using multiple Transmission (Tx) antennas and multiple Reception (Rx) antennas. In a MIMO system, each transmission antenna has an independent data channel. The Tx may be a virtual antenna or a physical antenna. A receiver estimates a channel with respect to each Tx antenna and receives data transmitted from each Tx antenna based on the channel estimation.
Channel estimation refers to a process of compensating for signal distortion caused by fading so as to restore the received signal. Fading refers to a phenomenon in which the intensity of a signal is rapidly changed due to multi-path time delay in a wireless communication system environment. For channel estimation, a reference signal known to both a transmitter and a receiver is necessary. The reference signal may be abbreviated to RS or referred to as a pilot signal according to the standard.
A downlink RS is a pilot signal for coherent demodulation, such as a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), a Physical Hybrid Indicator Channel (PHICH), and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). The downlink RS includes a Common Reference Signal (CRS) shared among all UEs in a cell and a Dedicated Reference Signal (DRS) for a specific UE.
In a system having an antenna configuration (e.g., a system according to the Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) standard supporting eight Tx antennas) developed as an extension of a legacy communication system (e.g., a system based on LTE Release 8 or 9) supporting four Tx antennas, DRS-based data demodulation has been considered in order to support efficient RS management and develop an advanced transmission scheme. That is, in order to support data transmission through extended antennas, DRSs for two or more layers may be defined. Since the DRSs are precoded using the same precoder as used for data, it is possible for a receiver to easily estimate channel information for demodulating data without separate precoding information.
A downlink receiver may acquire precoded channel information with respect to the extended antenna configuration through DRSs. However, in order to acquire non-precoded channel information, separate RSs are required in addition to the DRSs. In a system based on the LTE-A standard, RSs for acquiring Channel State Information (CSI) at a receiver, that is, CSI-RSs, may be defined.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for providing channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration information in a wireless communication system supporting multiple antennas


A terminal assembly for use in a circuit breaker. The terminal assembly includes a first member and a second member abutting the first member. The second member includes a pair of protruding arms to be inserted into a corresponding pair of recesses in a circuit breaker housing. Because the pair of protruding arms are inserted into the housing, the first member is protected against rotational force.

Circuit breakers typically provide automatic current interruption to a monitored circuit when undesired overcurrent conditions occur. These overcurrent conditions include, for example, overloads, ground faults, and short-circuits. An overcurrent is usually detected when the fault current generates sufficient heat in a strip composed of a resistive element or bimetal to cause the strip to deflect. The deflection triggers a trip assembly that includes a spring-biased latch mechanism to force a movable contact attached to a movable blade away from a stationary contact, thereby breaking the circuit. The strip is typically coupled to a heater which conducts the current-generated heat to the strip in a known manner. The current (within a predetermined threshold) at which the trip assembly is just prevented from acting yields the current rating for the circuit breaker. When the circuit is exposed to a current above that level for a predetermined period of time, the trip assembly activates and tripping occurs thereby opening the circuit.
The circuit breaker includes a line end and a load end, both of which include lug assemblies to attach conductive cable to supply electrical current to various loads in the electrical circuit. The load lug assemblies contains a load terminal assembly, and consists of a lug body and a lug screw. The lug screw tightens to hold the conductive cable within the lug body. As the lug screw is tightened, the conductive cable is compressed, and an electrical connection is established between the load terminal assembly and the conductive cable.
However, as the lug is tightened onto the conductive cable, the rotational force, or torque, that is applied to the lug also exerts a force onto the main load terminal. When a high torque is applied to the main load terminal, it is permanently deformed at its bends. This can change its position, which effects the calibration of the tripping system.
Another disadvantage to the above approach is that for as the torque is applied to the lug, it is also transferred onto the circuit breaker base. This force can sometimes be high enough to cause cracking and breaking of the circuit breaker base.

Terminal support for a circuit breaker trip unit


A bearing for a turbomachine variable pitch stator vane pivot mounted in a bore of the turbomachine casing is disclosed. The bearing includes an inner bushing secured to the pivot and an outer bushing secured to the bore. An elastomeric material is inserted between the inner bushing and the outer bushing to allow the vane to pivot about its axis and absorb at least some of the flexing of the pivot at right angles to the axis. The design makes it possible to reduce bearing bushing wear.

The present invention relates to the field of turbomachines such as gas turbine engine axial compressors and is aimed in particular at the machine's variable pitch stator vanes.
An articulated system, such as the variable pitch stator vanes of a gas turbine engine compressor, comprises parts which move relative to one another. FIG. 1 schematically depicts a variable pitch stator vane 1 mounted in the machine casing 3. The stator vane comprises an airfoil 12, a mounting plate or platform 13 and a pin forming a pivot 14 at one end. The pivot 14 is housed in a radial orifice or bore formed in the wall of the casing 3 via various bearings. The vane is held only at this end. The other end holds a floating annular element 16 in which it is pivotably mounted via a second pivot 17. The annulus is provided with sealing means to seal against the part of the rotor 18 adjacent to it.
The pivot 14 swivels in the corresponding bore of the casing via bearings, for example a bottom bearing 4 at the platform end. The platform 13 is housed in a cavity in the form of a counterbore machined in the wall of this casing. The wall of the casing is in radial contact with the platform 13 either directly or via a bushing or washer. The top part of the pivot 14 is held in a top bearing 5. The bearings 4 and 5 for example consist of bushings housed in the bore of the casing with an internal ring forming a rubbing surface to rub against the pin 14 that forms the pivot. A friction ring may also be shrunk onto the pin 14.
On the opposite side of the bearing 4 from the platform 13 is the base of the airfoil which is swept by the gases set in motion by the compressor. This face of the mounting plate is shaped to ensure the continuity of the string formed by the casing. A nut 15′ holds the vane in its housing and a lever actuated by appropriate control members, rotates the vane about the axis XX of the pin to place this vane in the required position with respect to the direction of the gas flow. The relative movements result from the sliding of surfaces in contact with one another.
In the case of a gas turbine engine axial compressor or alternatively in the case of an axial compressor of air or some other gas on its own, such as a blast furnace compressor or an actual gas compressor, the airfoil 12 is subjected over its entire length to the aerodynamic forces generated by the gas flow. The component of these forces that is directed at right angles to the chord in the intrados-to-extrados direction, generally passing through the axis of the pivot, is the largest component. It will also be noted that, when the vane is highly angled, the component may pass away from this axis. The airfoil is also subjected to axial static pressure forces in the upstream direction because of the pressure difference between the downstream and the upstream sides. The resultant force is illustrated by the arrow F in the figure. It then follows that a moment is applied which combines with the pitch-adjustment rotation about the axis XX over an amplitude which may reach and exceed 40 degrees.
As mentioned above, the bushings that are mounted under the levers of the variable pitch system permit no movement other than rotation about the axis of the pivot. However, because of the transverse forces and the flexing of the stators, the bushings of the prior art are found to exhibit uneven wear. Such wear is detrimental to the correct operation of the variable pitch device.


An image reading apparatus includes a reading part reading original, a time measuring part being able to measure different times selectively, and a defining part determining separation of sheets of the original read by the reading part. The time measuring part selects a time to be measured according to a predetermined condition, and the defining part determines the separation of sheets of the original when the selected time has elapsed without an operation concerning a subsequent reading operation being performed after a reading operation of the reading part is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image reading apparatus, an image processing system, image reading method and image processing method, such as those of a digital copier, a facsimile machine, a scanner or the like, handling image data as electronic information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, documents (documents in which images and characters/letters are written for which safekeeping should be provided or may be used in future) are in safekeeping in a book shelf or the like after being filed in a form of paper. Recently, as data processing comes to be able to be performed at high speed, and, also, data storage devices come to be reduced in price, a so-called electronic filing apparatus has been put into practice in which documents which should be in safekeeping are read through a scanning device, and are stored in a large-capacity storage device in a form of electronic data.

Image reading apparatus, image processing system, image reading method, and image processing method that determine a document


An unbonded capping system for strength testing of concrete masonry units (CMUs) comprises a rigid, rectangular foam board of a size to be received on a face of a CMU. A plastic sheet is laminated to the rigid foam board and is engagable by a test apparatus, in use, with the rigid foam board engaging the face of the CMU to provide even load distribution during testing.

Masonry walls are typically constructed using concrete masonry units (CMUs). CMUs are sometimes referred to as cinder blocks. A CMU consists of a hollow, rectangular building block having one or more vertical cavities. CMUs may be tested according to ASTM standard C140 for dimensions, compressive strength, absorption, unit weight (density), and moisture content. Traditionally, the test for compressive strength is performed by capping CMUs with either a sulfur capping compound or a gypsum capping compound. The capping process is labor intensive and costly since the mortar must be mixed, the CMUs capped, and the mortar must harden. The sulfur compound hardens more quickly, but can be hazardous since the sulfur mixes with the humidity in the air to form sulfuric acid. The gypsum compound can be safer, but takes longer to set up.
Alternatives have been used for quicker strength tests of CMUs using, for example, gypsum board, wood veneer or commercial ceiling tiles. The gypsum board and wood veneer yield low indicated strengths. The ceiling tiles do not have consistency of density, weight etc., and can absorb moisture. Also, any of these products must be cut to fit and can be easily damaged during cutting, fitting and handling.
The present invention is directed to solving one or more of the problems discussed above in a novel and simple manner.

Unbonded system for strength testing of concrete masonry units


A decoder for a modified and improved MPEG signal syntax includes a subtractor responsive to an input signal, a frame buffer responsive to the subtractor, a motion compensator responsive to the buffer and to applied motion vector signals, and a multiplier responsive to frame leak signals and to a modified prediction signal for developing an output signal applied to the subtractor. Furthermore, the decoder includes a processor responsive to the motion compensator and to applied adaptive macroblock leak signals for developing the modified prediction signal. The processor comprises a transform circuit responsive to the motion compensator, a gating template responsive to the transform circuit and the adaptive macroblock leak signals, and an inverse transform circuit responsive to the gating template. The transform circuit operates on 2.times.2 blocks of pixels to form 2.times.2 blocks of transform elements. The gating template is responsive to signals that specify a treatment for 2.times.2 blocks of transform elements.

The following co-pending patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/626,355, filed Dec. 11, 1990; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/785,671 filed Oct. 31, 1991; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/817,206 filed Jan. 6, 1992; and pending U.S. patent application entitled An Improved Adaptive Leak HDTV Encoder.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/625,355 an encoding scheme is disclosed together with a corresponding decoder. The disclosed encoding and decoding is proposed for a terrestrial high definition television ("HDTV") environment in the United States, but the disclosed principles have much broader applicability.
To briefly describe the disclosed arrangement, the input signal to be encoded is, for example, a video signal that comprises a concatenation of signal segments that correspond to signals that make up an image frame. That signal is evaluated in a forward estimation portion of the encoder and various parameters are developed by that evaluation. Thereafter, with the aid of the developed parameters, the signal is encoded and thereby substantially compressed, buffered, modulated and finally transmitted to the decoder (e.g., an HDTV receiver). Some of the parameters developed in the forward estimation portion of the encoder are also transmitted to the decoder, including motion vectors and image mean signals. In accordance with the teaching of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/625,355, the signals transmitted by the encoding portion comprise scale factor signals, quantized vector signals and vector codebook identifier signals.
In carrying out the differential encoding process, the encoder must be aware of the signals that the target receiver has, in order for the encoder to take account of whatever encoding/decoding errors are introduced by the process and cannot be avoided. To that end, the encoder includes a frame buffer which is populated with signals which are derived from the encoded signals created by the encoder.
At the decoder (i.e., at the receiver) the received signals are decoded with the aid of a frame buffer which maintains the previously decoded signals. The frame buffer within the decoder corresponds to the aforementioned frame buffer within the encoder.
One problem with this approach, when strictly executed, is that errors introduced into the signal following the encoding process show up in the decoder's frame buffer and do not disappear. To ameliorate this potential problem, the disclosed encoder arrangement introduces a signal leak. That is, the encoder does not encode the difference between the current frame and a prediction of the current frame derived from the previous frame which is stored in the frame buffer. Rather, the signal which is encoded is the difference between the current frame and only a fraction of the prediction frame. In effect, a portion of the current frame is encoded, because it is not nullified by the prediction frame. That portion, called the "leak", is controlled in accordance with image characteristics and other parameters that relate to the encoder's operation. The actual control is realized by providing what effectively is a multiplication circuit responsive to the output of the frame buffer, which circuit multiplies its applied signals by a fraction. The leak signal is also transmitted to the decoder.
In pending U.S. patent application entitled An Improved Adaptive Leak HDTV Encoder it is also disclosed that the encoder includes an output buffer. In order to maintain a constant delay between the encoder's input signal and the decoder's output signal, it is important to know the level of fullness of the encoder's output buffer (e.g., in terms of the number of image frames stored therein). Accordingly, pending U.S. patent application entitled An Improved Adaptive Leak HDTV Encoder discloses an encoder that also transmits an output buffer fullness control signal.
The arrangement described above works well in that an injected perturbation, such as transmission noise entering the frame buffer, is removed within a number of image frames by virtue of the multiplication-by-a-fraction process that occurs at the output of the frame buffer. Still, such perturbations are not welcome, and whenever there is a priori information that such a perturbation is about to manifest itself, it would be beneficial to overcome it quickly.
The effects of perturbations are mitigated by reducing the time needed to converge the decoder's prediction signal to that of the encoder. This is accomplished by temporarily altering the leak factor when it is known that a perturbation is about to manifest itself and by, in some situations, altering the incoming encoded signal. In particular, when a decoder tuned to a particular encoder is directed to receive the signals of a different encoder (e.g., a channel change on an HDTV receiver), the incoming leak factor signal is set to 0 for one frame. During that frame, signals that are applied to the decoder are multiplied by a factor related to the incoming leak factor (as long as the incoming leak factor is not equal to 1).
In addition to the subject matter disclosed in the aforementioned patent applications, there exist two other schemata for developing a digital signal corresponding to motion video: MPEG-I and MPEG-II.
MPEG-I is an arrangement for encoding a sequence of images employing progressive scanning. The salient characteristic of this arrangement is that there are three different encoding approaches which may be applied to a video frame. One approach is to encode the frame directly. Such a frame is typically called an "I" frame, where "I" stands for "intra" coding to designate that the encoding relies solely on information within the frame. A second approach is to encode the frame based on a prediction derived from a prior "I" frame, or from a prior frame encoded by this second approach. This prediction is somewhat similar to the prediction described in the aforementioned HDTV applications. Such frames are typically called "P" frames. The third approach is to encode the frame based on a prediction from an adjacent "I" frame, an adjacent "P" frame, or both. Such frames are typically called "B" frames. An "I" frame essentially resets the decoder, since "I" frame information completely describes the video image independent of other frames. MPEG-I specifies that the distance between "I" frames is fixed. MPEG-I also specifies the distance between "P" frames.
The MPEG-I approach incorporates a particular hierarchical signalling syntax. At the top of hierarchy is a Sequence Layer. Subsequent layers in sequence are Group of Pictures Layer, Picture Layer, Slice Layer, Macroblock Layer, and Block Layer. The important aspect of the MPEG syntax that should be noted is that information in the Block Layer and the Macroblock Layer relates to specific size blocks of video that have been properly encoded (i.e., 16.times.16 pixel macroblocks).
The MPEG-II approach is designed to handle field-interlaced motion video. In MPEG-II, the two fields to be encoded can be combined to form a single frame or they can be concatenated. The prediction operation which is carried out in the field-interlaced signal can make use of a corresponding field in the previous frame or the second field of the same frame.
Both MPEG approaches require a decoder which is reasonably substantial--particularly with regard to size of the buffer needed by the decoder. For example, in accordance with the MPEG approaches described above, this buffer must contain the information of at least 2 1/2 frames of motion video. Since memory is expensive, the complexity of the present decoders may be disadvantageous is some circumstances.

Video decoder using adaptive macroblock leak signals


Some embodiments include methods of forming diodes in which a first electrode is formed to have a pedestal extending upwardly from a base. At least one layer is deposited along an undulating topography that extends across the pedestal and base, and a second electrode is formed over the least one layer. The first electrode, at least one layer, and second electrode together form a structure that conducts current between the first and second electrodes when voltage of one polarity is applied to the structure, and that inhibits current flow between the first and second electrodes when voltage having a polarity opposite to said one polarity is applied to the structure. Some embodiments include diodes having a first electrode that contains two or more projections extending upwardly from a base, having at least one layer over the first electrode, and having a second electrode over the at least one layer.

Select devices are utilized in integrated circuitry for selectively accessing components of the circuitry. Numerous device types may be utilized for select devices of integrated circuitry, with example device types being diodes and transistors.
A continuing goal of integrated circuit fabrication is to increase integration density, and accordingly to decrease the footprint of individual devices by scaling the devices into it increasingly smaller dimensions. Select devices may be particularly difficult to scale in that device performance may be reduced by decreasing the dimensions of the devices.
For instance, a parameter of diode performance that may be important in the overall function of the diode is current flow through the diode. A problem that may occur when a diode is scaled into increasingly smaller dimensions is that the current flow through the diode may become too small relative to the intended operation of the diode.
It would be desirable to develop new diodes, and new methods of forming diodes, which enable desired current flow to be maintained through the diodes as the diodes are scaled to a smaller footprint.


In the line light source device and the plane light emission device, first recesses 14 are formed between adjoining light emission elements 5, on surfaces of sealing resin layers 10 opposite to the board 4. The line light source device and the plane light emission device, in which the light emission elements are coated with resin, have a simple configuration and high uniformity in luminous intensity in an emission end face of the device.

The present invention relates to a line light source device, a plane light emission device that are preferably used as a backlight of a liquid crystal display panel, e.g., in a portable telephone, a digital camera, or a portable game machine, and a liquid crystal display.
The invention particularly relates to a line light source device that are preferably used as a backlight of a liquid crystal display panel of a portable telephone having a frame reduced in size and thickness and shaped like a narrow picture frame, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, a portable game machine or the like, a plane light emission device, and a liquid crystal display.
The invention also relates to a plane light source device having a configuration in which a plurality of light emission element units each having a light emission element and a resin part that covers the light emission element are placed in a predetermined two-dimensional pattern without a gap on a surface of a board.
Among conventional line light source devices is one disclosed in JP 2004-235139 A, for example.
FIG. 19A is a perspective view of the line light source device disclosed in the publication, FIG. 19B is a longitudinal section of the line light source device, and FIG. 19C is a section of the line light source device, the section taken along a direction of width of the device. FIGS. 20A through 20F are diagrams illustrating a procedure of a method of manufacturing the line light source device.
FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a plane light emission device having the line light source device, and FIG. 22 is a widthwise section of the line light source device in the plane light emission device.
The line light source device shown in FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C, the method of manufacturing the line light source device shown in FIGS. 20A through 20F, and the plane light emission device shown in FIGS. 21, 22 are identical to the line light source device, the method of manufacturing the line light source device, and the plane light emission device that are disclosed in the publication. Therefore, description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 23A is a perspective view of another conventional line light source device, and FIG. 23B is a longitudinal section of the line light source device. FIG. 24 is a section of the conventional line light source device, the section taken along a direction of width of the device. In the line light source device shown in FIGS. 23A, 23B, and 24, light emission elements 1001 on a board 1000 are covered with a resin part 1002 shaped like a simple rectangular parallelepiped.
The plane light emission device shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 is laid on a bottom surface of a liquid crystal display part of a portable telephone, a digital camera, a portable game machine or the like.
The line light source device shown in FIG. 19A has an advantage in that light distribution characteristics of the light source can be adjusted and in that the plane light emission device in which the line light source device is incorporated thus resists producing unevenness in luminance, in comparison with the line light source device that is shown in FIG. 23A and that has light emission elements simply coated with resin. The line light source device has another advantage in that the device resists stripping when undergoing thermal expansion or thermal contraction.
On the other hand, there is a problem in that the device emitting light with high luminance may cause unevenness in luminance, particularly, accompanied by bright lines diagonal to a light incident part of a light guide plate. Necessity of provision of reflector plates therein leads to an increase in number of components, which causes an increase in number of man-hours required for affixation of the components onto the board.

Line light source device, plane light emission device, plane light source device, and liquid crystal display


Provided are an actinic-ray-sensitive or a radiation-sensitive resin composition with greater residual film ratio and capable of suppressing pattern collapse and an occurrence of bridge defects after development, and a resist film, a pattern forming method, an electronic device manufacturing method, and an electronic device, each using the same. An actinic-ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition includes a resin (P) having a repeating unit (a) represented by following General Formula (I), a compound (B) represented by any of following General Formulae (B-1) to (B-3), and a solvent,

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pattern forming method, an actinic-ray-sensitive or a radiation-sensitive resin composition and a resist film. In more detail, the present invention relates to a pattern forming method, an actinic-ray-sensitive or a radiation-sensitive resin composition, and a resist film suitably used for a manufacturing process of semiconductor such as an IC, a manufacturing process of circuit board such as a liquid crystal and thermal head, and also a lithography process of photofabrication in addition to these. In particular, the present invention relates to a pattern forming method, an actinic-ray-sensitive or a radiation-sensitive resin composition, and a resist film suitably used for exposures in an ArF an exposure apparatus, an ArF liquid immersion type projection exposure apparatus, and an EUV exposure apparatus of which a light source is far ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 300 nm or less.
2. Description of the Related Art
After resists for a KrF excimer laser (248 nm) were developed, an image forming method using chemical amplification has been used in order to compensate for sensitivity decrease due to light absorption. For example, in a positive type image forming method of chemical amplification, an acid generator included in an exposed area generates acid by being decomposed by light irradiation. Then, in a post exposure bake (PEB) process after exposure and the like, an alkali-insoluble group included in a light sensitive composition is changed to an alkali-soluble group by a catalytic reaction of the acid generated. After that, for example, development is carried out using the alkali solution. As a result, the exposed area is removed and a desirable pattern is obtained.
In the method described above, a variety of alkaline developers have been proposed. For example, an aqueous alkaline developer such as an aqueous solution of 2.38% by mass TMAH (tetramethylammonium hydroxide) is generally used as the alkaline developer.
For microfabrication of semiconductor devices, shorter wavelength of exposure light source and higher numerical aperture of projection lens (high NA) have been progressed, and now, an exposure apparatus with an ArF excimer laser having a wavelength of 193 nm as light source is being developed. As a technology which further enhances resolution, a method in which liquid with a high refractive index (hereinafter, also referred to as "immersion liquid") is filled between a projection lens and a sample (that is, an immersion method) has been proposed. An EUV lithography in which an exposure is carried out using ultraviolet light of shorter wavelength (13.5 nm) has also been proposed.
In addition, a variety of compounds have been developed for use as a photoacid generator, which is a major component of a chemical amplification type resist composition (see, for example, WO 2009/051088, WO 2011/093280, JP2009-25619A, JP2011-81045A, JP2011-79778A, and JP2010-100595A). In each patent document, photoacid generators having characteristic structures in the anion part are described.
However, practically, it is extremely difficult to find a suitable combination of resist composition, developer, rinsing solution and the like required to form a pattern of which performance is comprehensively satisfactory, and further improvements are required.
Recently, a negative-type pattern forming method using a developer including an organic solvent has been developed (see, for example, JP2010-164958A and JP1992-39665A (JP-H-04-39665A)). In JP2010-164958A, a pattern forming method having a step in which a resist composition containing a resin, which has a relatively high content of repeating unit having a group generating a polar group by being decomposed by an action of acid, is developed using a developer containing an organic solvent is disclosed. It is described that a micro pattern with satisfactory line width roughness (LWR), exposure latitude (EL), depth of focus (DOF) and the like, may be formed according to these methods.
In addition, in JP1992-39665A (JP-H-04-39665A), a patterning by an organic solvent (xylene) using a resist composition made of a copolymer of adamantyl methacrylate and t-butyl methacrylate is disclosed.
However, further improvements are required in the formation of a negative-type pattern by organic solvent development with regard to a suppression of pattern collapse and bridge defect generation after development, and an improvement of residual film ratio (suppression of a film reduction).

Actinic-ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition, and resist film using the same, pattern forming method, electronic device manufacturing method, and electronic device, each using the same

Abstract: in General Formula (I), R0 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and R1, R2 and R3 each independently represent a straight chain or branched alkyl group.


The present application provides an intelligent sofa mechanical extension device, including a base, a driving component and an extension component, where the driving component and the extension component are disposed on the base. The driving component includes a motor and a motor guide rail that are disposed on the base. The motor guide rail is provided with a motor moving slider in a slidable manner. An end of the motor is connected to the moving slider. The moving slider is connected to a driving rod through a drive connector. The driving rod is disposed on the seat cushion support assemblies on the left and the right side. The extension component is driven to stretch or retract with back-and-forth movement of the motor moving slider along the motor guide rail.

With the improvement of social productivity and the development of economic level, people's demand for a better life is growing day by day, and the demand for furniture is also getting higher and higher. At present, many recliners, sofas, and the like are equipped with mechanical extension devices, in which backrests, seat cushions, and leg rest plates are installed. An electromechanical extension device is usually a combination of various mechanical connectors and is pushed to stretch or retract by drive assemblies. The mechanical connectors are operable to provide various comfortable performances. However, the existing electromechanical extension devices are complicated in structure, bulky and very cumbersome, resulting in waste of space as well as inconvenience of transportation and installation. Moreover, due to the combination of the connectors, during the electric driving process of the movable sofa, the mechanical extension device will shake apparently and wobble and deform easily when the device is opened in the swing process. The functional and structural stability of the sofa will be affected and a function of zero-gravity lying posture of the human body is not able to be achieved.

Intelligent sofa mechanical extension device


The invention provides electronic apparatus including an antenna, an antenna switch, at least one switch unit, and a transceiver. The antenna switch has N transceiving ports. The antenna switch selects one of the transceiving ports for transceiving signal with the antenna. The switch unit is coupled between the antenna switch and the transceiver. The transceiver has transmitting ports and receiving ports, and one of the transmitting ports is coupled to the switch unit, and one of the receiving ports is coupled to the switch unit. Wherein, the first end is connected to the fourth end of the switch unit and the third end is connected to the second end of the switch unit in a first status, and the first end is connected to the second end of the switch unit and the third end is connected to the fourth end of the switch unit in a second status.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electronic apparatus, and more particularly to an electronic apparatus with multiple band signal transmission scheme.
2. Description of Prior Art
Along with the rapid development of science and technology at the present, hand-held electronic apparatus (such as mobile phone, tablet computer, and notebook) are widespread used. For providing the hand-held electronic apparatus to receive multiple band signals, a transceiver and an antenna switch with multiple ports are necessary.
Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic apparatus with a duel band wireless transceiving apparatus. The electronic apparatus 100 includes a transceiver 110, an antenna switch 120, an antenna ANT and a plurality of filters SAW1-SAW4. In FIG. 1, the transceiver 110 has four ports and the antenna switch 120 also has four ports PR1-PR4. For example, when a first signal with a first time division (TD) band received or transmitted through the antenna switch 120, the antenna switch 120 can respectively receive and transmit the first signal through the ports PR1 and PT1. In detail, when the first signal is received by the antenna ANT, the antenna switch 120 transmits the first signal by the port RT1 to the filter SAW2, and the transceiver 110 receives the filtered first signal through the filter SAW2. When the first signal is transmitted out from the transceiver 110, the first signal is transmitted to the filter SAW1. The antenna switch 120 receives the filtered first signal from the filter SAW1 through the port PR1, and transmits the filtered first signal to the antenna ANT.
On the other hand, when a second signal with a second time division (TD) band received or transmitted through the antenna switch 120, the antenna switch 120 can respectively receive and transmit the second signal through the ports PR2 and PT2.
That is, for transceiving signal with dual band, four ports PR1-PR2 and PT1-PT2 of the antenna switch 120 are necessary, and four filters SAW1-SAW4 are necessary, too. Along the increasing of the number of the bands of the signal, a difficult of the circuit design of the electronic apparatus 100 is increased, and the prime cost thereof is increased correspondingly.

Reducing port requirement of antenna switch in multi-band electronic apparatus


A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of row lines, a plurality of column lines, and a common storage cell plate. The memory device also includes a cell plate generator which produces a reference voltage. The reference voltage is connected to the common storage cell plate. A row decoder connects a row line voltage to selected individual row lines. A stress mode detection circuit receives a row line stress voltage and generates a stress mode signal in response. The row decoder is responsive to the stress mode signal to simultaneously bias all of the row lines to the row line stress voltage. At least one equilibrate circuit is also connected to receive the stress mode signal and is responsive to the stress mode signal to bias the column lines to the reference voltage. The memory device is furthermore responsive to the stress mode signal to ground the reference voltage. The circuits described create a voltage stress differential between the column lines, the row lines, and the common storage cell plate. This voltage stress differential is greater than any voltage differential occurring between the row lines, the column lines, and the storage cell plate during normal memory access operations. The voltage stress differential is maintained for a relatively long period to induce failure of marginally defective dielectric layers within the semiconductor memory device.

Memory chips such as dynamic random access memories are fabricated in arrays on semiconductor wafers. After fabrication, some of the chips are inoperable. Functional or operational testing is required to determine which of the chips are inoperable. This testing often utilizes wafer test pads to which external testing circuits are connected.
Many faults within semiconductor chips do not reveal themselves immediately after fabrication. For example, excessively thin layers or areas of insulating oxide may initially provide sufficient insulation to prevent current leakage between adjacent conducting layers. However, these thin layers or areas, with time, will gradually break down, resulting in current leakage between adjacent conducting layers of the semiconductor chip. It is only after this dielectric breakdown that conventional electronic operational testing will detect chip defects.
The phenomenon described above is referred to as "time-dependent dielectric breakdown." The physical structure which results in time-dependent dielectric breakdown varies. For instance, this type of chip defect could be caused simply by an insufficient deposition of insulating oxide. More frequently, a defect is caused by a contaminating particle or impurity within the insulating oxide at a critical location between conductors. Such a particle or impurity has the effect of reducing the insulator thickness over a very small but critical area.
Time-dependent dielectric breakdown is a serious problem since it often takes hours, days, or even years for a defect of this type to manifest itself. Accordingly, functional electronic testing, even if repeated numerous times, is often incapable of detecting this type of defect.
Time-dependent dielectric breakdown is aggravated or accelerated by voltage, time, and temperature. Since time is a constant, semiconductor manufactures sometimes raise testing voltages or temperatures in an attempt to accelerate the effects of marginally defective dielectrics. One common testing method, known as "burning in" a semiconductor chip, involves repeated functional testing at elevated temperatures. The most significant disadvantage associated with this type of testing is the lengthy periods which are required, even at elevated temperatures, to induce actual chip failure in marginally defective chips. A forty-eight hour burn-in cycle is typical. At the high production rates of modern semiconductor manufacturers, burn-in procedures are a significant expense.
Another disadvantage of conventional burn-in procedures is that they can typically be performed only after individual chips are separated from their wafers and packaged. Once packaged, a chip's built-in redundancy features cannot be used to salvage defective circuits within the chip. Furthermore, it is preferable to identify unusable and unsalvageable chips prior to packaging to avoid the expense of packaging.
Accordingly, methods have been developed to induce early breakdown of weak dielectric layers prior to chip packaging. One such method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,679 to Dehganpour. Dehganpour contemplates testing memory cell gate oxides by imposing an elevated voltage on all of a memory array's row lines simultaneously. Such an elevated voltage aggravates gate oxide defects, in some cases causing their breakdown to the point that defects can be detected in subsequent functional testing.
However, Dehganpour is concerned primarily with testing the gate oxide of memory cell transfer devices. The current state of the art does not adequately address the need for accelerating dielectric failures in other areas of semiconductors and semiconductor memories, such as between column lines, row lines, and storage cell plates. These conductive elements typically intersect each other at numerous points across a memory array, being insulated from each other at their intersections by thin dielectric layers. Marginal defects in dielectric layers at the intersections can eventually result in chip failures.
The invention described below provides a simple and efficient method and circuit for accelerating failure of marginally-defective dielectric layers. The circuits and processes allow defects to be detected at the wafer stage of chip fabrication so that built-in redundancies can be utilized to improve wafer yield, and so that unsalvageable chips can be discarded before packaging. The methods described below also reduce the time required for burn-in testing, resulting in greatly increased testing efficiencies.

Methods and devices for accelerating failure of marginally defective dielectric layers


An arrangement and a method is provided for discovering candidate access routers in a mobile IP (Internet Protocol) network to enable seamless IP handover of a mobile node between access routers. A server element (19), which is separate from the access routers (11, 12) and the mobile node (MN), is provided with access router information relating to one or more access routers and with information identifying the access router serving the mobile node and reachability information about one or more access routers other than the serving access router that are within reach to the mobile node. The address of at least one of said one or more access routers within reach to the mobile node is determined in the server element on the basis of the provided information.

One of the targets in the development of telecommunication networks is to provide the user with an IP service, i.e. access to the Internet through an access network. The basic IP concept does not support the mobility of the user, and therefore, a mobile IP protocol has been introduced by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in order to enhance the mobility in the Internet. Mobile IP enables routing of IP datagrams to mobile nodes independently of the point of attachment in the sub-network. In the basic IP, the IP addresses are assigned to network interfaces in dependence on their physical location, which prevents the user (the mobile node) from keeping its address while moving over different Internet sub-nets, i.e. while changing the physical interface.
Mobile node (MN) refers to an IP node that is capable of changing its point of attachment from one network or sub-network to another. A mobile node may change its location without changing its IP address; it may continue to communicate with other Internet nodes at any location using its (permanent) IP address. When a mobile node visits a foreign network, a care-of-address (C/O-address) is temporarily assigned to the mobile node. The IP datagrams addressed to the mobile node are forwarded to this care-of-address.
A critical issue for the success of next generation mobile networks is the ability of seamless IP-layer mobility. Seamless mobility is the ability to hand a mobile node (MN) over from one (old) access router (AR) to another (new) access router with minimal service disruption. An access router refers to an access network router residing on the edge of an access network and connected to one or more access points (AP), i.e. base stations. The access points may be of different technology. An access router offers IP connectivity to mobile nodes, acting as a default router to the mobile nodes it is currently serving.
Discovering neighboring access routers within the access router's proximity is considered an important part of the ability of providing seamless handovers in IP based mobile networks. Mechanisms for realizing protocols to discover neighboring access routers and their capabilities to facilitate seamless handovers have been proposed in e.g. [1] D. Trossen et al., "A Dynamic Protocol for Candidate Access Router Discovery", Work In Progress, IETF Internet Draft, October 2002, and D. Funato et al., "Geographically Adjacent Access Router Discovery Protocol", Work In Progress, IETF Internet Draft, December 2002.
The selection of the target access router (TAR), i.e. the access router to which the mobile node is eventually handed over, is not defined in the context of candidate access router (CAR) discovery, albeit it is the subsequent action to any CAR discovery solution. However, this step is not within the scope of CAR discovery, as outlined in D. Trossen et al., "Issues in Candidate Access Router Discovery for Seamless IP-level Handoffs", Work In Progress, IETF Internet Draft, October 2002.
According to prior art solutions, candidate access router discovery protocols are realized either in the access routers or in the mobile nodes or in both. A possible problem relating to prior art solutions is that access routers may belong to different network operators and, thus, operators have to reveal various confidential information, e.g. capability information, to other operators. Furthermore, when the logic controlling the candidate access router discovery has to be updated, it must be performed in each access router separately. On the other hand, if the candidate access router discovery protocols are realized solely in the mobile nodes, this might lead to an excessive data exchange over the wireless link.


The procsses disclosed is for preparing a film of fluorine-modified tungsten oxide on a substrate. The process comprises providing a tungsten oxide film on the substrate and then exposing the tungsten oxide film at an elevated temperature to a stream of a gaseous fluorocarbon. The exposure takes place for a time sufficient to modify the tungsten oxide with fluorine and form a film having modified infrared adsorption and reflectant properties.

It is well known in the glass art to coat glass sheets with metallic and/or dielectric materials, to impart enhanced solar and optical properties to the glass sheets. For example, it is known to place multiple films (layers) of metals and dielectrics onto glass to produce electrically conductive coatings which are transparent to visible light and highly reflective to infrared radiation. It is also known to deposit conductive metal oxides onto glass, such as, for example, fluorine-doped tin oxide, which are also highly reflective to infrared radiation.
Tungsten oxide is a transparent semi-conductor, which when doped with a material such as fluorine shows an appreciable increase in the infra-red absorption and reflection. Hence, such doped tungsten oxide films, e.g., when applied to glass substrates, are potential candidates for solar control applications.
Many conventional methods for depositing coatings onto glass sheets are known. Examples of conventional deposition processes include liquid or power spray pyrolysis, wherein liquids or solid particles containing film forming reactants are sprayed onto the surface of a hot glass ribbon being produced by the well-known float glass process. A more convenient method for depositing coatings onto glass is by way of chemical vapor deposition (CVD), wherein vaporized film-forming precursors are reacted at or near the surface of a hot glass ribbon to form the metal or dielectric film thereon. Chemical vapor deposition does not suffer from the problems associated with either liquid or power spray pyrolysis processes. That is, a liquid spray pyrolysis process substantially cools the hot glass ribbon, while power spray pyrolysis requires a complex, delicate powered handling and delivery system.
Tungsten oxide films are doped with fluorine by including a fluorinated compound as one of the reactants used in, e.g., the pyrolysis or CVD processes. Once such method for forming a fluorine doped tungsten oxide film on glass is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 07/806,177 entitled "Preparation of Fluorine-Doped Tungstic Oxide" filed Dec. 13, 1991 to Proscia, commonly assigned with the present invention. It discloses forming a coating on glass by reacting at the surface of the glass at elevated temperature: tungsten hexafluoride, and an oxygen containing compound, and a fluorine compound.
It would be desirable to prepare a fluorine-modified tungsten oxide film having the above properties by a process which comprises subjecting an already applied film of tungsten oxide to a fluorine material. Such a process advantageously would allow for the use of techniques such as sputtering, which are particularly suitable for coating curved pieces of glass, to be used to apply the tungsten oxide coating on the substrate. Sputtering equipment is not generally compatible with fluorine-containing compounds.


A substrate support device includes a plate portion including a heater plate that includes a heating element provided in the heater plate, and also including a first cooling plate provided on a bottom surface of the heater plate and having a first flow path, and a second cooling plate provided on a top surface of the heater plate and having a second flow path; and a shaft portion supporting the plate portion and including a line connected to the heating element to supply an electric current to the heating element, and a tube supplying a coolant to the first cooling plate and the second cooling plate, the line and the tube being provided inside the shaft portion.

In production of a semiconductor device, processing steps such as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) step, a surface modification step and the like are performed by use of a semiconductor production device including a substrate support device that supports a wafer, which is a semiconductor substrate. For heating the wafer, a substrate support device including a built-in heating element is used.
Such a substrate support device has a structure in which a plate formed of a metal or ceramic material is supported by a shaft. The substrate support device operates by the following mechanism. The plate includes a plasma electrode or a heating element provided therein. When an electric current is supplied to the heating element via a line located inside the shaft, the heating element is heated, and the wafer is heated by the heat generated in the heating element.
The wafer located on such a plate may possibly have a temperature higher than a desired temperature. In order to avoid this, a conventional substrate support device has a flow path formed in a wafer holder that holds the wafer, and supplies a fluid to the flow path so that the wafer holder is cooled to adjust the temperature of the wafer (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-43042).
However, the above-described conventional substrate support device has the flow path for cooling located in only one surface of the plate. Therefore, it is difficult to uniformly heat the plate, and the plate itself may be deformed or may have any other fault due to thermal strain of the plate. This may cause malfunction of the substrate support device. In addition, the temperature of the wafer placed on the plate may be varied in the plane thereof. In the state where there is temperature variance in the plane of the wafer, the wafer may be curved or may have any other fault, which may decrease the yield of the semiconductor devices.
The present invention made to solve the above-described problems has an object of providing a substrate support device that, for heating a wafer, uniformly heats a heater plate so that the heater plate is not deformed or does not have any other fault due to thermal strain, and so that the temperature uniformity of the wafer is improved.


A leaf spring suspension device for stabilizing a multi-leaf type vehicle spring connected to the axle of the vehicle including a unitary length of metallic spring material adapted to be connected directly to the multiple-leaf type vehicle spring at opposite ends thereof forwardly and rearwardly of the axle connection. The length of spring material has a raised area at generally the midpoint thereof spaced from the uppermost leaf of the vehicle spring when mounted thereto and a plurality of springs of varying lengths mounted between the unitary length of spring material and the vehicle spring configured similarly thereto. The plurality of springs also have a raised area conforming to the raised area of the length of spring material forming space between the uppermost leaf of the vehicle spring and the lowermost one of the plurality of springs when coupled to the vehicle spring. A bracket is mounted on top of the unitary length of spring material at generally the center thereof spanning the raised area thereof and generally conforming to the configuration of the unitary length of spring material at its raised area.

The present invention relates generally to vehicle spring suspensions and more particularly is adapted to a leaf spring suspension device suitable for attachment to vehicle rear suspension springs.
It is the usual practice to isolate the rear axle of a vehicle from the frame of the vehicle by supporting the axle in a multi-leaf type spring which is suspended between a forward bearing bracket and a rearward spring shackle whereby most imperfections in the road surface can be absorbed by the wheel and the spring construction and not be transmitted to the vehicle passenger compartment through the frame. The multi-leaf type of spring is characterized by a plurality of stacked leafs, usually four or five in number, which decrease in length away from the base or mounting leaf in the form of a truncated triangular configuration. The axle suspension connects to the thickest or highest part of the multi-leaf spring to achieve maximum support.
Occasionally, when a vehicle is utilized to carry especially heavy loads, the existing leaf springs have a tendency to sag or flex sufficiently to wrap-up or permit "bottoming." Also, upon unusual wear or unusual surface conditions, the existing springs could allow "forward pitch" or "nose dive" of the vehicle, all to the discomfort of the passengers.
In order to enhance the load bearing capabilities of light pickups, trucks, or the like, prior art stabilizing devices have been proposed. Such prior art devices are either made up of a large number of parts, do not adapt easily to preexisting structure or are not totally effective in compensating for heavy loads on the vehicle's suspension system.
FIG. 4 is a prior art illustration of a multi-leaf spring 10b similar to leaf spring 10 of FIG. 1. Like numerals refer to like parts of FIG. 1. Here, instead of brackets 17 and 18 as in FIG. 3, spaced brackets 170 (only 1 visible in FIG. 4) encircle pre-existing axle 171 having spaced legs 172, 173 terminating in threaded ends 174, 175, respectively, receivable in spaced holes 176, 177, respectively, in bracket plate 178. Conventional threaded nuts 179 and washers 180 are used to secure brackets 170 to plate 178.
As indicated by arrow 181, the direction of torque taking place on axle 171 is illustrated. This torque, as indicated by arrows 182, 183 (assuming spring 10b is mounted to the vehicle as in FIG. 3), causes wrap-up of the spring 10b which provides sag or flex sufficient to bottoming out of spring 10b.
There is a need for a leaf spring suspension device that is quickly and easily adaptable to the preexisting leaf spring of a vehicle, such as light body pick up truck, and that is effective and has relatively low number of parts.


A medical polymer device comprising a biodegradable polymer is provided, wherein the biodegradable polymer has a crystallinity of about 10% to about 80%, and preferably from about 20% to about 60%, wherein the medical polymer device comprises a small molecule organic compound which diffuses into the biodegradable polymer, the small molecule organic compound has a molecular weight of from about 100 to about 1000 Daltons, preferably from about 150 to about 500 Daltons, and more preferably from about 150 to about 250 Daltons, and the small molecule organic compound is non-evaporating or low-evaporating. The present invention also provides a method for preparing a medical polymer device according to the present invention as well as a method for modifying a medical polymer device made from a biodegradable polymer.

The use of biodegradable polymers and their devices in the regenerative medicine or tissue engineering field has been a common practice nowadays. One of the major advantages of using the biodegradable polymers is that the polymer or its device will be completely eliminated from human body after fulfilling its intended function(s).
Mechanical properties are important considerations when a biodegradable polymer is chosen for an intended application. For example, a surgical suture made from a biodegradable polymer needs to have enough tensile strength to keep the wound close for a certain period of time. Both a biodegradable bone screw and a biodegradable bone plate need to have enough compression and bending strengths to withstand the physiological load from the body and/or body movement. A biodegradable stent will need to have enough radial strength to keep blood vessel open, et al.
Traditionally, there are several ways to modify the mechanical properties of a polymer. They are as follows: 1) blending with another polymer; 2) copolymerization with another monomer to form a new copolymer; and 3) using a filler or fiber to reinforce the polymer. All these methods are quite effective in most cases. However, these methods require expensive equipments to synthesis or process the polymers and/or composites comprising the polymers. Also, these methods are quite difficult and/or very time consuming to implement.
For a crystalline polymer, the crystallinity played an important role in determining the mechanical properties of the polymer. For example, increasing the crystallinity generally increases Young's modulus and decreases the elongation at break. In other words, increasing the crystallinity of a polymer will make the polymer more brittle. Therefore, there are needs for medical crystalline polymer devices with improved mechanical properties and methods for preparing the same.

Modified biodegradable and medical polymer devices and a method for preparing the same

Beijing Advanced Medical Technologies, Ltd. Inc.


A semiconductor package structure includes a lead frame, a chip and a molding compound. The lead frame includes a tray pad and a plurality of leads. Two of the leads are different in height positions. The chip is disposed on the tray. The molding compound encapsulates the chip and a portion of each lead.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a semiconductor package structure, and more particularly to a semiconductor package structure whose leads are different in height position.
Description of the Related Art
In convention semiconductor package structure, in order to reduce the interference of the signal crosstalk, every several leads, one lead is selected as a grounding lead for reducing the interference of the signal crosstalk. However, the number of the signal leads is reduced.
Thus, how to reduce the interference of the signal crosstalk without reducing the number of the signal leads has become a prominent task for the industries.


The present invention is a boat activated wave generating device for use in a body of water. The wave generating device preferably has wave forming sections that help to create wave shapes and wake formations upon which surfing and/or other skimming maneuvers can be performed. The wave forming sections are moved by the boat and have forward leading edges and upper flow forming surfaces. The device can be pivotally connected to the boat and pulled, or directly attached to the side of the boat hull. In operation, the device is moved through the water such that the forward leading edges are submerged to lift water onto the flow forming surfaces. Water flowing on and conforming to the surfaces is directed relatively upwardly and/or laterally across the surfaces, to create various wave shapes and wake formations thereon.

Surfing, as a sport, has attracted enthusiasts all over the world, and many of them travel long distances to locations where ideal surfing conditions exist. Particularly prized by expert surfers are "barreling" or "pipeline" style waves, that is, waves which move with sufficient velocity and height that, when they encounter an upwardly sloping bottom of certain configuration, curl forward over the advancing base of the wave to form a tunnel shape. Expert surfers can ride inside or at the mouth of the wave formation and move laterally across the face of the wave, while seeking to keep pace with the formation of the tunnel without being caught in the collapsing portion thereof.
The formation of such ideal waves under natural conditions requires a comparatively rare combination of factors, including wind of a certain constancy of velocity and direction, and waves of a certain velocity, direction and height, approaching a shore having a certain bottom slope and configuration. Very few locations in the world have such favorable conditions and combination of characteristics. Even in those areas where favorable land and water conditions exist, the most favorable surfing conditions may occur only during limited times of the year and only during ideal weather conditions. For these reasons, surfing has become a sport which eludes most individuals, and all but the most dedicated and enthusiastic surfers rarely have an opportunity to surf an ideal tunnel wave. Those that do, including most expert surfers, typically have to travel thousands of miles to reach ideal surfing locations, many of which are in remote areas.
Recently, sheet wave water rides, such as those known as the Flow-Rider.TM., have emerged to provide even the most inexperienced surfer an opportunity to ride a wave. These water rides, which simulate a substantially perfect wave, have become popular and have been installed at a number of water amusement parks. Individuals no longer have to travel thousands of miles to experience the thrill of surfing. Nevertheless, at the present time, such water rides have only been installed at limited locations, and because they are extremely popular, people generally have to wait in long lines to be able to participate. This makes it not only difficult to ride the water ride, but also to practice and learn the skills necessary to become an expert surfer.
Recent developments in water sports activities has also seen an increasing popularity in the sport of wake-boarding, which is an off-shoot of the sport of water skiing. Wake-boarders are pulled behind a boat in much the same manner as water skiing. The wake-board and the wake-boarders' maneuvers, however, are more akin to those of surfing and snowboarding. Wake-boarders make use of the wake of the boat as a ramp on which to launch a maneuver. The size and shape of the wake are an integral part of the wake-boarders sporting canvas. At the present time, other than modifying the ballast and trim of the wake-generating boat, nothing exists to improve the boat's wake, or, generate a new and enhanced wake-like wave.
What is needed, then, is a wave generating device that can be operated at virtually anytime at almost any suitable location. This need is satisfied by a boat activated wave generating device capable of forming surfable and/or wake-boardable waves thereon, which can be operated and powered by a boat.


A collision detecting device providing the accurate and early determination of a collision with a vehicle or the like, and a passive safety system using this collision detecting device. A low-rigid portion and a crash box are arranged ahead of a high-rigid portion in a front portion of a frame. The front end of a rod is fixed to a bumper. The rod is inserted into a magnetic detector disposed on the high-rigid portion. In the rod, a number of magnets are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the rod such that their N poles and S poles are alternatively arranged. As a vehicle collides, the crash box is first deformed so that the rod moves backward, whereby a collision can be detected before large acceleration is generated.

Airbag devices for protecting an occupant by inflating an airbag during a vehicle collision, and pretensioners for removing a slack of a webbing of a seat belt device by rapidly winding up a predetermined length of the webbing are well known. For activating such an airbag device or a pretensioner, it is required to determine the occurrence of a vehicle collision and the magnitude of the vehicle collision (crash severity). The crash severity correlates with the relative velocity to the object and the mass and the rigidity of the object.
Conventionally, the acceleration is detected for determining the magnitude of the collision. For example, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 11-78769, the crash severity is determined on the bases of the magnitude of acceleration, the variation with time of the acceleration, and the variation with time of the velocity. In this publication, the variation with time of the velocity is obtained from the values by integrating the acceleration with time.
A collision determining method by detecting the deformation of an exterior member of a vehicle due to the collision is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 11-78770. Distortion sensors are mounted on the exterior member of the vehicle so as to detect the deformation amount and the deformation speed of the exterior member, thereby determining the magnitude of the collision. It also should be noted that the protection of an occupant will be sometimes referred to as "restraint". In addition, acceleration means acceleration (the derivative with respect to time of speed) acting on a vehicle in the decelerating direction during a collision.
A collision determining method by detecting the deformation speed of a front part of a vehicle during deformation of the vehicle body due to the collision is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2001-171476. According to this publication, acceleration sensors are disposed at two predetermined locations on a vehicle body so as to detect the compressive deformation speed of the vehicle body between the two sensors, thereby determining the magnitude of the collision.
In the collision determining method by detecting the acceleration disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 11-78769, the result of collision determination and crash severity is affected by the structure of a vehicle around a collided portion, the rigidity of the object, and the like.
In the collision determining method disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 11-78770, the deflection speed of the exterior member can be detected by the sensors mounted on the exterior member. However, the detected deflection speed is not always the deformation speed of the vehicle body structure in an impact loading direction. In addition, since the deformation stroke of the exterior member is generally short, it is difficult to detect the deformation speed on the way of progress of collision deformation.
Therefore, it is difficult to determine in an early stage of collision whether the collision is a collision between the vehicle and a small-mass high-velocity object with which only the exterior member is deformed (a collision not creating such a vehicle deceleration that occupant restraint by a passive safety system is needed) or a medium-velocity barrier collision with which the vehicle body is largely deformed (a collision creating such a vehicle deceleration that occupant restraint by a passive safety system is needed). That is, it is difficult to determine the occurrence of collision and the crash severity from the deformation speed of the exterior member.
The collision determining method disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2001-171476 is not a method of detecting the deformation speed of the vehicle front end portion. As one of the acceleration sensors is located at the vehicle front end, an excess impact over the rated value of the sensor is exerted on the sensor in an early stage of a collision so that the mounting portion of the sensor is deformed, thus shifting off the detection axis of the sensor. With the shifted detection axis of the sensor, the deformation speed of the vehicle front end can not be properly detected.

Collision detecting device and passive safety system


A liquid toner composition and a preparation method utilize a colorant, an organosol, a charge control agent, a carrier liquid, a dispersion assistant agent, and a photoreactive catalyst, in which the dispersion assistant agent is a polymer including an unsaturated functional group to cause photopolymerization in a presence of the photoreactive catalyst, and the photoreactive catalyst produces a free radical through an irradiation of light, and initiates the photopolymerization of the dispersion assistant agent. According to embodiments of the present invention, the toner organosol rarely affects the physical properties required of the liquid toner, and an offset error in a fixing operation is removed, resulting in an improved quality of a printed image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a liquid toner composition and a preparation method of the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid toner composition including an organosol whose dispersion assistant agent has an unsaturated double bond subjected to photopolymerization and a photoreactive catalyst for initiating the photopolymerization of the dispersion assistant agent to facilitate hardening of toner particles transferred onto a recording medium, consequently improving an overall print quality.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid toner composition is widely used for electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, such as, copiers, laser printers, and fax machines. These electrophotographic image forming apparatuses use electrically charged toner particles to print a desired image onto a recording medium.
There are two types of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses. One type includes the dry electrophotographic image forming apparatuses that use a dry toner, and the other type includes wet electrophotographic image forming apparatuses that use a liquid toner. The liquid toner, as compared with the dry toner, uses micro-fine toner particles, so that it features high resolution and high print speed. Moreover, the wet electrophotographic image forming apparatus uses a relatively smaller amount of toner and thus, the replacement period of the toner may be extended.
The liquid toner is prepared by dispersing toner particles onto an aqueous carrier. More specifically, a liquid carrier consists of toner particles including a colorant and a polymer as a binder resin, a charge control agent for controlling the charge on a toner particle, a liquid carrier wherein toner particles and the charge control agent are dispersed, and an optional additive for improving the performance of the toner.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional wet electrophotographic image forming apparatus. A laser scanning unit (not shown) scans a laser beam onto each photosensitive drum 10 in the direction the arrow is pointing. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10. Next, a toner inside a developer 50 comes in contact with the photosensitive drums to generate a visible image on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums. The image is transferred to an intermediate transfer belt 30. The image transferred to the transfer belt 30 passes through a fixing roller 60, and is fixed onto the recording medium as a permanent image.
According to the kind of binder resin used, the liquid toner for use in the wet electrophotographic image forming apparatus is generally divided into a liquid toner using a common resin, and an organosol toner using an organosol.
The toner organosol includes 0.1-10 micron diameter toner particles that are stably charged. Thus, high resolution images may be achieved.
However, a percentage of weight occupied by a carrier liquid in a conventional toner organosol is relatively high, so solid components in the toner often aggregate again, and this tendency makes it difficult to store the toner organosol at a high temperature for an extended period of time. To solve this problem, a liquid toner including a dispersion assistant agent has been developed, under the condition that the optical density (OD) of a printed image is maintained at a predetermined level. As for the dispersion assistant agent, a polymer material soluble in the liquid carrier has generally been used. Particularly, the most preferred material for the dispersion assistant agent is the (metha)acrylate (co)polymer because it rarely affects the liquid toner's own physical properties, but may improve the storage stability for an extended period of time.
However, the (metha)acrylate (co)polymer has a high viscosity. Therefore, when the (metha)acrylate (co)polymer is transferred onto the recording medium with other ingredients of the liquid toner, it adheres to the fixing roller as the recording medium passes through the fixing roller. Since parts of the toner particles remain and are not transferred onto the recording medium, the resolution of the finally fixed image on the recording medium deteriorates, and the printed portion is easily erased.
The (metha)acrylate (co)polymer adhered to the fixing roller continues to influence the printing operation later on, and deteriorates the print quality.

Liquid toner composition and preparation method of the same


A tessellation method includes determining whether a previous tag the same as a current tag of a current patch is stored in a cache, and transmitting a previous tessellation pattern corresponding to the previous tag stored in the cache to a domain shader when a cache hit occurs. The method may further include, when a cache miss occurs, generating a current tessellation pattern corresponding to the current patch using a tessellator and transmitting the generated current tessellation pattern to the domain shader, and storing the generated current tessellation pattern in the cache.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present inventive concept relate to tessellation using a cache, and more particularly to a tessellation device including a cache, an operation method thereof, and a system including the tessellation device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Tessellation is the tiling of a plane using one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps and no gaps.
In computer graphics, the term "tessellation" is used to describe the organization of information needed to give the appearance of realistic three-dimensional objects.
A group of control points that define a part of a surface is referred to as a patch. Tessellation factors determine how much to subdivide each patch. For example, the tessellation factors may determine how many tiles the patch will be subdivided into during tessellation. The tessellation converts a low-detail part of a surface into higher-detail primitives in a graphic process. However, since this graphic process is computationally intensive, there is a need to make the process more efficient.

Tessellation device including cache, method thereof, and system including the tessellation device


The present invention relates to an apparatus for examining and/or processing a sample, said apparatus comprising: (a) a scanning particle microscope for providing a beam of charged particles, which can be directed on a surface of the sample; and (b) a scanning probe microscope with a deflectable probe; (c) wherein a detection structure is attached to the deflectable probe.

As a consequence of the growing integration density in the semiconductor industry, photolithography masks have to image increasingly smaller structures on wafers. In terms of photolithography, the trend towards growing integration density is addressed by shifting the exposure wavelength of photolithography systems to ever shorter wavelengths. Currently frequently used as a light source in photolithography systems or lithography systems is an ArF (argon fluoride) excimer laser that emits at a wavelength of approximately 193 nm.
Particles from the surroundings can deposit on photolithographic masks, photomasks or simply masks and impair the imaging function of said masks. Particles are removed as standard from the surface of the masks by cleaning steps during mask production and during operation of the masks. In general, a particle can be present on a sample and have a negative influence on the function of the sample.
The decreasing structural dimensions of photolithographic masks are increasing the difficulty of cleaning processes. Moreover, as a result of the decreasing exposure wavelength, ever smaller foreign or dirt particles adsorbed on the surface of the mask are becoming visible during an exposure process on a wafer.
Some documents that examine the movement of nanoparticles with the aid of a nano-manipulator or micro-manipulator, for instance the measuring tip of a scanning probe microscope, are mentioned below in exemplary fashion: H. H. Pieper: "Morphology and electric potential of pristine and gold covered surfaces with fluorite structure," Thesis, University of Osnabrück 2012; S. Darwich et al.: "Manipulation of gold colloidal nanoparticles with atomic force microscopy in dynamic mode: influence of particle—substrate chemistry and morphology, and operating conditions," Beilstein J. Nanotechnol., vol. 2 (2011), p. 85-98; H. H. Pieper et al.: "Morphology and nanostructure of CeO2(111) surfaces of single crystals and Si(111) supported ceria films," Phys. Chemistry Chemical Physics, vol. 14, p. 15361ff, 2013; E. Gallagher et al.: "EUVL mask repair: expanding options with nanomachining," BACUS, vol. 3, no. 3 (2013), p. 1-8; M. Martin et al.: "Manipulation of Ag nanoparticles utilizing noncontact atomic force microscopy," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 72, no. 11, September 1998, p. 1505-1507; P. J. Durston et al.: "Manipulation of passivated gold clusters on graphite with the scanning tunneling microscope," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 72, no. 2, January 1998, p. 176-178; R. Requicha: "Nanomanipulation with the atomic force microscope," Nanotechnology Online, ISBN: 9783527628155; C. Baur et al.: "Nanoparticle manipulation by mechanical pushing: underlying phenomena and real-time monitoring," Nanotechnology 9 (1998), p. 360-364; J. D. Beard et al.: "An atomic force microscope nanoscalpel for nanolithography and biological applications," Nanotechnology 20 (2009), 445302, p. 1-10; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,812,460 B1; and 8,696,818 B2.
The following documents, specified in exemplary fashion, relate to the production of TEM samples with the aid of the in-situ lift-out method: J. Mayer et al.: "TEM sample preparation and FIB-induced damage," MRS Bulletin, vol. 32, May 2007, p. 400-407; B. Myers: "TEM Sample Preparation with the FIB/SEM," Nuance Center, Northwestern University—Evanston, 2009; M. Schaffer et al.: "Sample preparation for atomic STEM at low voltages by FIB," Ultramicroscopy, vol. 114, p. 62-71 (2012); and US 2017/0256380 A1.
In the article "A novel AFM/STM/SEM system," Rev. Sci. Instrum. 65 (9), pp. 2853-2954, September 1994, the authors A. V. Ermakov and E. L. Garfunkel describe the use of an electron beam in order to detect a vibration of a cantilever of an AFM.
The US patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,475 describes a combination of a scanning electron microscope and an optical microscope, in which some of the optical light beam is guided in the column of the scanning electron microscope when the optical microscope operates in the operating mode with a higher resolution.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,395,727 B2 describes a nano-manipulator which allows the detection of its tip landing on a sample surface.
The combination of a scanning particle microscope and a scanning probe microscope in one instrument requires the spatial separation of the two microscopes for reasons of space, as a result of which switching between the operation of the two microscopes becomes complicated and slow. If the two microscopes are arranged tightly adjacent to one another, it is necessary to find a compromise in the capability of the two microscopes.
The present invention therefore addresses the problem of specifying apparatuses and a method that facilitate an improvement in the examination and/or processing of a sample.

Apparatus and method for examining and/or processing a sample


A system for the dynamic encoding in a semantic network of both syntactic and semantic information into a common four valued logical notation. The encoding of new information being benign to prior syntactic constructions, tests for N conditionals in time O(C) and allows for the proper quantification of variables at each recursive step. The query/inference engine constructed from such an implementation is able to optimize short term memory for maximizing long term storage in the automaton. In a parallel context this can be viewed as optimizing communication and memory allocation between processes. Disclosed embodiments of a four valued encoding achieve efficiencies in minimizing the run time stack and maximizing heap size especially in a parallel architecture. Disclosed embodiments are useful in simulation and search engine implementations.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the storing information and testing of conditionals in computer implemented systems. More particularly, disclosed embodiments relate to four valued logic systems for general use in query and inference engines.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In the related art, various other logic systems or truth tables have been disclosed. But, the prior art lacks the efficiency of the presently disclosed embodiments.

Methods and systems of four-valued simulation


A dual pointing device and method based on 3-D motion and touch sensors are provided. The dual pointing device includes a sensor including a first sensor sensing a motion in a space and a second sensor sensing a touch input, a movement-mode-determining unit determining a movement mode type using signals of the first and second sensors, and a pointer-moving unit moving a pointer on a display screen using at least one of the signals of the first sensor and the second sensor according to the determined movement mode type.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a user interface, and, more particularly, to a dual pointing device and method using a user input interface based on three-dimensional (3-D) motion and touch sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, methods and devices of user input interfacing, motion-based input interfaces and touch-based input interfaces exist as independent interface devices.
In particular, a user input interface based on a user's hand motion in a space allows a user to move a pointing device using shoulder and arm muscles, which are suitable to human motion, i.e., producing a great force over an extended range of area, rather than to fine movement within a space-limed area, in which case, however, an error may be generated in moving a pointing to a target position if a moving distance is short, for example, when an object is placed within a short distance, or when a fine movement within a space-limed area is required, for example, when the size of a target is very small.
Meanwhile, an input interface using a touch pad allows a user to use a thumb, thereby enables relatively fine, precise pointing. However, since the input interface of this type has a relatively small size, suggesting that a range of moving space is limited, the user needs to scroll the touch pad several times in order to move the pointer to a distant target position. Thus, the pointing efficiency may deteriorate when the pointer is moved to a distant area.

Dual pointing device and method based on 3-D motion and touch sensors