A resist removing composition having a superior capability for removing a resist, polymer, organometallic polymer and etching by-products such as metal oxide, which does not attack underlying layers exposed to the composition and which does not leave residues after a rinsing step. The resist removing composition contains alkoxy N-hydroxyalkyl alkanamide and a swelling agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resist or etching by-product removing composition and a resist removing method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices are manufactured via an elaborate series of discrete and sequential processes. After certain of these processes for manufacturing the semiconductor device, e.g., a dry etching process or an ion implantation process, a resist pattern that was used as a mask must be removed. Also, in the case when the resist pattern was misaligned, it must be removed to form a new and correctly aligned resist pattern.
An important criterion of the resist removing process is to completely remove resist and/or etching by-products from the surface of a substrate as fast as possible while not attacking the underlying layers. In general, the typical resist removing process combines a dry stripping step, such as an ashing step, and a wet stripping step using an organic stripper, to remove impurities from the surface of an integrated circuit substrate. Such impurities could be the remaining resist which was not completely removed during the ashing step. Other impurities may comprise the etching by-products generated during etching steps for forming various patterns, for example, single or multiple interconnection patterns formed of tungsten, aluminum, copper, titanium or titanium nitride. Impurities may also be generated during the etching step for forming contact (via) holes exposing the interconnection patterns.
The etching by-products to be removed include organic polymers produced by the reaction of plasma and those components comprising the resist pattern itself, such as carbon (C), hydrogen (H), or oxygen (O), during plasma etching or reactive ion etching (RIE). The etching by-products could also include organometallic polymers produced when interconnection materials are back-sputtered to side walls of the resist pattern and contact holes are formed during an etching or ashing step. The etching by-products could also comprise insulating materials or metal oxides formed when an insulation layer under the interconnection pattern is over-etched and then back-sputtered.
Certain compositions for removing resists or etching by-products are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,242,400 and 6,221,818. The disclosed compositions include a basic amine reducing agent, such as hydroxylamine or monoethanolamine, a polar solvent, and an organic acid such as catechol, as its essential components. However, since the basic amine of these conventional composition is relatively weak in its reducing power, it cannot completely remove etching residues, e.g., a metal oxide or organometallic polymer, that are produced when new interconnection or contact holes are formed. Thus, before the ashing step is performed, a nitric acid pre-treatment step must be carried out.
Since the conventional compositions are comprised largely of organic components and have a high viscosity, etching by-products are not completely removed in the case of rinsing only with deionized water, thereby leaving a residue on the substrate that causes organic contamination.
Also, since the conventional compositions easily corrode an underlying layer exposed to the composition, such as the interconnection layer, the profile of the interconnection layer pattern may be deformed, by undercutting for example. Thus, an additional rinsing step using an alcohol-based rinsing agent such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA) must be performed after the ashing step.
Therefore, since a nitric acid treatment pre-removal step must be performed before the ashing step, and an isopropyl alcohol post-removal treatment step is performed after the ashing step, the resist removal process becomes more complicated and processing time is prolonged, thereby lowering productivity.
Also, since the pre-removal material, e.g., nitric acid, and the post-removal material, e.g., isopropyl alcohol, are further required as well as the resist removal material, the manufacturing costs increase. Moreover, since discrete baths for the pre-removal step and the post-removal step are required, the resist removing apparatus itself becomes more complicated and takes up greater floor space.

Resist and etching by-product removing composition and resist removing method using the same


Data center includes a first container and a second container containing data racks therein. The first container includes an air intake for inputting outside cooling air into the first container. The second container contacts the first container via a base between the first container and the second container. The base defines a cooling air passage and heated air passage both communicating the first container and the second container. The cooling air passage inputs cooling air from the first container to the second container. The heated air passage inputs heated air from the second container to the first container.

The advent of cloud computing and virtualization and other new technologies make data center evolved into a very different environment. A data center includes data center equipment such as servers, storage and networking equipment. Temperature and moisture are two important environment factors which impact operating performance of the data center equipment.
When the data center equipment works, they generate a lot of heat. The heat must be removed rapidly, otherwise, the heat accommodated in the data center produces high temperature of the data center equipment, which results in unstable working performance of the data center equipment. Typically, the data center applies a cooling system to introduce outside air to directly cool the data center equipment.


An optical apparatus includes a first substrate including an optical functional element, and a second substrate including a movable micromechanical functional element, the first substrate and the second substrate being connected in a stacked manner, so that a light path exists which is convoluted between the first substrate and the second substrate, the movable micromechanical functional element and the optical functional element being arranged in the light path. In addition, a method of producing an optical apparatus includes producing a first substrate including an optical functional element, and producing a second substrate including a movable micromechanical functional element, as well as connecting the first and second substrates, so that a light path exists which is convoluted between the first and second substrates, the movable micromechanical functional element and the optical functional element being arranged in the light path.

Nowadays, spectrometers are employed, inter alia, for identifying materials or substances, such as for analyzing foodstuffs, in process measurement engineering for regulating and monitoring the composition of materials, and for quality control. The prerequisite for this are spectrometer modules which may be manufactured at low cost and are robust against various environmental impacts, such as dust, extreme temperatures and high levels of humidity, for example. This conflicts with the high demands associated with the various assemblies. In a spectrometer consisting of optical, mechanical, electronic and partly micromechanical components, adjustment and installation of the optical, mechanical and micromechanical components is important to the functioning of the system.
A multitude of spectrometer types, based on most various system concepts, have been known. In principle, spectrometers for measuring or characterizing the spectral composition of electromagnetic radiation may be classified into two types: spectrometers which passively modulate radiation, and spectrometers which actively modulate radiation. Typical representatives of passively modulating spectrometers are grating spectrometers comprising line scan detectors. With this spectrometer type, radiation impinging on a one-dimensional detector array is spectrally split up, as a result of which said systems have a limited spectral resolution and a limited spectral measuring range, and the multitude of detectors of a detector array lead to a deviation of the signal intensity, or signal sensitivity, on account of various levels of sensitivity and amplification. Spectrometers which actively modulate electromagnetic radiation comprise components for modulating radiation and for detecting the modulated radiation. These systems generally exhibit a relatively high resolution and a relatively large detectable spectral range, and they may be employed for relatively large spectral ranges on account of the utilization of individual detectors. In addition, these spectrometers are cheaper and exhibit no deviation in the signal sensitivities. On the basis of the developments occurring in lithographic manufacturing, it is now possible to produce components of these systems by lithography. However, the advantages of said technology cannot be fully exploited so far, since the savings in terms of the amount of work involved in the production of the individual components is compensated for by the more complicated adjustment and installation.
Systems for detecting the spectral distribution of electromagnetic radiation may also be subdivided in accordance with the production technology employed in conjunction with their design, for example into systems which are almost entirely built of discrete components, and systems build of functionally integrated assemblies. With spectrometers which are almost entirely built of discrete components, discrete optical, micromechanical, mechanical and electronic devices, which are manufactured in different processes, respectively, are combined into one overall system by means of adjustment and installation, which generally is costly. Only one spectrometer module may be produced per operating cycle, as a result of which the production cost and, therefore, the total prices of these systems are high. As a result, application of these systems on the mass market is limited. Spectrometers built of functionally integrated assemblies exhibit assemblies wherein functional groups are monolithically integrated within one device. Subsequently, they are adjusted and installed, depending on the implementation. To this end, particularly optical and mechanical components are frequently manufactured by plastic injection molding. The design and production of these subsystem enables these systems to be produced at lower cost than systems made of discrete components. Due to the components being shrunk, they exhibit a surface roughness and thermal deformation which is too high for optical components, and they therefore exhibit lower optical efficiency (diffraction efficiency grating, surface roughness, . . . ), which results in a poorer signal/noise ratio, lower spectral resolution, and a poorer stray-light behavior. Due to restrictions in the production by plastic injection molding, invariance toward environmental impacts cannot be achieved. Due to the large tolerances, advantageous concepts for spectrometers comprising micromechanical components are difficult to put into practice. The high manufacturing requirements placed upon the optical and mechanical components, in particular, considerably increase the cost of the production. This applies, in particular, to modeling the frequently used diffraction gratings, which previously were manufactured by means of lithography or ultra-precision processing.
Various optical apparatuses or parts of optical apparatuses, specifically in the field of spectrometers, have already been known. For example, US 2007/0159635 A1 describes a Fourier transformation spectrometer comprising a binary grating with a variable depth, the grating comprising a first set of mirrors and a second set of mirrors, the mirrors of the first set of mirrors and the mirrors of the second set of mirrors being arranged in an alternating order, and at least one of the sets of mirrors being supported by fingers of a comb structure of a wafer (disc-shaped substrate). In addition, the spectrometer comprises an actuator for driving a movement of the second set of mirrors, and a detector for detecting radiation reflected by the grating. The mirrors are oriented within a plane defined by said wafer, and said movement of the second set of mirrors is defined by a translation in a direction vertical to said wafer.
In addition, WO 03/069290 A1 describes a quasi-static deflection apparatus for spectrometers. For the dispersive element of a spectrometer, a suspension mechanism which pretensions same in an idle position, and, for deflecting, a means for retaining the dispersive element in a deflected position, are used, such that a balance of forces is obtained between the retaining force and the pretensioning force. In this manner, following impacts or vibrations, the dispersive element will again and again return to the position defined by the retaining force. An inventive spectrometer therefore comprises a dispersive element and a suspension mechanism for supporting the dispersive element and for pretensioning same into an idle position using a pretensioning force when the dispersive element is in a deflected position. A control means controls a retaining means to vary the deflected position, so that different spectral constituents become detectable for a detector of the spectrometer.
DE 102006019840 A1 describes a line scan camera for spectral image detection. What is shown is an apparatus for detecting spectral information along a geometric line comprising a dispersive element suspended on an axis of rotation, for spectrally decomposing electromagnetic radiation from one area on the geometric line into spectral constituents, a line scan detector for detecting the spectral constituents of the radiation emanating from the area on the geometric line, and a means for deflecting the dispersive element, the means for deflecting being configured to deflect the dispersive element about the axis of rotation, so that, depending on a deflection angle, radiation from a another area on the geometric line impinges on the line scan detector.
In addition, DE 196 26 969 A1 describes a spectrometer system for spatially and temporally dissolved spectral analysis. DE 196 26 969 A1 describes a miniaturizable multi-channel spectrometer system. A light-guiding space is subdivided into several sub-areas which comprise, at one of their ends, respectively, a grating structure where the light is diffracted and reflected, and is thus subdivided into its spectral components, and, at the other end, respectively, an apparatus for input light coupling and output light coupling.
DE 199 32 807 A1 describes an entrance slit for a spectrometer, consisting of a movable diaphragm and a fixed diaphragm. The width of the slit may be modulated periodically. The document mentioned describes a drive for the movable diaphragm, with which drive the inside width of the entrance slit may be periodically changed in a specifiable manner.
Moreover, WO 99/18612 A2 describes integrating several optical elements at the wafer level. Integrated optical elements may be formed by connecting substrates which contain optical elements, or by providing wafer substrates with optical elements on both sides.
US 2002/0105699 A1 describes integrated optical, micro-electromechanical systems and a method of producing same. In this context, micro-optical elements are integrated with micro-electromechanical actuators so as to provide an assembly for a micro-optical communication apparatus. These micro-optical communication apparatuses may realize a multitude of communication systems, such as optical connections, laser communication or fiber-optical switches. With regard to one aspect, a micro-optical element such as a micro-lens, for example, is integrated with an actuator as well as with a micro-electromechanical comb-drive actuator so as to form a micro-electromechanical lens assembly.
In addition, US 2004/0087043 A1 describes a housing structure and a method of producing same. In this context, substrates may be aligned with and pre-connected to integrated or assembled elements. Liquid casting materials may be employed to seal the residual openings of the pre-connected interfaces of the substrates. Three-dimensional and projecting microstructures, elements and micro-electromechanical elements may be accommodated and protected within the space formed by the connected substrates.
WO 2007/050123 A2 describes an optical microspectrometer comprising a multi-layer structure. The structure may be manufactured by micro-electromechanical technology. A reflective grating, such as a diffractive or holographic grating, for example, which is located, with a light emission point and a detector, at the circumference of a Rowland circle, may be a configuration of the spectrometer.

Optical apparatus of a stacked design, and method of producing same

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.


The lock construction portion of a storage system receives, from a host 101 or SVP, the number of hosts which is the number of hosts 101 actually connected to the storage system, and the number of groups which is the number of storage device groups among a plurality of storage device groups 301 for which access exclusion control must be performed. Based on the received number of hosts and number of groups, the lock construction portion controls for which storage device groups to provide control blocks, and the number of control sub-blocks to provide in different control blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage control technology, and in particular to control of access exclusion.
2. Description of the Related Art
In for example a database system which handles large amounts of data, such as for example a data center, data is managed using a storage system configured separately from host computers. This storage system is for example a disk array system such as a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Inexpensive Disks) system, configured with numerous storage devices arranged in an array.
One such a storage system is, for example, the magnetic disk subsystem disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 5-128002. This subsystem has cache memory 28, a control table 30, and a plurality of magnetic disk devices 24 to 27. The cache memory 28 is divided into a plurality of areas 28A, 28B by tasks processed by host computers 22, 23. The control table 30 is divided into a plurality of control tables 30A, 30B corresponding to the plurality of areas 28A, 28B. The host computers 22, 23 specify, for each area 28A, 28B, the magnetic disk devices 24 to 27.

Storage system and storage control method for access exclusion control of each storage area unit comprising storage area of storage device


A one-piece article having a uniform cross section includes a number of portions that interact to releasably grip a cylindrical object (18). Two jaws (14, 16) extend from a base (12) and are shaped to embrace the cylindrical object. The base (12) and one of the jaws (14) are rigid. A second jaw (16) melds into the base and has a gripping surface that closely follows the contour of the cylindrical object. The distal end (22) of the second jaw diverges from the cylindrical object and reverts back to the base, terminating in a free end (24). This free end serves as an actuator for releasing the cylindrical object. When the free end is pressed by the user in the direction of the first jaw (14), the reverted portion (26) pivots about a fulcrum (30) formed by an extension of the base to draw open the second jaw, thereby releasing the cylindrical object. In contrast, when a force (32) is applied to the cylindrical object to dislodge it, the second jaw (16), being less stiff than the other jaw (14) is forced to rotate slightly, which brings a portion (28) of the reverted portion into pressing contact with a portion (30) of the base, thereby greatly increasing the resistance of the second jaw to further opening movement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of supports and more specifically relates to a support having a locking clamping mechanism for application to a generally cylindrical object and having a manually-operated release. Typical uses of the device include removably attaching a pipe to a wall, removably attaching a bundle of electrical wires to a structural member on an aircraft or ship, and holding brooms, flashlights, garden tools, and the like to a wall.
2. The Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,940 issued Aug. 16, 1960 to Degener, there is shown a self-locking clamp that includes a base from which two jaws extend to clamp cylindrical objects. As described at column 2, lines 47-72, any attempt to pull the clamped object from between the jaws causes the jaws to grip it tighter. The gripped object can only be released by applying a force T to one of the jaws, as shown in FIG. 5. Degener does not suggest the use of a lever for applying such a force.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,970 issued Jul. 16, 1996 to Gobbi, there is shown a one-piece clamp that can be opened by squeezing opposite sides together. The clamp is used for supporting external wall-mounted piping, and it bears little resemblance to the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. Des. 342,005 issued Dec. 7, 1993 to Forsberg, there is shown a toggling clamp for holding generally-cylindrical objects. It works on a different principle from the present invention, and it lacks a release mechanism.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,943 issued Dec. 23, 1997 to Schaefer et al., there is described a device for holding a cylindrical object. It differs from the present invention in that it is not a one-piece article and in that one of the jaws is designed to yield when a strong force is applied to the cylindrical object.


A flexible polyurethane foam-forming composition and the flexible polyurethane foam obtained therefrom contain, as flame-retardant additive, a halogen-free phosphonate compound which is substantially unreactive for isocyanate, contains at least about 5 weight percent phosphorus, has an acid value of about 2 mg KOH/g or less, a volatility as measured by thermogravimetric analysis not exceeding a 5.0 percent weight loss at a temperature of about 150° C., and a weight average molecular weight of from about 200 to about 2000.

This invention relates to a flame-retardant flexible polyurethane foam.
Flexible polyurethane foams are widely employed in such products as mattresses and seating where safety considerations require that they exhibit effective fire retardant properties. The typical flexible polyurethane foams of commerce do not inherently possess satisfactory resistance to ignition and/or flame propagation but can be made to do so by the addition of one or more flame retardant substances thereto, generally to the foam-forming compositions or to a component thereof before, or as, the foam-foaming reaction takes place.
Halogenous as well as non-halogenous phosphorus-based compounds are known for use as fire retardants in flexible polyurethane foams. Illustrative of such compounds and flexible polyurethane foams incorporating them in flame retardant-effective amounts are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,672 (1-phosphonoethane-2-carboxylic acid-tri-C1-C4 alkyl esters); U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,200 (amine salts of phosphonic acids); U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,967 (salt formed by reaction between dimethyl methyl phosphonate, monomethyl methyl phosphonate or methyl phosphonic acid and an organonitrogen compound such as urea, dicyandiamide, guanidine, aminoguanidine, thiourea, N-methyl urea, N-allyl urea, N,N′-diallyl urea, N,N′-dimethyl urea, ethylene urea, biurea, (thio) acetamide, (thio) propionamide, (thio) butyramide, (thio) octanamide, malonamide, mono- or di-thio malonamide, succinamide, mono- or di-thio succinamide, sebacamide, pyrrolidone, piperidinone, (thio) caprolactam and (thio) dodecalactam); U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,066 (1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinan)amines); U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,135 (blend of monomeric halogenated organic flame retardant, e.g., a halogenated phosphate ester such as tris(dichloropropyl)phosphate, tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate, tris(dibromopropyl) phosphate, tris(bromo-chloropropyl)phosphate, and the like, and an oligomeric organophosphate, e.g., the reaction product of a polyphosphate ester (obtained by the reaction of phosphorus pentoxide and a trialkyl phosphate such as triethylphosphate) with an epoxide such as ethylene oxide); U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,273 (hydroxyalkylphosphonates); and, U.S. Pat. No. 6,861,452 (a halogen-free phosphate ester that possesses at least one alcoholic hydroxyl group, has an acid value of 2 mg KOH/g or less, a viscosity f 5 Pa·S or less at 25° C., a hydroxyl value of 5 to 250 KOH mg/g, and a weight average molecular weight of 200 to 2000); DE 3803030 (phosphonate obtained by the transesterification of dimethyl methyl phosphonate with a diol or diphenol in the presence of sodium methylate); DE 19853025 (mixture of dimethyl-1-hydroxyethane phosphonate and diethyl ethyl phosphonate or diphenylcresyl phosphate); EPA 0 245 207 (salts of dimethyl methyl phosphonate); EPA 0 908 464 (dimethyl-1-hydroxymethane phosphonate); and, UK Patent Application GB 2 319 251 (halogen-free, oligomeric or polymeric, alkylene-bridged alkyl phosphonates).

Flame-retardant flexible polyurethane foam


A CMOS device is disclosed in which p-channel and n-channel MOS transistors are formed on the same substrate. Each of the MOS transistors has a gate insulating layer formed on the substrate; a gate having a gate body and a spacer formed on both sidewalls of the gate body; a drain region of a first conductivity type formed in the substrate and beneath the gate body; a channel region of a second conductivity type formed at both sides of the first heavily doped impurity region and beneath the spacer; and a source region of the first conductivity type formed in the substrate and between the channel region and the device isolating region. With this CMOS device, the channel length can be controlled to about 0.1 mm and less and hot-carrier effect can be minimized.

The present invention relates to fabrication of a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) device wherein p-channel and n-channel MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) transistors are formed on a same substrate. The present invention also relates to a method for fabricating this CMOS device.
With the recent improvement in semiconductor fabricating apparatuses such as photo and etching equipments, MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) devices may be designed and fabricated to be less than submicron or sub-half micron in size. It is, however, difficult to easily control a channel length of 0.1 to 0.2 mm by using conventional equipment. As the channel of a MOS transistor becomes shorter and shorter, this increases the hot-carrier effect on the channel.
FIGS. 1A through 1C show a conventional process steps of fabricating a typical MOS transistor with a lightly doped drain (LDD) structure.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a gate oxide layer 12 and a gate 13 are sequentially formed on a p-type semiconductor substrate 11. A lightly doped source/drain region 15 is then formed in the substrate 1 using ion implantation with the gate 13 as a mask.
As shown in FIG. 1B, after an insulating layer 16 is formed over the substrate, an anisotropic etching is carried out to selectively remove the insulating layer 16. As a result, a spacer 17 is formed on both sidewalls of the gate 13, as shown in FIG. 1C.
Subsequently, ion implantation using n.sup.+ -type impurity ions as dopants is carried out to form an n.sup.+ -type source/drain region 19, as shown in FIG. 1C. During this ion implantation, the gate 13 and the spacer 17 serve as a mask. Therefore, an LDD structure can be formed.
Conventional MOS transistors having the above LDD structure may restrain an hot-carrier effect occurring due to the short-channel of the MOS transistor. But, as a CMOS device becomes smaller and smaller, approaching less than a half-micron or sub-half micron in size, each channel length of MOS transistors therein becomes shorter. This raises serious problems that it is both impossible to completely restrain the occurrence of a hot-carrier effect in the CMOS device and it is difficult to fabricate MOS transistors having a channel length of about 0.1 mm and less because of the practical processing limitation of a photo equipment.

Semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same


A method comprises receiving at least one natural language input, and determining an intent of the at least one natural language input. In the method, a virtual assistant of a plurality of virtual assistants is recommended to respond to the at least one natural language input based at least in part on the determined intent, and the at least one natural language input is transmitted to the recommended virtual assistant. The determining and recommending are performed using one or more machine learning models, and the plurality of virtual assistants respectively correspond to a plurality of different functions of an enterprise.

Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) is a significant enterprise enabler in today's modern enterprise processes. Enterprises typically desire automated virtual assistants (e.g., "bots" or "chatbots") that are always available (e.g., 24 hours per day, 7 days per week) to address customer or other user concerns. Conversational AI systems attempt to respond to user queries by providing meaningful answers with recommended actions for the users to perform.
Conversational AI systems face a number of challenges when attempting to identify the content of communications and conversations. For example, when text-based chats are routed to individual virtual assistants, those texts are typically not analyzed to optimize the conversation. The difficulties are compounded when the systems fail to accurately characterize user communications, leading to incorrect and/or irrelevant responses from the virtual assistants and user dissatisfaction.


Free branching poinsettia plants are provided which comprise a heritable lateral branching trait. In certain aspects, poinsettia plants comprising a lateral branching trait are not pinched, are not grafted and/or are free of phytoplasma infection. Methods for growth and breeding such free branching poinsettias are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiments provided herein relate generally to horticultural, plant breeding and plant genetics.
2. Description of Related Art
Ornamental plants such as begonias, geraniums, impatiens and poinsettias comprise a large and profitable market both in the U.S. and abroad. The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd.), for example, is a member of the family Euphorbiaceae which is very popular as a live ornamental decoration. The highly prized blooms of these plants, known as bracts, are not true flowers, but rather modified leaves that form large flower-like arrays. Popular ornamental varieties produce bracts in a variety of brilliant colors such as red, orange, white, yellow and pink.
Production of quality ornamental poinsettias can be difficult and labor intensive. In the wild, plants produce a single bloom from a tall (up to ten foot) vertical stem. On the other hand, ornamental poinsettias preferably have a mounded bushy habit with multiple lateral branches. To produce such plants, the growth tip of the poinsettia is mechanically removed during the vegetative growth phase by a process known as pinching. Such pinching stimulates lateral branching and can be used to control the size of the resulting plant. Alternatively or additionally, lateral branching can be stimulated by exposure of the plants to a branching agent, such as the poinsettia, branch-inducing phytoplasma (Lee et al. 1998). For instance, plants can be inoculated with phytoplasma by grafting of phytoplasma-infected plant tissues. All of the above methods, however, require substantial labor and therefore result in increased production cost.


A stuffer chute assembly including: a curvilinear duct defining a passageway, the duct having a lower inlet opening and an upper outlet opening, the duct including a lower surface with plural slots located proximal to the upper outlet; plural rotating devices arranged transversely across the duct, the plural rotating devices extending at least partially both through the plural slots and into the passageway, each of the plural rotating devices including plural fingers along the circumference of the rotating device to engage crop material in the duct; and a sensor coupled to at least one of the plural rotating devices, the sensor configured to sense a parameter corresponding to density of the crop material in the duct.

Agricultural machinery, such as balers, often have a pickup assembly with a row of tines to pick up biomass from the ground and transfer the biomass to bale forming machinery internal to the baler. Such a transfer may rely on a stuffer chute as a transition between a plunger that compresses each charge in a baling chamber and the pickup assembly. To ensure that dense, compact bales are formed in an efficient manner, it is important that each charge be of sufficient density.


A method for preparing a rubber-based composite material by joining a base material and a rubber composition together by heat pressure bonding can achieve strong bonding without using any adhesives, wherein a monomer is polymerized by atmospheric-pressure glow discharge plasma technique to form a polymerized film having unsaturated bonds on the surface of the base material and then the rubber composition is bonded to said polymerized film by heat pressure bonding to join the base material and the rubber together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for preparing a rubber-based composite material by joining a rubber composition to a base material by heat pressure bonding without any adhesives.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional methods adopted for adhering a base material and a rubber composition together by heat pressure bonding to prepare a rubber-based composite material include the following ones:
(a) applying an adhesive to the surface of a base material, or
(b) using a rubber composition which can directly react with a base material
However, the method (a) has problems that a solvent is used in order to apply an adhesive and that many steps are required. In addition, the method (a) can not be used if a strict temperature strain is imposed on the bonded portion.
On the other hand, although the method (b) does not use any adhesives, it has drawbacks that base materials to be bonded to the rubber composition are restricted and that the physical properties of the rubber may be deteriorated because of the restricted formulation of the rubber composition for directly reacting with a base material.

Method for preparing a rubber-based composite material


A program operation and a program verification operation are repeatedly performed. The program verification operation is performed on memory cells including pass cells to obtain a uniform distribution characteristic of a threshold voltage. Furthermore, the program verification operation is performed with a compare voltage being set higher than a target voltage initially so that a threshold voltage of a memory cell is sufficiently higher than the target voltage. The program verification operation is again performed lowering the compare voltage according to the repetition number. Thus, normally programmed cells are prevented from being again excessively programmed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of programming a flash memory device, and more specifically, to a method of programming a flash memory device in which the reliability of a program operation and a uniform threshold voltage characteristic after the program operation can be obtained.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A flash memory device is a storage device for storing data and has a characteristic that data are retained without being eased although the supply of power is stopped. For this reason, the flash memory device has been used as a data storage device of electronic products such as mobile phones, PDAs, and MP3 players. There is a trend that the demand for flash memory devices rapidly increases.
Generally, the flash memory device is largely classified into a NOR-type flash memory device and a NAND-type flash memory device. They are common in that data are stored through a program operation and are erased through an erase operation. At this time, if the program operation is performed, a threshold voltage of a flash memory cell rises. On the contrary, if the erase operation is carried out, the threshold voltage of the flash memory cell lowers. For example, in the NAND-type flash memory device, if the program operation is performed, the threshold voltage of the flash memory cell is increased higher than 0V. If the erase operation is performed, the threshold voltage is lowered lower than 0V.
Meanwhile, data stored in the memory cell can be confirmed through a read operation.
As such, the NOR-type flash memory device and the NAND-type flash memory device have the same basic operation. Although they have the same operation, operating voltages applied to flash memory cells have different levels. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a case where the program operation is performed in the NAND-type flash memory device will be described in detail.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating steps embodying a method of programming a flash memory device in the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the method of programming the flash memory device in the related art includes a data input step (S110), a program operation step (S120), a program verify step (S130), a program operation re-execution step (S140), and a program verify re-execution step (S150). These steps will be described below in detail.
In the data input step (S110), data to be stored in a memory cell are input to a memory device. To be more specific, the data are stored in latch means included in a page buffer of the flash memory device. The page buffer is an element included in the NAND-type flash memory device and is well known in the art. Detailed description on the construction and operation of the page buffer will be omitted.
In the program operation step (S120), the data stored in the page buffer are stored in the memory cell. At this time, in the case of the NAND-type flash memory device, the program operation is performed on a page basis and a threshold voltage of the programmed memory cell is higher than 0V. In the same manner, how the program operation is performed on a page basis is well known in the art. Detailed description thereof will be omitted. Meanwhile, the program operation is performed with data stored in the memory cell being all erased. It is common that the erase operation is usually performed before the program operation.
In the program verify step (S130), whether the data are normally stored in the memory cell by means of the program operation is verified. At this time, the verify operation compares the threshold voltage of the programmed memory cell and a compare voltage (e.g., 1V). If the threshold voltage of the programmed memory cell is higher than the compare voltage, it is determined that the program operation has been successfully performed.
To the contrary, if the threshold voltage of the programmed memory cell is lower than the compare voltage, it is determined that the program operation has not been successfully performed. If the program operation of the entire memory cells is normally performed (or has been successful), the program operation ends.
In the program operation re-execution step (S140), the program operation is performed again on memory cells on which the program operation has not been normally performed (or has not been successfully performed).
In the program verify re-execution step (S150), whether data have been normally stored in memory cells on which the program operation is performed again is verified.
If the program operation of the entire memory cells has been normally performed, the program operation is completed. If not, the program operation re-execution step (S140) and the program verify re-execution step (S150) are repeatedly performed until the program operation of the entire memory cells is normally completed.
The aforementioned program operation is not again performed on the memory cell on which the operation is normally performed. Therefore, there exist memory cells which have a threshold voltage higher than a target voltage but may not be sufficiently high for the memory cells that are normally programmed. In this case, if the threshold voltage is varied as times goes or due to the influence of the operation of peripheral memory cells, the threshold voltage can become lower than the target voltage and data stored in the memory cell can be changed. Furthermore, a threshold voltage of memory cells on which several program operations are performed becomes sufficiently higher than a target voltage. Therefore, there is a disadvantage in that the level of an overall threshold voltage becomes irregular. Due to this, there is a problem in that the reliability of the program operation is lowered.

Flash memory device being programmed and verified using voltage higher than target/read threshold voltage to achieve uniform threshold voltage characteristic


A ski for a snow vehicle includes a ski body, a ski mounting bracket, a keel, a wear bar, and a glide member. The ski body includes a generally horizontal surface that contacts the snow when the ski is in use. The ski mounting bracket is located on a top side of the ski body. The glide member depends from the ski and is mounted at a position lower than the lowest most part of the wear bar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to skis for snow vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to steering skis that provide improved handling for such vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of snowmobiles and similar snow vehicles has increased in popularity in recent years. These vehicles are used for utilitarian purposes, for casual recreational purposes, and for sporting purposes. The vehicles typically are adapted to travel across snow and/or ice and usually include at least one forward facing ski along with a driven belt track or other propulsion mechanism, e.g., wheels. The forward-facing ski can be directed leftward or rightward by a steering handle to alter the direction of the snowmobile.
Typically, snowmobile steering skis are constructed to have a plate-like ski body, which is formed integrally with a keel that protrudes from the bottom of the ski body toward the snow surface. This construction generally is superior to a completely flat ski. However, the desired construction of the ski body and the keel vary depending on the average snow conditions and/or the average load expected to be carried by the snowmobile.
While a snowmobile bearing the above-describe steering skis will perform reasonably well under average load and snow conditions, a specific snowmobile will seldom be operated in such conditions. For example, the load may be significantly smaller (e.g., a young adult) or larger (e.g., a heavy man pulling a large load) than the average expected load. Also, while certain snow conditions may be typical, a particular locality might receive vastly greater amounts of snowfall (e.g., an area subject to lake-effect snow) or may have little snow and a great deal of ice. Moreover, tracks from by other snow vehicles can create varying surface conditions which often can make steering somewhat challenging. As a result, a snowmobile with such skis will seldom perform as well as it could were the configuration of the skis better matched to the snow and surface conditions.


In a pneumatic tire for heavy load in which a rubber chafer 8 is disposed at least in a part brought into contact with a rim in a bead part 1, the rubber chafer uses a rubber composition which comprises 45 to 55 parts by mass of butadiene base rubbers containing 10 to 30 parts by mass of a syndiotactic 1,2-structure-containing polybutadiene rubber and 45 to 55 parts by mass of a natural rubber as a rubber component and more than 50 parts by mass and less than 60 parts by mass of carbon black having DBP of 85 to 115 ml/100 g and a specific surface area by nitrogen adsorption (N2SA) of 50 to 100 m2/g based on 100 parts by mass of the rubber component.

A structure of a bead part in pneumatic radial tires for heavy load has so far been studied in various manners in order to satisfy a motion performance and a durability performance required to tires. Further, improvement in a high speed performance of tires has come to be required according to development in highways and speed-up of vehicles, and great force is exerted more and more on a rubber chafer disposed between a rim and a bead so that a rubber chafer provided with further durability is increasingly needed.
Performances required essentially to a rubber chafer include abrasion resistance to a rim, slipping resistance to a rim, an air sealing property, an air barrier property, exhausting resistance, crack resistance and the like, and since required performances residing in an antinomic relation are present among them, a rubber chafer has so far been constituted by selecting one or more kinds of rubber materials which can exert the above respective performances in moderation under mutual compromise.
However, pneumatic tires for heavy load which are provided with the above rubber chafer have involved the problems that they are liable to bring about abrasion to a rim, cracks and the like on a part brought into contact with a rim flange in a period extending from applying no load to applying a 200% load at a relatively early date and in addition thereto, have low weatherability so that they damage a visual quality of the tires and reduce durability thereof.
Then, known as tires which solve the foregoing problems of pneumatic tires for heavy load provided with a rubber chafer are, for example, pneumatic tires wherein the rubber chafer is prepared from a rubber composition in which 0 to 100 parts by weight of carbon black and 20 to 120 parts by weight of silica having a specific surface area by nitrogen adsorption (N2SA) of 4-0210 to 300 m2/g are compounded based on 100 parts by weight of a diene base rubber and a total amount of carbon black and silica is 50 to 130 parts and in which an organic silane compound is blended in an amount of 5 to 25% by weight based on the weight of silica and wherein increase in an elastic modulus for securing a motion performance is intended to be compatible with fractural resistance of a toe part and abrasion resistance of a rim flange (refer to, for example, patent document 1).
Further, tires in which an elastic modulus of a second stiffener rubber in 100% elongation is increased more than an elastic modulus of a chafer rubber in 100% elongation in order to enhance flexural rigidity of a bead part as much as possible are present among radial tires for aircrafts. In the above case, since the second stiffener rubber is too hard, the second stiffener rubber is likely to blow on a running condition of high heat build-up, and the second stiffener rubber is likely to be peeled off in running for a long time. Known are radial tires for aircrafts in which considering the above problems, the foregoing troubles in the bead part such as abrasion to a rim, blow and peeling are intended to be prevented by using for a side rubber a different kind of rubber from the chafer rubber and reducing an elastic modulus of a second stiffener rubber in 100% elongation less than an elastic modulus of a chafer rubber in 100% elongation (refer to, for example, patent document 2).
However, the pneumatic tires for heavy load described in patent documents 1 and 2 described above have durability and the like which have not so far been observed, but they are not yet satisfactory to performances required in recent years, and the existing situation is that pneumatic tires for heavy load in which a part of a rubber chafer brought into contact with a rim flange, particularly in a period extending from applying no load to applying a 200% load in a state of applying a suited air pressure is improved further in abrasion resistance to a rim, crack resistance and weatherability and which is further excellent in durability are desired to be developed.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for increasing blood flow to the skin of a person using the apparatus for regeneration of skin and digestion of adipose cells without causing an increase of gravity effects on the person. The apparatus comprises a work-out device to be actuated with the legs, which is enclosed by an air-tight housing. The housing in the waist area encloses the person. The apparatus further comprises a device for the production of a differential pressure in said housing, which is arranged so as to alternatingly produce a pressure reduction and a pressure increase in the housing. Within said housing, a support means is arranged to take the body weight off the legs of the person and to enable to separately control the effects of adipose cell digestion due to low pressure stimulation and the effects on the cardiovascular system by the work-out device.

An apparatus of this kind is for instance known from EP 0 906 774. Different exercises can be performed and therapeutical concepts can be realized by means of the known apparatus. The vacuum that acts on the lower body half of the person during operation of the apparatus has a stimulating effect, wherein in particular the blood circulation of the skin is supported. Thus, an aimed reduction of the body tissue can for instance be achieved. The therapeutical effect can be adapted to the respective needs by adjusting the vacuum, possibly also by a temporarily applied overpressure, by the physical load of the person through the working apparatus and by the air conditioning of the chamber. The therapeutical effects is achieved through the reduced pressure in the chamber acting on the skin tissue.
Although the known apparatus supplies favorable results and can be used in a plurality of indications, the need for an ever more selective application possibility arose.
A training apparatus comprising a treadmill is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,339, which is in particular determined for the use in zero gravity. Since the vacuum in the apparatus determines the effective weight of the person onto the treadmill, the limits especially in the range of low specific load are tight. The apparatus can be used for training and for rehabilitation, since an exercise of the muscoskeletal tissue is possible in this case so that a growth of the muscular and bone mass is enhanced. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,339 relies solely on the training effect which is achieved by standing up or walking in the low-pressure chamber: Without standing up or walking, the gravity effect on the legs cannot be simulated. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,339 is disadvantageous, because it puts too much strain on the lower joints. It is rather a training apparatus than an apparatus for slimming.
Furthermore, a large number of fitness devices are known which can be used for the physical training of persons. In the large majority of the fitness devices that are used the training person exerts a certain force against the resistance of the device or actuates certain movable components. These devices, however, are solely designed for use under ambient conditions.
It is further known to simulate a training at high altitudes in that the test person is enclosed in a chamber in which there is overall a reduced pressure or at least a reduced partial pressure of oxygen. Moreover, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,506 and from WO-91/01162 training apparatuses are known in which the test person is located partly under water.
It is the object of the present invention to further develop the aforementioned apparatuses in order to achieve an improved slimming effect without putting too much strain on the legs.
It is also the object of the present invention to develop the above-mentioned apparatus in a manner that a possibly far reaching adaptation to specially elaborated therapeutic concepts or training programs is possible.
It is another object to provide a better method for the slimming of persons which will not put too much strain on the body.

Apparatus for physical training of persons


A flexible, aminoplast-curable film-forming composition can serve as a transparent coating composition for a multi-component composite coating composition having the transparent coating on a pigmented or colored base coat. The film-forming composition comprises at least two polymeric components. One is a polyether polymer containing a plurality of terminal and/or pendant carbamate groups of the structure: ##STR1## Another is at least one additional carbamate functional polymer along with urethane oligomer or is a polyurethane polyol. The former include carbamate functional polyester, acrylic polymer, and polyurethane, where each contains a plurality of terminal and/or pendant carbamate groups of the Structure I depicted above. Also the urethane oligomers has a plurality of carbamate groups of Structure I that are pendant and/or terminal. The latter polyurethane polyol has a plurality of pendant and/or terminal hydroxyl groups and optionally can be used with the urethane polyol and/or any of the aforementioned carbamate functional polymers. Optionally an additional polymer that is present is an acrylic polymer containing a plurality of amide groups with or without a plurality of terminal and/or pendant carbamate groups of Structure I. Also with the presence of the amide functional acrylic polymer, silica can be employed. Additionally for crosslinking the film-forming composition contains an aminoplast crosslinking agent.

Plastic substrates are commonly used in automotive parts and accessories. Organic coating compositions are very often applied to these substrates for decorative and protective purposes. These plastic substrates are made of a variety of flexible thermosetting and thermoplastic materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene, thermoplastic urethane, polycarbonate, thermosetting sheet molding compound, reaction-injection molding compound, acrylonitrile-based materials, nylon and the like. The coating compositions that are used on these substrates must also be flexible so as to avoid cracking and adhesive failure under normal stresses and torsional forces to which the substrates may be subjected.
Color-plus-clear coating systems involving the application of a colored or pigmented base coat to a substrate followed by the application of a transparent or clear topcoat to the base coat have become very popular as original finishes for automobiles. The color-plus-clear systems have outstanding gloss and distinctness of image and the clear coat is particularly important for these properties.
Coating systems of the prior art which are known to be resistant to acid etch include acid-epoxy curable compositions such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,811 and compositions containing hydroxyl functional polymers reacted with isocyanates or polyisocyanates to form polyurethanes. The isocyanates are expensive and the toxicity of the isocyanates is an additional drawback.
Coating systems that employ hydroxy-aminoplast cure mechanisms are well known in coating technology and provide many excellent coating properties. They are inexpensive, durable and attractive. However, it is widely recognized that such coatings, particularly clear coats, have poor resistance to etching by acid. Acid etch resistance in coatings is becoming an increasingly desirable property, particularly for automotive coatings. Aminoplast cured coating systems of the prior art are not highly effective for providing protection against etching caused by acid rain. Additionally, such coating systems are often "high solids" coating compositions which tend to sag upon application to vertical surfaces and during baking. Such sagging adversely affects the appearance properties of the coating compositions.
It is desirable to provide a coating composition having improved appearance and performance properties, such as sag and acid etch resistance, utilizing inexpensive aminoplast technology. It is also desirable that such coating compositions be flexible enough for use on flexible automotive substrates and suitable for use in a color-plus-clear composite coating system.

Flexible aminoplast-curable film-forming compositions and composite coating


A method for transmitting control messages of a packet data network in a telecommunications system which includes at least one cell, in which the control messages are arranged to be transmitted on a circuit-switched broadcast control channel, a packet-switched broadcast control channel and a traffic channel. In addition, the telecommunications system includes at least one mobile station which supports the packet data network and is arranged to listen to at least one of the broadcast control channels. First control messages to be transmitted on a packet-switched channel of the packet data network are transmitted to the mobile stations in the cell encapsulated inside a second control message if the cell supports the transmission of the connection set-up parameters of the packet data network on both a circuit-switched broadcast control channel and a packet-switched broadcast control channel.

The progress in wireless data transmission has more and more brought forth the need to transmit wirelessly not only calls but also different data applications. The circuit-switched connections used conventionally in mobile systems are, however, rather poorly suited for transmitting different burst-type data services, which is why packet-switched applications have also been developed for mobile systems. During the past few years, GSM 2+phase standards, in which the new packet-switched data transmission service GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is also defined, have been drafted for the European digital GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) mobile network, for instance. GPRS is a packet radio network utilising the GSM network, which endeavours to optimise data packet transmission by means of GPRS protocol layers on the air interface between a mobile station and a GPRS network.
The GSM system comprises several different, typically unidirectional control channels, by means of which the network controls the operation of mobile stations. One such channel is the broadcast control channel BCCH, through which information is transmitted on the different cells of the network, such as identification information of the cell, identification information on the network, frequencies used in the cell, etc. Each base transceiver station BTS transmits information on a cell on a broadcast control channel of its own, to which all mobile stations in the area of the cell listen.
Correspondingly, specific control channels have also been designed for the GPRS system, one of which is the packet broadcast control channel PBCCH, whose task is to transmit system information to all GPRS mobile stations in the cell; just like BCCH does in the GSM network. When a GPRS mobile station is in idle mode, no data transmission resources have been allocated to it and it only listens to the broadcast control channel BCCH and the paging control channel PCH of the cell, or to the packet broadcast control channel PBCCH and the packet paging control channel PPCH, if the cell supports this GPRS control channel. If the cell does not support this PBCCH channel, which will be a very common situation when GPRS networks will be built on top of the GSM network, the GPRS mobile station listens to the GSM broadcast control channel BCCH. The used broadcast control channel, PBCCH or BCCH, is thus defined according to which broadcast control channel is available at each time in the cell of the GPRS mobile station.
A GPRS mobile station should thus support broadcast control channel reception on both the PBCCH channel and the BCCH channel. Then, if the cell uses the PBCCH channel, the network transmits the parameters used in the GPRS network to the mobile stations on said PBCCH channel only.
If a GPRS mobile station is in packet transfer mode, control messages, which in idle mode are only transmitted on the PBCCH or PPCH channels, are transmitted from the network to the mobile station. These messages, which are known as PSI messages, are then transmitted from the network to the mobile station on a PACCH (packet associated control channel) channel which is an internal control channel, i.e. in-band channel, of a traffic channel PDTCH (packet data traffic channel). In such a case, the control messages are transmitted among the data packets that form the actual payload on the same physical channel.
A problem with the arrangement described above is that if the GPRS mobile station cannot correctly receive system information transmitted on the PBCCH channel, it also cannot transmit or receive data packet transmissions according to GPRS. In the near future, when GSM networks will be updated to also support GPRS packet data services, a great risk exists that GPRS mobile stations which came out on the market before the PBCCH channel came to the networks will not work on the PBCCH channels to be built into the networks in the future, because it has not been possible to test them in field conditions. One problem in this is the transmission of said PSI messages to mobile stations on a traffic channel, in which case all mobile stations receive control messages which are intended to be transmitted on packet-switched control channels only. Thus, there also exists a great risk that GPRS mobile stations which came out on the market before the GPRS service was initiated will not work in the GPRS network after the PBCCH channels are taken into use in the new networks. The extremely significant drawback in this is that circuit-switched speech services will not work, either, in such GPRS mobile stations.

Transmitting control messages on control channels of packet data network


An elevator door drive device, which opens and closes at least one car door leaf and a corresponding shaft door leaf, includes a coupling mechanism mounted at the car door leaf for transmitting the car door leaf movement to the shaft door leaf with two parallel entraining runners mounted on pivotable adjusting elements. The spacing between the runners is adjustable and a drive unit transmits closing and opening movements to the car door leaf by way of a drive apparatus that leads the entraining runners to a coupling element at the shaft door leaf before the start of the opening movement and moves them away from the coupling element after the end of the closing movement. The pivotable adjusting elements, during opening or closing the door leaf are blocked by means of a catch acting in both pivot directions.

The present invention relates to an elevator door drive device for opening and closing at least one car door leaf and at least one associated shaft door leaf of an elevator.
The present invention further relates to the problem of transmitting the opening and closing movement, which is produced by a car door drive, from at least one car door leaf to the associated shaft door leaf.
A door drive device with a coupling mechanism for coupling a card door leaf with an associated shaft door leaf has become known from European Patent Specification EP 0 332 841. The coupling mechanism comprises two entraining runners which are oriented to be parallel to the travel direction of the elevator car and which are adjustable in their mutual spacing by a parallelogram guide with two adjusting elements each pivotable about a respective pivot axis. If the elevator car is correctly disposed at a floor level, the two entraining runners lie between two coupling elements arranged adjacent to one another at the shaft door leaf and can be laterally guided up to these (spread) in order on the one hand to unlock the shaft door leaf and on the other hand to transmit the opening and closing movement of the car door to the car door leaf in play-free manner and synchronously. The adjustment of spacing between the two entraining runners in that case takes place by a door drive unit, which is fastened to the car door frame, by way of a linearly acting drive means (for example, by a belt drive), which also produces the closing and opening movements of the car door leaf. In that case the drive means so engages at the car door leaf by way of a pivot lever connected with the adjusting elements of the parallelogram guide that through the opening movement of the linearly acting drive means the adjusting elements are pivoted, before the start of a door leaf opening movement, into a setting in which the entraining runners are led up to the coupling elements, thereby unlock the shaft door leaf and form the said coupling between the car door leaf and the corresponding shaft door leaf.
At the end of the door leaf closing movement the adjusting elements are pivoted by the closing movement of the linearly acting drive means back into a setting in which the entraining runners are spaced from the coupling elements so that the locking of the shaft door leaf in its locked position returns.
In order to guarantee that the door leaf opening movement begins only when the entraining runners are fully spread and thus the shaft door leaf unlocked, a tension spring ensures that the spreading of the entraining runners takes place automatically even against the resistance of the shaft door unlocking. This has the consequence that at the start of the door opening process the drive means is driven by the tension spring in opening direction until the pivot lever is fully pivoted out in opening direction and that at the end of the closing process, i.e. on reversing the spreading of the entraining runners, the drive means has to work against the action of the relatively strong tension spring.
The door drive device shown in the EP 0 332 841 document has a number of disadvantages.
In order to ensure that on changeover the drive direction from the door leaf opening movement to the closing movement the adjusting elements are not prematurely pivoted back as a consequence of acceleration forces, i.e. the entraining runners do not space themselves from the coupling elements, the pivoting back of the pivot lever arranged between the drive means and one of the pivotable adjusting elements is prevented by a catch lever. This has the form of a double-armed, horizontally extending lever mounted at the door leaf. When the door leaf is disposed in its closed setting, the first arm of the catch lever lies on a support roller fastened to the car door frame and the second arm extends horizontally below an abutment dog which is present at the pivot lever and by way of which the drive means acts on the one adjusting element. The catch lever is so loaded with a torque about its fulcrum by a torsion spring that the second arm moves upwardly when the first arm is no longer supported. If the drive means at the beginning of the door leaf opening movement pivots the pivot lever together with the adjusting element in clockwise sense and thus has spread the entraining runners and subsequently the car door leaf has opened so far that the catch lever fastened thereto is no longer supported by the support roller, the second arm of the catch lever moves upwardly to the height of the abutment dog at the pivot lever and prevents the pivot lever and the adjusting element from pivoting back. Before, after reversal of the drive direction, the door leaf has reached the end of the closing movement the first arm of the catch lever is raised by the support roller, wherein the second arm moves downwardly and frees the abutment dog of the pivot lever so that the drive means can move the pivot lever, adjusting element and entraining runners into the initial setting in which the entraining runners are spaced from the coupling elements.
The disadvantages of this equipment are that the catch lever does not lock the pivot lever and the adjusting element in both pivot directions and does not lock them free of play. This can have the consequence on the one hand that the spacing between the spread entraining runners varies, which can have a negative effect on the unlocking process in the case of shaft doors and impairs the accuracy of the closing process in the case of the shaft doors, which can lead to the locking thereof not taking place correctly and triggering of a fault in operation. On the other hand, any play which is present, particularly in the case of rapidly moved and strongly accelerated door leaves, can produce disruptive noises.


Systems and methods for performing graph-based analysis of computing system threats and incidents, and determining response and/or mitigation actions for the threats and incidents, are described. In some embodiments, the systems and methods generate node graphs of computing system threat artifacts, and perform actions to identify recommended resolutions to the threats, based on information derived from the generated node graphs.

In the cybersecurity industry, an indicator may be a forensic artifact or remnant of an intrusion that can be identified on a host or network. Example indicators, as described herein, include a domain that acts as a command and control source, or the file hash for a known piece of malware. Indicators help analysts to detect and investigate incidents. For example, they may be used during the incident response lifecycle to understand the potential damage to a system, and mitigate the attack to proactively prevent current or future damage to the system. For example, the system may operate under an underlying assumption that the artifact is malicious and that other artifacts with shared characteristics should be identified as being potentially malicious.
The various standards such as OpenIOC, IODEF, and Cybox/STIX/TAXII provide a standard language for describing incidents and indicators to simplify the exchange of such information. These standards aim to provide a mechanism for logically grouping descriptive terms about a specific threat. For example, an indicator could be a request in which source IP=22.214.171.124 and user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv: 31.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/31.0."
The conventional industry approach to managing indicators significantly impacts an enterprise's ability to analyze their own cyberattack data. Since the assessment of whether an artifact is malicious becomes tied to the actual event, enterprises are losing their historical record of cyberattack artifacts.
For example, an enterprise may have lists of bad IPs, but lack context about the circumstances in which those IPs were seen, how the IPs relate to other artifacts, whether the IPs are suggestive of a particular threat group, and/or whether they had threat intelligence about those IPs at any specific time. Enterprises are often not tracking the actual instances of identical or similar artifacts. Enterprises may also not have the ability to capture changes in their assessment of an indicator's maliciousness, or to flag specific artifact attributes (or combinations of artifact attributes) as being indicative of maliciousness.
These and other problems exist with respect to handling and/or mitigating attacks and other incidents to computing systems.
The drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. Similarly, some components and/or operations may be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes of discussion of some of the embodiments of the present technology. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Determining computing system incidents using node graphs


An axial-flow type fan includes a fan housing consisting of an air inlet, an air outlet and an air channel, and a fan wheel consisting of a hub and fan blades. The air channel of the fan housing accommodates the fan wheel which has end-cornered cutting blades proximate the air outlet of the fan housing. When the fan wheel is rotated, the end-cornered cutting blades are able to eliminate air turbulence and air noise in the air outlet of the fan housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an axial-flow type fan having an air outlet blade structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to an axial-flow type fan having an end-cornered cutting blade structure proximate an air outlet of a fan housing, thereby reducing air-shearing noise in operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring initially to FIG. 1, it illustrates a conventional fan housing structure having an air outlet connecting with an air inlet. The fan housing 10 forms an air-boosting inlet 11, an air channel 12 and an air outlet 13. A fan wheel (impeller) 20 is accommodated in the air channel 12, and consists of a hub 21 and a plurality of fan blades 22 arranged about a rotary axis of the hub 21. Each of the fan blades 22 has an air outlet corner 23. In operation, when the fan wheel 20 is rotated, the fan blades 22 drives air and the air outlet corner 23 may cause air turbulence on an inner circumference of the fan housing 10 that generates air noise. Hence, there is a need for a fan blade structure which can reduce air turbulence and air noise.
Referring to FIG. 2, it illustrates another conventional fan housing structure having an air outlet connecting with an air inlet. The construction of the conventional fan structure described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,734,015, 4,743,173, Re34,456, 4,806,081, 4,992,029, 5,028,216, 5,135,363 and 5,267,842 etc. The fan structure consists of a fan housing 10 and a fan wheel (so-called impeller) 20 accommodating therein. The construction of the fan housing 10 is shaped square including an air inlet side (so-called upstream side) and an air outlet side (so-called downstream side) disposed at its either side. The air inlet side forms an air-boosting inlet 11 while the air outlet side forming an air-expanding outlet 13′. An air channel 12 connects between the air-boosting inlet 11 and the air-expanding outlet 13′. The fan wheel 20 is accommodated in the air channel 12, and consists of a hub 21 and a plurality of fan blades 22 arranged about a rotary axis of the hub 21. The construction of the hub 21 is a barrel-shaped object having an outer circumference on which equi-spaced and titled the fan blades 22 each of which forms a flat vane. In operation, when the fan wheel 20 is rotated, the fan blades 22 drives air to suck into the fan housing 10 through the air-boosting inlet 11 that increases air pressure. Subsequently, airflow may pass through the air channel 12 and exhaust from the air-expanding outlet 13′ that steadies an exhausting airflow.
However, there exist several drawbacks of the axial-flow type fan in use. Each flat vane of the fan blade 22 has an outlet corner portion 23 at its endmost corner. The outlet corner portion 23 of the fan blade 22 is situated in the longitudinal section of the air-expanding outlet 13′ starting from the starting point A, as best shown in FIG. 2, and almost perpendicular to a surface of the air-expanding outlet 13′. When the fan blades 22 drive a mass of the exhausting air exhausting from the air-expanding outlet 13′, the air-expanding outlet 13′ guides and steadies the exhausting air for exhausting from the fan housing 10. In the longitudinal section of the air-expanding outlet 13′, the flat vane portion of the outlet corner portion 23 drives a transverse airflow in the air channel 12 that may generate air turbulence on the annular surface of the air-expanding outlet 13′ and cause air-shearing noise.
The present invention intends to provide an axial-flow type fan having an end-cornered cutting blade structure proximate an air outlet of a fan housing. When the fan is rotated, the end-cornered cutting blade structure is able to eliminate a transverse airflow in an air channel and thus to reduce air-shearing noise in such a way to mitigate and overcome the above problem.

Axial-flow type fan having an air outlet blade structure

Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co., Ltd.


A phase change memory device includes a substrate, a switching element formed in the substrate and a storage node connected to the switching element. The storage node may include a lower electrode connected to the switching element, a first phase change layer formed on the lower electrode, a magnetic resistance layer formed on the first phase change layer, a second phase change layer formed on the magnetic resistance layer and an upper electrode formed on the second phase change layer.

Description of the Related Art
A phase change memory device, such as, a phase change random access memory (PRAM), is an example of a related art nonvolatile memory device. A related art PRAM records and reads bit data using resistance characteristics of a phase change layer. These resistance characteristics are varied according to a phase of the phase change layer. Other types of related art nonvolatile memory devices are flash memories, ferroelectric random access memories (FRAM), magnetic random access memories (MRAM), and the like. A structural difference between PRAMs and other related art nonvolatile memory devices is the storage node.
FIG. 1 shows a storage node of an example related art PRAM. As shown, the related art storage node includes a lower electrode 10, a lower electrode contact layer 12, a phase change layer 14 and an upper electrode 16 as illustrated in FIG. 1. In example operation, if a reset pulse current reset is applied to the storage node for a first time period (e.g., a relatively short time period), a portion of the phase change layer 14 contacting the lower electrode contact layer 12 changes to an amorphous region 18. In this example, the resistance of the amorphous region 18 is greater than the resistance of the phase change layer 14 in a crystalline state.
In related art PRAMs having a storage node structured as illustrated in FIG. 1, a write current applied to the PRAM to form the amorphous region in the phase change layer 14 may exceed an allowable current value for a transistor of the PRAM.
Moreover, integration of related art PRAMs may be increased by reducing transistor sizes and/or storage node size. However, if the size of the transistor is reduced, a maximum current allowable in the transistor may be reduced. As a result, unless the reset current applied during a write operation of the PRAM is reduced to lower than a maximum current allowable in the transistor, increasing integration density of PRAMs may be more difficult.
According to the related art, a reset current may be reduced by reducing a width of the lower electrode contact layer in the storage node, oxidizing the lower electrode contact layer or using a higher resistance TiAlN layer for the lower electrode contact layer. However, in related art methods, production yield and/or reliability of related art PRAMs may deteriorate because a set resistance may be increased.

Phase change memory devices using magnetic resistance effect, methods of operating and methods of fabricating the same


A rack for transporting personal pontoon watercraft. The rack has an anchor member which inserts in a standard trailer hitch receptacle and a support structure to which the watercraft is attached. Pivoting embodiments also have a pivot hinge which provides for the support structure to pivot between a down position for loading and an up position for transport, and a support brace which secures the rack in an up or transport position. The pivot hinge attaches the bottom end of the support structure to the rear end of the anchor member. The support structure includes one or more pairs of cradles into which the deck of the watercraft is slid which hold the watercraft in a vertical position for transport.

Personal flotation type watercraft have become very popular for use in fishing and other water activities. In particular the inflatable pontoon type personal watercraft has rapidly grown in popularity over the last few years. These watercraft typically consist of a pair of inflatable and streamlined pontoons, a deck, a pontoon connection structure and a means for securing the pontoons to the pontoon connection structure. A common means are straps, usually two for each pontoon which are connected to buckles which are permanently affixed to each side of the pontoons. These straps are then secured to the pontoon connection structure which in turn is attached to the deck. This type of watercraft offers a safer alternative to canoes, rafts and tube type craft. These type of craft are readily adaptable to electric and gasoline motors. They offer enhanced stability in rough water conditions.
Personal pontoon watercraft typically weigh fifty to eighty pounds. The loading and transporting of such a watercraft without deflating the pontoons and disassembling the pontoons from the deck structure is time consuming. A transport device is needed that will provide for the ease of loading of the watercraft and provide for it to be secured to a vehicle for transport in a fully assembled and fully inflated configuration. Because of the length of the typical personal pontoon watercraft, the watercraft would need to be transported in a tipped up position if it is to be attached to the rear of a vehicle. For ease of use, the device needs to be attachable to a standard trailer hitch. While various types of racks for personal watercraft and other types of sports accessories appear in a prior art, none provide for the transport of pontoon type personal watercraft by attachment to and suspension from a standard trailer hitch.
It is therefore the objective of the present invention to provide a transport rack for pontoon type personal watercraft.
It is the further objective of the present invention to provide a transport rack for a pontoon type personal watercraft that is attached to and suspended from a typical trailer hitch.
It is the further objective of the present invention to provide a personal pontoon watercraft transport rack which will facilitate the attachment of the watercraft to the rack while the watercraft is in a horizontal position on the ground or on water, provide for tipping of the watercraft and the rack from a down or load position to an up or transport position after being attached to the rack and provide for lowering of the watercraft and the rack from the transport position to the load position with the watercraft on or near the ground or on or near the water for ease of unattaching and unloading the watercraft.

Personal pontoon watercraft transport rack


A mounting system is disclosed that includes a bracket configured to mount an object on a structure. The bracket includes a front panel, two side panels extending from the front panel, and a plurality of slots. Each slot is configured to accept a projection connected to the object and retain the projection within the slot. The bracket further includes a plurality of apertures. The mounting system further includes a retainer configured to extend into the bracket through the plurality of apertures and prevent, at least in part, the plurality of projections, retained by the bracket in the plurality of slots, from being withdrawn from the plurality of slots.

Electronic equipment is usually fixed to a structure, such as a pole, with a mounting bracket. The brackets generally are fixed on a pole with bolts and nuts. Alternatively, some brackets can be also fixed on the pole with steel rings. These types of mounting brackets need to lock the electronic equipment on the structure, which can be difficult to accomplish. These types of mounting brackets also do not provide theft-resistance.
Accordingly, there is a need for mounting systems that is easy to install on a structure and include theft resistance for securing an object on the structure. Aspects of the present disclosure solve this and other problems.


The present invention provides a method and system to reduce the impact of errors introduced in flash devices while providing improved system performance through optimized activities with limited impact to overhead using a predetermined threshold value or threshold device value. In an embodiment, a device threshold value is compared with the cumulative number of data bits having a zero value of a target page and an error type of the target page is assessed to determine whether the target page is available to be written to. Therefore for a highly effective method for is provided for determining the availability of a page, having a block address and page address, to be identified, in one instance, as being an erased page that is available to be written to.

In typical computer-related devices, there is often a flash memory that involves a NAND-based architecture. The NAND-based architecture typically comprises one or more flash memory chips, a memory controller for executing flash translation code (FTL) code in Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Static Read-Access Memory (SRAM) for maintaining the address mapping information, and a host interface for communicating, such as that of a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) for example. In operation, a flash memory device is able to issue commands in association with logical sector addresses of and data resident on the flash device. Within the architecture of the device, commands of read, write, program and/or erase in relation to physical locations, or sector addresses, of the data (i.e., operational commands) are performed via the FTL.
Flash memory is a popular type of non-volatile computer storage chip having a NAND-based architecture. Memories having NAND-based architectures are typically found in memory cards, Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives, solid-state drives, and similar products, for general storage and transfer of data. NAND flash memory is also often used to store configuration data in numerous digital products. Example device applications of flash memory include personal computers, PDAs, digital audio players, digital cameras, mobile phones, synthesizers, solid state storage, video games, scientific instrumentation, industrial robotics, routers, communication devices, programmable devices, medical electronics, and so on. Flash memory is popular in applications for consumers because of the robustness of the devices (i.e., shock and water resistance versus disc drives) as well as since flash memory offers fast read access times, as Its mechanical shock resistance helps explain its popularity over hard disks in portable devices; consequently, consumers often expect long-term performance from such devices and are often unfamiliar with the flash endurance limits and disturbance issues that may arise.
Typically, a flash memory drive is used to provide non-volatile storage to computer-based systems (such as a PC) by connection via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or other bus. NAND is a common type of flash memory. Flash memory may be electrically erased and reprogrammed. Typically, the NAND-based architecture flash memory is programmed to read and be written to in blocks, or pages, where it may be the entirety of the block that is erased when new data is written to the block. In NAND memory (also used herein as "flash memory"), it is understood that before data can be programmed (or written to) a page, typically the page needs to have been erased or be otherwise available for writing. As a result fairly large blocks of data are often erased before new data can be written or rewritten to the page. It is further understood that within data there may be errors in content resulting from, but not limited to, data bits being flipped (ones are exchanged for zeroes, or vice versa), data being inaccurate, or some data being invalid.
Further, the inherent reliability of flash data may often be affected by a number of factors including: read disturbs, program disturbs, endurance, etc. In some instances bad block management (BBM), wear leveling (WL), and error correction efforts (such as error correction checking [ECC]) are engaged to assist in checking for errors after writing to a page.
BBM is required as bad blocks may result during usage following erase fails, program fails, and read fails. WL is required as a result of each block within a NAND flash having a limited life (i.e., erase count or endurance limit); by example, though a Single-Level Cell (SLC) flash may typically outperform a Multi-Level Cell (MLC) flash by being faster from using a simpler control logic with 1 bit versus the 2 bits used by MLC flash, the lifespan (i.e. endurance) of the SLC chip is often rated at ten times that of the MLC chip's rating of 10 k write/erase cycles per cell. Similarly, while ECC, in various competencies, is often used to detect and correct the presence of errors to reconstruct the original, error-free data within certain limits, errors may still result even with address correction logic present and often strict error correction approaches may require additional time which thereby further constrains performance.
For instance, in traditional operating systems, software is often a means for determining whether a page has been written to or not and therefore whether the page is available for being written to or not with new data. Operationally, for a typical 4 kB page, the software will read from the flash device and then store a target page in a temporary location. Thereafter, a count of the number of ones (i.e., data bits having the value "1") resident on the page is performed, where if the cumulative total of data indicates ones totaling 4 kB, then the software can determine that the page is available for writing as the page has been erased of prior data or similar. Contradistinctively, if the cumulative total of data indicates ones totaling less than 4 kB, then the software may conclude that the page is not available for writing as the page has not been erased of prior data or similar even though the page may have been erased, as the discrepancy may have arisen from errors associated with the flash data (i.e., read disturbance, etc.). This approach, and particularly those that may read a byte at a time, are understood and recognized to be time-intensive processes resulting in overall performance impacts that are not desirable.
Similarly, it is understood that a hardware-based approach may also involve reading a page for the presence of data having ones, where if the number of ones on a page is equal to the number of bits sought for the page, an indication that the page has been erased is set forth. In contrast, if the number of ones on a page is not equal to the number of bits sought for the page, an indication that the page has not been erased is determined. This approach often involves reading a byte at a time with reduced performance that are not desirable.
However, since flash devices are inherently erroneous and subject to read disturbances, bits may be flipped more often than is desired such that the approaches in software or in hardware are too time-intensive to implement. Though both prior approaches seek a similar outcome, each may yield a determination that the data of a target page has not been erased when it actually has been, simply because certain data bits of one were flipped to zero. Other attempts may also then seek to have a controller having error correction logic that is able to check the validity of the page. Unfortunately, even after data is written to a flash with error correction (such that when the data of the page is read back that data can be corrected when in error because of the error correction), checking for the correctness or errors associated with the page data requires additional time-intensive processing.
Many of these prior approaches add additional overhead and further limit the utility of the system capacity.
As a result, it is desirable to mitigate the impact of errors and the need to seek additional time-intensive processing, particularly on a bit by bit basis, in order to determine the availability of page to have data written to it, preferably without having to undergo additional time-intensive processing steps.
Rather what is needed is a method and system to determine whether a target page of a particular device is available to be written to in relation to error performances associated with the particular device without having to undergo additional time-intensive processing steps or bit by bit data assessment of a target page.
As used herein the term "NAND-based architecture" is intended to include those architectures and techniques for memory devices, systems and peripherals which are organized into a plurality of blocks where each block comprises a plurality of pages and each page typically defines an individually addressable physical memory location. Further "NAND-based architectures" are also intended to include any memory architecture, including implementations, in which read disturbance(s) or disturbance events resulting from retrieval of data may occur.
FIG. 1 sets forth diagrammatic overview of a NAND-based array 100. From the example of FIG. 1, the array (100) has 1024 k pages (120) which are approximately 8192 blocks. A block, within the array has 128 pages, of 528 k bytes. In general, for such an exemplary array, 1 page typically has (4 k+128) bytes; each block has (4 k+128) bytes by 128 pages equivalent to (512 k+16 k) bytes; and each device has (4 k+128) bytes by 128 pages by 8192 blocks or approximately 33,792 Mbits of data.
Further from FIG. 1, a page register (140) has 4 k bytes (at 150) plus 128 bytes (at 160) for information such as error code storage and related detail. Each NAND page has sectors within the page.
As used herein the terms device, apparatus, system, etc. are intended to be inclusive, interchangeable, and/or synonymous with one another and other similar arrangements and equipment for purposes of the present invention though one will recognize that functionally each may have unique characteristics, functions and/or operations which may be specific to its individual capabilities and/or deployment.

Robust erase page detection logic for NAND flash memory devices


An apparatus and method for multi-mode fuel injection is disclosed. A sleeve is disposed about a fuel injector tip movable between a first and second position and wherein the sleeve is capable of impinging the fuel spray as it enters into the combustion chamber. By impinging the fuel spray, different spray profiles or plumes can be obtained allowing the fuel injector to inject in different modes, including homogenous charge compression ignition.

Emission plays an important role in engine development. In particular, engine manufactures have learned that fuel injection plays a crucial role in determining the amount of emissions that an engine produces. Traditionally, a fuel injector would only operate in one mode of operation, injecting fuel towards the side of the cylinder when the piston approached top dead center. At this point, the compressed air is hot enough to cause combustion. However, engineers have learned that injecting in dual modes during the same engine cycle may substantially reduce the amount of the emissions created during the combustion process. Specifically, it has been learned that it is desirable to inject a small amount of fuel while the piston is near bottom dead center. As the piston moves closer to top dead center position, the fuel mixes with the air, as it is being compressed, to form a relatively lean homogeneous mixture. Traditional fuel injection also occurs near top dead center and combustion occurs as a result of the temperature of the compressed air. This process is commonly referred to as homogeneously charge compression ignition (HCCI).
The prior art has attempted to create dual mode injectors; however, improvement is still necessary for more viable dual mode operation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,419 B1, issued to Kampman et al., discloses an injector that is capable of injecting, in different modes based upon engine operating conditions. Specifically, a sleeve is disposed around a fuel injector that is capable of impinging the fuel spray as it is injected into the cylinder. By moving the sleeve up and down, the degree of impingement can be changed. At the fully retracted position, the injector injects towards the side of the cylinder without any impingement and at the fully advanced position, the injection spray is completely impinged and directed towards the bottom of the cylinder. However, in this patent, the sleeve is moved through a rack and pinion approach, and the sleeve is not capable of quickly transitioning between multiple modes during a single engine cycle. Further, the sleeve disposed around the injection tip provides only a vertical surface of impingement which limits the flexibility of the injector and limits the ability to achieve homogenous mixtures.
In other attempts to achieve dual mode operation, engine manufacturers have placed two fuel injector nozzles into a cylinder, each operating in a different mode. The first nozzle performs the initial homogenous charge injection, directed toward the bottom of the cylinder when the piston is near bottom dead center, and the second nozzle, with different orifice angles injects in the traditional fashion when the piston is near top dead center. Unfortunately, this approach requires numerous extra components, adding cost and taking up additional packaging space.
The present invention is directed to overcome one or more of the problems set forth above.

Fuel injector spray alteration through a moveable tip sleeve