This invention provides cycloaliphatic polyimide having the following formula (I):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a cycloaliphatic polyimide (or called polycyclic aliphatic polyimide or alicyclic polyimide) a method for producing the same, and its use. In particular, the present invention relates to a cycloaliphatic polyimide with heat-resistance, low dielectric constant, and high transparency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polyimide is an important polymer in the microelectronics and photoelectronics industries. It is widely applied in photoresist, passivation or dielectric film, soft print circuit board, and optics film and alignment films of the display. The polyimide used in the photoresist is photosensitive, and can be patterned by photolithography and used to transfer the pattern into the underlayer. The photosensitive polyimide also can form the passivation or dielectric film with heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant characteristics. The thermosensitive polyimide is used in the fabrication of soft print circuit boards, optics film and alignment film. In general, the polyimide has the properties of heat-resistance, low dielectric constant, and high transparency, which are the trend of the future development.
The precursors of the polyimide resin are thermo-cured polyamic acids or photo-cured polyamic esters. The thermo-cured polyamic acid is formed by the polycondensation of aromatic dianhydride with aromatic diamine. If an acrylate is also added to react with the aromatic diamine and the aromatic dianhydride, the reaction, the radical polymerization, is initiated by light, after post-curing, to form the polyimide film.
In Japan patent 1181091 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,859, aliphatic or alkynyl sidechains, or ethylene glycol bis(3-aminopropyl) ether and diamino siloxane are introduced into the aromatic polyimide to reduce the inter-molecular charge-transfer interaction and enhance transmittance and solubility. However, the intra-molecular charge-transfer interaction cannot be reduced to prepare the thoroughly transparent polyimide film, and its thermal stability is insufficient.
In Japan patents 07018074 and 03188163, the fluoro-based compound is employed as the reactant. Although the optical properties of the resulting polyimide are improved, and its dielectric constant is reduced to 3.0, the cost is too high to have economic benefits.
It is an object of this invention to develop a new cycloaliphatic polyimide and the method for producing the same. Such cycloaliphatic polyimide is rigid and polycyclic, and it has the properties of thermal stability, thorough transparency and lower dielectric constant required for application in the microelectrics and optoelectrics industries.
Therefore, the present invention provides a cycloaliphatic polyimide with the following formula (I)
wherein Cl, Cm and Cn can be alkyl or alkenyl, l is an integer from 4 to 7, n is an integer from 4 to 7, m is an integer from 0 to 2, and p is an integer from 1 to 8.
In such cycloaliphatic polyimide, cyclic aliphatic group R can be C1-8 cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, cycloalkynyl, norbornenyl, decalinyl, adamantanyl, or cubanyl.
The above-mentioned cycloaliphatic polyimide can be applied in photoresist, passivation film, dielectric film, optics film, and alignment film.
A polycondensation is proceeded by reacting the polycyclic aliphatic diamine having the following formula (II) with the polycyclic aliphatic dianhydride having the following formula (III) to form the product, polycyclic aliphatic polyamic acid or polycyclic aliphatic polyamic ester, having the following formula (IV). The product was converted to the cycloaliphatic polyimide having the following formula (I) when taking the cyclic reaction.
wherein Cl, Cm and Cn can be alkyl or alkenyl, l and n are integers from 4 to 7, m is an integer from 0 to 2, p is an integer from 1 to 8, x is an integer equal to or greater than 1, cyclic aliphatic group R can be C1-8 cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, cycloalkynyl, norbornenyl, decalinyl, adamantanyl, or cubanyl, and Rxe2x80x2 can be hydrogen or acrylate group.
In the polycyclic aliphatic diamine having the following formula (II), the cyclic aliphatic group R can be C1-8 cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, cycloalkynyl, norbornenyl, decalinyl, adamantanyl, or cubanyl. A specific example is 1,3-diamino adamantane.
In such polycyclic aliphatic dianhydride having the following formula (III), the repeating unit of its cyclic aliphatic structure is a cyclic system constituted by two the same or different C4-7 alkyl or alkenyl, and C0-2 alkyl or alkenyl as a bridged group. Specific examples are bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-7-ene-2,3,5,6-tetracarboxylic dianhydride, and pentacyclo [22.214.171.124,702,903,8]tetradecane-5,6,11,12-tetracar-boxylic dianhydride.
The polycondensation and cyclic reaction depicted above are proceeded in polar aprotic solvent which can in general be 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), N,N-dimethyl acetamide, tetrahydroxythiophene-1,1-dioxide, N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), tetramethyl urea, or xcex3-butyrolactone.
The polycondensated product (IV) can be thermo-cured polycyclic aliphatic polyimic acid or photo-cured polycyclic aliphatic polyamic ester. If Rxe2x80x2 is H, the product (IV) is the former. If Rxe2x80x2 is the acrylate group, the product (IV) is the latter.
In the preparation of the photosensitive cycloaliphatic polyimide, the acrylate is further added to take the polycondensation. The acrylate can be trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (2-HEMA), hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA), hydroxyethylacrylate (HEA), pentaerytrithol triacrylate (PETA), ethyldiethyleneglycol acrylate (EDGA), tripropyleneglycol diacrylate (TPGDA), or pentaerytrithol tri and tetra acrylate (PETIA).
The method of taking the cyclic reaction to cure the product (IV) is thermopolymerization or photopolymerization. If Rxe2x80x2 is H, thermopolymerization is chosen to dehydrate and form the thermosetting cycloaliphatic polyimide under a temperature of about 0xcx9c400xc2x0 C., preferably under about 350xcx9c400xc2x0 C. If Rxe2x80x2 is the acrylate group, photopolymerization is chosen. An initiator is added and then exposed to uv/vis light to induce photopolymerization, forming the photosensitive cyclicaliphatic or cycloaliphatic polyimide. The initiator can be Michler""s ketone, tribromomethylphenyl sulfone (TBPS), 2,4-diethyl-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (DTX), isopropyl-9H-thioxanthen-9-one (ITX), 3-acetylcoumarin, 3,3-carbonylbis(7-diethylaminocoumarin), 2-methyl-4xe2x80x2-(methylthio)-2-mor-pholinopropiophenone, benzil(2-ethoxycarbonyl)monoxime, 2,6-bis(4-azidobenzyliolene)-4-methylcyclohexanone, N-(4-azidosulfonylphenyl)-maleinimide, 2-benzyl-2(dimethylamino)-4xe2x80x2-morpholinobutyrophenone, or 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone.
According to the situation of Rxe2x80x2 being the acrylate group, a mask having a pattern thereon can be used in the above-mentioned exposure step with the exposure energy of about equal to or smaller than 100 mJ/cm2. The development step with a developer is followed to remove the unexposed parts to obtain the patterned cycloaliphatic polyimide film.
Without any intention of limiting itself in any way, the present invention is illustrated further by the following examples.

Cycloaliphatic polyimide, a method for producing the same, and its use

Abstract: wherein 1 and n are integers from 4 to 7; m is an integer from 0 to 2; p is an integer from 1 to 8; polycyclic aliphatic compound R reprents C1-8 cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, cycloalkynyl, norbornenyl, decalinyl, adamantanyl, or cubanyl. That cycloaliphatic polyimide can be a through transparent film, their thermal stability is over 430xc2x0 C. and dielectric constant is about 2.7.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A device may obtain calling security parameters, may communicate the calling security parameters to a network device, and may receive, from the network device, a calling parameters identifier associated with the calling security parameters. The device may communicate the calling parameters identifier to a called device, may receive a called parameters identifier from the called device, and may communicate the called parameters identifier to the network device. The device may receive called security parameters from the network device, may create a security key based on the calling security parameters and the called security parameters, and may communicate with the called device using the security key.

Currently available network technologies include various solutions for attempting to ensure that communications between devices within a network are secure. For instance, some solutions include the use of security keys to encrypt and decrypt information that is communicated between devices. However, currently available network technologies are inadequate. For example, current solutions for generating security keys involve risky procedures, such as passing security keys between devices, require a prohibitive quantity of network resources, etc.


A First In First Out shift register memory system (10) with a plurality of memory word registers (50) having data inputs connected to a common data-in bus (16), and a plurality of data outputs connected to a common data-out bus (22). A read address ring counter (36) and write address ring counter (32) are responsive to respective read and write pulses to sequentially perform memory read and write operations. A comparator (40) compares the address outputs of the ring counters (36, 32) for equality. A read and a write signal generator (80, 60) are provided for producing respective read and write pulses in response to input transitions of read and write commands. A last operation R/W flip-flop (70) maintains an account of the last read and write memory operation processed by the system. Read and write enable latches (90, 66) are responsive to the comparator (40) output indication of address equality, and responsive to the last operation R/W flip-flop (70) output indication of the last memory operation to prevent the reading of the memory (48) by read pulses when empty, and the writing of the memory (48) by write pulses when full.

The wide acceptance and current popularity of data transmission is evidenced by the amount of commercially available digital peripheral equipment which is connectable to computer processors, or the like. By and large, data processing systems required intercommunication between extremely fast operating peripheral equipment such as disk storage systems and printers.
The most efficient use of such a system is realized when the various interconnected components of the system can communicate asynchronously, whereby the fast operating equipment need not communicate with, for example, a printer, at the printer's slower communication rate.
It is a well-known practice to employ memories as intermediate buffers between the components of a system for storing data written therein by the transmitting equipment at one speed, and read therefrom by destination equipment at another speed. With this arrangement, it is imperative that memory storage space is available when the transmitting equipment transmits data. Moreover, when the memory storage space is full, it is necessary that the transmitting equipment is signaled so that further transmission cannot be accomplished. It is equally important that the destination equipment be signaled by the intermediate buffer when the memory storage is empty so that further reading thereof cannot be accomplished until additional data has been written therein by the transmitting equipment.
It is not uncommon, therefore, to find memory structures for buffering asynchronous communications between digital machines. It is well-known that shift registers may be employed for serially writing digital words therein at a desired speed, and read serially therefrom at a different speed. The problem with this type of buffer, however, is that the data written therein must be rippled through every memory location until the data is available at the output end. With this technique, a substantial delay in time must be experienced in progressively shifting the data from the input of the shift register to its output.
More recently, buffer random access memories have been developed which take on a First In First Out (FIFO) characteristic. However, the movement of the data within such a memory is managed by a control section which maintains an account of which storage cells hold effective data. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,151,6608 and 4,459,681. These FIFO memory devices yet require the data to be shifted from cell to cell, and thus have inherently long through-put or fall-through times.
A further improvement in memory buffers is disclosed at Page 181 in the June, 1983 issue of Computer Design, wherein there is disclosed an input data bus to each storage location, and an output data bus onto which the data stored in any of the word locations can be read. With this system, however, memory write cycles are initiated on one edge of a write pulse, but data is actually written into the memory on the other transition thereof. The reliability of data written into the memory with this technique is generally good; however, data which is changing near the write pulse transition is unreliable. Moreover, the FIFO memory requires a running account of the particular addresses currently being written and read to determine the empty or full status of the buffer. Because various events may occur, both externally and internally within the FIFO memory, between the rising and falling transition of the write pulses, the true empty or full status frequently becomes uncertain. Therefore, the empty or full status cannot be absolutely guaranteed.
There is therefore a need for a FIFO memory buffer which has very nearly a zero through-put time, i.e., a zero fall-through time, and in which the empty or full status thereof can be determined with absolute certainty.
There is also a need for a FIFO type of memory buffer wherein all internal operations are commenced and carried through as a result of a single transition of a read or write signal.
A concomitant need exists for an extremely fast FIFO memory buffer wherein different memory words can be read and written simultaneously, or where the same word can be written and read within an extremely short period of time.

Zero fall-through time asynchronous fifo buffer with nonambiguous empty-full resolution


Apparatus for restoring a turret table toolholder guide station. The apparatus comprises a plurality guide rings each comprising precisely molded or machined inner and external circumferential surfaces, one guide ring being installed into each of the channels. Each guide ring has a portion of the ring circumference removed for facile, snap-in installation, but each guide ring retains a sufficient portion thereof that a toolholder inserted for guidance in the station is in substantially continuous, precise toolholder guiding contact with the inner circumference of the guide ring.

After repeated use, a station which is an aligning guide for a toolholder on a turret table, becomes enlarged, causing the tool holder to be relatively loosely guided and poorly aligned. Poor alignment of the toolholder results in destructive contact between the associated tool and die in a punching operation and ultimate battering and destruction of the tool and die.
Due to the expense of the tooling and difficulty of replacement of such stations and guides on the turret, it is highly desirable to restore the station without replacing or changing the toolholder or dismantling and reboring. However, any such restoration must provide new controlling surfaces between the toolholder and the station to protect the tool and die from misguided contact.
Two somewhat different methods for refurbishing a station are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,240,314 (Teeslink) and 4,756,630 (Teeslink). As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,630, the method of U.S. Pat. 4,240,314 involves the drilling of spaced side bores in the toolholder wall and the insertion of plugs of resilient material into the bores to position the toolholder away from the wall of the station. The plugs extend outwardly into the toolholder bore sufficiently so that the toolholder compresses the resilient plugs tightly into the side bores. The toolholder reciprocates across ends of the plugs. The small plugs provide limited bearing surface and wear soon occurs requiring the replacement of the plugs, although their resilient spring back extends the useful life somewhat. The plastic tends to creep under constantly applied load so that the advantage of the compression is largely lost. This method is therefore of severely limited value, either for repair or for original equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,630 endeavors to ameliorate the application of spaced supports within a station by replacing spaced plugs with longitudinal wear strips. The wear strips are retained within keyways machined in the sides of a refurbished station. To be effective, toolholder bearing surfaces of the strips must provide close but clearing surfaces which are symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal axis of the toolholder. Preferably, the strips and keyways are dovetailed. Keyways are taught to be provided by broaching the cylindrical walls of the station using special tools, in a first step as a rectangular keyway and in a second step as a dovetail using a dovetail shaped broach. To make matching strips, rectangular blanks of plastic bearing material are forcibly intruded lengthwise into the dovetail thereby removing excess material and forcing the strip to fit. Finally the radially protruding strip is formed by longitudinal broaching. While no dismantling of an associated turret is required, the process requires a plurality of high precision and involved steps and specialized tooling as recited above to refurbish a station.


A reach extension device for use inside of motor vehicles intended to provide increased reach is herein disclosed. The device comprises a telescoping handle and an operable spring-style clamping device on its outward end, particularly suited for holding and receiving items often extended out of a car window such as electronic parking passes, tickets, credit cards, paper currency. Additionally, the device is provided with a cup-shaped lower section for paying tolls or receiving change.

The nearly endless number of items which are encountered at various times and places in life require many different handling means. In many cases, the use of one's hands to grip, pick up, or handle various items can be difficult, uncomfortable, or even impossible. Situations such as retrieving golf balls from the bottom of a pond or the process of picking up fallen household items for someone with a physical ailment require specialized gripping aids.
One such situation is that of accessing and handling objects from the confines of a motor vehicle. Many common situations require a driver or passenger to handle objects through the window of such a vehicle. Such situations include drive-throughs restaurants, toll booths, ticket dispensers, drive up ATMs, and the like. Such situations may require a driver to unbuckle to reach through a window, strain from their seat, or even exit the vehicle.
Various attempts have been made to provide item handling implements and extenders. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,533, issued in the name of Repiscak et al., describes an arm extender device. The Repiscak device is a long cylinder with a hook disposed at a distal end to allow the manipulation of side view mirrors from the driver's seat of a vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,550, issued in the name of Lessard, describes a arm extending device for sponges and the like. The Lessard device allows a user to attach an object onto the end of a curved arm via a bracket assembly.
Additionally, ornamental designs for an arm extender exist, particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. D 367,597 and D 507,408. However, none of these designs are similar to the present invention.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such devices do not collapse for easy storage. Also, many such devices do not provide both pushing and pulling capabilities or provide the user with precise pushing capabilities for extended activation of small push buttons and the like. Also, many such devices do not allow a user to clamp objects as small as ATM cards and the like. Furthermore, many such devices do not provide storage sections for small objects such as coins and the like which a user may wish to extend. Accordingly, there exists a need for an extendable gripping device without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.


A machine tool comprises a base, a spindle operably associated with the base, a work holder operably associated with the spindle for securing a workpiece to the spindle, and a tailstock operably secured to the base. The tailstock includes a slideway and a tailstock body slidably secured to the slideway. The tailstock body is movable on the slideway between a home position away from the workpiece and a work engaging position. A limit switch and trip members associated with the tailstock, and a hydrulic circuit are provided for controlling the movement of the tailstock body from the home position to an intermediate position prior to the work engaging position at an initial feed rate and from the intermediate position to the work engaging position at a subsequent feed rate where the initial feed rate is greater than the subsequent feed rate.

In a typical machine tool, such as a lathe, a work piece is gripped at one end by a work holder, such as a chuck or a collet, while the other end is supported by a tailstock. The tailstock is supported for sliding movement relative to the base of the machine tool. The tailstock also includes a quill that is supported for sliding movement relative to the tailstock body. During machining operation of a part, there is continual need to disengage the tailstock from the work piece or otherwise move the tailstock away from the work piece to its home position so that it would be out of the way of an operator. Typically, a tailstock will only have one home position which is permanently fixed. Thus, when the part being machined requires the tailstock to be moved away only a short distance and because of the limitation of the fixed home position, the operator loses valuable time when he moves the tailstock all the way to the fixed home position.
There is therefore a need for a tailstock that has an adjustable home position such that a tailstock does not have to be moved all the way to its permanent home position when only a short distance will suffice.
Typically a tailstock is moved toward the workpiece from its home position at a fixed speed which is normally slow to prevent the tailstock from damaging the workpiece. Valuable time is lost during this process, especially when the home position is further from the workpiece than necessary. There is therefore a need for a tailstock that can be moved part-way toward the workpiece at a relatively faster feed rate and then moved the rest of the way at a relatively slower feed rate until the tailstock engages the workpiece.


Integrated diagnostic devices comprising peptide-DNA conjugates for analyte detection, an embedded biomolecular computing system for sample analysis, and a layered device architecture are provided herein. In particular, provided herein are devices comprising a layered architecture that enables diagnostic reagents, sample components, and reaction products to flow through the system with minimal user intervention.

The emergence of the deadly Ebola virus and the rapid spread of the Zika virus have revealed critical gaps in the ability of healthcare systems worldwide to respond to infectious diseases. Current diagnostic technologies for infectious diseases identify pathogens by detecting the nucleic acids or antibody proteins produced by the immune system in response to infection, but both have drawbacks. For example, previously described tests that combine isothermal nucleic acid amplification reactions with paper-based cell-free reactions and toehold switches for virus detection are substantially cheaper, faster, and easier to implement than commercially available nucleic acid assays, but still require equipment for regulating reaction temperature, pipettes to transfer liquids between assay steps, and several hours to wait for results. As such, the test remains confined to clinics with basic equipment, electricity, and a skilled technician. Moreover, the test is limited to detecting nucleic acids, which precludes its application to detecting other biomarkers such as proteins and antibodies. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for improved diagnostic devices for detecting pathogens and disease states.

Integrated diagnostic devices having embedded biomolecular computing systems and uses thereof

ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY


A supplemental control system for a materials handling vehicle comprises a wearable control device, and a corresponding receiver on the materials handling vehicle. The wearable control device is donned by an operator interacting with the materials handling vehicle, and comprises a wireless transmitter and a travel control communicably coupled to the wireless transmitter. Actuation of the travel control causes the wireless transmitter to transmit a first type signal designating a request to advance the vehicle in a first direction. The receiver is supported by the vehicle for receiving transmissions from the wireless transmitter. A traction control of the vehicle is responsive to a receipt of the first type signal by the receiver to cause the vehicle to advance.

The present invention relates in general to materials handling vehicles, and more particularly, to systems and methods for integrating supplemental wireless remote control arrangements with materials handling vehicles for improved operation thereof.
Low level order picking trucks are commonly used for picking stock in warehouses and distribution centers. Such order picking trucks typically include load carrying forks, a power unit and a platform upon which an operator may step and ride while controlling the truck. The power unit has a steerable wheel and corresponding traction and steering control mechanisms, e.g., a movable steering arm that is coupled to the steerable wheel. A control handle attached to the steering arm typically includes the operational controls necessary for operating the truck, such as controls for raising and lowering the forks and for controlling the speed and direction (forward or reverse) of the truck.
In a typical stock picking operation, an operator fills orders from available stock items that are located in storage areas provided on both sides of a plurality of aisles of a warehouse or distribution center. The operator drives a low lever order picking truck to a first location where item(s) on a first order are to be picked. In a pick process, the operator retrieves the ordered stock item(s) from their associated storage area(s) and places the picked stock on a pallet, collection cage or other support structure carried by the forks of the order picking truck. The operator then advances the order picking truck to the next location where item(s) are to be picked. The above process is repeated until all stock items on the order(s) have been picked.
The operator normally steps onto the truck platform to ride on the order picking truck when the distance between consecutive picks is longer, for example twenty or more feet (approximately 6.1 meters). Correspondingly, the operator walks alongside the truck when the distance along the route between consecutive picks is short. Accordingly, some order picking trucks include jog switches located on the truck in the vicinity of the forks and/or on or near the control handle. The jog switches can be used by an operator walking alongside the order picking truck to accelerate the truck to a walking speed, typically between approximately 1.6 miles per hour (3.3 kilometers per hour) to around 2.75 miles per hour (4.4 kilometers per hour) to move from one stock pick location to the next stock pick location without the need to step onto the platform of the order picking truck. However, for such actions, the operator is required to interrupt picking while the order picking truck is relocated to the next location. Thus, the operator may be required to move out of a desired working position or modify a desired walking route to reach the jog switches.
It is not uncommon for an operator to be required to repeat the pick process several hundred times per order. Moreover, the operator may be required to pick numerous orders per shift. As such, the operator may be required to spend a considerable amount of time relocating and repositioning the order picking truck, which reduces the time available for the operator to spend picking stock.

Systems and methods of remotely controlling a materials handling vehicle


An appliance in which a patient's forearm and hand can be secured by straps at a prescribed angle that will enable X-ray pictures to be made at a specific angular relationship each time a X-ray is made so that the physician can evaluate the patients condition and changes in the patient's condition over a treatment period.

When taking an X-ray of any area of the body it is important that the body part be properly posed such that the condition under examination will be displayed optimally to reveal the information needed to be analyzed or treat the patient. Proper posing becomes even more critical when a body joint is being examined. In such a situation the relative position of multiple parts of the body is critical. Practices that are currently used are, for example, to have the patient hold the hand of the wrist that is to be X-rayed with his or her other hand or to wrap a towel around the hand of the wrist that is to be X-rayed and pull on the towel with the other hand to bend the wrist at a desired angle. However any technique, in which the physician or an X-ray technician instructs the patients in how the joint should be properly posed, and relies on the patient to maintain such a proper pose, will result in numerous errors requiring repeat x-rays. When using such techniques there is no assurance that the patient will maintain his or her arm joint as it was instructed to be posed. The physician or X-ray technician would become overexposed to X-ray if he or she were to remain with the patient to assure that the proper pose is retained. Furthermore the angle of a joint that is to be X-rayed can, in some situations, be so critical that an error of several degrees in the angulation may render the results useless or less than optimum. If repeat X-rays are required, the patient is exposed to additional doses of radiation, with no assurance that the correct angulation will be attained in the subsequent X-ray. This problem becomes even more critical in medical situations in which it is necessary to compare a series of X-rays to chart the progress of the treatment and healing. A patient in this situation will be exposed to considerable amounts of X-rays during the course of the treatment and the duplication of failed attempts could easily over expose the patient to X-rays. Furthermore in the process of comparing one X-ray to another in a series it is essential that all X-rays be taken at the identical angle. In these situations a device for posing a joint at a precise angle that is known to optimize the usefulness of the X-ray is required.
Such a situation exist in the treatment of wrist injuries caused from repetitive motion. The disorders go by many names including carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis or general terms such as repetitive strain injury. This painful disorder of the wrist and hand is induced by compression on the median nerve by bones and other structures that have become displaced within the carpal tunnel. The disorder can be successfully treated by relocating the bones and other structures of the carpal tunnel to their proper position, without recourse to surgery provided the displacement within the carpal tunnel is accurately diagnosed and then properly treated. A prerequisite to such treatment is the accurate diagnosis and understanding of the displaced condition that exist in the carpal tunnel. An X-ray of the area, taken at the proper angle is an essential part of this diagnosis. It has been found that after treatments there can be a partial retroceding of the prior condition, and a series of treatments are required to attain a permanent correction. For this reason it is important that the progress from one treatment to the next be accurately measured and documented. Reliable comparisons can only be made if the X-rays being compared were taken at the same precise angle. In the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome it has been found through extensive experimental work that the optimum angle to X-ray the carpal tunnel is 70.degree.. At a 70.degree. angle the bony and other structures in the carpal tunnel are seen at maximum visibility relative to each other. It has been found that this optimum angle, of 70.degree. is valid regardless of the size of the individual or the size of the forearm and hand under consideration. However, it has been found that some individuals, perhaps as a result of a prior injury to the wrist, cannot tolerate elevating their hand 70.degree. relative to their forearm. In such case an angle less than optimum, for example 60.degree., can be used and although optimum visibility is not obtained, this is the best available information, and an experienced physician can obtain acceptable results. It should be noted that if an insert is used at a less than optimum angle that same insert must be used in subsequent X-ray pictures. The prior art includes devices for supporting human body members in a variety of different positions to facilitate X-rays. However, the known devices are adjustable devices that are designed to exert stress on the body parts being examined and lack the means for properly aligning and assuring that the a precise angle for a particular condition will be used at all times. Such devices are shown in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,521,976; 4,045,678; 4,320,749 and 4,323,080.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a device that can retain a patients limb in a precise angular relationship to optimize the revelation of the x-ray for a particular condition under consideration.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a device for posing a patients limb for use when a series of x-rays are required to chart the progress of a condition and it is critical that the limb must be in the identical angular position in all x-rays.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a device for posing the wrist, of patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, for x-rays that will optimize the revelation of the x-ray in treating the patients carpal tunnel syndrome.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a device for posing the joints of patients suffering from joint disorders, that can accept replaceable inserts that have been designed to support the joint at a precise predetermined angle.


A pixel structure of active organic light emitting diode is disclosed, which comprises an organic light emitting diode, a data-line, a scan-line, a switch thin film transistor (TFT), a control TFT, and a capacitor. The switch TFT has a first lightly doping drain and the control TFT has a second lightly doping drain. The doped concentration of the second lightly doped drain region is higher than that of the first lightly doped drain region. The leakage current in the switch TFT is reduced and the kink effect in the control TFT is improved by the pixel structure of an active organic light emitting diode. Therefore, a better display performance is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pixel structure of an active organic light emitting diode, and more particularly to a pixel structure of an active organic light emitting diode having lightly doped drain regions.
2. Description of the Related Art
By the advance of technology, a variety of computers, cellular phones, PDA, digital cameras, etc. have been developed. In these electronic products, displays are very essential thereto. Because of their small size, weight and low power consumption, flat panel displays have been widely used. In flat panel displays, organic light emitting diode displays have wide view angle, contrast of color, lower weight, high responsive speed and low costs, and are adapted to be used in electronic clocks, cellular phones, PDA, digital cameras, etc. Initially, the organic light emitting diodes are passive-drive diodes. Because the luminescence and service life of these passive diodes will decay by the size and resolution of the displays, organic light emitting diode displays having active-drive diodes are developed.
Please referring to FIG. 1, it is a schematic drawing showing a prior art pixel structure of an organic light emitting diode. The pixel structure of an organic light emitting diode 100 comprises a data-line 104, a scan-line 102, a switch thin film transistor 110, a control thin film transistor 120, a capacitor 130 and an organic light emitting diode 140. The gray level of the pixel structure of an organic light emitting diode 100 is determined by the voltage of the data-line 104. When the scan-line 102 turns on the switch thin film transistor 110, the voltage of the data-line can control the gate terminal (not shown) of the control thin film transistor 120 through the switch thin film transistor 110 for supplying current to the light emitting diode 140 thereby generating different gray level. When the switch thin film transistor 110 is turned on, the capacitor 130 is charged for reserving voltage. When the switch thin film transistor 110 is turned off, the capacitor 130 is discharged for maintaining on-state of the control thin film transistor 120. Therefore, the light emitting diode 140 can provide the same brightness.
Please referring to FIG. 1, the switch thin film transistor 110 and the control thin film transistor 120 can be, for example, an amorphous-silicon thin film transistor or a poly-silicon thin film transistor. Compared with the amorphous-silicon thin film transistor, the poly-silicon thin film transistor has low power consumption and high electron mobility. Although early poly-silicon thin film transistors are processed by a high-temperature method, low-temperature poly-silicon thin film transistors have gradually the high-temperature diodes and become the mainstream in this filed.
When the poly-silicon thin film transistor serves as the switch thin film transistor, leakage current still exists in the channel region even if the switch thin film transistor is turned off. The voltage maintained by the capacitor, therefore, drops and affects the stability of the organic light emitting diode. FIG. 2 is an I-V curve of a prior art poly-silicon thin film transistor. From the curve, the Kink effect arises when the voltage is within the saturation region. It means that the current from the control thin film transistor varies with the driving voltage and cannot maintain at a fixed value. Accordingly, the reliability of the control thin film transistor becomes worse and the luminescence of the diode is affected.

Pixel structure of active organic light emitting diode


It has now been found that certain heterocyclyl-spirobicyclic catechols are useful as pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides. These compounds are represented by formula II: ##STR1## where Q is a 1-substituted-6-trifluoromethyl-2,4 (1H,3H)-pyrimidinedion-3-yl, a 3,4,5,6-tetrahydrophthalimid-1-yl, a 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1H,3H-1,3,4!thiadiazolo3,4-a!pyridazineimin-1-yl, or a 1,6,8-triazabicyclo4.3.0!-nonane-7,9-dion-8-yl; and A, B, X, Y, Z, n, u and R are as described in the specification. Preferred are those compounds where A and B are oxygen; Y is chlorine; Z is fluorine; n is 1 when u is 1 or n is 2 when u is 0; and X is oxygen.

This invention relates generally to novel herbicidal compounds and methods for their use in controlling unwanted plant species in agriculture. In particular, it pertains to herbicidal heterocyclyl-spirobicyclic catechols , and more particularly it pertains to heterocyclyl-spirobicyclic catechols where the heterocyclyl portion is a 1-substituted-6-trifluoromethyl-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedion-3-yl, a 3,4,5,6-tetrahydrophthalimid-1-yl, a 2-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-9-oxo-1H,3H-1,3,4!thiadiazolo3,4-a!pyridazineiminy l!, or a 1,6,8-triazabicyclo4.3.0!-nonane-7,9-dion-8-yl moiety.
There is a continuing demand for new herbicides. Herbicides are useful for controlling unwanted vegetation which may otherwise cause significant damage to crops such as wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton, to name a few. For crop protection, so-called "selective" herbicides are desired which can control the weeds without damaging the crop. Such crops are said to exhibit tolerance to the herbicide. In certain other situations, it is desirable to use herbicides that provide complete vegetation control such as in areas around railroad tracks and other structures. While many commercial products are available that provide selective or complete vegetation control, the demand exists for new, safe herbicides that are more effective and less costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,881 (FMC Corp.) describes herbicidally active compounds of the following formula: ##STR2## in which M is fluoroalkyl(C.sub.1-6); R is hydrogen, alkyl(C.sub.1-6), 2-alkynyl(C.sub.3-6), 2-alkenyl(C.sub.3-6), or cyanoalkyl(C.sub.1-6); R.sup.1 is hydrogen or alkyl(C.sub.1-6); R.sup.2 is hydrogen or alkyl(C.sub.1-6); X is hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, cyano, alkyl(C.sub.1-6), or fluoroalkyl(C.sub.1-6); Y is hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, or bromine, and n is 0or1.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,925 (FMC Corp.) describes herbicidally active compounds of formula I above in which M is fluoroalkyl(C.sub.1-6); R is amino; R.sup.1 is hydrogen or alkyl(C.sub.1-6); R.sup.2 is hydrogen or alkyl(C.sub.1-6); X is hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, cyano, alkyl(C.sub.1-6), or fluoroalkyl(C.sub.1-6); Y is hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, or bromine, and n is 0 or 1.


A wind turbine condition monitoring system and method are disclosed where the wind turbines include a tower, a gearbox coupled to the tower, and turbine blades coupled to the gearbox. The monitoring system includes blade sensors coupled to the blades, a hub node coupled to the gearbox and a controller. The controller is in communication with the hub node and blade sensors, and determines blade positions based on blade sensor readings. The blade sensors and hub node can include multi-axis accelerometers. The controller can wirelessly communicate with the blade sensors directly or through the hub node. Using position information, shadowing areas with obstructed communication can be avoided, node separation can be accounted for to reduce power requirements and/or interference from multiple transmitters can be avoided during node communications.

This patent relates to monitoring and communication systems and techniques, and more particularly to monitoring and communication systems and techniques for wind turbines.
Harvesting wind energy using wind turbines to supply electrical power is an increasing market. The efficiency and lifespan of wind turbines is dependent upon the conditions of the wind turbines, so there are many applications that use sensors mounted on wind turbine blades for condition monitoring. Wind turbine blade condition monitoring systems typically use wired communication between the sensors attached to wind blades and the controller which may or may not be located on the wind turbine. The controller detects the wind blade sensor readings, runs the required algorithms based on the needs of the specific applications, and then communicates the decision to a hub node of the wind turbine to take appropriate actions such as stopping the rotor, increasing/decreasing the blade rotation speed, etc. It is envisioned that communication between the sensors and the hub/controller can be wireless while the communication between the hub node and controller can be wired or wireless. However, the wireless communication paths between the various communication nodes of a wind turbine condition monitoring system can periodically be obstructed by structures of the wind turbine. For example, the tower may obstruct communication between a sensor on a turbine blade and a controller.
Condition monitoring of wind turbine blades can increase the lifetime of the blades and turbine by detecting abnormalities earlier and thereby enabling the taking of preventive actions earlier to avoid extensive damage to the blades and turbine. One of the various sensors that can be used for condition monitoring is an accelerometer sensor. Accelerometer sensors, when placed on an object, can be used to measure the vibration of that object. Accelerometers can also be used to determine the position of an object, for example the wind turbine blade positions.
It would be desirable to detect the positions of the wind turbine blades and use the position information to develop robust wireless communication schedules between blade sensors, hub nodes and controllers that meet desired communication parameters. These desired communication parameters can include for example, avoiding path obstruction and multiple transmission interference, and achieving reliability and power efficiency measures.

Method for robust wireless wind turbine condition monitoring


This document provides methods and materials related to rapid, quantitative determination of TPMT activity in biological samples. Also featured are compositions and kits useful for determination of TPMT activity in biological samples.

Thiopurine drugs are used as adjunct therapies for prevention of organ transplant rejection as well as in treatment of hematological neoplasias, and a variety of dermatologic, rheumatologic and neurological disorders in which the immune system is believed to play a role. Although thiopurines are very useful, relatively inexpensive drugs, they can have potentially life-threatening side effects. The metabolic conversion of thiopurine drugs to purine nucleotides and the subsequent incorporation of these derivatives into DNA plays an important role in both the efficacy and toxicity of these drugs. A competitive catabolic route for thiopurine metabolism is catalyzed by the enzyme thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) which inactivates thiopurines by converting them to thiomethyl derivatives such as 6-methylmercaptopurine (6-MMP). Consequently, a balance must be established between the two competing pathways such that sufficient drug is converted to the nucleotide to act as an antimetabolite, but that the level of antimetabolite does not become so high as to cause potentially harmful bone marrow suppression. In addition, TPMT activity is polymorphic in human populations, with about 89% of Caucasians and African-Americans having high activity, about 10% having intermediate activity and less than 1% having little or no activity. Patients with low TMPT activity are thus at risk for severe or fatal hematologic toxicity in response to thiopurine-based therapies. Therefore, management of patients requiring 6-MP therapy necessitates careful monitoring both before therapy begins in order to identify individuals who are more susceptible to toxic side effects, and later, during treatment to assure that 6-MP levels are maintained in a range that maximizes therapeutic efficacy while minimizing toxicity.

Kit for rapid determination of thiopurine methyltransferase activity

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research


There is provided a process for the preparation of sitagliptin or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a process for the preparation of intermediate compounds useful in the preparation of sitagliptin. In particular, there is provided a process comprising condensing 3-tert-butoxycarbonylamino-4-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)butyric acid of formula (II) with 3-(trifluoromethyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazine of formula (III) or a salt thereof in presence of a catalyst to obtain (R)-tert-butyl-4-oxo-4-(3-(trifluoromethyl)-5,6-dihydro-[1,2,4]-triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazin-7(8H)-yl)-1-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)butan-2-yl-carbamate of formula (IV) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The catalyst is represented by the compound of formula (V). Compound of formula (IV) or its pharmaceutically acceptable salt obtained may be deprotected to obtain a compound of formula (I).

Sitagliptin is chemically known as 7-[(3R)-3-amino-1-oxo-4-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)butyl]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-3-(trifluoromethyl)-1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazine and represented as follows:

U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,871 discloses sitagliptin and describes the preparation of sitagliptin hydrochloride salt, while U.S. Pat. No. 7,326,708 claims the phosphate salt of sitagliptin or a hydrate thereof.
The key step in the synthesis of sitagliptin is the condensation of amino acid derivative with triazolo pyrazine compound. This being a peptide bond formation, according to the prior art, standard peptide coupling conditions and reagents are used.
Various patent applications such as WO2004087650, WO2009064476, WO2009084024, WO2010122578, WO2011102640, WO2011049344, WO2012025944 and WO2012042534, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,871, describe different methods of preparing sitagliptin and its pharmaceutically acceptable salts. However, all these applications describe the use of a standard peptide coupling agent with or without additive and in the presence or absence of a base for the condensation of the amino acid derivative with the triazolo pyrazine compound.
The common coupling reagents used are dicyclohexyl carbodiimide (DCC), 1-ethyl-3-(3′-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC), diisopropyl carbodiimide (DIC), 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI), carbonyldithiazole, 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide methiodide, 1-tert-butyl-3-ethylcarbodiimide etc.
The common additives used are 1-hydroxy benzotriazole (HOBt), 1-hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole (HOAt), 1-hydroxysuccinimide etc.
These reagents are used widely in the synthesis of various products as they are cost effective and readily available.
However, these reagents do have certain disadvantages, such as:
1) the reaction is exothermic;
2) use of basic catalyst;
3) competitive hydrolysis of activated carboxyl group;
4) removal of dicyclohexyl urea byproduct obtained in DCC-HOBt mediated reaction;
5) the hazardous nature of the reagents such as HOBt;
6) the by-products of the reactions are toxic and hazardous in nature.
Further, the transportation and subsequent storage and use are critical issues for the reagents containing the imidazole ring benzotriazoles, e.g. HOBt, and for reagents with an extra nitrogen in the phenyl ring, e.g. HOAt. Recent studies have found that these compounds are unstable with relatively high sensitivity to friction, spark, and electrostatic discharge resulting in burning or explosion.
Carboxydiimides, for example, are well known for their skin irritating properties. In addition, prolonged use of benzotriazole based coupling reagents and additives (e.g. HOBt, HBTU, or TBTU) may not only cause skin irritation and contact dermatitis, but also sensitization and allergic reaction of the respiratory tract. In industry, these disadvantages are even more significant.
Thus the use of these reagents has been found to be incompatible and non-eco-friendly at industrial scale. Thus, there is a need to develop an industrially feasible, less hazardous and more eco-friendly process, which at the same time provides improved yield and chemical purity, as well as improved optical purity. The present invention therefore seeks to address these issues.

Process for the preparation of sitagliptin and intermediate compounds


An automatic, adjustable width chuck apparatus for securely positioning tires in a tire testing machine includes a lower chuck in the form of a spindle assembly and an upper chuck in the form of a movable chuck assembly. The spindle assembly includes a rotatable spindle having a tapered portion and the chuck assembly includes a chuck member having a mating tapered recess. The spindle assembly and chuck assembly each carry a half-rim for engaging the lower and upper beads of the tire. The entire chuck assembly is movable toward and away from the spindle assembly under force of a hydraulic cylinder and can be stopped at any point between fully raised and fully lowered positions. In addition, the chuck member is independently movable by pneumatic cylinders to engage the spindle member at various relative positions of the spindle and chuck assemblies. The movable chuck has an increased stroke length to accommodate various size tires. The pneumatic cylinders maintain the force with which the chuck member engages the spindle substantially constant. A tire stripper mechanism is provided to forcibly remove the tire from the rim of the chuck assembly upon completion of the testing.

Tire testing systems which examine tires in order to determine the presence of any irregularities or nonuniformities are known in the art. Known systems typically move a tire to a testing station where it is engaged by some form of chuck apparatus and inflated to its normal pressure. The tire is rotated at a standard speed against a loadwheel. Data taken from load cells to which the loadwheel is attached is used to detect the presence of any irregularities which may have arisen during the manufacturing process. Additionally, the system typically measures the size of the irregularities and is equipped with devices for correcting the irregularities, for example, grinding devices which remove material from the tire.
It was an objective of prior art tire testing machines to provide proper positioning of the tire in the machine so as to facilitate accurate detection, measurement, and correction of any irregularities in the tire. As explained below, however, although prior art chuck apparatus have performed adequately in holding the tire during testing and correcting procedures, there remains room in the art for improvement.
One prior art chuck apparatus for use in a tire uniformity machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,407 and comprises an upper chuck and a lower chuck, each of which has a rim secured thereto for respectively engaging the upper and lower beads of the tire. The upper chuck is moved toward the lower chuck by a hydraulic cylinder to clamp the tire between the rims. The upper chuck includes a slidable plunger having a tapered nose that mates with a tapered recess formed in the lower chuck. A spring surrounds the plunger and is compressed upon moving the chucks together. The patent discloses that when the spring is fully compressed the chucks are in their closed and locked position. Thus, the force exerted by the spring is used to lock the tapered nose in the recess of the lower chuck.
Another prior art chuck apparatus for a tire testing machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,398 and includes a female member secured to an upper rim and a male member secured to a lower rim. The female member has a tapered recess that receives the nose cone of the male member, the lower male member being movable toward the female member by a hydraulic cylinder. A spring located within the male member biases the nose cone toward the recess. The hydraulic cylinder moves the entire male member toward the female member until the nose cone seats in the tapered recess, and the cylinder continues to move toward the female member which compresses the spring and increases the locking force exerted by the spring. The patent discloses that the spring force frictionally couples the nose cone to the tapered recess of the female member.
The prior art chuck apparatus discussed above perform the function of positioning a tire in a testing machine between rims carried by the upper and lower chuck members; however, such assemblies have drawbacks. For example, the distance that the one chuck member can be moved toward or away from the other chuck member is limited. Also, the use of springs in prior art chuck assemblies imposes limitations regarding the distance the one chuck member may be moved toward the other member and, in addition, affects the consistency of the forces applied to enhance locking together of the respective components.
Additionally, prior art chuck apparatus must use a spring which has a force constant and length that exerts the necessary force to lock the chuck members together. If the distance the chuck member is moved (i.e., its stroke length) is increased, then the length of the spring must also be increased in order to exert sufficient force against the chuck member over such distance. However, increasing the stroke length by a considerable amount would require a very large, complex spring capable of exerting force over the increased range of movement. Utilizing such a spring is neither practical nor economical. Thus, the distance over which one chuck member can be moved in prior art machines is constrained by the stiffness and length characteristics of the spring. In addition, in view of the fact that the force exerted by a spring varies as the length of the spring changes, the locking force exerted on prior art chuck members varies as the length of the spring changes. Consequently, prior art chuck apparatus typically do not apply a substantially constant force to lock and maintain the chuck members together.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved chuck apparatus which is free of the limitations of conventional apparatus, provides an increased stroke length in order to accommodate various size tires, and applies a substantially constant force to lock the chuck members together.

Automatic adjustable width chuck apparatus for tire testing systems


The invention provides novel polyesters, fibers and films, nonwovens from the fibers and disposable products of the polyesters such as diapers. The products are degradable under the conditions typically existing in waste compositing processes, have low ingredient costs and yet provide strength and toughness properties adequate for end uses such as in disposable diapers. The polyesters are based upon polyester ingredients, such as polyethylene terephthalate, copolymerized with an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal 4-sulfophthalic acid derivative, and other ingredients, such as polyethylene ether glycols and/or non-aromatic diacids, such as adipic and glutaric acids.

The inadequate treatment of municipal solid waste which is being put in landfills and the increasing addition of nondegradable materials, including plastics, to the municipal solid waste streams are combining to reduce drastically the number of landfills available and to increase the costs of municipal solid waste disposal. While the recycling of reusable components of the waste stream is desirable in many instances, there are some products which do not readily fit into this framework, e.g. disposable personal absorbents such as diapers and sanitary napkins, garbage bags, and numerous other products. The composting of non-recyclable solid waste is a recognized and growing method of reducing solid waste volume for landfilling and/or making a useful product from the waste to improve the fertility of fields and gardens. One of the limitations to marketing such compost is the visible contamination by undegraded plastic such as film and fiber fragments.
As related in the aforesaid parent applications, which are hereby specifically incorporated herein by reference, there was a desire to achieve several objectives, as follows:
1- to provide components which are useful in disposable products and which are degraded into less contaminating forms under the conditions typically existing in waste composting processes. These conditions may involve temperatures no higher than 70 C., and averaging more nearly 55-60 C., humid conditions as high as 100% relative humidity, and exposure times which range from two weeks to more than three months.
2-to provide disposable components which will not only degrade aerobically/anaerobically in composting, but will continue to degrade in the soil or landfill. As long as water is present, they will continue to break down into low molecular weight fragments which can be ultimately biodegraded by microorganisms completely into biogas, biomass and liquid leachate, as for natural organics like wood.
3-to provide novel polyesters for making the aforementioned fibers, films, coatings and nonwoven sheets of the polyesters, and disposable diapers containing the nonwoven sheets.
4-to provide polyesters and derivative products which have low ingredient costs and yet provide strength and toughness properties adequate for end uses such as in disposable diapers.
Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,482 provided useful novel polyesters consisting essentially of recurring structural units of the formula EQU --C(O)--R--C(O)--OGO--
wherein R is about 97.5 to 99.9 mole % para-phenylene (abbreviation T) and about 0.1 to 2.5 mole % of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal 5-sulfoisophthalate radical (abbreviation 5SI) and wherein G is about 60 to 80 mole % --CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 -- (abbreviation 2G) and about 20 to 40 mole % --(CH.sub.2).sub.2 --O--(CH.sub.2).sub.2 -- (abbreviation DEG), and fibers, non-woven sheet, films and combinations thereof, and disposable diapers comprising such materials. The above-mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,097,004 and 5,092,008 provided other polyesters containing 5SI radicals. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,171,308 (QP-4691-A), 5,171,309 (DP-4955-A) and 5,219,646 (QP-4850-A), however, disclose useful compostable products are provided from additional polyesters containing sulfonate radicals other than 5SI, for example 4SP, referred to therein and hereinafter. So the object of the present invention is to provide compostable products from such copolyesters derived from 4SP.
Abbreviations and nomenclature herein, except as otherwise indicated, are as described in aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,482, and application Ser. Nos. 07/645,849, 07/645,995, 07/769,414, 07/769,417, and 07/771,019, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, as are applications QP-4560-A, QP-4690-A, QP-4691-A, QP-4710-A, QP-4850-A and DP-4955-A, being filed at the present time.

Polyesters and their use in compostable products such as disposable diapers


A complex oxide includes a chemical compound represented by ABO3 (Chemical Formula 1). In the Chemical Formula 1, A is one or more elements selected from Ba, Ca, and Sr; and B is one or more elements selected from Ti, Zr, Hf, and Sn. When a field having a size of 1 μm×1 μm on a surface of the complex oxide is observed with an atomic force microscope (AFM), a typical particle size is greater than or equal to 300 nm and less than 660 nm. Here, the typical particle size is a maximum length of a maximum particle observed in the field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a complex oxide, a thin-film capacitive element, a liquid droplet discharge head, and a method of producing the complex oxide.
2. Description of the Related Art
A composite oxide material having ferroelectricity has been used as a material of various types of electronic components, such as an electromechanical transducer element or a capacitor.
Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) has been known as a typical complex oxide material having ferroelectricity. However, recently, there is a demand for eliminating specific hazardous materials in manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment (e.g., Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive). Research have been made for finding an alternative material having ferroelectricity that can substitute for a material including lead as a main component, such as PZT.
For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-187672) discloses bismuth sodium potassium titanate having a perovskite structure, as an example of such a material.

Complex oxide, thin-film capacitive element, liquid droplet discharge head, and method of producing complex oxide


A pixel structure, suitable being driven by a scan line and a data line on a substrate, is provided. The pixel structure includes a thin film transistor (TFT) and a pixel electrode. Wherein, the TFT includes a gate, a first and a second dielectric layer, a semiconductor layer, a source, and a drain. Especially, the semiconductor layer has a body part and at least one extending part connected to thereof. The extending part is protruded from the edge of the body part disposed between the source and the drain. In addition, at least one contact hole is disposed in the second dielectric layer for exposing the extending part, and the first dielectric layer, the semiconductor layer, and the second dielectric layer at the extending part are removed through the contact hole. So, leakage current can be effectively reduced, thereby raising the Ion/Ioff ratio of the pixel structure.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a pixel structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pixel structure capable of raising the ratio of on-state/off-state current (Ion/Ioff) effectively.
2. Description of Related Art
Thanks to the progress of semiconductor elements and display devices, multimedia technology has been highly developed and adopted nowadays. For display devices, thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), having the advantages of high picture quality, excellent space utilization, low power consumption, non-radiation, etc., has gradually become the mainstream in the market.
An ordinary TFT-LCD mainly includes a thin film transistor array substrate (TFT array substrate), a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the above two substrates. The TFT array substrate is constituted by a substrate, TFTs and pixel electrodes arranged on the substrate in an array, scan lines, and data lines. In general, the scan line and the data line can transmit signals to the corresponding TFT for the purpose of displaying.
In LCDs of high resolution and high vertical scan frequency, the TFT array should meet the demand of a high Ion/Ioff ratio. Generally, only when the Ion/Ioff ratio is not less than 105, can the TFT-LCD provide a preferable display quality.
In view of the above, there are two methods for increasing the Ion/Ioff ratio in the prior art: (1) increasing the on-state current (Ion); (2) reducing the off-state current (Ioff). According to the first method, the on-state current is set by adjusting the ratio of width/length of channel (W/L of channel) of TFT. However, if the width of channel of TFT is continuously enlarged, a large gate-drain parasitic capacitance (Cgd) and kick-back voltage may be generated, thus causing the problem of flickering and affecting the display quality.
The second method is employed by reducing the off-state current, which does not have the above-described disadvantages. In other words, the leakage current phenomenon occurred in the TFT can be reduced and the Ion/Ioff ratio can be effectively increased without causing a large Cgd and kick-back voltage. It should be noted that the aforementioned leakage current phenomenon is mainly caused by a non-completely etched ohmic contact layer in the semiconductor layer.
FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a conventional pixel structure. FIG. 1A is a schematic sectional view along the line A-A′ of FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 1A, the pixel structure 300 includes a TFT 100 and a pixel electrode 200, and the TFT 100 is driven by the scan line 170 and the data line 180 on the substrate 160. The TFT 100 includes a gate 110, a gate insulation layer 120, a semiconductor layer 130, a source 140a, a drain 140b, and a protection layer 150. The gate 110 is electrically connected to the scan line 170. The gate insulation layer 120 covers the gate 110 and the scan line 170. The semiconductor layer 130 is disposed on the gate insulation layer 120 over the gate 110, and the semiconductor layer 130 is composed of a channel layer 130a and an ohmic contact layer 130b. The source 140a and the drain 140b are disposed on the semiconductor layer 130, and the source 140a is electrically connected to the data line 180. The protection layer 150 covers the source 140a and the drain 140b, and a contact hole 150a is disposed therein for exposing the drain 140b. The pixel electrode 200 is electrically connected to the drain 140b of the TFT 100.
Referring to FIG. 1A again, an ordinary TFT process often employs a photoresist layer (not shown), the source 140a, and the drain 140b as an etching mask to remove the ohmic contact layer 130b above the gate 110, i.e., the TFT 100 is fabricated by back channel etching (BCE). However, when the method is used in fabricating a large-sized panel, as the uniformity of the overall etching speed differs, a part of the ohmic contact layer 130b may be left near the region 190 as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 1A. As the ohmic contact layer 130b has a good conductive property, the leakage current may occur along the path A as shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, the pixel electrode 200 cannot keep the data voltage applied thereto, thus causing poor display quality such as flickering or cross talk.
There are three conventional methods for reducing the above-mentioned leakage current phenomenon. The first method increases the interlayer distance between the semiconductor layer 130, the source 140a, and the drain 140b. Referring to FIG. 2, the second method enlarges the width w of the cutout 195 of the semiconductor layer 130 between the source 140a and the drain 140b, such that the leakage current cannot be circulated in the path B easily. However, the above two methods may increase the load capacitance of the circuit and reduce the aperture ratio of the pixel structure 300, thus causing distortion or flickering of the driving signal.
Referring to FIG. 3, the third method increases the distance between the source 140a and the drain 140b at the edge, which is disclosed by U.S. No. 20050041169. As shown in FIG. 3, the distance between the source 140a and the drain 140b is L1 (i.e., length of the channel), and the distance between the edges of source 140a and the drain 140b is L2. That is to say, the distance between the source 140a and the drain 140b at the edge is increased by ΔL, and the width is changed by Δw. Therefore, by this design, the occurrence of leakage current can be reduced without decreasing the on-state current. However, the design can neither be used to reduce the leakage current phenomenon caused by the non-uniform dry etching of the ohmic contact layer 130b, nor to raise the Ion/Ioff ratio to the required level.

Pixel structure, thin film transistor array substrate and liquid crystal display panel


Methods including introducing a treatment fluid comprising a solvent-base fluid and a consolidation composition into a wellbore in a subterranean formation, the consolidation comprising, a crosslinking diverting agent, a hardening agent, and a multi-functional epoxy resin, the multi-functional epoxy resin comprising at least three epoxy groups; coating a face of the subterranean formation with the consolidation composition; and at least partially curing the consolidation composition in the wellbore, to reduce production of unconsolidated particulates from the subterranean formation into the wellbore.

The present disclosure is related to subterranean formation operations and, more particularly, to subterranean formation operations including a multi-functional epoxy resin.
Hydrocarbon-producing wells (e.g., vertical, deviated, and horizontal wells in a subterranean formation) are generally drilled using a drilling fluid pumped down a drill string and through a drill bit attached to the end of the drill string. The drilling fluid serves, among other things, to lubricate and cool the cutting surfaces of the drill bit, transport drill cuttings to the surface, control formation pressure, and maintain well stability. After drilling is complete, a casing string may be placed in the wellbore through which hydrocarbons will eventually flow. An annulus is formed between the casing string and the face of the wellbore, which may be partially or fully filled with cement in order to hold the casing string in place. In some applications, cementing of the annulus is not necessary and the casing string may be entirely uncemented, if included at all.
The process of drilling and/or stimulating a subterranean formation often creates unconsolidated particulates, such as from the natural abrasion of the formation itself and from any proppant not confined to a fracture (i.e., naturally occurring, placed during an operation, or created during an operation). These unconsolidated particulates may undesirably migrate within the formation. As used herein, the term "unconsolidated particulates" refers to any loose or loosely bonded particulates that may move through the formation with wellbore fluids (e.g., production fluids). Unconsolidated particulates may include, for example, sand, gravel, other particulates (e.g., proppant particulates), and/or formation fines.
The unconsolidated particulates may migrate out of the subterranean formation and be produced with production fluids. The presence of unconsolidated particulates in a formation during production is undesirable at least because they may damage or abrade producing equipment or reduce well production. For example, unconsolidated particulates may migrate into wellbore casings, perforations, or the interstitial spaces between packed proppants within a fracture and clog or hinder well production.
One method of controlling unconsolidated particulates is to treat the wellbore with a consolidating agent. In such treatments, a consolidating agent is placed into the wellbore in order to stabilize unconsolidated particulates, such as by contacting unconsolidated particulates and curing into a hardened mass. Typically, the consolidating agent may be used to lock unconsolidated particulates in place and form at least a partially immobilized substance, which may be accomplished by enhancing grain-to-grain or grain-to-formation contact of the unconsolidated particulates.
Long wellbores, including long deviated (e.g., horizontal or otherwise angled from vertical) are increasingly used to facilitate recovery of oil from very large reservoirs using only a single wellbore. Such long wellbores are often variable in multiple properties including, permeability, mineralogy, and the like. Due to such variability, consolidation of long wellbores may be difficult. For example, long interval wellbores having variable permeability may result in a treatment fluid including a consolidation agent to flow into regions of high permeability, leaving the low permeability regions untreated or unsatisfactorily treated. Mechanical isolation techniques may be employed to correct, at least partially, for the varying permeabilities. Such mechanical isolation techniques are often costly and time consuming.

Crosslinking resin for sand consolidation operations


An aircraft includes a fuselage, a wing, a ducted fan and a controller. The wing and the ducted fan are coupled to the fuselage. The controller is operable to control the aircraft in a vertical flight mode, a horizontal flight more, and transition the aircraft from the vertical flight mode to the horizontal flight mode.

Aircraft are generally considered to be one of two different types based on how they generate lift. A first type generates lift force from air passing over a fixed wing. This type of aircraft generally has a good lifting capacity, which also means that it can carry large amounts of fuel for sustained flight. However, because air needs to pass over the wing to generate the lift force, the aircraft must be accelerated on the ground until sufficient lift can be generated for take off. This limits the use of the aircraft to locations where there are suitable and accessible areas to accommodate take off and landing procedure.
A second type of air craft generates lift force from a rotating blade. Because the blade itself rotates, a lift force can be generated while the aircraft is stationary on the ground enabling it to be deployed from locations that cannot accommodate take off and landing of a fixed wing aircraft. However, significantly more power is required to generate a lifting force thereby limiting the fuel capacity and range of the aircraft. This type of aircraft is also generally limited to lower air speeds.
There have been some attempts to provide aircraft having a fixed wing and vertical take off capabilities. For example, the F-35 has a vertical take off variant. But, to provide this capability uses an extremely complex reconfiguration of the aircraft. In the F-35, the thrust is vectored toward the ground and a bay having a vertical fan is opened near the front of the aircraft. This reconfiguring is mechanically complex and also makes transitioning the aircraft extremely complex. This type of configuration generally also requires a significant amount of power to lift the aircraft such that the payload and even fuel capacity of the aircraft is reduced limiting its range.
It would be desirable to have an aircraft that combined the range and speed capabilities of the fixed wing aircraft with the take off and landing capabilities of a rotary blade aircraft. It would also be desirable to have such an aircraft of small or medium size that could be easily transported, deployed in a wide variety of terrain, and remotely operated or autonomously operated.


A front vehicle-body structure is provided that is lightweight and reduces an impact load transmitted to lower limbs of an occupant. Embodiments include a transmission disposed in a vehicle front portion, a dash lower panel dividing an inside from an outside of a vehicle cabin in a vehicle rear of the transmission, and an organ type accelerator pedal disposed on a vehicle-width-direction inner side of the dash lower panel opposed to the transmission. The dash lower panel includes a panel rear portion in which the accelerator pedal is arranged, a panel front portion extending from the panel rear portion to a vehicle front upper side, and a fragile portion extending in a vehicle width direction along a boundary between the panel rear portion and the panel front portion, which is fragile compared to the panel rear portion and the panel front portion.

In a vehicle such as an automobile, when a vehicle front portion collides with a collision object, an impact load acts on an occupant seated on a front seat such that the occupant is thrown out to a vehicle front. In this case, when the occupant braces both of their legs against movement to the vehicle front, as a force bending the ankles of the occupant causes the toes to approach the shins, the impact load tends to act on the lower limbs of the occupant. Thus, when the vehicle front portion collides with the collision object, the occupant might injure their lower limbs due to the impact load.
Accordingly, various techniques have been suggested that reduce damage to the lower limbs of the occupant when the vehicle front portion collides with the collision object. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-14171 discloses a front vehicle-body structure in which a dash panel on a passenger seat side includes a mechanism composed of a footboard on which a foot of an occupant is placed, a support member rotatably supporting a back end of the footboard, and a load absorption member absorbing a load applied to the footboard.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-14171, while a load caused by bracing of both of the legs by the occupant and a load moving the occupant to a vehicle front when a vehicle collides with a collision object are absorbed by the load absorption member, an impact load acting on the lower limbs of the occupant is absorbed by rotational movement of the footboard to the vehicle front. Accordingly, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-14171, a force causing the toes to approach the shins is inhibited from acting on the lower limbs of the occupant, and damage to the lower limbs of the occupant is thereby reduced.
When the vehicle front portion collides with the collision object, a power train disposed in the vehicle front portion moves backward and contacts with a dash panel, and the impact load may thereby be applied to the dash panel on a passenger seat side. In this case, because a mechanism as taught by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-14171 can absorb the impact load applied to the dash panel of the passenger seat, even if the dash panel is displaced to vehicle rear, an impact load transmitted to the lower limbs of the occupant can be lessened. However, for example, in a case of a driver seat of a left-hand drive vehicle, because an accelerator pedal is arranged on the right side of the dash panel opposed to the power train, a mechanism as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-14171 cannot be provided to the dash panel.
Furthermore, an organ type accelerator pedal has a problem that because the accelerator pedal and the dash panel are integrally displaced to the vehicle rear when the dash panel is displaced to the vehicle rear due to the impact load, the force bending the ankles of the occupant so as to cause the toes to approach the shins tends to be transmitted to the lower limbs of the occupant.
Thus, in the dash panel in which the organ type accelerator pedal is arranged, in order to lessen the displacement to the vehicle rear due to the impact load, for example, it is possible to make a board thickness thick. However, in this case, although the impact load can be inhibited from acting on the lower limbs of the occupant as the force bending the ankles of the occupant causes the toes to approach the shins, weight and cost significantly increase.

Front vehicle-body structure for vehicle


There is provided a combined TV and FM radio receiver for selectively receiving TV and FM radio signals via a single tuner using a digital intermediate frequency (IF) stage. The receiver includes a tuner that selects TV band or FM radio band signals and converts the selected signals into IF signals or primary sound IF signals; an IF processor that generates local oscillating signals depending on whether a current mode is a TV mode or an FM radio mode, and converts the IF signals and/or primary sound IF signals, into baseband signals and secondary sound IF signals, respectively; a video demodulator that extracts video signals; an audio demodulator that extracts TV audio signals and FM radio signals according to TV sound or FM radio mode data; and a controller that controls the tuner, and the IF processor, and applies the TV sound or FM radio mode data to the audio demodulator.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-67397, filed on Nov. 1, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combined TV (television) and FM (frequency modulation) radio receiver and a method to receive TV and FM radio signals, and more particularly, to a combined TV and FM radio receiver capable of, and a method for, selectively receiving TV and FM radio signals via a single tuner using a digital IF (intermediate frequency) stage.
2. Description of the Related Art
A TV receiver for receiving broadcasting signals, e.g., TV signals and FM radio signals, transmitted in different frequency bands typically includes a plurality of tuners in correspondence with the respective frequency bands and a plurality of detection circuits for detecting signals selected via the respective tuners.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional combined TV and FM radio receiver. Referring to FIG. 1, a TV tuner 110 converts TV signals received via an antenna into IF signals. A video band filter 112 extracts video band signals from the IF signals output from the TV tuner 110. A video IF converter 116 coverts the video signals extracted by the video band filter 112 into video baseband signals. A video demodulator 120 extracts composite video baseband signals (CVBS) from the baseband signals output from the video IF converter 116. A video processor 122 converts the composite video baseband signals extracted by the video demodulator 120 into red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color signals and outputs them via a CRT (cathode ray tube) 124.
An audio band filter 114 extracts audio band signals from the IF signals output from the TV tuner 110. An audio IF converter 118 converts the audio signals extracted by the audio band filter 114 into audio baseband signals.
Meanwhile, a radio tuner 132 receives FM radio signals via another antenna. An amplifier 134 amplifies the FM radio signals received via the radio tuner 132. A radio IF converter 136 converts the FM radio signals amplified via the amplifier 134 into IF band signals. An audio demodulator 142 extracts and demodulates audio signals from the audio baseband signals extracted by the audio IF converter 118 and the IF band signals extracted by the IF converter 136. A sound processor 144 amplifies the audio signals demodulated by the audio demodulator 142 and outputs them via a speaker 146.
As described above, the conventional combined TV and FM radio receiver has required not only a TV tuner but also a separate radio tuner and other radio signal processing elements, such as an amplifier, a radio IF converter, etc. Accordingly, the structure of the conventional receiver is complex and the production cost thereof is high.

Apparatus and method for receiving television and radio broadcasting signals using a single tuner


An introducer for introducing an expandable implantable device into a catheter includes an outer tube and an inner core which slides in the outer tube. The distal end of the core has a tubular configuration with a slit which allows it to expand radially to grip an end of the device. The distal end of the core holding the device is pulled into the distal end of the outer tube which further tightens the grip on the device. A handle is then preferably attached to the proximal end of the core which extends beyond the proximal end of the outer tube to prevent the core from moving distally and releasing the device. The device remains in its relaxed condition attached to the introducer and mostly outside of it until use. At that time the core is moved proximally which pulls the device inside the outer tube and into its stretched condition as it does so. As the distal end of the inner core exits the proximal end of the outer tube, the end of the device is released and remains mostly inside of the outer tube in its stretched condition. The distal end of the introducer is then inserted into a catheter and a pushrod used to push the device distally from the introducer into the catheter.

In embolotherapy, it is often desirable to occlude blood flow in a section of vasculature for purposes such as controlling internal bleeding, stopping blood supply to tumors, and relieving vessel-wall pressure in a region of a vessel aneurysm. Several devices and methods have been developed for such purposes, many of which are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,069. Each has significant drawbacks, but the helical wire coils seem to have found the most favor. One difficulty with helical wire coils is in pushing, and, if necessary, pulling them through the catheter. The wire coil is dimensioned to engage the walls of a blood vessel and can be relatively stiff and difficult to advance through a catheter, especially if the blood vessel has a tortuous path. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5, 226,911 and 5,250,071 describe mechanical devices that attach and detach to the coils to provide more positive pushing, pulling and positioning capability, but they are relatively complex.
The device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,069 (the '069 patent) overcomes many of the problems with wire coils. It provides a smaller coiled wire that when tensioned has a linear configuration allowing it to be advanced through a catheter to the desired site. When the wire exits the catheter, it relaxes and takes a random convoluted shape to form a space-filling mass lodged in the vessel at the site of release. However, because the final shape of the relaxed coil in the blood vessel is random, the precise location and specific length the device occupies in the vessel cannot be guaranteed. Straightening the long coiled wire and inserting it into a catheter can also be problematic.
A device which overcomes the problems associated with the device of the '069 patent is described in a pending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/608,110, titled Self-Expanding Vascular Occlusion Device, filed on Feb. 28, 1996, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention provides a device and method of loading an expandable vascular occlusion device of the U.S. Pat. No. 08/608,110 application into a catheter for insertion into vasculature of a patient. A device and method of the present invention may also be useful to load other expandable devices into catheters, including the device of the '069 patent and other wire coils.
Expandable implantable devices which could benefit from the present invention include any device which has a stretched condition characterized by an elongated shape of smaller diameter and a relaxed condition characterized by a shorter shape of larger diameter. In the past, such expandable devices have been stored in their stretched condition inside a tube. The device may experience creep during long term storage in that condition. Such creep may prevent the device from fully returning to the intended shape in its relaxed condition. This is especially a problem with devices using plastic material in their springy components. Another potential problem with devices stored in a tubes is that such storage prevents a physician or anyone else from examining the device before it is installed. The storage tube may have a label with a picture or illustration of the device and a description. There is always a potential for mislabeling the tube, or even for the device to be missing from the tube.
An introducer of the present invention allows an expandable implantable device to be attached to the tip of the introducer, but the device remains in its relaxed condition outside of the introducer. The device is not subject to creep during long term storage in this condition, and the device can be examined to verify the device is appropriate for the intended use before the package containing the device and introducer is opened.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an introducer for use with an expandable implantable device which holds the device in its relaxed condition outside of the introducer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an introducer for use with an expandable implantable device which pulls the device into the introducer, moving it into its stretched condition as it does so.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an introducer for use with an expandable implantable device which places the device in its stretched condition in a predetermined position within the introducer.

Introducer for an expandable vascular occlusion device


A manufacturing method and a device of an EEPROM cell are provided. The method includes the following steps. First, a tunnel layer and an inter-gate dielectric layer are formed over a surface of a substrate respectively, and a doped region is formed in the substrate under the inter-gate dielectric layer and used as a control gate. Thereafter, a floating gate is formed over the inter-gate dielectric layer and the tunnel layer. Thereafter, a source region and a drain region are formed in the substrate beside two sides of the floating gate under the tunnel layer. Especially, the manufacturing method of the memory cell can be integrated with the manufacturing process of high operation voltage component and low operation voltage component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory device and a manufacturing method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) cell and memory device that can be compatible with high operational voltage component and low operational voltage component, and the manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) has the advantages of being programmable, erasable and the stored data being retainable even the power to the device is removed. In addition, EEPROM is also a kind of non-volatile memory. Therefore, EEPROM is very suitable for being integrated in a logic or mixed mode integrated circuits (IC) to enhance the auto-recovery or auto-adjustment function of the logic or mixed mode IC.
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a manufacturing process of a conventional EEPROM. Referring to FIG. 1A, in the manufacturing process of a conventional EEPROM, a tunnel layer 102, a polysilicon floating gate layer 104, an inter-gate dielectric layer 106 and a polysilicon control gate layer 108 are formed on a substrate 100 sequentially. Then, referring to FIG. 1B, the layers described above are patterned to form a stacked gate structure 110, and a source region 112a and a drain region 112b are formed in the substrate 100 beside two sides of the stacked gate structure 110.
However, in the manufacturing process described above, at least two polysilicon layers shall be disposed to form the floating gate and the control gate respectively. In addition, the two polysilicon layers of the memory cell and the gate of the metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) component of the peripheral circuit area are not at the same level of height. Therefore, the integration of the memory cell with the peripheral circuit is difficult.
In addition, the operation voltage of a conventional EEPROM is generally less than 12V. Therefore, the integration of EEPROM with high operational voltage component and low operational voltage component is difficult.
Furthermore, a conventional EEPROM cell is generally formed in an isolated well region; thus the EEPROM cell may be operated independently. Accordingly, the EEPROM cell can not share the same well region with the high operational voltage component and the low operational voltage component. Therefore, it is difficult to integrate an EEPROM cell with high operational voltage component and low operational voltage component.

Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory cell and memory device