An optical-disk recording method, recording apparatus and reproducing apparatus are provided which are capable of continuously recording/reproducing a hologram with ultra-high density. In the case of recording a hologram to a holographic recording area, a holographic recording spot HSP on one track of the holographic recording area and a holographic recording spot HSP on a track adjacent thereto are recorded in circumferentially different positions. At least one holographic recording spot HSP is formed on each track, making the process continuous. Recording is made such that, provided that the holographic recording spot HSP has a diameter D and a multiplex number of holographic recording spots HSP is m, a pitch P between adjacent holographic recording spots HSP is P=D/m. Consequently, it is possible to efficiently record a hologram with density to a holographic recording area of an optical disk recording medium, and to achieve the density increase of holographic recording capacity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical-disk recording method, recording apparatus and reproducing apparatus using an optical disk recording medium having a plurality of servo areas circumferentially provided at a predetermined interval and holographic recording areas provided between the servo areas, and more particularly to an optical-disk recording method, recording apparatus and reproducing apparatus for continuously recording/reproducing information with ultra-high density by the utilization of holography.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a holographic recording scheme for recording, by hologram, information with ultra-high density onto an optical disk recording medium. In the holographic recording scheme, an interference fringe pattern is generated within the optical disk recording medium by superposing together an information light carrying image information and a recording reference light. By recording the interference fringe pattern in the optical disk recording medium, image information can be written. For reproducing information from the recorded interference fringe pattern, a reproducing reference light similar to the light of upon writing is irradiated to the interference infringe pattern recorded within the optical disk recording medium to cause diffraction due to an interference fringe pattern, thereby reproducing image information.
Recently, attentions are drawn to the development of volume holography having a recording density further increased by writing, in a three-dimensional fashion, an interference fringe pattern through utilization of a thickness direction of recording layer of the optical disk recording medium. The capacity of information recording can be drastically increased further by the multiplex recording with using such volume holography recording scheme.
International publication No. WO99/44195 discloses an apparatus and method for recording/reproducing information to/from an optical disk recording medium by such volume holography. In order to understand the present invention, explanation will be briefly made on the structure of a recording/reproducing apparatus utilizing volume holography described in that publication. As shown in FIG. 19, an optical disk recording medium 101 is structured with a holographic recording layer 101c provided between circular transparent substrates 101a, 101b, and a reflection film 111d formed on a surface of the transparent substrate 101b opposite to the recording layer 101c, wherein those are bonded on a substrate 10e. In the reflection film 101d, address servo areas are arranged plurally in radial direction of the optical disk recording medium 101 at a predetermined angular interval. Between the address servo areas arranged circumferentially, information recording areas are provided. The address servo area is previously recorded, by embossed pits, with information for focus servo control and tracking servo control as well as address information about information recording area. The information for tracking servo control can use, for example, wobble pits.
The optical disk recording medium concretely has a structure that the transparent substrate 101a, 101b has a suitable thickness, for example, of 0.6 mm or smaller and the holographic recording layer 101c has a suitable thickness, for example, of 10 μm or greater. The holographic recording layer 101c is formed of a holographic recording material which, when irradiated with a laser light for a predetermined time, optical characteristics of refractive index, dielectric constant, reflectivity and the like change depending upon a laser-light intensity. This uses, for example, Photopolymers HRF-600 (product name) by Dupont, or the like.
Recording to the holographic recording layer by volume holography, in one example, is as shown in the figure. Namely, an information light 111 carrying recording information and a recording reference light 112 are simultaneously irradiated at a side of the transparent substrate side 101a to produce an interference fringe in the thickness direction in the holographic recording layer 101c. Such irradiation is continued for a predetermined time to fix the interference fringe pattern in the holographic recording layer 101c, thereby recording information as a stereoscopic hologram.
In the meanwhile, in order to realize high-density recording using a general recording apparatus for optically recording information onto a disk-shaped optical disk recording medium, density increase can be achieved by narrowing the track pitch in information recording area of the optical disk recording medium. In holographic recording, however, the area of a holographic interference region (holographic recording spot) (e.g. φ500 μm) in holographic recording layer is greater compared to the track pitch (e.g. 0.8 μm). For density increase, there is a need for multiplex recording as stated before. It is a usual practice, as shown in FIG. 19, to record holographic recording spots onto the optical disk recording medium 101 by shifting the spots in the horizontal direction for each spot to have a partial overlap with the adjacent spot. In the multiplex recording like this, provided that the diameter of a holographic recording spot is D and the pitch between holographic recording spots is P, multiplex number m is given m=D/P.
However, in the multiplex recording, diffraction efficiency (reproduced light intensity) lowers in proportion to a square of the multiplex number m of hologram. Thus, there is a need to previously determine an optimal multiplex number with taking into account an improved recording density and secured reproduced light intensity, thereby determining based thereon a holographic recording spot pitch to the recording layer. Also in this case, the determined holographic recording spot pitch (P) itself (e.g. 20 μm) is greater relative to the track pitch in the information recording area of the optical disk recording medium. Consequently, in case holograms are to be successively written directly at the determined pitch P of holographic recording spots to the holographic recording layer 101c, recording is possibly made in such a burst fashion that recording is successful on a certain track but impossible on another track. There is a difficulty in continuously reproducing the hologram recorded in such a burst fashion as this.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical-disk recording method, recording apparatus and reproducing apparatus which are capable of continuously recording/reproducing a hologram with ultra-high density.

Optical-disk recording method, recording apparatus and reproducing apparatus


A strap holding structure (200) for an electronic device (100), which includes a body (20), a cover (10). The body has a knuckle (22) formed at one end thereof. The knuckle has a middle board (226) formed therein. The cover has a barrel (12) formed at one end. The strap holding structure includes a latching element (30) and a strap holder (40). The latching element is attached to the cover at one end. The strap holder has a pole (424) at a first end of the strap holder. A groove (444) is circumferentially defined in an outer wall of the strap holder and two notches (442) are axially defined in the outer wall thereof. The strap holder is engaged in the knuckle and the barrel. The latching element is received in the groove and the middle board is received in the notches.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to strap holding structures and, particularly, to a strap holding structure for compact electronic devices such as portable telephones, portable computers, and so on.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Compact electronic devices, such as portable telephones, internet wireless communicators, CD players, MP3 music players, mini electronic games, etc., have become more and more popular.
In a typical structure of holding electronic devices, it is inconvenient and uncomfortable for users to put these compact electronic devices into their pockets or hang them on their belts. Another conventional structure for holding electronic devices is a holder (i.e., an eyelet or the like) positioned in an electronic device so that a strap may be tied to the holder and hung around the neck. The holder is generally received in a receiving portion of the electronic device. When the holder has an axial force exerted on it, the holder can move axially off from the electronic device so that this structure might not hold the holder steadily in the receiving portion of the electronic device. In addition, this holder needs a screw to attach to the electronic device. Owing to the screw being positioned outside the electronic device, the screw will affect the appearance of the electronic device.
Therefore, a simple and convenient holding structure for carrying a decorative strap on a compact electronic device is desired in order to overcome the above-described problems.

Shenzhen Futaihong Precision Industry Co., Ltd.


Methods and apparatuses involving biocompatible structures for tissue engineering and organ replacement and, more specifically, biocompatible structures formed by three-dimensional fabrication, are described. In some embodiments, the biocompatible structures are scaffolds for cells that can be used as tissue engineering templates and/or as artificial organs. The structures may be three-dimensional and can mimic the shapes and dimensions of tissues and/or organs, including the microarchitecture and porosities of the tissues and organs. Pores in the structure may allow delivery of molecules across the structure, and may facilitate cell migration and/or generation of connective tissue between the structure and its host environment. Structures of the invention can be implanted into a mammal and/or may be used ex vivo as bioartificial assist devices.

Tissue engineering and organ transplantation are principally concerned with the replacement of tissue and organs that have lost function due to injury or disease. In one approach toward this goal, organs are transplanted into a patient. However, the side effects of transplantation can be unpleasant, and can compromise the health of the organ recipient. In another approach, cells are cultured in vitro on biodegradable polymeric scaffolds to form tissues or neo organs that are then implanted into the body at the necessary anatomical site.
Several techniques have been proposed for forming scaffolds for tissue growth. For instance, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0182241, entitled "Tissue Engineering of Three-Dimensional Vascularized Using Microfabricated Polymer Assembly Technology," by Borenstein et al., describes two-dimensional templates that are fabricated using high-resolution molding processes. These templates are then bonded to form three-dimensional scaffold structures with closed lumens. U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,874, entitled "Vascularized Tissue Regeneration Matrices Formed by Solid Free Form Fabrication Techniques," by Vacanti et al., describes solid free-form fabrication methods used to manufacture devices for allowing tissue regeneration and for seeding and implanting cells to form organ and structural components. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0069718, entitled "Design Methodology for Tissue Engineering Scaffolds and Biomaterial Implants," by Hollister et al., describes anatomically shaped scaffold architectures with heterogeneous material properties, including interconnecting pores.
Despite the above efforts, significant developments in connection with many internal, physical structures, especially those of hollow and epithelial organs, has been limited, and improvements are needed.

Three-dimensional fabrication of biocompatible structures in anatomical shapes and dimensions for tissue engineering and organ replacement

Agency for Science, Technology & Research


An apparatus is disclosed which uses electrodes to analyse a test sample.

Capacitance measurement techniques are known for measuring the capacitance (or specific capacitance or dielectric constant) of liquids and suspensions, such as biological cells in ionic aqueous solutions. Known techniques involve introducing metal electrodes into the liquid and applying an excitation signal (usually sinusoidal) and measuring voltage and current using a pair of measurement electrodes. The impedance, conductivity and specific capacitance or permittivity can then be calculated. At high excitation frequencies (greater than about 1 MHz) this is relatively straightforward with simple electrode and circuit configurations. However at lower frequencies, and particularly where the conductivity is high (up to 100 mS/cm or so), the electrode-liquid interface exhibits an impedance which appears in series with the impedance of interest and distorts the measurements.
EP1018025 discloses such a technique for measurement of biomass. This document describes the background to the Beta dispersion and how correction needs to be made for polarisation at measurement electrodes.
Electrode polarisation effects result largely from the charged electrodes attracting around themselves a counter layer of ions which acts electrically as a capacitor/resistor network in series with the suspension that is under measurement investigation. The magnitude of the electrode polarisation effect is largely frequency dependent. To measure the whole of the beta dispersion range (and alpha dispersion range) requires the use of a frequency region in which polarisation of the measuring electrodes can contribute a significant capacitance which has a material distortion on the measured capacitance. This error also varies with time as the electrode surface impedance is not stable and depends upon electrode surface current density.
There have been numerous techniques developed for managing the inherent errors in measurement of the impedance of the test sample. These include the use of a four terminal layout and/or the careful choice of material where the use of gold or platinum electrodes have been found to reduce the impedance between the electrode and test sample. However such electrodes are expensive and there remains some electrode/test sample impedance. A further technique is to increase separation between the electrodes which means the impedance between the electrode and the test sample is less significant in comparison to the impedance of the test sample itself. In order to maximise the electrode separation, alternative probe configurations have been designed for carrying the electrodes whereby for example electrodes are positioned on opposing faces of an insulating finger meaning that the current flow path is around a distal end of the probe finger, or even on opposite sides of a containing vessel such as a fermenter.
Whilst the use of correction algorithms to differentiate between what we wish to measure and the interfering signals and techniques to manage electrode polarisation are to some extent effective, it remains a significant problem as the electrode polarisation impedance is not linear, and is actually variable across the electrode surface and is further variable depending on the current density which in itself may vary. Therefore the effect of electrode polarisation remains a significant issue in analysis of a test sample.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A client device captures biometric data from a user and stores the biometric data to identify the user. To simplify access to content from a content source, the user identifies the content source to the client device, which identifies authentication information associated with the user by the content source. For example, the user specifies a username and password associated with the content source to the client device. The authentication information is stored in the client device using the user's biometric data. For example, the client device stores the authentication information so it is not accessible unless the client device receives the user's biometric data. When the user subsequently requests access to the content source, the user provides biometric data to the client device, which retrieves and communicates the authentication information to the content source.

This disclosure generally relates to user authentication, and more specifically to using biometric information for authenticating user access to various content sources.
Conventionally, biometric information, such as fingerprints, is used to regulate access to a local computing system or to a physical location. For example, biometric information is used to unlock a smartphone or to regulate access to a secure area of a data center. However, users increasingly access content from various content sources, such as applications or systems external to a client device associated with the user.
Typically, content sources use different authentication systems to identify users authorized to access the content sources. As an example, different content sources associate different login credentials with a user, requiring the user to separately provide different login credentials to access different content sources. While certain content sources may use single-sign on systems or central authentication services, which allow a user to access various content sources using a common login credential, many content sources do not use such authentication methods. Additionally, conventional content sources do not use biometric data to authorize a user accessing content from a device external to the content sources.
The figures depict various embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.

Biometric authentication for regulating access to content sources via a client device


Collagen, particularly atelopeptide collagen, exhibits improved handling characteristics when chemically conjugated and/or crosslinked with a synthetic hydrophilic polymer.

Collagen is the major protein component of bone, cartilage, skin, and connective tissue in animals. Collagen in its native form is typically a rigid, rod-shaped molecule approximately 300 nm long and 1.5 nm in diameter. It is composed of three collagen polypeptides which form a tight triple helix. The collagen polypeptides are characterized by a long midsection having the repeating sequence -Gly-X-Y-, where X and Y are often proline or hydroxyproline, bounded at each end by the "telopeptide" regions, which constitute less than about 5% of the molecule. The telopeptide regions of the collagen chains are typically responsible for the crosslinking between chains, and for the immunogenicity of the protein. Collagen occurs in several "types", having differing physical properties. The most abundant types are Types I-III.
Collagen is typically isolated from natural sources, such as bovine hide, cartilage, or bones. Bones are usually dried, defatted, crushed, and demineralized to extract collagen, while hide and cartilage are usually minced and digested with proteolytic enzymes (other than collagenase). As collagen is resistant to most proteolytic enzymes, this procedure conveniently serves to remove most of the contaminating protein found with collagen.
Collagen may be denatured by boiling, which produces the familiar product gelatin.
Daniels et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,073, disclosed the preparation of soluble collagen by dissolving tissue in aqueous acid, followed by enzymatic digestion. The resulting atelopeptide collagen is soluble, and substantially less immunogenic than unmodified collagen. It may be injected into suitable locations of a subject with a fibril-formation promoter (described as a polymerization promoter in the patent) to form fibrous collagen implants in situ, for augmenting hard or soft tissue. This material is now commercially available from Collagen Corporation (Palo Alto, Calif.) under the trademark Zyderm.RTM. collagen implant.
Luck et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,911, disclosed a method for preparing collagen in solution (CIS), wherein native collagen is extracted from animal tissue in dilute aqueous acid, followed by digestion with an enzyme such as pepsin, trypsin, or Pronase.RTM.. The enzyme digestion removes the telopeptide portions of the collagen molecules, providing "atelopeptide" collagen in solution. The atelopeptide CIS so produced is substantially nonimmunogenic, and is also substantially non-cross-linked due to loss of the primary crosslinking regions. The CIS may then be precipitated by dialysis in a moderate shear environment to produce collagen fibers which resemble native collagen fibers. The precipitated, reconstituted fibers may additionally be crosslinked using a chemical agent (for example aldehydes such as formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde), or using heat or radiation. The resulting products are suitable for use in medical implants due to their biocompatability and reduced immunogenicity.
Wallace et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,208, disclosed an improved collagen formulation suitable for use in soft tissue augmentation. Wallace's formulation comprises reconstituted fibrillar atelopeptide collagen (for example, Zyderm.RTM. collagen) in combination with particulate, crosslinked atelopeptide collagen dispersed in an aqueous medium. The addition of particulate crosslinked collagen improves the implant's persistence, or ability to resist shrinkage following implantation.
Smestad et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,640, disclosed a glutaraldehyde crosslinked atelopeptide CIS preparation (GAX) suitable for use in medical implants. The collagen is crosslinked under conditions favoring intrafiber bonding rather than interfiber bonding, and provides a product with higher persistence than non-cross-linked atelopeptide collagen, and is commercially available from Collagen Corporation under the trademark Zyplast.RTM. Implant.
Nguyen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,117, disclosed a method for reducing the viscosity of atelopeptide CIS by mechanical shearing. Reconstituted collagen fibers are passed through a fine-mesh screen until viscosity is reduced to a practical level for injection.
Nathan et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,350, disclosed osteoinductive bone repair compositions comprising an osteoinductive factor, at least 5% nonreconstituted (afibrillar) collagen, and the remainder reconstituted collagen and/or mineral powder (e.g., hydroxyapatite). CIS may be used for the nonreconstituted collagen, and Zyderm.RTM. collagen implant (ZCI) is preferred for the reconstituted collagen component. The material is implanted in bone defects or fractures to speed ingrowth of osteoclasts and promote new bone growth.
Chu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,764, disclosed a "second nucleation" collagen precipitate which exhibits a desirable malleability and putty-like consistency. Collagen is provided in solution (e.g., at 2-4 mg/mL), and a "first nucleation product" is precipitated by rapid titration and centrifugation. The remaining supernatant (containing the bulk of the original collagen) is then decanted and allowed to stand overnight. The precipitated second nucleation product is collected by centrifugation.
Chu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,399, disclosed a collagen membrane preparation, which is prepared by compressing and drying a collagen gel. The resulting product has high tensile strength.
J. A. M. Ramshaw et al, Anal Biochem (1984) 141:361-65, and PCT application WO87/04078 disclosed the precipitation of bovine collagen (types I, II, and III) from aqueous PEG solutions, where there is no binding between collagen and PEG.
Werner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,274, disclosed a method for improving the durability of sclero protein (e.g., brain meninges) by soaking the degreased tissue in H.sub.2 O.sub.2 or PEG for several hours prior to lyophilizing. The resulting modified whole tissue exhibits increased persistence.
Hiroyoshi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,678.468, disclosed the preparation of polysiloxane polymers having an interpenetrating network of water-soluble polymer dispersed within. The water-soluble polymer may be a collagen derivative, and the polymer may additionally include heparin. The polymers are shaped into artificial blood vessel grafts, and are designed to prevent clotting.
Other patents disclose the use of collagen preparations with bone fragments or minerals. For example, Miyata et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,380 disclosed a bone implant prepared by baking animal bone segments, and soaking the baked segments in a solution of atelopeptide collagen. Deibig et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,021 disclosed an implant material which comprises powdered calcium phosphate in a pasty formulation with a biodegradable polymer (which may be collagen). Commonly-owned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 855,004, filed 22 Apr. 1986, disclosed a particularly effective bone repair material comprising autologous bone marrow, collagen, and particulate calcium phosphate in a solid, malleable formulation.
There are several references in the art to proteins modified by covalent conjugation to polymers, to alter the solubility, antigenicity and biological clearance of the protein. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,973 disclosed the conjugation of several allergans to PEG or PPG (polypropylene glycol) to reduce the protein's immunogenicity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,144 disclosed the conjugation of hemoglobin with PEG and other polymers to increase the protein's oxygen carrying capability. EPO 98,110 disclosed coupling an enzyme or interferon to a polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene (POE-POP) block polymer increases the protein's halflife in serum. U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,337 disclosed conjugating hydrophilic enzymes and insulin to PEG or PPG to reduce immunogenicity. Davis et al, Lancet (1981) 2:281-83 disclosed the enzyme uricase modified by conjugation with PEG to provide uric acid metabolism in serum having a long halflife and low immunogenicity. Nishida et al, J Pharm Pharmacol (1984) 36:354-55 disclosed PEG-uricase conjugates administered orally to chickens, demonstrating decreased serum levels of uric acid. Inada et al, Biochem & Biophys Res Comm (1984) 122:845-50 disclosed lipoprotein lipase conjugation with PEG to render it soluble in organic solvents. Takahashi et al, Biochem & Biophys Res Comm (1984) 121:261-65 disclosed HRP conjugated with PEG to render the enzyme soluble in benzene. Abuchowski et al, Cancer Biochem Biophys (1984) 7:175-86 disclosed that enzymes such as asparaginase, catalase, uricase, arginase, trypsin, superoxide dismutase, adenosine deaminase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, and the like, conjugated with PEG exhibit longer half-lives in serum and decreased immunogenicity. However, these references are essentially concerned with modifying the solubility and biological characteristics of proteins administered in low concentrations in aqueous solution.
M. Chvapil et al, J Biomed Mater Res (1969) 3:315-32 disclosed a composition prepared from collagen sponge and a crosslinked ethylene glycol monomethacrylate-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate hydrogel. The collagen sponge was prepared by lyophilizing an aqueous mixture of bovine hide collagen and methylglyoxal (a tanning agent). The sponge-hydrogel composition was prepared by polymerizing ethylene glycol monomethacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in the sponge.

Method of augmenting tissue with collagen-polymer conjugates


A process is provided for the determination of oil dispersant effectiveness. A submersible dispersant sensing platform is passed across a body of water. The platform has a plurality of sensors including a multichannel fluorometer and a particle size analyser, and each sensor produces an output data stream. The body of water is continuously analysed at a predetermined depth profile below the surface of the body of water. Hydrodynamic and environmental condition data is collected proximate in time and location to the output data from the dispersant sensing platform. The environmental condition data includes one or more of ambient temperature, body or water temperature, salinity of the body of water, wind speed, location, mixing energy of the body of water and derivatives thereof. Oil and dispersant data is provided which includes characteristics of the dispersant and of oil samples prior to the application of the dispersant. The output data stream, the hydrodynamic and environmental condition data, and the oil and dispersant data is processed to generate an indicator of the state of dispersion of the oil and of the oil dispersant efficiency under the hydrodynamic and environmental conditions the oil is exposed to. A system for the determination of oil dispersant efficacy is also provided.

When oil is spilled at sea, a small proportion will be naturally dispersed by the mixing action caused by waves. This process can be slow and proceed to only a limited extent for most situations. Dispersants are used to accelerate the removal of oil from the surface of the sea by greatly enhancing the rate of natural dispersion of oil and thus prevent it from coming ashore. Dispersed oil will also be more rapidly biodegraded by naturally occurring microorganisms. The rationale for dispersant use is that dispersed oil is likely to have less overall environmental impact than oil that persists on the surface of the sea, drifts and eventually contaminates the shoreline, where it can damage coastal habitats and resident wildlife.
Thus, any discharge of a significant amount of oil into the marine environment may trigger a response effort to recover or dissipate the spilled oil. Although mechanical recovery of the oil is the primary means of removing large quantities of spilled oil, application of chemical dispersants is an important supplementary measure for spills that spread over a wide area or create a large slick.
The effectiveness of a particular dispersant is difficult to assess, partly because it depends on a variety of factors. Clearly, the composition of the dispersant product and the application system are important factors in determining the effectiveness of the dispersant. Other important factors are the composition and state of the oil being dispersed, the ratio of dispersant to oil, temperature, water salinity and the amount of mixing energy in the environment. Oil composition can vary considerably through the weathering process, from light crude oils which will evaporate to a significant degree, to medium crude oils with different amounts of aromatics, saturates, resins and asphaltenic and polar compounds, to heavy crude oils and fuel products with lower volatility and higher viscosity. In addition, the oil can become emulsified with water, causing a significant increase in volume and viscosity. Both weathering and emulsification can make oil dispersion more difficult.
There are several lab based dispersant effectiveness methods developed by different parties, including the SFT (Swirling Flask Method) and the Mackay method. Though taking different forms, the principles of these methods are quite similar. They all involve loading a fixed amount of sample oil on the surface of water pre-filled in a container, treating the oil with a specific ratio of oil dispersant to be assessed and introducing consistent mixing energy to facilitate oil dispersion and then allow the mixture to settle for a consistent amount of time before quantification of oil dispersed in the water phase of the oil remain on the surface. However, since dispersant efficacy is affected by a wide range of factors, therefore although results from laboratory assessment of dispersant efficacy provide critical information for pre-screening of dispersant to be used in the field, these results will not represent the actual performance of the dispersants in the natural environment, and hence the need to monitor the dispersant effectiveness directly in the field to provide information guiding oil spill response operations.
Currently the only standard way of conducting field in situ dispersant efficacy is the SMART (Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies) system developed by NOAA. It is only composed of one channel of a fluorometer and relies on its enhanced response to give an indication of oil dispersion. The system is also vulnerable to interference from turbulence caused by ship movement.
WO2013104954 addressed this issue through disclosing a system for testing the oil spill dispersing effectiveness of a dispersant through simulating the effect of a dispersant in a stirred vessel and measuring at least one parameter relevant to the dispersant's effectiveness. Whilst this method is convenient it is a lab based, small scale setup and suffered from the inherent limitation of stimulating the effects of the ocean in a small vessel.
A reference herein to a patent document or any other matter identified as prior art, is not to be taken as an admission that the document or other matter was known or that the information it contains was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of any of the claims.

COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION


The invention prevents a wiring layer in a memory region from being exposed to prevent a change in wire resistance and degradation of reliability. A SiO2 film as an etching stopper film which transmits ultraviolet light is formed on pad electrodes and an interlayer insulation film. Then, the SiO2 film on the pad electrodes is etched selectively and the SiO2 film in an EPROM region is left. A silicon nitride film and a polyimide film are then formed on the SiO2 film and on the pad electrodes where the SiO2 film is removed, as a protection film which does not transmit ultraviolet light. The silicon nitride film and the polyimide film on the pad electrodes and in the EPROM region are then selectively removed by etching. Since the SiO2 film functions as an etching stopper at this time, the interlayer insulation film under the SiO2 film is prevented from being etched and a control gate line metal layer is prevented from being exposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, particularly, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device having an ultraviolet erasable nonvolatile memory cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultraviolet EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) is a memory where electrically written data is erasable by ultraviolet irradiation, and is formed on a semiconductor substrate by itself or by being integrated into other semiconductor integrated circuit, for example, a microcomputer.
A silicon nitride film as a passivation film and a polyimide film as a buffer against stress of a package are often formed on a semiconductor substrate formed with this EPROM. However, these silicon nitride film and polyimide film have a property of not transmitting ultraviolet light, the data erasing of the EPROM is not achievable if these are left on the EPROM region. Therefore, these films on the EPROM region are removed by etching. For reducing the number of processes, the removing of these films on the EPROM region by etching is performed at the same time as when a silicon nitride film or the like on pad electrodes for wire bonding is removed by etching. An ultraviolet EPROM is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-243127.
When the silicon nitride film or the like on the pad electrodes is removed by etching, however, over-etching is performed for exposing the pad electrodes completely. This causes an interlayer insulation film to be etched to expose a wiring layer under the pad electrodes in the EPROM region. When the wiring layer is exposed, the reliability of the EPROM is degraded by water infiltration or the like. Furthermore, since the exposed wiring layer is damaged by etching, the resistance of the wiring layer changes.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device


An anti-rewet press fabric for paper and board machines includes a barrier layer such that during compression in the press nip, the water is forced through the barrier layer, but is prevented from flowing back to the paper web during expansion. The barrier layer comprises a continuous material possessing, for example square, rectangular, tetrahedral, circular or oblong conical inclusions with a smaller opening on the bottom than on the top of the structure. Each of these “funnels” effectively constitutes a one-way valve and creates a vacuum to prevent re-absorption of water by the paper sheet. Under pressure, the structure of the barrier layer allows water to flow into the cones and out of the smaller opening in the bottom. Upon expansion, the smaller opening in the bottom of the structure restricts backward water flow and creates a vacuum on the other side. The vacuum increases water retention in the press fabric and prevents rewetting of the paper sheet. Another embodiment of the invention is described herein, wherein the barrier layer exists as a separate fabric fed through a press section. In this embodiment, the “separate fabric” can just be the “conical inclusion sheet” itself. That is, the sheet itself constitutes an inventive belt having anti-rewet properties.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-rewet press fabric with cone-shaped openings for use in the press section of a papermaking machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the papermaking process, a cellulosic fibrous web is formed by depositing a fibrous slurry, that is, an aqueous dispersion of cellulose fibers, onto a moving forming fabric in the forming section of a paper machine. A large amount of water is drained from the slurry through the forming fabric, leaving the cellulosic fibrous web on the surface of the forming fabric.
The newly formed cellulosic fibrous web proceeds from the forming section to a press section, which includes a series of press nips. The cellulosic fibrous web passes through the press nips supported by a press fabric, or, as is often the case, between two such press fabrics. In the press nips, the cellulosic fibrous web is subjected to compressive forces which squeeze water therefrom, and which adhere the cellulosic fibers in the web to one another to turn the cellulosic fibrous web into a paper sheet. The water is accepted by the press fabric or fabrics and, ideally, does not return to the paper sheet.
The paper sheet finally proceeds to a dryer section, which includes at least one series of rotatable dryer drums or cylinders, which are internally heated by steam. The newly formed paper sheet is directed in a serpentine path sequentially around each in the series of drums by a dryer fabric, which holds the paper sheet closely against the surfaces of the drums. The heated drums reduce the water content of the paper sheet to a desirable level through evaporation.
It should be appreciated that the forming, press and dryer fabrics all take the form of endless loops on the paper machine and function in the manner of conveyors. It should further be appreciated that paper manufacture is a continuous process which proceeds at considerable speeds. That is to say, the fibrous slurry is continuously deposited onto the forming fabric in the forming section, while a newly manufactured paper sheet is continuously wound onto rolls after it exits from the dryer section.
The present invention relates specifically to the press fabrics used in the press section. Press fabrics play a critical role during the paper manufacturing process. One of their functions, as implied above, is to support and to carry the paper product being manufactured through the press nips.
Press fabrics also participate in the finishing of the surface of the paper sheet. That is, press fabrics are designed to have smooth surfaces and uniformly resilient structures, so that, in the course of passing through the press nips, a smooth, mark-free surface is imparted to the paper.
Traditionally, press sections have included a series of nips formed by pairs of adjacent cylindrical press rolls. In recent years, the use of long press nips of the shoe type has been found to be more advantageous than the use of nips formed by pairs of adjacent press rolls. This is because the web takes longer to pass through a long press nip than through one formed by press rolls. The longer the time a web can be subjected to pressure in the nip, the more water can be removed there, and, consequently, the less water will remain behind in the web for removal through evaporation in the dryer section.
In this variety of long nip press, the nip is formed between a cylindrical press roll and an arcuate pressure shoe. The latter has a cylindrically concave surface having a radius of curvature close to that of the cylindrical press roll. When the roll and shoe are brought into close physical proximity to one another, a nip which can be five to ten times longer in the machine direction than one formed between two press rolls is formed. Since the long nip is five to ten times longer than that in a conventional two-roll press, the so-called dwell time of the fibrous web in the long nip is correspondingly longer under the same level of pressure per square inch in pressing force used in a two-roll press. The result of this new long nip technology has been a dramatic increase in dewatering of the fibrous web in the long nip when compared to conventional nips on paper machines.
A long nip press of the shoe type requires a special belt, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,537. This belt is designed to protect the press fabric supporting, carrying and dewatering the fibrous web from the accelerated wear that would result from direct, sliding contact over the stationary pressure shoe. Such a belt must be provided with a smooth, impervious surface that rides, or slides, over the stationary shoe on a lubricating film of oil. The belt moves through the nip at roughly the same speed as the press fabric, thereby subjecting the press fabric to minimal amounts of rubbing against the surface of belt.
Perhaps most importantly, the press fabrics accept the large quantities of water extracted from the wet paper in the press nip. In order to fulfill this function, there literally must be space, commonly referred to as void volume, within the press fabric for the water to go, and the fabric must have adequate permeability to water for its entire useful life. Finally, press fabrics must be able to prevent the water accepted from the wet paper from returning to and rewetting the paper upon exit from the press nip.
Contemporary press fabrics are produced in a wide variety of styles designed to meet the requirements of the paper machines on which they are installed for the paper grades being manufactured. Generally, they comprise a woven base fabric into which has been needled a batt of fine, non-woven fibrous material. The base fabrics may be woven from monofilament, plied monofilament, multifilament or plied multifilament yarns, and may be single-layered, multi-layered or laminated. The yarns are typically extruded from any one of several synthetic polymeric resins, such as polyamide and polyester resins, used for this purpose by those of ordinary skill in the paper machine clothing arts.
The woven base fabrics themselves take many different forms. For example, they may be woven endless, or flat woven and subsequently rendered into endless form with a woven seam. Alternatively, they may be produced by a process commonly known as modified endless weaving, wherein the widthwise edges of the base fabric are provided with seaming loops using the machine-direction (MD) yarns thereof. In this process, the MD yarns weave continuously back and forth between the widthwise edges of the fabric, at each edge turning back and forming a seaming loop. A base fabric produced in this fashion is placed into endless form during installation on a paper machine, and for this reason is referred to as an on-machine-seamable fabric. To place such a fabric into endless form, the two widthwise edges are brought together, the seaming loops at the two edges are interdigitated with one another, and a seaming pin or pintle is directed through the passage formed by the interdigitated seaming loops.
Further, the woven base fabrics may be laminated by placing one base fabric within the endless loop formed by another, and by needling a staple fiber batt through both base fabrics to join them to one another. One or both woven base fabrics may be of the on-machine-seamable type.
In the press section of the papermaking machine, the formed sheet is pressed to a higher dry content through consecutive press nips. The sheet is carried through the press nip together with one or several endless textile fabrics, that are commonly referred to as press fabrics.
Referring now to press fabrics, several theories have been proposed to explain what is going on in the paper web and press fabric during the pressing process itself. The exerted mechanical nip pressure is the same for both paper web and press fabric, while the hydrodynamic pressure is considerably higher in the web than in the fabric. This pressure difference provides the driving force for the transportation of the water from the web to the fabric.
The paper web, or sheet, and press fabric probably reach minimum thickness at the same time somewhat near mid nip. The sheet is considered to reach its maximum dry content at the very same moment. After that, the sheet, as well as the fabric, begin to expand.
During this expansion, a vacuum is created in the paper web and in the surface layer of the press fabric, both of which have been compressed to a minimum thickness at a maximum pressure. In response to this vacuum, water flows back from the inside and possibly base layers of the fabric to the surface layer of the fabric and into the paper sheet to reestablish the pressure balance. This expansion phase provides the driving force of the rewetting of the paper sheet inside the press nip.
In the press fabric constructions of the prior art, it is common practice to form the fabric with a surface layer facing the paper web that is considerably denser than the backside of the structure, and it has not been unusual for instance to use lengthwise oriented batt fibers on the web facing side to decrease flow resistance. High capillary forces, together with the large vacuum in the press fabric structure during the expansion phase, absorb water from an open backside structure toward the surface layer, rapidly decreasing the vacuum in the surface layer. When the vacuum of the sheet thus rises considerably during exit from the press nip and the flow resistance in the contact face of the press fabric against the sheet decreases, high rewetting and low paper dry content result.
There are prior art fabric concepts taught with cone- or funnel-shaped openings (see for example WO 86/05219 and EP 0103376), but none have small ends designed to open and close, allowing water to flow in one direction only through them, under pressure as a separate layer in the press fabric to prevent rewet.
In general, woven base fabrics are typically in the form of endless loops, or are seamable into such forms, having a specific length, measured longitudinally therearound, and a specific width, measured transversely thereacross. Because paper machine configurations vary widely, paper machine clothing manufacturers are required to produce press fabrics, and other paper machine clothing, to the dimensions required to fit particular positions in the paper machines of their customers. Needless to say, this requirement makes it difficult to streamline the manufacturing process, as each press fabric must typically be made to order.
In response to this need to produce press fabrics in a variety of lengths and widths more quickly and efficiently, press fabrics have been produced in recent years using a spiral technique disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,656 to Rexflex et al., the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,656 shows a press fabric comprising a base fabric having one or more layers of staple fiber material needled thereinto. The base fabric comprises at least one layer composed of a spirally wound strip of woven fabric having a width which is smaller than the width of the base fabric. The base fabric is endless in the longitudinal, or machine, direction. Lengthwise threads of the spirally wound strip make an angle with the longitudinal direction of the press fabric. The strip of woven fabric may be flat-woven on a loom which is narrower than those typically used in the production of paper machine clothing.
The base fabric comprises a plurality of spirally wound and joined turns of the relatively narrow woven fabric strip. The fabric strip is woven from lengthwise (warp) and crosswise (filling) yarns. Adjacent turns of the spirally wound fabric strip may be abutted against one another, and the helically continuous seam so produced may be closed by sewing, stitching, melting, welding (e.g. ultrasonic) or gluing. Alternatively, adjacent longitudinal edge portions of adjoining spiral turns may be arranged overlappingly, so long as the edges have a reduced thickness, so as not to give rise to an increased thickness in the area of the overlap. Further, the spacing between lengthwise yarns may be increased at the edges of the strip, so that, when adjoining spiral turns are arranged overlappingly, there may be an unchanged spacing between lengthwise threads in the area of the overlap.


A method is provided for selectively providing power to at least one component of a vehicle-based receiver module for determining the presence and validity of a transmitted RF signal. The RF signal is a request signal for activating a respective vehicle accessory function. Power is provided to a receiver for a first period of time. The receiver is operated to receive any RF signal that may be present from a remote transmitting device. A received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with operating the receiver is determined. A determination is made whether the RSSI is greater than a first predetermined threshold. The power is terminated to the receiver after the first period of time if the RSSI is not greater than the first predetermined threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to selectively providing power to at least one component of a vehicle-based control module for determining the presence and validity of a RF signal transmitted by a remote device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Remote vehicle entry transmitters are used for performing a wireless operation on a vehicle such as locking and unlocking a door, unlatching a trunk latch, or activating or deactivating an alarm system equipped on the vehicle. These remote entry devices are commonly referred to a remote keyless entry (RKE) fob. The RKE fob is typically a small rectangular or oval plastic housing with a plurality of depressible buttons for activating each one of the wireless operations. The RKE fob is carried with the operator of a vehicle and can wirelessly perform these functions when within a predetermined reception range of the vehicle.
The RKE fob transmits a RF signal to a keyless entry module located within the vehicle. The keyless entry module receives the transmitted RF signal and determines the validity of the signal. If the RF signal is validated, then one of the vehicle entry functions is activated. In determining whether the RF signal is valid, bits of data transmitted in the RF signal are transmitted to a microcontroller via a communication line for processing and determining the validity of the RF signal. During an engine-on condition, power supplied to the keyless entry module is supplied by a vehicle alternator so power utilized by the keyless entry module to monitor for a RF signal is not an issue with power consumption. However, during engine off conditions, the battery is used to power the keyless entry module which if constantly on, would cause a drain on the battery.
Typically, to reduce the current consumption of the receiver and the microcontroller (i.e., of the RKE) while awaiting receipt of a transmitted signal for processing, the receiver and microcontroller enter a sleep state. The receiver and the microcontroller are woken from the sleep state on a periodic basis to check for and the validity of a received RF signal. Typically the receiver is on for a duration of time 4 msec to receive a RF signal and to transmit the RF signal to the microcontroller while allowing the bits to stabilize so that a determination can be made that the RF transmission is valid. The receiver and controller then re-enter the sleep state until a next timed wake-up is required for monitoring for a next incoming RF signal. A strobing circuit supplies the power to the receiver and the microcontroller for energizing the receiver and microcontroller from the sleep state so that an RF signal may be received, processed, and validated.
In a remote keyless entry system, for the majority of the time that a receiver is in an energized state no transmitted RF signal will be received. This is due to the infrequent activation of a vehicle entry transmitter. However, the receiving circuit must be continuously energized for those few occurrences when a RF signal is transmitted. As stated earlier, the strobing circuit periodically energizes the receiving circuit for energy conservation as opposed to providing a constant flow of current to the receiving circuit. The strobing circuit will provide the same amount of current during each wakeup state regardless if a transmitted RF signal is present or not present. This is required so that when a RF signal is transmitted and received the proper amount of time is allocated for processing the RF signal and for making the determination of the RF signal's validity. Periodically energizing the receiver for a respective duration that is sufficient to process a RF signal results in unnecessary power consumption during those periods when a signal is not received.

Efficient RKE energy monitoring strategy


To provide a controller and a control method for internal combustion engine which can calculate the shaft torque in unburning with good accuracy in all the operating condition in which calculation is required, using the shaft torque in unburning which was set in the specific operating condition, and can improve estimation accuracy of the parameter relevant to the combustion state. A controller for internal combustion engine calculates a specific shaft torque in unburning with reference to a specific unburning condition data; calculates specific and current generated torques of unburning assumption using the physical model equation; calculates a current shaft torque in unburning based on the specific shaft torque in unburning, and the specific and current generated torques of unburning assumption; and calculates an increment of gas pressure torque by burning based on the current shaft torque in unburning and the actual shaft torque in burning condition.

The present disclosure relates to a controller and a control method for internal combustion engine.
In order to improve the fuel consumption performance and the emission performance of the internal combustion engine, the method of measuring the combustion state of the internal combustion engine and carrying out feedback control of the measuring result is effective. For that purpose, it is important to measure the combustion state of the internal combustion engine accurately. It is known widely that the combustion state of the internal combustion engine can be measured accurately by measuring a cylinder pressure. As the measurement method of cylinder pressure, besides the method of measuring directly based on the cylinder pressure sensor signal, there is the method of estimating the gas pressure torque based on the information on each mechanism of the internal combustion engine, such as the crank angle signal.
As the conventional technology, for example, JP 6029726 B discloses the combustion state estimation apparatus which estimates the combustion state based on the output signal of the crank angle sensor. In the combustion state estimation apparatus disclosed in JP 6029726 B, as shown in the equation (15) of JP 6029726 B, the cylinder internal pressure of the burning cylinder (the left side of equation (15)) is estimated, using the shaft torque calculated based on the crank angle speed and the inertia (the first term of the numerator of the right side of equation (15)), the gas pressure torque by the plurality of unburning cylinders calculated based on the cylinder internal pressure of each unburning cylinder estimated by the pressure in the intake pipe and the like (the second term of the numerator of the right side of equation (15)), the reciprocation inertia torque by the reciprocating movement of piston of each cylinder calculated based on the crank angle speed (the third term of the numerator of the right side of equation (15)), and the external load torque applied to the crankshaft from the outside of the internal combustion engine (the fourth term of the numerator of the right side of equation (15)).

Controller and control method for internal combustion engine


A network component of an apparatus in one example determines one or more usage characteristics of a mobile communication device for a cellular communications network and one or more usage characteristics of the mobile communication device for a satellite communications network.

Cellular phones must be within range of a cellular base station to operate. While cellular phone coverage is available in most areas with a high population density, in less inhabited areas it is not economically feasible to provide complete cellular coverage. Rough and/or uneven terrain also causes a decrease in cellular coverage. Satellite phones offer an alternative to cellular phones that provide a much larger coverage area. However, present satellite services are not compatible with cellular services. A user must have a separate service plan, and often a separate phone, for satellite and cellular services.
Thus, a need exists for an increase in integration of satellite service plans and cellular service plans.

Satellite and cellular usage characteristics determination


An apparatus enabling a person to evaluate the hydration of a region of the skin or the mucous membranes. The apparatus includes a sensor including an array of non-optical detection cells and processor apparatus arranged to deliver at least one piece of information relating to the hydration of the region on the basis of signals coming from the sensor. A method for evaluation of hydration is also provided. The apparatus and method can also be used for evaluating, e.g., aging or the effectiveness of a treatment regimen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses seeking to evaluate hydration of the skin and/or the mucous membranes. The invention is particularly advantageous for evaluation of the lips.
2. Discussion of Background
The term "hydration" designates the water content in the skin and on its surface, including water that comes from transpiration.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,426 describes an apparatus for measuring hydration of the human skin. The apparatus includes means for measuring variation in impedance between two electrodes in electrical contact with the skin. Patent application WO 02/056766 also describes an apparatus that is quite similar.
The German supplier Courage & Khazaka sells a corneometer under the reference CM825® for measuring the capacitance of the stratum corneum. The measurement is based on the difference in dielectric constants that exists between water and other substances present in the skin, thereby establishing a relationship between capacitance and the proportion of water in the surface layers of the skin.
Proposals are made in patent application EP 1,177,766 and U.S. counterpart application 2002/0107456 to use a sensor including an array of non-optical detection cells, in particular capacitive cells, for obtaining information concerning the microrelief of a non-dermatoglyphic region of the human body, for example the surface density of skin lines, the anisotropy coefficient of the density of said lines, and the number and size of pores in the skin.
Applications WO 01/24700 and DE 199 36 097 describe devices and methods of authentication by fingerprint analysis.
Application WO 01/24700 describes analyzing possible variation, due to perspiration, of the image acquired by means of a sensor so as to confirm to the authentication system that the finger whose imprint is being analyzed is indeed alive.
DE 199 36097 describes adjusting a sensitivity threshold in fingerprint recognition as a function of skin moisture.
The above documents relate to methods and apparatus which do not seek to deliver information relating to skin hydration in a form that can be understood directly by an individual, in order to inform the individual about the state of the skin.

Apparatus and method to evaluate hydration of the skin or the mucous membranes


A semiconductor device with a high-strength porous modified layer having a pore size of 1 nm or less, which is formed, in a multilayer wiring forming process, by forming a via hole and a wiring trench in a via interlayer insulating film and a wiring interlayer insulting film and then irradiating an electron beam or an ultraviolet ray onto the opening side walls.

Following high integration and miniaturization of semiconductor elements in recent years, there has been developed a semiconductor device using, as a wiring interlayer insulating film (hereinafter referred to as an interlayer insulating film), an insulating film having a permittivity lower than that of a conventional silicon oxide film. For example, there have been developed an interlayer insulating film obtained by substituting a part of oxygen atoms contained in a silicon oxide film by fluorine, hydrogen, or a chemical species containing carbon and hydrogen, such as a methyl group, and an interlayer insulating film obtained by forming fine pores in one of those films to achieve a reduction in permittivity. Particularly, the porous interlayer insulating film introducing the fine pores is quite effective for reducing the permittivity and thus can reduce the parasitic capacitance in multilayer wiring. In view of this, the multilayer wiring with porous interlayer insulating films introduced therein is expected to be widely applied to supercomputers and digital home appliances requiring high calculation speeds, mobile devices such as portable telephones requiring low power consumption, and so on.
FIG. 30 shows a multilayer wiring manufacturing method using porous interlayer insulating films according to a prior art. On a Cu wiring layer (not shown) formed in advance, a barrier insulating film 1 of SiCN or the like having diffusion barrier properties to Cu, a via interlayer insulating film 2, an etching stopper 3 of SiO2 or the like, a wiring interlayer insulating film 4, and a hard mask 5 of SiO2 or the like are stacked in the order named (FIG. 30, (a)). Then, as shown in FIG. 30, (b), dual-damascene trenches each comprising a wiring trench 6 and a via hole 7 are formed using photoresists and reactive etching. Dual-damascene trench forming methods include a via-first process in which a via is first formed and then a photoresist is coated over the formed via to thereby form a wiring trench and a trench-first process in which a wiring trench is first formed and then a photoresist is coated over the formed wiring trench to thereby form a via hole. Then, as shown in FIG. 30, (c), after etch-back of the barrier insulating film 1 at the bottom of the via holes 7, a barrier metal 10 of Ta/TaN or the like is deposited on the inner walls of the openings and the entire surface of the hard mask 5 and then a Cu film 11 is deposited thereon by an electrolytic plating method. The excess portions, deposited on the hard mask, of the barrier metal and the Cu film are removed and flattened by a CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) process (FIG. 30, (d)).
With respect to the multilayer wiring structure using porous interlayer insulating films, various problems on the process and device reliability have been actualized and there have been many proposals for overcoming them.
For example, as shown in FIG. 31, with respect to the side wall of the porous interlayer insulating film 23 (the via interlayer insulating film 2 or the wiring interlayer insulating film 4) after the formation of the opening by the etching, the coating and adhesion of the barrier metal 10 are lowered due to the influence of exposed pore portions 19. This causes degradation of the device properties due to diffusion of water, various process gases, or Cu. For this problem, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2004-193326 (Patent Document 1), pores exposed on the side wall of a wiring trench after etching are blocked by nonporous polyarylether to improve the coating of a barrier metal, thereby suppressing diffusion of Cu into a porous interlayer insulating film. Similarly, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2001-85522 (Patent Document 2), an atomic group bulkier than a hydroxyl group is impregnated into pores exposed on the side wall of a porous interlayer insulating film after etching, thereby suppressing the flow of metal, water, or gas into the film through the pores.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2000-183052 (Patent Document 3) describes, as a technique for increasing the adhesion between an interlayer insulating film and an underlying substrate, a manufacturing method that applies a physical impact, i.e. reverse sputtering, to the lower-layer substrate for the interlayer insulating film to form dangling bonds on the surface of the underlying substrate, thereby improving the adhesion thereof to the interlayer insulating film formed thereon. Further, the Patent Document 3 describes, as an adhesion improving method, a method of inserting a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film as an adhesive layer between an interlayer insulating film and an underlying substrate.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2005-79307 (Patent Document 4) discloses a porous interlayer insulating film manufacturing method that bakes a coated film by irradiating an electron beam for the purpose of strengthening the porous interlayer insulating film. In the above Patent Document 4, a film strength (elastic modulus) of 15 GPa is achieved in a porous interlayer insulating film having a pore size of about 1.5 nm.

Wiring structure, semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof


An edge-breaking can opener includes a first clamping handle and a second clamping handle. The first clamping handle and the second clamping handle are rotatably connected by using a rivet. A round angle is set between a tray gear and a helical gear, which reduces a cutting height. A protrusion portion on an original cutter wheel is creatively changed to an elastically adjustable support wheel that acts on a can with different edge heights. It is convenient to perform occlusion during cutting, and a cut can cover can be directly and safely taken out, thereby preventing a hand from coming into contact with the can cover. The cutter wheel can easily perform cutting by using acting force of spring plate, which is suitable for cans with a certain material thickness.

The edge-breaking can opener is a tool for performing cutting from an edge of a can cover. At present, such a type of can opener on the market includes a drive wheel and a cutting wheel that occlude each other for cutting. The drive wheel uses a combination of a rotating shaft and a gear disk. The gear disk includes a tray gear and a spur gear, and the three are riveted. The spur gear and the tray gear are disposed in a manner of being perpendicular to each other. Therefore, when a can cover is clamped and occluded, a location at which the drive wheel is located is relatively low. In this way, a location at which the cutting wheel cuts the can cover is correspondingly relatively deep. However, a protrusion portion (FIG. 10) is disposed on an existing cutting wheel, and the protrusion portion (FIG. 10) of the cutter wheel plays a role of clamping an edge when a can is opened. After the can cover is cut, due to the deep cutting location and the protrusion portion (FIG. 10) disposed on the cutter wheel, two clamping handles need to be first opened after the can is opened, to increase a gap between the cutting wheel and the drive wheel. Because the cutting location is relatively deep, a part of the can cover and the can body are tightly occluded after cutting, the can cover cannot be taken out by hand, and pliers need to be used to take out the can cover, which is neither hygienic nor safe. In addition, heights of the edge of the can cover are inconsistent, the protruding portion (FIG. 10) on the cutter wheel makes the cutter wheel incapable of cutting a can with an excessively high edge of the can cover. A traditional can opener performs rigid cutting. Because thicknesses of materials of cans are inconsistent, when a thin material is cut, a long distance between a cutter portion and the edge leads to continuous cutting or a failure to cut. When a thick material is cut, because the cutting wheel and the edge occlude too tightly, cutting force increases sharply or the cutting cannot be performed. All the above cases bring great confusion and inconvenience to consumers.


An image forming apparatus, a method of controlling paper feeding thereof, and a computer-readable recording medium containing code to perform the method. The image forming apparatus includes a lift configured to supply loaded paper to a feed roller, a motor configured to move the lift so that the paper reaches and contacts the feed roller, a sensor configured to measure current that flows through the motor, and a controller configured to control driving of the motor according to a measured level of the current.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, a method of controlling paper feeding thereof, and a computer-readable recording medium, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus, a method of controlling paper feeding thereof, and a computer-readable recording medium, which can sense output current of a motor to drive a lift without using a sensor, such as a micro switch or a photo-interrupter, and can stop the driving of the motor in the case where a printing paper is sufficiently lifted to reach a feed roller.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the development of electronic technology, various types of image forming apparatuses, such as a printer, a scanner, a copy machine, a facsimile, and a multifunctional peripheral (MFP) having at least two functions of the above-described devices, have been used on a widespread scale.
In order to perform a printing operation according to a user's command, it is necessary to make printing paper loaded in a paper tray contact a feed roller that feeds the paper to an image former. This function is performed by a motor that moves a lift, such as knock-up type device, in a direction of the feed roller.
If the lift is moved by the motor enough to make the paper contact the feed roller, it is necessary to stop the driving of the motor so that the paper is prevented from being lifted any further in the direction of the feed roller. In the related art, this function is performed by a micro switch or a photo-interrupter.
FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining a method of controlling driving of a motor using a micro switch in the related art.
If printing paper is lifted enough to reach a feed roller 13 by a lift 11, such as by use of a knock-up device, the paper causes a switch 15 to be turned on. If the switch 15 is turned on, a motor that moves the lift 1 is stopped, and thus the paper is not lifted any further in the direction of the feed roller 13.
However, if the location of the paper is sensed using a separate sensor, such as the micro switch or photo-interrupter, as described above, material costs increase due to installation of such a sensor, and this causes an increase in product costs.
Further, if the switch is short-circuited or an error occurs due to the secession of an actuator, the motor may be overloaded, and this may cause deterioration of the durability of the components including the motor and the occurrence of the malfunction/missing steps of the motor.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method capable of controlling the motor through sensing of the location of the lift that lifts the paper without providing a separate sensor.

Image forming apparatus, method of controlling paper feeding thereof, and computer-readable recording medium


A cable winder guide is disclosed comprising a cylindrical drum having a cylindrical surface with a shaft rotatably mounting the cylindrical drum. A drive is provided for rotating the cylindrical drum about the shaft. A helical groove is defined in the cylindrical surface of the drum for retrieving and releasing the cable upon rotation of the cylindrical drum. A cable retainer is disclosed for resiliently engaging the cable when the cable is located within the helical groove for maintaining the cable within the helical groove.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hoisting devices and more particularly to a cable winder guide for maintaining the cable within a helical groove on a drum.
2. Background of the Invention
Soon after the first successful stranded iron wire rope was developed in 1834, wire rope proved so superior to hemp rope in serviceability and cost that the use of wire rope soon became widespread in European mining and eventually throughout the rest of the world with broadening applications. Most wire ropes used today are utilized in hoisting and hauling operations. Machinery for these purposes, such as cranes, power shovels, elevators, and hoists, requires a strong, flexible rope. Machinery of this type produces rapid movement and substantial bending stresses on wire rope or cable. The flexibility and strength of wire rope or cable has proven to be ideally suited to meet these stringent requirements.
A hoist is a mechanical device used primarily for raising and lowering heavy loads. Occasionally, hoists may be employed for moving objects horizontally. A hoist generally comprises a combination of one or more fixed pulleys and a moving pulley arranged in a block and tackle configuration. A load attaching means is provided which may be a hook or other similar arrangement or device. A rope (or cable) extends between the load and the motive power for the hoist. The motive power may be either manual or supplied by a mechanical driven engine or an electrical motor device. Manual, mechanical, or electrically powered hoists are commonly mounted to the floor or wall, and are used for varied lifting and hauling operations in factories and warehouses.
Some special purpose adaptations of hoists have been developed as needs have arisen and been identified in the art. One such development resulted in a device which is useful for lifting watercraft from the water for storage. The advantages of removing a vessel from the water are well known to those skilled in the art. The damaging effects resulting from retaining a vessel within the water include tide and wave motion damage to the vessel, harsh destructive effects of electrolysis, the exposure to the hull of marine organisms, and winter freezing. These damaging effects are eliminated or removed when the vessel is removed from the water by a hoist or other means.
As a hoist lifts a load, the retrieved cable is wound about a take-up reel or drum. If the cable becomes skewed and overlaps an adjoining cable turn, this results in a serious binding of the retrieved cable. The binding of the cable prevents release of the cable and subsequent movement of the load. The problem of cable binding has been addressed with limited success by the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,281,007 to Edward D. Hooker teaches that class of hoisting machinery in which the hoisting cable is wound spirally in a corresponding groove on the winding-drum. The object of the invention is to provide simple, inexpensive means for retaining the cable properly in the groove and preventing the coils from riding one upon another when the cable is relaxed and the helix formed thereby tends to expand. The improvement serves usefully with cables of any materials but is of special advantage when wire cables are employed having the stiffness and elasticity inherent in cables of that description. The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement by which the above objects are attained.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,850,676 and 1,850,677 U.S. patent to H. F. Kieneman teaches improvements in hose reels of the type adapted to be trundled over the ground for the purpose of winding and unwinding the hose on and off a winding drum that is revolved by tractive power developed in, the hose reel or appliance. The appliance of this invention is adapted especially for use with rubber hose of the type used to sprinkle gardens lawns and to other, grassy plots. The structure of this type of hose possesses elasticity or resiliency sufficiently to maintain its tubular form and thereby pre vent flattening of the hose as it is wound on the drum. In carrying out the invention this type of hose can be wound or coiled on the drum of the reel in such manner as not to obstruct the free flow of water through the coiled or wound hose and on the other hand the water may freely flow through that portion of the hose that remains on the drum while the hose is being used to sprinkle a lawn or garden.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,279 to Carter H. Arnold relates to hoisting devices of the type that may be employed to support scaffolds or to pull rope and is similar in some respects to the hoist shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,742,261 to Carter H. Arnold. In the above noted patent (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 2,742,261) there is disclosed a hoisting device adapted to be employed with a hoist having a loaded run and an unloaded run and in which a plurality of loops are formed, portions of which are wrapped around the drum and portions wrapped around means spaced from the drum. By the invention of the cited patent the hoist and its supported structure may be moved along the length of a rope, or the hoist, if held stationary, maybe employed to pull rope relative thereto. The instant invention (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,279), although having the same general mode of operation of the above noted invention, has certain advantages thereover in the cited patent the rope is subjected to sudden changes in direction which tend to increase the bending stresses therein. In addition, the means for transferring the rope from one winding to the adjacent winding must be relatively strong to withstand the relatively high tensions in the rope, thus increasing the cost of manufacture and in some instances, resulting in relatively high friction loses. The main object of the present invention is therefore to overcome certain disadvantages of the above noted type of hoist. Another object of the invention is the provision of a single drum hoist that does not subject the rope to sharp changes in direction and which therefor does not build up high stresses in the rope.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,150,861 to Fred E. Ahlbin teaches cable winches in which a driven reel winds up a length of cable thereon, and the present application is a continuation-in-part of his prior application Ser. No. 827,639, filed Jul. 16, 1959, and now abandoned. Prior to the present invention many types of winches have been devised to wind up on reels lengths of relatively stiff wire rope or steel wire cable. Experience of those skilled in the practical art has led them to adopt uniformly, the conclusion that such cable, even when of the small diameters, could not be wound up consistently on reels with the successive turns in each course or layer neatly laid down about the reel tread or core barrel in adjacent orderly fashion if the core barrel or tread is less than three inches in diameter. This was particularly evident after a cable had been repeatedly strained underloads during successive reelings and become worn or abraded by considerable service. Turns of a steel wirecable have considerable spring action tending to straighten out the lengths thereof in the turns, which tendency is greater in turns of smaller diameter. Consequently, when such strained and worn cable is wound up on drams or reel barrels of small diameter without suitable guiding confinement the turns frequently skew and the cable kinks and tangles up on the small drums or barrels during the winding. This tendency is also present to a degree in the use of larger reeling drums and barrels. Many complicated and costly traveling guiding devices have been devised for the purpose of eliminating or minimizing this difficulty and these have had a degree of success in heavy winch equipment for large cables. However, it is not practical to use such devices in economical winch structures for the smaller cables. It is an object of the present invention to eliminate these problems or minimize them to a practical degree. Another object of the present invention is to provide a very simple constructed guiding means for small diameter cable, eg., of the order of five thirty seconds of an inch) in diameter, which is economically produced in mass manufacturing procedure and readily mounted in simple winches for such service, such guiding means requiring no traverse traveling parts while serving effectively to lay down on the reels thereof in orderly fashion the successive cable turns.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,508 to Edgar R. Powell teaches a hoist for transporting heavy loads from one location to another and more particularly to a balancing hoist which relieves most of the weight of the load to enable an operator to manually move a heavy load between locations. A balancing hoist according to the invention includes a chamber or cylinder containing a fluid, usually air, under pressure, with the air being compressed as a load carried by the hoist is lowered and with the air being allowed to expand as the load is raised. With this arrangement, part of the load is offset or balanced by the air pressure when the load is raised or lowered or remains stationary. By regulating the pressure of the air in the hoist chamber, a load of almost any size can be handled with case. Since a product or load of a particular size and weight is usually handled by the hoist, being transferred from one conveyor to another, for example, the pressure in the cylinder can be regulated to balance that load so that no further adjustment is required. The pressure is preferably set so that a small force is required to raise and lower the load with this force usually being from about two percent to about ten percent of the actual weight of the load. The hoist operator can then move the load about, raising and lowering it, as though it weighed but a few pounds. The operator thus exercises and uses the same muscles he otherwise would if carrying a load directly but does so without strain or becoming tired.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,582 to O. M. Ulbing relates to cable or rope hoists, winches, reels, and the like and especially to rope suspending reel assemblies, and teaches a rope suspending reel with a helical rope groove rotatably supported on an axis which is canted at an angle to align the rope directly with the groove.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,078 to Kaufmann et al. teaches a rope guide having a threaded guide segment and a threaded holding segment with a hold down device covering at least a part of a single rope loop on a grooved drum; the segments are made of a synthetic material and their threadings engage the groove of the drum; a slot forming element is fastened to the guide segment and the rope runs through the slot towards the drum; roller mounts are mounted by a pin on the guide segment and carry spring biased rollers forcing the rope into the drum groove.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,251 to G. A. Porter teaches a pulley assembly provided for an operating cord. The pulley has a body with a rotational axis and an annular outer surface concentric with the rotational axis. A cord retention member has a surface to be situated around the annular outer pulley surface in operative relationship with the pulley and extending more than 180 degrees around the annular outer pulley surface. Structure is provided on the pulley and cord retention member to cooperate with the cord so that the cord prevents separation of the pulley and cord retention member from their operative relationship.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,367 to J. Zaguroli, Jr. teaches a safety device for an air balancing hoist including one or more piston and cylinder shock absorbers engaged by one end of the drum ball nut, which creates a substantial retarding force at high speed but does not generate significant impeding forces at low speeds.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,832 to J. Zaguroli, Jr. teaches an air balancing hoist having an axially movable drum reel supported on a ball nut and screw with a piston defining a pressure chamber containing regulated air pressure acting on one end of the drum reel to counter the unwinding force of a load supported on a cable wound on the drum reel. A centrifugal brake retards drum rotation when there is a sudden release of the load tending to cause too rapid wind up of the cable by the regulated air pressure applied on the piston.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,543 to E. Kobayasi et al. teaches a hand operated chain block which is capable of fixing as end of a load chain of unloading side and also ensuring smooth wind up and down operation of the load chain, while reducing the size of chain block. In the hand operated chain block, the fixing pin is located at a position in a marginal portion around each side plate such that an interval between a chain split and a rotation trail of a tip of an end portion on the loading side of the first link of the load chain rotatably supported by the fixing pin can be made larger than a width of a link of the load chain, and also that when a full length of the load chain of loading side is wound down, an end portion on the loading side of the second link next to the first link can abut with the end portion on the unloading side of the chain guide.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,962 to N. C. Henly teaches a gypsy-type winch having a sheave for driving a rope, chain or rope-chain pulling element. The pulling element is urged into contact with the sheave by a spring assembly acting on the element at positions spaced apart from each other and in different sides respectively of a first diameter extending between the inlet and outlet runs of the element, but both on one side of a second diameter perpendicular to the first.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cable winder guide which overcomes some of the deficiencies of the prior art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved cable winder guide for a retainer resiliently engaging the cable and maintaining the cable within a helical groove.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed as being merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention with in the scope of the invention. Accordingly other objects in a full understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention, the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A device for roof structures having a ridge or hip defined by the planes of two roof decks, disposed at an angle with respect to each other defining a longitudinal joint. A longitudinally extending cover with at least one coextensive channel defined by a bottom, two spacer walls and two lateral walls are mounted over the ridge or hip. The channel(s) increases the effective contact area to enhance the gripping action of the adhesive compound. From the longitudinal bends of the cover wall extend two perpendicularly extending walls with distal ends that continue with longitudinally coextensive flanges. The longitudinal flanges extend at an angle to be cooperatively and rigidly mounted over the roof decks with mechanical fasteners. An adhesive compound is positioned in the channel and over the cover. The adhesive is pressed so that part of it protrudes through the through openings positioned along the bottom, spacer and lateral walls that define the channel thereby creating a mechanical anchorage with the device. Tile accessories are placed over the cover and in contact with the adhesive compound to secure them to the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hip and ridge attachment device for roof construction, and more particularly, to such a device that is used in conjunction with an adhesive compound to secure the tiles to the device which in turn is mechanically anchored to the roof structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several designs for hip and ridge devices have been designed in the past. None of them, however, includes the anchorage features of the present invention while simultaneously keeping the design compatible with roll forming manufacturing processes. Roll forming techniques are suitable for relatively inexpensive production operations but carry inherent limitations. The present invention reconciles these limitations with a sturdy design that results in an article of manufacture that can withstand the most exigent wind pressures to which a roof envelope is exposed.
Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,675 issued to the inventor herein on Nov. 18, 2003. However, it differs from the present invention because even though the contact area was increased, it fails to provide the mechanical anchorage between the adhesive compound and the device that results in the wind pressure advantages of the present invention.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.


An optical imaging lens includes: a first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth lens element, the first lens element has an object-side surface with a convex part in a vicinity of the optical axis, and a convex part in a vicinity of its periphery, the second lens element has an image-side surface with a concave part in a vicinity of its periphery, the third lens element has an image-side surface with a convex part in a vicinity of its periphery, the fourth lens has an object-side surface with a concave part in a vicinity of its periphery, the fifth lens element has an object-side surface with a concave part in a vicinity of the optical axis, the sixth lens element has an image-side surface with a concave part in a vicinity of the optical axis, and a convex part in a vicinity of its periphery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an optical imaging lens set and an electronic device which includes such optical imaging lens set. Specifically speaking, the present invention is directed to an optical imaging lens set of six lens elements and an electronic device which includes such optical imaging lens set.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, the popularity of mobile phones and digital cameras makes the sizes of various portable electronic products reduce quickly, and so does the size of the photography modules. The current trend of research is to develop an optical imaging lens set of a shorter length with uncompromised good quality. The most important characteristics of an optical imaging lens set are image quality and size.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,830,620 discloses an optical imaging lens set of six lens elements. However, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,830,620, the first lens element has negative refractive power, the second lens element has positive refractive power, and the aperture stop is disposed between the second lens element and the third lens element. This arrangement cannot achieve good optical performance. Besides, the size of the optical imaging lens set is too big to satisfy the specification requirements of consumer electronics products.
Therefore, how to reduce the total length of a photographic device, but still maintain good optical performance, is an important research objective.

Optical imaging lens and electronic device comprising the same