A holder piece assembly having holder pieces continuously arranged and leaf spring members connecting between each holder piece, and being curved in the longitudinal direction by elastic force of elastic members is provided. The holder piece assembly is mounted on the front edge of a wiper arm through a clip pin. Blade rubber for wiping window glass surface is mounted on the holder piece assembly. The elastic force of the leaf spring members elastically deformed when the blade rubber is allowed to conform with the window glass surface can disperse the pressing force of the wiper arm over the blade rubber longitudinal direction. The dispersed pressing force can be set by changing the connecting angle between each holder piece according to the window glass curvature thereby the wiper blade versatility is improved.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a wiper blade for wiping the surface of a window glass of vehicles.
2. Background Art
A wiper blade mounted on vehicles such as automobiles is used for wiping off such as rain, snow, insects and splash from the preceding vehicle which are attached to a window glass in order to assure the field of view of a driver. The wiper blade is mounted on the front edge of the wiper arm connected to such as electric motors and reciprocally oscillates within a wiping area which is set on the window glass surface. The wiper arm is provided with a spring therein, and the wiper blade is pressed against the window glass surface by a pressing force transmitted from the spring through the wiper arm. Thus the wiper blade can wipe off the window glass by the reciprocal oscillating and the pressing force of the wiper arm.
In order to obtain the preferred wiping performance, the pressing force from the wiper arm should be dispersed over the longitudinal direction of the blade rubber contacting the window glass surface. Thus a wiper blade in which a blade rubber and a wiper arm are connected by multi-construction assembled levers is developed and the pressing force is dispersed through the levers. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 6-340249, the following wiper blade has been developed: a plate type elastic member is mounted over the back face of the blade rubber, and the pressing force from the wiper arm connected to the central portion of the elastic member is dispersed over the longitudinal direction of the blade rubber through the elastic member. The thickness and the width of the elastic member change in the longitudinal direction thereby the dispersed pressure according to the window glass surface to be wiped is applied to the blade rubber.
However, it has possibility that the pressing force which is dispersed to the both end portions is less than the pressing force by the wiper arm which acts on the center because a single elastic plate material is attached to the blade rubber. Additionally, elasticity generated when contacting the window glass surface, i.e. a dispersed pressing force is set depend on changing the width and thickness of the plate material, so that the wiper blade should be set according to the curvature of the window glass surface.
Further, the curvature of window glasses for vehicles is likely to be made different between various types of vehicles because of the design, so that it was necessary to set the dedicated wiper blade for each type of vehicle. Therefore, the versatility of wiper blades is reduced and the production cost of wiper blades may have to increase.
An object of the present invention is to provide the versatility of wiper blades for window glasses having different curvature.


A well drilling sub has a body with a threaded upper end for connection into a drill pipe string and a threaded lower end for connection and rotation with an earth boring bit. An axial passage in the body conveys drilling fluid to an outlet in the earth boring bit. Diverting nozzles in the body are in fluid communication with the axial passage. Each nozzle diverts and discharges a portion of the drilling fluid being pumped down the axial passage. Each diverting nozzle has a nozzle axis that points upward and outward and also at a oblique angle. The oblique angle lags a radial plane considering a direction of rotation of the body.

Oil and gas wells are typically drilled with a drill string having a drill bit on bottom that is rotated. One type of drill bit is a drag bit having blades with cutting disks that scrape against and cut the formation. Mud pumps on the drilling rig pump drilling fluid down the drill string and out nozzles on the bit face to sweep formation cuttings from the bit face. The drilling fluid entrains the cuttings and returns up an annulus surrounding the drill string. Particularly for horizontal wells, a mud motor may be to rotate the bit. Drilling fluid pressure powers the mud motor to rotate the bit independently of the drill string rotation. The mud motor requires a considerable pressure and flow rate of drilling fluid in order to be able to apply the desired torque to the drill bit.
If the cuttings are not readily removed, the rate of penetration of the drill bit declines. Bits may also plug and ball up while drilling sticky shale formations. If the mud motor is not able to rotate the drill bit at a desired rotational speed, the rate of penetration may decline. Many variations in the bit nozzle diameters, orientation and placement are used in order to more effectively remove cuttings.


Methods for detecting and evaluating the quality of protein crystals are provided comprising subjecting a sample to second order non-linear optical imaging and detecting the second harmonic generation signal.

The present invention generally relates to protein crystals and methods for identifying diffraction-quality protein crystals.
In proteins, structure dictates function. The major cost in terms of time and expense in protein structure determination by x-ray crystallography often rests in the identification of conditions for generating diffraction-quality protein crystals. With the human genome now sequenced, efforts over the last decade have shifted increasingly toward structural characterization of the proteins encoded by the genome, primarily through diffraction analysis. Major bottlenecks in this effort rest in the time and expense associated with isolating and purifying functional proteins, and identifying appropriate conditions for growth of diffraction-quality crystals. Several high-throughput platforms for screening protein crystallization conditions have been developed with reasonably good success. (Cumbaa, C. A.; Lauricella, A.; Fehrman, N.; Ceatch, C.; Collins, R. W.; Luft, J.; DeTitta, G.; Jurisica, I., Automatic classification of sub-microlitre protein-crystallization trials in 1536-well plates. Acta Crystallographica D 2003, D59, 1619-1627. Spraggon, G.; Lesley, S. A.; Kreusch, A.; Priestle, J. P., Computational analysis of crystallization trials. Acta Crystallographica D 2002, D58, 1915-1923. Echalier, A.; Glazer, R. L.; Fülöp, B.; Deday, M. A., Assessing crystallization droplets using birefringence. Acta Crystallographica D 2004, D60, 696-702. Bodenstaff, E. R.; Hoedemaeker, F. J.; Kuil, M. E.; de Vrind, H. P. M.; Abrahams, J. P., The prospects of protein nanocrystallography. Acta Crystallographica D 2002, D58, 1901-1906. Blundell, T. L.; Jhoti, H.; Abell, C., High-Throughput Crystallography for Lead Discovery in Drug Design. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 2002, 1, 45-54. Zheng, B.; Roach, L. S.; Ismagilov, R. F., Screening of protein crystallization conditions on a microfluidic chip using nanoliter-size droplets. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 11170-11171. Santarsiero, B. D.; Yegian, D. T.; Lee, C. C.; Spraggon, G.; Gu, J.; Scheibe, D.; Uber, D. C.; Cornell, E. W.; Nordmeyer, R. A.; Kolbe, W. F.; Jin, J.; Jones, A. L.; Jaklevic, J. M.; Shchultz, P. G.; Stevens, R. C., An approach to rapid protein crystallization using nanodroplets. J. Appl. Crystallography 2002, 35, 278-281.) However, the number of conditions that can be sampled in any screening measurement is ultimately dictated by the total quantity of initial purified protein and the smallest detectable protein crystal. Reduction in the detection limits for protein crystallization can potentially reduce both the time required for performing an assay of conditions and the total amount of protein consumed. The challenges associated with early detection of protein crystallization are numerous. Optical detection approaches are arguably most directly compatible with diverse crystallization platforms and enable continuous monitoring of the same sample at multiple time-points. Commercially available approaches based on image analysis (Cumbaa, C. A.; Lauricella, A.; Fehrman, N.; Ceatch, C.; Collins, R. W.; Luft, J.; DeTitta, G.; Jurisica, I., Automatic classification of sub-microlitre protein-crystallization trials in 1536-well plates. Acta Crystallographica D 2003, D59, 1619-1627. Spraggon, G.; Lesley, S. A.; Kreusch, A.; Priestle, J. P., Computational analysis of crystallization trials. Acta Crystallographica D 2002, D58, 1915-1923) or birefringence (Echalier, A.; Glazer, R. L.; Fülöp, B.; Deday, M. A., Assessing crystallization droplets using birefringence. Acta Crystallographica D 2004, D60, 696-702) are limited to crystals with dimensions spanning at least several μm. Incorporating a fluorophore by doping (Groves, M. R.; Müller, I. B.; Kreplin, X.; Müller-Dieckmann, J., A method for the general identification of protein crystals in crystallization experiments using a noncovalent fluorescent dye. Acta Crystallographica D 2007, D63, 526-535.) or covalent attachment (Forsythe, E.; Achari, A.; Pusey, M. L., Trace fluorescent labeling for high-throughput crystallography. Acta Crystallographica D 2006, D62, 339-346.) can improve on these detection limits, but also introduces a significant background signal from solvated dye molecules and amorphous aggregates.
All of these previously established methods suffer from the inability to easily detect sub-diffraction limited crystals and to discriminate between the formation of protein crystals versus the localized deposition of amorphous protein aggregates. What is needed is a sensitive and selective detection method for protein crystals and crystallization, with detection limits for the onset of crystallization corresponding to crystal dimensions well below the optical diffraction-limit.

Non-linear optical imaging of protein crystals


The present invention provides a power generator which can obtain efficient power generation by changing magnetic force acting on electromotive coils.

As well known, there have been developed various power generators which induce power generation. In those power generators, a permanent magnet member provided with permanent magnets arranged in the form of a tube and an electromotive coil member provided with electromotive coils arranged in the form of a tube are arranged concentrically. Namely, the single permanent magnet member and the single electromotive coil member are arranged concentrically. In this state, the single permanent magnet member is rotated to change magnetic force in the electromotive coil, and, thus, to induce power generation.
In the well-known power generator, since the magnetic force inducing power generation, that is, the magnetic force of the permanent magnet is constant, there has been employed the constitution as disclosed in Patent Document 1 in which an electromagnet is provided separately from the permanent magnet, and the magnetic force of the electromagnet is added or not added to increase or reduce the magnetic force.

Abstract: The power generator is provided with a first permanent magnet member 1, a second permanent magnet member 2, and an electromotive coil member 3 arranged concentrically to have a telescoping structure and is configured so that power generation in the electromotive coil member 3 is induced by rotating the first permanent magnet member 1 or/and the second permanent magnet member 2. In the power generator, the first and second permanent magnet members 1 and 2 cooperate with each other to change the magnetic force and, thus, to obtain efficient power generation.


An electrical box setting apparatus for positioning electrical boxes on wood or metal wall studs. A back plate includes a pair of slidably adjustable blocks and a spacer bar between the blocks. The thickness of the spacer bar is chosen to match the thickness of sheet rock to be installed on a wall constructed with wood studs. To install an electrical box, the sliding blocks are positioned to the vertical elevation desired for the electrical box, the apparatus is positioned so that the blocks straddle the stud and the spacer bar abuts the stud, and the electrical box is placed on one of the sliding blocks and attached to the stud at that position. For metal studs, the spacer bar is removed or the adjustable blocks are relocated to the opposite face of the back plate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to devices and methods for the installation of electrical boxes for electric power receptacles and the like, and more particularly to an electrical box setting guide apparatus for use on wood and metal wall studs which provides for quick, easy and accurate vertical and horizontal positioning of electrical boxes on studs.
2. Description of the Background Art
During construction of residential, commercial and other building structures, electrical boxes are generally installed in walls by attaching the electrical boxes to studs or support members in the wall prior to covering the wall with drywall or sheet rock. The electrical boxes generally must be placed at a uniform height or elevation from the floor, and must be positioned to allow installation of the drywall sheets. Prior to installation of the drywall, the electrical boxes are attached to the sides of the stud so that the front face or edge of the electrical box will be flush with the surface of the subsequently installed drywall. When wood studs are utilized in a wall, the front face of the electrical box is generally set out or positioned to extend outward from the front surface of the stud, and the drywall later installed covers the front surface of the stud. With the use of metal studs, the electrical boxes are generally positioned or set with the front face of the box being flush with the front edge of the stud, and the drywall is later installed to abut the stud without covering it.
Typically, a person installing electrical boxes on studs will determine positions for the boxes with a tape measure by measuring and marking a horizontal distance from the front or outer face of the stud as required by the drywall thickness, and measuring and marking a vertical distance from the floor along the stud as required for the height of the electrical fixture carried by the electrical box. In the case of wood studs, the electrical box is generally nailed to the stud at the measured position. With metal studs, holes are drilled in the stud at the marked position, and the electrical box is attached thereto by screws or bolts.
The above positioning procedure is prone to inaccuracy and frequently can lead to incorrect positioning of electrical boxes. If an error occurs in the horizontal positioning, the drywall or sheet rock will not be flush with the edge of the electrical box. The box must be detached, repositioned so that the electrical box is flush with the drywall, and again reattached to the stud, resulting in inconvenience and delay. Failure to reposition the electrical box results in an uneven drywall finish around the electrical box. Incorrect vertical positioning of the electrical boxes must also be corrected by detachment, repositioning and reattachment or otherwise the electrical fixtures along the wall will be at different elevations, which detracts from the appearance of the finished wall. Presently, there are no devices or methods available which overcome the difficulties involved in positioning or setting electrical boxes on studs.
Thus, there is a need for an electrical box setting guide apparatus which allows quick, easy and accurate vertical and horizontal positioning of electrical boxes on studs, which automatically positions the electrical box to be flush with subsequently installed drywall sheets, and which can be used with both wood and metal studs. The present invention satisfies these needs, as well as others, and generally overcomes the deficiencies found in the background art.

Electrical box setting guide apparatus and method


Pharmaceutical formulations of cefaclor, suitable for the direct-compression manufacture of dispersible tablets, containing the antibiotic cefaclor in an amount between 35% and 50% by weight of the total weight of the formulation, along with suitable excipients and coadjuvants selected from disintegrators, diluents, lubricants, antiadherents, sweeteners, fragrances and, optionally, flavorings, opacifiers and colorants. Said formulations are suitable for the manufacture of dispersible tablets which disintegrate in less than three minutes in water at 19.degree.-21.degree. C., and are suitable for the treatment of infections caused by bacteria strains sensitive to cefaclor.

Cefaclor or 3-chloro-7-D-(phenylglycinamide)-3-cephem-4-carboxylic acid is a semi-synthetic cephalosporinic antibiotic described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,372 and German Patent No. DE 2,408,698 (Eli Lilly & Co.). Its bactericide action is based on its capacity to inhibit cell wall synthesis. Cefaclor is indicated for treatment of infections caused by sensitive strains of numerous organisms, particularly Streptococcus and Staphylococcus.
Pharmaceutical forms currently available for administration of cefaclor include capsules, retard tablets and suspensions, both in phial and sachet form.
There are a number of limitations and drawbacks to the use of capsules affecting the following:
their administration to the patient, which may be limited because some may have problems in swallowing them, particularly children and the elderly who may even be unable to do so; and PA1 the fact that they permit only a single dosage. PA1 risk of accidental overdose due to uncontrolled consumption, particularly in children; and PA1 the difficulties of handling and transport because of the volume involved, leading to some risk of failure to complete the therapy, with the attendant loss of efficacy. PA1 i) Their high rate of disintegration in water, and PA1 ii) The uniform distribution of the particles into which they disintegrate. PA1 They are suitable for treating patients with difficulties in ingesting solid forms; PA1 They may be used by diabetic patients since they do not contain saccharose; PA1 Dosage is flexible and reasonably accurate following dissolution in the volume of water desired by the patient. PA1 The resulting solutions are of suitable organoleptic characteristics, acceptable to patients. PA1 Their shape, size and reduced volume allow them to be presented in blister form, which is a benefit to the patient, enhancing ease of handling and carrying, to ensure that the patient completes the therapy, thereby raising the efficacy of treatment; and PA1 There is less risk of accidental intoxication due to overdose, making them less hazardous, particularly to children.
On the other hand, the drawback to cefaclor administration in suspension (sachets) is that, due to its saccharose content, its potential use is limited in diabetic patients, who must take the appropriate precautions.
Moreover, added to this drawback caused by the saccharose content, administration of cefaclor in suspension (phial) has further disadvantages which may be summarised as follows:
Retard tablets have the drawback of not permitting double dosage of the product; moreover, they are not suitable for patients with difficulties in ingesting solid forms.
Existing forms of administration of cefaclor do not in general meet entirely satisfactorily some requirements considered desirable in the treatment of bacterial infections, for example their application to any patient in conditions such as to ensure that the therapy is completed, thereby enhancing its efficacy.
There is thus a requirement for new pharmaceutical forms for administering cefaclor which solve these problems, making it easier for the patient to administer them, and so that they can be used with diabetic patients without causing additional difficulties, so increasing the efficacy of treatment. This invention provides a solution to these problems, by furnishing new pharmaceutical formulations containing cefaclor which are suitable for the manufacture of dispersible tablets.
Dispersible tablets are solid pharmaceutical forms for oral administration which must disintegrate in less than three minutes in water at 19.degree. C.-21.degree. C. and disperse evenly in the water. The dispersion uniformity trial involves placing two tablets in 100 ml of water and shaking them until they are completely disintegrated; they must disperse so as to pass through a screen with a nominal mesh size of 710 microns (Brtitish Pharmacopea Vol. II, 1988).
Dispersible tablets are known which contain antibiotics belonging to the synthetic penicillins group (amoxycillin) and anti-inflammatories (pyroxycam), but none is known which contains an antibiotic belonging to the synthetic cephalosporin group, such as cefaclor.
The subject of this invention is new pharmaceutical formulations containing cefaclor suitable for the manufacture of dispersible tablets. A further subject of this invention consists of such dispersible tablets containing cefaclor, and their manufacturing process.


A test method for an ASIC uses an embedded processor in the ASIC to execute test routines from an embedded memory or an external memory. During ASIC production, the test routines can comprehensively test of the blocks of the ASIC without a complicated test pattern from test equipment. The test routines can also perform power-up tests in systems or end products containing the ASIC. Test selection, activation, and result output can be implement using a few terminals of the ASIC.

Application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) must be tested under a variety of circumstances. For example, during development, an ASIC generally requires thorough testing and debugging to verify or fix the design of the integrated circuit. During production, ASICs generally must be tested to separate good chips from bad chips. During use, an ASIC is often tested to determine whether the integrated circuit is functioning properly in a system.
One method for testing an ASIC during production uses a traditional ASIC tester such as an Agilent 83000 F330 to apply test patterns to the terminals of the ASIC. The test patterns ideally exercise all of the functional paths of the ASIC and can uncover any defects in the ASIC. Developing the test patterns required for thorough testing can take significant development effort. In particular, developing a test pattern that exercises all functional paths in multiple functional units including embedded memory can be difficult. Additionally, when an ASIC includes an interface to external memory, the test patterns must emulate the external memory, and developing a test pattern that emulates the timing of a high-speed external memory can be time consuming particularly when the ASIC uses a serial interface to reduce pin count.
Even if an exhaustive test pattern is developed, running through a complex test pattern during testing of an ASIC generally requires time, which potentially increases the manufacturing cost of the ASIC. Less exhaustive test patterns can reduce test times, but simpler test patterns may not catch as many defects, resulting in more defective chips being delivered to customers.
Another limitation of ASIC tests requiring a tester is that such tests are limited to production or development of the ASICs and generally are impractical for testing of an ASIC in commercial product or system. Accordingly, ASICs need at least two types of tests, a test implemented with an external tester and a built-in self-test (BIST) that the ASIC performs in a product. Developing both tests requires duplicated effort and expense.
BIST tests are generally implemented using special BIST logic that applies deterministic signal patterns in an attempt to exercise the logic paths. Developing BIST logic that performs exhaustive tests is difficult both because there is no guarantee that the paths exercised are the actual functional paths and because creating the test logic often requires specialized design tools. Once produced, such logic is often complicated, increases the ASICs size and cost, and can be overhead that decreases the ASICs performance.
In view of the difficulties involved in testing, more efficient testing methods and structures are sought for testing ASICs during development, production, and use.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Built-in self-test using embedded memory and processor in an application specific integrated circuit


A vessel attachment device includes a body, first and second attachment arms, a biasing member, and at least one line connection interface. At least one of the first attachment arm and the second attachment arm is movable relative to the body. The biasing member is configured to apply a biasing force at the at least one movable first and second attachment arm to bias the at least one movable first and second attachment arm to an open position. And, the biasing member is configured to selectively release the biasing force and apply an actuation force at the at least one movable first and second attachment arm to move the at least one movable first and second attachment arm from the open position to the closed position to attach the vessel attachment device to a vessel attachment point.

Vessels are used in a variety of applications to transport goods. In general, a vessel is loaded with goods at a first site, transported to a second site, and unloaded at the second site. In many such applications, a series of interconnected vessels, such as barges or train cars, are used to increase the capacity of goods being transported. Often times while loading/unloading the vessel, the vessel can be controllably moved relative to a loading/unloading point (e.g., conveyor, crane, etc.). For instance, in the case of barges, a line and associated winch attached to the barge may be used to controllably move the barge along a surface of a waterway relative to the loading/unloading point. This controllable movement of the barge can allow the barge to be more efficiently loaded/unloaded.
However, current practice generally requires human presence at the vessel to manually attach the line to, and remove the line from, the vessel. Given the various dynamic forces involved in many vessel loading/unloading applications, human presence at, or near, the vessel can be hazardous. For example, in the case of barges, a fall from the barge can be one primary hazard to the human present at the barge. Because many barge loading/unloading applications can occur at waterways with relatively strong currents, a fall from the barge can be particularly hazardous.


Dye-loaded fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles working as light-harvesting nano-antenna, which efficiently transfer the excitation energy to acceptor dyes and, therefore, amplifies emission of the latter are provided.

The present invention concerns dye-loaded fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles working as nano-antenna.
Detection of single fluorescent molecules requires a dedicated microscopy setup with strong excitation power ranging between 100 and up to 5000 W/cm2 because the brightness of fluorescent dyes is limited (Holzmeister, P.; Acuna, G. P.; Grohmann, D.; Tinnefeld, P. Chemical Society Reviews 2014, 43, (4), 1014-1028.). However, the use of strong excitation power would increase photo-damage and the background related to auto-fluorescence, and need special microscopy setups and powerful light source. The use of much lower excitation power would not only decrease photo-damage and auto-fluorescence background, but also enable utilization of inexpensive light sources important for high-throughput screening and diagnostics assays.
For instance, fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs), that are many-fold brighter than single dyes, can be detected even using a smartphone-based device. Till now, a single fluorescent molecule detection under ambient light conditions was impossible. The typical light power of sunlight at the surface of the earth at a bandwidth of 10 nm in a visible range is 1-5 mW/cm2, which is similar to the illumination power used in fluorimeters or plate readers. This power is 104-106 times lower than those typically used in single molecule microscopy.
One of recent developed method suggested metallic nanostructures, so-called plasmonic nano-antennas, which can amplify the excitation and emission of single molecules (Novotny, L.; van Hulst, N. Nat. Photonics 2011, 5, (2), 83-90.). In this case, the amplification is achieved due to surface plasmon effects, which requires precise control of antenna geometry and the distance from the emitter to the metal surface. Thus, between two gold NPs, an amplification of up to 100-fold could be achieved (Acuna, G. P.; Möller, F. M.; Holzmeister, P.; Beater, S.; Lalkens, B.; Tinnefeld, P. Science 2012, 338, (6106), 506-510.). However, to detect single molecule under ambient light power, it is needed to achieve at least 1000-fold amplification of the signal coming from a high performance non-quenched fluorophore, such as cyanine 5 or Alexa567.
Another method concerns the use of a light-harvesting concept, where multiple donors due to high absorptivity can efficiently collect light energy and then deliver it to a single acceptor through a Förster Resonance Energy transfer (FRET) mechanism. This is particularly efficient when the excitation energy can rapidly migrate within the donors up to the energy acceptor. FRET systems that use conjugated polymers, dendrimers, multi-porphyrin arrays, micellar NPs, polymer NPs, dye assemblies, metal-organic frameworks, nucleic acids, etc, have been developed.
The values of antenna effect reported in the literature for FRET-based systems vary in the range of 3-100. So far the obtained amplification of the acceptor emission has never reached 1000 (Peng, H.-Q.; Niu, L.-Y.; Chen, Y.-Z.; Wu, L.-Z.; Tung, C.-H.; Yang, Q.-Z. Chemical Reviews 2015, 115, (15), 7502-7542.). The common reasons that limit the efficient light harvesting is self-quenching of donors at high local concentration and/or inefficient donor-donor coupling.
Recent work showed that encapsulation of multiple dyes inside polymer NPs using bulky counterions can minimize aggregation-caused dye self-quenching and produce fluorescence switching (blinking) of up to 500 dyes per particle (Reisch, A.; Didier, P.; Richert, L.; Oncul, S.; Arntz, Y.; Mely, Y.; Klymchenko, A. S. Nat. Commun. 2014, 5:4089). It was explained by coupling of encapsulated dyes due to exciton migration, so that a single dark species of the same dye could quench the whole dye ensemble. However, these nanoparticles produce only on/off fluorescence switching and cannot generate any antenna effect. This article neither teach the amplification of the acceptor emission for a different dye (e.g. cyanine), which serves as energy acceptor.
Shulov et al. (Shulov, I.; Oncul, S.; Reisch, A.; Arntz, Y.; Collot, M.; Mely, Y.; Klymchenko, A. S. Nanoscale 2015, 7, (43), 18198-18210) described fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) of 10-20 nm in suspension. Said NPs contain rhodamine dyes as FRET energy donor which is assembled with the help of fluorinated counterion and a cyanine-derivative (C2-cy5) as FRET energy acceptor. However, in this work, the nanoparticles used were composed exclusively of dyes without polymer matrix. Moreover, these NPs could not produce enough high antenna effect to make energy acceptor be excited under ambient light conditions, since these NPs can only contain no more than 400 rhodamine dyes.
In fact, the combination of components giving a giant light harvesting process that enable detection of single molecules in ambient light conditions has never been achieved before with any optical material.
Consequently, it is necessary to develop new dye-loaded polymer nanoparticles which have a higher antenna effect and can be excited in condition similar to ambient light.

Dye-loaded fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles as nano-antenna

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE


Coated display pieces. Display pieces for electronic and mechanical displays are coated with a coating material coating. The coating helps to reduce or prevent breakage or shattering and/or to improve light transmission. Methods of making the coated display pieces are also described.

The present invention relates to coated display pieces and the method of producing them and, more particularly, to windows for electronic and mechanical displays which have been coated with a coating material layer.
Electronic displays are devices used to exhibit electronically generated graphical and textual images. There are many different types of electronic displays, and many more are being developed. Among the more familiar types of electronic displays are: liquid crystal displays ("LCDs"); cathode ray tubes ("CRTs"); arrays of light-emitting diodes ("LEDs") or organic light-emitting diodes ("OLEDs"); plasma display panels ("PDP"); field emission displays ("FED"); and electroluminescent ("EL") displays. LCDs and EL displays are particularly useful in portable electronic devices due to their light weight and low power consumption relative to other display technologies.
Electronic and mechanical displays are used in a wide variety of products, including, but not limited to, cellular telephones; digital and analog watches; sports computers; monitors; electronic and mechanical displays for gauges, such as meters, liquid level indicators, pedometers, speedometers, odometers, tachometers, and the like; photographic devices, such as digital or film cameras, either still or video, light meters, electronic flash units, spectrometers, and the like; metrology devices, such as volt-ohm-millimeters, automotive diagnostic devices, telecommunications service devices, and the like; financial transaction devices, such as barcode scanners, automated teller machines, cash registers, and other scanning devices; security devices, such as retina scanners, fingerprint readers, and other biometric devices; and portable digital assistants (PDAs).
One option for windows for display devices is glass because it meets requirements for optical clarity and flatness, and it has good gas and moisture barrier properties and good electrical, mechanical, thermal, and chemical resistance properties. One advantage of glass is that, for a given plate thickness, it is less flexible than plastic, and so it can be much thinner than a plastic window of equal rigidity, and therefore it can be located closer to the display behind the window, allowing the product to be thinner. However, glass has a disadvantage in that it is more brittle than most common plastics, and is subject to breakage that can produce loose fragments. It is therefore of limited usefulness in many applications. Various plastics have been proposed as replacements for glass, often because they are lighter weight and more resistant to breakage than glass. Displays made with such plastic materials have been under development for years, but plastics have limitations which interfere with their performance. These limitations include unsatisfactory optical quality, flatness, scratch resistance, solvent resistance, thermal resistance, and liquid and gas barrier properties.
It is known to coat glass windows to protect them from breakage and environmental damage. Tough, thermoset polyurethane coatings and films exemplify one type of external transparent coating that has been used to protect glass from particle erosion, abrasion and breakage. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,188, which discusses such coatings and proposes an improved multilayer coating system which is said to be useful in aircraft transparencies or as windows for military ground vehicles. However, such multilayer coating systems are complex and require multiple deposition steps.
It is also known to coat glass containers with a layer of plastic, such as polyurethane, to prevent those containers, such as soft drink bottles, from shattering on impact. Thus, Waugh U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,092,953 and 4,225,638 disclose a method and apparatus for coating a glass container with a layer of plastic by rotating the container about its horizontal axis while a plurality of liquid applicator nozzles supply uncured plastic liquid to associated areas on the container. The container is also rotated during the subsequent curing of the plastic. However, such a system is only useful on cylindrical objects which can be rotated about a horizontal axis.
US Published Patent Applications 200401052693 and 20040106707 describe a method of pad printing a coating on an optical surface of an optical device. The coating includes at least one adhesion promoter selected from the group consisting of glycol ethers, glycol ether acetates, benzotriazole, a silane, and combinations thereof. It can also include at least one polymerizable material, and at least one polymerization initiator. The adhesion promoter is described as chemically etching, softening, or reacting with the outer surface of a substrate. However, the use of such an adhesion promoter complicates the coating formulation.
Accordingly, the need remains for coated display pieces and for a method of coating display pieces such as window displays for electronic and mechanical devices with a protective layer.

Coated display pieces and method of producing same


A front end receives a request for data specifying a data type. A query handler retrieves data of the data type comprising a plurality of data records from at least one database. The query handler assigns a classification attribute to each data record using a pre-defined classification policy stored in a policy store. A discrimination detection engine statistically evaluates the classification attributes for the data to identify a mutual information metric. The query handler generates a listing of one or more discriminatory attributes and corresponding mutual information metric contributing to discriminatory data patterns based on the mutual information metric.

Large and diverse data sets are increasingly being used by businesses. Such data sets can include, for example, human resource information, customer information, transactions, demographics, or product ratings. Businesses can use statistical and machine learning techniques to support business decisions, such as credit scoring, employment applications, salary and bonus allocation, or workforce planning. When using large data sets to make various business decisions, direct and/or indirect discrimination can occur. Direct discrimination can occur when rules or practices resulting in treating individuals of a protected group differently. Indirect discrimination can occur when neutral practices rely on attributes that are correlated to protected attributes.

Automatic discriminatory pattern detection in data sets using machine learning


An improved disc type rolling rock cutter, and novel cutterheads employing such cutters. A rock cutter with an improved, simplified structure, with compact bearing, and smooth, rounded blade shape is disclosed. The design incorporates a cutter ring, bearing assembly, and seal assembly. The cutter may be assembled and disassembled for rework by a single worker with simple hand tools. Replacement of worn out cutter rings is done quickly and easily by removing the old ring assembly and then sliding a new ring, bearing, and seal assembly on to the cutter shaft. This simplified assembly is achieved by using a comparatively large shaft which is normally in the range of 30-50% of the ring diameter. The shaft design is sufficiently robust to permit a cantilever mount of the cutter. The unique configuration allows 30,000 lbs. or more thrust to be applied to a 5 inch diameter miniature disc. This capacity permits single disc cutter technology to be applied to smaller bits or cutterheads than previously possible. Also, a unique method of shaping and installing hard metal inserts improves cutting efficiency over the life of the cutter, and increases wear life in highly abrasive conditions.

A variety of cutter or bits are known in the art of mechanical excavation. One type of cutter commonly used on large diameter cutterheads in rock excavation is the disc type rolling cutter. Disc cutters are presently frequently used on cutterheads employed in tunnel boring, raise drilling, and large diameter blind drilling.
In hard rock the disc type cutter operates on the principle that by applying great thrust on the cutter, and consequently pressure on the rock to be cut, a zone of rock directly beneath (i.e., in the cutting direction) and adjacent to the disc cutter is crushed, normally forming very fine particles. The crushed zone forms a pressure bulb of fine rock powder which exerts a hydraulic like pressure downward (again, the cutting direction) and outward against adjacent rock. The adjacent rock then cracks, and chips spall from the rock face being excavated.
The present invention is directed to a novel disc cutter which dramatically improves production rates of disc cutter excavations which also allows reduced thrust requirements for cutterhead penetrations, which in turn reduces the weight of the structure required to support the cutters. Such reductions also allow disc cutter technology to be applied to novel, small diameter cutterheads for excavation equipment. Additionally, the relatively light weight of our disc cutters provides dramatically decreased parts and labor costs for the maintenance and replacement of cutterhead wear parts.


A system for analyzing a sample is disclosed. The system includes a light-transmitting probe with a light emitting tip having a diameter that is less than one-wavelength of light. The system is adapted to place the probe in close proximity to the sample without physically contacting the sample with the probe, and to move the sample relative to the probe such that light transmitted from the probe is directed onto the desired portion of the sample surface. The system further include a light source which transmits light into the probe tip. The system also includes a detector which detects a portion of the light transmitted through the sample. The detector is configured to detect that portion of the light that was incident on the sample surface at an angle greater than the critical angle. The detector is equipped with an aperture through which passes substantially all of the light that was incident on the surface at an angle less than the critical angle and which was transmitted through the sample. The system further analyzes the light received by the detector to determine the relative index of refraction of a material at one point on the surface of the sample relative to the index of refraction of the material at another point on the surface of the sample.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to optical microscopes in which a small aperture, typically smaller than an optical wavelength, is positioned within the optical near field of a specimen, i.e., within a distance of less than about an optical wavelength of the specimen, and the aperture is scanned in raster fashion over the surface of the specimen to produce a space-varying optical signal that is detected and reconstructed to produce an image having extremely high resolution. The invention further relates to methods for using such microscopes to inspect workpieces during their manufacture.
2. Art Background
Microscopes employing conventional optical imaging systems cannot resolve features substantially smaller than about one-half an optical wavelength. That is, when both the entrance pupil of the microscope objective and its distance from the specimen are substantially larger than a wavelength, diffraction effects limit the smallest resolvable separation between a pair of object points to 0.5 .lambda./N.A., where .lambda. is the optical wavelength and N.A. denotes the numerical aperture of the objective which, as a practical matter, is limited to values of about 1.4 or less. (F. A. Jenkins and H. E. White, Fundamentals of Optics, pp. 306-308 (3rd ed. 1957).
Near-field microscopy has been successful in resolving features much smaller than those resolvable with conventional optical microscopy. One such microscope is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,999 to Betzig et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. The microscope described in Betzig et al. is described with reference to FIG. 1. The optical system includes a light source 10, a probe 20, displacement means 30 for displacing the probe relative to an object 40 disposed, for example on a stage 50, adjacent the probe tip 60. The optical system further comprises a light source 10 optically coupled to a probe 20. A single-mode fiber 70 can be used as the optical coupling. Light source 10 is, for example, a laser. Light from source 10 is injected into the optical fiber by way, e.g., of a single-mode coupler 80, which includes a microscope objective 90 and a fiber positioner 100. A mode stripper 110 is also optionally included in order to insure that only the single mode in the core is propagated to the probe, and the other modes in the cladding. The displacement means 30 may, for example, be a piezoelectric tube adapted for moving the probe vertically as well as in two orthogonal lateral dimensions. Alternatively, the displacement means may be mechanical or piezoelectric means for moving the stage rather than the probe, or some combination of stage-displacement and probe-displacement.
Near-field microscopy has been used to detect very subtle changes in the surface of a sample. For example, near-field optical microscopy has been used to inspect latent images in energy-sensitive resist material used in lithographic processes for semiconductor device fabrication. The latent image is the image introduced into the energy-sensitive resist material by exposing the material to patterned radiation. The results of the inspection have been used to control the process parameters in lithographic processes for device fabrication. Such a technique is described in Marchman, H., et al., "Near Field Optical Latent Imaging With the Photon Tunneling Microscope," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 66 (24), pp 3269-3271 (1995) In the technique, near-field imaging is used to inspect the latent image introduced into the resist via a patternwise exposure to radiation. A spatially resolved image of the latent features is obtained and the spatially resolved image is compared with the desired pattern. The spatially resolved image is a picture of the intensity of the light either reflected from or transmitted through a point on the sample relative to the intensity of the light either reflected from or transmitted through other points on the sample. The variations in intensity are cause by variations in the index of refraction and the topography of the resist material as a result of the patternwise exposure to radiation. These dark and light areas provide an image of a pattern introduced into the energy sensitive resist material.
Because latent image metrology is a non-destructive technique that provides information in real time, improvements in the techniques which provide even greater information about the latent image are desired.

Manufacturing method including near-field optical microscopic examination of a semiconductor substrate


A paper feed device and a paper feed method that, even in a case where the number of paper sheets remaining on a paper sheet stacking plate is low, allow paper sheet changing to be facilitated. There are included a paper sheet push-up member for pushing up from below a paper sheet batch on the paper sheet stacking plate and a push-up member driving device that, in a case where the number of paper sheets in the paper sheet batch on the paper sheet stacking plate is not higher than the prescribed number, makes at least a part of the paper sheet push-up member protrude upward beyond the upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate. Thus, a lower surface of the paper sheet batch placed on the paper sheet stacking plate is pushed up from below, thereby creating a clearance.

The present disclosure relates to a paper feed device and a paper feed method.
Conventionally, as a paper feed cassette incorporated in an image forming apparatus such as a copy machine, a printer, or the like, there is known a paper feed cassette having a paper sheet housing case that is open upward and a paper sheet stacking plate that is configured to be movable in an up-down direction in said paper sheet housing case. On an upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate, a batch of paper sheets are placed in a state of being stacked. The paper sheet stacking plate is linked to a motor via wire. By a driving force of the motor, the paper sheet stacking plate is caused to ascend as the number of paper sheets decreases so that an uppermost one of paper sheets placed on the paper sheet stacking plate is always positioned at a paper feed position. At this paper feed position, a pick-up roller is provided by which an uppermost one of paper sheets in a paper sheet batch is separated from the paper sheet batch to be fed to a paper sheet conveying path.
The above-described conventional paper feed device, however, presents a problem that at the time of paper sheet changing by a user, in a case where the number of paper sheets remaining on the paper sheet stacking plate is low, compared with a case where a sufficient number of paper sheets are remaining there, it is hard for the user to insert his/her finger(s) between a lowermost one of the paper sheets and the paper sheet stacking plate and thus to grasp the paper sheets. The above-described paper feed device, therefore, is susceptible to improvement from the standpoint of facilitating a paper sheet changing procedure by a user.
A paper feed device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a paper sheet housing case, a paper sheet stacking plate, and a lift-up mechanism. The paper sheet housing case is open upward. The paper sheet stacking plate is provided in the paper sheet housing case in such a manner as to be movable in an up-down direction, and on an upper surface thereof, a batch of paper sheets are placed in a state of being stacked in the up-down direction. The lift-up mechanism causes said paper sheet stacking plate to ascend as the number of the paper sheets on the paper sheet stacking plate decreases so that an uppermost one of the paper sheets in the paper sheet batch on said paper sheet stacking plate is positioned at a prescribed paper feed height.
The above-described paper feed device further includes a push-up member for pushing up from below a paper sheet batch on the paper sheet stacking plate and a push-up member driving device that, in a case where the number of paper sheets in the paper sheet batch on the paper sheet stacking plate is higher than a prescribed number, causes the push-up member to be positioned not higher than the upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate, and in a case where the number of paper sheets in the paper sheet batch on the paper sheet stacking plate is not higher than the prescribed number, makes at least a part of the push-up member protrude upward beyond the upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate so that a part of a lower surface of a lowermost one of the paper sheets in the paper sheet batch placed on the paper sheet stacking plate is pushed up from below by said push-up member, thereby creating a clearance between the lower surface of the lowermost one of the paper sheets and the upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate.
A paper feed method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a paper feed method for the paper feed device having the configuration, in which via the push-up member and push-up member driving device, in a case where the number of paper sheets in a paper sheet batch on the paper sheet stacking plate is higher than a prescribed number, the above-described push-up member is caused to be positioned not higher than the upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate, and in a case where the number of paper sheets in the paper sheet batch on the paper sheet stacking plate is not higher than the prescribed number, at least a part of the push-up member is made to protrude upward beyond the upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate so that a part of a lower surface of a lowermost one of the paper sheets in the paper sheet batch placed on the paper sheet stacking plate is pushed up from below by the push-up member, thereby creating a clearance between the lower surface of the lowermost one of the paper sheets and the upper surface of the paper sheet stacking plate.


In the data writing sequence, judgement of writing is divided into two stages of judgement 1 and judgement 2. In the judgement 1, it is determined whether the data writing has been completed for at least one of a plurality of memory cells, and in the judgement 2, it is determined whether the data writing has been completed for all the memory cells. Changing the writing conditions for the judgements 1 and 2 enables judgement of the data writing in an early stage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to non-volatile semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly to a non-volatile semiconductor memory device that performs data writing for a prescribed unit area at a time.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, a flash memory has come into use as a file storage medium, and storage capacity thereof has been increased. As a way of increasing the storage capacity, a technique for writing data of at least two bits in one cell has been widely discussed.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a memory cell MC in a flash memory.
Referring to FIG. 10, the memory cell MC of the flash memory includes a source 22 and a drain 23 that are n+ regions formed on a p type substrate 21. Memory cell MC further includes a floating gate 24 and a control gate 25. Floating gate 24 and control gate 25 are stacked one on the other on p type substrate 21, insulated from each other by an insulating film 26. In particular, the insulating film between floating gate 24 and control gate 25 is also called an inter-poly insulating film 26a, and the insulating film between floating gate 24 and p type substrate 21 is also called a tunnel insulating film 26b. Accordingly, memory cell MC corresponds to an n channel field effect transistor formed on p type substrate 21.
Control gate 25 is coupled to a word line WL for selecting the memory cell MC. Source 22 and drain 23 are coupled to a source line SL and a bit line BL, respectively.
In memory cell MC of a data erased state as an initial state, an electron 27 is drawn out of floating gate 24.
Specifically, assume that a negative high voltage Vnn and a ground voltage GSS are applied to control gate 25 and source 22, respectively, of memory cell MC. In this case, in the memory cell MC, electron 27 is drawn from floating gate 24 by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, so that data is erased.
Data writing to memory cell MC is carried out by injection of electron 27 into floating gate 24 by the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling.
Specifically, under a condition where source line SL is open, a high voltage Vpp and ground voltage GSS are applied to control gate 25 and drain 23 via word line WL and bit line BL, respectively. This causes the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, so that electron 27 is injected to floating gate 24, and thus, data is written therein. If high voltage Vpp and a write inhibit voltage Vdi are applied to control gate 25 and drain 23, respectively, then the data writing is not effected.
Here, the threshold voltage Vth of memory cell MC in the data written state with electron 27 having been injected to floating gate 24 becomes higher than that in the data erased state.
Therefore, when data is written into memory cell MC in the data erased state, the stored data can be read out according to the level of threshold voltage Vth of the memory cell MC. For the data reading, bit line BL is precharged in advance, which is discharged for a prescribed period of time by applying a constant voltage to word line WL coupled to control gate 25, and then, the resulting potential of bit line BL is detected.
Specifically, at the time of data reading, bit line BL is precharged in advance to a prescribed voltage Vdr. Source line SL is provided with ground voltage GSS. A prescribed voltage Vwr for data reading is applied to selected word line WL for a prescribed period of time. Control gate 25 of corresponding memory cell MC is thus set to prescribed voltage Vwr.
When these voltages Vwr and Vdr are properly set taking into account the threshold voltage Vth of memory cell MC with data written therein, memory cell MC would not turn on if data writing has been completed therefor, so that it maintains the precharged charges. On the contrary, memory cell MC would turn on if the data writing has not been completed yet, in which case the precharged charges are discharged via memory cell MC to source line SL, so that the potential of bit line BL is decreased. Detection of the amount of charges remained on bit line BL thereafter enables the data reading.
Thus, according to the degree of injection of electrons 27 to floating gate 24, data can be written into each memory cell MC in a non-volatile manner, and the stored data can be read out.
FIG. 11 shows distribution of threshold voltages Vth of memory cells in a flash memory.
Referring to FIG. 11, a memory cell in the data written state (in distribution 2) with its stored data level being xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d has threshold voltage Vth higher than that of a memory cell in the data erased state (in distribution 1) with its stored data level being xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d.
In respective memory cell groups in the data written state and in the data erased state, their threshold voltages Vth exhibit variation (e.g., from Va to Vb in distribution 2). Therefore, to read out data from these memory cells, the data reading level should be set at a level enabling discrimination of the respective threshold voltages Vth in consideration of the variation therein. For example, the data reading level can be set to threshold voltage Va. In this case, the data level of a memory cell with its threshold voltage exceeding Va can be set to xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d, and the data level of a memory cell with its threshold voltage not greater than Va can be set to xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d.
In the case of multi-valued data of greater than 2 bits, distribution of threshold voltages Vth of the memory cells storing data in various levels should be tighter in consideration of variation thereof. That is, the variation of the threshold voltages in the respective levels of the data writing should be restricted more strictly.
A data writing sequence of a conventional flash memory will now be described with reference to FIG. 12.
Referring again to FIG. 11, assume that a plurality of memory cells in the data erased state (in distribution 1) are made to attain the data written state with their threshold voltages Vth falling within a range between Va (V) and Vb (V).
In a flash memory, a condition of data writing operation is set for each unit writing region that becomes a target of data writing operation at one time (or xe2x80x9cunit writing operationxe2x80x9d). Hereinafter, the prescribed unit region as the target of the unit writing operation is also referred to as a xe2x80x9csectorxe2x80x9d. One sector corresponds to a memory cell group selected by one word line.
When a data writing command is input, the data writing sequence starts at step S1. Here, the number of times of unit writing operations N is set to 1 (START).
Next, the data writing operation is carried out for each sector (step S1). The data writing condition will now be described.
In general, at the time of unit writing operation in the flash memory, a data writing pulse, or a voltage signal having prescribed voltage amplitude and pulse width, is applied to the control gate of a memory cell. In other words, the condition of the unit writing operation is set by the voltage amplitude VWW and the pulse width or application time tP of the data writing pulse.
FIG. 13 is a table for use in setting the condition of unit writing operation of the conventional data writing sequence. For example, when the number of times of unit writing operations having been conducted (hereinafter, also referred to as xe2x80x9cunit writing operation totalxe2x80x9d) N is less than a prescribed number Y, the application time tP as the unit writing operation condition is set to T1. When unit writing operation total N is equal to prescribed number Y, application time tP is set to T2. When total N is greater than prescribed number Y, application time tP is set to T2xc3x97P(Nxe2x88x92Y) (T2: initial term, P: power coefficient). Thus, application time tP increases exponentially after unit writing operation total N has exceeded prescribed number Y.
Next, to determine whether the data writing is properly conducted, a prescribed threshold voltage Vth=Va is applied to read data (step S2).
If all the memory cells have attained threshold voltages greater than prescribed level of Va, it is determined that the data writing has been succeeded, so that the data writing sequence is terminated. Otherwise, it is determined NG (no good), and the operation goes to step S4 after setting unit writing operation total N to N+1 (step S3).
In step S4, it is determined whether unit writing operation total N is within a prescribed number K. If the total N has exceeded prescribed number K, it is determined NG and the data writing sequence is terminated. If total N is within prescribed number K, the operation proceeds to step S5.
If the data writing is conducted to the memory cell for which the data writing has already been completed, electrons would be injected excessively, resulting in an over-programmed memory cell. Thus, before resuming the initial step S1, the memory cell for which data writing has been completed is eliminated from the target of the data writing (step S5). The unit writing operation is then conducted again for the memory cells for which the data writing has not yet been completed.
With such a conventional data writing method, however, the speed of data writing would vary for each lot at the end of the wafer process, or it would change through repetition of data erasing and writing. Thus, using the same data writing sequence for every lot would result in failure in the data writing sequence, as threshold voltages Vth of memory cells in some lots might be out of a specific range, e.g., greater than Vb in FIG. 11. In addition, if the data writing is slow in speed, determination of failure would take a long period of time, since the error in data writing would not be found until the sequence is completed.
The present invention is made to solve the above-described problems, and its object is to provide a non-volatile semiconductor memory device that prevents failure of a data writing sequence and allows judgement of a data writing error in an early stage.
The non-volatile semiconductor memory device of the present invention includes: a memory cell array region having a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns for storing data in a non-volatile manner, a plurality of word lines provided corresponding to the rows of the memory cells, and a plurality of bit lines provided corresponding to the columns of the memory cells; and a control unit controlling data writing for selected ones of the plurality of memory cells corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of word lines as a target of the data writing. The control unit performs: designation of a unit writing operation that is carried out repeatedly for the selected memory cells until the data writing is completed; a first judging operation carried out every time the unit writing operation is finished, for confirmation of as to whether the data writing has been completed for at least one of the selected memory cells; and a second judging operation carried out every time the unit writing operation is finished after the first judging operation has confirmed the completion of the data writing, for confirmation of as to whether the data writing has been completed for all the selected memory cells.
Preferably, the control unit counts the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation, and terminates the designation of the data writing for the selected memory cells when the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation repeated until the first judging operation confirms the completion of the data writing has reached a prescribed number.
According to the non-volatile semiconductor memory device above, it is possible to detect failure in data writing in an early stage by performing the first and second judging operations.
Preferably, the non-volatile semiconductor memory device further includes a storage unit for storing a first setting condition of the unit writing operation repeated until the data writing is completed for at least one of the selected memory cells, and a second setting condition of the unit writing operation repeated until the data writing is completed for all the selected memory cells. The first setting condition and the second setting condition are different from each other.
According to the non-volatile semiconductor memory device above, the data writing can be performed rapidly by differentiating the first setting condition of the unit writing operation conducted until the first judging operation is completed and the second setting condition of the unit writing operation conducted until the second judging operation is completed.
Specifically, the control unit counts the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation, and designates the unit writing operation based on either one of the first and second setting conditions stored in the storage unit. In the storage unit, the first and second setting conditions each include a voltage amplitude of a pulse voltage signal being applied to the selected word line in the unit writing operation, and a voltage application time of the pulse voltage signal. The first setting condition has the constant voltage amplitude and the constant voltage application time. The second setting condition has the constant voltage amplitude and the voltage application time varied according to the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation.
Alternatively, the control unit counts the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation, and designates the unit writing operation based on either one of the first and second setting conditions stored in the storage unit. In the storage unit, the first and second setting conditions each include a voltage amplitude of a pulse voltage signal being applied to the selected word line in the unit writing operation, and a voltage application time of the pulse voltage signal. The first setting condition has the constant voltage amplitude and the voltage application time varied according to the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation. The second setting condition has the constant voltage amplitude and the voltage application time varied according to the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation.
According to the non-volatile semiconductor memory device above, the voltage application time in each of the first and second setting conditions can be made variable, so that high-precision data writing is enabled.
Alternatively, the non-volatile semiconductor memory device further includes a storage unit for storing a setting condition of the unit writing operation conducted repeatedly, after the first judging operation has confirmed the completion of the data writing, until the data writing for all the selected memory cells is completed. The control unit further counts the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation, and designates the unit writing operation based on the setting condition, according to the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation that was necessary for completion of the data writing. of at least one of the selected memory cells.
Specifically, the setting condition stored in the stored unit has a voltage application time of a pulse voltage signal that is applied to the selected word line in the unit writing operation, and a voltage amplitude of the pulse voltage signal varied according to the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation repeated until the data writing is completed for at least one of the selected memory cells.
Alternatively, the setting condition stored in the stored unit has a voltage amplitude of a pulse voltage signal that is applied to the selected word line in the unit writing operation, and a voltage application time of the pulse voltage signal varied according to the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation repeated until the data writing is completed for at least one of the selected memory cells.
According to the non-volatile semiconductor memory device above, the characteristic of each lot can be discriminated by the number of times of the designation of the unit writing operation repeated until the completion of the first judging operation, and the setting condition can be changed correspondingly. As a result, high-precision data writing is ensured.

Non-volatile semiconductor memory device with writing sequence enabling early-stage judgement of writing


A vehicle door pillar decorative panel is primarily composed of a base board having a recession in which a panel is adhered. A protruding block is fastened to the panel to form a decorative panel. And, by way of various surface treatments, the decorative panel may have a frosted or mirror surface to accomplish a high quality visual effect. Besides, by way of the design of the protrusions, the decorative panel may further provide a three-dimensional feeling, which is extremely applicable to the vehicle door pillar for decoration purposes.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle door pillar decorative panel, which, via various surface treatments and arrangements, may accomplish high quality and three-dimensional effects, particularly applicable to various kinds of vehicle.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
In view of the speedy promotion of people's life and the prosperous development of vehicle industry, use of vehicle has become more and more popular. As vehicle not only can serve as a convenient traffic instrument, but also can personal taste, many people like to install some decoration on their vehicle to show their special taste, and beautify their vehicle. Accordingly, there exists a need in developing a decorative panel of high quality and excellent visual effects, which is also the desire of consumers.
In view of this, the inventor has elaborated in research and development of the novel product, and has accomplished a decorative panel of high quality and three-dimensional effects.


In an electrohydraulic control unit for rotor blade adjustment of a wind farm via a hydraulic cylinder, the hydraulic cylinder has one piston chamber and one piston rod chamber. Via an inflow valve assembly, a pressure fluid connection can be established between the pump and the piston chamber, while via an outflow valve assembly, a pressure fluid connection can be established between the piston rod chamber and the tank. Each valve assembly has at least two parallel-connected switch valves, which open and can be closed in various combinations in order to establish a desired position of the hydraulic cylinder. This control unit makes precise regulation of the rotor blade possible.

The present invention relates to an electrohydraulic control unit for rotor blade adjustment of a wind farm.
One such electrohydraulic control unit is known from German Utility Model DE 203 17 749. In wind farms, rotor blades are adjustable about a rotor blade axis within a predetermined angle range, so that the rotor blade can be positioned into the wind (known as "pitching out") or positioned relative to the wind direction (known as "pitching in"). Since rotor blades are very expensive and vulnerable, and because of the strong forces that prevail especially in a strong wind, a rotor blade adjustment must be made sensitively and without abrupt deceleration or acceleration.
The rotor blade adjustment is done hydraulically via a hydraulic cylinder, with one piston chamber and one piston rod chamber. A pressure line is in constant pressure fluid connection with the piston rod chamber. The piston rod chamber communicates with the piston chamber via a proportional seat valve. The piston chamber can be relieved to a tank via a further proportional seat valve. In this embodiment, if the high degree of fail-safety is to be attained, the additional valves required entail major effort and expense for equipment, and hence complex engineering and high costs.


To check the programming of a nonvolatile memory cell storing an actual threshold value, the drain terminal of the cell is biased at a constant voltage; the gate terminal is biased at a check voltage; the cell is supplied with a predetermined current to determine a gate-source voltage drop related to the actual threshold value; and the voltage at the source terminal is supplied to an input of an operational amplifier. In an open-loop configuration, the desired threshold value of the set predetermined current is supplied as the check voltage; the amplifier compares the source voltage with the ground; and switching of the amplifier indicates the desired threshold value has been reached. In a closed-loop configuration, the output of the operational amplifier is connected directly to the gate terminal of the cell, and supplies the desired threshold value directly.

As is known, for performing complex processing functions, analog memories are currently being studied, the cells of which are capable of memorizing a number of multibit analog or digital values. For this purpose, use is advantageously made of flash cells, in which the value to be memorized is related to the threshold voltage of the cell.
To memorize the input values, such memories employ a programming stage including a programming circuit for modifying the amount of electric charge stored in the floating gate of each cell, and a check circuit for determining whether the desired threshold value has been reached. For this purpose, various programming procedures are known employing as variables the gate and drain voltages of the cells and programming time, according to solutions employing empirical relations or iterative processes. In the first case, a single programming pulse of a predetermined value and duration is normally supplied, and a check is subsequently made to determine whether the threshold value so programmed corresponds with the desired value. In the second case, a number of programming pulses are supplied, and, after each pulse, a check is made to determine whether the desired threshold has been reached, in which case the programming procedure is interrupted.
Currently used read and programming check circuits employ various solutions based on measuring the injected charge or on comparison with a reference voltage, but none has proved entirely satisfactory owing to the need for specially structured memory cells, or the complex design of the circuit, or the duration of the check operations, which is especially disadvantageous in the case of a large number of cells. Nor are known circuits always capable of memorizing any analog value or a large number of different levels.
What is needed is to provide a method and circuit permitting multilevel programming of nonvolatile memory cells by means of a fully and easily integratable structure, which provide for reducing programming time even in the case of a large number of cells.

Method and circuit for checking multilevel programming of floating-gate nonvolatile memory cells particularly flash cells


Provided is a radio frequency (RF) amplifier. The RF amplifier includes an amplification circuit amplifying an RF signal, a bias voltage generation circuit supplying a bias voltage of the amplification circuit, and a first bias resistor connected between the amplification circuit ad the bias voltage generation circuit, and having a predetermined resistance allowing the bias voltage to be affected by the RF signal.

The present invention disclosed herein relates to a radio frequency (RF) amplifier, and more particularly, to an RF amplifier including a bias circuit of which current amount varies with a level of an output power.
The present invention has been derived from research undertaken as a part of the information technology (IT) development business by the Ministry of Information and Communication and Institute for Information Technology Advancement of the Republic of Korea [Project management No.: 2005-S-017-0, Project title: ultra-low power RF/HW/SW integrated SoC].
High quality telecommunication can be realized using a method of increasing an output of a transmitter or a method of enhancing sensitivity of a receiver. However, the method of increasing an output of a transmitter is not preferable due to a limitation in effect on equipment and power capacity at an output terminal of the transmitter, economy, and the like. For this reason, the method of enhancing sensitivity of a receiver is more preferably used to realize high quality telecommunication. The sensitivity of the receiver may be represented as noise figure (NF) indicating a degree of a receiving signal separated from a noise. As the noise figure is smaller, the sensitivity is higher in general.
With the rapid development of various mobile telecommunication technologies using a frequency bandwidth of 400 MHz to 2.5 GHz, it becomes more important to develop radio frequency (RF) devices and design technologies. Since an RF amplifier has several disadvantageous such as a parasitic capacitor and a silicon substrate causing a lot of signal loss, and low breakdown voltage, there is a limitation in that the RF amplifier is applied to a system requiring higher linearity and output power than a compound device made of GaAs, InGaP, InP, etc. Therefore, it is inevitable to improve a typical RF amplifier driven by a constant current regardless of an output power level when considering a recent technology development trend to require the extension of an operating time of a terminal by optimizing current consumption at a low output power level and a high output power level.
A method of enhancing linearity of an RF amplifier may be mainly classified into two kinds, of which one is a method of canceling nonlinearly-generated components such as 3rd intermodulation distortion (IMD3), and another is a method of increasing 1-dB gain compression point (P1 dB) of an output power in the same circuit. Here, the 3rd intermodulation distortion (IMD3) is defined as the magnitude of a distortion signal generated due to intermodulation, and the 1-db gain compression point (P1 dB) is defined as an output power at the point where the output power of a real gain curve is 1 dB below the value of an extrapolated linear gain curve.
A typical RF amplifier includes a structure with high resistance to prevent the leakage of an RF signal, or a bias circuit of a current mirror structure. Such a bias circuit maintains a gate-source voltage (Vgs) of an input transistor constantly.
The bias circuit of the typical RF amplifier supplies a bias voltage and current regardless of input/output power. However, there is a difference in a current ratio of a current flowing through a main circuit of the RF amplifier to a current supplied from the bias circuit depending on a power level. For this reason, the typical RF amplifier has nonlinearity as an output power increases. Further, the maximum output power of a transistor used in the RF amplifier also decreases.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


Viscoelastic surfactant based aqueous fluid systems are described that are useful in fracturing subterranean formations penetrated by a wellbore. The preferred surfactant compositions contain quaternary ammonium salts wherein the long chain alkyl substituent contains about 3% or less of groups containing 18 or less carbon atoms. The amount of intermediate compounds in the surfactant composition is less than about 1%. The surfactant composition can be used in conjunction with an inorganic water soluble salt such as ammonium chloride or potassium chloride, and an organic stabilizing additive.

Hydraulic fracturing is a term that has been applied to a variety of methods used to stimulate the production of fluids such as oil, natural gas, brines, etc., from subterranean formations. In hydraulic fracturing, a fracturing fluid is injected through a wellbore and against the face of the formation at a pressure and flow rate at least sufficient to overcome the overburden pressure and to initiate and/or extend a fracture(s) into the formation. The fracturing fluid usually carries a proppant such as 20-40 mesh sand, bauxite, glass beads, etc., suspended in the fracturing fluid and transported into a fracture. The proppant then keeps the formation from closing back down upon itself when the pressure is released. The proppant-filled fractures provide permeable channels through which the formation fluids can flow to the wellbore and thereafter be withdrawn.
Hydraulic fracturing has been used for many years as a stimulation technique and extensive work has been done to solve problems present at each stage of the process. For example, a fracturing fluid is often exposed to high temperatures and/or high pump rates and shear which can cause the fluids to degrade and to prematurely drop the proppant before the fracturing operation is completed. Considerable effort has, therefore, been spent trying to design fluids that will satisfactorily meet these rigorous conditions.
High permeability formations such as those having permeabilities in excess of 50 millidarcy and particularly in excess of 200 millidarcy, present special challenges, especially when the reservoir temperature is above 1300.degree. F. In these situations, the amount of fluid lost to the formation can be very high, resulting in increased damage and decreased fracture length. Further, the difference in permeability between the formation and the fracture is less than that realized in less permeable formations. Improved fracture cleanup is therefore necessary in order to maximize well productivity.
A wide variety of fluids has been developed, but most of the fracturing fluids used today are aqueous based liquids which have been either gelled or foamed. These fluids have typically been engineered for use in low permeability formations and are generally not well suited for use in higher permeability formations.
Aqueous gels are usually prepared by blending a polymeric gelling agent with an aqueous medium. Most frequently, the polymeric gelling agent of choice is a solvatable polysaccharide. These solvatable polysaccharides form a known class of compounds which include a variety of natural gums as well as certain cellulosic derivatives which have been rendered hydratable by virtue of hydrophilic substituents chemically attached to the cellulose backbone. The solvatable polysaccharides therefore include galactomannan gums, glycomannan gums, cellulose derivatives, and the like. In some instances, the aqueous liquid thickened with polymers alone has sufficient viscosity to suspend the proppant during the course of the fracturing process and represents a satisfactory fracturing fluid. In other instances, principally in higher temperature applications, however, it is necessary to crosslink the polysaccharide in order to form a gel having sufficient strength and viscosity to retain the proppant in suspension throughout the pumping operation and placement in the subterranean formation. A variety of crosslinkers (e.g., borate ions, titanium, zirconium and other transition metals) has been developed to achieve this result within different pH ranges. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,909, U.S. Pat No. 3,974,077, U.S. Pat No. 3,202,556, U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,723 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,312.)
A different class of thickeners is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,881, and identified as a superior fracturing fluid in U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,935. The thickener composition comprises a water soluble or water dispersible interpolymer having pendant hydrophobic groups chemically bonded thereto. When mixed with a water soluble or water dispersible nonionic surfactant, and a soluble electrolyte, a viscosified fluid stable to high temperature and/or shear is obtained.
Viscoelastic surfactants are employed as viscosifiers in the context of gravel packing fluids. Such systems contain virtually no insoluble residue. Gravsholt in Viscoelasticity in Highly Dilute Aqueous Solutions of Pure Cationic Detergents, J. Colloid & Interface Sci. (57)3(1976), 575-77 indicates that certain quaternary ammonium salts impart viscoelastic properties to aqueous solutions. Gravsholt showed that cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide would not impart viscoelastic properties to water but that cetyl trimethyl ammonium salicylate and certain other aromatic containing quaternary amines would. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,698, a mixture of cyclohexyl ammonium chloride and undecane-3-sodium sulfate was taught to induce viscoelastic properties to a formation flooding liquid containing less than about 3.5 percent by weight of sodium chloride. Higher levels of sodium chloride were said to destroy the viscoelastic properties of the fluid. UK Pat. No. 1,443,244, discloses a specific ethoxylated or propoxylated tertiary amine employed to thicken and aqueous solution of a strong mineral acid. U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,536 teaches that certain primary amines may be employed in subterranean formation acidizing solutions to retard the reaction of the acid on the formation. The amine may be more readily dispersed into the acid solution with the use of a dispersing agent such as a quaternary amine.
In particular, Canadian Pat. No. 1,185,779, discloses a high electrolyte-containing aqueous wellbore service fluid which has improved viscosity characteristics over a wide range of wellbore conditions, including improved ease of preparation at the wellside and better shear stability and consistent viscosity over a wide temperature range. These improved aqueous wellbore service fluids are acknowledged as being useful in well known wellbore services such as perforation, clean-up, long term shut-in, drilling, placement of gravel packs and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,516 discloses a fracturing fluid that contains (a) an aqueous base fluid, (b) an inorganic water soluble salt, (c) a thickener selected from certain amines, amine salts or quaternary ammonium salts and (d) a stabilizing organic additive. However, there is no disclosure therein of how to make the thickening agents, and therefore, no disclosure relating to the importance of controlling reaction conditions or process parameters (such as, for example, the presence or absence of intermediates in the final product) employed during manufacture of the thickening agent.

Surfactants for hydraulic fractoring compositions


The use of a control circuit (160) with either a programmable divider or divider(s) (190) and multiplexer (200) guarantees that, irrespective of the process variations, a voltage controlled oscillator has a low gain Vin-Fout characteristic in the desired frequency range. Low-gain voltage controlled oscillators are fundamental building blocks of low-jitter phase-locked loop (PLL) systems. The programmable divider/divider(s) (190) and multiplexer (200) are placed at an output of a current controlled oscillator(s) (180). A control circuit (160) defines the optimum current range(s) in the current controlled oscillator(s) (180). In the case of when a programmable divider is used, the control circuit (160) keeps changing the division ratio of the programmable divider until the PLL eventually achieves the "locked" state. When divider(s) and a multiplexer (200) are used, the control circuit (160) keeps changing the selected multiplexer input until the "locked" state has been achieved. Only one current controlled oscillator is achieve at any one time. This control circuit could be for example an auto-lock circuit.

This invention relates to all voltage controlled oscillators (VCOS) and particularly those used in phaselocked loop systems.
A voltage controlled oscillator is a device whose output frequency (Fout) is a function of its input voltage (Vin). A VCO is often used to track a reference signal. It does this by using a phase-locked loop. A phase detector compares the phase of the reference input signal (Fref) and the divided VCO output signal (Fout/N, N=1, 2, 3, 4, . . . ). Depending on this phase difference, the input node of the VCO is either charged or discharged, thereby altering the VCO's frequency of oscillation. When the frequencies of the two phase detector input signals are matched within a given error margin, the PLL is then said to be "locked" to the reference signal. VCO design is critical in determining the overall performance of a PLL. The VCO's stability to small fluctuations in its input voltage is very important in determining PLL stability and jitter. Jitter can be thought of as spurious variations in the time positions of a series of successive pulses. Let's now look at the typical characteristic of a VCO.
The VCO characteristic shown in FIG. 1 assumes for simplicity sake that as the DC input voltage (Vin) increase, the output frequency (Fout) also increase. Of course, the reverse characteristic also exists. While temperature and power-supply variations will cause the oscillation frequency to change (indicated by <-> in FIG. 1), the far biggest influence on where the characteristic ultimately lies and its slope is the actual process condition ("bst", "typ" and "wst") at the time of manufacture. "bst" represents the process condition (resistor value, transistors parameter values, wire capacitance value) which results in highest output speed, "typ" represents those values which result in average output speed while "wst" represents those values which result in lowest speed. FIG. 1 assumes typical temperature and power-supply conditions.
The input voltage ranges (Va, Vb, Vc) which produce the actual required output target Fout(target) frequency range depend heavily on the process condition. Consequently, the current range (Ia, Ib and Ic) shown in the I-Fout characteristic of FIG. 2) which a current controlled oscillator requires to produce oscillations in the Fout(target) frequency range changes drastically from one process condition to another. The required current range (Ic) is widest in the worst ("wst") process condition and narrowest (Ia) in the best ("bst") process condition.
FIG. 3 shows a conventional VCO. The conventional VCO 140' comprises a bias generator 170' for generating a bias voltage in response to a DC input voltage (Vin) and a single current controlled oscillator 180' for generating an output signal having an output frequency (Fout) in response to the bias voltage. Such conventional VCOs are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,519 issued to Craig M. Davis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,295 issued to Jules J. Jelinek et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,301 issued to Anthony B. Candage, U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,898 issued to Dao-Longe Chen et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,870 issued to Christopher Cytera et al.
Traditionally, irrespective of the process condition, a fixed current range (Itrad) has been used to produce the required Fout(target). See FIG. 2. Hence, the same current range is supplied to the VCO 140' in FIG. 3 in the worst case where a large current range (Ic) is required to produce oscillations in the Fout(target) frequency range as it is in the best case where in contrast only a small current range (Ia) is needed. It will now be illustrated with an example that using this traditional approach, small fluctuations in input current can produce significant shifts in output frequency and hence, increase jitter and degrade system stability.
For example let's assume that:
(a) Itrand=250 .mu.A, Ia=20 .mu.A, Ib=40 .mu.A and Ic=90 .mu.A, PA0 (b) the VCO operates over a Ftarget=120 MHz frequency range, PA0 (c) that a 50 mV fluctuation in input voltage produces a (Itrand/50) variation in input current.
This 5 .mu.A change in input current will produce a 30 MHz, 15 MHz and 6.67 MHz change in oscillation frequency for a "bst", "typ" and "wst" case process condition, respectively. In fact, the steeper the slope (gain) of the I-Fout characteristic, the bigger the frequency shift. Consequently, system stability is degraded and jitter increase.

Very low-gain voltage controlled oscillator


In order to provide an apparatus for the controlled production of nano-soot particles, a pore burner and a mixing device for the production of a pre-mixture of fuel and oxidizing agent are provided, wherein the mixing device is coupled to the pore burner so that the pre-mixture can be supplied to it.

The degree of effectiveness of gas turbines and internal combustion engines may be increased and the burn out improved by means of high-pressure direct injection. However, fine soot particles (carbon black particles) with sizes in the nanometer range result. Typical average diameters of the particles are between 15 nm and 120 nm with concentrations between 104 to 108 particles per cm3.
The emission of such soot particles can lead to problems. In order to be able, for example, to study the biological effects of such soot particles, a source of soot particles must be present.
A generator for soot particles is known from the state of the art (Matter Engineering AG, Wohlen, Switzerland), with which the soot particles are produced in a diffusion flame and the stream of particles is mixed with a quenching gas in order to prevent further combustion processes in the stream of particles and to stabilize the soot particles.

Apparatus and method for the controlled production of nano-soot particles

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