Thermally developable photothermographic materials comprise a backside layer that includes a backside stabilizer to reduce fog formation in high humidity conditions, thereby providing improved shelf stability. Useful backside stabilizers include an amine organic base whose conjugate acid has a pKa greater than 5. These backside stabilizers can be provided particularly in non-photosensitive compositions that include an antihalation composition.

Silver-containing photothermographic imaging materials that are developed with heat and without liquid development have been known in the art for many years. Such materials are used in a recording process wherein an image is formed by imagewise exposure of the photothermographic material to specific electromagnetic radiation (for example, visible, ultraviolet, or infrared radiation) and developed by the use of thermal energy. These materials, also known as "dry silver" materials, generally comprise a support having coated thereon: (a) a photosensitive catalyst (such as silver halide) that upon such exposure provides a latent image in exposed grains that are capable of acting as a catalyst for the subsequent formation of a silver image in a development step, (b) a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions, (c) a reducing composition (usually including a developer) for the reducible silver ions, and (d) a hydrophilic or hydrophobic binder. The latent image is then developed by application of thermal energy.
In such materials, the photosensitive catalyst is generally a photographic type photosensitive silver halide that is considered to be in catalytic proximity to the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions. Catalytic proximity requires intimate physical association of these two components either prior to or during the thermal image development process so that when silver atoms (Ag0)n, also known as silver specks, clusters, nuclei or latent image, are generated by irradiation or light exposure of the photosensitive silver halide, those silver atoms are able to catalyze the reduction of the reducible silver ions within a catalytic sphere of influence around the silver atoms [D. H. Klosterboer, Imaging Processes and Materials, (Neblette's Eighth Edition), J. Sturge, V. Walworth, and A. Shepp, Eds., Van Nostrand-Reinhold, New York, 1989, Chapter 9, pp. 279–291]. It has long been understood that silver atoms act as a catalyst for the reduction of silver ions, and that the photosensitive silver halide can be placed in catalytic proximity with the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions in a number of different ways (see, for example, Research Disclosure, June 1978, item 17029). Other photosensitive materials, such as titanium dioxide, cadmium sulfide, and zinc oxide have also been reported to be useful in place of silver halide as the photocatalyst in photothermographic materials [see for example, Shepard, J. Appl. Photog. Eng. 1982, 8(5), 210–212, Shigeo et al., Nippon Kagaku Kaishi, 1994, 11, 992–997, and FR 2,254,047 (Robillard)].
The photosensitive silver halide may be made "in-situ," for example by mixing an organic or inorganic halide-containing source with a source of reducible silver ions to achieve partial metathesis and thus causing the in-situ formation of silver halide (AgX) grains throughout the silver source [see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,075 (Morgan et al.)]. In addition, photosensitive silver halides and sources of reducible silver ions can be coprecipitated [see Yu. E. Usanov et al., J. Imag. Sci. Tech. 1996, 40, 104]. Alternatively, a portion of the reducible silver ions can be completely converted to silver halide, and that portion can be added back to the source of reducible silver ions (see Yu. E. Usanov et al., International Conference on Imaging Science, Sep. 7–11, 1998).
The silver halide may also be "preformed" and prepared by an "ex-situ" process whereby the silver halide (AgX) grains are prepared and grown separately. With this technique, one has the possibility of controlling the grain size, grain size distribution, dopant levels, and composition much more precisely, so that one can impart more specific properties to both the silver halide grains and the photothermographic material. The preformed silver halide grains may be introduced prior to and be present during the formation of the source of reducible silver ions. Co-precipitation of the silver halide and the source of reducible silver ions provides a more intimate mixture of the two materials [see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,049 (Simons)]. Alternatively, the preformed silver halide grains may be added to and physically mixed with the source of reducible silver ions.
The non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions is a material that contains reducible silver ions. Typically, the preferred non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions is a silver salt of a long chain aliphatic carboxylic acid having from 10 to 30 carbon atoms, or mixtures of such salts. Such acids are also known as "fatty acids" or "fatty carboxylic acids." Silver salts of other organic acids or other organic compounds, such as silver imidazoles, silver tetrazoles, silver benzotriazoles, silver benzotetrazoles, silver benzothiazoles and silver acetylides have also been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,677 (Winslow et al.) discloses the use of complexes of various inorganic or organic silver salts.
In photothermographic materials, exposure of the photographic silver halide to light produces small clusters containing silver atoms (Ag0)n. The imagewise distribution of these clusters, known in the art as a latent image, is generally not visible by ordinary means. Thus, the photosensitive material must be further developed to produce a visible image. This is accomplished by the reduction of silver ions that are in catalytic proximity to silver halide grains bearing the silver-containing clusters of the latent image. This produces a black-and-white image. The non-photosensitive silver source is catalytically reduced to form the visible black-and-white negative image while much of the silver halide, generally, remains as silver halide and is not reduced.
In photothermographic materials, the reducing agent for the reducible silver ions, often referred to as a "developer," may be any compound that, in the presence of the latent image, can reduce silver ion to metallic silver and is preferably of relatively low activity until it is heated to a temperature sufficient to cause the reaction. A wide variety of classes of compounds have been disclosed in the literature that function as developers for photothermographic materials. At elevated temperatures, the reducible silver ions are reduced by the reducing agent. In photothermographic materials, upon heating, this reaction occurs preferentially in the regions surrounding the latent image. This reaction produces a negative image of metallic silver having a color that ranges from yellow to deep black depending upon the presence of toning agents and other components in the imaging layer(s).
Differences Between Photothermography and Photography
The imaging arts have long recognized that the field of photothermography is clearly distinct from that of photography. Photothermographic materials differ significantly from conventional silver halide photographic materials that require processing with aqueous processing solutions.
As noted above, in photothermographic imaging materials, a visible image is created by heat as a result of the reaction of a developer incorporated within the material. Heating at 50° C. or more is essential for this dry development. In contrast, conventional photographic imaging materials require processing in aqueous processing baths at more moderate temperatures (from 30° C. to 50° C.) to provide a visible image.
In photothermographic materials, only a small amount of silver halide is used to capture light and a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions (for example a silver carboxylate) is used to generate the visible image using thermal development. Thus, the imaged photosensitive silver halide serves as a catalyst for the physical development process involving the non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions and the incorporated reducing agent. In contrast, conventional wet-processed, black-and-white photographic materials use only one form of silver (that is, silver halide) that, upon chemical development, is itself converted into the silver image, or that upon physical development requires addition of an external silver source (or other reducible metal ions that form black images upon reduction to the corresponding metal). Thus, photothermographic materials require an amount of silver halide per unit area that is only a fraction of that used in conventional wet-processed photographic materials.
In photothermographic materials, all of the "chemistry" for imaging is incorporated within the material itself. For example, such materials include a developer (that is, a reducing agent for the reducible silver ions) while conventional photographic materials usually do not. Even in so-called "instant photography," the developer chemistry is physically separated from the photosensitive silver halide until development is desired. The incorporation of the developer into photothermographic materials can lead to increased formation of various types of "fog" or other undesirable sensitometric side effects. Therefore, much effort has gone into the preparation and manufacture of photothermographic materials to minimize these problems during the preparation of the photothermographic emulsion as well as during coating, use, storage, and post-processing handling.
Moreover, in photothermographic materials, the unexposed silver halide generally remains intact after development and the material must be stabilized against further imaging and development. In contrast, silver halide is removed from conventional photographic materials after solution development to prevent further imaging (that is in the aqueous fixing step).
In photothermographic materials, the binder is capable of wide variation and a number of binders (both hydrophilic and hydrophobic) are useful. In contrast, conventional photographic materials are limited almost exclusively to hydrophilic colloidal binders such as gelatin.
Because photothermographic materials require dry thermal processing, they present distinctly different problems and require different materials in manufacture and use, compared to conventional, wet-processed silver halide photographic materials. Additives that have one effect in conventional silver halide photographic materials may behave quite differently when incorporated in photothermographic materials where the underlying chemistry is significantly more complex. The incorporation of such additives as, for example, stabilizers, antifoggants, speed enhancers, supersensitizers, and spectral and chemical sensitizers in conventional photographic materials is not predictive of whether such additives will prove beneficial or detrimental in photothermographic materials. For example, it is not uncommon for a photographic antifoggant useful in conventional photographic materials to cause various types of fog when incorporated into photothermographic materials, or for supersensitizers that are effective in photographic materials to be inactive in photothermographic materials.
These and other distinctions between photothermographic and photographic materials are described in Imaging Processes and Materials (Neblette's Eighth Edition), noted above, Unconventional Imaging Processes, E. Brinckman et al. (Eds.), The Focal Press, London and New York, 1978, pp. 74–75, in C. Zou et al., J. Imaging Sci. Technol. 1996, 40, pp. 94–103, and in M. R. V. Sahyun, J. Imaging Sci. Technol. 1998, 42, 23.
Problem to be Solved
The ability of a photothermographic material to be stored without undergoing changes in sensitometric or physical properties is often referred to as "raw-stock keeping" (RSK) or "shelf stability." One aspect of improving raw-stock keeping is the control of fog. Photothermographic emulsions, in a manner similar to photographic emulsions and other light-sensitive systems, tend to suffer from fog. Fog is spurious image density that appears in non-imaged areas of the photothermographic material after development and is often reported in sensitometric results as Dmin. In efforts to make more sensitive photothermographic elements, a difficult parameter to control and to maintain at a very low level is fog or Dmin, especially under conditions of high humidity.
As described above, photothermographic materials contain both the image-forming chemistry and the development chemistry in one or more thermally developable imaging layers. During storage and prior to use, the image-forming and development chemistry may degrade or may prematurely chemically react especially in high humidity and temperature conditions. Later, upon imaging and development, this reaction will be observed as an increase in Dmin in the non-imaged areas. This reaction shortens the shelf-life of photothermographic materials and is often referred to as "shelf-aging fog." A great amount of work has been done to improve the shelf-life characteristics of photothermographic materials.
Most of the efforts to promote shelf stability have involved adding stabilizers to the imaging side of the photothermographic materials as described for example in K. Sakizadeh, Journal of Imaging Sci. Technol., 2003, 47(3), 263–277, and references cited therein.
Backside stabilizers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,685 (Kong). These compounds include pyridazines, phthalazines, phthalazinones, benzoxazinediones, benzthiazines, and quinazoline diones. While these compounds are effective for their intended purpose of improving shelf stability, there is continuing research in the industry to find compounds that provide shelf life stability prior to imaging and heat development.

Thermally development imaging materials having backside stabilizers


A subject position adjusting apparatus for use with an interferometer has a leveling stand disposed on a stationary stand of the interferometer. A leveling standard is stationary relative to and extends upright from the leveling stand. The leveling standard carries a subject stage for up and down movement in an axial direction of a light beam. A leveling mechanism is disposed between the stationary stand and the leveling stand. The leveling mechanism controls the angle of the leveling stand relative to a horizontal plane so as to level the leveling standard and make it parallel to the axial direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a subject position adjustment apparatus for use with a laser interferometer.
2. Description of Related Art
Laser interferometers are typically accompanied by position adjustable stages on which a subject to be analyzed or measured is placed. For positionally adjusting a subject in any desired direction, some laser interferometers, of a type directing a laser beam downward toward the subject, have a position adjustable stage with a bi-directional position adjusting means, such as an X-Y stage, placed on a stationary base of the interferometer. Such laser interferometers also include a mono-directional position adjusting means, disposed on the bi-directional position adjusting means, on which the subject is actually placed.
Reference is made to FIG. 1, which shows a typical position adjustable stage, for the purpose of providing a brief background explanation that will enhance an understanding of the position adjustment of a laser interferometer stage.
A position adjustable stage 100 of a laser interferometer includes a bi-directional position adjusting or X-Y stage 101, placed on a stationary base 102 of the laser interferometer, and a mono-directional position adjusting or vertical position adjusting stand 103, disposed on the X-Y stage 101. The vertical position adjusting stand 103 is provided with a subject table 104 on which a subject to be measured is placed in an optical axis Xo of an objective lens Lo of the laser interferometer. Positioning of the subject is performed by operating the X-Y stage 101 so as to move the subject in two horizontal directions perpendicular to each other and by operating the vertical position adjusting stage 103 to move the subject up or down along the optical axis Xo. These operations may be performed in this order or vice versa.
If the direction in which the vertical position adjusting stage 103 moves to adjust a subject in vertical position is not parallel to the optical axis Xo of the laser interferometer, both the X-Y stage 101 and the vertical position adjusting stage 103 must be repeatedly operated in order to keep an interference pattern within a view field of an operator or a view field of a monitor camera.
In order to support the vertical position adjusting stage 103 on the X-Y stage 101, the X-Y stage 101 must be structurally rigid, unavoidably leading to large stage size. As a result, adjusting knobs of the X-Y stage 101, which are separated by a long distance, are somewhat troublesome to operate. In addition, since the stage 104, supported on the vertical position adjusting stage 103, has a vertical movement which is limited and small, measurement is restricted to small and, in particular, relatively thin subjects.

Subject position adjustment apparatus for use with interferometers


The present invention is directed to a well sampling tape (otherwise known as “microwell tape” or simply “tape”), a dispenser for dispensing small volumes of liquid into the wells formed in the tape and a detector for high-throughput sample reading of the liquid dispensed in the individual wells. The present invention is more specifically directed to a bioassay system incorporating the materials listed above.

In the biotechnology industry, there is an ongoing need to develop faster and more economical bioassay systems to test and screen compounds. The current standard format is a microwell or microtiter plate having a dimension approximately 3×5 inches and including 96 wells. Higher density systems using 384-wells are now being incorporated into the research industry. However while the plates comprise more wells, they still have the drawbacks associated with individual plates: the need for storing plates, labeling them and analyzing each plate individually. Often, the tasks associated with such plates are accomplished by hand, including pipetting and syringe dispensing. While this work is tedious and time consuming, when magnified by 384 for each well of the plate, it is even more so. In addition, hand pipetting and syringe dispensing are generally only accurate to 1 microliter (ul) and above.
One problem encountered with sample handling of the prior art is demonstrated by small-volume polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) represent the most abundant type of sequence variation in the human genome and can and should be useful tools for many diverse applications, including delineating the genetic architecture of complex traits and diseases, pharmacogenetics, forensics and evolutionary studies.
Historically, genetic studies have been predicated on identifying and employing genetic variation to address problems of biological significance. An impressive SNP resource already exists as several hundreds of thousands have been deposited into publicly accessible databases, such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information's dbSNP and others. However, without parallel progress in SNP genotyping technology, the use of any database is seriously circumscribed. In addition to SNPs, other allelic variations provide abundant information on genetic variation, population dynamics, genetic mutations and disease diagnostics. Insertion/Deletion (indel) Polymorphisms are a class of polymorphisms based on length differences among nucleotide alleles. The best current estimate is that 20% of all human polymorphisms are of the insertion/deletion (indel) type. Indels can be broken down into a roughly 50:50 mix of multiallelic and diallelic polymorphisms. Multiallelic indels include the minisatellites (also called VNTRs) and the short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRPs) (also called microsatellites or simple sequence length polymorphisms (SSLPs)). Minisatellites are relatively rare and typically have repeat lengths of a few tens of nucleotides with tandem repeat copy numbers in the hundreds to thousands. STRPs are abundant and have repeat lengths of 1-6 nucleotides with tandem repeat copy numbers, mostly <30. Diallelic indels are also common, but are only just now beginning to be studied in detail (see below). All of the diallelic indels and most of the STRPs have the desirable feature of being able to be analyzed simply by PCR followed by gel electrophoresis. Indels are believed to be an attractive alternative to SNPs.
Novel genotyping methods amenable to high-throughput analysis should ideally be gel-free, robust, inexpensive and simple to perform. To this end, these requirements have inspired the development of a variety of genotyping assays, including the oligonucleotide ligation assay "OLA" (Landegren, U., et al. (1988) Science 241: 1077-80); genetic bit analysis "GBA" (Nikiforov T. T., et al. (1994) Nucleic Acids Res. 11:4167-75); mass spectroscopy (Griffin, T. J., et al. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 25: 6301-6306), "chip" technology (Wang., et al, supra), TaqMan (Livak, K. J., et al. (1995) PCR Methods Appl. 4:357-62) and dynamic allele specific hybridization "DASH" (Howell, W. M., et al. (1999) Nat. Biotechnology 17:87-88). Although many SNP genotyping methods have been developed, no single technology has emerged as being clearly superior due to limitations such as cost, complexity and accuracy.
Recently, new methods for SNP genotyping, in which the primers are labeled with a fluorophor, have been reported (Myakishev, M. et al. (2001) Genome Res. 11:163-169). This method relies on PCR amplification of genomic DNA with two tailed allele-specific primers that introduce priming sites for universal primers having the fluorescent tag. The fluorophors are selected to emit at different wavelengths and are thus seen as different colors, in this case red and green. The reactions are carried out in a microtiter plate, and following the reaction the plate is read by a fluorescence plate reader. Identification of the emitted color identifies which specific primer annealed to the genomic DNA, and determination of which primer was used indicates which allele is present in the genomic copy. Of note, the authors found that 40 ng of DNA per 20 ul reaction in a 96 well plate was optimal.
Other systems are described in the following patents, published patent applications and references ("references"). While the references attempt to automate or increase the sensitivity of the disclosed inventions, they are limited to specific applications or are limited by large volumes of samples and reactants.
U.S. Pat. No. Re 28,339 to Maxon describes an analysis system for the multiple analysis of a single sample. This system comprises a transfer strip made from an elongated tape having a plurality of liquid samples adsorbed thereto. The tape is used in conjunction with an analyzing apparatus such that each adsorbed aliquot of the sample may be analyzed by a separate system. The disclosure is limited to sample adsorption as a means of retaining the sample on the tape. In addition, since the retention method is adsorption, the detection method is limited to the sample that is adsorbed thereto, not the product of a reaction that occurs within the tape.
U.S. Patent Application 2002/0001546 to Hunter et al. describes methods for screening substances in a microwell array. The method requires loading an array of capillary tubes having dispensing ends, disposing each dispensing end in proximity to a distinct through-hole and transferring the liquids through the through-holes of the platen through the capillary tubes. The method is directed toward a means of filling the wells rather than providing a substitute to the microtiter plates already present in the prior art. In addition, the method described by Hunter et al. is disadvantaged by using relatively large volumes of about 1 ul.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,264 to Buerger describes a band for carrying out microbiological examinations. The band resembles a tape or strip having depressions which hold nutrient media or agar. Bacteria are spotted on the media. The tape can be rolled or folded for incubation or storage. The disclosure does not contemplate a means of analysis but, rather, is limited to a means of maintaining organisms in a nutrient media.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,678 to Guigan describes a system for multiple automatic analysis. The system includes a tape resembling a roll of film having holes along its side such that the film can be automatically driven by means of a pin or sprocket. The tape is formed from two layers such that there are cells composed within the tape. One facet of the invention includes the automatic filling of the cells with samples to be analyzed. Means of analysis is contemplated to be spectrophotometric, and the detector system is envisioned to be capable of automatically driving the film through the detector for its analysis. However, the samples are only present in a single suspension, not components of a reaction, and the volumes are quite large, about one cubic centimeter.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,355,487 and 6,254,297 and U.S. Published Patent Application 2002/0041829 to Kowallis describe a method and apparatus for transferring small volumes of substances. The apparatus comprises a conveyor belt having a plurality of substrates, the substrates being adapted to hold microtubes such that the tubes can be inserted into the substrate and reagents added to the tubes as the conveyor belt moves along. In another embodiment, the conveyor belt itself may be adapted to comprise substrates such that microtubes can be inserted directly into the wells of the conveyor belt. The apparatus does not include a method for analysis, but is envisioned to provide a method for the production of microarrays allowing for the analysis of samples.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,546 to Bryning et al. discloses a method and device for photodetection. The device comprises a means of placing a drop of a sample and reagent liquids on a planar support such that the droplets are allowed to mix. The planar support is movable such that the support can be moved through a detector and the emitted light quantified.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,986 to Kadota et al. discloses an apparatus for the automatic analysis of biological samples comprising a conveyor belt system for conveying a sample rack, a rack storage unit, an analysis unit and an identification unit such that the analysis unit identifies the samples in the rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,466 to Anderson describes an apparatus and method for storing samples of protein gene products, cells or DNA. The samples are sealed in packets which are then attached to film. The film can be labeled such that the packets are accurately identified. The invention is to be utilized in the storage and inventory of biological samples, but is not used or contemplated for use as a reservoir for containing a reaction.
U.S. Patent Application 2002/0055179 to Busey et al. describes an apparatus and method for ultra-high-throughput fluorescent screening of samples. The samples are held in a microtiter plate having V-shaped wells. The apparatus comprises at least two light guides such that a light source adjacent to the plate can illuminate an individual well and the emitted light can be guided to an adjacent detector.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,923,463 and Re 30,627 to Bagshawe et al. describe an apparatus for performing chemical and biological analysis. The invention describes a method for the handling of large numbers of samples where sample tubes are loaded into racks, the racks loaded into cassettes and the cassettes transferred from station to station for appropriate dilution, reagent addition and analysis.
While these references attempt to provide means to more easily store and analyze samples, they suffer from certain inadequacies: they use relatively large sample volumes; and they represent isolated steps in reacting samples, adding reaction mixtures, analyzing the reaction products and storing those products for further analysis.
There is a need to develop automation on a much smaller scale. As described in R&D Magazine (January 2002, pp A3-A5), companies are now moving to "nanotechnology," i.e., working in the nanoscale range. There is a definite trend for an assay system that is precise, accurate, efficient, small and economical, yet has a high-throughput.
Companies, such as TOMTEC (Hamden, Conn.), Cartesian Technologies (Irvine, Calif.), Gilson, Inc. (Middleton, Wis.), Molecular Devices Corporation (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Zymark Corp. (Hopkinson, Mass.), have all moved toward developing smaller, faster systems.
Current technology uses "microwell" or "microtiter" plates having volumes ranging from 1 to 1000 μl to prepare samples and contain reactions. Plates of this nature are injection molded, and the larger well volumes are not suitable for very small volumes in the nanoliter (nl) range. In addition, nanoliter wells may require a special shape in order to position the contents optimally for mixing in the well. Therefore, a more optimally designed well is needed to position and contain the sample.
For high-throughput screening, a continuous process is needed for optimum performance and reduced cost. As may be appreciated, an ability to run large quantities of reactions in very small volumes is limited by at least four factors. First, very low-volume reactions are much more susceptible to operator error in pipetting and transferring of samples and reagents. Second, if an appropriate detector is not available to analyze the reaction products efficiently within their margin of error, small-volume reactions are not worthwhile. Third, if manual manipulations are required, the time needed to process the sample is not affected regardless of the reaction volume. Fourth, a combination of the first three deficiencies limits the overall reproducibility of the analysis. Some laboratories have started to use rail systems to form an assembly line type operation for sample handling with microtiter plates and to minimize manual handling. However, these systems are limited by the constraints of the microtiter plate itself.
TOMTEC is currently developing a MICROTAPE system, which is an endless track of microwells formed on a plastic tape for conducting assays. However, each well is circular in format and requires a relatively large volume (>1 microliter) of reagent to obtain reproducible results. In addition, TOMTEC has a method for sealing the microwell tape comprising heat sealing with a covering tape. One problem with this method is that it requires perforations in the sealing tape to release trapped air, as well as a vacuum device to assure flat juxtaposition of the sealing tape to the microwell tape. Further, use of a microwell tape device for sample screening is hindered by the lack of a detector capable of analyzing the contents of the wells.
Currently, there is no method or device suitable for the continuous, small-volume, high-throughput analysis of tagged biological samples. Commercial units require manual manipulation and volumes in the microliter range. Therefore, there is a need for a continuous feed-through unit to perform sample analysis of a large number of very low-volume reactions without extra handling of the reaction mixtures.

Apparatus and method for testing and continuously reading low-volume samples


A solder attach film includes a first cover film, a flux layer, a solder layer, and a second cover film, and it can be treated or kept in a roll shape. A solder ball forming method using the solder attach film includes preparing a semiconductor package or a semiconductor die, adhering the solder attach film, gridding, and reflowing. In the solder attach film adhering operation, the first cover film and the second cover film are removed, and the flux layer is adhered to electrically conductive pads of the semiconductor package or the semiconductor die. Subsequently, in the reflowing operation, the flux layer is volatilized and removed, and the solder layer is fused and fixed to the electrically conductive pads, so that solder balls are formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solder attach film and a method of forming a solder ball using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a semiconductor package protects a semiconductor die from external heat, humidity, and mechanical load, and provides an electrical passage for allowing an electrical signal from the semiconductor die to be transmitted to a main board.
The semiconductor package may include a substrate, a semiconductor die that is adhered to the substrate so as to be electrically connected thereto, an encapsulant for encapsulating the semiconductor die, solder balls that are fused and fixed to the substrate so as to be electrically connected to the main board.
The solder balls are generally formed on the substrate through dotting flux, dropping solder ball, and reflowing solder ball. Dotting the flux is that a predetermined amount of flux that has predetermined viscosity and is volatilized at a high temperature is dotted on electrically conductive pads of the substrate. Dropping the solder ball is that solder balls are dropped on the flux to be temporarily fixed to the flux. Reflowing is that the substrate is put into a high-temperature furnace. Then, the flux is volatilized and removed, and the solder balls are fused to be electrically and mechanically connected to the electrically conductive pads of the substrate.
As described above, in the related art, the solder balls are formed on the substrate by dotting the flux, dropping the solder ball, and reflowing in sequence. Of course, a flux dotting apparatus, a solder ball dropping apparatus, and a reflow apparatus are needed to perform these processes.
Therefore, the related art requires many processes and apparatuses, which causes problems that it takes a lot of time to form the solder balls and a defect rate in a solder ball manufacturing process increases. For example, when the solder ball does not drop at an exact position when dropping the solder ball, solder balls may be doubly formed on one electrically conductive pad, or no solder ball may be formed thereon.
Further, the related art uses expensive solder balls, which causes an increase in a packaging cost. That is, the smaller the diameter of the solder ball, the higher the manufacturing cost of the solder ball. Therefore, in recent years, solder balls having a smaller size need to be used in order to minimize pitches and reduce the size of a chip. Thus, the packaging cost is on an increasing trend.
Of course, as described above, in the related art, the flux dotting apparatus and the solder ball dropping apparatus are necessarily used to form the solder balls, which causes an increase in the initial cost of the apparatuses.

Solder attach film and method of forming solder ball using the same


Needleless injection device components, systems, and methods that involve features including an elongate shaft that has a working shaft comprising a working shaft proximal end, a working shaft distal end, and a working lumen extending between the working shaft proximal end and the working shaft distal end, an injection shaft including an injection shaft proximal end, an injection shaft distal end, and a needless injection orifice disposed through the sidewall at the injection shaft distal end, the injection shaft moveably disposed within the working lumen, and a tissue tensioner secured to the injection shaft at the injection shaft distal end and moveable relative to the working lumen, the tissue tensioner having an expandable surface capable of exhibiting an expanded state and a non-expanded state, the tissue tensioner in the expanded state being capable of tensioning luminal tissue for injection by the needless injection orifice.

A wide variety of medical treatments are at least partially performed through the delivery and introduction of therapeutic compositions to a treatment location. In home or outpatient settings, typical delivery methods can comprise oral delivery, via liquid or solid forms, as well as a variety of inhalant style devices. In clinical or hospital settings, therapeutic fluids can be injected using needle based or in some minimally invasive procedures. The therapeutic fluid can be delivered through a tubular device such as a catheter or endoscope based systems.
One way in which therapeutic fluids can be delivered internally is through the use a tube-like device configured to provide a jet-injection of the therapeutic fluid at a desired treatment site. Generally, a remote injector is utilized to deliver the therapeutic fluid from an external reservoir located at a proximal end of the tube-like device so such administration can occur at a distal end of the tube-like device. Due to the relatively long travel length of the therapeutic fluid through the tube-like device, the remote injector must generally be capable of pressurizing the therapeutic fluid to pressures exceeding about 2,000 psi. In order to accommodate these pressures, the tube-like devices have been fabricated of alloys such as NiTi or stainless steel or with metal-reinforced polymers such as the braided tubes typically found in catheters.
Currently a number of manufacturers make a variety of flexible scopes to navigate the tortuous paths often found in the human body. Scopes such as cytoscopes, endoscopes, ureteroscopes, choledoscopes, and hysteroscopes vary slightly in size and shape by brand. There is advantage to using existing scopes for directing an injection device to a treatment site. Furthermore, there is advantage to controlling the overall size of the injection system and scope so as minimize the invasiveness of the procedure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A marine seismic source method capable of retaining low frequencies is disclosed. One embodiment of the method comprises a seismic source that generates an up-going wave and first down-going wave with opposite polarity. The up-going wave reflects off the ocean surface as a second down-going wave having the same polarity as the first down-going wave and the first and second down-going waves combine substantially in-phase to form a third down-going wave. A source apparatus to accomplish the method is also disclosed. One source apparatus embodiment comprises a device wherein at least part of the device is below the surface of the water and the device is adapted to cause oscillations below the surface of the water, and means for oscillating the device in the water to create an up-going wave and a first down-going wave and the up-going wave has reverse polarity relative to the first down-going wave.

Marine seismic exploration typically employs a seismic acquisition system to acquire seismic data. The seismic acquisition system includes a source, which initiates a seismic wave, sensors, which detect the seismic wave, and other components. The seismic wave propagates from the source through the water and subsurface where it illuminates subsea geologic formations. As it illuminates interfaces or boundaries, part of the seismic wave is returned or reflected back through the earth in the up-going direction as a primary reflection. A portion of this reflected seismic wave is detected by the sensors of the seismic acquisition system, converted into electrical signals, and recorded as seismic data for subsequent processing. An analysis of these recorded data or signals makes it possible to estimate the structure, position, impedance, fluid type, and lithology of subsea geologic formations, among other parameters, thereby completing an important step in the exploration process.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified example of a typical marine seismic acquisition system. A first ship 1 tows a seismic source 2 several meters below the surface 3 of the ocean. The seismic source 2 is activated to produce a down-going seismic wave 4d that is at least partially reflected by a subsea interface or boundary 5. The up-going reflected seismic wave 4u then travels toward the sensors 6 and is measured.
The sensors 6 used in typical marine seismic exploration include pressure sensors and/or motion (displacement, velocity, acceleration, or higher temporal derivatives of displacement) sensors. Typically, pressure sensors are hydrophones and motion sensors are geophones that usually measure particle velocity or acceleration. Hydrophones measure a scalar pressure and are not sensitive to the propagation direction of a seismic wave. Geophones, which might be vertically oriented, provide a measurement in the direction of orientation whose polarity depends on whether the direction of propagation is up-going or down-going. The amplitude of a geophone response is also related to the angle of the propagation relative to the sensitive direction of a geophone. If a seismic wave is recorded by a hydrophone and a vertically oriented geophone that have identical impulse responses, then a polarity comparison between the hydrophone and geophone recordings can determine whether the wave is propagating in the up-going or down-going direction. Hydrophones and geophones disposed at the seafloor are typically used in pairs when collecting seismic data. However, hydrophones, unlike geophones, can measure seismic data anywhere in the water column. This invention applies to motion sensors positioned anywhere in the water column including the seafloor or surface.
In another type of marine seismic surveying, the sensors 6 are located at regular intervals in one or more ocean bottom cables (OBC) 7 that are arranged on the seafloor 9. When necessary, a second ship 8 is used to move the OBC 7 to a new position on the seafloor 9. Several miles of OBC 7 are typically deployed along the seafloor 9, and several OBCs are typically deployed in parallel arrangements. OBC 7 arrangements are particularly well suited for use in certain zones (such as zones cluttered with platforms or where the water is very shallow) and where the use of ship-towed hydrophone arrays (which are located proximate the ocean surface 3 and are typically referred to as "streamers") are not practical. In another type of seismic surveying, sensor packages, often containing a hydrophone and one or several geophones, are deployed on the ocean bottom as separate stations. A combination of separate ocean bottom stations and ocean bottom cables can be deployed. The geophone (motion sensor) and hydrophone (pressure sensor) might be connected to a recording system typically on a vessel. FIG. 2 shows another type of marine seismic surveying. A marine cable or streamer 21 incorporating pressure sensing hydrophones is designed for continuous towing through the water. A marine streamer 21 might be made up of a plurality of active or live hydrophone arrays 23 separated by spacer or dead sections 25. Usually the streamers are nearly neutrally buoyant and depth controllers 27 or depressors are attached to depress the streamer 21 to the proper towing depth. A tail buoy with a radar reflector 29 is typically attached to the end of the streamer. The entire streamer may be 3-6 Km in length and may be towed by a ship 31.
A reflection off the ocean surface gives rise to what is called a 'ghost'. When an isotropic source is fired a down-going 'source ghost' combines with the wave initially radiated in the down-going direction. This combination of two down-going waves modulates the source's amplitude spectrum by the amplitude of a sine function and results in the attenuation of low frequencies for the combined down-going wave and a reduction in the amount of information available in the seismic data. This loss of low frequencies is observed in a measurement of the combined wave's pressure and its particle motion. This invention describes sources wherein the combined down-going wave will not have its amplitude spectrum modulated in this way but instead will modulate the source's amplitude spectrum by the amplitude of a cosine function to enhance the acquisition of low frequency seismic data.
Recorded seismic data also includes a 'sensor ghost'. In the sensor case, an up-going wave reflects off the ocean surface and gives rise to a down-going sensor ghost. The sensor measures the combined up-going wave and down-going sensor ghost. This contrasts with the source case, which is a combination of two down-going waves. As an example, in a one-dimensional OBC case, a sensor ghost can be reflected off the ocean surface and delayed by the two-way travel time in the water column. The sensor ghost has the same effect on a pressure measurement as observed for the source ghost because pressure is a scalar quantity and it is not sensitive to direction. This means that a measurement of the low frequencies associated with the combined wave's pressure will be attenuated in a similar way as they would be for the source case. However, motion is a vector quantity sensitive to direction and the measurement of the combined wave's motion exhibits different behavior from that associated with the combined wave's pressure. The low frequencies associated with the combined wave's motion are retained and enhanced. Mathematically, the amplitude spectrum associated with the combined wave is modulated by the amplitude of a sine or cosine function depending on whether the wave's pressure or motion, respectively, is being measured.
When low frequencies are not available in the seismic data, impedance estimates for the subsurface derived from the seismic data will not contain low frequency information. Without low frequency information, unique solutions for impedance are not available. This hampers interpretation of the derived impedance because many unconstrained solutions are possible. Some of the impedance solutions might accurately describe the earth's impedance and others will not. If the low frequencies are retained, additional information can be incorporated into the impedance solution to reduce the nonuniqueness and to restrict attention to only the most geophysically plausible structures.
A number of methods for inserting low frequencies in the 0-10 Hz band have been developed. Some researchers have resorted to using the measured impedance at a nearby well (Galbraith, J. M., and Millington, G. F., 1979, Low frequency recovery in the inversion of seismograms: Journal of the CSEG, v. 15, p. 30-39). Another approach is to add low frequencies derived from velocity analysis (Layergne, M., and Willm, C., 1977, Inversion of seismograms and pseudovelocity logs: Geophysical. Prosp., v. 25, p. 231-250). There are also some methods by which the missing low frequency information can be estimated. One such method requires finding a reflectivity function made of isolated delta functions and another method requires predicting the missing frequencies from the band limited reflectivity function (Oldenburg, D. W., Scheuer, T., and Levy, S., 1983, Recovery of the acoustic impedance from reflection seismograms: Geophysics, v. 48, p. 1318-1337).
A major source of the lack of low frequency content in seismic data resides with the seismic acquisition system. As shown in FIG. 3, the monopole marine source array 31 radiates a wave having frequency spectrum A(f). The ocean surface 3 creates a reflection (or ghost) with frequency spectrum −A(f) that combines with the original down-going wave having the frequency spectrum A(f). The composite down-going wave (down-going plus the ocean surface reflected wave) has an amplitude spectrum with attenuated low frequencies because of destructive interference at the low frequencies. The source's amplitude spectrum will be attenuated by the amplitude of a sine function 33.
The lack of low frequency content in the seismic wave is compounded when the up-coming reflections from the subsurface are recorded by a hydrophone 35 on the surface of the seafloor 36. Hydrophone measurements are subjected to a sensor ghost that modulates the amplitude spectrum by the amplitude of a sine function 35, which attenuates the low frequencies. Geophone measurements are subjected to a sensor ghost that modulates the amplitude spectrum by the amplitude of a cosine function 37.
Even when data are recorded by a geophone on an Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) 37, modem OBC acquisition techniques still use a source that lacks low frequency content. As described above, a principal problem in the recovery of impedance from seismograms is this lack of low frequencies in the seismic data. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus which generates low frequencies which can be measured in the seismic data. This invention satisfies these needs.

Marine seismic acquisition method and apparatus


A sight magnifier assembly is configured to be releasably secured to a rail feature of a firearm to be used with a sight assembly to enhance a downrange image. The sight magnifier assembly includes a base configured to be releasably secured to the rail feature of the firearm and a housing rotatably coupled to the base. The housing is configured to support sight optics used to enhance or improve the downrange image. The assembly further includes a mechanism configured to enable the rotation the housing with respect to the base between a use position in which the sight optics is configured to be used with the sight assembly and a stored position in which the sight optics is moved so that the housing and the sight magnifier assembly is nearly completely obscured from the operator by the sight assembly as viewed along a longitudinal axis.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are generally directed to accessories that are used on weapons, such as sight magnifiers used on firearms, and more particularly to a sight magnifier mount assembly including a compact sight accessory mechanism configured to store a sight magnifier in an out-of-the-way position.
Firearms are frequently outfitted with accessories, such as scopes, electronic sights, magnifying devices, and night vision devices. These types of accessories are typically mounted on the firearm behind the primary aiming device associated with the firearm. With one type of accessory, the accessory is mounted on rails associated with the firearm in a traditional manner. In one embodiment, the accessory is designed to mount on a Picatinny or Pic rail, which is a military standard rail interface system for firearm accessories.
Prior sight magnifier devices are configured to move a sight magnifier outwardly to give the user an unobstructed view through the sighting device. With most sight magnifier devices, the movement of the sight magnifier introduces a large obstruction when observing the scene. Right- and left-handed application is managed typically by some level of disassembly and reassembly of symmetrical components. Another approach is to rotate the mounting interface and reattach the device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a sight magnifier device generally indicated at 10 mounted on a rail 11 of a firearm 12. As shown, the sight magnifier device 10 includes a mount 13 configured to mount the device on the rail 11 of the firearm 12 and a sight magnifier 14 rotatably movable between a use position (not shown) and an out-of-the-way position (shown). When the sight magnifier 14 is moved to the out-of-the-way position, the sight magnifier blocks the scene of the person using the firearm 12 with both eyes open, typically when using a unity sight. The flip out design is inherently a right-handed device usually requiring some alteration or compromise when the user is left-handed. In this position, the sight magnifier 14 also presents a snag hazard since the sight magnifier extends from a periphery of the firearm 12.


Integrated circuit SRAM cells include a semiconductor substrate having a field region and first, second, third and fourth active regions therein. The first and second active regions each include a horizontal leg and a vertical leg and are mirror images of each other about a vertical axis. The third and fourth active regions each also include a horizontal leg and a vertical leg and are mirror images of each other about a vertical axis. The integrated circuit SRAM cells also include first and second vertically extending gate conductive layers on the semiconductor substrate. The first vertically extending conductive layer extends vertically over the first active region horizontal leg and extends vertically over the third active region horizontal leg. The second vertically extending conductive layer extends vertically over the second active region horizontal leg and extends vertically over the fourth active region horizontal leg. Accordingly, the gate conductive layers are formed perpendicular to the horizontal legs of the active regions, so that the process alignment margin is large in the longitudinal direction of the active regions. A high integration density may thereby be produced.

Integrated circuit Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) devices are widely used in electronic systems. Since an SRAM cell generally comprises six transistors, the SRAM cell generally requires more area than a DRAM cell which generally only includes one transistor and one capacitor. Thus, in the SRAM cell, the pitch of the cells should be minimized so as to increase the integration of the devices in an integrated circuit. However, in order to increase the integration of the cells, the cell pattern and the SRAM manufacturing process may become complicated.
An integrated circuit SRAM cell layout was published at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in 1985. This SRAM will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1. According to the SRAM published at the IEDM in 1985, three polysilicon layers (one for forming a gate electrode and the remaining two for interconnection layers) and one metal layer are used to form an SRAM cell with an area of 9.9.times.14.3 .mu.m.sup.2. As shown in FIG. 1, the active region pattern 10 and the pattern 12 of the polysilicon layer used for forming the gate electrode are complicated. Also, the design uses a Vss contact between a node contact and a bit-line contact so as to reduce the cell size. Unfortunately, compared with the conventional Vss contact which is formed parallel to the node contact, the shape of active region 10 is further complicated.
As is known, when patterning the SRAM using lithography, patterns such as the gate electrode and active layer are effected by nonlinearities, distortions and other effects. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the edges of the pattern formed on the substrate become rounded. As shown in FIG. 2, due to this rounding, the overlapping portion 24 between the polysilicon layer 22 for forming the gate electrode and the active region 20 is reduced, so that the channel length of the transistor formed in overlapping portion 24 is shortened, compared with FIG. 1. As a result the leakage current of the transistor may increase.
FIG. 4 is a plane view of the conventional SRAM published at the IEDM. As shown in FIG. 4, a polysilicon layer 36 for forming the gate is formed close to the neighboring node contacts A and B. Thus, due to misalignment in the lithography process, a short may occur between the node so contacts A and B and the neighboring polysilicon layer 36. Reference numeral 38 represents a part of the bit-line and reference numeral 39 represents an active region. Also, GND represents a ground line, Vcc represents a power supply line, and IL represents a connection line between the contacts.
In order to solve the above problems, an SRAM was published at the ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits Conference) in 1992. The SRAM published by the ISSCC has a cell area of 8.5.times.12.8 .mu.m.sup.2 and includes one polysilicon layer and two metal layers. One of the metal layers determines the overall layout size of the SRAM. As shown in FIG. 3, the metal layer forms a word-line 32 and a Vcc line 30 in the horizontal direction and a connection line 34 between the contacts in the vertical direction. The cell size is determined by the size of each line and the space between the lines. Since the SRAM cell published by the ISSCC in 1992 uses three layers, which is one less than the SRAM published at the IEDM in 1985, this layout is also relatively simple to fabricate.
Notwithstanding the above improvements, the state of the art continues to desire much smaller SRAM cell layouts for high density integration.


A method and a system for controlling the access of a plurality of client computers to storage media, the system including: a processor, a Random-Access Memory (RAM) device; and a Network Interface Controller (NIC), configured to establish a plurality of connections with the clients. The processor may dynamically allocate a buffer memory space to each connected client computer on the RAM device, and the NIC may be configured to receive at least one storage access request from at least one client, over at least one computer network connection. The RAM device may accumulate data of the at least one storage access request in the buffer allocated to the respective connected client computer, and the processor may be configured, upon completion of the accumulation of data, to propagate the buffered data to at least one storage device of the storage media.

Disaggregated storage systems consist of storage consumers, commonly referred to as "clients" or "initiators", and storage modules, commonly referred to as "servers" or "targets". Storage servers may manage one or more storage devices, such as Solid-State Drives (SSDs), and the like.
Storage consumers (e.g., clients) may be connected to the storage targets (e.g., servers) and may request access (e.g., read-access or write-access) to storage media therefrom, e.g., via a computer network such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN).
When traversing the network, the data conveyed between the servers and clients may be encapsulated in packets and may be transmitted using a standard network protocol such as Transmission Control Protocol over Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), or a non-standard (e.g., a proprietary) network protocol.
One important performance parameter of the storage system is the latency of request completion, i.e., the time it takes between sending a data storage access request (e.g., a write request or a read request) from the client to the server, until an acknowledgment is received back on the client's side.
Communicating over the computer network may cause packets to drop in the event of communication congestion. Such events may incur an increase of the command completion latency and a decrease of overall system throughput, due to long retransmission timeouts and due to subsequent reduction of transmission rate of TCP-based transport.
Disaggregated storage target devices may use a memory unit to temporary store arriving data before committing it to non-volatile media. The intermediate storing may be used for staging and possibly further processing of data before committing the data to the non-volatile media.
As known to persons skilled in the art, common practice usually includes receiving data packets from the computer network by a Network Interface Controller (NIC) and placing the data payload in an RX ring buffer. A first process of the server's operating system may allocate memory space on the RX ring buffer for storage of the incoming data payload, and a second process may poll the data from the RX ring, processes it, and commit it to the storage media. If the rate of data commission is lower than the rate of data injection from the network, the RX ring buffer may become full to the extent that subsequent data packets may be dropped by the NIC.
Conventional networking stacks of operating systems may copy the payload data of incoming storage access requests packets to a plurality of receiving buffers, each dedicated to a specific network connection, associated with a specific client. The server may notify the client of available space in the respective receiving buffer, to prevent the receiving buffer from filling up. For example, when data write commands are enveloped in TCP packets, the server may use the "window" field in a TCP acknowledge message to notify the client of the available memory space. However, such solutions may not be adapted to prevent data congestion and data loss due to RX buffer overflow in the Rx buffer and may be wasteful by statically allocating receiving buffers' memory space to each connected client computer.
An example for a commercially available end-to-end flow control implementation is Infiniband's RDMA-based flow control system. Section 188.8.131.52 of the specification http://www.afs.enea.it/asantoro/Vlr1_2_1.Release_12062007.pdf discloses protection against underflow messages by a plurality of receive queue elements, each receiving a single message, but does not disclose protection against overflow in the receiving memory.
Another example of a commercially available flow control implementation is the Priority-based Flow Control (PFC), which is specified in the IEEE 802.1Qbb draft standard, which is part of the framework for the IEEE 802.1 Data Center Bridging (DCB) interface. PFC is used to eliminate packet loss between directly attached network devices, however it requires a specific network configuration, and may cause a network traffic deadlock, as discussed in Microsoft's publication: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/deadlocks-datacenter-networks-form-avoid/
Accordingly, a system and a method for dynamic flow control of storage access requests from a plurality of connected client computers, that would: (a) prevent conditions of packet drops due to RX ring buffer congestion; and (b) exploit knowledge pertaining to client storage requests (e.g., parameters of client computer connections) to dynamically and economically allocate buffer memory space is required.

System and method for controlling a flow of storage access requests


A starter includes an output shaft which rotates by a rotary force applied from the motor unit, a housing in which an end of the output shaft is rotatably supported, and an electromagnetic device configured to apply/shut off current to the motor unit, and biases a suppressing force toward the ring gear to the pinion gear through a clutch mechanism, wherein a load receiving member which abuts one end of the output shaft to receive an axial load generated from the output shaft is installed in the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a starter loaded on an automobile, for example.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-260627 filed on Nov. 29, 2011, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-214804 filed on Sep. 27, 2012, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Background Art
In the related art, as a starter used for starting the engine of an automobile, when start the engine, a jump-in type starter which starts the engine by jumping in the pinion gear toward the ring gear to mesh with the ring gear and driving the ring gear by the pinion gear, is known (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-130097).
Recently, in order to improve the quietness or fuel efficiency of a vehicle, the number of vehicles is increasing which are provided with a so-called idle stop function for turning off the engine momentarily when the vehicle is stopping temporarily.
The starter described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-130097 can be applied even to vehicles provided with the above-mentioned idle stop function. In the starter described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-130097, a driving shaft (an output shaft) is connected to a rotor shaft of a starting motor through a planetary gear type reducer. Both ends of the driving shaft in the axial direction are rotatably supported in a housing of the starter. A mover which moves forward and backward in the axial direction through a lever by a magnet switch (an electromagnetic device) is spline-engaged to the driving shaft. Further, a pinion gear is installed in the driving shaft movably forward and backward in the axial direction toward the ring gear.
The ring gear and pinion gear are formed of helical gears. The twisting direction of the teeth of the ring gear and pinion gear is set in such a way that the thrust load of the jumping-in direction acts on the pinion gear while the pinion gear is driving the ring gear.
According to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-130097, once the pinion gear is meshed with the ring gear, the pinion gear receives the thrust load generated due to the twisting angle of the teeth of both gears and moves on by itself in the jumping-in direction, thereby the meshing performance of the pinion gear with respect to the ring gear is improved.
Meanwhile, in the starter described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-71043, a second plunger unit is arranged movably forward and backward in the axial direction by a magnet switch (an electromagnetic device) installed coaxially with a driving shaft (an output shaft). A pinion gear is installed on the driving shaft movably forward and backward in the axial direction toward the ring gear.
In general, the housing of starter is made by die-cast molding of aluminum material. But in the above-described related art, when the mover is sliding toward the ring gear by receiving the thrust load generated from the helical gear, thrust load is generated even on the output shaft connected to the mover. Thus, because the output shaft is sliding toward the ring gear, there is a possibility of sliding contact between one side end face of the output shaft and the housing. Accordingly, because an abutting impact when the output shaft slides to abut the housing or a rotary force (a frictional force) of the output shaft after abutting is applied to the housing, it is necessary to improve the durability of housing. So it is also considered that the material of housing is changed to a high-grade member, or the thickness of housing is made thick. But it entails an increase of starter cost or the starter becoming bigger.
Especially in vehicles provided with an idle stop function, engine stop/start is made frequently, and the frequency of use becomes higher than that of an ordinary starter. Therefore, the best scheme of improvement is in demand for the above-mentioned task.


A tunable laser has a multiple ring resonator comprising a plurality of ring resonators having respective ring-shaped waveguides and respective different optical path lengths, an input/output side optical waveguide coupled to the multiple ring resonator, an optical input/output device such as a laser diode coupled to the input/output side optical waveguide, a reflection side optical waveguide coupled to the multiple ring resonator, an optical reflector coupled to the reflection side optical waveguide for removing light at an unwanted wavelength and reflecting light at a required wavelength, and a wavelength varying mechanism for changing the resonant wavelength of the multiple ring resonator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tunable laser which can vary the oscillation wavelength thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As broadband communications are becoming more and more popular, attempts are being made to introduce WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) transmission systems that are capable of communications at a plurality of different optical wavelengths over a single optical fiber for efficient utilization of fiber optic transmission paths. Recently, DWDM (Dense WSD) apparatus for multiplexing optical signals of several tens of wavelengths for more rapid transmission have also been finding growing use. Efforts have also been made to commercialize ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers) for adding and dropping optical signals of desired wavelengths at each node in the optical networks. If ROADM systems are introduced into the communication environment, then the flexibility of optical networks will dramatically be increased because they are capable of optical path switching by changing wavelengths as well as the transmission capacity is increased by wavelength multiplexing.
The WDM transmission system requires as many light sources as the number of wavelengths that are employed. Therefore, as the number of wavelengths to be multiplexed by the WDM transmission system increases, the number of light sources that are required also increases.
DFB-LDs (Distributed FeedBack Laser Diodes) which oscillate in a single axial mode have widely been used as light sources in WDM transmission systems for the ease and reliability with which they can be used. The DFB-LD has a diffraction grating having a depth of about 30 nm which is disposed entirely in the resonator. The DFB-LD oscillates stably in the single axial mode at a wavelength corresponding to the product of the period of the diffraction grating and a value that is twice the equivalent refractive index. However, since it is impossible to tune the DFB-LD for a wide range of oscillation wavelengths, a DFB-LD-based WDM transmission system employs DFB-LD devices having different wavelengths for respective ITU (International Telecommunication Union) grids. The need for using DFB-LD devices having different wavelengths makes the DFB-LD-based WDM transmission system problematic because the shelf control cost is high and a redundant inventory of DFB-LDs is required in preparation for DFB-LD failures. If the ROADM system that is capable of optical path switching by changing wavelengths employs ordinary DFB-LDs, then the variable extent of the wavelength range is limited to about 3 nm that can be changed with a temperature change, making it difficult to construct an optical network incorporating the features of the ROADM that positively uses wavelength resources.
Intensive research has been conducted on tunable lasers in order to solve the problems of the present DFB-LDs and achieve single-axial-mode oscillation in a wide range of wavelengths. One example of such research efforts is shown in "Hikari Syuseki Devices (Optical integrated devices)", written by Isao Kobayashi, first edition, second printing, Kyoritsu Shuppan Co., Ltd., December 2000, pages 104-122. Some examples described in this literature will be given below to describe conventional tunable lasers.
Tunable lasers are generally classified into two types, i.e., tunable lasers with a wavelength varying mechanism disposed in a laser element and tunable lasers with a wavelength varying mechanism disposed outside of a laser element.
One proposed tunable laser with a wavelength varying mechanism disposed in a laser element is a DBR-LD (Distributed Bragg Reflector Laser Diode) having an active region for producing a gain and a DBR region for producing a reflection with a diffraction grating, the active region and the DBR region being disposed in one laser element. The DBR-LD has a variable wavelength range of about 10 nm at maximum. There has also been proposed a DBR-LD employing a nonuniform diffraction grating which has an active region for producing a gain and front and rear DBR regions sandwiching the active region. The active region and the DBR regions are disposed in one laser element. In the front and rear DBR regions, the nonuniform diffraction grating produces a number of reflection peaks spaced at intervals that are slightly different in the front and rear DBR regions. Since this structure causes a vernier effect, the DBR-LD with the nonuniform diffraction grating makes it possible to change wavelengths in a very wide range, and can achieve wavelength varying operation in a range in excess of 100 nm and can achieve quasi-continuous wavelength varying operation in a range of 40 nm.
One proposed tunable laser with a wavelength varying mechanism disposed outside of a laser element is a tunable laser having a diffraction grating disposed outside of a laser element, the diffraction grating being rotatable to return light at a particular wavelength to the laser element. The tunable laser of this type requires a mechanism for sequentially monitoring oscillating wavelengths. Heretofore, a wavelength-selective component such as an etalon or the like is incorporated in the module for monitoring oscillating wavelengths.
Though many structures have been proposed for use as conventional tunable lasers, it has been difficult to put them to practical use because of various problems including mode hopping, complex wavelength control, weak vibration resistance, and high cost due to device enlargement.
The DBR-LD changes wavelengths by injecting carries into the DBR region to change the refractive index thereof. If crystal defects grow on account of the electric current injection, then the ratio of a refractive index change to the electric current injection changes greatly, making it difficult to maintain laser oscillation at a constant wavelength over a long period of time. Since the DBR-LD is of a complex structure, it tends to have a large size. According to the present compound semiconductor device fabrication process technology, it is impossible to increase the size of a laser substrate by 2 inches (50.8 mm) or more. Consequently, it is difficult to reduce the present price of DBR-LDs.
The tunable lasers with the wavelength varying mechanism disposed in the laser element are liable to bring about mode jumping due to vibration. These tunable lasers need a large vibration-resistant mechanism and tend to have a large module size and an increased cost. The tunable lasers also suffer an increased assembling cost as they require many optical components such as a photodetector in addition to the etalon for monitoring oscillating wavelengths. It has been customary to spatially couple the laser emitting surface and the etalon to each other with a lens for wavelength monitoring. According to the customary approach, a slight positional error of the etalon is apt to vary the accuracy of wavelengths. Therefore, the highly accurate mounting technology is required to install the etalon in position. However, the highly accurate mounting technology is also responsible for an increase in the assembling cost of tunable lasers.


A method for treatment of a headache disorder in a human subject is provided. The method includes a) selecting a treatment area in the nasal cavity of the human subject; b) providing a stimulation member arranged for vibration stimulation of the selected treatment area; c) introducing the stimulation member into a nasal cavity of the human subject; d) expanding the stimulation member to exert a pressure on tissue of the selected treatment area; and e) bringing the stimulation member to vibrate in the nasal cavity to impart vibrations to the selected treatment area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for treatment of a headache disorder by imparting vibrations to parts of the nasal cavity of a human subject suffering from a headache disorder.
2. Description of Background Art
Sphenopalatine ganglion is a parasympathetic ganglion found in the pterygopalatine fossa. It is one of four parasympathetic ganglia of the head and neck. It consists of the largest aggregate of neurons in the head outside of the brain. The sphenopalatine ganglion has been associated with a wide variety of pain problems that range from pain in the head and neck to pain in the low back. For example, electrical stimulation of the sphenopalatine ganglion has been shown to relieve acute severe cluster headache pain (Ansarinia et al, Headache; 2010, 50:1164-1174). In other examples, blocking of the sphenopalatine ganglion has been successful for reducing pain associated with headache.
The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain which lies beneath the thalamus and which contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to provide a link between the nervous system and the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The hypothalamus has an influence on certain metabolic processes by secreting certain neurohormones, often called hypothalamic-releasing hormones, which in turn stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones. It also regulates other glands such as the ovaries, parathyroids and thyroid and has a degree of control over sleeping patterns, eating, drinking and speech. Moreover, the hypothalamus is involved in the regulation of body temperature, water balance, blood sugar and fat metabolism. Several illnesses are associated with hypothalamic dysfunction, such as migraine, Ménière's disease, hypertension, cluster headache, arrhythmia, ALS, irritable bowel syndrome, sleep disorders, diabetes, obesity, multiple sclerosis, tinnitus, Alzheimer's disease, mood and anxiety disorders and epilepsy. In many cases the connection between the hypothalamus and the illness in question is not fully understood. In addition, many of the illnesses listed above lack satisfactory therapies.
Ménière's disease (MD), for example, is a relatively rare disease affecting the inner ear. The disease is characterized by episodic vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss, aural pressure and tinnitus. MD is a progressive disorder that most often results in severe hearing deterioration. No otoprotective interventions currently exist and chemical or surgically destructive procedures are used for treatment beyond the acute phase.
Cluster headache (CH), also called Horton's headache, is another example of an illness with a suggested connection to hypothalamus and which lacks a successful treatment method. CH is the most severe disorder among primary headache disorders. It is characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks of torturous unilateral periorbital pain, mostly accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs such as nasal congestion, ptosis, lacrimation and redness of the eye. Ipsilateral autonomic signs are signs of autonomic dysfunction; ipsilateral lacrimation, redness of the eye and nasal congestion are signs of parasympathetic hyperactivity, and the combination of ptosis and miosis is a sign of sympathetic hypoactivity. New surgical therapies have been tested. However, these treatments are invasive and can cause severe complications. The pathophysiology of CH is currently unknown, but involvement of the hypothalamus and the parasympathetic nervous system has been proposed (Leoux E et al, Orphanet J of Rare Diseases; 2008, 3:20)
Yet another example of an illness where involvement of hypothalamus has been suggested is migraine (Alstadhaug K B, Cephalalgia; 2009, 29: 809). Migraine is a complex multi-factorial disorder of the brain that is characterized by episodes of headache and super-sensitivity to sensory stimuli. Migraine is a type of primary headache disorder, and can be broadly categorized as migraine without aura and migraine with aura. The clinical features in migraine are thought to result from dysfunction of the parasympathetic nervous system.
There are several known devices for conducting treatments with systemic effects in patients. Devices for use in for example the nasal cavity however often aim at achieving a local effect, such as decongesting the nasal mucosa, and may often be used in combination with a chemical substance. One example of a device for achieving a local effect on the nasal mucosa is disclosed in WO 2008/138997.
Devices are also known that by mechanical vibration in a body cavity affect body functions, e.g. in the ear or over a body surface. In US 2008/281238, a system for increasing activity in the fundamental brain is disclosed. The disclosed system comprises a first and a second vibration applying device, wherein the first vibration applying device applies vibrations having frequency components within an audible range to the auditory sense system of a living body. The second vibration applying device applies vibrations having super-high frequency components exceeding the audible range to another region than the auditory sense system, such as the nasal cavity.
In RU 2199303 there is disclosed a method of treating the neuroautonomic form of vasomotor rhinitis. More specifically, the method involves vibratory massage of the anterior third of the inferior and middle concha at a frequency of 50 Hz for 1.5-2 minutes in combination with vibratory massage of certain biological active points (BAP:s) located in the hand, chin and near the nose. The instrument used for delivering the vibratory massage is described as a vibromassage instrument having a ball and a tip.
In US 2011/190668, methods and systems for non-invasive neuromodulation of the sphenopalatine ganglion is disclosed. An ultrasound transducer to treat migraine and cluster headache is described. An acoustic frequency, e.g. 0.44 MHz (typically in the range of 0.3 to 0.8 MHz), which permits the ultrasound to effectively penetrate through bone, is used.
In US 2007/149905, a device for mechanically treating headache is disclosed. Headache is treated by head massage carried out via a headpiece with vibrators in a frequency range of 50 to 350 Hz applied in bursts with a duty cycle of 10-20%.


Compositions comprising difluoromethane, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane and a member selected from the group consisting of 1,1-difluoroethane, 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, propane and dimethyl ether having a vapor pressure from about 12.2 psia to about 18.4 psia at -40.degree. F., are useful as refrigerants.

Fluorocarbon based fluids have found widespread use in industry for refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump applications.
Vapor compression cycles are one common form of refrigeration. In its simplest form, the vapor compression cycle involves changing the refrigerant from the liquid to the vapor phase through heat absorption at a low pressure, and then from the vapor to the liquid phase through heat removal at an elevated pressure.
While the primary purpose of refrigeration is to remove energy at low temperature, the primary purpose of a heat pump is to add energy at higher temperature. Heat pumps are considered reverse cycle systems because for heating, the operation of the condenser is interchanged with that of the refrigeration evaporator.
The art is continually seeking new fluorocarbon based fluids which offer alternatives for refrigeration and heat pump applications. Currently, of particular interest, are fluorocarbon based mixtures which are considered to be environmentally acceptable substitutes for the presently used chlorofluorocarbons. The latter, such as monochlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) are suspected of causing environmental problems in connection with the earth's protective ozone layer.
The substitute materials must also possess those properties unique to the chlorofluorocarbons including similar refrigeration characteristics, chemical stability, low toxicity, non-flammability, efficiency in-use and low temperature glides.
By "similar refrigeration characteristics" is meant a vapor pressure which is plus or minus 20 percent of the reference refrigerant at the same temperature.
The characteristic of efficiency in-use is important, for example, in air conditioning and refrigeration where a loss in refrigerant thermodynamic performance or energy efficiency may have secondary environmental impacts through increased fossil fuel usage arising from an increased demand for electrical energy.
Low temperature glides have the following described significance. The condensation and evaporation temperatures of single component refrigerant fluids are defined clearly. If the small pressure drops in the refrigerant lines are ignored, the condensation or evaporation occurs at a single temperature corresponding to the condenser or evaporation pressure. For mixtures employed as refrigerants, there is no single phase change temperature but a range of temperatures. This range is governed by the vapor-liquid equilibrium behavior of the mixture. This property of mixtures is responsible for the fact that when non-azeotropic mixtures are used in the refrigeration cycle, the temperature in the condenser or the evaporator has no longer a single uniform value, even if the pressure drop effect is ignored. Instead, the temperature varies across the equipment, regardless of the pressure drop. In the art this variation in the temperature across an equipment is known as temperature glide.
For non-isothermal heat sources and heat sinks, this temperature glide in mixtures can be utilized to provide better efficiencies. However in order to benefit from this effect, the conventional refrigeration cycle has to be redesigned, see for example T. Atwood "NARBs--The Promise and the Problem", paper 86-WA/Ht-61 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In most existing designs of refrigeration equipment, a temperature glide is a cause of concern. Therefore non-azeotropic refrigerant mixtures have not found wide use. An environmentally acceptable non-azeotropic mixture with a small temperature glide and with a similar refrigeration capacity to other known pure fluids, such as HCFC-22 would advance the art.
Difluoromethane (HFC-32) is considered to be environmentally acceptable and has been suggested as a refrigerant but it is known in the art to have too high a discharge temperature for direct use in simple machines and also is flammable.
1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) is also considered to be an environmentally acceptable refrigerant but it is much less volatile than HCFC-22 and consequently offers a much lower refrigeration capacity than HCFC-22. Use of HFC-134a as an alternative for HCFC-22 would require significant and costly equipment redesign. Moreover, at lower evaporating temperatures HFC-134a exhibits a subatmospheric vapor pressure. System leaks would result in an influx of air causing performance and reliability deterioration.
Non-azeotropic blends of HFC-32 and HFC-134a have been disclosed as refrigerants (Japanese Patent Publication 1079-288A) but have unfavorable flammability characteristics. Dimethyl ether, 1,1,1-trifluoroethane (HFC-143a), 1,1-difluoroethane (HFC-152a) and propane are environmentally acceptable fluids which have been proposed as refrigerants, but are all extremely flammable.


A method for automatically depositing objects for transport, including a phase of user storing transport data in a storage element, the data relating to: the user associated with the object; the total number of objects declared by the user; the destination, the route and the time of the transport; a depositing phase, including: a user applying a first electromagnetic identification tag onto an object to be transported; placing, by the user, the object to be transported on a conveyance device; reading an identification data, by first reading device, from the first electromagnetic identification tag, storing identification data read in the storage element in association with previously stored transport data; a phase of conveying the object for transport; the depositing phase including a measurement of the weight and/or dimensions of the object and/or storing, in the storage element, of the weight and/or the dimensions in association with the transport data.

The present invention relates to a method for automatically depositing objects for transporting the objects. It also relates to a system implementing this method.
The invention relates more particularly to a method and a system capable for example of implementation at places such as airports for the deposit of baggage items by an air transport passenger for the purpose of the transport of the baggage items in an aircraft hold, or places such as post offices for depositing packages to be transported by a postal organization.
The current procedure for depositing a baggage item at airports is carried out:                at a check-in desk where an agent weighs a baggage item and enters its deposit into the data associated with the passenger (PNR), or        at a desk for depositing baggage items where the passenger goes after completing his check-in and having printed, or not, a luggage label on paper media, containing a barcode. Such a desk is also attended by at least one agent.
In both cases, an agent inspects the boarding card of the passenger and the number of baggage items deposited and updates the centralized information system of the airline.
This means that the airline must employ a sufficient number of agents in order to attend to the deposit of baggage. This involves a cost for the airline as well as a reduction in customer service. In fact, in many cases the agent performs additional tasks: seat changes, discussion with the passenger, information. These tasks take up time, reduce the efficiency of the agent and result in queues.
Moreover, in most cases, depositing the baggage is carried out at desks which are dedicated to a specific route only. Thus, the number of agents increases according to the number of routes, especially when the departure times of the different routes are close together and the baggage items for several routes must be deposited at the same time.

Method and system for automatically depositing objects for the purpose of their transportation


An adjustable carrying assembly for a wireless communication device, such as a radiotelephone. The carrying assembly is comprised of a device support member having a first spring coupled thereto for receiving the communication device and a clip mechanism coupled thereto for mounting the carrier assembly on a user's belt or other article of clothing. The clip mechanism comprises a clip support member, a pin, a clip, a second spring and a cap. One end of clip support member includes an opening with a plurality of grooves arranged in a circular array. The device support member is rotatably attached to the clip support member of the clip mechanism such that when the user rotates the device support member with respect to the clip mechanism, first spring moves from one of the plurality of grooves to another of the plurality of grooves and locks into position.

Increased miniaturization of the circuitry forming a wireless communication device has greatly increased the portability of such a device and has permitted carriage thereof by a user. Carrying devices that enable a user to carry a radiotelephone on a belt or other article of clothing are known in the art. These carrying devices typically include a portion for holding the radiotelephone and a clip portion attached to the carrying portion for attachment to a user's article of clothing. Once the carrying device is clipped to the article of clothing, the radiotelephone remains stationary in its angular orientation, typically vertical. This vertical orientation can cause discomfort when the user sits down. For example, the bottom of the carrying case can cause discomfort to the user's legs or the top of the carrying case or antenna of the radiotelephone can cause discomfort or pain to the user's side or stomach.
Firearm holsters that can be adjusted while worn on a user's article of clothing are known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,361 ('361 patent) describes a holster with a case for holding a hand-gun and an adjustable mounting clip for attachment to a belt or waistband of the user's clothing. The mounting clip or paddle is rotatable about its point of attachment to the case. The orientation of the paddle relative to the case can be adjusted to allow the holster to be worn either conventionally or in a cross-draw mode. The rotatable connection includes a metal ratchet wheel that couples to a grooved recess in a bracket that is integrally formed with the paddle. The radius of the ratchet wheel is substantially the same as the radius of the recess. Tightening of a screw against the face of the bracket binds the serrated outer edges of the ratchet wheel and the recess to hold the paddle in a fixed position relative to the case.
When the user desires to change the orientation of the paddle relative to the case, he or she must loosen the screw, rotate the paddle and then tighten the screw to maintain the new orientation of the paddle relative to the case. This process is timely and inconvenient because it requires the user to obtain a screwdriver or other tool before any adjustments can be made. Also, because the paddle is adjusted instead of the case, attachment to the user's belt or clothing can be compromised as the angle of orientation relative to the case increases.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,001 describes a swivel connected belt holster wherein the rotatable connection between the belt loop assembly and the holster includes two rigid plates. One of the rigid plates includes a number of bosses in a circular array. The other plate includes the same number of mating recesses in a circular array. When the holster is in use, the bosses of one plate engage mating recesses in the other plate and the plates are held in place by a position locking screw to provide rigid angular positioning of the holster body with respect to the belt loop assembly. As with the invention of the '361 patent, adjustment of the holster with respect to the belt loop assembly requires the timely and inconvenient steps of obtaining a tool, loosening a screw, adjusting the position and tightening a screw.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mountable carrying device for a portable radiotelephone whereby the position of the radiotelephone with respect to the mounting mechanism can be easily adjusted and locked into position without using a tool and while being worn on the user's belt or other article of clothing.

Adjustable carrier assembly for a wireless communication device