Circumferentially-split diffuser assemblies utilized within compression systems, such as centrifugal and mixed-flow compression systems employed within gas turbine engines, are provided. In embodiments, the diffuser assembly includes flow passages, which extend through the diffuser assembly and which include diffuser flow passage sections. Diffuser airfoils are interspersed with the diffuser flow passage sections. The diffuser airfoils include inboard and outboard airfoil segments distributed around a diffuser assembly centerline. The inboard and outboard airfoil segments are contained in and, thus, defined by inner and outer annular diffuser structures, respectively. The outer annular diffuser structure circumscribes the inner annular diffuser structure. In certain cases, the inboard airfoil segments and at least a portion of inner annular diffuser structure are composed of a first material, while the outboard airfoil segments and at least a portion of outboard annular diffuser structure are composed of a second material different than the first material.

Diffuser assemblies are employed in compression systems to reduce the velocity of compressed airflow, while increasing static pressure prior to delivery of the airflow into, for example, a combustion section of a Gas Turbine Engine (GTE). When containing wedge-shaped vanes or airfoils located between opposing endwalls, a diffuser assembly may be more specifically referred to as a "wedge diffuser assembly." Wedge diffuser assemblies are utilized within GTEs and other turbomachines containing compressor rotors, such as impellers, which discharge compressed airflow in purely radial directions or in radial and axial directions. When installed within a GTE, a given wedge diffuser assembly may be positioned around an impeller (or other rotor) to receive the compressed airflow discharged therefrom. The airflow decelerates and static pressure increases as the airflow passes through the diffuser assembly. The airflow may further be conditioned by a deswirl flow passage section, which may be included in or located downstream of the diffuser assembly. The airflow is then delivered into the combustion section of the GTE, injected with a fuel mist, and ignited to generate combustive gasses, which then flow through one or more turbines to produce the power output of the GTE.
Certain GTE platforms require the transmission of structural loads, such as bearing loads, across the main body of a wedge diffuser assembly. Rapid material fatigue can result within the diffuser assembly, particularly at the vane-endwall junctures, if such structural loads are transmitted directly through the diffuser airfoils. The service lifespan of the diffuser assembly may be reduced as a result. While it may be possible to enlarge the dimensions of the airfoils generally to reduce material fatigue in such instances, such a solution is sub-optimal and typically reduces aerodynamic performance. For this reason, wedge diffuser assemblies are now commonly produced to include so-called "through-bolt architectures." Such through-bolt architectures enable the transmission of structural loads across the body of the diffuser through load-bearing mounting bolts, which span the diffuser endwalls and bypass the diffuser airfoils. This, in turn, reduces material fatigue to prolong the service life of the diffuser assembly.
While providing the above-noted advantages, diffuser assemblies having through-bolt constructions are associated with various limitations. As an inherent byproduct of the through-bolt design, certain structural accommodations may be required to enable the passage of the through-bolts across the diffuser body, with such accommodations protecting adding weight and manufacturing cost, while detracting from the aerodynamic performance of the diffuser assembly. Through-bolt constructions also typically place undesired restrictions on the bolt count and distribution pattern, which again results in sub-optimal structural designs. As a still further drawback, through-bolt diffuser assemblies do little to address other limitations associated with conventional wedge diffuser designs, such as issues related to rapid erosion of the leading airfoil edges and titanium fire susceptibility. An ongoing demand thus persists in the aerospace industry and other technology sectors for a load-bearing diffuser assembly, such as a load-bearing wedge diffuser assembly, capable of overcoming many, if not all of the aforementioned limitations. Embodiments of such load-bearing diffuser assemblies are provided herein.

Diffuser assemblies for compression systems


The present invention relates to improved spark plugs for igniting a fuel charge in an internal combustion engine, and is particularly concerned with an improved spark plug construction which improves combustion pressure and fuel mileage and diminishes exhaust pollution. The spark plug includes a center electrode and a ground electrode. In one embodiment, the ground electrode has an elongate edge that extends past the major dimension of the center electrode. The elongate edge can either be positioned substantially tangentially to or within a xe2x80x9czonexe2x80x9d outside of the center electrode""s periphery. Preferably, the edge of the center electrode and the lower interior edge of the ground electrode will be presented towards one another such that the edges are or are among the closest portions within the sparking region.

The present invention generally relates to spark plugs for igniting the fuel charge in an internal combustion engine, and is particularly concerned with an improved spark plug construction which improves combustion pressure, fuel mileage and diminishes exhaust pollution as compared with known prior art plugs.
Prior art spark plugs are well known. Such spark plugs typically include a center electrode and a ground electrode spaced apart from the center electrode. When a sufficient electrical potential is provided across the gap, a spark jumps across the gap. This spark can be used to ignite an air-fuel mixture within an internal combustion engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,651 (xe2x80x9cthe ""651 patentxe2x80x9d) details a xe2x80x9ccylindrical holexe2x80x9d that is created around the center electrode by shielding of the outer ground electrode. The ""651 patent asserts that xe2x80x9cignition seedsxe2x80x9d multiply inside of this cylindrical hole. The ground electrode, in all examples, has a xe2x80x9csubstantially concave inner surface complimenting the redial face of said center electrodexe2x80x9d (Column 8, line 33). This creates a concentric curved surface that has an inner radius equal to xe2x80x9cthe sum of the radius of the center electrode and a spark gap can be nearly equal to the radius of the cylindrical holexe2x80x9d (Column 1, line 54).
As seen in FIG. 13 of the ""651 patent, and in the language in independent Claim 18, the invention relies specifically on spark strike areas wherein xe2x80x9cat least a portion of each said inner orthogonal sides is provided with a concave surface having a curvature complimenting the axial face of the center electrodexe2x80x9d.
Since all sparks travel along the shortest path, center electrode to ground electrode, the effective surfaces of the ""651 patent are similar to other concentric ring designs (U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,748,338; 1,942,242; 1,912,516; 5,430,346; 5,280,214) where the ground electrode is shaped in a complimenting radius centered on the same axis as the center electrode. The ""651 patent, at the functional core where the spark actually jumps, performs similarly to other concentric ring designs.
However, it is believed by the applicant that concentric ring designs have shown no performance benefit over standard spark plug designs.
Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,586, in which particular importance is placed upon eliminating the 90 degree bend common to a standard spark plug.
The above prior art patents include some advantageous features. However, there is always a need for an improved plug design which provides improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.
The present invention relates to the use of a spark plug providing edge corners in a tangential relationship with the central electrode.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved spark plug.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved spark plug ground electrode.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved spark plug which exhibits improved fuel efficiency.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved spark plug which exhibits improved combustion pressure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved spark lug which provides decreased pollution.
Other objects, feature, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings and the appended claims.


There is provided an optical head including (a) a laser source for emitting a light, (b) an objective lens for focusing the light onto a plane of an optical recording medium, (c) a photodetector including a first light-receiving region for receiving a light reflected from the optical recording medium and passing through a central portion of the objective lens and a second light-receiving region for receiving a light reflected from the optical recording medium and passing through a non-central portion of the objective lens, and a device for selecting one of an output signal transmitted from the first light-receiving region and a sum of output signals transmitted from the first and second light-receiving regions. The optical head may further include a holographic optical element disposed in an optical path between the laser source and the objective lens for separating a first reflected light reflected from the optical recording medium and passing through a central portion of the objective lens and a second reflected light reflected from the optical recording medium and passing through a non-central portion of the objective lens from each other, in which case the photodetector includes a first light-receiving region for receiving the first reflected light and a second light-receiving region for receiving the second reflected light. The above mentioned optical head makes it possible to reproduce data recorded in an optical disk having different substrate width with smaller decrease in a light quantity.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical head, and more particularly to an optical head recording data signals to and reproducing recorded data out of an optical recording medium such as a compact disk including substrates having different thicknesses.
2. Description of the Related Art
A widely used optical disk includes an optical head which transmits a light through a transparent substrate to thereby form a micro-spot on a plane of a recording medium in order to protect the plane fabricated in micron-order.
In such a conventional optical head, a light emitted from a laser source inside the optical head is transmitted as a converging beam through a transparent substrate comprising a parallel plate of an optical disk. Thus, the beam is caused to have wave aberration which is dependent on a thickness of the parallel plate through which the beam has passed. Herein, wave aberration indicates a gap between an equiphase of a converging beam and a spherical plane. A great gap causes a converging spot to expand beyond the diffraction limit, resulting in that it is impossible to obtain good data-reproduction performance. Hence, a lens is designed to compensate for the wave aberration in an optical head system in order to form a micro-spot in the vicinity of the diffraction limit on a plane of a recording medium.
In general, an optical disk is designed to have a different thickness in accordance with what it is applied to. The compensation for the above mentioned wave aberration varies in dependence on a thickness of an optical disk. Hence, a conventional optical head has a problem that it can reproduce only data recorded in an optical disk having a specific thickness.
There has been suggested another optical head which utilizes a transmitted zero order light and a +1st order diffracted light derived from a holographic optical element (HOE) in order to be able to use two disks having different thicknesses (Y. Komma, S. Nishino and S. Mizuno, "Dual Focus Optical Head for 0.6 mm and 1.2 mm Disks", Optical Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1994, pp. 27-29).
The suggested optical head is partially illustrated in FIG. 1. In the illustrated optical head, a beam emitted from a laser source (not illustrated) passes through a compensation holographic optical element 20 and is focused onto both a first optical disk 5 having a thickness of 0.6 mm and a second optical disk 6 having a thickness of 1.2 mm by means of an objective lens 4. Lights reflected at the first and second optical disks 5 and 6 pass through the objective lens 4 and then the compensation holographic optical element 20, and are received in a photodetector (not illustrated).
The objective lens 4 is designed to be adapted for the first optical disk 5 having a thickness of 0.6 mm and reproduce data-recorded signals derived from the first optical disk 5 by means of a transmitted zero order light derived from the compensation holographic optical element 20 and having no phase changes. In order to adapt for the second optical disk 6 having a thickness of 1.2 mm, the compensation holographic optical element 20 is designed to have a grating to emit a +1st order diffracted light for compensating for aberration still existing in a light transmitting through the objective lens 4 due to a difference in a thickness between the first and second optical disks.
However, since a beam is to be divided into pieces by the compensation holographic optical element 20 in the above mentioned conventional optical head, the conventional head poses a problem that it is not avoidable that an efficiency of utilizing a light is reduced, and accordingly an amount of light is significantly reduced. For instance, provided that a division ratio is 50% for a transmitted zero order light and also 50% for a +1st order diffracted light, the efficiency of a light is merely 25%, because the light passes through the compensation holographic optical element 20 twice in outgoing and incoming paths.

Photodetector with regions to detect reflected light pass through central portion and non-central portion of an objective lens


A cover system for covering an opening, e.g., to an underground facility, watertight, includes one or more waterproof panels and a seal gasket for each panel, or a seal gasket common to a plurality of panels, configured to extend peripherally relative to the panel(s) and the opening, and adapted to be positioned between the panel(s) and the periphery of the opening, and one or more clamping devices for each panel which engage the respective panel and the periphery of the opening and/or structure extending over and attached to the opening to clamp the respective panel over the opening and compress the respective seal gasket.

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to a cover system for preventing water from entering underground facilities through openings, e.g., for ventilation (e.g., air, light, etc.) and/or ingress/egress, e.g., for facilities such as transportation facilities, garages, storage facilities, vaults, data centers, basements, electrical equipment facilities, generators, electrical conduit and junction facilities, etc. "Underground facilities" is meant herein in a broad sense and encompasses interior facilities below floor level, such as ventilation or electrical conduit floorings.
Underground facilities, such as, but not limited to, those mentioned above, are under the threat of being flooded due to heavy rains, hurricanes, and storm surges, not only in areas traditionally prone to flooding close to rivers and shorelines, but also in metropolitan areas not traditionally flooded. For example, in 2012, The New York City subway system experienced unprecedented damage caused by storm surge and flood waters from Superstorm Sandy. At other times, parts of the NYC subway system were flooded to a much lesser extent from torrential rains. Much of such flooding was caused by water entering the subway system through entrances and air vents.

Removable flood control cover system for underground facility vents and openings


A magneto-optical storage device having a configuration wherein a first AlN film, a Pt/co multi-layer film formed by alternately depositing Pt and Co, a second AlN film, and an Al reflective film are successively laminated on a substrate in this order. Assuming that respectively the thickness of the first AlN film is .delta.AlN (1); that of the second AlN film is .delta.AlN (2); that of the Pt single layer is .delta.Pt; that of the Co single layer is .delta.Co; and the total thickness of the Pt/Co multi-layer film is .delta.Pt/Co, each thickness of those layers is set to range within: 50 nm .ltoreq..delta.AlN (1).ltoreq.200 nm; 120 nm.ltoreq..delta.AlN (2).ltoreq.140 nm; 0.6 nm.ltoreq..delta.Pt.ltoreq.1.0 nm; 0.3 nm.ltoreq..delta.Co.ltoreq.0.6 nm; and 15 nm.ltoreq..delta.Pt/Co.ltoreq.20 nm. In accordance with the above arrangement, it is possible to greatly widen the tolerances of the film thicknesses of the first and second dielectric layers for obtaining a predetermined reflective index as well as a maximum Kerr rotation angle. Consequently, without strictly controlling the film thicknesses of the first and second AlN films, a magneto-optical storage device with stable performance suitable for practical use can be produced easily.

A magneto-optical storage device such as a magneto-optical disk has a configuration wherein, for example, the first dielectric layer, a recording layer, the second dielectric layer, a reflective layer and an overcoat layer are successively laminated on a substrate in this order.
The first and second dielectric layers are made up of, for example, AlN. The film thicknesses of the first and second dielectric layers are respectively arranged so that a light beam such as a laser beam, which has been incident thereon from the substrate side, is reflected with a predetermined reflective index, and so that the Kerr rotation angle of the reflected light beam is maximized. The magneto-optical storage device having the above arrangement is intended to prevent oxidation of the recording layer and to increase the Kerr rotation angle by utilizing the multiple reflection.
Amorphous rare-earth transition-metal alloys such as GdTbFe and TbFeCo are widely used for composing the recording layer. The recording layer is normally set to 15 nm-25 nm in thickness.
On the other hand, in recent years, magneto-optical storage devices provided with a Pt/Co multi-layer film have been recognized as a medium for enabling magneto-optical recording with high density. The Pt/co multi-layer film is constituted by Pt layers and Co layers that are alternately laminated one after the other. As is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-263344, the Pt/Co multi-layer film exhibits the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and provides a larger magnetic Kerr rotation angle with respect to light having a short wavelength than that made of a rare-earth transition-metal alloy.
Here, it is desirable for the Pt/Co multi-layer film to have a high coercive force in order to stably maintain recorded information. Some of those methods for manufacturing a Pt/Co multi-layer film with a high coercive force have been found in the abstracts of technical research reports of Japan Applied Magnetics Institute issued in 1989.
For example, according to a method described on page 55 in the abstracts, it is possible to obtain a Pt/Co multi-layer film with a high coercive force by increasing the pressure of Ar gas, which is used as a sputtering gas, during the manufacturing process of the Pt/Co multi-layer film through the sputtering method.
Moreover, according to a method described on page 56 in the abstracts, it is possible to obtain a Pt/Co multi-layer film with a high coercive force by forming it on a metal film having a fcc (face-centered cubic) structure, such as Pt and Pd, through the sputtering method.
In the case of adopting the aforementioned magneto-optical storage device using a rare-earth transition-metal alloy, since the Kerr rotation angle is greatly dependent on the film thicknesses of the first and second dielectric layers, even a small deviation of the film thickness from an appropriate setting value may decrease the Kerr rotation angle. This results in the problem that it is difficult to manufacture a magneto-optical storage device having stable performance.
Moreover, in the case of adopting the magneto-optical storage device wherein a Pt/Co multi-layer film is employed, the following problems have been encountered. As described in "IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS", volume 25, number 5, page 3764, published in 1989, if the film thickness ratio between the Pt and Co layers of the Pt/Co multi-layer film (the film thickness of the Pt layer/that of Co layer) is increased, the Kerr rotation angle is conversely decreased, although a stable perpendicular magnetization is obtained. As a result, it is difficult to obtain a Pt/Co multi-layer film that has a stable perpendicular magnetization and also provides a large Kerr rotation angle to the incident light.
Furthermore, as to the manufacturing process of the Pt/Co multi-layer film, when a Pt/Co multi-layer film is produced under such a high pressure of Ar gas, a large number of pores are produced in the Pt/Co multi-layer film. In the case of forming a Pt/Co multi-layer film on a metal film having the fcc structure, if the metal film thickness is increased in order to increase the coercive force, the crystal grains of the Pt/Co multi-layer film are also grown in size. Therefore, when a magneto-optical storage device that has a Pt/Co multi-layer film manufactured through the above methods, is employed, noise might be caused during information reproduction due to the increased number of pores and the largeness of the crystal grains in the Pt/Co multi-layer film.

Magneto optical storage device using a multi-layer film of Pt/Co laminated sections


A packing apparatus for fixing the contents of a microwave by using a corrugated paper instead of styrofoam, including a base surface contacting one side of a glass tray of a plane form, a hole formed on each of upper and lower sides of the base surface for holding the glass tray being inserted therein, wings being extended from the upper and lower sides of the base surface and folded onto a rotate ring which is laid and held on the glass tray, and first and second supporters being extended from left and right sides of the base surface for diagonally positioning into a microwave base surface and the wings which hold firmly the glass tray and the rotate ring within the cavity of a microwave, thereby fixing the contents well, preventing environmental pollution and reducing the manufacturing cost of the product.

The present invention relates to a packing apparatus for the contents of a microwave, and more particularly to an apparatus for fixing the contents of a microwave in place in the microwave cavity by using a corrugated paper instead of styrofoam.
A conventional packing apparatus for the contents of a microwave has a structure as shown in FIG. 1. Each of the grooves 4 and 2 for seating a glass tray 3 and rotate ring 1 is formed in a styrofoam packing 5 being disposed at the lowermost portion of the apparatus. A corrugated paper packing 6 at the uppermost portion is for preventing movements of glass tray 3 and rotate ring 1 within the microwave cavity.
A method of packing glass tray 3 and rotate ring 1 into a microwave by using the conventional packing apparatus having such a structure, is described as follows. Rotate ring 1 and glass tray 3 are seated into grooves 2 and 4, respectively, and styrofoam packing 5 is put into a cavity of the microwave. Then, corrugated paper packing 6 is inserted in the remaining space of the cavity being occupied by styrofoam packing 5 to prevent the contents from being moved.
However, the conventional technology has the following problems.
First, using styrofoam which does not decay causes difficulty with the disposal of the waste packing product and contamination of environment.
Second and the last, high price of the styrofoam raises the manufacturing cost of a product.

Packing apparatus for contents of microwave


In this method of comminution according to the invention, pre-comminuted ore material is subjected to material bed comminution in a material bed roll mill. In order to achieve optimal comminution even of very different ore materials with a high throughput the ore material is pre-comminuted in an autogenous mill, whereupon at least fractions of fine material are separated out of the pre-comminuted material before the rest of the material is further comminuted in the material bed comminution.

For the extraction of ore from ore material, freshly supplied ore material must be prepared in several process stages, the first stages of the preparation process including a suitable comminution of the fresh ore material supplied from a mine. For this purpose various methods, apparatus and comminution arrangements are known in the art. For instance, much use has been made recently of so-called material bed comminution in material bed roll mill, in which ore material pre-comminuted in a preceding crusher, e.g. a gyratory crusher or roll crusher, is further comminuted or finely comminuted in the grinding gap between two rolls which are pressed against one another with relatively high pressure and are driven so as to revolve in opposite directions. In this material bed comminution the pre-comminuted ore material is finely comminuted very thoroughly with a relative saving of energy, and the comminuted product coming from this material bed comminution or the corresponding material bed roll mill is obtained at least partially in the form of agglomerates, so-called scabs, which if required can be disagglomerated with the aid of simple equipment. The sufficiently finely comminuted ore material can be be separated off, optionally with the aid of a suitable screening or classifying arrangement, and drawn off as finished material or delivered to the subsequent stage of the preparation process, whilst any ore material which is not sufficiently comminuted is delivered for further comminution.
Brittle materials above all can be comminuted very effectively and with a saving of energy in material bed roll mills. In practical use, however, it has frequently proved to be a disadvantage that the throughput of the material bed roll mill is greatly reduced if the ore material to be comminuted contains components which are particularly fine, plastic, sticky or the like, as is the case for example with argillaceous fresh ore materials.
In other known methods and apparatus so-called autogenous mills are used for the comminution of the fresh ore material which may have been pre-crushed. In this comminution in an autogenous mill a certain proportion of the comminuted material can optionally be recirculated. In this case there are also constructions in which there is arranged after an autogenous mill at least one drum mill or agitator mill in which the comminuted product obtained in the autogenous mill is then reground to the desired fineness of the finished product. These mills can also be interconnected with a classifier so that the ore material is comminuted in a closed circuit and sufficiently fine material is drawn off from the classifier as finished material. An autogenous mill is a type of drum mill of relatively large diameter in which the pieces of material simultaneously form the grinding elements but in which in the case of certain materials a limited proportion of additional grinding elements in the form of grinding balls or the like can be added (in the latter case these are referred to as semi-autogenous mills).
A disadvantage of these autogenous mills described above is that their grinding efficiency is relatively low and therefore very large amounts of energy have to be expended for the comminution work to be carried out. Furthermore, in such an autogenous mill certain materials tend to form critical grain sizes which are only reduced to a small extent and thus by remaining in the mill lead to a considerable reduction in the throughput, often associated with an additionally increased energy consumption. The occurrence of critical grain sizes or grain fractions is in many cases attributable to ore materials consisting of components of differing grindability.
The object of the invention is to create a method of comminution by means of which, even in the case of ore material compositions consisting of differing components and even with undesired fine material fractions, plastic fractions, sticky fractions or the like in the ore material (starting ore material), an optimal comminution of these ore materials can be achieved with a relatively high throughput.


An optical position measuring system including a scale and a scanning unit. The scanning unit includes a light source that emits light beams and a periodic scanning graduation having scanning graduation marks arranged periodically at a scanning graduation period along a measuring direction. The scanning unit further including a detector arrangement. The scanning graduation or the scale graduation includes at least three partial tracks, which adjoin perpendicularly with respect to the measuring direction, and graduation marks associated with each of the at least three partial tracks have a defined and constant offset spacing from their nominal positions, wherein the offset spacings associated with adjoining ones of the at least three partial tracks differ, so that filtering of undesired harmonic waves out of the at least one periodic scanning signal results from said offset spacings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical position measuring system, which provides scanning signals free of harmonic waves and includes a scale with a scale graduation, a scanning unit with a light source, at least one periodic scanning graduation and a detector arrangement.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In connection with known incremental position measuring arrangements on an optical basis, a scale with a periodic scale graduation is customarily scanned by a periodic scanning graduation. The latter is arranged, together with further components, for example, a light source and a detector arrangement, in a scanning unit, which is movable in relation to the scale in at least one measuring direction. In the ideal case an exactly sinusoidal scanning signal exists, which can be further processed, respectively further subdivided, in suitable electronic follow-up devices by known interpolation methods. However, the actually resultant shape of the detected scanning signals customarily differs more or less greatly from the ideal sinusoidal shape. Various causes can be responsible for this, for example deviations from ideal conditions of the graduation periods on the scale side and/or scanning side, fuzzy edges of the graduation mark, etc. Therefore, in actual use the resultant scanning signals contain harmonic waves, which in particular can hamper further signal processing in the form of interpolation. It is therefore basically attempted to minimize the harmonic wave content of the scanning signals as much as possible.
A multitude of attempts for filtering harmonic waves are already known from the prior art. For example, in the present case reference is made to steps for filtering harmonic waves known from DE 195 08 700 C1 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,530. For eliminating the particularly interfering third and fifth harmonic wave, it is proposed in these publications to arrange the graduation marks on the scanning plate at defined offset spacings from the respective nominal positions of the graduation marks. The required offset spacings always result from the respectively to be eliminated harmonic wave.
If, based on this filtering principle, it is now intended to eliminate, for example two dominant harmonic waves, for example the third and fifth harmonic waves, it is proposed in accordance with FIG. 4 of DE 195 08 700 C1 to provide the required offset spacings on the scanning plate between the individual graduation marks, as well as between groups of graduation marks. As a result, two defined offset spacings of the graduation marks from the original nominal positions therefore exist on the scanning plate in the measuring direction.
However, this filtering principle can no longer be employed in connection with certain incremental scanning operations, in particular in case Vernier scanning is intended. This is understood to be a scanning principle wherein the scale graduation and the scanning graduation have slightly different graduation periods, so that in accordance with the interaction of the light beams emitted by the light source a spatially periodic Vernier fringe pattern of a defined fringe pattern period P results in a detection plane by the two graduations. In this case the fringe pattern period P is as a rule clearly greater than the graduation periods TPM, TPA of the scale and the scanning graduations. If now a filtering principle in accordance with FIG. 4 of the mentioned DE 195 08 700 C1 were employed for eliminating the third and fifth harmonic waves, this would result in an interference with the fixed phase relationships between the scale and the scanning grating which are required for scanning. The creation of a Vernier fringe pattern of a correct phase would no longer be possible.
This problem could be sidestepped in principle with the use of a filter variation as disclosed, for example, in FIG. 4 of the mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,530, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. It is provided there to divide the scanning graduation on the scanning plate into several partial tracks perpendicularly with respect to the measuring direction, i.e. in the longitudinal direction of the graduation marks. Accordingly, with this variation the required offset spacings for filtering would be provided in the longitudinal direction of the graduation marks and not, as mentioned above, in the measuring direction. Vernier scanning would be possible in principle with such filtering. However, the sensitivity of the scanning, or of the harmonic wave filtering, in regard to twisting of the scale and the scanning unit around an axis perpendicularly in relation to the scale possibly resulting during measuring operations or in the course of assembly, is problematic here. In what follows, such twisting will also be called Moiré twisting.


There is provided a headphone device including a first housing and a second housing; a headband connected to the first and second housings; a first headphone unit and a second headphone unit disposed in the first and second housings, respectively; a first microphone and a second microphone arranged in the vicinity of the first and second headphone units; and a signal processing unit disposed in the first housing for processing input audio signals from the outside and microphone signals detected by the first and second microphones, and generating first and second noise-canceled audio signals to be supplied to the first and second headphone units.

The present disclosure relates to a headphone device for use in noise-canceling headphones.
A noise-canceling headphone, which, in a noisy environment, reproduces audio signals with sufficiently reduced noise, has been known. Noise-canceling processing is performed on each channel. Noise-canceling headphone devices in related art had a noise-canceling processing circuit housed in the respective housings of the left and right channels.
In addition, in recent years, as described in JP 2008-122729 A, digital noise-canceling having a digitized noise-canceling function has been put into practical use. The digital noise-canceling is a method which digitizes noise detected by a built-in microphone of the headphone and implements signal processing, thereby generating sound in antiphase that has an effect of canceling the noise so as to reduce the noise. Compared to the analog noise-canceling method, the digital noise-canceling method can generate noise-canceling signals of high accuracy by means of digital noise-canceling software.
Typically, the digital noise-canceling processing unit uses a digital signal processor (hereinafter referred to as "DSP") and includes an integrated circuit (hereinafter referred to as "IC"). Thanks to the processing capability and processing speed of the DSP, it is possible to implement two-channel noise cancelation processing. In this case, the noise-canceling processing unit can be disposed in the housing of one of the two channels, for example, the left channel (hereinafter referred to as "L-channel") by having the left and right channels share the noise-canceling processing unit.
Between the noise-canceling processing unit and the other right channel (hereinafter referred to as "R-channel"), a signal from the microphone (referred to as "microphone signal") installed in the vicinity of the headphone unit of the R-channel is supplied to the noise-canceling processing unit via a cable arranged along a headband. The noise-canceled audio signals of the R-channel, which are generated by the noise-canceling processing unit, are supplied to the headphone unit via a cable arranged along the headband.
In the case of the over-the-head type headphone (also referred to as "headband type headphone"), a shielded cable was typically used to transmit the microphone signals of the R-channel to the L-channel. The shielded cable includes an internal conducting wire (a single conducting wire or multiple coated conducting wires) and an external conductor (a fine conductor or metal foil) enclosing the internal conducting wire. The external conductor is regarded as being at the ground potential.


A wafer mounting plate for use in a polishing apparatus is disclosed. The wafer mounting plate includes a metal plate and a screen mounted to a top surface of the metal plate. The metal plate is normally formed of circular shape and provided with a plurality of vacuum passageways therethrough. The metal plate has a bottom surface for engaging a membrane member and a wafer by vacuum through the plurality of vacuum passageways, and a top surface for engaging a pressurizing means, such as a pneumatic gasket. The screen mounted to the top surface of the metal plate has a multiplicity of apertures each of a size not larger than 0.5 mm in diameter. The screen is mounted sandwiched between the top surface of the metal plate and the pressurizing means. The screen effectively prevents debris of a wafer breakage from entering a vacuum system that is used for holding the wafer on the wafer mounting plate. The invention further discloses a wafer carrying head for use in a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus which includes a carrier body, a pressurizing means and a support plate equipped with a screen thereon.

The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and a method for mounting a wafer in a polishing machine and more particularly, relates to an apparatus and a method for mounting a wafer to a wafer mounting plate in a polishing machine capable of preventing contamination to a vacuum line upon the occurrence of a wafer breakage.
Apparatus for polishing thin, flat semi-conductor wafers is well-known in the art. Such apparatus normally includes a polishing head which carries a membrane for engaging and forcing a semiconductor wafer against a wetted polishing surface, such as a polishing pad. Either the pad, or the polishing head is rotated and oscillates the wafer over the polishing surface. The polishing head is forced downwardly onto the polishing surface by a pressurized air system or, similar arrangement. The downward force pressing the polishing head against the polishing surface can be adjusted as desired. The polishing head is typically mounted on an elongated pivoting carrier arm, which can move the pressure head between several operative positions. In one operative position, the carrier arm positions a wafer mounted on the pressure head in contact with the polishing pad. In order to remove the wafer from contact with the polishing surface, the carrier arm is first pivoted upwardly to lift the pressure head and wafer from the polishing surface. The carrier arm is then pivoted laterally to move the pressure head and wafer carried by the pressure head to an auxiliary wafer processing station. The auxiliary processing station may include, for example, a station for cleaning the wafer and/or polishing head; a wafer unload station; or, a wafer load station.
More recently, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus has been employed in combination with a pneumatically actuated polishing head. CMP apparatus is used primarily for polishing the front face or device side of a semiconductor wafer during the fabrication of semiconductor devices on the wafer. A wafer is xe2x80x9cplanarizedxe2x80x9d or smoothed one or more times during a fabrication process in order for the top surface of the wafer to be as flat as possible. A wafer is polished by being placed on a carrier and pressed face down onto a polishing pad covered with a slurry of colloidal silica or alumina in de-ionized water.
A schematic of a typical CMP apparatus is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The apparatus 10 for chemical mechanical polishing consists of a rotating wafer holder 14 that holds the wafer 10, the appropriate slurry 24, and a polishing pad 12 which is normally mounted to a rotating table 26 by adhesive means. The polishing pad 12 is applied to the wafer surface 22 at a specific to pressure. The chemical mechanical polishing method can be used to provide a planar surface on dielectric layers, on deep and shallow trenches that are filled with polysilicon or oxide, and on various metal films. CMP polishing results from a combination of chemical and mechanical effects. A possible mechanism for the CMP process involves the formation of a chemically altered layer at the surface of the material being polished. The layer is mechanically removed from the underlying bulk material. An altered layer is then regrown on the surface while the process is repeated again. For instance, in metal polishing a metal oxide may be formed and removed repeatedly.
A polishing pad is typically constructed in two layers overlying a platen with the resilient layer as the outer layer of the pad. The layers are typically made of polyurethane and may include a filler for controlling the dimensional stability of the layers. The polishing pad is usually several times the diameter of a wafer and the wafer is kept off-center on the pad to prevent polishing a non-planar surface onto the wafer. The wafer is also rotated to prevent polishing a taper into the wafer. Although the axis of rotation of the wafer and the axis of rotation of the pad are not collinear, the axes must be parallel. Polishing heads of the type described above used in the CMP process are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,180 to Gill, Jr., et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,082 to Shendon et al; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,061 to Jackson, et al. It is known in the art that uniformity in wafer polishing is a function of pressure, velocity and the concentration of chemicals. Edge exclusion is caused, in part, by non-uniform pressure on a wafer. The problem is reduced somewhat through the use of a retaining ring which engages the polishing pad, as shown in the Shendon et al patent.
Referring now to FIG. 1C, wherein an improved CMP head, sometimes referred to as a Titan(copyright) head is shown. The Titan(copyright) head differs from conventional CMP heads in two major respects. First, the Titan(copyright) head employs a compliant wafer carrier and second, it utilizes a mechanical linkage (not shown) to constrain tilting of the head, thereby maintaining planarity relative to a polishing pad 12, which in turn allows the head to achieve more uniform flatness of the wafer during polishing. The wafer 10 has one entire face thereof engaged by a flexible membrane 16, which biases the opposite face of the wafer 10 into face-to-face engagement with the polishing pad 12. The polishing head and/or pad 12 are moved relative to each other, in a motion to effect polishing of the wafer 10. The polishing head includes an outer retaining ring 14 surrounding the membrane 16, which also engages the polishing pad 12 and functions to hold the head in a steady, desired position during the polishing process. As shown in FIG. 1C, both the retaining ring 14 and the membrane 16 are urged downwardly toward the polishing pad 12 by a linear force indicated by the numeral 18 which is effected through a pneumatic system.
A more detailed cross-sectional view of the improved CMP 20 is shown in FIG. 1D. The CMP head 20 further includes a wafer mounting plate 30, a bumper ring 32, an inner tube 34 for supplying the pneumatic force 18 (shown in FIG. 1C) and a base plate 36. The bumper ring 32 is utilized between the wafer 10 and the mounting plate 30 for preventing edge defect by raising the edges of wafer 10 when pressed down onto a polishing pad (not shown). Without the use of the bumper ring 32, the edge portion of the wafer 10 is not polished to the same degree as the center portion of the wafer 10 and therefore, the bumper ring 32 compensates for the poor polishing along the edges of wafer 10 by providing a support behind the wafer. Both the bumper ring 32 and the wafer mounting plate 30 are normally fabricated of a rigid material such as plastic or ceramic. The wafer mounting plate 30 is further provided with a plurality of through holes 40, as shown in FIG. 2A.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a plane view and a side view, respectively of the wafer mounting plate 30 shown in FIG. 1D. The plurality of through holes 40, or apertures, are provided for fluid communication between an upper surface 38 and a lower surface 42 of the wafer mounting plate 30 which enables a vacuum to be exerted on the wafer 10 when positioned thereunder. It should be noted that the flexible membrane member 16, shown in FIG. 1D, is not shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B for simplicity reasons. The flexible membrane member 16 may be fabricated of a breathable material, or a material that is perforated such that vacuum can be pulled on the membrane member for acting on the wafer surface. The flexible member 16 may be advantageously fabricated of an elastomeric material, such as a silicon rubber, a polyurethane rubber or any other high temperature and chemical resistant rubber that does not cause particle contamination.
In the configuration shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 1D, the wafer mounting plate 30 when used to mount wafer 10 frequently encounters wafer breakage problem since both the mounting plate 30 and the bumper ring 32 are fabricated of a rigid material which leads to a stress concentration on the wafer. Wafer breakage occurs during wafer loading or unloading from a load cup, or during wafer chucking or dechucking from a polishing pad. When wafer breakage occurs, not only the throughput of the fabrication process, but also the vacuum line and the vacuum source can be severely affected. The debris from a broken wafer can cause severe contamination in the vacuum system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for mounting a wafer in a polishing machine that does not have the drawbacks or shortcoming of the conventional apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wafer mounting plate for use in a polishing apparatus capable of preventing contamination in a vacuum line when wafer breakage occurs.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wafer mounting plate for use in a polishing apparatus that is equipped with a screen mounted on top for preventing debris from a broken wafer to contaminate a vacuum source for holding the wafer.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a wafer mounting plate that has a screen adhered thereon for preventing broken wafers from contaminating a vacuum source in fluid communication with the wafer mounting plate.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide a wafer carrying head in a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus that is effective in preventing contamination to a vacuum line by debris from a broken wafer.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a wafer carrying head in a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus which includes a support plate that has a screen mounted thereon for preventing debris of a broken wafer from contaminating the vacuum system used in holding the wafer.
It is still another further object of the present invention to provide a method for mounting a wafer in a polishing machine by first adhering a screen onto a wafer mounting plate such that debris from a broken wafer does not contaminate a vacuum system used for holding the wafer.
In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus and a method for mounting a wafer in a polishing machine onto a metal plate that is equipped with a screen for preventing debris of a broken wafer from entering a vacuum system used for holding the wafer.
In a preferred embodiment, a wafer mounting plate for use in a polishing apparatus is provided which includes a metal plate of circular shape that has a plurality of holes therethrough, the metal plate has a bottom surface for engaging a membrane member and a wafer by vacuum through the plurality of holes and a top surface for engaging a pressurizing means; and a screen mounted to and contacting the top surface of the metal plate wherein the screen has a multiplicity of apertures each has a size not larger than 0.5 mm in diameter, the screen being mounted sandwiched between the top surface of the metal plate and the pressurizing means.
In the wafer mounting plate for use in a polishing apparatus, the plurality of holes in the metal plate each has a diameter of not smaller than 5 mm. The membrane member may be perforated with holes for vacuum to be pulled therethrough, the membrane member may further be fabricated of a material that has a flexibility sufficient for preventing wafer breakage during loading or unloading of a wafer in the polishing apparatus, or may be fabricated of an elastomeric material that has a Durometer A scale of less than 70. The screen may have a thickness of less than 2 mm. The plurality of apertures each has a size that is sufficiently small for preventing debris of a broken wafer from being sucked into the vacuum system. The multiplicity of apertures in the screen may each have a size between about 0.01 mm and about 0.5 mm, and preferably between about 0.02 mm and about 0.08 mm. The top surface of the metal plate may further include a raised edge portion adapted for containing the screen therein by frictional engagement, i.e. instead of by adhesive means.
The present invention is further directed to a wafer carrying head in a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus which includes a carrier body of generally circular shape for receiving a pressurizing means, a support plate and a wafer therein; a pressurizing means situated in the carrier body for exerting a downward pressure on the support plate; and a support plate of circular shape that has a plurality of vacuum passageways therethrough, a top surface and a bottom surface, the bottom surface engages a wafer by vacuum through a membrane member, the top surface is covered by a screen that has a multiplicity of apertures therethrough each having a diameter not larger than 0.5 mm for mating to the pressurizing means and for preventing any debris of a broken wafer from being sucked into the vacuum.
In the wafer carrying head for use in a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus, the membrane member may have perforations therethrough, the membrane member may have a flexibility sufficient to prevent wafer breakage during wafer loading and unloading in the chemical mechanical polishing apparatus. The plurality of vacuum passageways each has a diameter of not smaller than 5 mm. The plurality of apertures each has a size that is sufficiently small for preventing debris of a broken wafer from being sucked into the vacuum system. The multiplicity of apertures in the screen each has a size between about 0.01 mm and about 0.5 mm, or preferably between about 0.02 mm and about 0.08 mm. The top surface of the support plate may further include a raised edge portion adapted for containing the screen therein by frictional engagement. The support plate may be formed of metal. The screen may have a thickness of less than 2 mm.

Apparatus and method for mounting a wafer in a polishing machine

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd


A mounting plate includes a pneumatic cylinder arranged in an annular continuous orientation to a first side of the mounting plate, with a pneumatic cylinder having clamping legs, with each clamping leg including a leg claw, and the clamping legs projecting coaxially of the pneumatic chamber, with pneumatic storage cylinders arranged to effect pivoting of the clamping legs to engage an interior surface of a ship's hull, with a further pneumatic storage cylinder arranged to inflate the pneumatic sealing chamber to effect sealing and secure engagement of exterior surface of a ship's hull about a ship hull opening to be repaired.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to ship hull repair structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved ship hull repair apparatus wherein the same is arranged to engage and sealingly secure a breach in a ship's hull.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various ship hull repair structure has been utilized in the prior art, wherein U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,582 to Fuerst sets forth an inflatable device arranged to engage a ship's hull for its sealing.
Further examples of sealing structure of ship hull repair is set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,669,055; 5,009,180; and 4,161,155.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a structure of ease of manipulation as well as convenience and effectiveness in construction in a manner not addressed by the prior art permitting its manipulation relative to a ship's hull and its breach for repair and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


An optoelectronic device is disclosed. The optoelectronic device may be employed as a single or multi-channel opto-coupler that electrically isolates one circuit from another circuit. The opto-coupler may include one or more premolded cavities with a light-coupling medium contained therein. Walls of the one or more premolded cavities advantageously help shape the light-coupling medium during manufacture, therefore, resulting in a light path with controlled shape and dimensions.

In electronics, an opto-coupler, also referred to as an opto-isolator, photocoupler, or optical isolator, is an optoelectronic device designed to transfer electrical signals by utilizing light waves to provide coupling with electrical isolation between its input and output. One goal of an opto-coupler is to prevent high voltages or rapidly changing voltages on one side of the circuit from damaging components or distorting transmissions on the other side.
A typical opto-coupler includes a light source, such as a Light Emitting Diode (LED), a photodetector, and an insulation medium. As the name suggests, an optical path needs to be created between the LED and photodetector via the insulation medium. This is traditionally done by using an optically-transparent material such as silicone to create the light path. The insulation medium not only acts to allow the transmission of light from the LED to the photodetector, but the insulation medium also electrically insulates the input and output sides of the circuit.
One drawback to working with currently-available transparent and electrically-insulating materials such as silicone is that when applied to the opto-coupler, the silicone is in a "liquid" state and, therefore, does not has a definite shape. Accordingly, the silicone will normally take a shape due to its inherent surface tension. Using the surface tension of the silicone to shape the insulation medium is difficult and inconsistent. This characteristic can create an issue with light coupling because the shape, density, and other characteristics of the silicone and, therefore, the optical path, will vary from one opto-coupler to the next.

Premolded cavity for optoelectronic device

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A synthetic quartz glass for an optical member, which is to be used in an optical device employing an ArF excimer laser beam as a light source at an energy density of at most 2 mJ/cm2/pulse or in an optical device employing a KrF excimer laser beam as a light source at an energy density of at most 30 mJ/cm2/pulse, characterized in that the hydrogen molecule concentration is within a range of at least 1×1016 molecules/cm3 and less than 5×1016 molecules/cm3.

Heretofore, in a photolithographic technology, an exposure apparatus has been widely utilized which transfers a fine circuit pattern on a wafer to produce an integrated circuit. Along with high integration and high functionality of an integrated circuit, an integrated circuit becomes finer, and an exposure apparatus is required to form an image of a circuit pattern with high resolution on a wafer with a deep focal depth, and shortening of the wavelength of the exposure light source is being advanced. The exposure light source has been advanced from conventional g-line (wavelength: 436 nm) or i-line (wavelength: 365 nm), and now, a KrF excimer laser (wavelength: 248 m) or an ArF excimer laser (wavelength: 193 nm) is being used.
For an optical member for an exposure apparatus employing a light having a wavelength of from 180 to 400 nm as a light source, a synthetic quartz glass has been mainly employed, since it is excellent in transparency over a wide range from a near infrared region to an ultraviolet region, it has an extremely small thermal expansion coefficient and it is relatively easily processed. As a conventionally employed synthetic quartz glass, one as disclosed in JP-A-3-88742 may, for example, be known. That is, a synthetic quartz glass having a OH group content of at least 10 ppm and containing hydrogen in an amount of at least 5×1016 molecules/cm3 has been known.
When a synthetic quartz glass is irradiated with ultraviolet lights, defect precursors such as distorted three-membered ring structures or four-membered ring structures are dissociated to form paramagnetic defects such as an E′ center (≡Si.) and NBOHC (≡SiO.). Such paramagnetic defects have absorption bands centered at a wavelength of 220 nm and at a wavelength of 260 nm, respectively, and thus the formation of the paramagnetic defects is a main cause of the decrease in the transmittance. Hydrogen molecules in the synthetic quartz glass are considered to have a function to convert the E′ center and the NBOHC into ≡SiH and ≡SiOH having no absorption band centered at a wavelength of from 190 to 400 nm, respectively, and the above JP-A-3-88742 is a proposal which pays attention to this defect repairing effect of hydrogen molecules.
However, ≡SiH and ≡SiOH are dissociated by irradiation with ultraviolet lights and converted into the E′ center and the NBOHC again, and accordingly the defect formation process during irradiation with ultraviolet lights is complicated, and it is considered that the following four processes are in progress.

If the irradiation of the synthetic quartz glass with ultraviolet lights is intermitted, only the process of the above formula (2) proceeds, the E′ center and the NBOHC which are present during the irradiation are sequentially converted to SiH and SiOH structures, and the synthetic quartz glass gradually recovers from the transmittance decreased state during the irradiation with ultraviolet lights. However, if the irradiation with ultraviolet lights is carried out again, two processes of the above formulae (3) and (4) immediately proceed, and the transmittance immediately decreases to the level immediately before intermission of the irradiation.
Here, in practical application to e.g. an optical member for a semiconductor exposure machine, as shown in FIG. 2, the irradiation with ultraviolet lights is carried out usually intermittently (this irradiation method is referred to as "burst mode") for alignment, wafer exchange, job change etc.
In such a case, the change in the transmittance decreases the control accuracy of the exposure amount and leads to deterioration in the pattern dimensional accuracy, and accordingly the change in the transmittance when the irradiation with ultraviolet lights is carried out intermittently is preferably as small as possible.
Particularly, the exposure amount of a semiconductor exposure machine is controlled usually by an illuminometer located between a projection lens and a light source. The change in the transmittance of the projection lens itself remarkably deteriorates the control accuracy of the exposure amount, and accordingly it is particularly desirable to employ a glass material with a small change in the transmittance. The above JP-A-3-88742 is a proposal intended to suppress the decrease in the transmittance when continuous irradiation with ultraviolet lights is carried out, simply by incorporating hydrogen molecules at a certain concentration or above, and the change in the transmittance in a case of irradiation under irradiation conditions close to the practical use conditions, i.e. by the burst mode, is not considered, and the synthetic quartz glass by the above proposal has a problem with the amount of the change in the transmittance in a case of irradiation with ultraviolet lights by the burst mode in some cases.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a synthetic quartz glass with a small decrease in the transmittance by irradiation with ultraviolet lights and with a small amount of the change in the transmittance when irradiated with ultraviolet lights intermittently.

Synthetic quartz glass for optical member, projection exposure apparatus and projection exposure method


A redundant memory system includes an address bus, a random access memory, a content addressable memory, a replacement memory, and a data bus. The random access memory includes a number of addressable memory locations each accessed by a different one of a number of addresses provided by the address bus. The content addressable memory stores a number of defective location addresses each corresponding to a defective addressable memory location of the random access memory and responds to a match between an address provided by the address bus and one of the defective location addresses to activate one of a number of match lines. The replacement memory is coupled to the content addressable memory by the match lines and includes a number of replacement memory locations each accessed by activating a different one of the lines. The data bus receives addressable memory information from the random access memory when addressed by one of the addresses other than one of the defective location addresses and receives replacement information from the replacement memory in response to activate a respective match line. Defective information in the addressable memory is accessed in response to addressing by one of the defective location addresses, but output of the defective information is prevented during a read operation by the match line activation.

The present invention relates to memory devices, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to redundant memory systems.
Redundant memory is sometimes used to improve fault tolerance of data storage subsystems. In the case of embedded memory for Integrated Circuits (ICs), redundancy is frequently used to improve manufacturing yield. For Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), a Hardware Development Language (HDL) macro typically specifies embedded memory. Both primary and redundant memory circuits are often integrally defined by such macros. Consequently, embedded memory macros for ASICs are generally rather complex. Moreover, modifying either the redundant memory scheme or primary memory scheme of these ISE macros may inadvertently impact the scheme not intended to be changed. As an example, it often proves difficult to adjust the amount of redundant memory relative to the amount of primary memory for this type of macroxe2x80x94sometimes introducing race conditions and other problems associated with modifying a complex digital design.
Thus, there is a demand for advancements in the memory redundancy technology. Such advancements may be applied not only to macro-defined embedded memory of a single IC, but also to multi-chip and multi-component systems.
One form of the present invention is a unique memory device. Another form includes unique redundant memory systems and methods.
A further form is a unique redundant memory macro for defining ICs. This redundant memory macro may be utilized in conjunction with primary memory macros to define an embedded memory with a selectable degree of redundancy.
In another form, a Built-In Self Test (BIST) is implemented with a redundant memory to accommodate yield failures of an associated primary memory. The BIST, redundant memory, and primary memory may be embedded on a common, integrated circuit chip or defined by two or more separate components or integrated circuits.
Still another form includes one or more primary memories associated with a redundant memory. The redundant memory includes a content addressable memory coupled to a replacement memory. Also included is a unique arrangement for providing replacement memory contents in lieu of corresponding primary memory contents that have been determined to be defective.
Further forms, embodiments, aspects, features, and objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description and drawings contained herein.


A process for the manufacture of an electrode for lead-acid storage battery wherein a current-conducting backing is subjected to electrochemical treatment, to produce an active material. Said active material is formed from the outer layer of the current-conducting backing. The active material is subjected to compression by applying a pressure to the surface thereof.

Although lead-acid storage batteries are the most widespread among the currently used secondary chemical power sources and the demand is continuously increasing, said batteries rank below the novel batteries of other types in some of the parameters.
This situation justifies the need for increasing the specific power characteristics of lead-acid cells, cutting the rate of lead usage and production expenses, improving the ecology of the production processes.
Attempts to enchance the power characteristics of lead-acid storage battery have lead to the development of a new process for the manufacture of electrodes (see: George Wood Vinal, Sc.D., "Storage Batteries", 1955, New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., London, Chapman & Hall, Ltd., Fourth Edition, pp. 27-46).
A process known in the art comprises coating a current-conducting backing in the form of a grid made of lead or an alloy of same with a paste prepared from a lead powder, sulfuric acid and water, said coating being achieved using any known method. The grid coated with said paste forms a plate which is subsequently placed in an electrolytic bath and subjected to an electrochemical treatment, as a result of said treatment said paste is converted into an active material, comprising essentially PbO.sub.2 in the positive electrode and lead sponge in the negative electrode.
Said production process is responsible for impairing the ecological conditions of the environment and increasing production expenditures owing to the use of lead powder.
Known in the art is a process for manufacturing lead-acid cell storage battery electrode, which improves the ecological conditions at the production site (see: George Wood Vinal, Sc. D., "Storage Batteries", 1955, New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., London, Chapman & Hall, Ltd., Fourth Edition, p. 46-51).
Said process comprises building a layer of active material, essentially PbO.sub.2, on a current-conducting backing which is a lead plate having a developed surface. The active material is formed from the surface layer of the current-conducting backing by subjecting it to an electrochemical treatment by which is herein understood a process occuring when an electric current is passed through the current-conducting backing, electrolyte and an auxiliary electrode with a polarity opposite to that of the backing, this process being accompanied by a series of chemical changes as a result of electric energy being converted into chemical energy.
The electrode manufactured according to the art known process offers a low specific power capacity which is caused by internal high resistance owing to internal stresses developing in the active material.
The reason for the phenomena lies in that the formation of the active material is accompanied by its swelling because the specific volume of the active material is about 3.5 times larger than that of the lead and tends to spread in all directions. Hereupon, the adjacent sites of the newly formed active material at the boundary between the active material and the current-conducting layer exert mutual pressure which gives rise to internal stresses that tend to break the active material from the current-conducting backing.
It leads to the appearance of defects in the layer structure, i.e. cracks, delaminations, and swelling of the active material, and gives rise to the increase of inner resistance of the active material and the decrease of utilisation factor thereof. As a result the specific capacitance characteristics of the electrode come down.
These disadvantages are especially obvious if the thickness of the active material layer exceeds 0.3 mm and happen preferably on curved, particularly concave sections of the current-conducting backing.
Moreover, the manufacture of such electrodes involves a large quantity of lead because of the massive conducting backing which is required in order to ensure a reasonable long service life of batteries and to prevent warping of the electrode during the manufacture. This results in increased production expenditures. Upon application of the electrodes manufactured by the above mentioned method, in the lead-acid storage batteries, such electrodes display poor specific power characteristics due to the large weight of the current-conducting backing and the disadvantages of the active material noted above. Storage batteries employing such electrodes are not suitable as traction batteries in accumulator cars, battery driven vehicles, nor as batteries operated under multiple charge-discharge conditions.

Process for the manufacture of lead-acid battery electrode and lead-acid storage battery

Gorodskoi Studenchesko-Molodezhny Tsentr "Praktika"


A heat stable culture medium is prepared by substituting glycerol for carbohydrate components such as dextrose that are prone to Maillard reactions. A preferred medium contains pancreatic digest of casein, soytone, soluble starch, a phosphate buffer system, a salt, a pH indicator, and glycerol as a primary carbon source. The culture medium is pH and color stable when exposed to steam sterilization, including post-manufacture steam sterilization when used as the medium of a self-contained biological indicator. A self-contained sterility indicator device contains a flexible cylindrical tube having an opening at one end. The tube contains a submicron screen as a gas transmissive, bacteria impermeable window, an adsorbent wick bearing at one end viable microorganisms, and a frangible glass ampule containing the culture medium. The end of the wick containing microorganisms is located away from the ampule and adjacent the screen. A cap that seals the tube opening has an open position, and a closed position that seals the window and prevents media evaporation. During sterilization, the microorganisms adjacent the screen are exposed directly to sterilant. After sterilization, the cap is moved to the closed position, and the ampule is broken by applying pressure to sides of the flexible tube to release the culture medium. The medium is adsorbed by the wick and transported to the end containing microorganisms. After incubation, the device is examined to determine from the color of the indicator whether or not microorganism growth has occurred.

Microbial growth media provide a nutrient chemical environment for the growth of microorganisms. Microbial growth media are typically composed of water, protein digests and/or extracts, carbohydrates, minerals, a buffer system, and a pH indicator in certain applications. Additional metabolites may be included to influence metabolic pathways. Microbial growth media are made from non-sterile components and are sterilized in the last stages of their fabrication. This is commonly done by heat or filtration.
When the means of sterilization is heat, carbohydrate growth media components are prone to change. It is well known that heating microbial growth media causes carbohydrate degradation and subsequent acidification of growth media. The degree of degradation is a function of the heat applied, the carbohydrate concentration, the starting pH, and the type of carbohydrate present. Carbohydrates can react with amino acids, peptides, and proteins to form brown melanoidins. These are termed Maillard reactions and can result in the destruction of essential nutrients in growth media and color darkening. One class of carbohydrates commonly employed with microbiological growth media is monosaccharides. Monosaccharides, such as the six carbon dextrose, are particularly prone to heat induced Maillard reactions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,122 to Orelski, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes features of microbial growth media as applied to unitary or self-contained biological indicators. Media used in these indicators must support the growth of either Bacillus stearothermophilus in monitoring steam sterilization processes, or Bacillus subtilis in monitoring ethylene oxide sterilization processes. Self-contained biological indicators employ a visual pH indicator that is dissolved in a medium. As the pH of the medium shifts (due to presumed bacterial growth), the color of the media will change, thus simplifying the visual reading of this device.
Growth of Bacillus stearothermophilus causes growth media to become acidic. Bacillus subtilis growth causes growth media to acidify only in the presence of sufficient carbohydrates. Once carbohydrates are consumed, protein components are catabolized. The catabolism of proteins causes growth media to become basic, thus causing the pH indicator that had initially changed color to signify growth, to return to its original color. This process of depleting carbohydrates and consuming excessive protein and causing the pH indicator to return to a false non-growth color is called reversion. One must provide sufficient carbohydrate in media to avoid reversion and at the same time avoid the media degrading Maillard reactions. If a self-contained biological indicator is used to monitor a steam sterilization process, the indicator medium would thus be heated a second time during its actual use in addition to its original sterilization in manufacture. Orelski taught that partitioning carbohydrates from the rest of the liquid medium components avoids the damaging Maillard reactions. In the Orelski teaching, carbohydrates are mixed with the rest of the medium only when the self-contained biological indicator is activated. There is other evidence in the prior art for separate sterilization of carbohydrate components of microbial growth media, but not for this specific application.

Culture media containing glycerol that are pH and color stable when heat sterilized


Device for securing multiple vehicle wheels or vehicle tires, having a base unit adapted for being secured to a ceiling or a wall of a building; at least pair of one receiving elements, each receiving element connected to the base unit and has a longitudinal axis, each longitudinal axis oriented 90xc2x0 from each other; and at least one mounting element associated with each receiving element, wherein each mounting element is the form of a longitudinally extending mounting arm and including a first end and a second end, wherein each mounting element is connected at the first end to the receiving element, and the second end to mounting device, the mounting element device adapted to hold the wheels or tires; each mounting element is independently pivotably connected to the corresponding receiving element between a receiving position and a storage position; each mounting element is independently lockable in the storage position via a locking device; and each mounting device extending perpendicular from the corresponding mounting element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a device for storing vehicles wheels. A device of this type is known from G 93 17 025.4. This device, also referred to as a tire tree, includes a base unit in the form of a pedestal or stand, and a stand column. The stand column includes carrier arms located at the right angles to the stand column and parallel to the stand feet. These carrier arms serve to receive vehicle wheels or vehicle tires, which can be hung up on the carrier arms in simple manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
This known device makes possible a desirable protective storage of the vehicle wheels or vehicle tires, but unfortunately, there are, several disadvantages associated therewith. These include the large space requirement as a consequence of the footprint area, and particularly during unloading of the carrier arms. Besides this, there is the danger that the device, if loaded on only one side, could tip over, for example, during the changing out of tires.
The present invention is thus concerned with the task of providing a device of the above-described type, which has a particularly minimal space requirement and, at the same time, provides a problem-free operation.
This task is solved by a device for use in this field and having the distinguishing characteristics of claim 1.
The invention is based upon the idea of having a base unit that it can be mounted on a ceiling or even on a wall of a building. Therewith, for example, the ceiling of a garage can be utilized for storage of the vehicle wheels or vehicle tires, and the hitherto conventional standing room is no longer required. Besides this, the invention envisions that the respective mounting arms are designed to be pivotable relative to the base, wherein the range of pivot is defined as that between a receiving position and a storage position. The mounting arms can be locked in the storage position via a locking device.
The pivotable connection of the mounting arms to the base unit makes possible an exceptionally convenient manipulation of the vehicle wheels or vehicle tires during the mounting or, as the case may be, removal. For example, in the case of the present invention being mounted to a ceiling, the mounting arms can be folded down. The mounting arms, when properly dimensioned, are situated in such a height as to be conveniently accessible.
In the storage position, the mounting arms, with vehicle wheels secured thereto, are provided close below the ceiling and thus require little space in the garage floor. The loss in ceiling height in the area of the device is not disadvantageous in most cases, so that the storage of the vehicle wheels does not reduce the useful space in the garage.
The locking mechanisms can be comprised of linch pins, eccentric levers, removable and replaceable stay rods, or of detent devices. These simple construction components make possible a secure and rapid fixing of the mounting arms in the storage position.
A technically particularly simple design of the device is possible, when the mounting means respectively include a threaded rod associated with the second end of the carrier arms, on which the vehicle wheel can be secured with at least one threaded nut. In the folded down receiving position of the support device, the respective vehicle wheel can easily be slid upon the threaded rod and be secured by means of the threaded nut.
Although the application of only one threaded nut is sufficient for securing the vehicle wheel, it is of advantage, to provide further a threaded nut, which secures the vehicle wheel on the side opposite to the first threaded nut. Thereby, the vehicle wheel is tightly tensioned in and cannot undergo any tilting movement.
Depending upon the size and design of the hub opening, it can be of advantage to secure the vehicle wheel not directly via the threaded nut on the threaded rod, but rather to provide a retaining disc, which can be secured to at least one bolt of the vehicle wheel and which exhibits an opening oriented concentric with the hub opening of the vehicle wheel, through which the threaded rod can be introduced. In this case, first the retaining disk is mounted onto the vehicle wheel, which thereafter, together with the mounted retaining disc, is slid onto the threaded rod. The threaded nut then does not support itself directly upon the vehicle wheel, but rather upon the retaining disc. In order to fit various lug nut pattern diameters of vehicle wheels, the holding disc is provided with a radially extending elongated hole, which covers the ranges of the various hole pattern diameters.
Since the threaded rod extends through the hub opening of the vehicle wheel, it is possible during inappropriate use of the device, for example, by over tightening of the threaded nut, to cause damage to the hub opening. This applies particularly in the case of aluminum wheels, since the aluminum alloys are significantly softer than steel alloys. In order to avoid this, it is of advantage to provide safety or protective elements, which support themselves against the vehicle wheel.
According to a preferred variant, the protective elements are provided in the form of pot-shaped cover caps, which can be introduced upon the threaded rod. These are particularly suited for use in combination with the above-described retaining discs, so that the vehicle wheel is securely received between the cover cap and the retaining disc.
An alternative embodiment of the protective element envisions a cone shaped, hollow cover cap, of which the section with the larger diameter engages the vehicle wheel on the side opposite to the mounting arm, and of which the section with the smaller diameter can be introduced through the hub opening of the vehicle wheel.
This embodiment, as a result of the conical contour, makes possible an automatic, optimal fitting to the respective geometry of the hub opening, whereby the vehicle wheel is constantly centered. Besides this, in the case of the use of two conical-shaped cover caps of this type, an optimal adaptation or fitting to vehicle wheels of the most diverse breadth and design can be undertaken. The cover caps can, depending upon circumstances, either be oriented in the same direction or in opposite directions.
These alternative embodiments of the protective elements offer additionally the possibility of integrating the threaded nut in the respective smaller diameter segments. This also enables, for example, the exact positioning of the cover cap upon the threaded rod.
Although a large number of embodiments are possible for the mounting arms, it is of advantage for weight and stability reasons, when the mounting arms are formed as U-shaped arms and are connected to the base unit via pivot pins.
Preferably, each mounting arm is provided with multiple receptacles for the selective positioning of the threaded rod. Therewith, an optimal adjustment of the device to conform to the respective wheel diameter to be mounted can occur.
In wheels of smaller diameter, the threaded rods can be positioned relatively far inwardly, so that the total surface area on the surface upon which the inventive device is mounted, that is, for example, the ceiling, is kept to a minimum.
Since the vehicle wheels are generally relatively heavy, it could pose a problem, in particular, for weaker persons, to pivot the downwardly folded, vehicle wheel carrying mounting arms back into their storage position. This can be aided by a suitably positioned spring device.
A form-fitting design for mounting on the surface is made possible when the base unit is designed as a base plate with receptacle elements for the mounting arms. In this case, the base unit can be screw-fastened directly onto the building ceiling via the base plate.
One alternative envisions that the base unit is comprised of two essentially congruent segments of U-shaped profile. On the one hand, such profile segments are simple and economical to produce, wherein the selected profile shape makes possible an optimal connecting of the mounting arms, for example via pivot bolts. On the other hand, this two-part embodiment makes possible the selective provisioning of a single device for the collective storage of, for example, four wheels or, alternatively, the separate mounting of respectively two wheels, which could be of advantage for example in an environment of a very narrow space.


An improved trim molding system for use in construction comprises a molding base and a complementary pre-fabricated molding face. The base is easily installed on the surface of a location where a molding is desired. The molding face fits onto the base and is secured to the base by an adhesive material. The two-component system provides for secure fit and an aesthetically pleasing finished product.

Finishing trim products have been widely used in the construction industry. These products are designed so that imperfections in the fit of building components can be covered in order to produce a more aesthetically pleasing finished product. Trims provide an advantage in that rather than having to have all components of a building (e.g., drywall, window frames, etc.) fit perfectly, these component can be roughly finished, saving time in construction and as a result, the cost of the finished building.
In the past, most prior art finishing elements such as baseboards, window casings and the like have been secured to a building by simple fastening methods such as nails, screws tacks, glues and other fastening. The disadvantage of these prior art products is that the fasteners mar the surface of the trim piece, requiring that they be filled, and or/painted in order to make the fastener less obvious to the eye. A further disadvantage is that over time the fill and/or paint can degrade, such that the fastener is now seen again, requiring ongoing maintenance to keep up the look of the finishing trim piece. In simple trim systems, where the trim piece is glued to a surface, there is an additional disadvantage in that as the glue degrades over time, the trim piece may come loose, there being nothing else to keep it in place, and the finishing trim can simply fall away from the surface to which it was originally installed.
Another disadvantage of prior art systems is that simply nailing a piece of trim to a wall or window casing, for example, does not guarantee a quality fit. It is well-known that in order to save time and costs, builder frequently pay little attention to details of finishing and as a result, baseboards and window casings, as well as other finishing elements, may not be particularly carefully installed, with the result that the overall appearance of the construction is diminished. Such free hand installation systems suffer from the inability to easily align the trim piece for optimal look and fit.
A variety of solutions have been attempted to improve the art of finishing trims. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,539 (Simon) describes a channel adapted to receive a molding piece. U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,811 (Walker) describes a system to install crown moldings at the junction between a wall and ceiling in a room. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,804 (Miller) describes a corner protector device that comprises a clip attached to the corner of a wall, and an overlying protector that engages the clip.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,584 (Wilson) describes a plastic attachment strip onto in which a spline engages part of the trim piece. However, this particular solution is awkward to use as it requires the trim to be applied in two separate pieces onto the attachment system, increasing the difficulty of installation and likelihood that parts will not be well-aligned in the finished product. A modified version of the installation system described in the '584 patent uses two attachment clips, for example, one on the facing trim, and a second on the door jamb portion, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,944 (Wilson). This solution is in fact more complicated than the earlier system described in the '584 patent as it now requires two attachment clips to be installed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,179 (Schiedeggar et al.) describes a decorative molding that fits over a mantelpiece mounted on a structure. However, this system requires multiple components, including end covers, in order to complete the finished appearance.
Thus, because of the limitations in the prior art approaches to finishing trims, what is needed is a simple system that permits the snapping into place of a completely finished trim piece such that the trim piece is not marred by fasteners, and which is readily adaptable to a range of installation locations.


A semiconductor memory cell (10) includes vertically disposed MOS pass transistors (32, 34) and MOS inverters (12, 14) contained in trench structures in a semiconductor substrate (11). An MOS inverter (12) has a toroidal shared-gate electrode (48) overlying the wall surface of a first trench (36). A pass transistor (32) has a gate electrode (84) in a third trench (40). A first buried drain region (62) resides in the substrate (11) adjacent to the first trench (36), and is located a first distance from the substrate surface. A second buried drain region (64) resides in the substrate (11) adjacent to the second trench (32), and is located a second distance from the substrate surface. The inverter (12) and the pass transistor (32) are electrically coupled by the first and second buried layers (62, 64). The channel length (90) of the driver transistor (16) in the inverter (12) and the pass transistor (32) is determined by the first and second distances, respectively. Accordingly, the cell ratio of the memory cell (10) (ratio of W/L values) is also determined by the differential depth of the first and second buried drain regions (62, 64).

As semiconductor devices become smaller, it becomes necessary to arrange individual components within a device such that minimal separation distances are achieved. The need to design compact component arrangements occurs most significantly in memory devices. Because of the large number of components needed to fabricate a typical dynamic-random-access-memory device (DRAM), or static-random-access-memory device (SRAM), the components must be arranged compactly if the overall device dimensions are not to become excessively large. This problem is especially critical in SRAM devices where a typical individual memory cell contains as many as six separate components. Simple down-sizing of components can only be pursued to the limit of the line-width definition capability of the manufacturing process. Once the line-width definition limits are reached, new design methodology must be employed if further reduction in memory cell area is to be achieved.
One technique for reducing memory cell dimensions, is to place a number of the components in a trench structure, which is sunk into the substrate. However, even with the integration of a trench structure into the memory cell, additional surface area is still necessary for component connections. For example, active surface regions of the cell must be available for the formation of cell nodes. Typically, the formation of cell nodes requires that surface area of electrically conductive layers be exposed by openings in overlying insulating layers. Contact metallization is placed in openings to provide a means of electrically coupling cell interconnects and components together. Depending on the number of components to be electrically coupled together, the formation of the contact can require elaborate metallization structures. In the case of an SRAM memory cell, a structure known in the art as a shared contact, or buried contact, serves to electrically couple the inverters and the pass transistors. The inclusion of a complex, shared contact structure into an SRAM memory cell increases the total amount of substrate surface area needed to fabricate the cell.
The further reduction in substrate surface area required to form a memory cell is limited by the use of conventional contact metallization structures. While development of new methods for interconnecting cell components is needed, the improvement cannot be attained at the expense of cell performance. In particular, SRAM memory cells suffer stability problems as cell size is reduced. To function properly, the SRAM memory cell, when charged, must hold a voltage level, either high (logic 1) or low (logic 0). When reading data from the cell, the charge pulse generated as the pass transistor turns on must not flip the voltage level at the output nodes. Usually this problem is controlled by adjusting the width-to-length (W/L) ratios of the driver transistor relative to the pass transistor. Typically, the channel width (W) is set and the channel length (L) of each transistor is adjusted. Higher cell stability is obtained when the L value of the pass transistors is larger than the L value of the driver transistor. The ratio of the W/L values of the two transistors is known as -the cell ratio and is commonly specified to be at least 3.0 or larger. Care must be taken in the design of a memory cell to interconnect cell components in such a way as to avoid a degradation in cell stability. Therefore, additional development of memory cell technology requires that an improved interconnect structure be achieved while not impairing cell stability.

Semiconductor SRAM with trench transistors


A multifunctional control device for an electronic apparatus having a control element that has a shaft that passes through a front panel and a slide element. The control element is biased to a centered position with respect to the opening in which it passes through the front panel. A plurality of electrical contact elements are arranged behind the front panel and are spaced from the slide element when the control element is in the centered position. The control element is adapted to permit transverse movement of the control element with respect to the front panel. The transverse movement of the control element is transmitted to the slide element to move the slide element within a plane parallel to the front panel and to engage at least one electrical contact element.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a multifunctional control device for a vehicle, for example for a motor vehicle, for selecting groups of functions (menus) and/or single functions by means of an axially and rotationally operable control element, an activation of an enter function taking place through operation of said control element.
2. Description of Related Art
Such a control device is known, for example, from EP 0 366 132 B1. In this known control device, a single bidirectional rotary switch is used for the selection of menus and of individual functions, the rotary switch having rest positions to which menus or single functions are assigned, while the enter function can be triggered by an axial movement of the rotary switch. In an embodiment of this known device, the number of rest positions correspond to the number of menus and/or functions. Furthermore, individual messages on a display screen are assigned to the menus and/or functions in the known construction, such that the messages corresponding to each menu or single function associated with the rest positions of the rotary switch are optically highlighted. It is furthermore possible to display optically the messages for the menus or single functions corresponding to the rest positions of the rotary switch after triggering of the enter function.

Multifunctional switching device for a motor vehicle


The invention relates to (1S)-1-isobutoxymethyl-3-methylbutylamine useful as an intermediate in the synthesis of sodium (2S,3S)-3-[[(1S)-1-isobutoxymethyl-3-methylbutyl]carbamoyl]oxirane-2-carboxylate and a process for production thereof. The process comprises reacting L-leucinol with a compound represented by the following formula in the presence of a base and reducing the obtained (1S)-1-(2-methyl-2-propenoxymethyl)-3-methylbutyl-amine:

The under-illustrated sodium (2S,3S)-3-[[(1S)-1-iso-butoxymethyl-3-methylbutyl]carbamoyl]oxirane-2-carboxylate (hereinafter referred to as Compound A) shows a cathepsin-inhibitory action and is useful as a remedy for treating rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis (Patent reference 1: WO 99/11640 pamphlet):

Patent reference 1 describes a process for producing Compound A according to the following reaction scheme (see Example 48 of Patent reference 1):

There is a need to provide an industrially employable synthesis process for the production of Compound A.

Abstract: [in which X is a leaving group].