In a conventional impact generator, a grease receives centrifugal force by the rotation of a rotary member, thereby keeping away from surfaces of the rotary member and a weight. Consequently, insufficient lubrication is caused between the weight and a member (for example, a tappet and the like) which comes in contact with the weight. An impact generator D comprises an impregnating member 60 capable of impregnating the grease. The impregnating member 60 is extended from a vicinity of an inner peripheral wall surface 59 of a chamber E1 for accommodating a rotary member 10 and a weight 30 to a position where the impregnating member 60 comes in contact with the weight 30 performing a circular motion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an impact generator for rotating a weight by means of a rotary member and striking a struck member with the weight, thereby continuously generating impact force for working.
2. Description of the Related Art
An impact generator is a device for continuously generating impact, force (shock force). Such impact generator may be applied to a crusher for crushing concrete or hardened asphalt in a road construction, a building site and the like, a reaper for cutting off fruit and branches of plants, and a root cutter for cutting off roots of plants and the like, for example.
By way of example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 7-95827 has disclosed an impact generator according to the prior art. FIG. 10A is a transverse sectional view showing the impact generator D100 according to the prior art and FIG. 10B is a longitudinal sectional view showing the impact generator D100. The impact generator D100 is applied to a reaper and serves to give continuous impact force to a cutting blade 191. The impact generator D100 converts rotating force transmitted from a power unit such as an engine into reciprocating impact force and transmits the reciprocating impact force to the cutting blade 191.
As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B the impact generator D100 comprises a rotary member 110 and a weight 130. The rotary member 110 is rotatably supported in a casing 150 by means of rotary shafts 111 and 112. The rotary member 110 has plate-shaped holding portions 113 and 114. The plate-shaped holding portions 113 and 114 are connected to each other through a connecting shaft portion 115. The connecting shaft portion 115 is positioned eccentrically from the center C100 of rotation of the rotary member 110. Circular holes 113a and 114a are formed on the plate-shaped holding portions 113 and 114, respectively. A cylindrical weight 130 is held in the holes 113a and 114a. The holes 113a and 114a have diameters which are larger than the diameter of the weight 130. Therefore, the weight 130 can freely move to some extent in the holes 113a and 114a. More specifically, the weight 130 is movably held by the rotary member 110.
When the weight 130 performs a circular motion around the rotary shafts 111 and 112 of the rotary member 110 by the rotation of the rotary member 110, the top of a tappet 192 positioned to interfere with the locus of the circular motion is struck with the weight 130. The tappet 192 is supported movably in an axial direction thereof (in a transverse direction in FIGS. 10A and 10B). Therefore, the tappet 192 is struck, thereby giving an impact to the cutting blade 191 positioned on the left of the tappet 192 in FIGS. 10A and 10B. Thus, when the rotary member 110 is rotated, continuous impact force is given to the cutting blade 191.
Disk-shaped plates 165 and 166 are provided in the casing 150. The plates 165 and 166 are provided in contact with upper and lower end faces of the weight 130, thereby regulating a vertical position of the weight 130 which performs the circular motion.
In the impact generator D100 described above, the tappet 192 is repeatedly struck with the weight 130. Accordingly, if the lubrication of contact faces of the weight 130 and the tappet 192 is not well maintained, the contact faces are greatly worn. In order to keep the lubrication of the contact faces well maintained, it is preferable that a grease should be caused to adhere to the contact faces. Moreover, the weight 130 is caused to slide on the internal wall surfaces of the holes 113a and 114a of the rotary member 110. In order to keep the slide on such wall surfaces well maintained, it is preferable that the grease should be caused to adhere to the weight 130 and the rotary member 110. Furthermore, the weight 130 performs a circular motion while coming in contact with the plates 165 and 166 for regulating the vertical position thereof. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the lubrication well maintained here as well by causing the grease to adhere to portions between the weight 130 and the plates 165 and 166.
However, when the rotary member 110 is rotated, the grease receives centrifugal force and gradually moves away from the center C100 of rotation of the rotary member 110. Therefore, the grease starts to keep away from the surfaces of the rotary member 110 and the weight 130 and to be collected on an inner peripheral wall surface 159 of the casing 150. Consequently, the lubrication on the contact faces of the weight 130 and the tappet 192 becomes poor. Thus, the contact faces are greatly worn. Moreover, insufficient lubrication is caused between the weight 130 and the rotary member 110, the plate 165 and the like.
In consideration of above-mentioned circumstance, it is an object of the invention to provide an impact generator capable of keeping good lubrication of a weight and other members which come in contact with the weight.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention provides an impact generator comprising a rotary member for being rotated upon receipt of rotating force, a weight movably held by the rotary member for striking a struck member, and an impregnating member capable of impregnating a grease, wherein the impregnating member is extended from a vicinity of an inner peripheral wall surface of a chamber for accommodating the rotary member and the weight to a position where the impregnating member comes in contact with the weight performing a circular motion.
According to the impact generator described above, the grease reaching the inner peripheral wall surface of the chamber by centrifugal force is absorbed in the impregnating member. The weight comes in contact with the impregnating member while performing the circular motion. Therefore, the grease absorbed in the impregnating member adheres to the surface of the weight. Accordingly, the lubrication of the weight and other members which come in contact with the weight can always be kept well maintained.
In the above-mentioned impact generator, if the impregnating member is constituted to come in contact with a portion of the weight""s face which abuts against the struck member, the grease supplied from the impregnating member can directly be applied to the face of the weight which abuts against the struck member.
In the above-mentioned impact generator, the impregnating member may be formed of any material which can impregnate the grease. For example, the impregnating member may be formed of felt.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, furthermore, the invention provides another impact generator comprising a rotary member for being rotated upon receipt of rotating force, a weight movably held by the rotary member for striking a struck member, gears for transmitting the rotating force from a power unit to the rotary member, a casing for accommodating the rotary member, the weight and the gears, and a separating plate for separating an internal space of the casing into a first chamber for accommodating the rotary member and the weight and a second chamber for accommodating the gears, and coming in contact with the weight to regulate a position of the weight, wherein at least one communicating portion for causing the first chamber to communicate with the second chamber is formed on the separating plate.
According to the impact generator described above, if the grease is put in the second chamber, it can move to the first chamber through the communicating portion. Accordingly, a surface of the weight in the first chamber can always be kept in a state in which the grease adheres thereto. Thus, the lubrication of the weight and other members which come in contact with the weight can always be kept well maintained.
In the above-mentioned impact generator, if the communicating portion is included in or interferes with a portion of the separating plate""s face with which the weight comes in contact, the grease passing through the communicating hole first adheres to the weight and then enters a clearance between the weight and the separating plate. Accordingly, the lubrication of the weight and the separating plate can particularly be kept well maintained.
In the above-mentioned impact generator, the communicating portion for causing the first chamber to communicate with the second chamber-can be formed in any way. For example, the communicating portion may be a hole.
These objects as well as other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.


A voltage converter for providing an output voltage signal at an output port according to an input voltage signal is disclosed. The voltage converter comprises a feedback circuit, a transmission switch circuit, a voltage converting circuit, and a pre-bias circuit. The feedback circuit generates a feedback voltage signal according to the output voltage signal. The transmission switch circuit selectively transmits a converted voltage signal to the output port of the voltage converter in a normal mode or transmits the input voltage signal to the output port of the voltage converter in a pre-bias mode. The voltage converting circuit converts the input voltage signal into the converted voltage signal in the normal mode and references the feedback voltage signal and the reference voltage signal to adjust the output voltage signal in the normal mode. The pre-bias circuit controls a magnitude of a current passing through the transmission switch circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage converter, and more particularly, to a voltage converter capable of avoiding a voltage drop occurring in an input signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art converter 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the voltage converter 100 includes an inductor L, a feedback circuit 102, a voltage converting circuit 104, and a transistor Qp. The voltage converter 100 is used as a DC/DC converter for boosting a voltage level of an input voltage signal Vin and is coupled to an enable signal EN, wherein the enable signal EN is used to start the voltage converter 100. The voltage converting circuit 104 comprises an error amplifier OP1, a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control loop 106, and a transistor Qn. The PWM control loop 106 generates a plurality of voltage control signals Sn and Sp to control the conductance of the transistors Qn and Qp respectively. The voltage control signals Sn and Sp are complementary to each other, and their duty cycles are controlled by an output of the error amplifier OP1 (i.e. Verr). The inverting node of the error amplifier OP1 is used to receive a feedback voltage signal Vfb, and the non-inverting node of the error amplifier OP1 is utilized for receiving a reference voltage signal Vref, wherein the feedback voltage signal Vfb corresponds to an output voltage signal Vout, and the reference voltage signal Vref is a voltage signal whose voltage level increases with time after start-up and is provided by an external circuit (not shown in FIG. 1). For example, the reference voltage signal Vref is a linear signal in general. Additionally, the output voltage signal Vout is used as an input signal of the load 108. The output of the error amplifier OP1 (i.e. Verr) responds to the difference between the feedback voltage signal Vfb and the reference voltage signal Vref to control duty cycles of voltage control signals Sn and Sp that control on/off states of transistors Qn and Qp, and then a voltage level of the output voltage signal Vout will be stabilized. When the voltage level of the output voltage signal Vout is stabilized, the following equation is established:
                              V          out                =                              V            ref                    ×                                    (                                                R                  1                                +                                  R                  2                                            )                                      R              2                                                          Equation                                                            (          1          )
wherein R1 and R2 are resistors in the feedback circuit 102.
However, even though the voltage levels of voltage control signals Sn and Sp remain at a low voltage level and a high voltage level, respectively, a large amount of leakage current is still formed. This is because a body diode exists on the transistor Qp and is forward-biased to induce the leakage current. For example, a voltage level of the input voltage signal Vin is 3.3 volts and the body voltage of the body diode is 0.7V, and a voltage level of the output voltage signal Vout becomes 2.6V when the voltage levels of voltage control signals Sn and Sp remain at a low voltage level and a high voltage level respectively. Any integrated circuits, represented by the load 108 shown in FIG. 1 and coupled to the output voltage signal Vout, may be erroneously activated since the voltage level of the output voltage signal Vout, 2.6V is not equal to zero; furthermore, the non-zero voltage level of the output voltage signal Vout may provide the load 108 with a huge amount of static current leaked from the forward-biased body diode of the transistor Qp. For a mobile device using a single battery as its power supply, the above-mentioned condition would consume electric energy of the battery when the mobile device is not operating or idle.
Two prior art methods are provided for solving the above-mentioned problem. A first prior art method is to add a load switch between the transistor Qp and the load 108 to control if the electrical connection is established, where the load switch has a transistor with a body diode having a p-type region coupled to the load and an n-type region coupled to the preceding transistor Qp. The load switch is able to block the leakage current from being leaked through the forward-biased body diode of the transistor Qp to the load 108. However, in practice, the additional load switch increases both cost and area of the printed circuit board (PCB). Furthermore, the load switch lowers the energy transfer efficiency since the load switch itself actually consumes energy when conducting current due to inherent resistance.
In general, a second prior art method is often used to solve the leakage current problem caused by the forward-biased body diode. Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is a diagram of another prior art converter 200. FIG. 3 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the prior art converter 200 shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the voltage converter 200 includes an inductor L, a feedback circuit 202, a voltage converting circuit 204, a transmission switch 206, and a switch signal generator 208, wherein the voltage converting circuit 204 comprises an error amplifier OP1, a PWM control loop 210, and a transistor Qn. The operations and functions of the feedback circuit 202, the voltage converting circuit 204, and the PWM control loop 210 are the same as those of the above-mentioned feedback circuit 102, voltage converting circuit 104, and PWM control loop 106. Further description is therefore not included for brevity. The voltage converter 200 is coupled to an enable signal EN, which is used to start the voltage converter 200, and the output voltage signal Vout is used as an input signal of the load 212. The transmission switch 206 includes a transistor Qp, a first switch S1, and a second switch S2. The switch signal generator 208 respectively generates a first switch control signal C1 and a second switch control signal C2 to control the on/off statuses of the first switch S1 and second switch S2.
As shown in FIG. 3, before the voltage converter 200 is started, the first switch control signal C1 keeps a high logic level and a second switch control signal C2 keeps a low logic level, so the status of the first switch S1 is on (i.e. closed) and the status of the second switch S2 is off (i.e. open). Therefore, a PN junction is established between the body and the drain of the first transistor Qp where a p-type region is the drain and the n-type region is the body. No leakage current is allowed to be passed to the load 212 when the voltage control signals Sn and Sp are logic low and logic high respectively because the diode is reverse biased. When the voltage converter 200 is started by the enable signal EN at time T1 (i.e. a logic level of the enable signal EN is changed from a low logic level to a high logic level), the first switch control signal C1 changes from the high logic level to a low logic level and the second switch control signal C2 changes from the low logic level to a high logic level, so the status of the first switch S1 is changed to be off and the status of the second switch S2 is changed to be on. In this moment, a PN junction is established between the body and the source of the first transistor Qp where a p-type region is the source and the n-type region is the body. At the same time, the voltage level of the reference voltage signal Vref increases slowly from zero volts to a default value (e.g. 1.25 volts) according to the design of the feedback circuit 202. At this time, the voltage difference between voltage levels of the output of the voltage converting circuit 204 (i.e. Vin′) and of the output voltage signal Vout is large even though a body voltage Vd occurs at the body of the transistor Qp. The output capacitor Cout is then immediately charged with a large inrush current to make the voltage level of the output voltage signal Vout equal to the output of the voltage converting circuit 204 (i.e. Vin′) minus the body voltage Vd at time T2. After time T2, because the feedback voltage signal Vfb still follows the reference voltage signal Vref, the voltage level of the output voltage signal Vout increases slowly from the voltage level of the output of the voltage converting circuit 204 (i.e. Vin′) minus the body voltage Vd to a stable value (e.g. 5 volts) at time T3. Therefore, the transistor Qp conducts slowly during the period from time T2 to T3; however, a large inrush input current Iin during time T1 to T2 cannot be decreased. This will result in a voltage drop in the input voltage signal Vin (shown in FIG. 3). In a battery, if the situation of the voltage drop in the input voltage signal Vin is significant, other systems whose energy are provided by the battery may be activated at an inappropriate moment.

Voltage converter capable of avoiding voltage drop occurring in input signal


A process for the isolation of simmondsins from jojoba meal is disclosed. Simmondsins are first extracted from defatted jojoba meal with water. After separation from the meal, this water extract is subsequently dried, leaving the simmondsins in the resulting solid. The simmondsins may then be preferentially extracted from the dried water extract by contact with a first ethanolic solvent, forming a first solvent fraction containing simmondsins therein. The first solvent fraction, which is a substantially protein-free concentrate of simmondsins, may be separated from the solid phase, and the ethanolic solvent may then be readily removed, for example, by drying. Residual simmondsins remaining in the meal following extraction with the first ethanolic solvent may also be recovered by a second extraction with ethanolic solvent. Optionally, simmondsin and its analogs, simmondsin ferulate, demethylsimmondsin, and didemethyl simmondsin, may be separated in substantially pure form from the extracts by reverse-phase HPLC.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a novel process for extracting and separating simmondsins from jojoba meal.
2. Description of the Prior art
Jojoba, Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider, is native to the desert Southwestern United States and Mexico. It is currently being grown on 8,000 to 12,000 acres in the U.S. and elsewhere worldwide. Jojoba has a unique wax ester oil which is 50 to 60% of its seed weight. This oil is currently used in cosmetics and lubricants. The remainder of the seed is not used as much as the oil, even though it contains about 25% crude protein after the oil is removed. The defatted meal contains sugars and 11-15% of a unique group of natural products, all structurally related to simmondsin. Cokeleare et al. (1995, Ind. Crops Prod., 4:91-96) have shown that simmondsin is an effective hunger satiation agent and reduces food intake in mice, rats and chickens. Jojoba meal has been used for its simmondsin content to regulate food intake of animals, but the meal also contains other antinutritional factors such as trypsin inhibitor, polyphenols, bitter taste, nonnutritive protein and indigestible jojoba oil.
The isolation of simmondsin was first described by Elliger et al. (1973, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans., 1:2209-2212) who extracted it with ethyl acetate from the ground seed whose oil had been removed with hexane. Many other solvent combinations have since been tested for removal of simmondsin and its analogues from the defatted (oil-free) ground seed meal, with the goal of complete extraction of all simmondsin analogues. Cotageorge et al. (1978, Detoxification of jojoba meal. In: Yermanos (Ed.), Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Jojoba, Riverside, Calif. University of California. pp. 171-184) used water, 90% ethanol and methanol. Water was found to extract all of the simmondsins but repeated extractions with methanol or 90% ethanol were insufficient to remove all of the simmondsins from the defatted jojoba meal. More recently, Erhan et al. (1997, Ind. Crops Prod., 6:147-154) disclosed a process for the water extraction of jojoba meal which produced a concentrate containing 42% simmondsin and related substances. Medina et al. (1988, Elimination of toxic compounds, nutritional evaluation and partial characterization of protein from jojoba meal. In: Baldwin (Ed.), Production, Processing and Utilization of Jojoba, Am. Oil Chem. Soc., Champaign, Ill., pp. 423-429) used isopropanol-water in various ratios to extract simmondsins and tannins from defatted meal. A ratio of 7:3 (isopropanol:water) was found to be optimal for total extraction of simmondsins and partial removal of tannins. Abbott et al. (1988, Monitoring jojoba toxins by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and HPLC, In: Baldwin (Ed.), Production, Processing and Utilization of Jojoba, Am. Oil Chem. Soc., Champaign, Ill., pp. 440-450) reported that a ratio of 9:1 acetonitrile:water extracted the simmondsins completely from defatted meal, and the same solvent could be used to separate the four simmondsin compounds--simmondsin (S), simmondsin ferulate (SF), demethylsimmondsin (DMS) and didemethyl simmondsin (DDMS) individually on an analytical chromatographic column. Verbiscar et al. (1980, J. Agric. Food Chem., 28:571-578) tested acetone, isopropanol, methanol, dichloromethane:methanol in the ratio of 85:15 and water to extract simmondsin or simmondsin ferulate from defatted meal and found that only water and methanol extracted simmondsin and simmondsin ferulate nearly completely. Acetone extraction, followed by preparative silica gel column separation with chloroform, acetone, and chloroform/methanol have been proposed for solvent-based preparation of simmondsin (Van Boven et al., 1993, J. Agric. Food Chem., 41:1605-1607). A similar procedure was used to prepare mg quantities of demethylsimmondsin and didemethyl simmondsin (Van Boven et al., 1996, Isolation by preparative HPLC of simmondsin analogues from jojoba meal, In: Princen and Rossi (Ed.), Proceedings of the IX International Conference on Jojoba and Its Uses, Sep. 26-30, 1994, Catamarca, Argentina. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., Champaign, Ill., pp. 135-136). For quantitative extraction of simmondsin and simmondsin ferulate from jojoba meal and feed samples, methanol or 80/20 acetonitrile/water was found to work best and 1-propanol or other mixtures of acetonitrile and water did not work as well in a column extraction or extraction tube method (Van Boven et al., 1996, J. Agric. Food Chem., 44:2239-2243). Membrane separation processes for isolating both the protein and the low molecular weight components have been reported (Abbott et al., 1991, J. Agric. Food Chem. 39:1488-1493. Abbott, et al., 1996, Processing jojoba meal for value-added products using membrane separations, In: Princen and Rossi (Ed.), Proceedings of the IX International Conference on Jojoba and Its Uses, Sep. 26-30, 1994, Catamarca, Argentina, Am. Oil Chem. Soc., Champaign, Ill., pp. 126-130; Nabetani et al., 1995, Ind. Eng. Chem., 34:1779-1788). Sequential extraction of jojoba meal with isopropanol removed primarily oil in the first sequence and reduced simmondsin and analogues concentration in the meal in a second sequential extraction but ethanol was not suitable for sequential extractions (Hassanen, 1985 Extraction of oilseed model systems with alcohols, PhD Thesis, Texas A&M University, College Station, Tex.).

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


A saddle-riding type vehicle includes: a front object recognition unit (54) which recognizes an object in front of a host vehicle (M); a side object recognition unit (54) which recognizes an object at the rear side of the host vehicle (M); a display unit (42) which notifies a driver of the existence of an object in the periphery of the host vehicle (M); and a notification control unit (160) which determines the existence of an object in front of the host vehicle (M) and the existence of an object at the rear side of the host vehicle (M) on the basis of the recognition result of the front object recognition unit (54) and the side object recognition unit (54) and controls the display unit (42). The notification control unit (160) controls, when it is determined that there is an object at the rear side of the host vehicle (M), the display unit (42) to display a first notification (A1) and controls, when it is determined that there are an object at the rear side of the host vehicle (M) and there is an object in front of the host vehicle (M), the display unit (42) to display a second notification (A2) different from the first notification (A1).

In the related art, as a kind of driving assistance system for automobiles such as four-wheeled vehicles, there is a technique for notifying a driver of the existence of a vehicle traveling at the rear side of a host vehicle which is a blind spot for the driver (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1). Patent Literature 1 discloses a driving assistance device which includes an image-capturing unit provided on a side mirror on a second side of a vehicle and capable of imaging a rear side region of the vehicle and a blind spot region adjacent to the rear side region and outside of a visible range of the side mirror on the second side and a display unit configured to display a video captured by the photographing unit so that the driver of the vehicle can view the video. Furthermore, there is a technique for alerting the driver by displaying the existence of the vehicle traveling in the blind spot region of the driver on the side mirror.


A semiconductor memory device having an improved fuse structure may include an interlayer insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, an opening in the interlayer insulating film, a vertical fuse that may conform to the opening, a fuse insulating film on the vertical fuse that may fill the opening, and metal wiring lines that may be electrically connected to the vertical fuse.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and a method of fabricating the same, more particularly, to an integrated semiconductor memory device and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fabricating semiconductor memory devices entails repetitively forming specific pattern on a wafer to produce an integrated circuit. Then, the wafer may be cut into unit chips, which may be packaged. In this case, before the wafer is cut into unit chips, the wafer undergoes an Electrical Die Sorting (EDS) process to examine the electrical characteristics of the unit chips. The EDS process examines the electrical characteristics of each cell to determine whether each cell is defective. In this case, if a cell is defective, the cell may be replaced by a previously manufactured redundancy cell. As a result, the defect rate may decrease, and the subsequent yield of semiconductor memory devices increases.
The repair process may be performed by irradiating a laser beam on wiring lines connected to defective cells to break the lines, or by allowing an over-current to flow to break the lines. In this case, the wiring line that may be broken by a laser beam or the over-current is referred to as a fuse.
As the technology advances, the integration density of semiconductor memory devices has increased, and fuses using over-current rather than a laser beam have become popular. An electrical fuse that may be broken by over current may be formed in a fuse region next to a region where a redundancy cell is formed. The fuse region is a region where electrical fuses are densely formed. However, as the semiconductor memory devices become more highly integrated, it may be necessary to decrease the area of the fuse region.

Semiconductor memory device with vertical fuse


There is provided a coated powder having a high skin care effect and a high anti-aging effect. The powder which can be used in cosmetics is coated with a mixture (lipoamino acid composition) comprising N-acyl derivatives (also including the form of a salt) of (1) at least one amino acid selected from proline and hydroxyproline, (2) at least one amino acid selected from alanine, glycine and sarcosine and (3) at least one amino acid selected from aspartic acid and glutamic acid, and at least one selected from fatty acids (and/or metal salts thereof) having a carbon number of at least 12 and at most 22.

In recent years, cosmetics have contained various powders. The types of powders are roughly classified into organic powders and inorganic powders, but recently, the market has seen many composite powders containing both organic and inorganic powders. Effects of cosmetics containing these powders include skin color adjustment, cover up of a blemish, a freckle and the like, adjustment of skin qualities, impartment of a color, impartment of brightness, sebum absorption, improvement of touch, prevention of ultraviolet rays and infrared rays, an anti-inflammatory activity, sedation, a massage effect, an effect of preventing the deterioration of makeup off the skin and the like. Meanwhile, demerits provided by incorporating powders into cosmetics include, mainly in case of inorganic powders, skin irritation caused by a powdery feeling on the skin, physical irritation caused when coated onto the skin, occurrence of chemical catalytic activity of powders and the like, occurrence of dry skin caused by the absorption of sweat or sebum of the skin by powders, a dull color given by wetting of powders with sweat or sebum, and the like.
Cosmetics containing powders include not only makeup products but also skin care products, sunscreen products, shampoos, rinses, hair tonics, hair growth promoters, cleansers, antiperspirants, bath products, and the like. It is proposed that the particulate surface of the powder incorporated into these products is coated with silicone compounds, fluorine compounds, esters, fatty acids, waxes, amino acids, peptides, lecithin, polyolefins, coupling agents, surfactants and organic compounds such as water-soluble polymers in order to maximize the functions of powders and presenting them in cosmetic effects. Among these coating agents, amino acids are one of many components making up the living body, and amino acids obtained by acylating the same, are expected to provide various physiological activities to the skin. The powders coated with the acylated amino acids are deemed to have effects such as improvement of a feeling in use, improvement of an adhesiveness to the skin, impartment of water repellency and water resistance, impartment of oil repellency, improvement of miscibility with oil components, improvement of duration of cosmetic effects, storage stability, dispersibility and UV-screening ability, excellent biocompatibility and the like, and many proposals have been made.
For example, it is reported that a powder coated with an N-acylated amino acid amide such as N-lauroyl-L-glutamic acid-α,γ-di-n-butyl amide has characteristics that it can impart a water repellency and has good skin adhesion,and a smooth aesthetic touch and also has good miscibility with oil components because of a high lipophilicity (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-1-172312 (pp. 3-6, Tables 1 and 2)).
It is reported that a powder coated with N-lauroyl-L-lysine is excellent in spreadability on the skin, primary as well as final aesthetic feeling, and also excellent in makeup duration over the course of time (refer to, for example, JP-A-9-208427 (pp. 3-6, Tables 3 and 4)).
Furthermore, there is a report about a powder that is double-coated with an acylated basic amino acid and a fat (for example, fatty acid) having an acid group (refer to, for example, JP-A-5-58842 (pp. 4-9)) This coated powder shows water repellency, prevents makeup from coming off due to sebum or the like, also improves spreadability of cosmetics on the skin and imparts good touch to the skin.
The present inventors have proposed powders coated with N-acyl-L-glutamic acid, N-acyl-N-methylglycine, N-acyl-N-methyl-β-alanine and salts thereof (refer to, for example, JP-A-58-72512 (pp. 4-6)). Cosmetics containing this powder have a function of protecting the skin, and have excellent adhesion to the skin, touch, and stability.
The present inventors have improved the powders coated with the above N-acylated amino acids, and have reported powders coated with mixtures containing N-acyl derivatives of at least 14 amino acids (refer to, for example, JP-A-2000-212041 (pp. 8-22, FIG. 1)). The powders have quite a smooth touch, and are good in feeling when applied to the skin or the hair and have excellent biocompatibility.
Cosmetics in general have an objective of making the skin clean and beautiful without impairing a physiological activity of healthy skin. Further, people wish to stay beautiful and young forever. Functional cosmetics that realize this hope have been required. To meet these requirements, cosmetics contain components having a skin care effect and components having an anti-aging effect. However, a coated powder that exhibits a good skin care effect, providing a moisturizing function, adjusting skin texture, and providing an anti-aging effect of improving the rough skin, has not been proposed.

Powders coated with specific lipoamino acid composition and cosmetics containing the same


A method and apparatus for simulcasting within a communication system is provided herein. During operation, each base site will be equipped with a plurality of radios capable of transmitting on various frequencies. Base sites within the communication system will be capable of communicating on a predetermined number of channels, which may differ among base sites. A number of channels will be shared by the base sites. When a simulcast is desired, the participants are located, and a common channel is determined for communication. Thus, call participant location information is used to determine the best channel to use to meet the group's coverage needs.

In many communication systems voice and/or data are simulcast by transmitting the same information simultaneously over multiple base sites to multiple radios. Each base site utilizes a same channel, which may comprise a same time/frequency resource. Since data is simulcast on all base sites utilizing a same channel, in practice, all base sites usually have the same channel capacity.
Unfortunately, it would be much more cost-efficient to not have the same channel capacity per site across the entire communication system. In some instances for base sites closer to the edges of the total coverage area user densities are lower and would not require the same number of channels per site to handle the load present in those areas. The cost of a communications system could be greatly reduced if base sites could be equipped with an appropriate number of channels. Therefore a need exists for a method and apparatus for simulcasting voice and/or data that allows base sites to utilize an appropriate number of channels.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.

Method and apparatus for simulcasting within a communication system


A motor control system of the present invention includes an accurate electrical insulation deterioration detecting system. A voltage divider circuit is arranged between a negative DC output portion and a ground, through a normally open switch circuit. A detecting operation control section closes the normally open switch while a circuit breaker is opened, and places at least one of transistors electrically connected to a positive DC output portion into a conductive state, from among six transistors included in three arm circuits. A voltage across the first resistor is inputted as a divided voltage into a voltage comparator of a voltage comparison section. The voltage comparison section compares a divided voltage outputted from the voltage divider circuit and a reference voltage using the voltage comparator and outputs an alarm signal if the divided voltage exceeds the reference voltage.

Various kinds of motors, such as a servo motor used with a machine tool etc., are driven by a motor control system including a PWM controlled inverter circuit. If the machine tool uses a cutting fluid, the motor may get wet with the cutting fluid and the cutting water may enter the motor. The electrical insulation of the motor may accordingly be deteriorated. The electrical insulation deterioration of the motor is progressing gradually and finally results in a ground fault. The ground fault of motor may cause an earth leakage circuit to trip and damage the motor control system, which may result in a failure of a system using the motor. The system failure exerts great influence on the production line of a factory. Accordingly, from the viewpoint of preventive maintenance, a system, which is capable of detecting the electrical insulation deterioration of motors, is needed.
Examples of conventional methods of detecting the electrical insulation deterioration of motor are as follows:
(1) To use an electrical insulation resistance meter;
(2) To use a leakage current detector;
(3) To insert a series circuit formed by a capacitor and a resistance between a ground and one of a pair of direct current (hereinafter referred to as DC) input portions or between positive and negative input portions of a PWM controlled inverter circuit, and dispose a detection circuit that detects the potential difference between both ends of the resistance in the series circuit, so that the electrical insulation deterioration of a motor can be detected without stopping the motor, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-201669 or JP2005-201669A;
(4) To ground a DC input portion of a PWM controlled inverter circuit, apply a direct current voltage across an inverter system to a motor through a semiconductor device included in the inverter circuit, and detect an electrical insulation resistance of the motor by measuring the direct current voltage and the direct current of the inverter system, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1994-94762 or JP1994-94762A; and
(5) To determine electrical insulation deterioration by using a charged voltage across a smoothing capacitor when all of a plurality of semiconductor switch devices constituting an inverter circuit are in a non-conductive state, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-16958 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-110400 [JP2005-16958A and JP1005-110400A].
In these publicly known methods, the charged voltage across the smoothing capacitor is applied to a motor through a switch provided separately from the semiconductor switches constituting the inverter circuit.
In the above-mentioned method (1) which uses the electrical insulation resistance meter, the deterioration of electrical insulation is detected based on the value of electrical insulation resistance measured by connecting the electrical insulation resistance meter between a winding of the motor and a ground to measure the value of electrical insulation resistance with electric wiring between a motor and a motor control system being removed. However, this method requires many man-hours for removing wiring of the motor.
In the above-mentioned method (2) which uses the leakage current detector, the electrical insulation deterioration of a motor on a detected value obtained by the leakage current detector disposed between the power supply inputs of a motor control system. However, in the motor control system including the PWM controlled inverter circuit, since leakage current flows through the power supply due to a switching operation of semiconductor devices included in the inverter circuit, it is difficult to properly detect the electrical insulation deterioration of the motor.
In the above-mentioned method (3), since current flowing through the detection circuit is affected by a leakage current flowing through a power supply or flowing through stray capacitances of a motor and a wiring cable, a detection error is likely to occur in detecting the electrical insulation deterioration.
In the above-mentioned method (4), a direct-current input portion of the inverter circuit is grounded and the direct current voltage applied to the inverter device is applied to the motor through the semiconductor devices included in the inverter system. Then, the electrical insulation resistance of the motor is detected by measuring the DC input voltage and DC input current of the inverter circuit at that time. In this method, however, if the electrical insulation of the motor is deteriorated and the ground fault has occurred, the direct current voltage of the inverter circuit may be short-circuited when the semiconductor devices included in the inverter circuit are in a conductive state. As a result, the semiconductor devices may be damaged. A small current flows into a detector for measuring a direct current when detecting the electrical insulation deterioration while a large current flows at the time of usual motor control. Accordingly, the current detector is required not only to tolerate high current but also to be capable of detecting very small current with sufficient accuracy. However, an ordinary current detector cannot obtain such high detecting accuracy, and it is difficult to increase the detecting accuracy of an ordinary current detector.
In the above-mentioned method (5) of the electrical insulation deterioration determination as disclosed in JP2005-16958A and JP2005-110400A, since the charged voltage across the smoothing capacitor is applied to the motor through a switch provided separately from the semiconductor switches constituting the inverter circuit, the number of components is inevitably increased. Further, it is difficult o know the cause of the electrical insulation deterioration of a motor by the conventional methods.

Motor control system including electrical insulation deterioration detecting system


To automatically evaluate an essay, the essay is applied to a plurality of trait models and a plurality of trait scores are determined based on the plurality of trait models. Each of these trait scores having been generated from a respective trait model. In addition, a score is determined based on the plurality of trait scores.

Practical writing experience is generally regarded as an effective method of developing writing skills. Literature pertaining to the teaching of writing suggests that practice and critical evaluation may facilitate improvements in a students' writing abilities, specifically with regard to essay organization. In traditional writing classes, an instructor may provide this essay evaluation to the student. However, attending writing classes may be inconvenient and/or prohibitively expensive. In this regard, conventional automated essay scoring applications are now an established capability used from elementary school through graduate school for purposes of instruction and assessment.
Furthermore, conventional automated essay scoring applications are currently being used in standardized tests and entrance exams. However, in comparison to human evaluators, conventional automated essay scoring applications may not perform as well. One reason for this performance disparity may be related to differences in scoring methodology between human evaluators and conventional automated essay scoring applications. For example, human evaluators typically utilize a "holistic" scoring approach. In this approach, an essay may be read over quickly for an "overall" impression and readability, other criteria (e.g., grammar, mechanics, style, organization, development, vocabulary usage, etc.) may then be evaluated, and a final score may be based on a combination of these aspects. Using this holistic approach, evaluation performance is typically improved by increasing the number of criteria examined by the human evaluators.
Conversely, the evaluation performance of conventional automated essay scoring applications may decrease as the number of criteria examined is increased beyond a relatively low number of criteria. Therefore, conventional automated essay scoring applications may make use of a relatively small subset of possible criteria. This may, in turn, result in scoring anomalies and may account for the difference in scores between human evaluators and conventional automated essay scoring applications.


A staple leg guide for use with desktop staplers having a channel shape, with two downward extending fingers that support the underside of the staple legs as the staple is driven into a stack of sheet media to reduce kinking and improper penetration of the stack by the staple leg.

As a common staple is driven from a rack of staples in a desktop stapler, the legs of the staple can become bent or curled from contacting the paper stack in a non-perpendicular manner. One leg can become angled inward due to a lack of support along the interior of the staple legs. The exterior of the staple legs, however, is supported typically by the housing walls of the staple chamber that prevent the legs from accidentally flaring outward before the points of the leg penetrate the surface of the paper stack.
If a staple leg bends inward prior to penetrating the surface of the paper stack, as the staple is driven through the paper, the leg that is bent inward cannot support the forces on top of the staple, which can cause the staple, the staple leg, or both to buckle, or the leg may be pinched inward. This can result in poor or non-existent clinching of the paper stack by that staple. On the other hand, once the staple legs have penetrated the top surface of the paper stack, the legs are thereby stabilized by the paper and the legs can continue to pass straight through the paper stack and into the anvil underneath for a normal clinched configuration.
Some conventional, non-spring energized desktop staplers have a track design that supports the interior and exterior of the staple legs. Typically, an inner staple track is connected to an outer staple track using a very strong and stiff spring that holds the inner track under the staple as the staple is driven into the paper stack. The staple, as it is driven, forces the inner track rearward away from the staple path and allows the staple to be driven into the stack of paper. The staple guide feature is incorporated into the front end of the inner track and the inner and outer tracks move in unison as the staple is driven into the paper stack.
In the conventional design, the staple leg guide/inner track is forced rearward away from the staple being driven as soon as that staple is sheared from the rack, but before the staple leg points have penetrated the surface of the paper stack. As a result, there needs to be a very large biasing force against the inner track, urging it toward the driven staple. If there is only a small biasing force, the inner track can be moved rearward from the momentum generated by the impact with the driven staple, which again occurs before the staple points have penetrated the paper. Conventional designs that suggest a large biasing force on the inner track urging it toward the driven staple in order to resist this rearward momentum and to maintain the staple leg guide/inner track in position to guide the staple legs perpendicularly into the paper stack.
An example of a staple guide is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,944 (Picton). Picton teaches a "shoe" that is designed to guide the interior of the legs of a staple.


Provided are systems, methods, and media for concurrency conflict testing for shared resources. An example method includes identifying shared resources that are to be accessed by an application. Generating a plurality of concurrency test scenarios based on the shared resources. Analyzing a plurality of concurrency test cases to detect which concurrency test cases include a reference to the shared resources. Executing a concurrency test scenario. Performing the following while or before the concurrency test scenario is executing, obtaining analyzed concurrency test cases associated with the concurrency test scenario which referenced the shared resources, obtaining application modules pertaining to the obtained concurrency test cases, generating concurrency application modules by adding breakpoints to the obtained application modules, executing the obtained concurrency test cases until all of the obtained concurrency test cases are latched at the breakpoints, and simultaneously resuming the execution of the obtained concurrency test cases.

The present invention generally relates to concurrent programming, and more specifically, to white box concurrency testing for transaction processing in a concurrent computing environment.
In computer science, concurrency refers to the ability of different parts or units of a program, algorithm, or computer problem to be executed out-of-order or in partial order, without affecting a final outcome. Concurrency bugs often occur during the developing phase of software development. Concurrency bugs can cause serious functionality issues such as causing system and/or application runs to hang or crash. Concurrency bugs can be difficult to identify, reproduce, and correct via known technology. Development time, computational resources, and memory storage is affected if the detection of concurrency bugs is delayed to a later phase.
A root cause of concurrency bugs is multiple threads attempting to access a shared resource. Example shared resources can include but are not limited to data structures, common memory variables, locks, sockets, services, blocks of memory, database access, data chains, file accesses, and/or suitable shared resources.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

White box code concurrency testing for transaction processing

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An apparatus for producing prepared food by electrical conduction comprising: a processing container for electrical conduction having an opened top, a pair of electrodes mounted on both inner sides of the processing container, one ends of said electrodes extending to the outside so that a contact part is formed; a base to which said processing container may be detachably disposed; a control box for electrical conduction, mounted on one side of said base, provided with a transmission part adapted to be in contact with said contact part of the processing container so that electricity transmits to said electrodes; an operating arm vertically pivoted to the top of said control box; a lid disposed on the end of said operating arm and covering the open top of said processing container; and a temperature sensor fitted up with the tip of said operating arm and sensing a temperature of said processing container.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing prepared food by electrical conduction. It contains a lid which covers an upper opening of the apparatus and a processing container which has a pair of electrodes disposed on two sides of the inner wall of the container. Foodstuffs can be safely and accurately warmed to an appropriate temperature in a very short time by electrical conduction employing the electrodes of the processing container. Such foods include Chinese, Japanese and other kinds of noodles, cooked rice, beans and various kinds of soup including miso soup, etc.
It is well known that instant foods such as Chinese (ramen) and Japanese (udon) noodles and miso soup can be prepared simply by pouring boiling water on the instant food within a disposable container. These foods are prepared by pre-dehydrated processing and designed so that they can be reconstituted and eaten immediately after boiling water is poured on them. Such a process is shown for example in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-23253 prior to the present invention.
However, with conventional instant foods, if the water poured into a container is not hot enough, sometimes the instant foods cannot be sufficiently heated, and they cannot be eaten even if they are preprocessed. They may need to be reheated in pots and pans or have fresh boiling water poured on them, and so forth. Dietary standards have improved in recent years and there is a trend towards natural foods. Since tastes and textures of preprocessed instant foods are inferior to natural and non-instant foods, consumers tend to shy away from them. Since foods such as Chinese noodles or processed rice are dried after they have expanded, they are not suited for consumer's tastes. This is one of various problems that has come up.

Apparatus for producing prepared foods by electrical conduction


A solid-state imaging device including a photoelectric conversion portion and a charge transfer portion equipped with charge transfer electrodes to transfer the charge generated in the photoelectric conversion portion, wherein the charge transfer portion is provided with a charge transfer electrodes having a first electrode including a first layer electric conductive film, and a second electrode having a second layer electric conductive film provided contiguously to the first electrode with an electrode insulating film therebetween, and the first electrode is coated with a silicon oxide film that is the electrode insulating film formed by side wall oxidation in the state that the upside is coated with an antioxidizing film so as to coat the side wall.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device and a method of manufacturing the same, in particular relates to the reduction of a leak between electrodes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A solid-state imaging device using CCD used in an area sensor has a photoelectric conversion portion such as diode, and a charge transfer portion equipped with charge transfer electrodes for transferring the signal from the photoelectric conversion portion. The charge transfer electrodes are arranged on a charge transfer line formed on a semiconductor substrate such that a plurality of charge transfer electrodes are arranged contiguously and driven in sequence.
In recent years, in the solid-state imaging device, demands for the increase of resolution and sensitivity go on rising, and the increase of imaging pixel number has reached giga pixel or higher. A substrate in which a solid state imaging device is built (a silicone substrate) is packaged by laminating a filter and lens. Therefore, the accuracy of the positioning of a lens and a photoelectric conversion portion is important, and the distance, i.e., the distance in the height direction, is also a great problem in the positioning accuracy in manufacturing process and in the aspect of sensitivity (photoelectric transfer efficiency) at the time of use.
Further, for achieving higher resolution in such a situation without enlarging the chip size of a solid-state imaging device, it is necessary to reduce area per a unit pixel and to devise higher integration. On the other hand, as the reduction of the area of photodiode constituting a photoelectric conversion portion results in the reduction of sensitivity, the area of photodiode region must be ensured.
Accordingly, various studies are carried on for the purpose of miniaturizing the chip size of a solid-state imaging device while securing the occupied area of a photodiode region by fining a charge transfer portion and the wiring of the peripheral circuits to thereby reduce the area ratio of wiring.
To realize the elevation of integration by fining wiring under these circumstances, the improvement of pressure resistance of a layer insulating film between a charge transfer portion and a wiring layer and thinning are important technical problems in addition to the flattening of surface.
For example, a structure comprising a charge transfer portion of a single layer electrode structure is proposed for the improvement of flatness (e.g., JP-A-8-274302). For the realization of the structure, the pattern of a first electrode is formed by a first layer electric conductive film, thereafter an electrode insulating film is formed by thermal oxidation, and a second layer electric conductive film is formed as the upper layer.
In related art solid-state imaging devices using charge transfer electrodes of a single layer structure, a polycrystal silicon or amorphous silicon layer is used as the charge transfer electrodes, and after a first layer wiring is formed, the pattern surface of the first layer wiring is coated with a silicon oxide film by thermal oxidation of the pattern surface, a polycrystal silicon or amorphous silicon layer of a second transfer electrode is laminated thereon, and then polishing is carried out by a CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) method, or resist is coated and entire etching is carried out according to a resist etch back method, thereby making a single layer of electrode is achieved.
For example, in related art methods as shown in FIG. 6, silicon oxide film 2a, silicon nitride film 2b and silicon oxide film 2c are formed on the surface of n-type silicon substrate 1 to form gate oxide film 2 of three-layer structure.
Subsequently, a first layer doped polysilicon film 3a is formed on gate oxide film 2 and patterned by the photolithography, and then silicon oxide film 5, which becomes an electrode insulating film, is formed by thermal oxidation.
A second layer doped polysilicon film is formed with silicon oxide film 5 as an electrode insulating film and flattened by a CMP or resist etch back method.
However, in the thermal oxidation process, horn-like protrusion T is sometimes formed. It has been found that this phenomenon becomes particularly conspicuous as the heating temperature in a thermal oxidation process lowers.
That is, thermal oxidation is conventionally mainly carried out at 950° C. or so, but a design rule also becomes minute with the fining and higher integration of a solid-state imaging devices, and the temperature of thermal oxidation is in tendency of being reduced to 900° C. or so, further 850° C. or so. It has been found that this problem is particularly conspicuous when thermal oxidation is performed at a low temperature.
Although details are unknown, it is thought that a horn-like protrusion grows at the upper edge part of the first electrode by the influence of stress and heat due to oxidation.
In the case of a single layer electrode structure, for example, a second doped polysilicon film is formed as the upper layer and flattened by CMP or resist etch back and, at the same time, the second doped polysilicon film is separated, a second electrode comprising the second layer doped polysilicon film (not shown) is formed between first electrode 3a comprising the first layer doped polysilicon film.
In this case, there is a problem that short circuit is liable to occur by the growth of protrusion T in the vicinity of the edge of the upper end of the electrode.
On the other hand, in the case of a double electrode structure, as shown in FIG. 7, second layer doped polysilicon film 3b is formed so as to overlap with a first electrode comprising a first layer doped polysilicon film 3a coated with silicon oxide film 5, and patterned by a desired mask formed by photolithography to thereby form a second electrode.
In particular in this structure, there is a problem that short circuit is liable to occur by the growth of protrusion T at the vicinity of the edge of the upper end of the electrode.
Thus, there are various problems in related art solid state imaging devices attributable to the growth of protrusion T in the vicinity of the upper edge of the pattern of the first layer electric conductive film by thermal oxidation, that is, the reduction of film quality of the insulating film between two contiguous electrodes, i.e., between the first and second electrodes, the reduction of electric pressure resistance, the reduction of step coverage, and the increase of the probability of occurrence of a leak.

Solid state imaging device and method of manufacturing the same


A lead positioner for a pencil plotter in which a lead stocker contains a plurality of leads for use in a pencil plotter, a lead actuator mechanism is coupled to the lead stocker and is adapted to release the leads into a lead holder, and a shaker is provided coupled to the lead stocker and adapted to enable the leads to be released individually into the lead holder. In a particular embodiment, the shaker imparts a vibrational motion to the lead stocker prior to the lead actuator mechanism releasing the leads to enable the leads to be released individually. The shaker is further adapted to provide a translational motion to the lead stocker to align the leads and the lead holder and, in addition, to enable the lead actuator mechanism to release the leads into the lead holder.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of pencil plotters and, in particular, to a lead positioner for a pencil plotter in which a shaker mechanism enables leads to be individually released from a lead stocker into a lead holder.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of pencil plotters has increased significantly in the making of graphics and drawings due to the ability of designers and draftsmen to be able to make alterations or corrections to such graphics and drawings. In order to increase the flexibility of the pencil plotters, it is desirable that lead holders carrying different hardnesses or colors of lead be able to be easily placed into and removed from the pencil carriage. In addition, it is necessary to have a mechanism for being able to replace the lead in a lead holder by a lead of the same hardness or color when the lead has been used up. The latter problem has been generally solved by having a plurality of removable lead holder carousels, each one holding a plurality of lead holders of the same kind. When the lead in a lead holder is used up, the lead holder in the pencil carriage is replaced by a lead holder in the carousel. When a lead of different hardness or color is desired, the lead holder is transferred from the pencil carriage to the carousel and the carousel is replaced with a carousel carrying lead holders having the desired hardness or color. More recently, plotter designs have been introduced having a single carousel carrying a plurality of lead holders of differing hardnesses and colors and having the positions of the lead holders indexed so that the pencil carriage can receive a lead holder carrying a lead of desirable hardness of color. The problem still remained, however, of replacing a lead when it had been used up without having to replace the entire carousel with a new carousel in which the leads have been renewed.
In order to solve such lead replacement problem, the use of lead stockers has been employed. Such lead stockers are similar to lead holder carousels in that they are rotatable and carry a plurality of chambers or magazines into which a plurality of replacement leads of differing hardnesses and colors can be inserted. In theory, the rotatable lead stocker can be indexed to the rotatable lead holder carousel and a lead of proper hardness or color can be transferred into the corresponding lead holder when its lead has run out. In practice, however, problems have arisen in the mechanization of the transfer process, particularly in assuring that a single lead from the plurality of replacement leads will, in fact, be ready to be transferred from the lead stocker chamber into the lead holder and that the lead stocker is properly positioned with respect to the lead holder when the lead is to be transferred from the lead stocker to the lead holder. While various jolting or bumping techniques have been tried to free a single lead and various motorized positioning techniques have been employed to ensure a proper positioning of the lead holder and lead stocker before lead transfer, these techniques have been found lacking in consistency and reliability.
Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved lead positioner for a pencil plotter.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved lead positioner for a pencil plotter which assures a reliable transfer of lead from a lead stocker to a lead holder.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved lead positioner which enables a single lead from a plurality of leads in a lead stocker chamber to be consistently transferred to a lead holder.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved lead positioner which assures that a lead stocker is properly positioned with respect to a lead holder when a lead is to be transferred from the lead stocker to the lead holder.


A wheel suspension for a rear wheel of a two-track motor vehicle, includes a five-link assembly which has five individual links which are coupled to the vehicle body via body-side bearings and to the wheel carrier of the rear wheel via wheel-carrier-side bearings, which five-link assembly, as viewed in the direction of travel, has a front pair of links and a rear pair of links, wherein the front pair of links has a lower, front link, with respect to the axis of rotation of the wheel, and an upper, front link, and the rear pair of links has a lower, rear link, in particular track rod, and an upper, rear link. A lower spring link, on which a spring arrangement having a vibration damper and a supporting spring is supported, is arranged in the direction of travel between the front and rear pairs of links. The front pair of links with respect to the spring link is of softer design in the transverse direction of the vehicle than the rear pair of links. As a result, a change in the toe-in at the rear wheel takes place under exertion of a lateral force or a longitudinal force.

The invention relates to a wheel suspension for a steered or non-steered rear wheel of a two-track motor vehicle according to the preamble of patent claim 1.
From DE 10 2010 030 292 A1, a generic wheel suspension for a rear wheel of a two-track motor vehicle is known. The wheel suspension includes a five-link assembly, having five individual links. The individual links are hinged to the vehicle body by bearings situated on the vehicle body and to the wheel carrier of the rear wheel via bearings situated on the wheel-carrier. In the direction of travel, the five-link assembly includes a front pair of links and a rear pair of links. The front pair of links includes a lower front link and an upper front link with regard to the rear wheel axis of rotation. The rear pair of links includes a lower rear link and an upper rear link. A suspension arm is arranged in a lower link level in longitudinal direction of the vehicle between the two pairs of links. Furthermore, a spring arm is directly hinged to the wheel carrier of the rear wheel.
It is an object of the invention to provide a wheel suspension for a rear wheel of a two-track motor vehicle, in which an advantageous wheel toe and camber behavior is achieved as a result of lateral forces and longitudinal forces acting on the rear wheels.

Wheel suspension for a rear wheel of a two-track motor vehicle


Cardiomyoplasty can be performed without significant incisions by using muscle segments as patches to reinforce the defective myocardium. This method involves the use of a dilator to form an opening within the diaphragm to provide an opening through which to pass the greater omentum. The greater omentum is partitioned and brought to the myocardium via the opening in the diaphragm to serve as an extra blood supply. Muscle segments are then used as patches on the defective myocardium by implacing them between the greater omentum and the myocardium. This method is accomplished through the use of a needle shaped myoplasty instrument for obtaining the muscle segments and a specially constructed dilator for forming an opening in the diaphragm.

The present invention generally relates to methods of performing internal surgical procedures and to apparatus for performing such operations. More particularly, the invention relates to cardiac-operations for reinforcing the ventricle and improving the function of its wall by patching the myocardium with autogenous muscle segments and using the omentum as an extra blood supplier.
Cardiomyopathy is a common disorder. Many thousands of cases are reported yearly and thousands die of cardiomyopathy every year in the United States. The most widely used method of treating this disorder includes inotropic diuretic and beta blocker. Recently the method has included utilizing trained autologous latissimus dorsi myoplasty which requires six months training by pacemaker. Therefore it is clear that time and major surgical procedures are drawn-backs of the existing technique for treatment of cardiomyopathy.
The present invention resolves a number of the aforesaid problems while providing major advantages over prior art methods. One object and significant advantage of the present invention is the ability to perform a cardiomyoplasty utilizing an autogenous, non-autogenous or gene feted free muscle without significant incisions in the chest and abdomen with their attendant blood loss, potential for infection and possible scars.
It is a further object of the present invention to patch the myocardium with integrated free autogenous, possible non-autogenous or gene feted isolated striated muscle segments by cardiomyoplasty to reinforce the ventricle and to improve the function of the diskenytic ventricular wall.
It is a still further object of the present invention simultaneously to bring the omentum up to the myocardium without severing its natural blood supply.


A substrate bonding method has a film forming step of forming an insulating film for bonding in such a manner that an SiO2 film made of TEOS is deposited on at least one of a first substrate and a second substrate by a CVD method, and a bonding step of bonding the first substrate and the second substrate with the insulating film for bonding being interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a substrate bonding method and an electronic component. More specifically, the invention relates to a substrate bonding method for layering a first substrate and a second substrate preferably comprising at least one device, preferably a MEMS device, provided thereon. More specifically, the invention relates to a substrate bonding method for layering a substrate having a device provided thereon, preferably an IC device, and a substrate having a device provided thereon, preferably a MEMS device. In particular, the invention concerns a substrate bonding method for performing wafer level packaging on wafer substrates layered vertically as they are after assembling.
2. Related Art
In a step of manufacturing a MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System), typically, a wafer having a plurality of MEMS devices provided thereon is diced into a plurality of chips, each chip (i.e., each MEMS device) is incorporated in a package housing, and an opening of the package housing is sealed with a cover.
In such a manufacturing method, however, each MEMS device is subjected to packaging using a package housing and a cover, resulting in complication of the step of manufacturing the MEMS. In course of the manufacture of the MEMS, further, dust and dirt are attached to the MEMS device, resulting in reduction of yields. Moreover, restriction to the package housing hinders miniaturization of the MEMS device.
In order to solve these problems, attention has been given to a wafer level bonding technique for packaging a MEMS device and the like in a state of a wafer, or a technique called wafer level packaging. According to this method, wafers each having a plurality of devices provided thereon, for example, a wafer having a plurality of IC devices such as CMOS provided thereon and a wafer having a plurality of MEMS devices provided thereon are layered (superimposed) vertically and then are bonded. Thus, each MEMS device and each IC device are confined in a pair within a cell formed between the wafers. Thereafter, the bonded wafers are separated into cells by dicing or the like to obtain a MEMS having a configuration that the MEMS device and the IC device are accommodated in the package formed by the wafers.
According to this manufacturing method, since the wafers are cut with the MEMS device and the IC device being confined therebetween, dust and dirt are less prone to be attached to the MEMS device and the like. Moreover, the MEMS device having a movable part is not handled in a bare chip state, leading to enhancement of yields of MEMSs. Further, the resultant MEMS is reduced in size and the number of MEMSs to be obtained from one wafer increases, leading to reduction of manufacturing costs.
However, there remain the following problems to be solved in order to put such a wafer level bonding technique to practical use.
In a case of vertically layering a wafer having an IC device such as CMOS provided thereon and a wafer having a MEMS device provided thereon and performing wafer level bonding (i.e., packaging) on the layered wafers, it is necessary to achieve electrical insulation and electrical conduction simultaneously between the vertically layered wafers. For example, bonding surfaces of the wafers must be electrically insulated whereas electrodes of the respective devices must be electrically connected. For this reason, the wafers are bonded with an insulating film being interposed therebetween (e.g., refer to JP 2007-184546 A). Herein, the insulating film on the bonding surface requires satisfactory smoothness in order to increase bonding strength between the wafers and to ensure reliability. Moreover, the insulating film also requires satisfactory smoothness in order to ensure hermeticity and sealability between the wafers.
An SiO2 film is a typical insulating film for use in a bonding surface (e.g., refer to JP 2007-184546 A). Examples of a method for forming such an SiO2 film include a film forming method using thermal oxidation (e.g., refer to JP 2004-160607 A) and a film forming method using PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) such as sputtering (e.g., refer to JP 2007-509578 A).
According to the thermal oxidation method for thermally oxidizing a surface of an Si wafer to form an insulating film (i.e., an SiO2 film), this formed SiO2 film has satisfactory surface smoothness and thickness evenness. However, the thermal oxidation method is a high-temperature process of applying heat at about 1000° C. to a wafer in an oxygen atmosphere in order to form a film. Consequently, the heat causes damage on a wiring pattern formed on the wafer, resulting in breaks of the wiring pattern.
According to the PVD method such as sputtering, on the other hand, an SiO2 film can be formed by a process at a low temperature of about 100° C. As a result, a wiring pattern on a wafer is prevented from being damaged thermally. According to the PVD method, however, the formed SiO2 film is unsatisfactory in surface smoothness and thickness evenness. Consequently, there is a problem that it is impossible to satisfactorily increase bonding strength between the SiO2 film and the wafer and to satisfactorily ensure reliability.
In order to attain smoothness, a bonding surface is occasionally subjected to CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) in manufacture of LSI and the like. However, a MEMS device has such a complicated structure that structural components, electrodes and the like are formed on both sides of a wafer. For this reason, there is a possibility that the polishing causes damage on the MEMS device. Consequently, it is impossible to attain the smoothness by the polishing, that is, it is impossible to smooth the SiO2 film formed by the PVD method, by the polishing.

Substrate bonding method and electronic component thereof


The invention provides a method of screening for substances preventing or treating diseases in association with IL-6 family cytokine receptor malfunction, which comprises using a transgenic mouse or a part thereof expressing a gp130 variant, wherein said gp130 variant comprises a substitution or a deletion of a tyrosine residue, which corresponds to the tyrosine residue at position 759 of human gp130 protein, or a substitution, an insertion or a deletion of one or more amino acid residues in a region comprising said tyrosine residue.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease accompanied with polyarthritis as a main lesion and a high prevalence of collagenosis (1% of the global population). Cause of the disease is unknown, but the disease is believed to be the result of environmental factors, such as infection, in addition to genetic factors. Correlation between development of symptom and HLA DR4 and the existence of T cells in synovial tissue suggest that abnormalities in T cells participate in the pathophysiology. Moreover, abnormalities in immunity, such as hyperglobulinemia due to polyclonal activation of B cells and appearance of autoantibodies, are observed. To date, model mice for autoimmune disease accompanied with arthritis and arthritis-induced model mice have been employed to analyze the pathophysiology of the disease, and transgenic mice and spontaneous mice which present arthritis have been reported in recent years. For example, the following are typical arthritis model mice reported to date.
1. Arthritis Model Mouse Induced by Antigenic Sensitization Etc.
The arthritis is induced by immunization of an intra-articular autoantigen with a strong adjuvant, or injection of microbial antigen crossreactive to the intra-articular autoantigen. Unlike RA, the symptoms are observed in a short period of time after the sensitization. The microbial antigen used is epidemiologically unrelated to human RA.
(1) Type II Collagen (IIC)-Induced Arthritis Model Mouse (Nature, 666–668, 1980. J. S. Courtenay et. al.)
Procedures: DBA/1J mouse is immunized with an emulsion prepared from bovine IIC and Freund's complete adjuvant. Three weeks later, bovine IIC and Freund's incomplete adjuvant are boosted, and the arthritis develops in 1–2 weeks.
Features: Unlike the adjuvant arthritis in rat, which is similar to Reiter's syndrome in human, this model is considered to be more relevant to human RA, in that it has no cutaneomucosa and organ involvement, and observations of the tissues resemble closely those in human RA. Cellular immunity and humoral immunity participate in this model mouse, and therefore, the arthritis can be induced with an anti-collagen monoclonal antibody. IL-6 is a precipitating factor (J. Exp. Med. 187, 461–468, 1998, Arthritis Rheumat. 42, 1635–1999). This model mouse is useful in producing various knock-out mice to identify gene products that aggravate or relieve arthritis.
Problems: Non-physiological operations for immunization are required. Deterioration-improvement pattern as observed in human RA is not observed. Rheumatoid factor (RF) is not produced.
(2) Antigen-Induced Arthritis Mouse (Arthritis Rheum. 20, 841–850, 1977)
Procedures: The arthritis is induced by sensitizing a mouse with an antigen, such as methylated bovine serum albumin, and followed by boosting of the antigen intra-articularly.
Features: IL-6 is a precipitating factor (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95, 8222–8226, 1998). C57BL/6 and Balb/c mouse are used.
(3) CpG-Induced Arthritis Mouse (Nature Medicine, 5, 702–705, 1999, Arthritis Rheum. 43, 356–364, 2000)
Procedures: The arthritis is induced by intra-articular injection of CpG, which is a bacterial DNA having immuno-stimulating action.
Features: Macrophage precipitates in the arthritis. Local production of TNFα, IL-12, IL-1β, MCP-1, and RANTES in a joint, and increased production of blood IgG and IL-6 are involved. The arthritis can be induced in C57BL/6, Balb/c, C3H/HeN mouse, etc.
2. Spontaneous Arthritis Model Mouse
(1) MRL-lpr/lpr and gld Mouse
Features: Abnormal proliferation of T cells, SLE-like lesion, arthritis and production of RF observed in this model are similar to those observed in human RA. It has been clearly shown that the main abnormalities are caused by Fas/Fas ligand.
Problems: Influences of a hereditary background involve symptoms that do not develop in C57BL/6, C3H, and AKR etc., and thus, development of the arthritis is not only due to abnormality in FAS/FAS ligand. Prolonged observation and analysis of progression of the disease are difficult, since the animal dies at about six-months old, because of abnormal multiplication of T cells.
(2) SKG Mouse (Reference: Molecular Medicine, vol 34, Extra Number, Immunity 1997–1998, p214–221)
Features: Symptoms of the arthritis are marked in comparison with MRL-lpr/lpr mouse. No abnormal proliferation of T cells is involved. Hyperglobulinemia is presented, and autoantibodies such as anti-IIC antibody and RF of IgM class are produced. The abnormalities in T cells are considered as the main cause because arthritis develops in a normal mouse by transplantation of T cells from a mouse presenting arthritis. This SKG mouse is derived from Balb/c mouse.
Problems: The cause of development of the disease is unknown.
3. Genetic-Engineering Model Mouse
Since the arthritis develops as a result of genetic engineering (gene transfer, knock-out, knock-in), the cause of development of the disease is clear.
(1) TNFα Transgenic Mouse (EMBO J. 10, 4025, 1991)
Features: This is a model mouse wherein the arthritis is caused by overproduction of cytokines. It has been shown that the arthritis is relieved with the anti-TNF antibody. In the hereditary background of DBA/1, the arthritis is more serious (J. Immunol. 159, 2867–2876, 1997). IL-1β and IL-6 are produced by cells in synovial membrane. The cells in synovium tissue are mainly neutrophils, and other fibroblasts and endothelial cells, and there is little participation of lymphocytes.
(2) HTLV-1Tax Transgenic Mouse (Science, 253, 1026–1028, 1991, J. Immunol, 155, 1588–1598, 1995, J. Immunol, 161, 6592–6598, 1998)
Features: Production of cytokines such as TNF, IL-1, and IL-6 are increased, because of the over-expression of Human T Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 gene tax. Hyperglobulinemia is presented, and RF, anti-IIC and anti-DNA antibodies are produced. Development of symptoms is not related to H-2 haplotype. The incident is high in order of Balb/c, C3H/HeN, and C57BL/6.
(3) IL-1 Receptor Antagonist Knock-Out Mouse: (J. Exp. Med. 191, 313–320, 2000)
Features: The arthritis is developed in the hereditary background of Balb/c. The incident is low in C57BL/6. The arthritis develops, because of the deficiency of a molecule which negatively controls a citokine signal. Local production of IL-6 and IL-1β increases in a joint. Hyperglobulinemia is presented, and RF, anti-IIC and anti-DNA antibodies are produced.
(4) T Cell Antigen Receptor Transgenic Mouse (Cell, 87, 811–822, 1996, Immunity 10, 451–461, 1999, Science, 286, 1732–1735, 1999)
Features: A transgenic mouse, which has a T cell receptor (α, β) that I-Ak-restrictively recognizes bovine pancreas ribonuclease peptide R41-61, is crossed with a NOD mouse to develop arthritis. Neutrophilic infiltration is observed in a joint space. Hyperglobulinemia and anti-DNA antibodies are observed, but RF is not observed. The arthritis is possible to be developed in a healthy mouse with introduction of the antibody in the serum of a mouse presenting arthritis, and it has been shown clearly that the antigen, which is recognized by this antibody and T cells of the mouse presenting arthritis, is such antigen as referred to as Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase (GPI). It is associated with mechanisms wherein ribonuclease-specific T cells recognize GPI combined with I-Ag7 inherent in NOD mouse and are activated to induce a inflammatory response specific to a join.
The model mice described above present the symptoms of arthritis by the mechanisms that are respectively different, such that they reflect that the pathogenesis of human RA, which is caused by many factors. Although all pathophysiology shown in these model mouse are not completely consistent with those in human RA, it is apparent that a new arthritis model mouse would be useful in analysis of a certain aspect of the onset of RA, in view of the fact that multiple factors participate in development of RA.
Participation of IL-6 in the pathophysiology of arthritis has been shown not only by clinical observations, but also in the model mice described above. However, there is no case wherein the arthritis is actually developed in any IL-6 related genetic mouse reported to date. Moreover, although it has been produced by many model mice presenting arthritis, which have been gene-engineered to enhance the production of cytokines and their function, there are few among these model mice that are suitable for analysis of the functional abnormalities of T cells. The T cell antigen receptor transgenic mouse described above could not demonstrate how self-reactivity T cell clones are selected from the T cell repertories to break the self-tolerance. Although abnormalities such as T cell selection may participate in SKG mouse, it is difficult to investigate the cause of the disease because of spontaneous development of the symptoms.
gp130 is a membrane protein having a molecular weight of 130 kDa and a common receptor subunit for L-6 family citokines. gp130 participates in not only IL-6 signal transmission but also signal transmissions of other IL-6 family citokines: leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), oncostatin M (OSM), Interleukin-11 (IL-11), and cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1). (Hirano, T. et al. (1997) Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 8, 241–52).
IL-6 family cytokine binds to a receptor, and thereby homodimer formation between gp130 proteins or heterodimer formation between gp130 protein and another gp130 related factor is induced. Subsequently, a tyrosine residue on the gp130 protein is phosphorylated, and SHP2 (SH2 domain contained protein tyrosine phosphoatase 2) is associated with the phosphorylated tyrosine residue, and the SHP2 is further phosphorylated to transmit signals downstream. The phosphorylation of SHP2 necessitates phosphorylation of tyrosine 759 in human gp130 (Hirano, T. et al. (1997) Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 8, 241–52). Furthermore, it was reported recently that the molecule called SOCS-3 (suppressor of cytokine signaling-3), which is responsible for feedback control of the cytokine signal, binds to this tyrosine 759 of human gp130 protein (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2000, 97, 6493–8).
The amino acid sequence of human gp130 protein is known, and cDNA encoding the human gp130 protein has been reported (Hibi, M et al., (1990) Cell 63, 1149–57). Also, the amino acid sequence of mouse gp130 is known, and cDNA encoding the mouse gp130 has been reported (Saito et al., (1992) J. Immunol. 148, 4066–71).

Method of screening for substance preventing or treating diseases in association with malfunction of IL-6 family cytokine receptor malfunction


A vacuum cleaner having a suction head is provided with means which are capable of vibrating the suction head contact surface with respect to the surface to be cleaned. This vibration activates the existing contact surface of the suction head and integrates same into the cleaning process.

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner comprising a suction head. Furthermore, the invention relates to a vacuum cleaner suction head comprising a driveable unbalanced mass for use with the above defined vacuum cleaner.
During vacuum cleaning, a suction groove provided at the suction head forms, together with the surface to be cleaned, a horizontal suction channel in which a constant air flow or stream having a high air flow rate or speed is generated. This strong air flow loosens the dirt from the surface to be cleaned, and the dirt is then carried away by suction. In the so-called beating vacuum cleaner, a motor driven, rotating beating cylinder is additionally used to loosen the dirt. However, in this case, the suction groove has to be made larger so that the suction channel is enlarged too; this fact reduces the speed of the air flow in this region which causes the cleaning effectiveness to decrease. Additionally, the construction is rather heavy and requires a separate electric connection to the suction head which is undesirable for safety and mobility reasons. In a brush cleaner, rotating brushes are used for loosening the dirt particles. This construction presents roughly the same drawbacks as those of the beating vacuum cleaner.
Furthermore, vacuum cleaners are known where the dirt is loosened from the object to be cleaned by means of vibrating air or high frequency vibrations. These vibrations are generated by means of electromagnetic or piezoelectric vibrators which are expensive, consume much energy and also require an electric connection between the cleaner body and the suction head. In this construction too, broad suction grooves are required.

Vacuum cleaner and suction head for use with the vacuum cleaner


A sense amplifier screen circuit and a screen method thereof are disclosed. The sense amplifier screen circuit includes a test mode signal generator for generating a test mode signal, a voltage regulator for regulating a bit line precharge voltage in response to the test mode signal, and a driving controller for generating a sense amplifier drive signal and a bit line equalize signal in response to the test mode signal.

The present disclosure relates to a sense amplifier screen circuit and a screen method thereof, and more particularly to a sense amplifier screen circuit and method wherein the characteristics and sensing margin of a sense amplifier can be readily screened.
In general, sense amplifiers are classified into a bit line sense amplifier and a data bus sense amplifier. The bit line sense amplifier functions to sense and amplify data placed on a bit line and output the sensed and amplified data to a data bus, and the data bus sense amplifier functions to again sense and amplify the data amplified by the bit line sense amplifier and output the sensed and amplified data to a data output buffer.
A description will hereinafter be given of the operation of a cross coupled latch type amplifier, which is one example of such sense amplifiers.
First, when bit lines are precharged with a precharge voltage (for example, half of an internal voltage Vcore), potentials of a pair of bit lines BL and /BL are equalized to remove a voltage difference between a bit line connected to a selected memory cell and a bit line not connected thereto.
Thereafter, when a word line selected as a result of analysis of an address inputted to a row decoder is turned on, charge sharing occurs between a cell capacitance and a bit line capacitance, resulting in the generation of a potential difference between a bit line connected to a selected memory cell and a bit line not connected thereto. At this time, a potential difference between a pair of bit lines BL and /BL is amplified by the cross coupled latch type amplifier.
Notably, all sense amplifiers in cells are not uniformly operated due to factors such as process parameters. For this reason, an abnormal sense amplifier which incorrectly amplifies a potential difference between a pair of bit lines BL and /BL may be present in one cell, whereas a normal sense amplifier which correctly amplifies a potential difference between a pair of bit lines BL and /BL may be present in another cell. However, nowadays, there is no method capable of screening faulty sense amplifiers existing in cells.

Sense amplifier screen circuit and screen method thereof


A stair frame may be used to form a straight staircase, a spiral staircase, or a combination of the two. The stair frame includes an elongated angle having a leg and a back, the back cut into a plurality of independent back portions and the leg bent into a zigzag shape with alternating vertical and horizontal leg portions. A rail is fastened to the upper end of each vertical portion back and the forward end of each horizontal portion back to secure the angle into a sturdy frame which may be bent into a helical pattern. The horizontal leg portions serve the dual purpose of forming sturdy frame, and supporting one end of the staircase treads.

Conventionally, spiral and circular staircases are custom built by skilled carpenters, in order to produce the appropriate curvature and rise in the stringers which support the stair treads. This is especially true where the staircase involves a combination of a curved portion and a straight portion, or curved portions of different radii.


A dryer and a drain structure of the same are provided. The drain structure of a dryer includes a base, a condenser mounted on the base, and a drain concaved from front to rear of a condenser mounting surface, which is provided on the base and mounts the condenser thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dryer, and more particularly, to a drain structure for exhausting condensate water from a front sealing mounting surface. Much more particularly, the present invention relates to a drain structure for condensate water in which the condensate water is prevented from being leaked out.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dryer sends hot air, which is generated by an electric heater, a gas combustion device or the like, inside of a drum to eliminate remnant moisture from a target object such as clothing, thereby drying the target clothing.
The dryer includes a drum rotating with the clothing housed therein; a motor for rotating the drum; a heater for heating the air; a circulation fan for circulating the air; an air passage structure for flowing the air; and a condensate water drain structure for exhausting high humid air to the exterior.
In detail, the air passage structure is divided into two air passages. That is, there are a first air passage and a second air passage. In the first air passage, the air is circulated within the dryer while moisture is absorbed from a drum and condensed. In the second air passage, an exterior cold air is introduced and used for the condensing of the condensate water, and then is exhausted out. Additionally, a condenser is provided to heat-exchange the air flowing the first air passage and the second air passage to generate the condensate water.
Meanwhile, the conventional dryer has a drawback in that the condensate water is leaked out. This drawback is mainly caused when the air of the first air passage not introduced to the condenser is condensed at a periphery of the condenser. In other words, the condensate water is leaked out from the periphery of the condenser.
The conventional dryer has a drawback in that the leaked condensate water contaminates an interior environment, and further causes an anxiety concerning an electric shock due to a contact with wiring.