The present invention provides compounds of formula (I):

Epothilones A and B (2a and 2b, Scheme 1) are naturally occurring cytotoxic macrolides that were isolated from a cellulose degrading mycobacterium, Sorangium cellulosum (Höfle et al. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1996, 35, 1567 and J. Antibiot. 1996, 49, 560; each of which is incorporated herein by reference). Despite their vastly different structures, epothilones A and B share the same mechanism of action as paclitaxel (Taxol®) which involves growth inhibition, of tumor cells by tubulin polymerization and stabilization of microtubule assemblies (Bollag et al. Cancer Res. 1995, 55, 2325; incorporated by reference). In spite of its unquestioned clinical value as a front-line chemotherapeutic agent, Taxol® is far from an ideal drug. Its marginal water solubility necessitates recourse to formulation vehicles such as Cremophores that pose their own risks and management issues (Essayan et al. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1996, 97, 42; incorporated herein by reference). Moreover, Taxol® is vulnerable to deactivation through multiple drug resistance (MDR) (Giannakakou et al. J. Biol. Chem. 1997, 272, 17118; incorporated herein by reference). However, it has also been demonstrated that epothilones A and B retain remarkable potency against MDR tumor cells (Kowalski et al. Mol. Biol. Cell 1995, 6, 2137; incorporated herein by reference). Additionally, the increased water solubility in comparison to paclitaxel may be useful for the formulability of epothilones. While the naturally occurring compound, epothilone B (2b, EpoB, in Scheme 1), is a potent member of the epothilone family of natural products, it unfortunately possesses, at least in xenograft mice, a worrisomely narrow therapeutic index (Su et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1997, 36, 1093; Harris et al. J. Org. Chem. 1999, 64, 8434; each of which is incorporated herein by reference).

Given the limited therapeutic index of EpoB, other epothilone analogues, in particular the 12,13-desoxyepothilones, were investigated for their ability to provide an improved therapeutic profile (see, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,242,469, 6,284,781, 6,300,355, 6,369,234, 6,204,388, 6,316,630; each of which is incorporated herein by reference). In vivo experiments conducted on various mouse models demonstrated that 12,13-desoxyepothilone B (3b, dEpoB in Scheme 2) possesses therapeutic potential against various sensitive and resistant human tumors in mice xenografts (Chouet al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1998, 95, 9642 and 15798; incorporated herein by reference). Recently, the therapeutic superiority of these desoxyepothilones over other anticancer agents has been conclusively demonstrated by thorough comparative studies (Chou et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2001, 98, 8113; incorporated herein by reference). Due to its impressive in vivo profile, dEpoB has been advanced through toxicology evaluations in dogs, and is now2 in human trials as an anticancer drug.

In light of the promising therapeutic utility of the 12,13-desoxyepothilones, it would be desirable to investigate additional analogues as well as additional synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of existing epothilones, desoxyepothilones, and analogues thereof, as well as novel analogues thereof. In particular, given the interest in the therapeutic utility of this class of compounds, it would also be desirable to develop methodologies capable of providing significant quantities of any epothilones or desoxyepothilones previously described, or those described herein, for clinical trials and for large-scale preparation.

Synthesis of epothilones, intermediates thereto and analogues thereof

Abstract: as described generally and in classes and subclasses herein. The present invention additionally provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising compounds of formula (I) and provides methods of treating cancer comprising administering a compound of formula (I).

Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research


An on-board oxygen sensor monitoring system includes measuring a first limit cycle of air/fuel controller operation, changing operating parameters of the air/fuel controller and measuring a second limit cycle with the new calibration of the controller. A time constant of the oxygen sensor is calculated as a function of the first and second limit cycle periods and compared to a maximum response rate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to emission control of internal combustion engines. In particular, the invention relates to on-board monitoring of a primary fuel control oxygen (lambda or EGO) sensor for malfunction.
2. Prior Art
Various government regulations provide test conditions and monitoring methods for on-board monitoring of emission related devices. With respect to EGO sensor malfunction monitoring, the regulations suggest monitoring output voltage and response rate of the EGO sensors. Response rate is a time required for the EGO sensor to switch from lean to rich once it is exposed to a richer than stoichiometric exhaust gas or vice versa. A response rate check evaluates the portions of the sensor dynamic signal that are most affected by EGO sensor malfunctions such as aging, poisoning, or manufacturing deficiencies.
A deficiency of such methods is that during the test the fuel control system operates in an open loop control mode, and not a closed loop control made. As a result, air/fuel ratio tends to shift away from stoichiometry. Further, the particular selected air/fuel ratio swing and frequency greatly influence results of the test. The problem and disadvantages discussed above are overcome by this invention.


A method of determining an optimal transistor fanout. The method includes creating a sizing model by replacing at least one logic element in a circuit description with a sizing element that includes a dynamic resistor. The method also includes determining a steady state solution to the sizing model and determining at least one transistor fanout from the steady state solution.

Integrated circuit ("IC") design consists of a number of steps. Typically, the design starts with a specification of the functional performance characteristics of the IC. The IC is then typically broken down into more manageable blocks so that the blocks may be divided among multiple designers and analyzed in pieces by computer aided design tools. Next, logic designers write register transfer level ("RTL") descriptions of each block. Next, floor plans are created for each of the blocks. After verifying that the RTL descriptions are accurate, the designers estimate the size of each block. Then designers create a floor plan that describes the relative placement of the blocks on the IC. Finally, the designers layout the actual circuits of each block.
One of the difficult challenges for a designer is sizing the circuit so that the circuit meets timing constraints. Without a systematic approach, designers resort to continually simulating and modifying the design to achieve the timing constraints.
One way to assist designers in meeting timing criteria is provided by a method of logical effort. The method of logical effort is an efficient way to determine more optimal transistor sizes thus reducing delay in a complementary metal oxide semiconductor ("CMOS") circuit.
According to the method of logical effort, the delay incurred by a logic gate is comprised of two components. The first component is known as "parasitic delay." The second component, known as "effort delay," is proportional to the load on the logic gate's output. The effort delay is equal to the "logical effort" multiplied by the "electrical effort." As discussed below, logical effort characterizes the properties of the logic gates and electrical effort characterizes the load.
Logical effort is a unitless parameter defined so that an inverter has a logical effort of one. The logical effort of several common gates, assuming a beta ratio (pull-up transistor width/pull-down transistor width) of 2, is shown in the following table:
Number of inputsGate type12345nInverter1NAND4/35/36/3 7/3 (n + 2)/3NOR5/37/39/311/3(2n + 1)/3Multiplexer2 2 222XOR (parity)41232
In general, the logical effort of a logic element describes how much worse the logic gate is at driving an output load when compared to an inverter. Accordingly, the logical effort of a gate indicates how much more slowly the logic gate will drive a load than would an inverter.
The electrical effort can be defined as the ratio of the capacitance that loads the output of the logic gate divided by the capacitance presented by the input terminal of the logic gate.
In summary, the effort delay incurred by a logic gate can be stated as:effort delay=(logical effort)(electrical effort)+parasitic delay
The method of logical effort analysis is described more completely in Logical Effort: Designing Fast CMOS Circuits, by Ivan Sutherland, Bob Sproull, and David Harris, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc. (1999), ISBN # 1-55860-557-6.

Method and apparatus for determining the optimal fanout across a logic element


Novel volatile barium complexes are disclosed which are very stable and evaporate cleanly at elevated temperatures. Such complexes are highly suited for use as a barium source in OMCVD processes.

There is a growing economic need for precursors, having applications in OMCVD processes to fabricate alkaline earth metal (i.e. barium, strontium and the like) containing materials, that are cleanly volatile sources for such metals. To be useful, such a precursor must be able to deliver a steady gas phase transport of metal-containing vapor during the CVD process to deposit a thin film of the metal or metal-containing compound onto a substrate. It is especially important that the vapor pressure of the metal precursor is stable over time to permit precise control over the elemental composition in the final product.
Examples of alkaline earth containing materials produced in a CVD process are high temperature superconducting (HTSC) ceramic thin films being developed for use in microelectronic devices. In a typical high temperature superconductor (HTSC) thin film CVD process, a vapor containing "volatile" organometallic compounds of barium, yttrium and copper, e.g. bis(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionato) barium(II) [Ba(HFA).sub.2 ], tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato)yttrium(III) [Y(DPM).sub.3 ], and bis(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionato)copper(II) [Cu(HFA).sub.2 ], is contacted with oxygen over a SrTiO.sub.3 substrate at 10 Torr pressure and a temperature of 600.degree. C. to deposit an amorphous thin film. After further annealing in air for three hours at 850.degree. C., a high temperature superconducting ceramic thin film is produced with the composition YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 Oy; see K. Shinohara et al Japanese Journal Appl. Phy., Vol. 27, No. 9, pp. L1683-L1685 (1988) and S. Oda et al, Japanese Journal Appl. Phy., Part 2, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. L427-L429 (1989). The use of the fluorinated barium precursor results in the initial formation of BaF.sub.2 which has to be subsequently annealed with water vapor and/or air to produce the desired oxide phase. To produce directly high quality single crystal or epitaxial mixed oxide films, it is important to avoid the initial formation of BaF.sub.2 to enable the growth of the mixed Y-Ba-Cu oxides. It is therefore desirable to have a precursor that is non-fluorinated for CVD fabrication of HTSC mixed oxide thin films or other barium oxide-based films containing no fluoride. As previously stated, it is also desirable to have a precursor that is cleanly volatile, i.e. volatilizes without decomposition of the source, for accurate control over extended time periods of the stoichiometry of the CVD deposited barium oxide containing thin film.
The two most commonly utilized strategies for preparing volatile barium precursors are the use of bulky or fluorinated ligands that effectively screen barium ions from each other within the molecular structure of the complexes. This is thought to reduce intermolecular associations between barium centers and hence increase their volatility or at least reduce the intermolecular associations to the point where some vaporization is possible. This general phenomenon has been widely exploited in the preparation of volatile metal complexes in general; see R. E. Sievers, Science, Vol. 201, No. 4352, pp. 217-223, (1978). Due to its large ionic radius and propensity towards large coordination spheres, barium is a particularly difficult element to totally screen in this way and "molecularly encapsulate" to yield monomeric compounds. Bulky ligands such as bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) barium (II) (thd) and similar .beta.-diketonates (including fluorinated .beta.-diketonates) are limited in their ability to completely supply the degree of coordinate saturation required to achieve monomeric barium complexes. However, even though this deficiency can lead to complexes that are unstable towards sublimation (see A. P. Purdy et al, Inorg. Chem., Vol. 28, pp. 2799-2803 (1989)) there are reports of using bulky and fluorinated .beta.-diketonate barium complexes and "Ba(thd).sub.2 " in CVD processes; see Y. Hianori et al, Supercond. Sci. Technology Vol. 2, pp. 115-117 (1989) and A. J. Panson et al, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 53, No. 18, pp. 1756-8 (1988). Similarly, there are other barium complexes that contain simple ligands (i.e. methyl or ethyl groups) that are also unable to supply the degree of shielding required to yield monomeric complexes; see M. J. McCormick et al., Organometallics, Vol. 8, No. 8, pp. 2044-2049 (1989). This can lead to polymeric or highly associated and hence sometimes involatile compounds of the type (Ba.sup.+2).sub.x (L.sup.-).sub.y where y=2x. With y=2-10, volatile character can be expected but when y>10 polymeric involatile compounds result. Under conditions of strong heating the structure of these polymeric species may break down and in the process release molecular fragments that are more volatile. However this kind of "volatility" is uncontrolled and yields a vapor of constantly changing chemical composition which is unsuited to CVD processes.
Currently, the non-fluorinated barium precursor most widely used for CVD purposes is bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) barium(II), more commonly known and incorrectly formulated (vide infra) as "Ba(thd).sub.2 " or "Ba(tmhd).sub.2 " or "Ba(DPM).sub.2 ". However, notwithstanding the popular use of this material as a volatile precursor, it is known to be thermally unstable at CVD source delivery temperatures and to not be cleanly volatile, i.e. the composition of the vaporized material and its vapor pressure vary as a function of time. This causes difficulties in the control of the composition of the deposited film, and therefore in obtaining the desired physical and chemical properties.
It has been concluded there are problems in the OMCVD deposition of YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.y caused by the high vaporization temperature of "Ba(thd).sub.2 " precursor and its limited thermal stability; see T. Nakamori et al, Japanese J. Appl. Phys., Vol 27, pp. L1265-L1267 (1988). The authors point out a solution to the problem would be an organic metal chelate having a lower vaporization temperature and a higher thermal stability. The performance of Ba(dipivaloylmethanate).sub.2, "Ba(DPM).sub.2 " or "Ba(thd).sub.2 ", for OMCVD has been criticized for its low volatility, substantial decomposition during transport, lack of vapor pressure reproducibility and low deposition rates; J. Zhao et al, Amer. Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol 53, No. 18, pp.1750-1752, (1988). It has been observed qualitatively that barium diketonates, such as "Ba(thd).sub.2 ", are hygroscopic, with coordinated water removed under mild conditions prior to their use as OMCVD precursors, and that there is a need to avoid exposure to moisture following anhydrous synthesis; see A. D. Berry et al, J. Mater. Res., Vol. 5, No. 6 (June, 1990).
One technique for improving the volatility of barium compounds that do not cleanly sublime without decomposition is to add small neutral molecules to the metal centers of these compounds to form volatile adducts. This helps to prevent ligands being shared between metal centers and hence promotes monomeric nature and volatility. Examples of this approach include the use of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and 1,2-dimethoxy-ethane (diglyme) to increase the volatility of both magnesium and zinc .beta.-diketonates; S. B. Miller et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,602 and R. C. Fay et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,144.
Recently TNO (a division of Technology for Society. Dept Chemistry, P.O. Box 108, 3700 A. C. Zeist, Utrechtseweg 48, Zeist, The Netherlands) disclosed in EPO Patent Application 90201485.1 the preparation of volatile derivatives of barium .beta.-diketonates by treating parent complexes with various linear polyether glymes such as tetraglyme. A problem with this kind of approach is that under heating conditions the added ligands tend to dissociate from the parent complex thereby precluding vaporization of the adduct.
Excess ligand can be added in the form of a saturated carrier gas to suppress dissociation of the adduct and this has been shown to be effective for "Ba(thd).sub.2 " when adding either excess the ligand (P. H. Dickinsen et al, J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 66, pp. 444 (1989)) or excess simple amine; see A. Barron, MRS Symp. Proc., Fall Meeting, Boston, November 1990.
According to the above P. H. Dickerson et al reference, the partial thermal decomposition of "Ba(thd).sub.2 " during transport may be avoided by using an inert carrier gas pre-saturated with organometallic ligand H(thd), which achieves stable precursor vaporization over a period of "several hours".
The stable delivery of "Ba(thd).sub.2 " has been achieved over a period of 80 minutes using a carrier gas enriched with H(thd) as proposed by F. Schmaderer et al., Applied Surface Science, Vol. 46, pp. 53-60(1990).
Tetrahydrofuran has been added to the inert carrier gas which reportedly improves the volatility of "Ba(thd).sub.2 "; see S. Matsuno et al, Japanese J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 29, pp. L947-L948 (June, 1990) and Chern et al, Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 57, pp. 721-723 (Aug., 1990). The problems associated with this technique include the unknown chemical identity and changing nature of the gas phase species. If a substantial pressure of added ligand is needed then the CVD processing cannot be accomplished at low pressures thereby losing the inherent advantages of operating in this regime; K. K. Schuegraf, "Handbook of Thin Film Deposition Processes and Techniques", Noyes Publication, 1988, Chapter 3. In addition, since oxygen gas is introduced into the system to effect the oxide deposition, there exists a danger of forming an explosive gas mixture within the CVD reactor since the added ligands are typically flammable or combustible.
A recent publication reports on the study of bis(2,2,6,6-tetra-methyl-3,5-heptanedionato)-tris(methanol)barium, monomethanol, [Ba(C.sub.11 H.sub.19 O.sub.2).sub.2 (CH.sub.3 OH).sub.3.CH.sub.3 OH], and one of its derivatives used as a barium precursor in OMCVD; A. Gleizes et al, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Vol. 312, II, pp. 983-988 (March, 1991).
The foregoing prior art OMCVD precursor compositions (a) are reportedly stable for short time periods, or (b) require the addition of an extra stage to the precursor delivery to achieve additional stability control, or (c) incorporate an excess ligand (e.g. amines/ammonia) which can lead to safety/flammability problems. Such prior art complexes are in contrast to complexes that are in effect composed of non-polymeric discreet "clusters" of barium atoms (i.e. y=2-10) and that are cleanly volatile, undergo no chemical decomposition upon sublimation and require no addition of adduct forming ligand to help in sublimation. Such a compound should be highly suited to CVD processes, especially at low pressures. It is evident from a reading of the number of prior art references in this area that a long heart felt need exists for such a stable, cleanly volatile barium precursor for OMCVD.

Volatile barium precursor and use of precursor in OMCVD process


An apparatus is provided for the transfer of a thread (1) carried in a low pressure air stream being delivered to a rotating spool (7) with which a capture apparatus (4) runs in synchronism for the pick-up of the thread (1) which is set before it by a thread dispensing unit for this purpose. This thread dispensing unit exhibits two thread guides (31, 30) which hold the thread (1) at right angles to the travel path of the capture apparatus (4). Respectively, the first thread guide (31) forms a hold-back element which acts to restrain the thread (1) during the formation of a reserve winding in the spool border and to release the thread (1) for the formation of the normal winding. This first thread guide (31) is governed by a controllable drive (33), with the help of which, the open side of a thread guide groove (312) of this first thread guide (31) is pivotable out of a thread restraining position (S.sub.1) into a thread release position (S.sub.2). The second thread guide is also the opening (30) of a suction system.

The present invention concerns an apparatus for the transfer of a thread running in low pressure air stream to a rotating spool.
In accordance with a known apparatus (DE-OS 2 543 986), the thread to be transferred to a rotating spool is held parallel to the outer surface of the spool by means of two thread guides of a thread handling means. This permits the thread to be seized by a thread capturing apparatus which rotates with the spool so that, subsequently, said thread can be wound to produce a coil. Additionally, a hold-back element is provided for the control of the number of reserve windings which are to be laid down at an end of the spool. For the cessation of forming reserve windings of this sort, the said hold-back device is movable in the direction of the middle of the spool. The apparatus is complex in design and in control, especially if it is adapted for automatic operation.

Apparatus for the transfer of a thread running on a low pressure air stream to a rotating spool

Rieter Ingolstadt Spinnereimaschinenbau AG


Metal V-belt drive having small angle V-pulleys engaged by belt mounted pairs of bridging traction drive toggle elements radially loaded by belt tension to provide locking angle driving contact subject to free radial releasing upon leaving each pulley.

High capacity all metal V-belts for transmitting drive between continuously variable pulleys are known in the art. Belts constructed of endless metal bands or chain links have rigid bridging transverse load blocks which engage pulley faces to transmit traction drive under contact pressure imposed radially by belt tension. Typical rigid load blocks employed with multiple laminated individual band layers in a "compression" drive are disclosed in Van Doorne et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,113. Similar alternative rigid load blocks are disclosed in the CVT belt of U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,682, and in chain belt U.S. Pat No. 4,993,999 and 5,026,332.
Such load blocks engage eleven degree (11.degree.) pulley faces (22.degree. included angle) with oil environment and typical friction coefficients which provide free release on leaving each pulley. The transverse rigid load blocks carried by the belt engage the pulley faces with a contact pressure imposed by belt tension amplified by a factor of 5.24 times the radial load (1/sine 11.degree.). This provides the equivalent of a corresponding increase in traction coefficient in determining required back tension to prevent drive slippage under load. Notwithstanding such amplified contact pressure, substantial back tension is required which subtracts from the useful drive torque and power capacity.


A dust collector in one aspect of the present invention comprises a dust collection portion, a communication portion, and an interlock operation control portion. When the communication portion receives an interlock command transmitted from an electric working machine, the interlock operation control portion makes the dust collection portion operate interlocking with the electric working machine. The interlock operation control portion includes a storage portion, in which identification information specific to the electric working machine with which the dust collection portion is to be made to perform the interlock operation is stored.

A dust collector in one example comprises a communication unit (adapter) that receives a signal wirelessly transmitted from an electric working machine during operation of the electric working machine; the dust collector is configured to be operated when the communication unit receives the signal from the electric working machine (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
This dust collector can be operated interlocking with the electric working machine, without providing a signal line for detecting an operation state of the electric working machine between the dust collector and the electric working machine. Accordingly, this dust collector enables an interlock operation with the electric working machine even if, for example, the electric working machine is a chargeable cordless device.


This application relates to a positive electrode plate and an electrochemical device. The positive electrode plate comprises a metal current collector, a positive electrode active material layer and a safety coating disposed between the metal current collector and the positive electrode active material layer; the safety coating comprises a polymer matrix, a conductive material and an inorganic filler; the positive electrode active material layer comprises Li1+xNiaCobMe(1−a−b)O2, wherein −0.1≤x≤0.2, 0.6≤a<1, 0<b<1, 0<(1−a−b)<1, and Me is at least one of Mn, Al, Mg, Zn, Ga, Ba, Fe, Cr, Sn, V, Sc, Ti and Zr; and the metal current collector is a porous aluminum-containing current collector. The positive electrode plate can improve safety and electrical performances of an electrochemical device (such as a capacitor, a primary battery, or a secondary battery).

Lithium ion batteries are widely used in electric vehicles and consumer electronics because of their high energy density, high output power, long cycle life and small environmental pollution.
Nowadays, ternary materials have become one of the main positive materials used in commercial lithium ion batteries, especially in the field of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles. High-nickel ternary materials (such as NCM622, NCM811) are expected to become the main cathode materials for the new generation of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, due to high energy density. However, high-nickel ternary materials have poor thermal stability, and will release at high temperature substances with strong oxidizing property that oxidize non-aqueous electrolytes and deteriorate the high temperature performance of lithium ion batteries, and thus cause serious safety issues. Especially, when subjected to abnormal conditions such as crushing, bumping or puncture, lithium ion batteries comprising high-nickel ternary material system are prone to fire and explode and similar risks causing serious harm. Therefore, these issues greatly limit the application and popularity of high-nickel ternary materials.
In view of this, it is indeed necessary to provide an electrode plate and a battery with improved safety and battery performance of high-nickel ternary materials, which is/are capable of avoiding the above problems in the prior art.

Positive electrode plate and electrochemical device

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited


A sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention includes: a pair of conveying rollers 13 which nips and conveys a sheet; a reference member 31 which determines the position of a side edge of the sheet along the sheet conveyance direction; a plurality of pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers 32 which nip and convey the sheet conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers 13 and draw the side edge of the sheet to the reference member 31; and a switching unit which switches the pair of conveying rollers 13 and the pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers 32 between a state of nipping the sheet and a state of nip releasing the sheet, the switching unit releasing the nip of the sheet by the pair of conveying rollers 13 after the conveyed sheet is nipped by at least two of the pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers 32.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus installed in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a fax machine, and a printer in order to allow a sheet to be stably conveyed, and to an image forming apparatus provided with the sheet conveying apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
If a sheet in an image forming apparatus is skew-fed while being conveyed, or is misaligned in a width direction of the sheet perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction, the apparatus ends up by forming an image misaligned with respect to the sheet. In order to deal with the problem, a sheet aligning apparatus is provided immediately in front of a transfer portion so as to correct skew feeding of a sheet and adjust the position of a sheet in its width direction. As an example of the sheet aligning apparatus, there is a sheet registration device for correcting a misalignment of a sheet being conveyed, with respect to a side edge of the sheet (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,418).
A sheet aligning apparatus that corrects skew feeding according to the side registration reference includes an abutting reference member along a direction in which a sheet is conveyed (sheet conveyance direction), and a pair of skew feeding correcting rollers above the sheet conveying path.
The abutting reference member has a reference surface parallel to the sheet conveyance direction. The number of pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers provided is at least two, and they are arranged along the reference surface in the sheet conveyance direction. While a sheet is being conveyed, the pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers skew-feed the sheet toward the abutting reference member and makes a side edge of the sheet abut against the reference surface so that the side edge will extend along the reference surface. The skew of the sheet in the sheet conveyance direction is thus corrected. Further, since the reference surface can fix the position of a side edge of a sheet with respect to a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction, the misalignment of a sheet in the width direction can be corrected based on the reference surface.
If the force of pressing the reference surface by a sheet (the force of drawing a sheet by the pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers) is excessively large when a side of the sheet is set to abut against the reference member in the sheet aligning apparatus, the sheet bends and a sheet jam or deterioration of correction accuracy occurs.
In order to solve the above problem, there is proposed an apparatus with existing pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers that adjusts the force of pressing the reference surface by a sheet by changing the nip pressure of a pair of skew feeding correcting rollers according to the thickness of a sheet, in correcting skew feeding with the existing pairs of rollers (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,862). This apparatus can correct skew feeding without bending a sheet when drawing a side edge of the sheet to the reference surface.
The existing method of correcting skew feeding of a sheet according to the side registration reference by adjusting the nip pressure of the skew feeding is disadvantageous in that there is difficulty in setting the position of a sheet in a stable state in correcting skew feeding, although the force of pressing the abutting reference member can be adjusted. In particular, when a sheet to be conveyed is such a paper as a coated paper with a basis weight of smaller than 80 gsm, which is super thin and has a small rigidity or when a sheet has a reduced rigidity under high-temperature and high-humidity environments, the following problems may occur.
The number of pairs of skew feeding correcting rollers provided is two or more, and they are arranged in the sheet conveyance direction. When an upstream pair of the skew feeding correcting rollers that first conveys a sheet starts conveying a sheet, the sheet is rotated and is caused to abut against the reference surface of the abutting reference member at a side edge of the sheet with a bent occurring at the side edge. Although a sheet with a large rigidity is not easily bent, a sheet with a small rigidity is bent and passed to a next pair of skew feeding correcting rollers. Accordingly, the difference in the degree of bending generated in the sheet conveyance direction can result into insufficient correction of skew feeding, or the bending can lead to buckling (breaking) and a paper jam may be caused.

Sheet conveying apparatus and image forming apparatus


A pharmaceutically acceptable topical formulation for the treatment and/or prevention of skin ailments, more particularly of fibriotic nature such as fibriotic lesional tissues, contiguous warts, contact dermatitis, and keloids, and to assist the healing of burns after surgery, comprising as active ingredient a substituted pyridone of the formula: n-(R1)-R2-2-(1H)pyridone or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, where R1 is selected from methyl, ethyl, propyl, carboxyl and a carboxymethyl or carboxyethyl ester group, R2 is selected from phenyl, methylphenyl, ethylphenyl, propylphenyl, and a carboxyphenyl or carboxyethylphenyl ester group, and n is 3, 4 or 5, together with an excipient, characterized in that the excipient comprises, one or more plasticisers, one or more antioxidants, one or more gel-forming agents and sufficient pH adjusting agent to bring the pH of the formulation to a value from 4 to 8. The preferred active ingredient is 5-methyl-1-phenyl-2-(1H)pyridone (Pirfenidone).

The present invention relates to topical formulations, e.g. creams, ointments, gels and the like containing as active ingredient one or more alkyl, phenyl pyridones, more particularly a substituted pyridone of the formula:
n-(R1)-1-R2-2-(1H)-pyridone
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, where R1 is selected from methyl, ethyl, propyl, carboxyl and a carboxymethyl or carboxyethyl ester group, R2 is selected from phenyl, methylphenyl, ethylphenyl, propylphenyl, and a carboxyphenyl or carboxyethylphenyl ester group, and n is 3, 4 or 5 (position of substitution). The preferred active ingredient is Pirfenidone (CAS 53179-13-8, 5-methyl-1-phenyl-2-(1H)-pyridone).
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,310,562 and EP 0 383 591, Pirfenidone has a broad spectrum of applications in the prevention and treatment of fibrotic diseases, especially for the reparation and prevention of fibrotic lesional tissues, contiguous warts, contact dermatitis, keloids, fibrosis of the lung, fibrosis of the prostate, sclerosis, the healing of burns after surgery and Alzheimer disease. Although the possibility of topical application is mentioned, there is no description of any specific formulation.
The application of active ingredients of the class mentioned, (hereafter called alkyl,phenyl pyridones) e.g. Pirfenidone for e.g. the treatment of burns and keloids may possibly be carried out using a solution or a suspension of the agent in aqueous or oily excipient such as emulsions, creams, ointments, gels, microemulsions, liquid emulsions, nanocapsule suspensions, liposome formulations, lotions and the like; however, an ointment, cream or gel formulation is preferable because of their soothing effect and easy application. Because these formulations are used in the treatment of humans they are considered to be pharmaceutical preparations, and as thus have to be proven to be physically and chemically stable before they are permitted on the market. For this reason, each formulation must undergo a stability test. Without the necessary data on stability and shelf life, the formulation cannot be approved by any health authority.
Typical parameters for stability include homogeneity of the formulation in all parts of its volume, absence of coalescence of emulsion droplets, practically constant viscosity, a semi-solid structure, complete dissolution of the active ingredient, and absence of recrystallisation of the active ingredient. Also, the formulation should be prepared using pharmaceutically acceptable excipients, preferably described in pharmacopoeias, otherwise the acceptability of the excipients must be proven separately in costly programs that comprise among others a complete toxicology investigation or other means that show safety, tolerance and efficacy for the intended medicinal treatment.
It was found that standard excipient preparations e.g. as described in the USP (United States Pharmacopoeia) are unsuitable for use in the preparation of pharmaceutically acceptable topical formulations such as ointments containing a sufficient dosage of the active ingredient. The preparations lack physical stability. It was found that 5-methyl-1-phenyl-2-(1H)-pyridone is a so called emulsion destabiliser, i.e. tends to destabilise physically emulsions and other colloidal systems.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutically acceptable topical formulation with an excipient which permits the dissolution or dispersion of a sufficient amount of Pirfenidone (or like pharmaceutically acceptable alkyl,phenyl pyridone or salt or ester thereof) to be useful for medical treatment, and that at the same time provides the formulation with sufficient stability and shelf life.
The invention provides a pharmaceutically acceptable topical formulation for the treatment and/or prevention of skin ailments, more particularly of fibrotic nature such as fibrotic lesional tissues, contiguous warts, contact dermatitis, and keloids, and to assist the healing of burns after surgery, comprising as active ingredient a substituted pyridone of the formula:
n-(R1)-1-R2-(1H)-pyridone
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, where R1 is selected from methyl, ethyl, propyl, carboxyl and a carboxymethyl or carboxyethyl ester group, R2 is selected from phenyl, methylphenyl, ethylphenyl, propylphenyl, and a carboxyphenyl or carboxyethylphenyl ester group, and n is 3, 4 or 5, together with an excipient, characterised in that the excipient comprises one or more plasticisers, one or more antioxidants, one or more gel-forming agents and sufficient pH adjusting agent to bring the pH of the formulation to a value from 4 to 8. Preferably the pH of the formulation is from about 5 to about 7.5.
The preferred active ingredient is 5-methyl-1-phenyl-2-(1H)-pyridone (Pirfenidone), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof. The concentration of said active ingredient is preferably within the range of about 0.5% (by weight) to about 9% (weight), preferably from about 3% (by weight) to about 7% (by weight) calculated to the weight of the entire composition.
As plasticiser it is preferred to use one or more alkyl glycols and polyalkylene glycols, e.g. polyethylene glycol and/or polypropylene glycol. Other possible plasticisers include benzyl benzoate, chlorobutanol, mineral oil, (CTFA mixture of mineral oils, e.g. Amerchol L-101, Protalan M-16, Protalan M-26), petrolatum (CTFA, mixture of petrolatum, e.g. Amerchol CAB, Forlan 200), and lanolin alcohols, sorbitol, triacetin, dibutyl sebacate, diethyl phthalate, glycerine, petrolactam and triethyl citrate.
As antioxidant it is preferred to use sodium metabisulfite. Other possible antioxidants include alphatocopherol, ascorbic acid, malic acid, sodium ascorbate, ascorbyl palmitate, butylated hydroxyanisole, butylated hydroxytoluene, fumaric or maleic acid, and propyl gallate.
As a gel-forming agent it is preferred to use a carboxypolyalkylene, especially Carbomer (carboxypolymethylene, CAS 541823-57-9) of which different grades with various molecular weights are commercially available. Other possible gel-forming agents include cetostearyl alcohol, colloidal silicon dioxide, gelatine, guar gum, sodium or calcium carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl or hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, methyl or ethyl cellulose, maltodextrin, polyvinyl alcohol, propylene carbonate, povidone, propylene glycol alginate, alginic acid sodium alginate, sodium starch glycolate, starch, sucrose.
The gel-forming agents can be included with emulsifying agents or gums such as acacia gum, guar gum, tragacanth, xanthan gum and fillers or thickening agents such as bentonite and magnesium aluminium silicate.
Preferred emulsifying agents are acacia, anionic emulsifying wax, cetostearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, cholesterol, diethanolamine, glyceryl monostearate, hydrous lanolin, lanolin, lanolin alcohols, lecithin, monobasic sodium phosphate, monoethanolamin, nonionic emulsifying wachs, oleic acid, poloxamer, polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers, polyoxyethylene castor oil derivatives, polyoxyethylene sorbiaten fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene stearates, propylene glycol alginates, sodium lauryl sulfates, sorbitan esters, stearic acid, triethanolamine.
Antimicrobial agents such as benzyl benzoate may be included. Preferred antimicrobial agents are also benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben, cetrimide, chlorhexidine, chlorobutanol, chlorocresol, cresol, glycerin, imidurea, phenol, phenoxyethanol, phenylethylalcohol, phenylmercuric acetate, phenylmercuric borate, phenylmercuric nitrate, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, sodium proprionate, sorbic acid, thiomersal.
Although purified water, preferably de-ionised, is used as the main vehicle, one or more alcohols may be included, such as ethanol and/or isopropanol.
Methylparaben and/or Propylparaben may be included. For the adjustment of the pH is preferred to use alkali hydroxide, e.g. sodium hydroxide.
A typical formulation and typical ratios (in % by weight calculated to the weight of the entire composition) according to the invention comprises:
A preferred formulation comprises:
The pH is preferably adjusted to a value from 5.2 to 6.6.
The preferred formulations according to the invention result in an cosmetically acceptable clear gel of sufficient viscosity to form a semisolid which shows no phase separation or crystallisation effects with Pirfenidone as the active ingredient, neither initially after manufacture nor after 3 or 6 months or more prolonged storage at room temperature. For application to skin having open wounds, a gel formulation according to the invention without ethanol or isopropanol is also possible and useful; this is desirable because these alcohols can cause pain in such wounds.

Topical formulation of alkyl-, phenyl-pyridone


A process and apparatus to remotely gather data about cellphone hardware and software configurations and usage. The system uses agents which are resident on the phones and which can be remotely launched by a data collection server by sending a message to a public IP address of the phone and addressed to a special port designated for launch. The agent specifies the launch port and a data collection port upon installation and registration with the cellphone operating system. Data on hardware configuration, software version and phone usage can be gathered. Data collection sessions are established by the data collection server sending a message addressed to the public IP address of the cellphone and the data collection port specified by the agent process upon registration with the operating system. Many alternative embodiments are also disclosed.

Many businesses give cell phones to their employees for business usage. The IT department wants to keep track of which software version is installed in each phone and what types of phones are in the hands of their employees. They want to know this for compatibility of ugrades to the phones and to know which phones, if any, need upgrades or to which new software can be downloaded. The company may also want to monitor usage of the phones so as to allocate budget usage amounts to its various departments. It may also want to monitor usage to make sure most usage is business related.
As far as the inventor is aware, the prior art has no convenient solution to this problem. Currently, the company will get multiple paper cell phone bills, each indicating the cell phone number of the phone being used and the phone numbers called and the minutes consumed. No indication of the phone's software version or make and model is included on these bills. No indication of which phone number is assigned to each department is included on these bills. The IT department would have to manually look up the software and hardware version for each phone and would have to determine manually from paper records which phones are assigned to which employees and which departments they are in. Then, the accounting department would have to group the bills into groups by department manually and add up the usage minutes manually. All this is time consuming and labor intensive and not attractive to IT departments or accounting departments of big and medium size companies.
Further, these bills come to the company on a monthly basis, and are not available on an as-needed, when-needed basis.
Accordingly, a need has arisen to gather information electronically from the phones themselves and collect and store that information in a database such that further inquiries can be made by mining the data in the database. Preferably, the information will be gathered on an as-needed, when-needed basis.

Method and apparatus for managing business cell phone usage


The use of rare-earth (RE and O, N, P) based materials to transition between two different semiconductor materials and enable up and/or down conversion of incident radiation is disclosed. Rare earth based oxides, nitrides and phosphides provide a wide range of lattice spacing enabling, compressive, tensile or stress-free lattice matching with Group IV, III-V, and Group II-VI compounds.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a semiconductor based structure for an active tandem solar cell transitioning from one semiconductor material composition to another by the use of one or more transition layers comprising one or more rare earth compounds enabling control of the stress field between layers and providing means for up and/or down conversion of incident radiation.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
As a complementary approach to single or multiple junction solar cells where specific materials are matched to discrete portions of the solar spectrum, wavelength conversion works on the principle of moving parts of the spectrum to the wavelength band of a particular junction cell. For example it is widely accepted that a single junction, single crystal silicon solar cell has an optimum performance in the wavelength range 500 to 1,100 nm, whilst the solar spectrum extends from below 400 nm to in excess of 2500 nm. A tandem cell enables a device to convert a larger portion of the solar spectrum with minimal increase in size and cost.
Rare earths, the lanthanide series, have long been known for the unique optical properties in which the incomplete, 4f shells exhibit multiple optical transitions many of which lie within the solar spectrum. An example of some of these optical transitions are: Er: 410, 519, 650, 810, 972, 1,529 nm; Yb: 980 nm; Tb: 485 nm
As used herein a rare earth, [RE1, RE2, . . . REn], is chosen from the lanthanide series of rare earths from the periodic table of elements {57La, 58Ce, 59Pr, 60Nd, 61Pm, 62Sm, 63Eu, 64Gd, 65Tb, 66Dy, 67Ho, 68Er, 69Tm, 70Yb and 71Lu} plus yttrium, 39Y, and scandium, 21Sc, are included as well for the invention disclosed.
As used herein a transition metal, [TM1, TM2 . . . TMn], is chosen from the transition metal elements consisting of {22Ti, 23V, 24Cr, 25Mn, 26Fe, 27Co, 28Ni, 29Cu, 30Zn, 40Zr, 41Nb, 42Mo, 43Tc, 44Ru, 45Rh, 46Pd, 47Ag, 48Cd, 71Lu, 72Hf, 73Ta, 74W, 75Re, 76Os, 77Ir, 78Pt, 77Au, 80Hg}; additional ones are found in the technical literature and known to one knowledgeable in the art. Silicon and germanium refer to elemental silicon and germanium; Group IV, Groups III and V and Groups II and VI elements have the conventional meaning. As used herein all materials and/or layers may be present in a single crystalline, polycrystalline, nanocrystalline, nanodot or quantum dot and amorphous form and/or mixture thereof.
In addition, certain of these rare earths, sometimes in combination with one or more rare earths, and one or more transition metals can absorb light at one wavelength (energy) and re-emit at another wavelength (energy). This is the essence of conversion; when the incident, adsorbed, radiation energy per photon is less than the emission, emitted, energy per photon the process is referred to as "up conversion". "Down conversion" is the process in which the incident energy per photon is higher than the emission energy per photon. An example of up conversion is Er absorbing at 1,480 nm and exhibiting photoluminescence at 980 nm.
One concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,510; more recent work in this field has mainly focused on the addition of rare earths to phosphorescent compounds. The historical approaches however add a conversion layer to either a completed solar cell or module with the majority also requiring an additional reflective component to return the converted spectrum back into the cell so that it can contribute to the generated photocurrent. U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,203 discloses up and down conversion with a rare earth compound comprising a rare earth element and at least one other element selected from chalcogens, halogens, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon; wherein the rare earth compound is not mixed with compounds containing other rare earth elements and wherein the rare earth compound is irradiated at a sufficient intensity to heat the rare earth compound to facilitate electronic transitions. U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,203 does not teach or suggest using a rare earth compound in conjunction with a photovoltaic device; U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,203 teaches away from the use of a rare earth compound with relatively low intensity radiation at room temperature for up or down conversion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,974 discloses a tandem Si—Ge solar cell with improved efficiency; the disclosed structure is a silicon substrate onto which a Si—Ge epitaxial layer is deposited and then a silicon cap layer is grown over the Si—Ge layer; no mention of rare earths is made. U.S. Pat. No. 7,364,989 discloses a silicon substrate, forming a silicon alloy layer of either Si—Ge or Si—C and the depositing a single crystal rare earth oxide, binary or ternary; the alloy content of the alloy layer is adjusted to select a type of strain desired; the preferred type of strain is "relaxed"; the preferred deposition method for the rare earth oxide is atomic layer deposition at temperatures below 300° C. While the Si—Ge film is "relaxed", its primary function is to impart no strain, tensile strain or compressive strain to the rare earth oxide layer; the goal being to improve colossal magnetoresistive, CMR, properties of the rare earth oxide. A preferred method disclosed requires a manganese film be deposited on a silicon alloy first. Recent work on rare earth films deposited by an ALD process indicate the films are typically polycrystalline or amorphous.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,417 discloses a first solar cell comprising silicon and a second GaP solar cell. U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,974 discloses a second solar cell comprising silicon-germanium formed on a silicon substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 6,566,595 discloses a tandem solar cell comprising a compound semiconductor and a quantum well layer of a second compound semiconductor. U.S. Pat. No. 6,372,980 discloses a two terminal tandem solar cell comprising InGaAs and GaAs. U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,788 discloses a Si or SiGe solar cell comprising multiple subcells; optionally, transition layer(s) of GaPAs and GaInP are part of the structure. U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,320 discloses a tandem solar cell comprising a first solar cell stacked upon a second solar cell. The cited prior art does not disclose a tandem solar cell comprising a rare earth transition layer of varying composition.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An element, pillow or cushion for the reduction or elimination of noise in buildings, from highways, from industrial machinery, and from airports comprising a sound transparent covering and a sound absorbent interior, the element or pillow being used singly or in properly spaced arrays.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sound suppression elements or means for reduction, abatement, or suppression of annoying and harmful noise produced by crowds of people, traffic on roads, highways, and freeways, industrial machinery, or by jet aircraft during takeoff and runup at airports. The instant invention pertains to a new and improved means for noise suppression and abatement with universal application.
II. Description of Related Art
In order to properly describe the prior art related to the present invention one must look to all of the possibilities of application of the present invention. Since the present invention has a broad application, the following areas of application are considered: buildings where people congregate, and especially larger buildings such as auditoriums and sports arenas; highways and freeways; industrial applications; and airports.
In large buildings such as gymnasiums, auditoriums, sports arenas, and theatres sound suppression is often attempted with ceilings of fiberglass squares and walls that are carpeted or designed with irregular surfaces. Conventional methods absorb some of the noise, but reflect a high percentage back to the crowd or transmit the excess noise to the exterior of the building.
Suppression of freeway or highway traffic noise in populated areas is either forgotten or interrupted by growing trees and bushes along the freeways, an approach that is of limited value. Another approach is to use masonry walls along the freeways to reflect the traffic noise upwardly and away. The fault in this approach is that the noise then becomes a major annoyance for neighborhoods that are some distance from the traffic.
The noise which can be annoying, and hazardous from industrial machinery has seldom been treated. If the machinery was indoors only the building and possibly machinery housings were used to shield the sound. However, this did not effectively suppress the sound nor did it protect employees or operators.
The methods employed for suppression of noise produced by jet aircraft during jet engine runup and takeoff vary based upon the containment of the airplane. Jet engines are commonly run up to full power while on the ground to test the engines. This results in a great amount of noise and a tremendous blast of hot exhaust gases from the engines of the aircraft. The term commonly used for this activity is "engine runup". On takeoff the blast is ordinarily directed upward by blast fences that are constructed at the ends of airport runways. The blast fences reflect the gases exhausted by the jet engines, but the blast fences have very little effect upon the noise created that can be heard for miles.
During engine runup and testing, the airplanes can be contained at one location. The usual methods of sound suppression during runup and testing include containment in a ground runup enclosure (GRE). GRE's usually consist of a fence that surrounds the airplaine on at least three (3) sides. The blast from the engine is deflected by a blast fence that is placed at some distance behind the jet engines. Behind the blast fence would be disposed a wall that is considerably taller than the blast fence. The wall supports a matrix of boxes which are attached side to side and end to end to a support structure. The boxes would nominally be made of metal or concrete, rectangular in shape, have openings in the front to admit sound waves and contain a sound absorptive material, such as mineral fibre or fiberglass. Another method for suppression of sound during runup is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,528. The jet engines are plugged into curved tubular deflectors which direct the jet blast and sound upward into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, a considerable amount of the noise is transmitted to distant neighborhoods. The drawbacks of these methods are higher initial cost, greater labor costs, and inefficiency of sound reduction.
The improvements embodied in the present invention address and alleviate the sound propagation problems related to crowds, traffic, machinery and airplanes. The present invention presents sound absorption implements that are considerably less expensive and more effective than existing sound absorption devices.


A ceiling fan structure includes a mounting bracket, a hanging plate, a coupling, and a motor. The mounting bracket is fixed to a ceiling. The hanging plate has a top fixed to the mounting bracket. The top is formed with a recessed accommodating groove for accommodating a first electronic component. The coupling is connected to a bottom of the accommodating groove and extends downward. The coupling is connected with a support plate extending horizontally. The support plate is configured to support a second electronic component. The internal space of the ceiling fan structure is properly planned so that the components of the ceiling fan structure can be reasonably configured, so as to improve the efficiency of assembly.

As shown in FIG. 4, a conventional ceiling fan structure includes a mounting bracket 81 fixed to a ceiling. A rod 82 is coupled under the mounting bracket 81 for hanging a motor and fan blades. The rod 82 is further fixed to a support plate 83. The support plate 83 is configured to support various electronic components used for controlling the motor, such as a forward/reverse rotation controller 91, a receiver 92, a capacitor 93, a circuit board, and so on. However, the above-mentioned various electronic components need to be connected to each other by wires. Due to the large number of components, the wiring work is very complicated and error-prone. In addition, since the above-mentioned various electronic components are arranged on the support plate, the space is not enough to cause the components and their wires to crowd each other, which has the disadvantage of affecting heat dissipation.


The embodiments of the disclosure provide a pupil center positioning apparatus and method, and a virtual reality device. The pupil center positioning apparatus may comprise: a matrix operation circuit configured to obtain a set of linear normal equations according to received N boundary point coordinates of a pupil area, N being a positive integer greater than 5; a parameter operation circuit configured to obtain parameters of an elliptic equation employing the Cramer's Rule according to the set of linear normal equations; and a coordinate operation circuit configured to obtain the center coordinate of the pupil area according to the parameters of the elliptic equation.

In recent years, virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) technologies have been gradually applied to display, game, medical and other fields. With the development of technology, people's expectations for VR/AR are higher and higher, the interaction approach of realizing perspective transformation by rotation of the head may no longer bring people a satisfactory product experience, and therefore, the eye tracking technology has gradually become an important technology that promotes the VR/AR device experience. The eye tracking technology is an intelligent human-machine interaction technology for controlling a machine with eye movement, and it may complete all the operations with eye "look", which not only may free both hands, but is also the fastest and humanized control mode. The eye tracking technology is introduced into the VR/AR field, which may not only meet the needs of high-definition rendering, but also greatly improve the interaction experience of a VR/AR device. In the interaction of a user with a VR/AR user interface via eyes, it may be possible to directly control a menu and trigger an operation with eyes, and hence enable people to get rid of unnatural head operations.

Pupil center positioning apparatus and method, and virtual reality device


A fat or oil composition comprising a polyvalent unsaturated fatty acid component and an emulsifying agent having an HLB of 4 or less, wherein the amount of the emulsifying agent having an HLB of 4 or less is from 25 to 300 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the polyvalent unsaturated fatty acid component. The fat or oil composition can be used as an oil-in-water droplet emulsion composition. The fat or oil composition and the oil-in-water droplet emulsion composition can be used for foodstuff and the like.

Polyvalent unsaturated fatty acids such as DHA, DPA, EPA and ARA have been known to be contained richly as a fat or oil in fish such as tuna, yellowtail, mackerel, eel or sardine, an animal living in the sea such as seal, or a microorganism. These polyvalent unsaturated fatty acids, for instance, exhibit various physiological activities such as action for suppressing platelet aggregation, action for lowering neutral lipid in blood, action for ameliorating learning and memorization and action for ameliorating allergy.
However, these polyvalent unsaturated fatty acids are very highly likely to be oxidized, so that the deterioration of the tastes takes place, so that unpleasant odor and taste are exhibited in some cases. Therefore, in a case where a fish oil is utilized as food, various methods of preventing generation of unpleasant odors and oxidization have been proposed.
As the methods, there have been known, for instance, a method of coating a fish oil with a protein hydrolysate and a milk solid content (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-98286), a method of blending a fish oil in a powdered milk for infant rearing (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 1-80250), a method of wrapping a fish oil with cyclodextrin (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 4-178348), a method of improving storage ability of a powdered milk with vitamin C (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 4-178349), a method of masking a fish oil with a lime flavor (see, for instance, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. Sho 60-18382), a method of masking a fish oil with a yogurt flavor or milk flavor (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-68), a method of blending a fish oil in a fermented milk (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-90662), a method of blending a fish oil in ice cream (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 63-216435) and the like.
In addition, besides those mentioned above, in order to improve the storage ability of a fish oil, there has been reported a method of suppressing oxidation deterioration comprising adding an antioxidant such as tocopherol or a tea extract (see, for instance, Gekkan Fudokemikaru (Monthly Issue Food Chemical), K.K. Shokuhin Kagaku Shinbun, 1990, 5, 54-60).
However, although various methods have been proposed as mentioned above, the generation of the taste of unpleasant fish odor cannot be satisfactorily suppressed in these methods.
For instance, there is a defect in the method of coating a fish oil with a protein hydrolysate and a milk solid content, the method of blending a fish oil in a powdered milk for infant rearing, and the method of wrapping a fish oil with cyclodextrin that the generation of an unpleasant odor is caused due to the oxidation of the polyvalent unsaturated fatty acid during storage.
In addition, as to the method of improving storage ability of a powdered milk with vitamin C, hardly any deodorizing effects can be expected. Also, in the method of masking a fish oil with a flavor, there is not only a defect that an unpleasant odor is felt after the intake, but also a defect that the application range to foodstuff is limited.
In the method of blending a fish oil in a fermented milk, there is a defect that since the fish odor is masked with an odor owned by the fermented milk, an unpleasant odor is felt after the intake.
In the method of blending a fish oil in ice cream, since the ice cream is subjected to frozen storage, the progress of the oxidation is suppressed to a certain extent, but some unpleasant odors are felt upon intake possibly due to the aggregation of the fish oil in the demulsification upon the preparation. Also, in the masking with a fermented milk, ice cream or the like, there is a defect that its application is limited.
Furthermore, in the method of adding tocopherol or a tea extract to a fish oil, hardly any deodorizing effects are obtained even when tocopherol is added at 0.1%. Also, if the tea extract is added in an amount of 0.1%, the oxidation degradation effects disappear in a short period of time, even though the oxidation degradation can be suppressed more than tocopherol, thereby showing elevation of peroxide value. Therefore, the effects are not satisfactory.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the prior arts mentioned above. An object of the present invention is to provide a fat or oil composition which hardly generates an unpleasant odor or foreign taste even when a polyvalent unsaturated fatty acid such as DHA, DPA, EPA or ARA, an ester thereof or the like is formulated in foodstuff, and an oil-in-water droplet emulsion composition using the composition, and foodstuff containing these compositions.


Apparatus and methods for charge collection control in radiation detectors are provided. One radiation detector includes a semiconductor substrate, at least one cathode on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a plurality of anodes on a surface of the semiconductor substrate opposite the at least one cathode, wherein the plurality of anodes have gaps therebetween. The radiation detector further includes a charge collection control arrangement configured to cause one or more charges induced within the semiconductor substrate by incident photons to drift towards one or more of the plurality of anodes.

The subject matter described herein relates generally to pixelated radiation detectors, and more particularly to pixelated radiation detectors for nuclear medical (NM) imaging, such as a radiation camera head for Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), Computed Tomography (CT) and/or Positron Emission Tomography (PET).
In direct conversion detectors, such as semiconductor radiation detectors, the interaction of the incident photons with the semiconductor from which the detector is made produces a cloud of charge-carriers including electron-holes pairs. The electrons drift toward the positively biased pixelated anodes and the holes drift toward the negatively biased cathode. The efficiency of the charge collection by the pixelated anodes depends upon the geometrical structure of the detector and the physical properties of the semiconductor bulk from which the detector is made, among other factors. Additionally, factors not related to the physical properties of the semiconductor bulk, such as lifetime and mobility that affect the detector incomplete charge collection, are the charge sharing between adjacent anodes and the surface recombination in the gap between the anodes.
At least one known method to improve the charge collection is to sum the signal of adjacent pixels in which the signals appear simultaneously. However, the summing method does not solve the problem of the electrons surface-recombination in the gaps between the anodes and also does not recover a large fraction of the shared events that have signals which are below the electronic threshold level. Additionally, the fraction of the shared events that the summing process can account for are reconstructed while increasing the noise (energy resolution).


A display device includes a pair of glass substrates. On the side of each of the pair of glass substrates, a press mark is formed between a first end of each of the pair of glass substrates and a position at least 0.3 mm but no more than 3 mm away from the first end, another press mark is formed between a second end of each of the pair of glass substrates and a position at least 0.3 mm but no more than 3 mm away from the second end, a scribing groove having a predetermined scribing amount is formed between the press marks, and there are rib marks in the scribing groove.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display device having a pair of glass substrates and a method for cutting it. Specifically, the invention relates to a display device having a pair of glass substrates and a method for cutting it in which, when a glass substrate of a display device is cut by an internal scribing method, vertical movement of a scribing wheel is reduced to improve the cutting efficiency, and that is less prone to cracking, chipping, and waste residue.
2. Related Art
Thin display devices such as LCDs have a bonded glass substrate pair. A process for manufacturing such display devices having a bonded glass substrate pair includes a process for cutting a large glass substrate pair into separate pieces and a process for cutting off peripheral portions. In such cutting processes, there is generally used a process including forming a scribing groove (also called "scribing") using, for example, a sintered diamond cutter (scribing wheel), and breaking. This known scribing and breaking process will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8E.
FIGS. 8A to 8E are side views step by step illustrating the known scribing and breaking process.
A bonded glass substrate pair to be cut consists of a first glass substrate 51 and a second glass substrate 52. First, a scribing groove 54 is formed in the surface of the first glass substrate 51 using a scribing wheel 53 along a cutting line (FIG. 8A). Thereafter, the bonded glass substrate pair (51 and 52) is reversed and placed on a breaking table (not shown). A rubber roller 55 is pressed against the second glass substrate 52 at a position corresponding to the scribing groove 54. A crack 56 is thereby formed in the first glass substrate 51 from the scribing groove 54 (FIG. 8B). Next, a scribing groove 57 is formed in the surface of the second glass substrate 52 using the scribing wheel 53 along a cutting line (FIG. 8C). Thereafter, the bonded glass substrate pair (51 and 52) is reversed and placed on the breaking table. The rubber roller 55 is pressed against the first glass substrate 51 at a position corresponding to the scribing groove 57. A crack 58 is thereby formed in the second glass substrate 52 from the scribing groove 57 (FIG. 8D). In this way, the cracks 56 and 58 are formed in the bonded glass substrate pair (51 and 52). By removing portions 591 and 592 from the bonded glass substrate pair (51 and 52), a display panel 50 of a predetermined size is obtained (FIG. 8E).
Instead of the rubber roller 55, a breaking bar can be used in the breaking process (see JP-A-2003-131185).
In the scribing process, there is normally used a method in which scribing using a scribing wheel is performed throughout the length of a glass substrate (hereinafter referred to as "external cutting scribing method"). This external cutting scribing method is effective when the thickness of one of the pair of glass substrates is 0.3 mm or more. However, when the thickness of one of the pair of glass substrates is less than 0.3 mm (for example, 0.225 mm) as in display devices used in recent small mobile devices, using the above external cutting scribing method causes cracking and/or chipping at the start of scribing.
Therefore, in the case of scribing a thin glass substrate, there is used a scribing method in which scribing is performed inside the edge of a glass substrate by using a special scribing wheel (hereinafter referred to as "internal cutting scribing method"). This internal cutting scribing method is a method in which a head of a scribing machine is driven vertically so that a scribing wheel is lowered onto a portion inside the edge of a glass substrate, a scribing process is started, and thereafter the scribing wheel is raised before reaching the edge of the glass substrate. This internal cutting scribing method makes it possible to form a scribing groove without causing chipping even when the thickness of one of the pair of glass substrates is less than 0.3 mm.
In the case of the above-described external cutting scribing method, when the thickness of one of the pair of glass substrates is 0.3 mm or more, scribing grooves can be formed continuously in a plurality of glass substrates with the height of the scribing wheel held constant, without causing chipping. However, when the thickness of one of the pair of glass substrates is less than 0.3 mm, the external cutting scribing method is difficult to use because cracking and/or chipping occurs at the start of scribing.
In contrast, the internal cutting scribing method does not cause chipping at the start of scribing even when the thickness of one of the pair of glass substrates is less than 0.3 mm. However, since the portion between the edge of a glass substrate and the scribing start position is not scribed, the internal cutting scribing method is prone to waste residue. In addition, in order to form scribing grooves continuously in a plurality of glass substrates, it is necessary to repeat the processes of lowering the scribing wheel, forming a scribing groove, and raising the scribing wheel. Therefore, the capacity per unit time of the internal cutting scribing method is about 35% lower than that of the external cutting scribing method in which the height of the scribing wheel is held constant.

Display device having pair of glass substrates and method for cutting it


A semiconductor light emitting device includes a substrate having first and second electrode patterns on at least one surface thereof, a light emitting structure on a surface of the substrate, a first electrode structure, a second electrode structure, an insulating layer, a first connection portion connecting the first electrode structure and the first electrode pattern, and a second connection portion connecting the second electrode structure extending outwardly from the light emitting structure and the second electrode pattern.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present inventive concepts relate to a semiconductor light emitting device and a fabrication method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Nitride semiconductors enjoy widespread use in connection with green or blue wavelength light emitting diodes (LED). They further are commonly used in laser diodes that are provided as a light source in full-color displays, image scanners, various signaling systems, or optical communications devices. LED devices of this type commonly include an active layer that emits light of various colors, including blue and green, through the recombination of electrons and holes.
As remarkable progress has been made in the area of nitride semiconductor light emitting devices since they were first developed, the utilization thereof has been greatly expanded and research into utilizing semiconductor light emitting devices for use in general illumination devices, as well as for light sources in electronic devices, has been actively undertaken. In particular, nitride light emitting devices have largely been used as components in low-current/low output mobile products, and recently, the utilization of nitride light emitting devices has extended into the field of high current/high output devices. As a result, research into improving the luminous efficiency and quality of semiconductor light emitting devices is active. In particular, light emitting devices having various electrode structures implemented to improve both optical power and reliability therein have been developed.

Semiconductor light emitting device and fabrication method thereof


An exciter ring assembly to detect rotational parameters of an axle within a tube has an exciter ring attached to the axle by an elastomer insert. The insert provides a frictional interference fit with the axle. The insert affixes the exciter ring to rotate with the axle. The elastomer insert is supplied with radially-spaced axial channels to enable oil flow past the assembly. The outer member of the assembly is press fit into the axle tube. The outer member remains stationary with respect to the axle tube. The outer member restricts the axial movement of the exciter ring and enables rotation of the exciter ring and provides oil flow across the exciter ring assembly.

The advent of anti-lock braking systems and traction control systems have created a need for accurate speed measurement of individual wheels of a vehicle. Accordingly, there has been an increase in motor vehicles equipped with speed sensing devices to measure axle rotation which, in turn, enables measurement of wheel speed.
Typically, a ferrous or magnetic exciter ring is installed to rotate with an axle. A sensor, fixed with respect to axle rotation, is placed in the vicinity of the teeth of the exciter ring. When an exciter ring is rotated near a variable reluctance sensor, the teeth on the exciter ring pass through the magnetic lines of flux generated by the magnet in the sensor. As the teeth are passing through the magnetic lines of flux, a voltage is generated in the coil within the sensor. The magnitude of the voltage is related to the speed and size of the exciter ring teeth in addition to design parameters inside the sensor, and inversely related to the distance between the sensor and the exciter ring teeth. The exciter ring assembly will also work similarly with an active (Hall Effect) sensor. The sensor is coupled to a control system which calculates the angular speed of the axle. The best sensor design selection is dependent upon the needs of the controller system. Calculation is carried out with inputs of the number of teeth sensed per unit of time and the known number of teeth of the exciter ring. During acceleration or deceleration, the instantaneous speed of the axle is not directly measurable by these speed sensing devices due to the finite number of teeth on the exciter ring. Thus, the accuracy of these devices is limited by the number of teeth of the exciter ring. A larger diameter exciter ring that provides more teeth can be used to obtain a more accurate speed measurement.
A variety of speed sensing devices have been used in the art. An example of a known speed sensing device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,350 to Grillo et al. which discloses an annular exciter ring. Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,669 to Ouchi. Here, a roller bearing unit includes an integral exciter ring.
It is known within the art to mount an exciter ring or target in the differential area of a driven axle. This location can usually accommodate a larger wheel since the differential housing within an axle assembly is typically of a larger diameter than the axle tube. One limitation to a speed sensing device located near the differential is the inaccuracy of the speed measurement associated with the elastic twisting of an axle under a torque loading or torque windup. While an axle is twisting, the actual wheel speed is not measured.
Alternatively, it is known to provide a speed sensing device that is integral with the wheel bearing assembly of an axle. This location reduces the inaccuracy due to torque windup, and increase complexity and mass. Additionally, the bearing assembly will have a higher cost and a different seal assembly may be required. While the above speed sensing devices may perform adequately for their intended purposes, a need exists for an improved exciter ring assembly that is less complex, provides for easier installation, and results in a more accurate measurement of actual wheel speed.


An air spring hammer device that includes a drive piston, moving axially back and forth, with a front face of hollow embodiment and a hammer piston moving in said hollow. A ventilation slot is embodied in a guide wall of the drive piston. The drive piston may be guided in a guide tube. The guide tube comprises several idle openings. A moving control element is arranged on the exterior of the guide tube, in which control openings, corresponding to the idle openings, are provided. In an idle operating mode, the control element is in an open position, via which the ventilation slot, the idle openings and the control openings can be brought into connection with the environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic spring hammer device.
Pneumatic spring hammer devices are standardly used in drilling and/or striking hammers (called "hammers" in the following) in order to exert impacts on a tool at regular intervals. For this purpose, a design has proven successful in which a drive sets a drive piston into an axial back-and-forth motion that is transmitted to an impact piston via an air spring that arises in a hollow space between the drive piston and the impact piston. Finally, the impact piston strikes the tool or a header situated between the piston and the tool.
In a preferred design for such a pneumatic hammer device, the drive piston is fashioned so as to be hollow on its front side, the impact piston being guided in the cavity of the drive piston. This is also referred to as a hollow piston hammer device.
This design has proven to be very successful in practice; due to the low mass of the drive piston only slight idle oscillations occur, and no seal is required between the pistons. However, a disadvantage is that the transition between idle operation and impact operation does not always take place with the desired degree of precision, resulting in a higher risk of idle hammering when the operator actually desires to change over to idle operation. Impacts with lower intensity, or even undesired idle operation, can also result if the operator does not press the hammer fully against the material to be processed, or if the impact piston recoil does not take place. In both cases, operability and/or work results are adversely affected.
2. Description of the Related Art
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,622 B1, a hollow piston hammer device having a return spring is known. Here a control disk is provided that interrupts a connection to the return spring when there is a changeover between impact operation and idle operation, while an idle opening is moved over an air duct, so that a hollow space that accommodates the air spring can be brought into connection with the surrounding environment.
In DE 198 47 687 A1, a hollow piston hammer device having sleeve controlling is described. The sleeve controlling enables a reliable and precise changeover between idle operation and impact operation, using a control sleeve that can be axially displaced. When the control sleeve is in the idle position, the hollow space formed between the drive position and the impact piston.
The hollow piston hammer device according to DE 198 47 687 A1 has performed outstandingly in practice. Nonetheless, it has been noted that improvements could be made with respect to its strength and sealing properties.

Hollow piston hammer device with air equilibration and idle openings


A method for manufacturing highly integrated NAND and NOR logic mask read only memory (MROM) devices is disclosed. Over the top surface of a semiconductor substrate, where a first polysilicon layer is formed, a pattern of a gate electrode is formed along a word line in the order of odd numbers or even numbers. Next, an insulation layer having a thickness of a submicron range is formed over the top surface of the substrate. And then a photoresist is covered and an etch back process is performed. Thereafter, the exposed insulation layer caused by the etch back process and the polysilicon layer are selectively etched to form a word line spacing corresponding to a thickness of the insulation layer. Thus, spacing between adjacent word lines can be minimized and a process margin can be sufficiently ensured.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing highly integrated NAND and NOR logic mask read only memory (MROM) devices.
Generally, a mask read only memory (hereinafter referred to as a mask ROM) is used for storing a control logic such as a microprogram in an information processing system or the contents of a game in a game chip, or it is used in an office automation equipment and an electronic musical instrument, etc.
Recently, as the more increased storage capacity and the high resolution of a character font and high tone quality in the office automation equipment, electric musical instrument or television game, etc., is carried out, a demand for a cheap and large capacity large-scale integration mask ROM has increased. In order to meet such a demand, a NAND logic mask ROM for increasing integrated degree is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,176. The NAND logic mask ROM has a structure that a plurality of depletion mode transistors and a plurality of enhancement mode transistors are serially connected through a diffusion layer. The NAND logic mask ROM requires only one contact per string. In the NAND logic mask ROM, the string is defined as a group of cells serially connected between each column line and a ground voltage terminal. The NAND logic mask ROM disclosed in the above patent is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
FIG. 1 shows a partial equivalent circuit diagram of the NAND logic mask ROM and serially connected eight memory cells constitute one string. A first transistor 1 connected to a bit line B/L is a string select transistor and its gate is used as a string select line. Second to ninth transistors 2 to 9 connected between the first transistor 1 and a ground voltage terminal are operated as memory cells. A memory cell array of the NAND logic mask ROM is constructed so that a plurality of memory strings are in parallel connected to the bit line and a memory cell positioned on the same row shares word lines 12 to 19. When performing the reading operation by selecting, for example, the fourth transistor 4, a reading voltage of approximately 1 to 2 volts is applied to a selected bit line, and a power voltage Vcc is applied to the word lines 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the memory cell except for a selected string line 11 and the fourth transistor 4. Meanwhile, the word line 14 of the fourth transistor 4 is grounded. In this case, an unselected bit line, the string select line and an unselected word line are a grounded state. As a result, if the fourth transistor 4 is an enhancement mode, the fourth transistor 4 is turned off by a ground voltage applied to its gate. Thus, since the reading voltage applied to the bit line is cut off, a logic "0" is read out. Moreover, if the fourth transistor 4 is a depletion mode, the fourth transistor 4 is turned on by the ground voltage applied to its gate. Thus, since the reading voltage applied to the bit line is transferred to the fourth transistor 4, a logic "1" is read out. That is, a logic "1" or "0" is read out by applying the ground voltage to the gate of a cell using a depletion transistor of a normally ON type and an enhancement transistor of a normally OFF type.
FIG. 2 is a layout schematic view of a conventional NAND logic mask ROM of FIG. 1. It should be noted that the same parts as those shown in FIG. are designated by like reference numerals. First there is an longitudinally elongated active line 22 which is formed within a semiconductor substrate. The word lines 11 to 19 and a ground line 20 are laterally elongated from the upper portion of the active line 22 and longitudinally disposed in parallel. A metal line 24 is overlapped with the active line 22 from the upper portion of the word lines 11 to 19, and a contact region 26 is for contacting the active line 22 and the metal line 24.
FIG. 3 is cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along the line a--a'. Over the surface of a semiconductor substrate 30 of a first conductivity type, where a field oxide layer 32 is formed, a plurality of gates 11 to 16 interposing a gate oxide layer 34 are formed. A metal layer 24 contacting with a predetermined active region 22 is separated with the plurality of gates 11 to 16 by an insulation interlayer 36. In this case, a plurality of transistors including the gates 11 to 16 are serially connected by the active region 22 formed between the gates 11 to 16. Moreover, each transistor is a programmed state to an enhancement mode or a depletion mode and the gates 11 to 16 are used as word lines.
In case of a conventional NAND logic mask ROM, after forming a polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) layer, a word line of a memory cell is simultaneously formed by performing a photolithography process. Consequently, spacing between word lines is limited by a limitation of the photolithography process. That is, when forming a pattern by the photolithography process, since the pattern spacing of a photoresist is limited by a resolution limitation of a mask pattern, it is difficult to render the separation spacing between the word lines below the limitation value of the photolithography process. Furthermore, after completing a pattern of the word line, the ion implantation process of impurities is carried out in order to program each memory cell to a wanted mode. To this, during the photolithography process for exposing only a predetermined gate to which impurities are implanted, an accurate alignment of a mask is required. If the alignment of the mask is not accurate, since the impurities are implanted into the neighboring memory cell, the operation of the reliable mask ROM can't be obtained.
Next, a layout schematic view of a conventional NOR logic mask ROM is shown in FIG. 4. A word line 42 parallel to a second direction of a longitudinal direction is extended to a first direction of a transverse direction. An active region 44 is extended to the second direction, and a bit line 46 is overlapped with the active region 44 and formed on the upper portion thereof. A contact region 48 is contacted by the active region 44 and the bit line 46. However, since one contact region is formed with respect to two bits, it has a problem that the entire area is increased.
FIG. 5 is a layout schematic view of another conventional NOR logic mask ROM. The NOR logic mask ROM called a flat cell is available from Sharp Co., and described in "Symposium on VLSI Circuit", 1988, PP. 85 and 86. A word line 50 formed with a polysilicon layer is extended to a first direction of a transverse direction and disposed in parallel to a second direction of a longitudinal direction. A bit line 52 formed with an n+ diffusion layer is disposed in parallel to the first direction and extended to the second direction. When one word line passes neighboring two bit lines, a channel region is formed and the channel region operated as a unit cell 54. Meanwhile, since the bit line is formed with the n+ diffusion layer, only one contact region is formed with respect to a few tens of cells considering the resistance of the bit line instead of one contact region per cell. In the above figure, one contact region is formed with respect to 32 bits. Moreover, since a bit line used as a source or drain of one cell is used as a drain or source of a neighboring cell, the source and drain regions of each cell are reduced to a half in comparison with a conventional mask ROM.
FIG. 6 shows an equivalent circuit diagram of the NOR logic mask ROM shown in FIG. 5. A channel is formed between neighboring two bit lines, and gates in a same row share a word line. When performing reading operation by selecting, for example, a transistor 54, a power source voltage Vcc of approximately 5 volts and a voltage of approximately 2 volts is applied to a bit line B/L1 and a word line W/L2, respectively and a bit line B/L2 is grounded. Moreover, unselected bit lines B/L3, . . . maintain a floating state and unselected word lines W/L1, W/L3, . . . are grounded. As a result, if the threshold voltage of the selected cell is under 2 volts, the selected cell is turned on and the current comes to flow, thereby reading out a logic "1" state.
FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along the line b--b' of a word line direction, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along the line c--c' of a bit line direction.
In FIG. 7A, an active region 52 of a second conductivity type formed on a predetermined region of a semiconductor substrate 56 having a first conductivity type is used as a bit line. On the top surface of the substrate 56, a gate oxide layer 60, a word line 50 formed with a polysilicon layer and an insulation layer 62 are successively formed, and a metal layer 58 is formed over the upper portion of the active region 52.
In FIG. 7B, a gate oxide layer 60 is formed on the top surface of the semiconductor substrate 56 of the first conductivity type. Moreover, the word line 50 is formed over a predetermined region of the substrate 56 and the insulation layer 62 is formed over the whole surface of the substrate 56. However, in this case, when performing a pattern, the separation spacing between the word lines is limited by the limitation of the ordinary photolithography process. Meanwhile, as an obstacle factor for reducing the separation spacing between the adjacent word lines to a submicron range, a process margin during ion implantation process for programming the cell should be taken into account. That is, if the separation spacing is the submicron range, since a neighboring cell in addition to a programmed cell is exposed caused by a misalignment or overdevelopment, etc., unwanted data may be stored. Thus, in order to ensure the reliability of products, the word line spacing determining a cell spacing couldn't be reduced to a certain degree.
As described above, in a conventional NAND and NOR logic mask ROMs, since the minimum spacing between the word lines is limited by the limitation of the photolithography process, it has a disadvantage that the achievement of the highly integrated memory device is difficult. Meanwhile, even if the spacing between the word lines becomes a submicron range, during the program of a memory cell, it is difficult to ensure the process margin. Moreover, a very high precision in a process is required for programming only a wanted cell.