By constructing an apertured foil with at least one zone having a thickness greater than the thickness of the remaining foil member and positioning the zone of increased thickness in the central area of the apertured foil, an apertured foil construction for a dry shaver is attained which provides greater control over the cutting and shaving of longer hair fibers simultaneously with the cutting/shaving of shorter hair fibers. In the preferred embodiments, either one or two increased thickness zones are employed to attain the optimum benefits of the present invention. In addition, the present invention is constructed to prevent the skin from entering the apertures, thereby preventing skin irritation.

Over the last several years, both men and women have been increasingly drawn to the advantages provided by electric dry shavers. In general, the consuming public has found that the use of razors or other systems is extremely inconvenient for removing or shaving short hair or stubble, as commonly found in mens' beards and on womens' legs. In addition, with the ever increasing time constraints and commitments individuals typically encounter, a fast and effective shaving system is most desirable.
The discomfort, as well as the time consumed in using shaving cream, soaps or gels in order to provide a medium for which a razor can be used, requires more time and inconvenience than most individuals are willing or capable of allowing. Furthermore, the cost of maintaining a sufficient supply of these products creates an additional burden. Consequently, electric dry shavers have become increasingly popular, as well as battery-operated electric dry shavers which can withstand exposure to moisture, thereby enabling individuals to simultaneously shower, as well as shave either beards or legs.
As the popularity of electric dry shavers increased, various product designs and alternate constructions proliferated, in an attempt to improve and enhance the comfort and cutting efficiency of such shavers. However, in spite of these product changes, difficulties have continued to exist in providing optimum results with optimum comfort.
One particular configuration has been found to be extremely efficacious in achieving high quality shaving results, as well as being extremely comfortable to use. This configuration comprises the various models of electric dry shavers incorporating a movable cutting blade which cooperates with a thin, flexible mesh screen or apertured foil.
In operation, the cutting blades are rapidly and continuously reciprocatingly moved against one side of the mesh screen or apertured foil, causing the cutting blades to repeatedly cross the plurality of apertures and provide a virtually continuous cutting action at each aperture. Then, by sliding or guiding the other side of the mesh screen or apertured foil over the skin surface to be shaven, the individual hair shafts enter the holes formed in the screen or foil and are cut by the movement of the cutting blades.
Although this dry shaving cutting system has proven to be extremely effective, as compared to other dry shaving products, one area of difficulty does exist which prior art systems have been unable to satisfactorily resolve. This area is the inability of prior art electric dry shavers incorporating apertured foils to effectively cut longer hair or whisker shanks or fibers. Longer hair shanks or fibers tend to be less rigid and, consequently, do not enter the apertures of the foil member as the dry shaver is moved over the skin surface. Instead of entering the apertures, the fibers tend to bend and be flexed away from the foil, thereby remaining uncut, leaving an unsatisfactory result.
In an attempt to resolve this continuing problem, some prior art apertured foil constructions enlarge the diameter of the apertures or employ elongated slots in order to allow the longer hair fibers to enter the apertures and be cut by the oscillating or reciprocating blades. However, it has been found that such constructions have been unable to fully satisfy the consumer's desire for a close and comfortable shave, since large diameters or elongated slots formed in apertured foils typically cause skin irritation.
It has been found that these prior art constructions, which incorporate larger diameter apertures and/or elongated slots, allow the skin surface to enter the aperture, along with the hair fibers. As a result, the blade movement cutting the hair fiber also rubs across the skin surface, resulting in cuts, abrasions, and/or skin irritations.
Another measure commonly employed in dry shavers is the incorporation of a separate trimmer which allows longer hair fibers to be cut by the trimmer. Although conventional trimmers have been found to be effective in cutting some hair fibers, these trimmers are incapable of satisfactorily cutting longer hair fibers on the face and neck of an individual in a manner which provides dependable, controlled cutting of such fibers.
Consequently, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved apertured foil construction for electric dry shavers whereby longer hair fibers are consistently and dependably cut as part of the normal shaving operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apertured foil construction for electric dry shavers having the characteristic features described above which is capable of providing substantially improved comfort and shaving efficiency, while also providing enhanced and improved results.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apertured foil construction for electric dry shavers having the characteristic features described above which virtually eliminates any area wherein longer hair fibers are not cut due to the contours of the surface being shaved or the inability of the hair fibers to enter the apertured foil of the shaver.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apertured foil construction for electric dry shavers having the characteristic features described above which virtually eliminates unwanted, unshaven areas.
Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

Long hair cutting and beard lifting foil construction


A garment for aquatic sports, including a torso-forming part which includes a front panel and a rear panel, which is provided with openings for the passage of the head, legs, and arms, the garment also including an opening in the form of a slit, provided with a fastening mechanism. The garment includes an internal collar, a main portion of which surrounds the user's neck, the collar being fixed to an inner surface of the torso-forming part.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to aquatic sportswear, in particular sportswear that is generally referred to as wetsuits, and which are more particularly adapted to nautical or underwater sporting activities, such as surfing, board sailing, diving, etc.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
Sportswear of the aforementioned type are generally classified in two categories: dry or waterproof suits in which water does not penetrate inside the suit, and wetsuits in which a thin film of water is allowed between the garment and the diver's body, this film being almost instantaneously heated by the diver's body.
Such aquatic suits generally comprise a main portion that covers the torso, a front panel of which covers the front portion of the thorax, and a rear panel covering the back. This main portion that covers the torso includes openings for the passage of the arms, legs, and head. The garment can include sleeves and legs for covering the upper limbs and the lower limbs, respectively.
These garments, in particular wetsuits, are generally made of flexible and elastic material so as to fit the shape of the body as closely as possible without hindering movement of the wearer. For example, these materials can be elastic fabrics (such as fabrics having elasthane), or polychloroprene foams (known under the trademark NEOPRENE®), these materials being capable of being assembled to one another at various locations of the same garment. Depending on the choice of these materials, these garments can offer protection against the cold, impacts, the sun, etc.
Various systems are provided to facilitate the wearer putting on and removing such garments. The most widely used of the systems is that which includes an opening in the form of a slit in the torso-forming part of the garment. This slit is often arranged in the rear panel of the garment, and it extends, for example, vertically along the spine, from the neckline down to the lower back. The slit is provided with fastening arrangement which is generally made in the form of a slide fastener or zipper.
The conventional arrangement for the fastening of the slit poses problems of comfort and imperviousness in the area of the neck and in the area of the slit.
Various alternative embodiments are disclosed in the documents FR-2 769 475, GB-2 312 643, U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,364, U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,229, U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,703, and WO-00/66423. All of these documents describe suits that do not have the slit provided with fastening means to avoid water infiltration. Therefore, these constructions require providing an opening for the passage of the head, at the top of the suit, which is sufficiently large to also allow for the passage of the entire user's body. Imperviousness in the area of this opening is ensured by an external flap that is supposed to be imperviously pressed on the torso-forming part. In certain cases, two superimposed external flaps are even provided. However, these constructions have proven unsatisfactory due much difficulty in putting on the suit due to the lack of a closable slit, on the one hand, and due to the lack of imperviousness in the area of the opening for the passage of the head, on the other hand. Indeed, the flaps are not efficiently pressed against the torso, in particular when the user makes wide movements with the upper limbs.


A self-reversing tapping attachment comprises a forward drive member and a reverse drive member drivingly engageable with a tap spindle drive member, as well as gear members drivingly engageable with the forward drive member and the reverse drive member, and includes shock absorbers cushioning impact between the driver members and the gear members. An exchangeable chuck holding a tap is detachably mountable on the tap spindle driver, permitting use of taps of different weight and material.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates and pertains to tapping attachments, i.e. tools which carry taps for threading holes and are driven by a driving machine or power center and to reduction of stress and wear for components thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The field of the invention and the prior art are exemplified in the field of self-reversing tapping attachments by reference to prior patents assigned to the assignee of the instant application. These include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,999,642; 4,014,421; 4,566,829; 4,705,437; 5,203,651; 5,209,616; 5,213,413 and 5,628,593 and patents cited therein, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. The aforesaid patents and application disclose and claim tapping attachments including a tap holding spindle and simultaneously rotating forward and reverse drivers, the spindle being freely floating and moveable axially with respect to the forward and reverse drivers. Under forward drive in which the tap holder spindle is driven by the forward driver, the tap threads a hole being tapped in the workpiece and thereby screws itself into the hole. Upon cessation of feed by the driving machine with retraction of the driving machine, relative axial movement results between the tap holding spindle and the driver members such that the forward drive member becomes disengaged from the tap spindle which at this point is held relatively stationary due to the fact that the tap has become fastened to the workpiece. Upon further retractive movement by the tapping machine and further relative movement, the reverse drive member becomes engaged with the tap holding spindle, causing reverse rotation thereof and thereby unscrewing the tap from the hole. In this manner, self-reversing by the tapping attachment itself as opposed to reversing by the driving machine, is accomplished. With the advent of powerful Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machining centers, self-reversing has become of greater and greater importance in that it causes reversing to occur in the tapping attachment, as opposed to requiring the driving machine to reverse its direction of rotation.
Self-reversing tapping attachments have particular parts which due to the very nature of self-reversing suffer greater stress and wear than other parts, especially in connection with modern ultra-high-speed tapping. Such stress and wear occur primarily in the transition between forward and reverse, wherein the balls in the coupling on the tap holding spindle proceed through a limited neutral zone between engagement with splines on the forward drive element and splines on the reverse drive element.
Existing devices such as those described and claimed in the above-described patents and patent application have improved stress resistance and useful life of wearable components; however, ever higher demands of speed and performance call for further improvement in wearability and reduction of stress on wearable parts.
Thus, there has been a need for further improvements in decrease of wear and reduction of stress on wearable parts in tapping attachments, particularly with respect to those operable at ultra-high rpm.

Self-reversing tapping attachment with shock absorption


An analyzing probe for insertion into numerous different environments to determine at least one characteristic of particulate matter suspended in a fluid stream of a test sample. Preferably, the analyzing probe includes a minimal amount of optical elements such as lenses that are subjected to the conditions of the environment of the fluid stream to be tested. Further, the analyzing probe is preferably designed so that it can be readily manufactured, operated and installed by relatively unskilled laborers.

Various devices have been used to test fluid streams to determine characteristics of particles in the fluid stream including particle size, type, distribution or concentration. These devices typically include a light source for generating electromagnetic radiation with a particular wavelength and an optical coupler for transmitting the light to a sensing region. The light illuminating the fluid stream is scattered by the particles suspended in the fluid stream. The scattered light is collected and transmitted to a processing element for analysis to determine various characteristics of the particles. Optical elements including lenses are commonly used to focus the light illuminating the fluid stream. Also, various optical elements such as lenses are used to focus the collected light.
Prior particle analyzing devices have employed a multitude of components and/or required significant adaptation of the environment to be tested to deploy the particle analyzer to test a given fluid stream. The complexity of these prior known devices has necessitated the use of very skilled laborers to manufacture, operate and deploy known particle analyzers to analyze particles in a given fluid stream. It is therefore desirous to develop a particle analyzer that is simple in construction to enable relatively unskilled laborers to manufacture, operate and deploy the particle analyzer to analyze particles in a given fluid stream.
Prior particle analyzing devices have often used a probe or transmitter of one sort or another to transmit light of a specified wavelength to a sensing region remote from the probe, i.e., the area or region where light scattering occurs is outside the light transmitting probe. Examples of such prior known devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,751,422; 5,731,875; 4,662,749; 5,526,112; 5,155,549; 5,084,614;and,5,313,542. These prior devices are disadvantageous, inter alia, because the remote location of the scattering region or chamber makes it more difficult to control and monitor the test fluid and the light used to irradiate the test fluid. Further, an additional component is often required through which the fluid stream to be detected is passed for testing. Accordingly, the complexity and expense of the analyzing system is disadvantageously increased.
Prior known particle analyzers have suffered greatly in accuracy and durability due to their deployment in hazardous test environments. Such hazardous environments subject the particle analyzer to extremely high pressures, temperatures and/or highly corrosive conditions. Prior known particle analyzers have deployed optical elements such as lenses and other components directly into the hazardous test environment. By deploying optical elements directly into the hazardous environment, the accuracy and durability of the prior known particle analyzers have been compromised.
Some prior known particle analyzers are constructed with separate housings for the light transmitting element and the light collecting element. Examples of such prior known particle analyzers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,313,542; 6,016,195; and 5,751,422. These constructions are disadvantageous because the additional component requires further adaptation of the environment in which the particle analyzer is deployed. Moreover, the additional component adds to the complexity and expense of the particle analyzer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and process for analyzing a stream of fluid


The present invention provides a technique in undercut excavation that allows a continuous steel reinforced concrete floor to be set up or installed over a large width and length and installing continuous steel reinforced concrete floors in any subsequent lifts. Using the present invention, the continuous concrete floor can be extended at a later date if the stopping area is extended at some future date.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for excavation from the top down, usually known as "undercut" excavation using concrete floors that become a roof for the next lower level of excavation. More particularly the invention relates to how to develop a continuous concrete floor using only standard size 5 m×6 m drifts openings in the top lift or with some modification, continuous floors in the second and subsequent lower levels.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There are many descriptions of conventional undercut-and-fill mining methods in the mining literature, however, probably one of the best is to be found in the article entitled: "Undercut-and-Fill Mining at the Frood-Stobie Mine of the International Nickel Company of Canada, Limited" by J. A. Pigott and R. J. Hall published in The Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Bulletin for June, 1961, Montreal, pp. 420-424.
It is also already known to mine ore by an undercut-and-fill method while providing concrete floors that serve as a roof for the subsequent cut on a lower level. For example, in an article entitled "Kosaka Mine and Smelter" published in the Mining Magazine—November 1984, page 404, a method called underhand cut and fill using an "artificial roof" is disclosed. According to this method, the cross-cuts are back-filled by first installing a layer of reinforcing steel mesh near the floor, followed by pumping in a 500-600 mm thickness of a comparatively weak concrete mix and, when it is dry, backfilling with a mixture of sand, volcano ash and 3.5% cement. When alternate cross-cuts have been completed across the length of the mining block, the intermediate 4 meter wide ribs of ore are also extracted, so that the entire slice of ore is replaced by a layer of reinforced concrete topped by loosely cemented fill. Then, when mining of the next lower cut is undertaken, the concrete which has been placed on the floor of the level above, now forms an artificial roof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,676 discloses an undercut excavation method in which wider drifts can be excavated under the concrete floor above. In this method posts are inserted into the floor of the drift, by drilling post holes in the ground and inserting concrete posts in such holes. A concrete floor is poured on the ground and on the top ends of the posts. This permits safe excavation at wider drifts beneath the concrete floor which now serves as a concrete roof for the excavation because the floor above is not only supported on the side walls of the drift below but the posts help support the span of the concrete floor over the area being excavated below.
The method in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,676 provides for a multi-level undercut excavation, using an undercut-and-fill mining method, whereby the same procedure is repeated at each level as the excavation progresses downwardly from level to level until a desired number of levels has thus been excavated. In the undercut-and-fill mining method, the excavated rooms are back-filled with a suitable fill after excavating the same. Moreover, holes may be drilled around the posts inserted into the ground, and blasted with explosives to break the ground around the posts without, however, damaging the posts themselves. This facilitates excavation under the concrete floor/roof thereafter and minimizes damage to the posts during excavation.
It has also been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,676 that as an improvement on the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,676 additional posts may be stood-up in plumb on top of the posts previously inserted into the holes to provide further support to the concrete roof and thus an enhanced safety. This is called "double post" excavation, or when applied to mining "double post mining" or "DPM".
When a set of concrete posts is installed in holes in an undercut excavation as mentioned above or as part of the double post excavation or DPM, the posts have zero load. Once the concrete floor/roof has been cast and the excavation under the floor has been performed, there will be a load applied to the posts. The load is primarily from the cemented rock fill backfill, concrete roof and possibly any overlying rock above. If the excavation is only a one level excavation, it is likely that there may be a structure placed over it, such as a building or the like, which will exert an additional load onto the posts over and above the load exerted by the floor/roof poured there over. The same applies to a multi-level excavation. Also in a mining undercut-and-fill method, loads are transmitted to the posts via the backfill as the rock or ore formations move or relax. The biggest load is from the backfill. Once the backfill has settled and moved slightly the backfill load is transferred to the walls of the drift below. The concrete posts are, of course, rigid and they could overload and fail particularly during seismic events, such as a rock burst or earth quake, which may produce massive energy releases.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,453 provided improvements to the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,676 by providing protection against rapid loading from seismic events or against excessive ground movement. The improvement comprised:
(a) drilling holes of predetermined size and length in the ground;
(b) placing at the bottom of each hole resilient elements capable of absorbing shock energy or excessive loads due to ground movements;
(c) inserting concrete posts into the holes, these posts having their bottom ends resting on the resilient elements and having their top ends essentially flush with the ground, the posts being capable of supporting a concrete roof on their top ends;
(d) pouring a concrete floor on the ground and on the top ends of the posts, and
(e) excavating beneath the concrete floor which now serves as the concrete roof for the excavation, with the resilient elements providing protection against seismic events in the area of the excavation or against ground movement exceeding failure load of the concrete posts.
In the prior art each drift on backfilling is a monolithic 5 m w×6 m h×100 m drift. Mining companies using this method usually mine the next lower set of drifts at right angles so that the open spans are limited to 5 m and the cold joint lengths are minimized to 5 m as well. Cold joints are formed when concrete is backfilled against concrete that has previously hardened or set.
The present application is directed to a further improvement in the undercut excavation methods disclosed in the prior art and in particular in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,676 and No. 5,944,453 by providing a method of pouring continuous concrete floors and instrumentation to be used in the excavation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,453 and No. 5,522,676 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Undercut excavation method with continuous concrete floors


In the conventional technology, a region of larger data rate causes a varied level of the light exposure in the lithographic operation in the process for manufacturing the semiconductor device, causing a problem of allowing narrower process window. A semiconductor device includes interconnects (first interconnects) elongating along a first direction in a substrate surface of the substrate (transverse direction in the diagram), interconnects (second interconnects), elongating along the interconnects, and being spaced apart from the interconnects in plan view, and slit vias (slit-shaped via plugs), elongating along a second direction (longitudinal direction in the diagram) of directions in the substrate surface of the above-described substrate, which is a direction normal to the first direction, and being capable of electrically coupling the interconnect to the interconnect.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device.
2. Related Art
A typical test pattern utilized for an evaluating a process for a semiconductor device will be described. A general view of a layout of a test chip for a general process evaluation is shown in FIG. 8. Maximum values of a horizontal width d1 and a vertical width d2 in a dimension of a test chip are generally defined by employing a maximum field size of a lithographic apparatus. An evaluation pattern is composed of an assembly of evaluation blocks, which are also called as sub chips 803. The dimensions of the sub chips 803 are constant in the interior of the testing block. The reason thereof is that this leads to a fixed arrangement of measuring probes and a constant moving distances thereof in a program for measurement, thereby allowing a sharing of a program and a common use of measurement probes.
Subsequently, an outline of a pattern for evaluating an interconnect-related process will be described in reference to FIG. 9. The pattern for evaluating the interconnect process includes via chains, a pattern for evaluating electro migration (EM), a pattern for measuring a leakage or the like, which are mounted therein. Concerning the via chain, a pattern scaling is generally changed according to the length of the interconnect to be evaluated and the number of vias. A defect density can also be evaluated by utilizing different pattern scales. An evaluation block required for such process evaluation is referred to as test element group (TEG) region 901, and the electrode that a probe for electrical measurement lets come into contact is called electrode pad 902, and an interconnect that couples the TEG region 901 to the electrode pad 902 is referred to as a drawing interconnect 903.
An enlarged view of a region for coupling the TEG region to the electrode pad is illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a plan view, which includes a via chain pattern TEG region 1001 and drawing interconnects 1002, which electrically couples the region 1001 is to the electrode pads. Portions of the drawing interconnects 1002 coupled to via chain pattern TEG region 1001 are formed to have a linewidth that is larger than a linewidth of the interconnect in the region 1001.
In the via chain pattern TEG region 1001, M1 interconnects 1003 and M2 interconnects 1004 are alternately disposed, and these interconnects are mutually coupled by vias 1005. Meanwhile, linewidths d3 of the M1 interconnect 1003 and the M2 interconnect 1004 are 70 nm, which is equivalent to a minimum linewidth in the semiconductor device.
In FIG. 10, turning back M1 interconnects 1006 are provided. Meanwhile, the turning back region has an interconnect data rate of 75% over a minimum normalization area (140 nm×140 nm), which is area of a region 1008 that is composed of four grids having of a square having a side, which is equivalent to a minimum interconnect interval of repeated data. This is because the turning back region stores data in three grids of the above-described four grids.
Subsequently, a general process for forming a multiple-layered interconnect will be described by illustrating an example of a dual-layered interconnect. FIGS. 11A to 11C, FIGS. 12A to 12D, FIGS. 13A to 13D and FIGS. 14A to 14C are cross-sectional views, illustrating the process. These cross-sectional views represent cross sections along dotted line L1 in FIG. 10. First of all, an interlayer insulating film 1102 composed of silicon oxide film or the like is formed on a substrate 1101 via a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process or the like (FIG. 11A). Elements such as transistors (not shown) are formed in the substrate 1101. Then, a resist 1103 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 1102, and the formed resist 1103 is patterned via a photolithographic process. Further, a pattern of the resist is transferred to the interlayer insulating film 1102 via a dry etch technology to form trenches 1104 for interconnects in desired positions (FIG. 11B). Then, the remained resist 1103 is removed (FIG. 1C).
Then, a resist 1201 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 1102, and the formed resist 1201 is patterned via a photolithographic process (FIG. 12A). Further, a pattern of the resist is transferred to the interlayer insulating film 1102 via a dry etch technology to form trenches 1202 for interconnects in desired positions. Then, the remained resist 1201 is removed (FIG. 12B). Subsequently, a conductor film 1203 such as a copper (Cu) film, an aluminum (Al) film and the like is deposited on the entire surface of the interlayer insulating film 1102 (FIG. 12C). Then, the conductor film 1203 is polished via a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process until the interlayer insulating film 1102 is exposed. As a result, an interconnect 1204 having a damascene structure is formed in a desired location of the interlayer insulating film 1102 (FIG. 12D).
Then, a diffusion barrier film 1301 composed of a silicon carbide (SiC) film or the like is formed on the interlayer insulating film 1102 having the interconnect 1204 formed thereon, and then, an interlayer insulating film 1302 composed of a silicon oxide film or the like is formed thereon (FIG. 13A). Subsequently, a resist 1303 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 1302, and the formed resist 1303 is patterned via a photolithographic process (FIG. 13B). Further, a pattern of the resist is transferred to the interlayer insulating film 1302 via a dry etch technology to form trenches 1304 for interconnects in desired positions. Then, the remained resist 1303 is removed. Subsequently, a conductor film 1305 such as a Cu film, an Al film and the like is deposited on the entire surface of the interlayer insulating film 1302 (FIG. 13C). Then, the conductor film 1305 is polished via a CMP process until the interlayer insulating film 1302 is exposed. As a result, vias 1306 are formed in desired locations of the interlayer insulating film 1302 (FIG. 13D).
Then, a diffusion barrier film 1401 composed of a SiC film or the like is formed on the interlayer insulating film 1302 having the vias 1306 formed thereon, and then, an interlayer insulating film 1402 composed of a silicon oxide film or the like is formed thereon (FIG. 14A). Subsequently, a resist is formed on the interlayer insulating film 1402, and the formed resist is patterned via a photolithographic process. Further, a pattern of the resist is transferred to the interlayer insulating film 1402 via a dry etch technology to form trenches 1403 for interconnects in desired positions. Then, the remained resist is removed (FIG. 14B). Subsequently, a conductor film such as a Cu film, an Al film and the like is deposited on the entire surface of the interlayer insulating film 1402. Then, the conductor film is polished via a CMP process until the interlayer insulating film 1402 is exposed. As a result, an interconnect 1404 having a damascene structure is formed in a desired location of the interlayer insulating film 1402 (FIG. 14C).
A structure of a coupling interconnect from a certain isolated block to an electric block in electrically dense blocks is not limited to a TEG drawing interconnect for evaluating the process, and a similar structure is employed for the product. Therefore, a typical conventional product thereof will be described as follows.
FIG. 15 is a plan view, showing an outline of a general logic product. A conventional configuration in a general CPU logic circuit will be described in reference to FIG. 15. This product has four macro-functions, namely an input-output (I/O) block 1501, a random access memory (RAM) block 1502, a logic block 1503 and a phase locked loop (PLL) block 1504.
The I/O block 1501 is an area composed of only interconnects having the linewidth of not smaller than 1 μm. In such area, there is basically no need for a narrower interconnect. Further, this area serves as determining a limitation on an allowable high-current, and maximum values of the linewidth and the via dimension are determined by such area. An interconnect that couples the circuit blocks in the I/O block is composed of two interconnects, namely an interconnect that is coupled to a pad electrode (input interconnect) and an interconnect that is coupled to an internal circuit (output interconnect).
The RAM block 1502 generally includes a memory device of around 1 MB. A priority is given to a miniaturization for the interconnects in such area over an operating speed. Therefore, this area is an area of highest need for narrower interconnects. Relatively few large interconnects are included in this area, and power supply interconnects and ground interconnects are alternately disposed with a pitch of a memory cell size.
The logic block 1503 is a cell, in which higher drive capacity is required, and is also a block, in which power supply interconnects are enhanced. A configuration of this area is basically similar to a configuration of a standard cell of a gate array. The configuration of this area related to the interconnects generally includes enhanced power supply interconnects as compared with that of the RAM, though it is similar to that of RAM. A plurality of couplings between macro circuits are generally included, unlikely in the case of the PLL.
Since stable operations of the power supply, the ground and the capacitor element are prioritized in the PLL block 1504, the PLL block 1504 generally requires second largest linewidth, second only to the I/O region, though the interconnect density therein is lower. The PLL serves as amplifying a signal input from an external transmitter (amplifying a signal to, for example, in 4 times or 5 times of the original), so as to compose clock trees in respective macros. A clock input section and a clock output section in this clock serves as drawing interconnects from the macro circuit. Only two input and output interconnects are basically present in the PLL.
A block coupling structure of two macro circuits in a logic unit will be described in reference to FIG. 16. In FIG. 16, a region between two macro circuits of a first logic region 1601 and a second logic region 1602 is a region 1603. Power supply meshes 1604 and ground meshes 1605 are disposed in the macro. Connections and signal interconnects 1606 serving as a circuit structure factor are disposed between the power supply meshes 1604 and the ground meshes 1605 in the macro. Further, signal interconnects for connecting these macros are drawn. A region for preparing a coupling of the signal interconnects is a region 1607. The macros may be mutually coupled in the same interconnect layer or may be mutually coupled in different interconnect layers.
An enlarged view of the macro is shown in FIG. 17. FIG. 17 shows a logic unit 1701 and a macro coupling region 1702. A portion of the interconnect 1703 has a linewidth that is wider than a linewidth of the interconnect in the macro in the macro coupling region 1702. The interconnect 1703 is coupled to a M2 interconnect 1708 through via 1707 within the macro. The power supply interconnects 1704 and the ground interconnects 1705 are alternately disposed. It is common that the signal interconnects 1706 are disposed between the power supply interconnects 1704 and ground interconnects 1705. Further, it is common that the signal interconnect 1706 is arranged to be in parallel with x direction (transverse direction in the diagram) and with y direction (longitudinal direction in the diagram).
In addition to above, typical prior art documents related to the present invention includes Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228111.
However, in the conventional technology, a region of larger data rate causes a varied level of the light exposure in the lithographic operation in the process for manufacturing the semiconductor device, causing a problem of allowing narrower process window. The narrower process window may cause, for example, a break in the end of the macro coupling region, leading to a short circuit.
Optimum level of light exposure in the lithographic process is decreased as the data rate is increased. This is resulted from a flare phenomenon, namely a phenomenon that a blurring is caused in a pattern image by an irregular reflection of a beam through a lens. This phenomenon is characterized that the pattern geometry is changed depending on the data rate. Therefore, in order to inhibiting such phenomenon, it is required to provide a limitation in a range of the available interconnect data rate.


A beverage dispensing assembly that is capable of dispensing controlled or metered portions of a beverage charged with a gas fits onto a shelf in a conventional household refrigerator. The beverage dispensing assembly includes a sealed disposable container assembly that contains the beverage and a dispensing assembly that cooperates with the container assembly to selectively unseal the container assembly and dispense controlled portions of the beverage from the container assembly.

Draft, or draught, beer and carbonated fountain drinks are typically delivered under pressure and include gas, typically nitrogen or carbon dioxide depending on the type of beverage, dissolved in the beverage. These beverages are typically enjoyed at restaurants, bars and other establishments where it makes sense to invest in the devices, e.g. taps, refrigerators, lines, pressure sources and fountain dispensers, that are required to dispense the beverage. To enjoy these beverages at home, typically a consumer must purchase a small portion of the beverage packaged in a can or a bottle. Often times this smaller portion found in a can or bottle is not as enjoyable as its draft or fountain counterpart.
Attempts have been made to provide a beverage dispenser capable of delivering portions of draft beer or a carbonated fountain drink, e.g., soda, where the dispenser is suitable for home usage. Previous approaches include a pressurized gas source, e.g., cartridge, within the liquid containing vessel, typically a bottle or can. In these known devices the gas pressure regulator, which regulates the pressure of the gas that is delivered to the beverage, is found within the liquid containing vessel. This arrangement of components results in the disposal of the costly gas pressure regulator after the beverage in the vessel has been consumed.
Other previous approaches have required the consumer to purchase or incorporate a separate tap and pressurizing system for delivering the beverage. Other approaches, for delivering beer particularly, also include providing a relatively large can, in relation to a typical 12 ounce can which is found in the United States, but these large cans of beer must be consumed relatively quickly, i.e. in at least two days, or the beer would become flat and no longer fresh.


A concave optical fiber ferrule holding plate for polishing an end face of an optical fiber is disclosed. The holding plate may be used alone for hand polishing or be provided as a component of an optical fiber polishing machine. The circular holding plate comprises a concave interior with one or more concentric wear rings disposed radially inwardly on said interior from the outer periphery of the holding plate to a point surrounding the optical fiber ferrule located in the center. The holding plate contacts a polishing material only at the peripheral wear ring thereby reducing contamination from the material of the holding plate which reduces contamination of the end face of the fiber during polishing. The degree of deterioration of the wear rings can be easily observed to determine when the ferrule holding plate must be replaced. Furthermore, the measuring of the deterioration of the wear rings allows for monitoring of the orientation or tilt of the holding plate, which is required for proper polishing of the optical fibers. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract, which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. 37 CFR 1.72(b).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber ferrule holding plate suitable for polishing an optical fiber end surface and method for polishing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been proposed many optical fiber end surface-polishing apparatuses. Optical fiber polishing apparatuses are configured to hold an optical fiber ferrule in an optical fiber ferrule holding plate, and cause relative movement based on a circular motion between a polishing board and the distal end of the optical fiber ferrule, thereby polishing the distal end of the optical fibers.
A typical ferrule holding plate which can be used in the optical fiber end polishing apparatus stated above is illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the details of a ferrule holding plate 3 with a single optical fiber attached. Holding plate 3 includes a ferrule receiving cylindrical bushing mounting member 8, which includes a through hole 7 through its center. Ferrule 5 is inserted through hole 7. An external screw thread 8A is provided on the outer periphery of mounting member 8. A box nut 9 is provided with a slit 10, and has an internal thread which engages with the external thread 8A so as to tighten and fit the optical fiber and ferrule onto the cylindrical bushing mounting member 8. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the distal end of ferrule 5 with optical fiber 6 contained therein must be aligned at a predetermined inclination angle to the axis of rotation of the polishing material 11. During polishing operations the end face of the ferrule to be polished is pressed perpendicularly against the polishing surface 11, and the ferrule is rotated to the left and right around its own axis. The polishing surface is indented by the pressure of the ferrule, so that the end face is polished almost spherically in accordance with the curvature of the indentation in the polishing surface. The radius of indentation in the polishing surface, and hence the curvature of the polished end face, can be adjusted by the pressure on the ferrule during polishing. It is well known that the squareness or an error in the tilt angle of the end surface of a polished ferrule with an optical fiber, with respect to a central axis seriously affects the connecting performance of the optical fiber connector. Therefore, it is necessary to set a constant relative distance between the end faces of ferrules and the polishing surface to prepare precise convex-curved surfaces uniformly. A ferrule extending too far beyond the surface of its holding plate has a tendency to wobble which seriously affects the required preciseness of the convex curved surfaces. This problem is further exemplified when the ferrule holding plate is utilized during hand polishing operations. The typical ferrule holding plate, as described above, has a flat base surface 1. For proper hand polishing the ferrule end face should extend a sufficient distance beyond base surface 1 of holding plate 3 so as to deform the polishing surface. The extent of the deformation is determined by the requirements of the particular application. During polishing, base surface 1 of the holding plate 3 will come into contact with the polishing surface 11. In fact, the holding plate 3 will come into contact with the polishing surface 11 even when the holding plate is utilized during machine polishing operations. When polishing an optical fiber end the bottom surface of the holding plate wears down and releases debris as it contacts the polishing material. This debris contaminates the polishing material and reduces the quality of the polished fiber end face. Also, holding plates that lock a ferrule in place do not allow the ferrule to float or back off as the holding plate wears. This in turn will cause an increase in pressure between the end face of the fiber and the polishing material which will ultimately damage the end face of the fiber. Another problem associated with the flat base type holding plates described above is their inability to measure the degree of degradation or wear on the holding plate. If the pressure to the holding plate is applied unevenly during use, the plate may ware unevenly. This will affect the required perpendicularity relative to the polishing material for Physical Contact (PC) and Ultra Physical Contact (UPC) connectors or the 8 degree angle for Angled Physical Contact (APC) connectors. This uneven wear reduces the operating life of the holding plate and also affects the quality of the fiber optic end face.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber ferrule holding plate for hand polishing optical fibers and for utilization in an optical fiber end polishing machine that is capable of achieving further improvement in durability and workability.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a ferrule holding plate that will minimize the contact surface between the holding plate and polishing material during polishing thereby reducing the amount of contaminants from the holding plate which will enhance the polishing quality and extend the operating life of the polishing material.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a means of measuring the wear of the holding plate for determining if the required orientation of the plate is maintained, and for determining when the holding plate must be replaced.
To this end, a concave optical fiber ferrule holding plate for polishing an end face of an optical fiber is disclosed. The holding plate may be used alone for hand polishing or multiple holding plates may be integrated into a single plate array for use in an optical fiber polishing machine. The circular holding plate comprises a concave interior with one or more concentric wear rings disposed radially inwardly on said interior from the outer periphery of the holding plate to a point surrounding the optical fiber ferrule located in the center. The holding plate contacts a polishing material only at the peripheral wear ring thereby reducing contamination from the material of the holding plate which reduces contamination of the end face of the fiber during polishing. The degree of deterioration of the wear rings can be easily observed to determine when the ferrule holding plate must be replaced. Furthermore, the measuring of the deterioration of the wear rings allows for monitoring of the orientation or tilt of the holding plate, which is required for proper polishing of the optical fibers.

Concave optical fiber ferrule holding plate


A cutter for a drill bit used for drilling wells in a geological formation includes an ultra hard working surface and a chamfer along an edge of the working surface, wherein the chamfer has a varied geometry along the edge. The average geometry of the chamfer varies with cutting depth. A depression in the shaped working surface is oriented with the varied chamfer and facilitates forming the varied chamfer. A non-planar interface has depressions oriented with depressions in the shaped working surface to provide support to loads on the working surface of the cutter when used.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to drill bits in the oil and gas industry, particularly to drill bits having cutters or inserts having hard and ultra hard cutting surfaces or tables and to cutters or inserts for drill bit such as drag bits and more particularly to cutters and inserts with ultra hard working surfaces made from materials such as diamond material, polycrystalline diamond material, or other ultra hard material bonded to a substrate and/or to a support stud.
2. Background Art
Rotary drill bits with no moving elements on them are typically referred to as "drag" bits. Drag bits are often used to drill very hard or abrasive formations. Drag bits include those having cutters (sometimes referred to as cutter elements, cutting elements or inserts) attached to the bit body. For example the cutters may be formed having a substrate or support stud made of cemented carbide, for example tungsten carbide, and an ultra hard cutting surface layer or "table" made of a polycrystalline diamond material or a polycrystalline boron nitride material deposited onto or otherwise bonded to the substrate at an interface surface.
An example of a prior art drag bit having a plurality of cutters with ultra hard working surfaces is shown in FIG. 1. The drill bit 10 includes a bit body 12 and a plurality of blades 14 that are formed in the bit body 12. The blades 14 are separated by channels or gaps 16 that enable drilling fluid to flow between and both clean and cool the blades 14. Cutters 18 are held in the blades 14 at predetermined angular orientations to present working surfaces 20 with a desired rake angle against a formation to be drilled. Typically, the working surfaces 20 are generally perpendicular to the axis 19 and side surface 21 of a cylindrical cutter 18. Thus the working surface 20 and the side surface 21 form a circumferential cutting edge 22. Nozzles 23 are typically formed in the drill bit body 12 and positioned in the gaps 16 so that fluid can be pumped to discharge drilling fluid in selected directions and at selected rates of flow between the cutting blades 14 for lubricating and cooling the drill bit 10, the blades 14 and the cutters 18. The drilling fluid also cleans and removes the cuttings as the drill bit rotates and penetrates the formation. The gaps 16, which may be referred to as "fluid courses," are positioned to provide additional flow channels for drilling fluid and to provide a passage for formation cuttings to travel past the drill bit 10 toward the surface of a wellbore (not shown).
The drill bit 10 includes a shank 24 and a crown 26. Shank 24 is typically formed of steel or a matrix material and includes a threaded pin 28 for attachment to a drill string. Crown 26 has a cutting face 30 and outer side surface 32. The particular materials used to form drill bit bodies are selected to provide adequate toughness, while providing good resistance to abrasive and erosive wear. For example, in the case where an ultra hard cutter is to be used, the bit body 12 may be made from powdered tungsten carbide (WC) infiltrated with a binder alloy within a suitable mold form. In one manufacturing process the crown 26 includes a plurality of holes or sockets 34 that are sized and shaped to receive a corresponding plurality of cutters 18. The combined plurality of cutting edges 22 of the cutters 18 effectively forms the cutting face of the drill bit 10. Once the crown 26 is formed, the cutters 18 are mounted in the sockets 34 and affixed by any suitable method, such as brazing, adhesive, mechanical means such as interference fit, or the like. The design depicted provides the sockets 34 inclined with respect to the surface of the crown 26. The sockets are inclined such that cutters 18 are oriented with the working face 20 generally perpendicular to the axis 19 of the cutter 18 and at a desired rake angle in the direction of rotation of the bit 10, so as to enhance cutting. It will be understood that in an alternative construction, the sockets can each be substantially perpendicular to the surface of the crown, while an ultra hard surface 36 is affixed to a substrate 38 at an angle on the cutter body or stud 40 so that a desired rake angle is achieved at the working surface.
A typical cutter 18 is shown in FIG. 2. The typical cutter has a cylindrical cemented carbide substrate body 38 having an end face or upper surface 54 referred to herein as the "interface surface" 54. An ultra hard material layer 44, such as polycrystalline diamond or polycrystalline cubic boron nitride layer, forms the working surface 20 and the cutting edge 22. A bottom surface 52 of the cutting layer 44 is bonded on to the upper surface 54 of the substrate 38. The joining surfaces are herein referred to as the interface 46. The top exposed surface or working surface 20 of the cutting layer 44 is opposite the bonded surface 52. The cutting layer 44 typically has a flat or planar working surface 20, but may also have a curved exposed surface, that meets the side surface 21 at a cutting edge 22.
Cutters may be made, for example, according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,623, whereby a relatively small volume of ultra hard particles such as diamond or cubic boron nitride is sintered as a thin layer onto a cemented tungsten carbide substrate. Flat top surface cutters as shown in FIG. 2 are generally the most common and convenient to manufacture with an ultra hard layer according to known techniques. It has been found that cutter chipping, spalling and delaminating is common for ultra hard flat top surface cutters.
Generally speaking, the process for making a cutter 18 employs a body of cemented tungsten carbide as the substrate 38 where the tungsten carbide particles are cemented together with cobalt. The carbide body is placed adjacent to a layer of ultra hard material particles such as diamond or cubic boron nitride particles and the combination is subjected to high temperature at a pressure where the ultra hard material particles are thermodynamically stable. This results in recrystallization and formation of a polycrystalline ultra hard material layer, such as a polycrystalline diamond or polycrystalline cubic boron nitride layer, directly onto the upper surface 54 of the cemented tungsten carbide substrate 38.
It has been found by applicants that many cutters develop cracking, spalling, chipping and partial fracturing of the ultra hard material cutting layer at a region of cutting layer subjected to the highest loading during drilling. This region is referred to herein as the "critical region" 56. The critical region 56 encompasses the portion of the cutting layer 44 that makes contact with the earth formations during drilling. The critical region 56 is subjected to the generation of peak (high magnitude) stresses form normal loading, shear force loading and impact loading imposed on the ultra hard material layer 44 during drilling. Because the cutters are typically inserted into a drag bit at a rake angle, the critical region includes a portion of the ultra hard material layer near and including a portion of the layer's circumferential edge 22 that makes contact with the earth formations during drilling. The peak stresses at the critical region alone or in combination with other factors, such as residual thermal stresses, can result in the initiation and growth of cracks 58 across the ultra hard layer 44 of the cutter 18. Cracks of sufficient length may cause the separation of a sufficiently large piece of ultra hard material, rendering the cutter 18 ineffective or resulting in the failure of the cutter 18. When this happens, drilling operations may have to be ceased to allow for recovery of the drag bit and replacement of the ineffective or failed cutter. The high stresses, particularly shear stresses, can also result in delamination of the ultra hard layer 44 at the interface 46.
One type of ultra hard working surface 20 for fixed cutter drill bits is formed as described above with polycrystalline diamond on the substrate of tungsten carbide, typically known as a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC), PDC cutters, PDC cutting elements or PDC inserts. Drill bits made using such PDC cutters 18 are known generally as PDC bits. While the cutter or cutter insert 18 is typically formed using a cylindrical tungsten carbide "blank" or substrate 38 which is sufficiently long to act as a mounting stud 40, the substrate 38 may also be an intermediate layer bonded at another interface to another metallic mounting stud 40. The ultra hard working surface 20 is formed of the polycrystalline diamond material, in the form of a layer 44 (sometimes referred to as a "table") bonded to the substrate 38 at an interface 46. The top of the ultra hard layer 44 provides a working surface 20 and the bottom of the ultra hard layer 44 is affixed to the tungsten carbide substrate 38 at the interface 46. The substrate 38 or stud 40 is brazed or otherwise bonded in a selected position on the crown of the drill bit body 12. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, the PDC cutters 18 are typically held and brazed into sockets 34 formed in the drill bit body at predetermined positions for the purpose of receiving the cutters 18 and presenting them to the formation at a rake angle.
In order for the body of a drill bit to also be resistant to wear, hard and wear resistant materials such as tungsten carbide are typically used to form drill bit body for holding the PDC cutters. Such a drill bit body is very hard and difficult to machine. Therefore, the selected positions at which the PDC cutters 18 are to be affixed to the bit body 12 are typically formed substantially to their final shape during the bit body molding process. A common practice in molding the drill bit body is to include in the mold, at each of the to-be-formed PDC cutter mounting positions, a shaping element called a "displacement." A displacement is generally a small cylinder made from graphite or other heat resistant material which is affixed to the inside of the mold at each of the places where a PDC cutter is to be located on the finished drill bit. The displacement forms the shape of the cutter mounting positions during the bit body molding process. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,183 issued to Fang for a description of the infiltration molding process using displacements.
It has been found by applicants that cutters with sharp cutting edges or small back rake angles provide good drilling rate of penetration, but are often subject to instability and are susceptible to chipping, cracking or partial fracturing when subjected to high forces normal to the working surface. For example, large forces can be generated when the cutter "digs" or "gouges" deep into the formation or when sudden changes in formation hardness produce sudden impact loads. Small back rake angles also have less delamination resistance when subjected to shear load. Cutters with large back rake angles are often subjected to heavy wear, abrasion and shear forces resulting in chipping, spalling, and delaminating due to excessive WOB required to obtain reasonable ROP. Thick ultra hard layers that might be good for abrasion wear are often susceptible to cracking, spalling, and delaminating as a result of residual thermal stresses associated with formation of thick ultra hard layers. The susceptibility to such deterioration and failure mechanisms is accelerated when combined with excessive load stresses.
FIG. 3 shows a prior art PDC cutter held at an angle in a drill bit 10 for cutting into a formation. The cutter 18 includes a diamond material table 44 affixed to a tungsten carbide substrate 38 that is bonded into the socket 34 formed in a drill bit blade 14. The drill bit 10 (see FIG. 1) will be rotated for cutting the inside surface of a cylindrical well bore. Generally speaking, the back rake angle "A" is used to describe the working angle of the working surface 20, and it also corresponds generally to the attack angle "B" made between the working surface 20 and an imaginary tangent line at the point of contact with the well bore. It will be understood that the "point" of contact is actually an edge or region of contact that corresponds to critical region 56 of maximum stress on the cutter 18. Typically, the geometry of the cutter 18 relative to the well bore is described in terms of the back rake angle "A."
Different types of bits are generally selected based on the nature of the formation to be drilled. Drag bits are typically selected for relatively soft formations such as sands, clays and some soft rock formations that are not excessively hard or excessively abrasive. However selecting the best bit is not always practical because many formations have mixed characteristics (i.e., the formation may include both hard and soft zones), depending on the location and depth of the well bore. Changes in the formation can affect the desired type of bit, the desired rate of penetration (ROP) of a bit, the desired rotation speed, and the desired downward force or weight on the bit (WOB). Where a drill bit is operating outside the desired ranges of operation, the bit can be damaged or the life of the bit can be severely reduced. For example, a drill bit normally operated in one general type of formation may penetrate into a different formation too rapidly or too slowly subjecting it to too little load or too much load. For another example, a drill bit rotating and penetrating at a desired speed may encounter an unexpectedly hard material, possibly subjecting the bit to surprise impact force. A material that is softer than expected may result in a high rate of rotation, a high rate of penetration (ROP), or both, that can cause the cutters to shear too deeply or to gouge into the formation. This can place greater loading, excessive shear forces and added heat on the working surface of the cutters. Rotation speeds that are too high without sufficient WOB, for a particular drill bit design in a given formation, can also result in detrimental instability and chattering because the drill bit cuts too deeply, intermittently bites into the formation or leaves too much clearance following the bit. Cutter chipping, spalling, and delaminating, in these and other situations, are common for ultra hard flat top surface cutters.
Dome cutters have provided certain benefits against gouging and the resultant excessive impact loading and instability. This approach for reducing adverse effects of flat surface cutters is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,051. An example of such a dome cutter in operation is depicted in FIG. 4. The prior art cutter 60 has a dome shaped top or working surface 62 that is formed with an ultra hard layer 64 bonded to a substrate 66. The substrate 66 is bonded to a metallic stud 68. The cutter 60 is held in a blade 70 of a drill bit 72 (shown in partial section) and engaged with a geological formation 74 (also shown in partial section) in a cutting operation. The dome shaped working surface 62 effectively modifies the rake angle A that would be produced by the orientation of the cutter 60. It has been found by applicants that chipping at the edge of the working surface continues to be associated with some dome cutters.
Scoop cutters, as shown in FIG. 5 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,556), have also provided some benefits against the adverse effects of impact loading. This type of prior art cutter 80 is made with a scoop top working surface 82 formed in an ultra hard layer 84 that is bonded to a substrate 86 at an interface 88. A depression 90 sometimes referred to as a "scoop" is formed in the critical region 56. The substrate upper surface 92 has a depression 94 corresponding to the depression 90, such that the depression 90 does not make the ultra hard layer 84 too thin. The interface 88 may be referred to as a non-planar interface (NPI). It has been found by applicants that while scoop cutters provide some benefits against the adverse effects of impact loading, additional improvement is desirable.
Diamond cutters provided with single or multiple chamfers with constant chamfer geometry (U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,343) have been proposed for reduction of chipping and cracking at the edge of the cutter. In these designs the size and the angle of each chamfer are constant circumferentially around the cutting edge. It has been found by applicants that constant chamfer geometry can provide some additional strength and support to the contact edge, yet the cutting efficiency can be reduced at all cutting depths and amount of support to the ultra hard layer and the strength of the edge is uniform with changing depth of cut. It has been found by applicants that increased strength due to a constant size and shape chamfer and does not necessarily counter act the extra proportional increase of loading associated with changes in cutting depth when using cylindrically shaped cutters. It has been found that without appropriately designed NPI, multiple stepped chamfer top surfaces can also result in extra thickness toward the center of the cutter. This can result in a corresponding increase in residual thermal stress and associated cracking, crack propagation, chipping and spalling.
Thus, cutters are desired that can better withstand high loading at the critical region imposed during drilling so as to have an enhanced operating life. Cutters that cut efficiently at designed speed and loading conditions and that regulate the amount of cutting load in changing formations are also desired. In addition, cutting elements that variably increase the strength of the cutter edges in response to increased cutting depth are further desired.

Cutter having shaped working surface with varying edge chamfer


One embodiment provides a method, including: receiving a dataset and a model corresponding to a bias checker, wherein the bias checker detects bias within both the dataset and the model, based upon a bias checking algorithm and a bias checking policy, wherein the dataset comprises a plurality of attributes; testing the bias checking algorithm of the bias checker by (i) generating test cases that modify the dataset by introducing bias therein and (ii) running the bias checker against the modified dataset; testing the bias checking policy of the bias checker by generating a plurality of test cases and running the bias checker against the plurality of test cases; and providing a notification to a user regarding whether the bias checker failed to indicate bias for one or more of the plurality of attributes.

People frequently rely on entities to make decisions that impact an aspect of the person's life, for example, the person may apply to college, apply for a mortgage for a new home, apply for a car loan, apply for a credit card, and the like. In order to reduce the amount of human bias that may be introduced into the decision-making process, many entities employ decision models that will take relevant information as input and then provide a decision based upon this input. For example, if a person is applying for a mortgage, the mortgage company may employ a model that will provide an output indicating whether the mortgage applicant qualifies for a mortgage and what the terms for the mortgage should be, based upon information provided by the mortgage applicant. Employing the models allows the entity to provide a more consistent or standardized decision-making process across all of the people who are requesting a decision.
However, these models are programmed by one or more users, for example, using a dataset that identifies the algorithm or a training set of data used for making decisions. Additionally, the models can evolve over time based upon historical decisions. Accordingly, the models may either include an initial bias or may learn a bias over time. Thus, users and/or entities may employ bias checkers or bias detectors that are used to determine if bias exists within the dataset and/or model. The bias checker can be deployed against the model and/or dataset to determine whether the model and/or training dataset includes bias. Particularly, the bias checker can be used to determine whether the model and/or dataset include bias within attributes of the dataset that are indicated as protected, or attributes that are identified as not being allowed to bias a decision. If the bias checker determines that the model and/or dataset includes bias, the bias checker can notify the user and/or entity and the user can take remedial action in order to eliminate the bias included within the model and/or dataset.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A vital signal measurement system including a plurality of terminals aims to facilitate synchronization of each terminal with respect to other terminals. Each of the plurality of terminals (102) is provided with a first vital signal sensor (201) for measuring a vital signal, a first memory (205) for storing a first data which is based on the vital signal, and a first radio communication unit (206) for communicating with other terminals by radio. The first data is applied with a sequence number corresponding to the first data and the number indicates an order in which the first data is acquired. A first terminal (102b) included in the plurality of terminals performs resetting of the sequence number triggered by the synchronous signal which is received by the first radio communication unit.

It is important to acquire vital signals daily to apply in health care, early detection of diseases, prevention of diseases, and the like. Particularly, a pulse wave propagation velocity is an important vital signal correlated with an arteriosclerosis level and a blood pressure. Therefore, measurement of the pulse wave propagation velocity is effective means when diagnosing a risk allowances in outbreak of an illness of lifestyle diseases and the like.
Here, an arteriosclerosis level and a blood pressure value greatly vary in a daily life of a test object. Therefore, measurement only performed in a resting state as in the related art is insufficient for determining risk of lifestyle diseases. In other words, for example, since states of a blood pressure and blood vessels of the test object greatly vary under variously changing environments such as a case of being exposed to rapid temperature variation, a state of lightly exercising such as jogging, a state under stress such as at work, or a state having a nightmare during sleep, it is necessary to measure the pulse wave propagation velocity in the corresponding state so as to obtain information of an arteriosclerosis level and a blood pressure value.
PTL 1 discloses a technology in which an arteriosclerosis level can be evaluated in various situations in a daily life of the test object by attaching a small and light pressure sensor to a wrist and an ankle so as not to hinder a normal life or an exercise of a test object applying no load to the test object, and continuously recording waveforms of arterial pressure by using a small-sized recording device from both sensors.

Vital signal measurement device, and vital sign signal measurement system


A membrane electrode assembly is constituted of a solid electrolyte membrane 1 made of a polymeric material, and a fuel electrode 2 and an air electrode 3 which are disposed on both sides of the solid electrolyte membrane 1. A porous membrane 8 is attached to the back surface of the fuel electrode 2, and a fuel tank 12 is formed between a casing 16 of the fuel electrode 2 side and the porous membrane 8. The fuel tank 12 is filled with liquid-retaining sheets 14. An air chamber 13 is formed on the back surface of the air electrode 3, and the air chamber 13 is filled with moisture-retaining sheets 15. A casing 17 of the air electrode 3 side is provided with a number of inlet ports 21. Further, fins 22 are formed on an outer surface of the casing 17 of the air electrode side.

In recent years, with the object of enabling various portable electronic apparatuses such as a notebook computer and a cellular phone to be used for a long time without charging, attempts to use fuel cells as power sources of these portable apparatuses are made at various places. The fuel cell has a feature that electricity is generated by supplying only a fuel and air, and when only the fuel is resupplied, electricity can be continuously generated for a long time. Accordingly, if downsizing is realized, the fuel cell can be regarded as a system which is very profitable as a power source of a portable apparatus.
Particularly, in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), methanol having high energy density is used as the fuel, and an electric current is directly derived from methanol by using a catalyst layer and a solid electrolyte membrane, and thus any reforming device is not required, downsizing is enabled, and the fuel can be handled easier than the hydrogen gas. Accordingly, the direct methanol fuel cell is promising as a power source of a small-sized portable apparatus.
As the supply systems of the fuel of the DMFC, known are a gas-supply-type DMFC in which a liquid fuel is vaporized and supplied to the inside of the fuel cell by a blower or the like, a liquid-supply-type DMFC in which a liquid fuel is directly supplied as it is to the inside of the fuel cell by a pump or the like, and an internal-vaporization-type DMFC in which a liquid fuel supplied to the fuel cell is vaporized inside the fuel cell and supplied to the fuel electrode.
As described in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-106201, the internal-vaporization-type DMFC is provided with a fuel permeation layer for retaining the liquid fuel and a fuel vaporization layer for diffusing a vaporizable component of the liquid fuel retained in the fuel permeation layer, and in which the vaporized liquid fuel is supplied from the fuel vaporization layer to the fuel electrode. In the document described above, an aqueous solution of methanol obtained by mixing methanol and water at a molar ratio of 1:1 is used as the liquid fuel, both the methanol and water are supplied to the fuel electrode in a gaseous state. There has been a problem with such a fuel cell using an aqueous solution of methanol as the fuel that it is difficult to obtain a sufficient output characteristic because of a difference between methanol and water in the vaporization rate. Therefore, in order to improve the output characteristic of the fuel cell and further downsize the fuel cell, development of fuel cells using pure methanol as the fuel are now being advanced.
Further, as a small fuel cell mainly used in a mobile apparatus, a passive-type fuel cell in which an active transfer means such as a fuel pump is not used to supply a liquid fuel to a fuel electrode is also being developed. When a fuel cell is used in a mobile apparatus, it is difficult to employ a forced air-cooling means such as a fan, and thus heat generated by the bonding of hydrogen and oxygen must be discharged to the outside of the fuel cell by natural air cooling. If discharge of heat is insufficient and the temperature of the fuel cell becomes excessively high, electricity generation efficiency is lowered because of an increase in so-called crossover in which a liquid fuel such as methanol or the like passes from the fuel electrode to the air electrode, and further, the performance of the mobile apparatus main body is adversely affected or the portability of the mobile apparatus is impaired.


A hearing protection device is provided including a sound attenuating element and a stem extending from the sound attenuating element, wherein the stem comprises multiple curved segments.

The use of hearing protective and noise attenuating devices is well known, and various types of devices are available including, but not limited to, ear muffs, semi-aural devices, and earplugs. Earplugs are often preferred for their effectiveness in attenuating sound and for comfort properties provided thereby.
An earplug generally comprises a sound attenuating element which is placed in the ear canal of a wearer to occlude the canal and thus provide a desired sound attenuation. The sound attenuating element is commonly made of a compressible, resilient material such as a foam or a rubber.
The earplug may further include a stem embedded party or entirely in the resilient sound attenuating element. The stem provides a degree of rigidity to the earplug which enables the earplug to be easily inserted and pushed into the ear canal of a user. Further, where the stem extends from the sound attenuating element, it may serve as a handle of the earplug to facilitate insertion and removal of the earplug.
Commonly, the stem is a cylindrical member which extends from the sound attenuating element along a longitudinal axis of the earplug. That is, the stem extends in a straight line rearwardly from the sound attenuating element in a collinear manner with respect to the attenuating element. Thus, the stem is available as a handle when inserting and removing the earplug. When the earplug is inserted into the ear canal, the stem extends outwardly from the ear and may be grasped and adjusted by the wearer as desired.
However, in this configuration, the stem is left exposed to inadvertent contact. For example, the user may accidentally strike the stem with their hands while adjusting their hair, attending to an itch, when adjusting clothes, etc. Further, the wearer may inadvertently contact the exposed stem while applying or adjusting headwear such as a hat, or additional safety protection equipment such as protective eyewear, a helmet, a respirator, etc. Still further, the exposed stem may be inadvertently contacted by another person or an outside object such as machinery, building structures, etc.
This type of incidental contact may slightly dislodge the stem, thus reducing the attenuation provided by the earplug. This slight dislodgement may even go unnoticed by the wearer, thus subjecting the wearer to reduced levels of attenuation over extended time periods. Such inadvertent contact may be sufficient to entirely expel the earplug from the ear canal all together, therefore exposing the wearer to all external noise until the earplug is properly re-inserted. Further, certain incidental contacts may force the stem inward toward the inner ear or may pivot the stem within the ear canal, thus causing discomfort to the wearer.
Often, these conventionally stemmed earplugs are provided in corded pairs. Each pair includes a cord extending between the stems of the respective earplugs. The cord is typically attached to the exposed rear end of the stem and extends from the earplug, at least initially, in a collinear manner with respect to the stem and the sound attenuating element. When a corded pair of earplugs is worn, the cord (like the stem) extends outwardly from the ear and generally outwardly from the head of the wearer. More specifically, the cord initially extends outwardly for a length, in line with the stem, and then curves downward and eventually drapes beneath the chin or behind the neck of the wearer. This extension of the cord essentially increases the contactable portion of the inserted earplug. When such earplug is worn, the exposed stem is vulnerable to inadvertent contact as well as the projecting portion of the cord. That is, the projecting portion of the cord may suffer unintentional tugging or tangling which could result in partial or complete dislodgement of the earplug from the ear canal.
Thus, a stem for an earplug is desired which is sufficient for handling, inserting, and removing the earplug and which is positioned and configured to reduce the incidence of inadvertent contact, even when corded.


An arrangement is described for generating electrode stimulation signals to electrode contacts in an implanted cochlear implant electrode array. A signal processor processes an input sound signal to generate stimulation timing signals for signal channels associated with the electrode contacts. A pulse generator produces the electrode stimulation signals for each electrode contact based on the stimulation timing signals. A pulse adapter controls a signal format of the pulse generator in response to a somatic response input signal reflecting presence or absence of an undesired somatic response to the electrode stimulation signals. The signal format is an initial signal format based on biphasic stimulation pulses when the somatic response input signal reflects absence of the undesired somatic response, and an adapted signal form based on triphasic stimulation pulses when the somatic response input signal reflects presence of the undesired somatic response.

A normal ear transmits sounds as shown in FIG. 1 through the outer ear 101 to the tympanic membrane 102, which moves the bones of the middle ear 103 (malleus, incus, and stapes) that vibrate the oval window and round window openings of the cochlea 104. The cochlea 104 is a long narrow duct wound spirally about its axis for approximately two and a half turns. It includes an upper channel known as the scala vestibuli and a lower channel known as the scala tympani, which are connected by the cochlear duct. The cochlea 104 forms an upright spiraling cone with a center called the modiolar where the spiral ganglion cells of the acoustic nerve 113 reside. In response to received sounds transmitted by the middle ear 103, the fluid-filled cochlea 104 functions as a transducer to generate electric pulses which are transmitted to the cochlear nerve 113, and ultimately to the brain.
Hearing is impaired when there are problems in the ability to transduce external sounds into meaningful action potentials along the neural substrate of the cochlea 104. To improve impaired hearing, hearing prostheses have been developed. For example, when the impairment is related to operation of the middle ear 103, a conventional hearing aid may be used to provide mechanical stimulation to the auditory system in the form of amplified sound. Or when the impairment is associated with the cochlea 104, a cochlear implant with an implanted stimulation electrode can electrically stimulate auditory nerve tissue with small currents delivered by multiple electrode contacts distributed along the electrode.
FIG. 1 also shows some components of a typical cochlear implant system, including an external microphone that provides an audio signal input to an external signal processor 111 where various signal processing schemes can be implemented. The processed signal is then converted into a digital data format, such as a sequence of data frames, for transmission into the implant 108. Besides receiving the processed audio information, the implant 108 also performs additional signal processing such as error correction, pulse formation, etc., and produces a stimulation pattern (based on the extracted audio information) that is sent through an electrode lead 109 to an implanted electrode array 110.
Typically, the electrode array 110 includes multiple electrode contacts 112 on its surface that provide selective stimulation of the cochlea 104. Depending on context, the electrode contacts 112 are also referred to as electrode channels. In cochlear implants today, a relatively small number of electrode channels are each associated with relatively broad frequency bands, with each electrode contact 112 addressing a group of neurons with an electric stimulation pulse having a charge that is derived from the instantaneous amplitude of the signal envelope within that frequency band.
It is well-known in the field that electric stimulation at different locations within the cochlea produce different frequency percepts. The underlying mechanism in normal acoustic hearing is referred to as the tonotopic principle. In cochlear implant users, the tonotopic organization of the cochlea has been extensively investigated; for example, see Vermeire et al., Neural tonotopy in cochlear implants: An evaluation in unilateral cochlear implant patients with unilateral deafness and tinnitus, Hear Res, 245(1-2), 2008 Sep. 12 p. 98-106; and Schatzer et al., Electric-acoustic pitch comparisons in single-sided-deaf cochlear implant users: Frequency-place functions and rate pitch, Hear Res, 309, 2014 March, p. 26-35 (both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties).
In some stimulation signal coding strategies, stimulation pulses are applied at a constant rate across all electrode channels, whereas in other coding strategies, stimulation pulses are applied at a channel-specific rate. Various specific signal processing schemes can be implemented to produce the electrical stimulation signals. Signal processing approaches that are well-known in the field of cochlear implants include continuous interleaved sampling (CIS), channel specific sampling sequences (CSSS) (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,348,070, incorporated herein by reference), spectral peak (SPEAK), and compressed analog (CA) processing.
In the CIS strategy, the signal processor only uses the band pass signal envelopes for further processing, i.e., they contain the entire stimulation information. For each electrode channel, the signal envelope is represented as a sequence of biphasic pulses at a constant repetition rate. A characteristic feature of CIS is that the stimulation rate is equal for all electrode channels and there is no relation to the center frequencies of the individual channels. It is intended that the pulse repetition rate is not a temporal cue for the patient (i.e., it should be sufficiently high so that the patient does not perceive tones with a frequency equal to the pulse repetition rate). The pulse repetition rate is usually chosen at greater than twice the bandwidth of the envelope signals (based on the Nyquist theorem).
In a CIS system, the stimulation pulses are applied in a strictly non-overlapping sequence. Thus, as a typical CIS-feature, only one electrode channel is active at a time and the overall stimulation rate is comparatively high. For example, assuming an overall stimulation rate of 18 kpps and a 12 channel filter bank, the stimulation rate per channel is 1.5 kpps. Such a stimulation rate per channel usually is sufficient for adequate temporal representation of the envelope signal. The maximum overall stimulation rate is limited by the minimum phase duration per pulse. The phase duration cannot be arbitrarily short because, the shorter the pulses, the higher the current amplitudes have to be to elicit action potentials in neurons, and current amplitudes are limited for various practical reasons. For an overall stimulation rate of 18 kpps, the phase duration is 27 μs, which is near the lower limit.
The Fine Structure Processing (FSP) strategy by Med-El uses CIS in higher frequency channels, and uses fine structure information present in the band pass signals in the lower frequency, more apical electrode channels. In the FSP electrode channels, the zero crossings of the band pass filtered time signals are tracked, and at each negative to positive zero crossing, a Channel Specific Sampling Sequence (CSSS) is started. Typically CSSS sequences are applied on up to 3 of the most apical electrode channels, covering the frequency range up to 200 or 330 Hz. The FSP arrangement is described further in Hochmair I, Nopp P, Jolly C, Schmidt M, Schöβer H, Garnham C, Anderson I, MED-EL Cochlear Implants: State of the Art and a Glimpse into the Future, Trends in Amplification, vol. 10, 201-219, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference. The FS4 coding strategy differs from FSP in that up to 4 apical channels can have their fine structure information used. In FS4-p, stimulation pulse sequences can be delivered in parallel on any 2 of the 4 FSP electrode channels. With the FSP and FS4 coding strategies, the fine structure information is the instantaneous frequency information of a given electrode channel, which may provide users with an improved hearing sensation, better speech understanding and enhanced perceptual audio quality. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,561,709; Lorens et al. "Fine structure processing improves speech perception as well as objective and subjective benefits in pediatric MED-EL COMBI 40+ users." International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology 74.12 (2010): 1372-1378; and Vermeire et al., "Better speech recognition in noise with the fine structure processing coding strategy." ORL 72.6 (2010): 305-311; all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Many cochlear implant coding strategies use what is referred to as an n-of-m approach where only some number n electrode channels with the greatest amplitude are stimulated in a given sampling time frame. If, for a given time frame, the amplitude of a specific electrode channel remains higher than the amplitudes of other channels, then that channel will be selected for the whole time frame. Subsequently, the number of electrode channels that are available for coding information is reduced by one, which results in a clustering of stimulation pulses. Thus, fewer electrode channels are available for coding important temporal and spectral properties of the sound signal such as speech onset.
In addition to the specific processing and coding approaches discussed above, different specific pulse stimulation modes are possible to deliver the stimulation pulses with specific electrodes—i.e. mono-polar, bi-polar, tri-polar, multi-polar, and phased-array stimulation. And there also are different stimulation pulse shapes—i.e. biphasic, symmetric triphasic, asymmetric triphasic pulses, or asymmetric pulse shapes. These various pulse stimulation modes and pulse shapes each provide different benefits; for example, higher tonotopic selectivity, smaller electrical thresholds, higher electric dynamic range, less unwanted side-effects such as facial nerve stimulation, etc.
The standard stimulation pulses in cochlear implants are biphasic. As shown in FIG. 2, such biphasic stimulation pulses have a negative half-wave (cathodic phase) and a charge-balanced positive half-wave (anodic phase). The net charge of a given half-wave pulse corresponds to the product of its current amplitude A and its pulse duration T. To ensure that no DC components are transmitted to the auditory nerve, the biphasic stimulation pulse includes an opposite phase half-wave pulse of equal duration and opposite amplitude to the first half-wave pulse. In specific pulsatile stimulation strategies, sequential or parallel pulses can be generated at different electrode contacts.
Sometimes, depending on the propagation of the electrical stimulation field and the specific anatomical situation, other nerves may be stimulated inadvertently. Such collateral stimulation can result in unintended somatic responses, which are side-effects such as twitching of the facial nerve and/or eye, or a burning sensation in the tongue or throat. These unpleasant somatic responses can increase in intensity with increasing charge. In some cases, this situation can prevent setting the stimulation intensity sufficiently high for effective hearing via the cochlear implant. If only one or a few electrode contacts are affected, these electrode contacts can be deactivated. But this change in the operation of the cochlear implant may have other undesirable consequences for the patient. If a considerable number of or all of the electrode contacts are affected, the cochlear implant may not be usable for hearing in extreme cases.
When setting the stimulation parameters in a patient fitting process, the fitting audiologist can try to change various stimulation parameters such as pulse width, stimulation rate and compression to provide a louder auditory sensation and reduce the undesired somatic responses. Re-implantation with a cochlear implant with a differently arranged reference electrode also has been attempted by placing separate ground electrodes at very specific locations. EP 0 959 943 mentions that facial nerve twitching can be an undesired somatic response. US 2012/0143284 also discusses the problem of undesirable facial nerve stimulation and other unwanted somatic responses. But throughout these documents this issue is always discussed in connection with extra-cochlear electrode contacts which are considered the source of these responses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,617 describes selecting complex stimulus waveforms including triphasic stimulation pulses based on the "response" of the stimulated tissue. Generally the discussion assumes that this is the perceptive response and there is no mention of mitigating undesired somatic responses.

Triphasic pulses to reduce undesirable side-effects in cochlear implants