A CD transport tray can be driven by a powered wheel made of an elastomeric material, or by a wheel 42xe2x80x2 having an elastomeric material on its rim surface that engages (through a friction-based driving action) an elongated strip on the CD transport tray. In the alternative, the elongated strip 38xe2x80x2 can be provided with an elastomeric strip 110xe2x80x2 or both the wheel 42xe2x80x2 and the elongated strip 38xe2x80x2 may be provided with an elastomeric strip.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to transport trays used to insert and extract compact disks (xe2x80x9cCDsxe2x80x9d) into and out of CD drives (xe2x80x9cdrive(s)xe2x80x9d). More particularly, this invention relates to the CD transport tray drive mechanisms used to power transport trays into and out of these drives.
2. Statement of the Problem
Reading from, and writing to, a CD involves loading and unloading the CD into and out of a CD drive. These loading and unloading operations are usually carried out by a CD transport tray. For example, copying information stored on a first CD onto a second, blank CD is often accomplished by (1) placing the information-containing first CD on a CD transport tray, (2) loading said tray (and the first CD that rests upon it) into a drive, (3) copying information on the first CD on a hard drive component of the system, (4) unloading the first CD from the disk transport tray, (5) replacing the first CD with the second, blank CD, (6) loading the tray (and the second, blank CD resting on it) back into the drive, (7) copying the information taken from the first CD and stored in the hard drive onto the second CD, and (8) removing the transport tray (and the second CD resting upon it) from the drive. In order to do all of this, the transport tray must be moved laterally from a fully open position, where the compact disk can be placed on the tray (or removed from it), to a fully closed position (such that a CD on the tray is placed in a specific operating position inside the drive) where the CD is xe2x80x9cread fromxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cwritten toxe2x80x9d and thereafter moved back to its fully open position (such that the second CD on the tray is again carried outside of the drive so that it can be removed from said tray). A mechanical drive mechanism provides the powered lateral motion needed to move the tray back and forth between its fully open position and its fully closed position.
Most prior art CD transport tray drive mechanisms employ rack and pinion gear systems. The rack is an extended, bar-like, member having gear teeth along a major portion of its length. These teeth engage the teeth of a powered pinion gear. The rack component of such a system is usually on the underside of the tray. The powered, pinion gear is attached to another part of the drive. When engaged with the pinion gear, the rack is driven laterally as the pinion gear rotates. Depending on the direction in which the pinion gear rotates, the CD transport tray is either driven into or out of the drive.
These rack and pinion transport tray drive mechanisms are powered by electrical motors capable of being driven in either a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction. Such electrical motors have a drive shaft that is connected to a pulley head. The motor pulley head is connected to mechanical means for transmitting the rotary motion of the motor pulley head to the gear train. For example, the motor pulley head may be connected to an elastic belt or band that is, in turn, connected to a gear train pulley head. Thus, the powered rotation of the motor is transmitted to the gear train pulley head via movement of the belt. This causes the gear train to drive the pinion gear which, in turn, causes the rack to be driven laterally.
Those skilled in this art, also will appreciate that the electrical motors used in such transport tray drives turn at speeds or angular velocities that are greater than the desired speeds of such pinion gears. Thus, the speed of the pinion gear relative to the speed of the motor drive shaft must be reduced. This is generally done by a series of gears in a gear train wherein a first, driving, gear has a diameter that is smaller than a second, driven, gear with which the first gear engages. This xe2x80x9cgearing downxe2x80x9d in transport tray drive mechanisms is usually repeated through use of two or three succeeding gear pairs wherein succeeding driving gears have a smaller diameter than the driven gear. Eventually the last gear in these gear trains is connected to a pinion gear that rotates at a speed that is less than the speed of the motor shaft.
The engagement of the teeth of the pinion gear with the teeth of the rack can, however, create potentially harmful stresses in the individual teeth of the pinion gear and/or of the rack. This mechanical engagement also tends to produce noises having sound levels that are sometimes greater than about 70 decibels. Such sound levels are generally regarded as being esthetically undesirable in the CD drive industry. Heretofore, these potentially harmful stresses (and unaesthetic sounds) have been mitigated by the xe2x80x9cgivexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ccushioning effectxe2x80x9d, etc. that is provided the engaging action of the rack and pinion by a certain degree of xe2x80x9cslippagexe2x80x9d in the pulley system that connects the motor to the gear train. For example, if the engagement of the teeth of the pinion gear with the teeth of the rack is particularly stressful, the pulley belt can momentarily xe2x80x9cslipxe2x80x9d with respect to the turning pulley heads and thereby relieve the stress between the engaging teeth of the rack and pinion gears.
This prior art method of relieving the potentially damaging stresses placed on engaging and disengaging rack and pinion gears does however have certain drawbacks. For example, this method of relieving such stresses requires the use of three mechanical elements (i.e., a motor pulley head, a gear train pulley head and a pulley belt that connects them) that all add to the cost and mechanical complexity of transport tray drive mechanisms. Problems also arise from the fact that the pulley belts that connect the motor to the gear train tend to lose their elasticity and/or break over time.
Applicants have found that the potentially harmful forces (and unaesthetic noises) created by stressful rack and pinion gear engagements and/or disengagements in CD tray drive mechanisms can be greatly reduced through use of friction-based, engaging surfaces that are used in place of gears. Thus, instead of a pinion gear having teeth, applicants"" transport tray drive mechanism employs a drive wheel that is made of an elastomeric material or, in the alternative, employs a drive wheel having a rim that is made of, or covered by, an elastomeric material such as a natural or synthetic rubber. That is to say that the rim of the wheel may be made of an elastomeric material by virtue of the fact the drive wheel itself is made of an elastomeric material, or the drive wheel may be provided with a xe2x80x9ctire-likexe2x80x9d rim which is made of an elastomeric material. This wheel or a rubber rim thereof is placed in friction-creating contact with a strip or bar on the transport tray. In other words, this strip or bar does not have teeth such as those employed in the rack component of prior art transport tray drive mechanisms. Such a strip or bar is elongated (i.e., it runs over a major part of the length of the tray) and is preferably made in an injection molding operation that creates a monolithic tray/strip or bar component. The strip or bar also may be provided with a strip of elastomeric material. These engaging surfaces (be they elastomeric materials or polymeric materials) may have textured, or smooth outermost surfaces. An elastomeric strip placed on the polymeric strip or bar may be the same elastomeric material from which the drive wheel or the drive wheel rim is madexe2x80x94or the elastomeric strip can be made of a different elastomeric material. The resulting elastomeric material-to-elastomeric material engagement may give better traction then an elastomeric material wheel or rim/molded polymeric material system.
Use of this arrangement, implies that any potentially stressful forces produced by engagement of such a drive wheel and such a strip or bar on the tray are compensated for xe2x80x9con the spotxe2x80x9d by the xe2x80x9cgivexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ccushioning effectxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cslippagexe2x80x9d, etc. provided by the natural elasticity of the elastomeric material on the rim of the drive wheel (and, optionally, by any elastomeric material on the strip or bar on the transport tray). Thus, any potentially damaging forces created by the friction engagement of the rim of the drive wheel and the strip on the tray are not transmitted through the gear train as they are in the prior art case previously described where the give, cushioning effect, etc. is provided by slippage of a pulley beltxe2x80x94after the potentially damaging forces are transmitted through the gear train. The cushioning effect provided by the elastomeric rim of the drive also serves to lower those noises associated with the operation of the CD. Applicants also have found that the manufacturing tolerances for the moving parts of the drive mechanisms of this patent disclosure can be increased while fewer parts than a belt system are required. This implies that the cost of the hereindescribed CD transport trays will be less than gear driven mechanisms.
Thus, at its most fundamental level, applicants"" invention employs a powered drive wheel having a radial drive surface, rim, etc. that is made of an elastomeric material (rather than gear teeth such as those on pinion gears) and which, by means of a friction-based driving action, engages a flat strip, bar, etc. on the transport tray in order to power said tray into or out of the CD drive. This flat strip, bar, etc. on the tray may be provided with a strip of elastomeric material (rather than gear teeth such as those on prior racks) that serves to create friction-based forces between the drive wheel and the strip or bar on the tray. It might also be noted here that, for the purposes of this patent disclosure, the expressions xe2x80x9csmooth, radial drive surface, rim, etc.xe2x80x9d should be taken to imply that the drive wheel has no gear teeth on its radial, strip-engaging, surface, rim, etc. Other parts of the drive wheel, however, may well be provided with gear teeth (e.g., such as those that engage with a gear in the gear train that is connected to the motor). Similarly, the expressions xe2x80x9cflat strip, bar, etc.xe2x80x9d on the tray should be taken to imply that the strip, bar, etc. has no gear teeth on its rim-engaging surface.
The elastomers used to create applicants"" friction-based, tray driving actions can be made from a wide variety of natural or synthetic elastomeric materials. Such materials are usually polymers possessing elastic (rubbery) properties. These polymers are typically comprised of molecules that are, for the most part, multiples of certain low-molecular-weight monomer units. By way of example only, the rim and/or strip elastomeric surfaces used in this invention could be made of isoprene (2-methylbutadiene-1,3) which is made up of C5H8 molecules. Polyisoprene, which is made of (C5H8)x monomer units (wherein x normally runs from about 1,000 to about 10,000) also could be used for this purpose. Those skilled in this art will appreciate that, although they differ in composition from natural rubbers, many such high-molecular-weight polymeric materials are termed xe2x80x9csynthetic rubbersxe2x80x9d. In any case, other synthetic elastomeric materials that could be used in the practice of this invention would include, but not be limited to, styrene-butadiene rubbers, butyl rubber, acrylonitrile-butadiene rubbers, polyurethanes, polyacrylate elastomers, silicone elastomers and ethylene-propylene elastomers.

CD transport tray drive having elastomeric drive wheel surface


Disclosed is a process for reducing slag in a black liquor recovery boiler, the process comprising: injecting and burning black liquor in a boiler by contacting it with primary air and secondary air; introducing a slag-reducing chemical into the gases above the injection locations through interlaced, tangential or concentric secondary, tertiary, and/or quarternary air ports.

The invention relates to a new technology that controls slag and fouling deposits in a black liquor recovery boiler, which utilizes black liquor produced as a byproduct of pulp making to recover heat and pulping chemicals.
Paper production involves the treatment of wood chips with chemicals to digest chips into pulp, which is used as a feedstock for either paper manufacture or dissolving pulp. The digestion of wood chips by white liquor (i.e., NaOH and Na2S) produces Kraft pulp (often referred to as delignified or cellulosic pulp) and black residue called black liquor, which is a combination of organic residues and spent pulp digester chemical. As an approximate estimate, the production of 1,000 tons of Kraft pulp can result in the formation of 1,500 tons of black liquor. Owing to the large quantity of spent chemical generated and relative high cost of fresh digestion/pulping chemicals, black liquor can be fired in a recovery boiler to generate thermal steam and regenerate pulping chemicals to be recycled back into the pulping process.
Pulp produced by digestion with white liquor is washed, and spent digestion chemicals are recovered and recycled back to the digestion process. The original pulping chemicals (i.e., white liquor) can be regenerated following digestion by separating the black liquor from pulp, evaporating excess water from the black liquor, and burning the black liquor in a recovery boiler to create heat and smelt (i.e., molten sodium salts, predominantly Na2CO3 and Na2S). The smelt forms at the bottom of the boiler and is dissolved in water to produce "green liquor". The clarified green liquor is reacted with calcium hydroxide to convert Na2CO3 to NaOH (i.e., causticizing) to produce a white liquor that contains Na2S and NaOH. The white liquor is subsequently recycled to the digester.
The black liquor, following evaporation, forms a high viscosity, black material, which is liquid only at elevated temperatures. Black liquor contains organic residues from the delignification process and—as a result—black liquor has a heating value and can be fired in a black liquor recovery boiler. The inorganic fraction of the black liquor primarily consists of relatively low melting temperature sodium salts, predominantly in the form of sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide, sodium sulfate, and sodium carbonate. Owing to the low melting points of sodium salts (often <850° C.), firing black liquor can result in deposition of molten or vapor phase sodium salts on heat exchange surfaces (i.e., slagging and fouling, respectively). Deposition on heat exchanger surfaces decreases the boiler efficiency and ultimately leads to pluggage and mandatory boiler shutdown, resulting in loss of pulp production.
Black liquor is difficult to handle and burn, but engineering experience has determined that it can be sprayed into a combustion zone of a black liquor recovery boiler by nozzles of various design, including splash plate, swirlcone, V-type and beer can design. The spray enters the boiler at the correct temperature and droplet size distribution to permit best utilization. The injectors (often referred to as "liquor guns") penetrate the vertical boiler walls above a char bed (also called a char pile) and desirably above the primary and secondary air ports, but below the tertiary and quaternary air ports. The injectors typically spray the black liquor from opposite walls with droplet velocity and momentum sufficient that a majority reaches beyond the midpoint of the boiler but none reaches the opposite wall by the time the droplets fall to the char pile. Some volatiles are removed in the descent to the pile and some carbonization is effected, but the main burning of the black liquor occurs under reducing conditions in the char pile (to promote reduction of Na2SO4 to Na2S). Primary air is introduced at the approximate elevation of the char pile and supplies about 40 percent or less of the stoichiometric oxygen. Secondary air is introduced below the injection points for the black liquor and adds another 30 to 50 percent of the needed air. Above the level of the black liquor guns are ports for additional air, typically tertiary air and sometimes quaternary air. These additional air ports are essential to supply sufficient air to complete the combustion process and produce process steam.
The combustion gases rising through the recovery boiler contain carryover ash formers (which cool to form ash) which are desirably recovered as solids in an electrostatic precipitator or other solids recovery equipment. Unfortunately, the ash from burning the black liquor will often contain components that cause it to act as an adhesive mass until it passes beyond a bull nose at the top of the combustion zone and into contact with an array of heat exchangers, such as those that form the screen tubes, super heater, the boiler bank (or reheat) and the economizer. The adhesive molten and gaseous sodium salts that are entrained within the flue gas condense on cooler heat exchange surfaces, resulting in deposition. Deposit formations continue to grow as the black liquor recovery boiler is operated, resulting in pluggage and hazardous slag falls, which result in boiler shutdowns and potentially dangerous conditions. For example, large slag falls can puncture or crack exposed screen tubes and release water onto the char bed. Owing to reducing conditions at the char bed, water is converted to hydrogen and oxygen, which pose a serious explosion hazard. Keeping the black liquor recovery boiler free of deposits is critical to maintain safe continuous operations and minimize explosion risks. Deposit control chemicals/additives and processes are known, but it is always a challenge to introduce them in a manner effective for black liquor recovery boilers. This problem has existed since the first such boilers were made and there have been only a few successes, and none which have universal effectiveness.
One established technology for achieving effective slag control in some black liquor recovery boilers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,745 to Smyrniotis, et al.; however, due to the way combustion occurs in a black liquor recovery boiler, there appears to be a unique set of requirements for introducing slag control chemicals. Because of internal structural variations among boilers, the flow of gases in the boilers is not always sufficiently regular to permit accurate and effective computational fluid dynamic solutions. Some physical obstructions such as internal support trusses or beams (and other structures added as retrofit for reasons peculiar to individual boilers) and heat transfer anomalies cannot be reliably modeled in some cases. The introduction of air at multiple levels can cause problems that are not easily seen and addressed. In addition, many predicted solutions require creating openings in boiler walls, often through water walls or other difficult locations. Accordingly, there is a need for a process that can supply the necessary chemical or chemicals despite the problems.
There is a need for an improved process that more effectively applies chemical additives to control deposit formation in a black liquor recovery boiler.

Deposit control for a black liquor recovery boiler


The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a multilayer wiring substrate, which can preserve the dimensional stability of a conductor pattern at a fine pitch, solve the restriction on a process from the viewpoint of material selection, and further reduce a manufacturing cost, and a multilayer wiring substrate. A second wiring substrate formed on a supporting sheet made of metal and an adhesive layer are partially stacked on a predetermined region of a first wiring substrate by using the supporting sheet. After the lamination of the second wiring substrate, the supporting sheet is finally etched and removed. The second wiring substrate is stacked only on the portion required to be multilayered on the first wiring substrate to thereby reduce the amount of the construction material of the second wiring substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a multilayer wiring substrate in which two or more wiring substrates are stacked on each other, and a multilayer wiring substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
In association with the miniaturization and the usage of multiple functions in electronic apparatuses, the request for higher density of wiring substrates (printed circuit boards) and miniaturization of mounted parts are becoming increasingly restrictive. In the wiring substrate, the higher density in a direction parallel to a substrate surface has been conventionally tried by reducing a wiring rule. However, in recent years, the higher density in a direction vertical to the surface of the wiring substrate has been advanced by employing a buildup process, stacking the wiring substrates, and forming via holes (interlayer connections) to electrically connect any layers to each other.
As this type of a conventional technique, for example, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei, 10-107445) discloses a method of manufacturing a multilayer wiring substrate, which forms a conductor pattern (a wiring pattern) on a wiring substrate by using a transferring method. The conventional method of manufacturing a multilayer wiring substrate will be described below with reference to FIGS. 15A to 15E.
At first, as shown in FIG. 15A, a wiring substrate in which a first conductor pattern 2 is formed on a surface of an insulator 1 is produced or prepared. Then, as shown in FIG. 15B, an insulating layer 3 is formed by coating insulation slurry on the surface of the insulator 1. Next, as shown in FIG. 15C, via holes 4 linked to the first conductor pattern 2 are formed in the insulating layer 3 by using laser machining and the like, and a conductive paste 5 is filled in the formed via holes 4. In succession, as shown in FIG. 15D, a second conductor pattern 6 previously formed on a transfer sheet 7 is transferred onto the insulating layer 3. The first and second conductor patterns 2, 6 are connected through the conductive paste 5.
The transfer sheet 7 is mainly made of synthetic resin material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and the like. The conductor pattern 6 is formed by patterning a conductor layer put or deposited on this transfer sheet 7 to a predetermined shape by using a wet etching method. The transfer of the conductor pattern 6 to the insulating layer 3 from the transfer sheet 7 is carried out by using the differences in adhesion between the conductor pattern 6 and the insulating layer 3 and between the conductor pattern 6 and the transfer sheet 7.
When three or more conductive layers are formed, the processes similar to the above-mentioned case are repeated. In short, as shown in FIG. 15E, an insulating layer 8 is further formed on the insulating layer 3. Via holes are formed in this insulating layer 8, and a conductive paste 10 is filled in the formed via holes. After that, a third conductor pattern 11 is formed by the transferring method.
As mentioned above, in the case of the multilayer wiring substrate manufactured by the transferring method, the via holes for the connection between the layers are formed in any portions of the insulating layer. Consequently, the multilayer can be easily attained.
However, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional method of manufacturing the multilayer wiring substrate, the transfer sheet 7 is mainly made of the resin film. Thus, this method has a problem that the expansion/contraction and the warp of the transfer sheet 7 occurring at a time of handling cause an error to be easily induced in the pattern shapes (the dimensions) of the transferred conductor patterns 6, 11. Thus, in this conventional method of manufacturing the multilayer wiring substrate, it will be very difficult to cope with the hyperfine structure (fine pitch structure) of the conductor patterns expected to continue to evolve in the future. Hence, it is impossible to obtain the multilayer wiring substrate of a high quality which corresponds to the fine pitch structure.
By the way, the transfer sheet is thought to be made of metal material such as stainless steel and the like. In this case, as compared with the case in which the transfer sheet is made of the resin film, a rigidity of the transfer sheet is increased to thereby improve the dimensional stability of the conductor pattern. However, in this case, if the rigid property of the transfer destination is strong, it is difficult to remove the transfer sheet. Thus, this method has a problem that the operation for transferring the conductor pattern is not able to be properly done.
Also, in the case of the conventional method of manufacturing the multilayer wiring substrate, the process for producing the multilayer is the steps of alternately stacking the insulating layer and the conductive layer by one layer at a time. For example, if any step defect occurs in the upper layer, all of the steps until that time become vain, and the entire wiring substrate is treated as a defect. Thus, the conventional method of manufacturing the multilayer wiring substrate has a problem that its productivity is poor and its yield is low.
Moreover, the conventional method of manufacturing the multilayer wiring substrate is designed so as to form the insulating layers 3, 8 on the entire surface of a bedding layer when producing the multilayer. Thus formed insulating layers 3, 8 need to be baked and cured. Thus, the conventional method must impose a certain limit on the selection for the construction materials of the insulating layers 3, 8, in order to protect the miss match of a baking temperature. Consequently, this method has a problem that the degree of the freedom of the board design becomes low.
On the other hand, when the board design is carried out for producing the multilayer only in a partial region on the bedding substrate and improving the wiring density, the conventional manufacturing process needs to uniformly form the insulating layers even in the other regions on the bedding substrate. Thus, the conventional method also has a problem that the burden of a material cost when an expensive material is used for the insulating layer is increased.
As mentioned above, the conventional method of manufacturing the multilayer wiring substrate has the problems that it is difficult to cope with the finer pitch structure of the conductor pattern and that the restriction on the material selection is always accompanied and that the producing cost or the material cost is expensive.

Method of manufacturing multilayer wiring substrate, and multilayer wiring substrate


A detector for detecting a locked state and an out-of-lock state of a phase locked loop includes an out-of-lock detector circuit that receives a reference signal and an input signal representing a PLL oscillator signal. The out-of-lock detector detects an out-of-lock state of the PLL and generates an out-of-lock signal indicating whether an out-of-lock state is detected. The detector further includes a lock detector circuit that receives the reference signal and the input signal, detects a locked state of the PLL, and generates a lock signal indicating whether a locked state is detected. A logic circuit receives both the out-of-lock signal and the lock signal and combines both signals to obtain an output signal indicative of whether the PLL is in a locked state or an out-of-lock state.

Radio frequency (RF) transceiver can be found in numerous applications, particularly in the field of wireless communications and radar sensors. In the automotive sector, there is an increasing demand for radar sensors used in so-called "adaptive cruise control" (ACC) or "radar cruise control" systems. Such systems may be used to automatically adjust the speed of an automobile so as to maintain a safe distance from other automobiles ahead.
Modern radar systems make use of highly integrated RF circuits, which may incorporate all core functions of an RF front-end of a radar transceiver in one single package (single chip transceiver). Such RF front-ends may include, inter alia, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), power amplifiers (PA), mixers, and analog-to-digital converters (ADC). However, not all of these components have to be necessarily in one single chip package. For example, ADCs may be integrated in a separate chip. Particularly in frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar systems, the VCO is typically operated in a phase-locked loop (PLL). However, PLLs may be used in many other applications.
Radar applications used in automobiles are subject to various standards concerning road traffic safety, for example the functional safety standard ISO 26262 titled "Road vehicles—Functional safety". To ensure the functional safety of a radar sensor, it is important to know whether the current state of the radar sensor allows a reliable distance and speed measurement. Particularly underestimating the true distance to a vehicle ahead and its speed may cause dangerous traffic situations.
In a radar system the operating state of the PLL used in the radar transceiver is a critical parameter. For a reliable measurement, the PLL should be in a locked state. That is, the PLL output signal is in phase with (i.e. locked to) a reference signal. If the PLL is in an "out-of-lock" state, any measurement results are unreliable, and therefore it may be important to know, whether the PLL is in a locked state or in an out-of-lock state. To improve functional safety, a lock/out-of-lock detector should provide a fast detection of an out-of lock state as well as precise detection of the locked state, which imposes a conflict of objectives on the circuit designer.

Combined lock/out-of-lock detector for phase locked loops


One embodiment provides a system for determining an improved process model that models one or more semiconductor manufacturing processes. During operation, the system can receive a first process model. Next, the system can receive a 2-D-pattern detecting kernel which can detect 2-D patterns. The system can then receive a second set of empirical data which is associated with 2-D patterns in a test layout. Next, the system can determine an improved process model using the first process model, the 2-D-pattern detecting kernel, the test layout, and the second set of empirical data.

Related Art
Rapid advances in computing technology have made it possible to perform trillions of computational operations each second on data sets that are sometimes as large as trillions of bytes. These advances can be attributed to the dramatic improvements in semiconductor manufacturing technologies which have made it possible to integrate tens of millions of devices onto a single chip.
As semiconductor design enters the deep submicron era, process model accuracy is becoming increasingly important. Inaccuracies in the process model negatively affect the efficacy of downstream applications. For example, inaccuracies in the photolithography process model can reduce the efficacy of optical proximity correction (OPC). Hence, it is generally desirable to improve process model accuracy.
Summary
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for determining an improved process model that models one or more semiconductor manufacturing processes. The system can receive a test layout and empirical data that is obtained by subjecting the test layout to one or more semiconductor manufacturing processes. Next, the system can generate an accurate process model using the test layout and the empirical data. The process model can use a kernel that can differentiate between 1-D (one dimensional) regions and 2-D (two dimensional) regions in a layout.
In one embodiment, the system can categorize the empirical data into 1-D empirical data and 2-D empirical data. The 1-D empirical data is associated with 1-D patterns and/or regions in the layout, whereas the 2-D empirical data is associated with 2-D patterns and/or regions in the layout. The system can then generate a first process model using the 1-D empirical data. Note that the first process model may not include a 2-D-pattern detecting kernel. Next, the system can generate an improved process model using the first process model, a 2-D-pattern detecting kernel, and the 2-D empirical data.

Method and apparatus for determining a process model using a 2-D-pattern detecting kernel


A light guide light extraction mechanism can be formed in a predetermined maximum length to yield a predetermined light emission characteristic. Any shorter length segment removed from a predetermined end of the extraction mechanism and installed in a light guide of that shorter length causes the shorter length light guide to exhibit substantially uniform surface brightness. This obviates the need for cumbersome trial and error development of a different light extraction mechanism for each such shorter light guide.

conventionally, a cumbersome trial and error process must be used to design a light guide such that the light guide's light emitting surface will be uniformly illuminated. Typically for example a light guide having desired dimensions is constructed and operated to determine the uniformity with which light is emitted at different points on the emitting surface. The light guide's light extraction mechanism, which may take various forms, as noted, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,708 Whitehead "Apparatus For Continuously Controlled Emission of Light From Prism Light Guide", is then altered in a manner which is expected to improve the light guide's uniformity of illumination. The foregoing steps are repeated until an acceptable degree of uniformity is attained.
The foregoing prior art technique results in a light extraction mechanism which can be reused only in light guides having the same dimensions as the light guide for which the extraction mechanism was developed. If the same extraction mechanism is used in a new light guide having substantially different dimensions then it is a very likely that the new light guide will not emit light with the same degree of uniformity as the light guide for which the extraction mechanism was developed.
It is most typical to vary the length dimension of a light guide to suit different applications, and considerably less typical to vary the light guide's other dimensions. The present invention facilitates construction of a light extraction mechanism for a "standard" light guide of predetermined maximum length having a desired uniform light output characteristic. Shorter light guides, each having the same uniform light output characteristic as the standard light guide (but having different brightness characteristics, due to the inverse relationship of light guide length and brightness), can be constructed by removing from the appropriate end of a light extraction mechanism identical to that required for the standard light guide, a segment equal to the desired length of the shorter light guide. This obviates the need for cumbersome trial and error development of a different light extraction mechanism for each such shorter light guide. The invention also facilitates construction of a modular light guide having a length which can be a multiple of a standardized unit length, such that the light guide's light output uniformity remains constant, irrespective of the length of the light guide.

Uniform light extraction from light guide, independently of light guide length


An adhesive sheet for dicing comprising a base film provided at least one surface thereof with an adhesive layer, wherein the base film comprises an olefinic thermoplastic elastomer comprising propylene and ethylene and/or α-olefin including 4 to 8 carbon atoms as polymerization components, and the peak melting temperature of the olefinic thermoplastic elastomer is 120° C. or more, is free of economical disadvantages with less reduction in the quality level of products and less generation of fibrous off-cuts during dicing. In particular, fibrous off-cuts occur less during dicing when the base film contains a crystal-nucleating agent. Further, generation of chippings during dicing can be prevented by incorporation of an ethylene series polymer into the base film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhesive sheet for dicing. Further, the present invention relates to a method of dicing by using the adhesive sheet for dicing and to small cut pieces obtained by the dicing method. In case that small element pieces, such as semiconductor wafers cut and separate (dice), the adhesive sheet for dicing according to the present invention is particularly useful as an adhesive sheet for dicing semiconductor wafers, which is used for fixing materials to be cut, such as semiconductor wafers. For example, the adhesive sheet for dicing according to the present invention can be used as an adhesive sheet for dicing silicon semiconductors, an adhesive sheet for dicing compound semiconductor wafers, an adhesive sheet for dicing semiconductor packages, an adhesive sheet for dicing glass, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a semiconductor wafer made of silicon, gallium or arsenic is produced in a state having a large diameter, then cut and separated (diced) into small element pieces, and transferred to a mounting step. In this process, the semiconductor wafer is subjected, in a state maintained by sticking on an adhesive sheet, to the respective steps such as a dicing step, a washing step, an expanding step, a pick-up step and a mounting step. As the adhesive sheet, a sheet including an acrylic series adhesive of about 1 to 200 μm in thickness applied onto a base material consisting of a plastic film is generally used.
In the dicing step, the wafer is cut with a rotating and moving circular blade, but a cutting system called full cutting where the base material of the adhesive sheet for dicing maintained the semiconductor wafer is cut into an inside of the base material, is a mainstream. Since the adhesive sheet is cut into an inside thereof by the full-cutting method, the base material i.e. a plastic film generates fibrous off-cuts. When the fibrous off-cuts adhere to the side of the chip (cut piece), the adhering fibrous off-cuts are mounted and contained in the chip in later steps, to cause a problem of a significant reduction in the reliability of the resultant semiconductor element. In the pickup step, individual chips are picked up after positioning under recognition with a CCD camera, but if there are fibrous off-cuts, there is also an inconvenience that a recognition error is caused.
As a means of solving such problems, for example Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 156214 (1993) proposes an adhesive sheet using an ethylene-methacrylate copolymer as the base material. This adhesive sheet achieves a certain reduction in generation of fibrous off-cuts, but is not satisfactorily endurable in the dicing step in producing highly reliable semiconductors.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 211234(1993) proposes an adhesive sheet using a film irradiated with electron rays or radiations such as γ-rays at 1 to 80 MRad. However, this adhesive sheet is severely damaged by irradiation with radiations, thus hardly providing a film excellent in outward appearance and significantly costing in film production, and is thus not preferable in respect of quality level and costs.
A wafer is completely cut in the cutting method by full-cutting, and thus the quality level of the cut is varied depending on the adhesive sheet for dicing used. For example, in recent years as a wafer is thinned, a crack called chipping occurs on the back surface of the wafer, caused a serious problem of a reduction in the anti-bending strength of the wafer.
As a means of solving such problems, for example Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.335411(1993) proposes a method of producing a thinned semiconductor element (by conducting dicing first) wherein a semiconductor wafer with an element formed thereon is first subjected to dicing to form a groove of predetermined depth and then subjected to back-grinding to the depth of the diced groove. In this method, occurrence of chipping can be prevented, but since a semiconductor wafer is provided previously with a cut of dozens to hundreds μm in depth by dicing, there arises problems such as cracking prior to the back-grinding step and contamination of the surface of the wafer with grinding water from the groove in the back-grinding step, thus leading to a reduction in the yield of the semiconductor wafer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Organic compositions of conductive polymers are provided. The compositions have at least one polymer selected from polypyrrole, polythiophene, or combinations and at least one colloid-forming polymeric acid dispersed in a liquid medium that is at least 60% by weight at least one organic liquid. Also provided is a method of making such compositions.

Electrically conducting polymers have been used in a variety of organic electronic devices, including in the development of electroluminescent ("EL") devices for use in light emissive displays. With respect to EL devices, such as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) containing conducting polymers, such devices generally have the following configuration:anode/buffer layer/EL material/cathodeThe anode is typically any material that is transparent and has the ability to inject holes into the EL material, such as, for example, indium/tin oxide (ITO). The anode is optionally supported on a glass or plastic substrate. EL materials include fluorescent dyes, fluorescent and phosphorescent metal complexes, conjugated polymers, and mixtures thereof. The cathode is typically any material (such as, e.g., Ca or Ba) that has the ability to inject electrons into the EL material.
The buffer layer is typically an electrically conducting polymer and facilitates the injection of holes from the anode into the EL material layer. The buffer layer can also be called a hole-injection layer, a hole transport layer, or may be characterized as part of a bilayer anode. Typical conducting polymers employed as buffer layers include polyaniline and polydioxythiophenes such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDT). These materials can be prepared by polymerizing aniline or dioxythiophene monomers in aqueous solution in the presence of a water soluble polymeric acid, such as poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PSS), as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,575 entitled "Polythiophene dispersions, their production and their use." A well known PEDT/PSS material is Baytron®-P, commercially available from H. C. Starck, GmbH (Leverkusen, Germany).
The aqueous electrically conductive polymer dispersions synthesized with water soluble polymeric sulfonic acids have undesirable low pH levels. The low pH can contribute to decreased stress life of an EL device containing such a buffer layer, and contribute to corrosion within the device. Accordingly, there is a need for compositions and layers prepared there from having improved properties.
Electrically conducting polymers which have the ability to carry a high current when subjected to a low electrical voltage, also have utility as electrodes for electronic devices, such as thin film field effect transistors. In such transistors, an organic semiconducting film which has high mobility for electron and/or hole charge carriers, is present between source and drain electrodes. A gate electrode is on the opposite side of the semiconducting polymer layer. To be useful for the electrode application, the electrically conducting polymers and the liquids for dispersing or dissolving the electrically conducting polymers have to be compatible with the semiconducting polymers and the solvents for the semiconducting polymers to avoid re-dissolution of either conducting polymers or semiconducting polymers. The electrical conductivity of the electrodes fabricated from the electrically conducting polymers should be greater than 10 S/cm (where S is a reciprocal ohm). However, the electrically conducting polythiophenes made with a polymeric acid typically provide conductivity in the range of ˜10−3 S/cm or lower. In order to enhance conductivity, conductive additives may be added to the polymer. However, the presence of such additives can deleteriously affect the processability of the electrically conducting polythiophene. Accordingly, there is a need for improved conductive polythiophenes.
There is a continuing need for conductive polymer compositions having improved physical and electrical properties.

Organic formulations of conductive polymers made with polymeric acid colloids for electronics applications, and methods for making such formulations


Embodiments relate an address translation/specification (ATS) field. An aspect includes receiving a work queue entry from a work queue in a main memory by a hardware accelerator, the work queue entry corresponding to an operation of the hardware accelerator that is requested by user-space software, the work queue entry comprising a first ATS field that describes a structure of the work queue entry. Another aspect includes, based on determining that the first ATS field is consistent with the operation corresponding to the work queue entry and the structure of the work queue entry, executing the operation corresponding to the work queue entry by the hardware accelerator. Another aspect includes, based on determining that the first ATS field is not consistent with the operation corresponding to the work queue entry and the structure of the work queue entry, rejecting the work queue entry by the hardware accelerator.

The present invention relates generally to computing systems, and more specifically, to an address translation/specification (ATS) field for a hardware accelerator in a computing system.
A computing system may include a hardware accelerator that interacts with user-space software in the computing system via a trusted operating system (OS)-level driver. The user-space software may send control blocks corresponding to operation requests to the hardware accelerator via the trusted OS level driver, which translates the control blocks into work queue entries that are dequeued by the hardware accelerator for processing. Poorly written or malicious user-space software has the potential to cause the hardware accelerator to initiate memory accesses that crash the computing system. A trusted OS-level driver protects against such memory accesses, as the work queue entries that are received by the hardware accelerator are constructed to have a specific format by the trusted OS-level driver; therefore, the only work queue entries in the specific format are sent to the hardware accelerator. However, architectures may vary among hardware accelerators, and each architecture may require an OS-level driver that is specific to both the OS that is running on the computing system and to the hardware accelerator. Further, each hardware accelerator in a particular computing system may require a dedicated OS-level driver.

Address translation/specification field for hardware accelerator

International Business Machines Corporation


A discharge tube is disclosed that includes: an airtight tube having first and second end surfaces each including a metallized surface; first and second discharge electrodes joined to the respective metallized surfaces; and multiple trigger lines formed on the inner wall surface of the airtight tube to extend along the axial directions of the airtight tube. The first and second discharge electrodes are joined to the metallized surfaces so that a discharge gap is formed between the first and second discharge electrodes and the airtight tube is hermetically sealed. The trigger lines include one or more first trigger lines connected to the metallized surfaces and multiple second trigger lines isolated from the metallized surfaces. The second trigger lines are formed at equal intervals on the inner wall surface of the airtight tube and each first trigger line is formed between a corresponding pair of the second trigger lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to discharge tubes, and more particularly to a discharge tube that causes discharge to repeatedly occur between the discharge surface of an upper discharge electrode end and the discharge surface of a lower discharge electrode end, the discharge surfaces opposing each other at the center inside an airtight tube.
2. Description of the Related Art
For instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-335042 discloses a switching discharge tube (hereinafter, simply referred to as "discharge tube") used in lighting circuits for an HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamp for vehicles, projector lamp, and a back lamp for rear-projection TVs. FIGS. 1 through 3 show a first conventional discharge tube 100A.
Referring to FIG. 1, the discharge tube 100A includes an airtight tube 10D, an upper discharge electrode 22, and a lower discharge electrode 24. The airtight tube 10D has a cylindrical shape. The upper discharge electrode 22 and the lower discharge electrode 24 are joined to the upper-end opening and the lower-end opening, respectively, of the airtight tube 10D.
Disk-like lid bodies 26 and 28 are formed integrally with the upper discharge electrode 22 and the lower discharge electrode 24, respectively. A metallized surface 40 is formed at each of the upper-end opening and the lower-end opening of the airtight tube 10D. Accordingly, the upper discharge electrode 22 and the lower discharge electrode 24 are joined to the airtight tube 10D by brazing the lid bodies 26 and 28 integrated with the upper and lower discharge electrodes 22 and 24, respectively, to the metallized surfaces 40 formed at the upper-end and lower-end openings of the airtight tube 10D. Referring to FIG. 3, lead wires 12 and 14 are connected to the lid bodies 26 and 28, respectively, so that the lid bodies 26 and 28 are connected to external circuits through the lead wires 12 and 14.
The upper discharge electrode 22 projects from the lid body 26 toward the center position of the airtight tube 10D. The end portion of the upper discharge electrode 22 is shaped like a cylinder of a small diameter. A discharge surface 23 is formed on the small-diameter cylindrical end portion of the upper discharge electrode 22 (hereinafter referred to as "upper discharge surface 23"). The upper discharge surface 23 includes a recess 27 for causing discharge to occur in a stabilized manner.
The lower discharge electrode 24 is structured in the same manner. The end portion of the lower discharge electrode 24 is shaped like a cylinder of a small diameter. A discharge surface 25 is formed on the small-diameter cylindrical end portion of the lower discharge electrode 24 (hereinafter referred to as "lower discharge surface 25"). The lower discharge surface 25 also includes the recess 27 for causing discharge to occur in a stabilized manner. In the discharge tube 100A, discharges occur in the space between the upper discharge surface 23 and the lower discharge surface 25. This space is hereinafter referred to as a "discharge gap 29."
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the discharge tube 100A of the above-described structure, for instance, eight main discharge trigger wires 30 are formed along the axial directions of the airtight tube 10D (or the Y1 and Y2 directions of FIGS. 1 and 2) at equal intervals (with the same pitch W) on the inner sidewall of the airtight tube 10D. Each main discharge trigger wire 30 is spaced from the metallized surfaces 40 so as to be electrically isolated from the metallized surfaces 40.
FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing a second conventional discharge tube 100B. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the same elements as those of FIGS. 1 through 3 are referred to by the same numerals, and a description thereof is omitted.
According to the second conventional discharge tube 100B, two sub discharge trigger wires 20 as well as the eight main discharge trigger wires 30 are formed on the inner sidewall of an airtight tube 10E. Each sub discharge trigger wire 20 is formed at a center position of the eight main discharge trigger wires 30. That is, four of the main trigger wires 30 are provided in each of the two spaces between the paired sub discharge trigger wires 20.
Like the main discharge trigger wires 30, the sub discharge trigger wires 20 are formed along the axial directions of the airtight tube 10E (or the Y1 and Y2 directions of FIGS. 4 and 5). The upper or lower end of each sub discharge trigger wire 20 is electrically connected to the metallized surface 40 formed on the corresponding upper-end or lower-end surface of the airtight tube 10E.
Conventionally, the sub discharge trigger wires 20 and the main discharge trigger wires 30 are also formed along the axial directions of the airtight tube 10E (or the Y1 and Y2 directions of FIGS. 4 and 5) at equal intervals (with the same pitch W) as shown in FIG. 5. That is, when the distance (interval) between each adjacent two of the main discharge trigger wires 30 is W, the distance (interval) between each sub discharge trigger wire 20 and each of its adjacent main discharge wires 30 is also W.
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the results of a discharge (service) life test conducted to obtain changes over time in the discharge starting voltage of an initial discharge (hereinafter referred to as "initial discharge starting voltage FVs") and the mean discharge voltage of second and subsequent discharges (hereinafter referred to as "mean discharge voltage Vs MEAN") in the first conventional discharge tube 100A of the above-described configuration. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis indicates the cumulative number of discharges (×10,000), and the vertical axis indicates discharge operation voltage (V).
In this test, the initial discharge starting voltage FVs and the mean discharge voltage Vs MEAN at the time of causing the discharge tube 100A to perform discharging after the discharge tube 100A was left in a completely dark place at −40° C. for a predetermined period of time were studied at each predetermined point. Specific test conditions are as follows:
(a) Operation Interval: a second of operation is followed by four seconds of quiescence (hereinafter, this is referred to as "one test cycle"). One hundred discharges are caused to occur in this one test cycle (five seconds), thus resulting in a discharge frequency of 100 Hz;
(b) Measurement Method: the discharge tube 100A is left in an environment of −40° C., and the test cycle is repeated until the cumulative number of discharges reaches a specified measurement number. When the cumulative number of discharge operations reaches each specified measurement number, the initial discharge starting voltage FVs and the mean discharge voltage Vs MEAN are measured and calculated.
Specifically, in the case of measuring data at a specified measurement number of 20,000, the test cycle is stopped when the number of times the test cycle is repeated reaches 200, and the discharge tube 100A is left as it is for an hour. Thereafter, the discharge tube 100A is caused to operate for one test cycle, and the initial discharge starting voltage FVs and the mean discharge voltage Vs MEAN are measured and calculated. When this measurement operation is completed, the test cycle is started, and is repeated until the next specified measurement number (for instance, 40,000). This operation is repeatedly performed until a specified measurement number of 2,000,000; and
(c) Power Supply Circuit for Test: a relaxation oscillator circuit including a capacitor and a coil is employed. In practice, a capacitor of 120 nF (50–150 nF) and a coil of 0.1 μH (0.1–5.0 μH) were employed. According to this relaxation oscillator circuit, when an electric charge is stored in the capacitor, a discharge tube connected thereto performs discharging so as to cause the electric charge to flow to ground. The capacitor, which has lost the electric charge, starts recharging, and when the electric charge is re-stored, the capacitor again discharges. This discharging is repeated in an operation period of one second. The cumulative number of times this discharging operation is repeated corresponds to the cumulative number of discharges of the discharge life test.
The discharge life test is conducted based on the above-described conditions. This discharge life test, which is conducted in a completely dark place in an environment of −40° C., is the severest one of the discharge life tests. This is because there is no effect of thermoelectrons in the environment of −40° C., nor is there any effect of photoelectrons in the completely dark place, thus making it difficult for discharging to occur. A brief description is given below of the effect of photoelectrons and the effect of thermoelectrons.
The effect of photoelectrons refers to the effect that the discharge characteristic of a discharge tube is made faster by photoelectrons. That is, photoelectrons are constantly emitted from the light source of, for instance, an illuminator, so that sufficient photoelectrons have also penetrated into the discharge tube in a light environment. These photoelectrons have the effect of exciting gas sealed in the discharge tube into an easily dischargeable state. Accordingly, the discharge tube placed in a light environment is in a stabilized and easily dischargeable state, thus causing a decrease in the initial discharge start voltage FVs. On the other hand, in a dark place, these photoelectrons do not exist, so that the discharge tube is unstable and it is difficult for discharging to occur, thus causing an increase in the initial discharge start voltage FVs.
The effect of thermoelectrons refers to the effect that the discharge characteristic of a discharge tube is made faster by thermoelectrons. That is, with an increase in temperature, an electron in the outermost shell of an atom becomes more likely to be emitted from the orbit of the outermost shell. Accordingly, the number of thermoelectrons generated also increases in the discharge tube as temperature increases. Therefore, the discharge tube is in a stabilized and easily dischargeable state in a high-temperature environment, thus causing a decrease in the initial discharge start voltage FVs. On the other hand, in a low-temperature environment, the number of thermoelectrons generated is reduced, so that the discharge tube is unstable and it is difficult for discharging to occur, thus causing an increase in the initial discharge start voltage FVs.
For the above-described reasons, the environment of −40° C. and complete darkness (hereinafter referred to as "dark cold environment") is a harsh environment where it is difficult for the discharge tube 100A to cause discharging to occur. On the other hand, if a desired discharge characteristic can be obtained in this dark cold environment, a good FVs characteristic may be obtained in any environment.
Referring to FIG. 6 in view of the above-described matter, it is understood that in the discharge tube 100A, the initial discharge start voltage FVs increases as the cumulative number of discharges increases. This is because the discharge-inducing effects of thermoelectrons and photoelectrons on the discharge tube 100A completely disappear in the complete dark cold environment since the discharge tube 100A includes no sub discharge trigger wires contacting the metallized surfaces 40.
Thus, the discharge tube 100A has a problem in that the occurrence of surface corona discharge is delayed so as to reduce the response speed of the initial discharge start voltage FVs. Further, the initial discharge start voltage FVs increases with an increase in the cumulative number of discharges. In particular, the initial discharge start voltage FVs exceeds 1000 V around when the cumulative number of discharges exceeds 800,000, thus causing a problem in that the discharge life of the discharge tube 100A is reduced.
Meanwhile, FIG. 7 is a graph showing test results for the second conventional discharge tube 100B at the time of conducting the same discharge life test as described above. Test conditions and environment in this test are the same as those for the above-described discharge tube 100A.
FIG. 7 shows that in the discharge tube 100B, the initial discharge start voltage FVs fluctuates greatly as the cumulative number of discharges increases. The discharge tube 100B includes the sub discharge trigger wires 20 electrically connected to the metallized surfaces 40. Accordingly, even in the completely dark cold environment, induction of surface corona discharge is likely to occur in the discharge tube 100B compared with the discharge tube 100A with no sub discharge trigger wires 20. However, since the main discharge trigger wires 30 in the center are disposed at an irregular interval (or too wide an interval), transfer to main discharge is likely to be delayed, thus causing the initial discharge start voltage FVs to fluctuate as in the test results.
Specifically, referring to FIG. 5, the sub discharge trigger wires 20 are disposed between a group of the main discharge trigger wires 30 indicated by arrow A1 and a group of the main discharge trigger wires 30 indicated by arrow A2. Accordingly, the interval between the main discharge trigger wire 30 indicated by arrow MT1 of one group and the main discharge trigger wire 30 indicated by arrow MT2 of the other group is 2×W. Thus, the main discharge trigger wires 30 are disposed at an irregular interval in some parts, causing the initial discharge start voltage FVs to fluctuate.
Thus, fluctuations in the initial discharge start voltage FVs cause the operation of a ballast circuit for lighting an HID lamp using the discharge tube 100B to be unstable. However, compared with the FVs characteristic of the discharge tube 100A, the initial discharge start voltage FVs is prevented from rising excessively in the discharge tube 100B.


A separate scrubber is securely attached to a mop that has a sponge mop element. The scrubber is attached to the mounting head with mounting stems. The mounting stems take the form of walls that are spaced at a distance apart. One or more of the walls has an outwardly facing ridge that extends from the wall by no more than half the distance between the walls. Each set of walls extends through an aperture on a mounting head, and the scrubber is held in place by the engagement of the ridges with a mounting face on the mounting head. The walls extend perpendicularly to the length of the body of the scrubber.

The present invention relates generally to mops, and more particularly to mops with attached scrubbers.
There are several different types of cleaning mops that have various mechanisms to squeeze out the water from the mopping surface, typically a sponge, during cleaning. Depending on the cleaning application, there may also be a need for these mops to have an additional scrubbing surface, such as a stronger or more abrasive cleaning surface like a brush. There are now several commercially available mops that have a scrubber in addition to the mopping surface. The addition of a scrubber gives the mop two different cleaning surfaces to allow the user to achieve the desired results.
Past attempts to manufacture a mop that has both a mopping element and a scrubber have encountered problems. It is difficult to fashion a mop that has both a mopping surface and scrubber that is constructed of one piece. This is because it is difficult to mold a mop with both features and then to staple the brush or bristles of a scrubber into the mop. Therefore, there is a need to securely attach the scrubber to the mop.
There is a need for a mop with a scrubber where the mopping surface and the scrubber are at the proper angle in relation to the mop handle for use. There is also a need for a mop that makes it easy for the user to switch between using the mopping element and the scrubber while using the mop.
In addition, there are often problems how the scrubber is attached to the head of the mop to achieve a securely attached scrubber. There is a need for a way to more securely engage the scrubber to the mop head so that the scrubber does not move around during use and so that the scrubber can withstand long periods of use.
Further, mopping surfaces, such as a sponge mop, can wear out after prolonged use, while scrubbers, such as a brush, typically can sustain longer periods of use. There is a need to have a mop that has a mopping surface that can be changed when desired by the consumer without affecting the scrubber.


A two-dimensional colorimeter includes: an image sensing section, having an image sensor constituted of a number of pixels arranged in a two-dimensional manner, for sensing an object image to be measured to acquire a two-dimensional image; a discriminator for discriminating whether a targeted color with respect to the two-dimensional image acquired by the image sensing section is to be corrected in terms of a pixel or pixels; and a calculator for performing a calculation to apply predetermined correction information corresponding to the color to be corrected to the two-dimensional image in terms of a pixel or pixels, based on a discrimination result by the discriminator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a two-dimensional colorimeter, and more particularly to a tristimulus two-dimensional colorimeter provided with a spectral sensitivity correction function.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there have been used tristimulus two-dimensional calorimeters i.e. colorimeters for directly measuring tristimulus values using an optical filter such as an XYZ filter, or a like optical member, to measure luminance or chromaticity of a two-dimensional light source. Unlike a two-dimensional spectrocolorimeter, the tristimulus two-dimensional calorimeters have a characteristic that spectral sensitivities thereof do not completely match with a color matching function (X(λ), Y(λ), Z(λ)). Accordingly, the tristimulus two-dimensional colorimeters may have an error in measurement values resulting from mismatching between the spectral sensitivities and the color matching function. In other words, the tristimulus two-dimensional calorimeters fundamentally have a measurement error with respect to the color matching function. Also, there are performance differences among individual optical filters or like optical members for use in obtaining tristimulus values. Accordingly, a measurement error concerning the tristimulus two-dimensional colorimeters provided with the individual optical members may occur resulting from the optical member performance differences.
Let us assume that an object image having different colors e.g. colors A, B, and C arranged at respective different positions on a two-dimensional plane, for instance, as shown in FIG. 11A, is measured by a tristimulus two-dimensional colorimeter. In this case, as mentioned above, a measurement error may occur resulting from the mismatching between the spectral sensitivities and the color matching function, or the optical member performance differences (see FIG. 11B, in which "X" indicates a site where a measurement error has occurred concerning the relevant color). In the conventional art, correction i.e. white color calibration (see FIG. 11C) is performed to reduce the measurement error by calculating a calibration coefficient in such a manner that a measurement chromaticity value concerning an object as a calibration reference e.g. a white color (achromatic) light source W is approximated to its true value. In the conventional art, the calculated calibration coefficient is stored in advance, and the measurement value is corrected at the time of measurement, using the stored calibration coefficient.
In the aforementioned white color calibration, a chromaticity value of a color other than the white color may have a measurement error. In the case where a measurement value concerning e.g. the color A obtained by the tristimulus two-dimensional colorimeter is approximated to its true value in order to correct the measurement error, as shown in FIG. 12, the measurement value is corrected by: calculating a calibration coefficient, based on a correlation between the measurement value concerning the color A, and its true value i.e. a value having a high precision as an absolute value obtained by e.g. a spectrocolorimeter, for instance, calculating a calibration coefficient obtained as an inverse number of a ratio of a measurement value versus a true value, which corresponds to an arbitrary calibration coefficient shown in FIG. 12; and by multiplying the measurement value by the calibration coefficient. In the following, calibration of arbitrary colors i.e. colors arbitrarily selected by a user, including the colors B and C, in addition to the color A, is called as "arbitrary correction". An example of the arbitrary correction with respect to the colors B and C is also shown in FIG. 12. In the conventional arbitrary correction, however, a common arbitrary calibration coefficient is applied to the entirety of measurement results by a two-dimensional measurement. Accordingly, correction with respect to the color A may increase a difference between a measurement value and its true value concerning the colors B and C. As a result, an object image after the correction through visual observation may have different colors from those of an object image before the correction. The same drawback may occur in the case where correction is performed with respect to the color B or the color C, which may also increase a difference between the measurement value and the true value with respect to colors other than the color B or the color C (see FIG. 11D).
As mentioned above, in the case where there exist plural colors within a two-dimensional image to be measured (hereinafter, the image is called as "screen image" according to needs), a measurement error between the measurement value and the true value, resulting from mismatching with the color matching function or optical member performance differences, may occur with respect to the colors within the screen image. Also, since a measurement error characteristic with respect to the true value is different among the colors, even if a measurement error concerning a certain targeted color is corrected, a measurement error may remain concerning the colors other than the targeted color. In a worse case, a measurement error concerning the other colors may be increased. In view of this, it is necessary to correct the measurement errors by providing calibration coefficients individually for the colors to obtain measurement results with less measurement errors with respect to the entirety of the screen image. In the conventional art, however, a common calibration coefficient is applied to the entirety of the screen image, or calibration coefficients are switched over among individual areas within the screen image. The conventional art has no disclosure about an idea of applying optimal calibration coefficients to the colors individually within a common screen image.
In the conventional art, individual screen images are provided with respect to the respective corrected colors. In the above example, three images are formed with respect to the colors A, B, and C. This arrangement fails to apply correction results concerning the respective colors to a common screen image, which makes it impossible to obtain an image i.e. measurement results which are approximated to the respective true values with respect to the entirety of the two-dimensional measurement area. Also, in the case where the arbitrary correction is performed on a real-time basis each time a measurement is conducted, it is necessary to perform the measurement by the number of times equal to the number of colors for arbitrary correction, which may lower processing efficiency, in other words, may increase a measurement period, and may lower usability in operation i.e. operability. Further, in the case where measurement results i.e. image data obtained by an image sensing device are temporarily stored before an arbitrary correction is conducted, the measurement results are obtained by one-time measurement. However, as a post-process, arbitrary correction is required to be performed by the number of times equal to the number of colors for arbitrary correction, which may also lower processing efficiency and operability.

Two-dimensional colorimeter, and spectral sensitivity correcting method


A method and system for finding, accessing, connecting, and sharing information in the context of business activities. Authorized users may search and view information content from managed or unmanaged data repositories maintained at various locations. Users may connect and share this information to their business process (e.g., projects, products, and processes) without losing referential integrity. A virtual repository unifies information from multiple sources. On demand, information may be automatically managed and converted into structured information used to execute business processes.

The widespread availability of computers and software applications has given organizations a powerful tool with which to create and access information. Within one organization, computers may be used by marketing, sales, accounting, management, maintenance, manufacturing, engineering, research, and other branches of the organization. Within one branch of an organization (e.g., marketing), users may predominately use one set of applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, presentation applications, and the like. Within another branch of the organization (e.g., engineering), users may predominately use other applications such as CAD programs, modeling programs, mathematical programs, and the like. Some applications, such as word processors, spreadsheets, and the like, may find widespread use throughout an entire organization. With these applications, users may generate and access a tremendous amount of information.
The information generated by users in the various branches of an organization may be stored in many locations. For example, some users may store some information on the hard drive of their personal computers. Other users may store information on a server that is accessible by users in their group. Many users may store information in a variety of locations, including local hard drives, peer hard drives, and local and distant servers. Within one company, there may be thousands of computers and hundreds of servers, each having a portion of the company's intellectual property.
Some information may be stored in managed storage solutions that automatically keep track of revisions to stored objects and may enforce a business process. Other information may be stored in unmanaged storage where users keep track of revisions to objects by file names, text within each stored item, meta-data, and the like and use ad-hoc business processes. The method for identifying revisions may vary from branch to branch, location to location, or even from user to user.
With the wealth of information available from so many sources in disparate locations, finding and accessing all the information that is relevant to a particular project, process, product, or the like often taxes even the most organized organizations. In addition, organizations are severely challenged with bringing unmanaged information under managed control in an easy manner. What is needed, then, is a method and system to easily find, access, connect, and share information. Ideally, the method and system would provide an easy way bring unmanaged information under management by the system as needed.

Method and system for accessing and managing information


A lifting column preferably, for height adjustable tables, includes a guide (5) and a drive unit (9), the guide (5) including at least a first member (5a) and a second member (5b), the members (5a, 5b, 5c) being arranged mutually telescopically relative to each other. At the end of the first member (5a) from which the second member (5b) can be displaced sliders are arranged on an internal side thereof. At the end of the second member (5b) extending into the first member (5a) sliders are likewise arranged on the outside thereof. In a first plane the sliders have a first, a large, prestressing between the first member (5a) and the second member (5b), while the sliders in the second plane have a second, a small, prestressing between the first (5a) and second member (5b). Thus, a good dampening of vibrations of the table is achieved in case of exposure to horizontal forces.

1. Field of the Invention
The Invention relates to a lifting column, preferably for height adjustable tables, comprising a guide and a drive unit, where the guide comprises at least a first member and a second member, where the members are mutually telescopically arranged relative to each other, and where a first set of sliders is arranged on an internal side of the first member at the end of the first member into which the second member extends and may be displaced out of, and where a second and third set of sliders are arranged on the outside of the second member at the end of the second member which extends into the first member. The invention further relates to a height adjustable table equipped with at least one such lifting column.
2. The Prior Art
For explanation of the invention reference is made to height adjustable or so-called sit/stand work tables, where the underframe comprises an electrically driven lifting column at each side of the work table and where the lower end of the lifting columns are furnished with a foot. A table top is secured to an upper end of the lifting columns either directly or by means of a top frame. The lifting columns comprise a guide which typically consists of two or three mutually telescopically arranged members. In an embodiment, which is probably the most commonly used so far, the member having the largest cross section is placed at the bottom. In another embodiment the lifting column is "turned around", such that the member having the smallest cross section is at the bottom; this embodiment is also known as "up-side down". In the first mentioned embodiment, the one with the member having the largest cross section at the bottom, the upper end of the lifting column may be equipped with a cross member, connecting the two lifting columns, which gives a good sideways stability of the table. In some embodiments without a cross member the upper end of the lifting columns is furnished with a strut between the lifting column and the table top or in connection with a motor housing on the column, located perpendicular to the guide.
The stability of the table is a crucial factor. A particular problem is vibrations of the table when it is exposed to a horizontal force. The horizontal force can be a result of the work being performed at the table or machines, e.g., a printer, located thereon. The back and forth movements of the printer head can cause vibrations of the table. DIN 4554, relating to office furniture, determines a threshold value for the allowable vibrations, just as a test for testing the vibration properties of the table, popular known as "the eraser test" is prescribed. The vibrations should not be too big and the table should settle again quickly.
Between the individual members in the guides of the lifting columns sliders are arranged. These sliders serve the purpose of compensating for manufacturing tolerances of the members. For that purpose the sliders may be designed with an adjustable thickness, such that they can be adjusted to the present groove between the members, cf., e.g., EP 1 250 866 A1 to Assenburg BV, EP 1 004 784 A1 to Magnetic Elektromotoren AG and DE 298 12 762 U1 to Phoenix Mecano Komponenten AG. Alternatively, a range of sliders with various thicknesses fitting the present groove between the members may be provided, cf., e.g., WO 03/047389 A1 to Linak A/S, where it is further suggested to make a local deformation opposite the slider for further equalization of the tolerances. The sliders also serve the purpose of keeping the friction between the individual members as low as possible. The amount of the friction has a direct influence on the force and energy needed to displace the guide. Popularly speaking, the more friction the larger motor and thus energy consumption is required.
Another factor for the stability of a lifting column is the overlapping of the individual members in the guide, i.e., the portion of the member protruding into the previous member. A larger overlapping of the telescopic members results in a better stability of the lifting column. There is, however, a limit to how large the overlapping can be. The adjustment of the height of the tables is also determined through various standards. According to the European standard EN 527, the work table must be adjustable from 60 cm to 120 cm in height, but some standards prescribe an even larger height, e.g., the Dutch standard NEN 2449 which prescribes an interval from 62 cm to 128 cm. This naturally limits the size of the overlapping between the members. In order to meet the requirement for the minimum and the maximum height, it is necessary to have three-part columns, i.e., columns having a guide consisting of three telescopic members. Due to tolerances the innermost member can yield a little relative to the intermediate member, which in turn can yield a little relative to the outermost member.
Especially for work tables in the nature of desks where the design is of vital importance, it is a pronounced wish that lifting columns appearing as table legs are slim. The ratio between a relatively small cross section relative to the length results in the lifting columns themselves appearing with a certain elasticity.
As regards work tables the problem of vibrations is particularly significant in the longitudinal direction of the table, while the vibrations in the transverse direction of the table are usually not a problem. Part of the explanation is that the feet extend in the transverse direction of the table while the dimension of the feet in the sideways direction in comparison is relatively small. As to lifting columns with guides having a rectangular cross section, the lifting columns are usually also positioned such that the broadside faces across the table while the narrow side faces in the longitudinal direction of the table.
The purpose of the invention is to provide a solution for reducing vibrations of tables as a result of horizontal forces.
This is achieved according to the invention with a lifting column where the second set of sliders, which describes a first plane, has been applied a given first prestressing between the first member and the second member, while the third set of sliders, which altogether describes a second plane which is different from the first plane, has been applied a given second prestressing between the first member and the second member, where the second applied prestressing is smaller than the first applied prestressing. Thus, it has turned out that this deliberate differentiation of the prestressing surprisingly enables a significant reduction of the vibrations in the lifting columns.
The prestressing of the sliders can be done in various ways, e.g., by pressing sliders with a certain thickness into the groove between the members, where experiments have determined how thick the sliders should be in order to obtain the desired prestressing. To achieve the desired, prestressing places great demands on the manufacturing tolerances. Another possibility is to use adjustment screws for the prestressing, this is however not particularly manufacturing-friendly. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the prestressing is created by an embossing of the member opposite the sliders. By creating a deformation of the side wall of the member, the desired prestressing may quite accurately be achieved. The embossing can be made both on the outer side of the outermost member as well as on the inner side of the innermost member. With an embossing on the Inner side visible marks on the outer side of the guide appearing as table legs are avoided.
In an embodiment two sets of sliders are placed after each other at the end of the member extending into the second member and the sliders in the first plane and in the second plane are offset. As it turns out, this has proven to provide a good dampening of the vibrations. In the plane where the small prestressing is provided, it has turned out that this dampening is further improved with a slightly larger prestressing of the bottommost sliders than the topmost sliders of the two sets of sliders.
As to lifting columns having three or more members, the invention has proven that a prestressing of the sliders between a fixed member and the first successive member arranged telescopically relative to the fixed member is sufficient. The prestressing between the additional subsequent members has turned out not to be of much significance. Since the prestressing is only provided at the fixed member, the manufacturing costs and the cost of tools are reduced.
Through experiments an expedient embodiment of the invention has been found, where the large prestressing is of a size resulting in a friction of between 15-30 kg between the respective sliders and the member sliding against these, while the small prestressing is of a size resulting in a friction of 0-5 kg between the respective sliders and the member sliding against these.
In an embodiment the telescopic members in the lifting columns are constituted by pipe profiles which may have a random cross section, but a square cross section provides well-defined planes for the prestressing of the sliders and the effect of the invention thus becomes unambiguous. In an embodiment the members have a rectangular cross section, where one side, the broad side, in the cross section is significantly larger than the width of the other side, the narrow side. A rectangular cross section allows for an even more unambiguous differentiation of the small and the large prestressing relative to each other. In an embodiment the broadside of the profiles in the guides has a width, which is about one and a half times larger than the narrow side or even larger.
When the lifting columns are mounted in a structure they are expediently placed such that the second, the small, prestressing faces in the direction in which the transversal forces which should be dampened occur.
The first, the large, prestressing in the lifting column(s) is provided in a direction across the table top and the second, the small, prestressing is provided along the table top.
The invention further relates to a height-adjustable work table comprising a table top carried by at least one lifting column and where the table top has two long sides, where one long side constitutes a rear side and the other a front side, and where the user of the table is placed at the front side, just as the table top has two ends extending between the front side and the rear side, and where the first, the large, prestressing in the lifting column(s) (5) is provided in a direction across the table top and that the second, the small, prestressing is provided in the longitudinal direction of the table top.

Lifting column, preferably for height adjustable tables


An infinitely variable cone disc transmission is disclosed in which the contact pressure forces are generated fully hydraulically and in which the contact pressure level is set either solely by way of a torque sensor that is disposed on the drive shaft and constitutes a pressure medium throttle that is adjustable as a function of the load, or in which a pressurizing valve preceding this torque sensor and controlled as a function of the transmission ratio is employed to additionally effect throttling as a function of the transmission ratio.

The present invention relates to an infinitely adjustable cone disc transmission including two pairs of cone discs arranged on the driving and driven shafts as well as a transfer means rotating between the pairs of discs, with the cone discs being fixed to rotate with the shaft carrying them. On each shaft one cone disc is also axially fixed while the associated second cone disc is configured as an axially displaceable component of a cylinder-piston unit that is fixed to the shaft and to which pressure medium is supplied through an inlet from a four-edged spool valve. The latter is adjustable by means of an adjustment member and, in order to press on the transfer means and to set and maintain the transmission ratio, is provided with an outlet for the outgoing pressure medium. A discharge conduit is connected to the pressure medium outlet, with at least one torque sensor being disposed therein. This torque sensor is arranged on the drive shaft in the flow of moments at that location and influences, as a function of the load, the pressure medium pressure in the cylinder-piston units. The torque sensor is hydraulically preceded by a pressurizing valve that is adjustable as a function of the transmission ratio so as to additionally influence the pressure medium pressure.
Such a transmission is discussed as prior art in the specification of German Patent 3,743,195. There it is described that a torque sensor disposed on the driving side is hydraulically preceded by a pressurizing valve which additionally influences the pressure medium pressure exclusively as a function of the transmission ratio of the power train in such a way that, with an increasing transmission ratio of driving revolutions to driven revolutions, this pressure increases as well so that the pressure includes a component that is dependent on the transmission ratio but independent of the torque.
This pressure medium pressure is furnished by a pump, with the energy consumption of this pump for a constant conveyed stream being approximately proportional to the pressure medium pressure that it must furnish. Since the energy to be expended for operation of the pump and the friction losses as a function of contact pressure in the drive loop have a negative influence on the overall efficiency of the transmission, it is desirable to keep the pressure level as low as possible in dependence on the load state. This is relevant particularly under partial load, that is, in connection with motor vehicles, particularly in city traffic.
However, in the transmission described in German Patent 3,743,195 the result is that the pressure medium pressure may possibly be kept very high even if the load applied to the transmission is small, because the pressurizing valve operates purely as a function of the transmission ratio, particularly if the load is small but the transmission ratio is high at the same time.

Cone disc transmission, particularly for motor vehicles


Provided are methods of bonding a fluoroelastomer to a metal substrate; fluoropolymer compounds comprising a fluoroelastomer, a curing agent and a bonding promoter; and composite materials obtained by curing the compound. Further provided is the use of bonding promoters for increasing the bond strength between a fluoroelastomer and a metal substrate.

The beneficial properties of fluoropolymers are well known in the art and include for example, high temperature resistance, high chemical resistance including for example high resistance to solvents, fuels and corrosive chemicals, and non-flammability. Because of these beneficial properties, fluoropolymers find wide application particularly where materials are exposed to high temperature and/or aggressive chemicals. Fluoroelastomers are fluoropolymers having elastic properties. They may be obtained upon curing (vulcanization) of amorphous fluoropolymers. Fluoroelastomers are widely used in the preparation of elastic articles where chemical resistance and heat resistance is required, for example as seals in automotive applications.
In applications where mechanical rigidity is required the fluoroelastomers are used as composite materials, i.e. they are bonded to materials providing the rigidity, such as metals. One of the requirements of such composite materials or articles is a firm and reliable bond between the fluoropolymer component and the metal component. Such bonds are generally created by curing the fluoroelastomer compound while being in contact with the other component of the composite material, e.g. a metal substrate. Typically, curing is carried out at temperatures between about 150 to about 200° C. in molds, typically under increased pressures. The compounds may additionally be subjected to a post cure treatment wherein the composite material is subjected to heating at about 200° C. to 250° C. for several hours, typically at ambient pressures.

Method of bonding a fluoroelastomer compound to a metal substrate using low molecular weight functional hydrocardons as bonding promoter


A concentrated dispersion of nanometric silver particles, and a method of producing the dispersion, the dispersion including a first solvent; a plurality of nanometric silver particles, in which a majority are single-crystal silver particles, the plurality of nanometric silver particles having an average secondary particle size (d50) within a range of 30 to 300 nanometers, the particles disposed within the solvent; and at least one dispersant; wherein a concentration of the silver particles within the dispersion is within a range of 30% to 75%, by weight, and wherein a concentration of the dispersant is within a range of 0.2% to 30% of the concentration of the silver particles, by weight.

The present invention relates to stable, concentrated dispersions of nanometric silver particles, and to a method of producing such dispersions.
Nanometric silver particles are seeing increasing use in the pharmaceutical industry, especially in the field of wound management. Dispersions of fine silver particles are widely used in the manufacture of conductive inks and electrically conductive films for applications such as internal electrodes in multi-layer capacitors, interconnections in multi-chip components, conductive lines in defoggers and deicers, photovoltaic modules, resistors, inductors, antennas, membrane switches, electromagnetic shielding, thermally conductive films, light reflecting films, and conducting adhesives. In many existing and emerging technologies, demand for ultrafine silver particles having specific properties is increasing.
In some applications, required features of such particles may relate to at least one of: average particle size, narrow particle size distribution, particle density, and crystalline grain structure.
Nanometric silver particles have seen commercial use as dispersions in organic solvents. The stability of such dispersions may typically be guaranteed for up to six months.
The production of fine silver particles by precipitation of the particles from a liquid medium is well known. However, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,169 to Hampden-Smith, et al., such liquid precipitation techniques are often difficult to control to produce particles having the desired characteristics. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 6,277,169 discloses that it is especially difficult by the liquid precipitation route to obtain particles having dense, spherical particle morphology and good crystallinity.
The production of small silver particles by reducing silver oxide (e.g., using hydrogen peroxide) in aqueous liquid media is known. The sparingly soluble silver oxide may be dissolved in the reaction media prior to the reduction reaction by complexing the silver ions with ammonia, as disclosed by WO Patent Publication No. 2003/080231.
Various liquid precipitation techniques may promote agglomeration or aggregation of the silver particles, as well as particle sedimentation. Such agglomeration may be undesirable for many reasons, among them: the particle size distribution and mean particle size may be deleteriously affected, and contaminants in the mother liquor may be occluded between particles, reducing product purity. We have found that the specific electric resistivity of thin films formed from such contaminated silver particles may disadvantageously be increased. Also agglomerated particles and/or sedimentation may clog the nozzles in ink jet printing heads, detracting from the robustness of the printing process.
Various liquid precipitation techniques may promote the formation of polycrystalline silver particles. We have found that such polycrystalline silver particles may disadvantageously exhibit a higher specific electric resistivity. Moreover, they may display an appreciably higher propensity to agglomeration and to sedimentation.
The advances in the production of silver nanoparticles notwithstanding, the present inventors have recognized a need for improved silver nanoparticles and silver nanoparticle dispersions, and for methods of producing such nanoparticles and dispersions thereof.

Stable dispersions of monocrystalline nanometric silver particles